Part 11: 7:30-8:44: Cryptid Chat
BED: It barely covers your toes, stretching over your soft belly. This is your body here, intimate and warm, breathing
BED: Your breathing steadies. A great silence washes over you until your eyelids *twitch* in your sleep and images images start forming
Light pools at the edge of your vision. You can feel yourself being pulled by it.
You already know what waits for you here, dont you? But still, you cannot resist
Its the only thing it ever could have been.
Of course its you. What else?
BLOATED CORPSE OF A DRUNK: Youre not kidding anyone, Harry. You dont remember shit. Tell me
BLOATED CORPSE OF A DRUNK: You know who I am. I am the bad day. The one where you ask her, and then later in the streets, wandering Its the worst day of all time, Harry dear, and its coming. She will hear about it on the phone.
BLOATED CORPSE OF A DRUNK: Oh no, funky-baby, you *stayed*. It was the rest of it that left. While you just stood there. With one hand on the bottle and the other on your dickwatching it go.
BLOATED CORPSE OF A DRUNK: No. Its gone. Three times gone and never coming back. You failed. You failed me.
BLOATED CORPSE OF A DRUNK: Everything. The pale and the isolason the surfacethe outer magnetosphere Burning, furious truth, eight thousand years of written history.
BLOATED CORPSE OF A DRUNK: No, Harry. You were just talking to yourself. Thats all you ever do. Even in your dreams. And the act is wearing thin, the spots of the disco ball fade around you
ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN: Youll be back in those cold snake skins in no time, sweating up the bed
I should point out that Bloated Corpse of a Drunk has the exact same voice as Ancient Reptilian Brain.
ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN: Youre trying to what? I cant hear you, this is just a word-dream now. Jumbled up garbage. The pictures are gone, the bed rises to meet you. A thin sleep-like state. More glass than velvet, *grinding* in your head.
LIMBIC SYSTEM: Oh yes, party boy. And its *worse* than the one before! Just think of the shit you saw! Here it comes too, so soon already! A silent alarm goes off in your head, like clockwork, barely let you sleep at all Time to get those clothes on, Harry!
Chapter 11: 7:30-8:44: Cryptid Chat
why does everything SUCK
ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Its just that your heart has finally pumped all the *speed* out of your system, buster. Time to get some more.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY: Speed is a potent central nervous system stimulant. It kept you propped up all day yesterday despite your debilitating hangover. How else did you think you even got up from this floor?
VOLITION: You got up from this floor because of a holy vow you made sixteen years ago. With *me*. To wake up exactly 7:30 every morning until the day you die.
Is that a threat?
A tough-looking crowd has assembled in the private room of the cafeteria. Must be Union.
Over by the counter, you can see Lena and Kim.
Kim looks like he has something to saybeyond pleasantries, anyway.
KIM KITSURAGI: I mean ungovernable. Martinaise isnt exactly enthusiastic about the RCM being here. They prefer to be *policed* by the Unionthese men here
Well if they want to do the policing, maybe these Hardie boys should solve this murder then.
KIM KITSURAGI: Everything points to the Dockworkers Union: the belt used for hanging him, tracks in the mud, the circumstances in Martinasie, my preliminary information
KIM KITSURAGI: I completely forgot. He looks at his notes. Sorry, I had a rough nights sleep. Its them, by the looks of itloud and nasty, just like the manager said.
KIM KITSURAGI: That would just escalate tensions. No captain would sign off on it. Solving one murder isnt worth a conflict between the RCM and the Débardeurs Union.
KIM KITSURAGI: One more thing before we do... He glances at the booth again. We dont have to talk to them immediately. We can walk right past them, continue with our business.
AUTHORITY: [Easy: Success] Good. A power move. *Purposefully* concentrate on something else first.
REACTION SPEED: [Easy: Success] Yeahstreetwise. Zoom right past, do it on your own terms.
LOGIC: [Easy: Success] But arent you *curious* to know what they have to say about the murder?
We might just take that advice, then.
First, though, lets put a point into Shivers. We have another point, but Im not feeling like we strictly need to increase anything else at the moment, so well save that point in case we come across an appealing thought or a check we really want to pass.
GARTE, THE CAFETERIA MANAGER: You must be kidding, right? He stares at the large novelty cheque, baffled. Yeah, good one, officer. Real funny. But this establishment only takes cash. Now, do you have that cash, Mister Novelty Cheque Man?
Rude.
COMPOSURE: [Medium: Success] Shes agitated, judging from the way she keeps pulling at the frayed edge of her blanket.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: And theres no public phones nearby?
