On a late night talk show, John Q. Slade interviews Mickey Mouse—not the Mickey Mouse we all know and love, but a six-foot-four, charismatic, and scarily existential Mickey Mouse, a version that John calls a processed image. Despite having spoken with Mickey on the show twice prior, John struggles to maintain control over the conversation, both in awe and afraid of Mickey. Unlike the image of the past Mickey, who John thought lackluster, John finds the new Mickey mysterious and wonderful as well as a talented showman, and the audience cheers relentlessly. When John asks about Minnie, however, Mickey launches into an existential crisis: he hasn’t seen Minnie in a few years and retells the depth of his old love and desire for her. He explains that he and Minnie eventually tried to merge their images, as normal people do, but after this union, he realized that images are simply meant to remain in their poses rather than unite. He became afraid of and even revolted by Minnie and distanced himself from her. After realizing that Minnie had somehow changed his own image, Mickey became more horrified, and they ended their relationship. John tries to make light of Mickey’s story for the show audience, saying that romantic conflict is universal, but Mickey disagrees and says that John has no idea what true intimacy is. John whispers to Mickey to stay in character. At the end of the show, a fascinated John thinks to himself that although he never wants to see Mickey again, it would be very exciting.