Chapter Text
[PRECINCT 41] - Even at this time of night, the precinct rattles like an unquiet ghost. Secretaries outnumber officers five to one, and they stay late, punching typewriters like the automatic sewing machines which pierced thick silk in this building all those years ago. It’s late, even for a city which likes the night...
[ESPRIT DE CORPS] - In fifteen minutes, Lt. Kim Kitsuragi will return with two coffees. You have that much time to prepare for the interview. It’s time for some cold, hard police work.
[ YOU - Wait, what interview? ]
[COMPOSURE] - Uh-oh, buddy.
[ESPRIT DE CORPS] - You’re interviewing a suspect.
[YOU] - What are they suspected of doing?
[YOU] - Look around for your ledger.
[ YOU - What are they suspected of doing? ]
[AUTHORITY] - Crime.
[DRAMA Trivial: Failure] - This will go really well!
[YOU] - Smack the side of your head.
[ YOU - Look around for your ledger. ]
[PRECINCT 41] - The Precinct is as tidy as a bombsite. Paperwork, probably the supposedly confidential kind, is piled on every horizontal surface and an attempt has been made to colonize the vertical surfaces too. Moldy coffee cups dot the white piles and a pair of old shoes sticks out from one of the nearby tables.
[PERCEPTION Medium: Failure] - There! Oh, no, that’s someone else’s ledger.
[ENDURANCE] - This calls for more drastic measures. What’s worked in the past?
[YOU] - Smack the side of your head.
[ YOU - Smack the side of your head ]
[???] - Ouch. I’m glad I can’t feel that.
[REACTION SPEED] - HELLO? Who the hell is that?
[SUGGESTION] - A new skill?
[PAIN THRESHOLD] - I thought I had cornered the market on revelations through self-abuse.
[ELECTRO-CHEMISTRY] - Speak for yourself.
[YOU] - I don’t recognise that voice. It’s different from the others.
[ENCYCLOPEDIA] - He’s foreign. The accent isn’t Revacholian.
[INLAND EMPIRE] - Traveler from a secluded land. Wind shifts the white sand from great dunes which arch taller than any building you’ve ever seen. He’s as much a stranger as to be an alien.
[???] - Wow, lucky guess. You’re right, I don’t know what Revachol is. Is it a country? You are all Revacholian?
[ENCYCLOPEDIA] - Revachol is a city on the Insulinde. We are now inside the Jamrock police station. Jamrock is a district of Revachol West comprised of the following quarters: Martinaise, Pox, Villalobos, Central Jamrock, Grand-Couron, Old South and the Valley of the Dogs. A great district, filled with a chessboard of wooden houses, 80.000 living souls. Firetraps as far as the eye can see -- from Main Street to Grand Couron, from Precinct 41 to Boogie Street forking into the distant horizon.
[HALF-LIGHT] - You shouldn’t give the interloper so much information. Are you crazy?
[AUTHORITY] - He’s an unwanted disturbance. We should root him out and kill him.
[???] - Sorry to cause such distress. Thank you for the information, Mr. Encyclopedia.
[YOU] - I’ve helped you. Now you help me. Who are you?
[ YOU - I’ve helped you. Now you help me. Who are you? ]
[???] - I’m just a lonely voice in the wind. I drifted here as I fell asleep.
[LOGIC Difficult: Success] - Bullshit.
[HALF-LIGHT] - He wants something from us. Everyone does.
[AUTHORITY] - You see that? He LIED to us. He wouldn’t have done that if he wasn’t guilty.
[LONELY VOICE] - It’s not a lie. I’m asleep somewhere, far away.
[EMPATHY] - Restlessly.
[ELECTRO-CHEMISTRY] - Alone. For the last few months, at least. Someone used to be there, didn’t they?
[YOU] - Wait, tell me more about this *someone*?
[YOU][AUTHORITY - 76%] - Tell me who you are. Now. [x] [x] [x] [x]
[ YOU - wait, tell me more about this *someone*? ]
[LONELY VOICE] - It’s not important.
[EMPATHY] - It hurts to think about them. Like pressing a bruise.
[ELECTRO-CHEMISTRY] - It is important. In fact, it's the *only* important thing. Oh, he was so perfect, wasn’t he? His curls, his straight teeth, his laugh, his thighs… Too bad he’s gone now. And he won’t be coming back, not any time soon.
[LOGIC] - You’ll never get back what you had then. Even if you see him again.
[LONELY VOICE] - What the – how are you getting this?
[AUTHORITY] - You’re in *our* mind, cupcake.
[HALF-LIGHT] - Swimming with our sharks. Surrounded on all sides.
[YOU][AUTHORITY - 50%] - Tell me who you are. Now! (-2 finding him uncomfortably relatable) [x] [x] [x] [x]
[ YOU - Tell me who you are (check: Failure) ]
[YOU] - Tell me who you are!
[LONELY VOICE] - Wow. I didn’t know your voice could crack even if you were just thinking.