GARTE, THE CAFETERIA MANAGER: The closest phone booth is down the coast. Sorry for the inconvenience, maam. The cafeteria manager appears genuinely apologetic.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Its fine, I understand. Thank you anyway. She turns back to you with a weary smile. Im glad to see you again, dear.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Please dont trouble yourself about me, sweetie. I was just hoping to make a call, but the Whirlings phone line isnt working.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: The manager was vague about it. She frowns.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: To let the young woman whos house-sitting for us know that we may be delayed. Morell, my husband, and Gary were supposed to get back Monday night, but theyre still missing and I havent heard from them
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Thats just it! This isnt like him at all. He always plans his expeditions so carefully
SHIVERS: [Medium: Success] A cold breeze hisses through dense thickets of reeds Something sweet in it, somnolent. A damp chill goes down your spine. When you look around, youre still in the Whirling-In-Rags.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Just some field work, sweetie. Morell is a highly trained scientist. He and his assistant, Gary, are studying an *extremely rare* species of insect But they should have returned by now. They were just going down the coast, across the water lock, to set a few traps. He said theyd be back on Monday She sighs. What could be keeping them?
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: She smiles. Oh, sweetie. Its nothing like that
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Well, whatever the cause, Im thankful She turns to Kim. To *both* of you. Youve spared me another sleepless night.
KIM KITSURAGI: Youre welcome, maam.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: She turns back to you. I hate to ask, but *if* your investigation takes you to the other side of the coast, please do keep an eye out for my husband
INLAND EMPIRE: [Medium: Success] This will *surely* lead to a cryptozoological mystery with that *extremely rare insect*
CONCEPTUALIZATION: [Medium: Success] Yes! Some left-field scientific research is exactly what you need right now. Funk up that *vanilla* murder investigation.
KIM KITSURAGI: Its a pseudo-science that attempts to legitimize *research* into mythological beasts and urban legends. The lieutenant sounds unimpressed.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Thats one opinion, yes. And people are entitled to their opinions
COMPOSURE: [Medium: Success] Shes used to playing off such insults casually, but they still affect her.
KIM KITSURAGI: My apologies, maam. I did not mean to undermine your hobby.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Its not a hobby, dear. Its a *sub-field* of zoology, one specializing in animal species that are so exceedingly rare that many assume them to be *extinct* or even *fictitious* Searching for such speciescalled *cryptids*is difficult and often thankless, and frankly, many scientists are too lazy to do it. Universities these days are rarely interested in supporting *real* research.
Kim maybe you should shut up, sorry sorry please forgive me
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Hmmm. Well, his expression is slightly grumpy, but his eyes are always bright and curious, like a small boys And his palms are quite coarse from all the field work, but hes quite gentle
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Oh! Well, hes a bit shorter than you but with a larger frame. And he has longish white hairusually a bit uncombed, you might say *wild* even
KIM KITSURAGI: The lieutenant pulls out his notebook and begins jotting down the womans description.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Via a dating agency, Im ashamed to say. I was looking to get back into the scene after recovering from my accident, and hed just divorced We hit it off and, well, here we are. She smiles wistfully.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Oh, sweetie, its *fascinating* She catches herself. But I shouldnt bore you with entomological minutiae.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Well, she hesitates. Its a *phasmid* technically, but
INLAND EMPIRE: [Medium: Success] Oh yeah. Here comes the *interesting*.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: ...where other phasmids imitate sticks or leaves, this ones a living *reed*. It disguises itself among the reeds here on the Insuliandian coast. She looks you in the eye and nods thoughtfully. Hence its name: The *Insulindian phasmid* perhaps youll end up co-discovering the phasmid with us, officers?
KIM KITSURAGI: I knew it. The lieutenant sighs. Were gonna be chasing made-up insects with *cryptozoologists*.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Its not made-up, officer, I can *assure* you.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Of course, most phasmid sightings turn out to be *false alarms*, but their description matched the Insulindian phasmid *perfectly*, and they didnt even know what they were looking at!
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Oh dear, Im afraid Im not explaining this very well. It *is* very special The womans face flushes with embarassment.
Aww yiss, cryptid time
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Oh, Id be delighted! Truth be told, I could really use the company too
KIM KITSURAGI: He nods and assumes a waiting posture.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: That would be the Giant of Koko Nur! she says as if its common knowledge.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: The towering luminosity of Koko Nur is a bad omen in local folklore. Some say its a fata morgana, othersa fate unimaginable.
KIM KITSURAGI: Hooey, the lieutenant interjects. No animal can be that large. Its a mirage.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Thats what makes it so peculiara species surviving at the very limits of scientific law. The Giant of Koko Nur must be the largest animal the planet can support. There are limits, you see, to how large a metabolism an ecosystem can beget. Some say a gravity anomaly below the Koko Nur desert might allow the creature to grow to these *gargantuan* sizes.
INLAND EMPIRE: [Medium: Success] Great. This is great shit. You need more.
KIM KITSURAGI: The lieutenant pauses thoughtfully.
