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KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Back for more questions, I assume?” Her twisting cigarette smoke is barely visible in the starlight.
EMPATHY [Challenging: Success] - She notices Kim’s absence and assumes that’s because you’re here to ask her more about your apocalyptic bender.
1. “Yeah, I have more to discuss.”
2. “Nope! I don’t have any pressing questions that I need answered, personal or otherwise.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She’s waiting for you to continue.
VOLITION [Easy: Success] - Why are you planning on asking her this? You won’t be able to get any straight answers out of her.
HALF LIGHT [Medium: Success] - She’ll hold it over our heads in every conversation from now on if you go through with this.
CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - The picture is only halfway completed, and she can paint the rest.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Medium: Success] - The “picture” should stay incomplete. Or better yet, torn to shreds.
LOGIC [Easy: Success] - Why ask her? There are other people we can talk to about this.
VOLITION [Trivial: Success] - Other people that don’t have half the peanut gallery compromised.
COMPOSURE [Impossible: Success] - There’s something in the way she holds herself. Something that resonates with you in a way you can’t even recognize yet. She’s the only person you’ve met in your four days of conscious existence who can really answer this question. She will welcome your questions.
1. [SUGGESTION: Medium] Ease into it.
2. [SUGGESTION: Challenging] Use *The Expression* on her again to clear the air.
3. “I don’t know how to ask you what I want to ask you.”
4. “Actually, I don’t have any questions. I’ll just be leaving now.”
SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] - There’s a couple of ways we can go about this. Take your pick.
1. “Remember when I said I wanted to fuck you? Good times.”
2. “You like partying. I also like partying”
3. “I found Ruby’s lorry.”
4. “Could you tell me more about what it was like with Lely?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “What did you find in it?” She fishes out another cigarette and lights it with her old one, before snubbing the old one out on the railing.
LOGIC [Easy: Success] - She’s wondering why you’re asking investigation questions without Kim.
YOU - “There were lots of movie posters.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She raises an eyebrow. “Okay.”
COMPOSURE [Medium: Success] - She can’t tell where this is going yet, but her body language is still relaxed.
VOLITION [Easy: Success] - Meaning she’s still on guard.
YOU - “There were lots of posters of ladies.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - The corner of her mouth twitches upwards. “I already told you she was infatuated with me. The posters couldn’t have come as a surprise.”
YOU - “And you also told me that you kissed her.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “That I did.”
YOU - “Is that something you do often?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Kiss women?” She pauses and glances behind herself before returning her gaze to you. “Not particularly.”
DRAMA [Medium: Success] - Not a lie, but there’s more to be discussed here.
1. “Does that mean you’ve never kissed another woman?”
2. “Does that mean you’ve kissed other women?”
3. “What does that mean?
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “No, it just means it isn’t something I do often.”
YOU - “Why not?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She squints at this and takes a moment to think. “There aren’t a lot of opportunities I guess. It’s easier to find men to kiss than women to kiss.”
1. “Do you like kissing women?”
2. “When did you start kissing women?”
3. “What’s it like?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Yes, officer. I enjoy kissing women. I also enjoy kissing men. I guess I just enjoy kissing in general.”
EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - She’s not annoyed, she just thinks the way you’re asking these questions is roundabout and silly. In fact, she’s having fun.
RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - She’s playing along with you. Vague answers to vague questions. She could keep this going for a while. It’s your prerogative to ask her more specifics.
COMPOSURE [Challenging: Success] - Ask her about the Homo-Sexual Underground.
YOU - “Does that mean you’re a member of the Homo-Sexual Underground?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - Her eyes scrunch up as she begins to laugh. It’s airy, mostly composed of short exhales through her nose as her mouth stays shut. She uses the hand not holding the cigarette to cover her mouth after a moment, and begins to compose herself.
COMPOSURE [Easy: Success] - That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.
ENCYCLOPEDIA [Challenging: Success] - Maybe it was the wrong phrase?
LOGIC [Medium: Success] - The only other members you’ve met are men, could it be a male only organization?
