Part 54: 13:10-13:31: Island Time

Chapter 54: 13:10-13:31: Island Time







KIM KITSURAGI: The lieutenant nods solemnly.






Put a point into Reaction Speed and continue.





READING MATERIALS: Most are softcovers: serialized *fantastique* and detective stories from the Twenties and Thirties. This disparate digest includes the classic “Animal Adventures.”
ENCYCLOPEDIA: [Medium: Success] Popular depictions of man versus nature by amateur naturalists T. and T. Harpin (husband and wife). Widely read by people from all walks of life. Who doesn’t like nature? Who doesn’t want to *survive*?
READING MATERIALS: Among what is mostly commercial fiction and serialized stories, you find a “Magazine Cathodique” for electrical engineering. Then it’s back to pulp: light erotica, an international thriller about circuit benders…





CONCEPTUALIZATION: Maybe it’s a little old-fashioned? There’s a nude mag? More than that, you can’t say.






KIM KITSURAGI: He looks at the door, then at its bigger brother, then at the lock… “Maybe this is one of the doors we *don’t* open?”










KIM KITSURAGI: “Possibly…” He inspects the dials. “‘Urgence—Ouvert!,’ ‘Allumer,’ ‘Radiodiffusé.’ It sounds like this device was used to control the electronics here. Maybe it still does?”



KIM KITSURAGI: Nothing happens. “We need to restore power before using this, officer. The generator…” He looks upstairs. “It didn’t look like there was fuel in it.”





KIM KITSURAGI: “But, officer,” he looks you in the eye, “then we would have to *swim* back to the mainland. Let’s just look around, okay.”




FELD “INSULAR” CONSOLE: The dial slides under the glass, silently. You make out defunct stations on the UKV frequency. The words “FELD INSULAR” are written on the band.





ARIST: [Medium: Success] Nuts. Whatever, just go look outside for some fuel.















Found some!



ARIST: [Challenging: Success] Out of a diseased curiosity, you head over to the spot from your dream where you walked on the water…



INLAND EMPIRE: Perhaps there’s someone there? Under the water. Waiting for you.




INLAND EMPIRE: Yes, yes, yes, yes.



INLAND EMPIRE: In the still mirror of the bay you see Martinaise, reflected. Tall edifices of ruins reach into the water, like shimmering towers. And the shacks too. Pine trees and motor lorries, upside down…





ARIST: [Easy: Success] Just head back to the generator. There’s nothing for you here.



KIM KITSURAGI: The lieutenant assists you, holding the canister up to the fuel as you tilt. Dark brown viscous fluid pours out and the room fills with a chemical smell.



MICROGRID GENERATOR: The recoil start wakes the old generator up. The machine sputters like an old war horse before settling down to a rattle.



Now back to the console…



KIM KITSURAGI: “It’s on…” He smiles. “Turn: emergency, open.”







KIM KITSURAGI: “I don’t know.”






We put a point into Inland Empire.





INLAND EMPIRE: [Formidable: Success] As you step outside, you can feel it waiting, feel it getting closer with every ragged limp. It’s here…





ARIST: You see the smoke before you see the man—totally unfamiliar in all respects—through the reeds. You approach cautiously.
REACTION SPEED: Huh? Who the hell is this?
INLAND EMPIRE: The ultimate despair.