VOLITION: [Medium: Success] Something in him breaks.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: The bacterial colony Mijanou found had remained alive while frozen in ice for longer than anyone could reliably estimatecertainly from before recorded history. Mijanou disappeared shortly after injecting herself with the bacteria she had brought back to studyno doubt, in hopes of prolonging her *own* life.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Yes. The bacteria had survived in the ice since times immemorial. It is not hard to see where she could have gotten the idea.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Yes, and shes quite mad, tooafter she treated herself with the bacteria, she stopped aging, but also became increasingly eccentric and irascible, so that even her oldest friends were forced to pull away
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: It *was* reportedly a small creaturewith webbed fingers and a protruding forehead. An ungainly little thing. Quite scary to look at. A couple of campers found it wailing in the woods and followed the sound. They were scared and wrapped it in tarpaulin to suffocate it. She looks at you, voice grave suddenly. It still took the Gnome of Geroma an entire *day* to die.
KIM KITSURAGI: If the body of the creature was found the lieutenant cant help himself, why arent there detailed illustrations of it in science textbooks? Confirming the existence of this very lethal species?
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Alas, the first scientist who got his hands on the creatures corpse put it in a jar of formaldehyde, thinking that would detoxify the Gnomes venom. Instead, all the venom leaded out of the creatures teeth and into the surrounding liquid, dissolving the creature itself. A poetic end, perhaps, but a real loss for science she says, mostly to herself.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Indeed there is! Its our closest relative among the cryptids. Same taxonomic family, different genus.
OH NO SHES RACIST
KIM KITSURAGI: The lieutenant looks at you, pleasantly surprised.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Oh no, I didnt mean to imply that Seolites are inferior to us. In many ways, she turns to Kim, You are superior. For example, your earwax doesnt have a foul odour like ours does.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: What an interesting question! And the answer is: yes, there are!
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Like nothing. Its such a high-pitched sound that us humans cant hear itnor can other animals. It could be ringing right outside your windowand you wouldnt even know it! It could be anywhereeverywhere, even
KIM KITSURAGI: The lieutenant looks at her skeptically. Fine, Ill bite. How can an animal be a sound?
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Plenty. Its the evidence that lead to its discovery. In the Twenties, a group of Areopagite ornithologiststhat is scientists who study birdswere trying out a new recording technology for capturing sounds outside the range of human hearing.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: The scientists soon discovered they could track and even *predict* what appeared to be feeding, mating and migration patterns based on sound waves in a *strictly delimited* range of ultrasonic frequencieseven higher than those of the highest-pitched bat calls.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: Exactly And these tests were performed so recklessly that when they happened upon the right frequency well, they wiped out most of the population.
EMPATHY: [Medium: Success] Great regret washes over her. A wending cloth.
LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGISTS WIFE: After that, the corpsucles appear to have migrated elsewhere. There have been recordings of anomalies similar to those spotted in Eabut theyve been few and far between. Its impossible to confirm the presence of any stable Col Do Ma Ma Daqua population anywhere.
I fuckin love cryptids!!!! Lenas no Jamieson Price, but Ill take these hot Cryptid Facts wherever I can get em!
GARTE, THE CAFETERIA MANAGER: Fine, yeah, it looked like someone had messed with the wiring. It was shortly after the hanging, but I dont know if its at all related Plenty of assholes around here who arent murderers.
GORĄCY KUBEK: He looks up at you, then looks away quickly, shrugging and muttering something to himself.
GORĄCY KUBEK: The mention of Mañana gets his attention. He smiles and delivers a whole slew of unfamiliar words and lively gestures. Then he falls silent again.
GORĄCY KUBEK: The man looks at you, then at the soup. His face lightens up. He picks up a bottle from the shelf. *Barszcz* need more *wódka*?
KIM KITSURAGI: Okay, so its vodka that keeps the men happy and in good spirits. He nods. Clever move by the Union.
HORRIFIC NECKTIE: Vodka-borscht! I love it, *bratan*! Turn it the fuck up and then ask for some yourself.
I have no idea what this is going to do, but having those Union guys be even drunker when I confront them seems like a bad idea.
Were going to talk to them later, though. First, lets get that corpse out of that tree.
INLAND EMPIRE: There seems to be. An *extremely* high pitched ring. Ultrasonic. Lena said it was very high-pitched, right? Its like something *tickles* your ear.
KIM KITSURAGI: No. I dont hear the Col Do Ma Ma Daquaand neither do you.
INLAND EMPIRE: It must be very close maybe, just maybe it will come toward you
INLAND EMPIRE: Oh no! The soundits moving away, somewhere over therego after it!
To internalize this thought, we need another Thought Cabinet slot. Well spend our extra skill point on it.
Now, lets go take care of that corpse.