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She flicks the butt of her cigarette, the ashes sprinkle off of the lit end. Her eyes return to yours. “Yeah,” laughter still lingers in her voice, “I’m a member of ‘The Homo-Sexual Underground’. That’s a good one, I hope you don’t mind if I start using that myself.”
1. “When did you start kissing women?”
2. “What’s it like?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She closes her eyes and takes another drag off her cigarette. “When I was a teenager. I’d kissed a few boys by then, and it just made sense to start kissing girls.”
RHETORIC [Medium: Success] - She’s still being vague, because you’re still being vague.
YOU - “Who was it?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “She was a close friend of mine. She’d just gone through a tough breakup. I was over at her house comforting her as she cried. I told her about how he was an asshole who didn’t deserve her. That she was kind and smart and pretty and that anyone who couldn’t see that was blind or an idiot. Then she started talking about how I was the kind, smart, and pretty one and how happy she was that she had a friend like me. And one thing led to another…”
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Medium: Success] - Her brown eyes are looking past you, into the middle distance.
CONCEPTUALIZATION [Challenging: Success] - Recreating the memory in her mind. She’s remembering the way her friend’s eyes sparkled with affection just below the glaze of tears. The warmth of their bodies, so close to one another. How in that moment their breaths synced up, their lungs pulsing with a shared life in a way they had never done so before.
1. “What’s it like?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She inhales sharply. Your question brings her back to the now. “Depends. Sometimes it’s quick, barely more than a peck. Sometimes it feels like the world melts away and the only two things in the world are you and her.”
INLAND EMPIRE [Legendary: Success] - You can taste the memory of her apricot scented lips. It’s just a moment, but it feels like a lifetime. Even after she’s pulled away the taste still lingers.
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She glances to her right, towards Jamrock's skyline , “It’s hard to explain something so intimate. Some things are better felt than heard.”
1. “What’s it like kissing a man, then?”
2. “I think that’s enough for now. I have no more questions.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She arches an eyebrow. “Again, it depends.” She takes a moment to look you up and down. “If you don’t mind my asking, where is this conversation going, Officer?”
VOLITION [Easy: Success] - Yes, where is this conversation going?
1. “Nowhere. I was just about to leave.”
2. “I don’t really know. I’m just asking questions.”
3. “Could we go back to talking about you? I still have a few more things I’d like to ask.”
4. [COMPOSURE: Heroic] Just say it.
COMPOSURE [Heroic: Success] - You try to gather the words, but they won’t come out. A lump forms in your throat. Instead of speaking you stand there blankly with your mouth shut tight.
COMPOSURE - You’ve spent decades never vocalizing these thoughts. Years swallowing what part of you wanted to say. Years laying in bed, staring at the cracked ceiling, letting those ideas fester and rot. You really thought you’d let your composure slip now of all places? I won’t let you.
VOLITION [Easy: Success] - You’re talking to a possible suspect, Harry.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT [Trivial: Success] - At least you avoided degrading yourself.
SUGGESTION [Trivial: Success] - Not exactly. You’ve been obvious enough, hinting at what this is really about. This line of conversation is not a total loss.
EMPATHY [Medium: Success] - She understands what this is about. She knows you need more coaxing.
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - A few awkward moments pass as she stares at you. “Would you mind if I asked you a question?”
YOU - You shake your head.
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Do you like kissing women?”
REACTION SPEED [Medium: Success] - This is the same question you just asked, but in reverse.
RHETORIC [Formidable: Success] - This is going to be her way of opening you up. A chance to turn the tables, and lead you to the conversation’s logical end.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Easy: Success] - Ooh! Ooh! I know the answer to this question, it’s too easy. Say yes!
YOU - “Yes.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “When did you start kissing women?”
1. [INLAND EMPIRE: Legendary] When *did* you start kissing women?
2. “I don’t know.”
INLAND EMPIRE [Legendary: Success] - You’ve thought about this earlier. You put your hands in your pockets, fingers grazing over the Apricot Chewing Gum Wrapper.
YOU - “It was August 2nd. I don’t remember the year. I was bringing her home, she lived with her parents in Le Jardin. By the time the streetcar got there it was dark. We got up to the gate to her house, and I kissed her.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She nods. Her cigarette has burnt to the butt. It’s put out against the railing, but she doesn't replace it. Instead she crosses her arms. “And what's it like?”
YOU - “Like you said earlier. The world melted away and the only two things in the world were me and her.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “What’s it like kissing a man, then?”
CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - Depends. Some things are better felt than heard.
YOU - “I don’t know. I’ve never kissed a man before.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Would you like to?”
COMPOSURE - Are you sure you want to answer this? It would be so easy to just say no.
VOLITION [Heroic: Failure] - You’ve already given her a lot of ammunition to use against you if you need to interrogate her again. So sure, just bare your soul to her.
ENDURANCE [Medium: Success] - You can just leave. You don’t have to answer her.
INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - If you leave, the question will follow you. A specter haunting every encounter. A specter that has followed you your entire life. Why not confront it now?
1. [VOLITION: Heroic] “Yes.”
2. “No.”
3. “I don’t know.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She exhales. “What do you know?”
REACTION SPEED [Challenging: Failure] - Know about what?
YOU - “About what?”
EMPATHY [Challenging: Success] - She’s not impatient yet, but it’s dawning on her that it’s going to be harder to coax the answers out of you than she previously thought.
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She leans back against the railing. “Let’s start with that woman you kissed. What do you feel when thinking about her?”
SUGGESTION [Easy: Success] - Love.
HALF LIGHT [Easy: Success] - Fear.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Easy: Success] - Lust.
INLAND EMPIRE [Medium: Success] - Mourning.
VOLITION [Medium: Success] - Really, it would be easier to list what you don’t feel.
1. “Love.”
2. “Fear.”
3. “Lust.”
4. “Mourning.”
5. “It’s complicated.”
6. “Can we not talk about this?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Okay. Then let’s try something a little easier. What did you feel about me when you said you wanted to 'have fuck with me?'” There's a wry smile as she says this.
AUTHORITY [Medium: Success] - Tell her off for bringing it up again.
1. “Part of me wanted to turn away and keep walking so that someone as pretty as you didn’t have to see my bloated face.”
2. “I thought you were attractive.”
3. “I really wasn’t thinking, I was just acting.”
4. “I was nervous, and wanted you to think I was cool.”
5. “Don’t bring that up again.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She chuckles at this. “I meant more like feelings, but I can work with this. Is there anyone else who you’ve met that’s made you ‘just act’?”
SUGGESTION [Easy: Success] - You’ve been trying to ask Lilienne out for a while.
SUGGESTION [Heroic: Success] - And then there was the Smoker on the Balcony.
SUGGESTION [Impossible: Failure] - And that’s it.
1. “Yes, Lilienne, a woman in the fishing village.
2. “Yes, a Smoker on the Balcony.”
3. “Yes, Lilienne, a woman in the fishing village and a Smoker on the Balcony.”
4. “Nope.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Tell me more about this Smoker on the Balcony.”
REACTION SPEED [Medium: Success] - You failed to mention the Smoker’s gender.
LOGIC [Formidable: Success] - It’s also a description that could be applied to her.
SUGGESTION [Godly: Failure] - It's just a meaningless pattern. Don't think too hard about it.
1. “He was a possible witness to the murder.”
2. “He’s a youngish man, slim build. His shirt is always unbuttoned despite the cold. He’s got well defined cheekbones and feline eyes.”
3. “He’s the one who told me about the Homo-Sexual Underground.”
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Medium: Success] - Her lips curl upwards slightly when you say “he”.
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Oh really? So, you met this man and he made you 'just act' like you did with me.”
YOU - “Yes.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She shifts her arms slightly, trying to keep warm in the night breeze. “What conclusions do you think you could draw from that?”
1. [VOLITION: Heroic] Just come out and say it already.
2. “I don’t know.”
3. “I don’t want to know.”
VOLITION [Heroic: Success] - In one fell swoop you’re able to come to your conclusion, formulate a sentence, and cut through your composure to say it.
YOU - “I’m attracted to men and women.”
COMPOSURE - Huh. That wasn’t as horrifying as I thought it would be.
VOLITION [Easy: Success] - It’s something about yourself that you’ll have to get used to, but it feels good to say.
ENDURANCE [Easy: Success] - Like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders.
DRAMA [Medium: Success] - You’ve finally discarded a role that you’ve been playing for others.
COMPOSURE [Challenging: Success] - Not exactly. There will always be a part of you that thinks it’s easier to put up the mask. You’ll never truly escape the urge to tuck your gut and hide yourself when it looks like it’s a more convenient way to live.
VOLITION [Easy: Success] - But now you know how to fight those feelings, and understand how harmful they actually are.
INLAND EMPIRE [Medium: Success] - Each day will get a little easier. Those feelings will become more fleeting. You’ll never escape them, but you’ll come to love the contentment that ignoring those feelings brings.
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Congrats. Welcome to the ‘Homo-Sexual Underground’. Or in our cases, the Bi-Sexual Underground.”
ENCYCLOPEDIA [Heroic: Failure] - Sorry can’t help you here. The dictionary isn’t working today.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Medium: Success] - She said sexual, so that’s definitely something you can get down with.
YOU - “Bi-Sexual?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “It means you’re attracted to your gender and the opposite gender.”
CONCEPTUALIZATION [Medium: Success] - A label that fits you like a glove.
YOU - “So, what do I do now?”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She furrows her brow, unsure how to answer the question. “What do you want to do?”
YOU - “I don’t know my options.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She sighs and looks out at the Martinaise inlet. “There’s really not a lot. Like I said before, there’s few opportunities for same sex relationships. With you being a police officer, your options would be even more limited. Homo-sexuals and the police don’t mix.”
LOGIC [Formidable: Success] - Homo-sexuals tend to be more hesitant when talking to police, often using fake names and dodging questions that could lead to their sexualities being revealed.
REACTION SPEED [Medium: Success] - That’s probably why the Smoker on the Balcony was so hesitant to talk to you. Cops often spell trouble for homo-sexuals, and he only opened up to you once he knew you were safe.
SUGGESTION [Formidable: Success] - After you unconsciously flirted with him he became more relaxed around you, and he became even more so when you showed interest in the underground.
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She turns back to you. “You could cruise, I guess. You could just ignore this whole conversation and try to stick to women, but I’d advise against it. Denying a part of yourself to be with someone doesn’t end well. You could also try to wait out for someone who doesn't mind being with a bi-sexual cop, but that’ll probably take a while.”
YOU - “I’m not a big fan of any of those options.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She chuckles, but her eyes are sad. “That’s life for you. You’d think we’d have a larger dating pool, and we do to a certain extent, but it’s still a struggle. Don’t let me get you down though, it’s not that bad.”
YOU - “I still don’t understand what I’m supposed to do.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Just do what feels right. You don’t need to pursue a relationship if you don’t want to. I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful. I’m not the best when it comes to stuff like this, I barely have it sorted out for myself. Maybe you can find someone else who can explain all this stuff better than I can?”
LOGIC [Medium: Success] - You already know a few homo-sexuals, and you’ll probably meet more. They’d have advice for you if you’d just ask.
YOU - “No, this has been helpful. At least I know what to call myself now.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - “Of course, officer.” She smiles and unfolds her arms. She reaches into her cardigan and pulls out her pack of cigarettes. “Care for a cigarette?”
1. “Sure.”
2. “Nah.”
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - She lights the cigarette before handing it to you.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Medium: Success] - Should have let you light it yourself. You can get more out of it that way.
KLAASJE (MISS ORANJE DISCO DANCER) - Her back is turned to you now as she stares off into the Insulindian Sea. She sighs as she takes a drag off of her cigarette.
SHIVERS [Easy: Success] - The night continues in Revachol. Fewer and fewer will wander it’s streets, instead preferring the embrace of their homes. The stars shine on those who stay awake and the breeze slows into soft breaths as the city is lulled to sleep.