[YOU] - Uh…
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “Lieutenant double-yefreitor,” the Lieutenant says as soon as he reaches you. He holds out a cup of black coffee. “Are you prepared for the interview?”
[YOU] - Snap out of your thoughts.
[ YOU - Tell me who you are (check: Success) ]
[YOU] - Tell me who you are!
[LONELY VOICE] - I’m just a humble telecommunications worker.
[AUTHORITY] - He’s not technically lying. But it’s not the full truth. He is the Voice of his community, they sway to his breeze. When he says jump, they say how high, sir? When he speaks, they turn up the volume and listen.
[YOU] - He’s a politico? I hate those.
[AUTHORITY] - Only in the sense that we’re all politicos.
[LOGIC] - Which means no, he isn’t.
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “Lieutenant double-yefreitor,” the Lieutenant says as soon as he reaches you. He holds out a cup of black coffee. “Are you prepared for the interview?”
[YOU] - Snap out of your thoughts.
[ YOU - Snap out of your thoughts ]
[YOU] - “Uh, I actually forgot the details of the case.”
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - With characteristic adaptability, the lieutenant waves a hand. “It will be good revision for me to recount the details.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Ask me anything you’d like.”
[YOU] - “It’s not just the crime, I’ve actually forgotten everything ever, all over again.”
[YOU] - “Actually, I was just joking. I do understand everything.” (proceed)
[YOU] - Just take a sip of your coffee.
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “We’re investigating a shipment of cocaine which had overturned in the bay this morning. It wouldn’t normally be a case for us, but several bodies were also discovered alongside the wreckage. As it stands this case might be passed off to Narcotics, or the Immigration division, or we might work it to completion.”
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “The shipment was from the Wild Pines Staple Foods Division. It was supposed to contain flour, among other things. Instead, it had a white powder… of a different kind.”
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - The Lieutenant gives you a little smile of amusement at his own joke. You smile back.
[YOU] - “Ahem! Thank you. I had more questions…”
[ YOU - Who’s the suspect? ]
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “The suspect is a man named Chance Edwards of uncertain country of origin. He looks Oranjese, but his accent is very thick and undeterminable. He is supposedly the head of coordinations for this shipment from Wild Pines, but he isn’t employed by them. He’s freelance. There’s very little we know about him.”
[YOU] - “He didn’t comply with questioning?”
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “He did… but his answers were unverifiable. He said that his country of origin was Casticete. He didn’t understand our surprise and said he was headed back there after the interview was over. Which… you might be the only other person on the Insulinde who doesn’t know that Casticete was nuked twenty years ago.”
[YOU] - “Couldn’t he have escaped?”
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “One day, I will take you to a local academy to get a basic history education. But no, it’s almost impossible. The radiation would have killed anyone who wasn’t taken by the initial blast. Particularly, it’s impossible that he’s unaware of what happened to his supposed home country.”
[LONELY VOICE] - He’s been suspended, all this time. For him, the blast never happened. Casticete wasn’t nuked, it was swallowed and held in glass. Time didn’t pass.
[YOU] - “He’s a time-traveller?”
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “Hmm. Perhaps we should consider the possibility that he’s just lying first.”
[YOU] - “Oh, right. I had another question, actually…”
[ YOU – It’s not just the crime, I’ve actually forgotten everything ever, all over again. ]
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “Nice try, detective. But if you’ve forgotten *everything*, how do you know it’s happening *all over again*?”
[YOU] - “Um. Déjà vu?”
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “I see. Did you have other questions?”
[ YOU - Just take a sip of your coffee ]
[THE COFFEE] - Dark, bitter liquid fills your mouth. It’s sharp, but it’s bracing, like a north wind. When you swallow, it burns the roof of your mouth and heats up your throat on the way down. It’s good.
[YOU] - “It’s good.”
[LT. KIM KITSURAGIL] - “Isn’t it? Satellite Officer Vicquemare made it.”
[YOU] - “What? If I asked Vic to make me a coffee I think he’d kill me. How’d you do it? Was there some kind of trick?”
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - “No trick. I just don’t piss him off.”
[COMPOSURE] - There’s no arguing with that one.
[YOU] - (change the subject) “Um, well, I had another question…”
[ YOU - I do understand everything ]
[YOU] - Before the words can even leave your mouth, something pops in your head.
[LONELY VOICE] - THAT MAN IS DANGEROUS! He might look like a human, but he isn't one! You need to understand, he won't react like a normal man would -- you have to deal with him before he deals with you.
[DRAMA Check: Failure] - Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's wrong with Kim?
[LOGIC] - He's clearly talking about the suspect, not Kim.
[PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT] - Alright, we need to deal with this stupid freeloader. Who's with me?
[HALF-LIGHT] - No complaints here!
[COMPOSURE] - Kim is giving us a concerned look. Should we really be doing this right now?
[YOU] - "It's all clear now. Let's investigate :)" (Proceed)
[ YOU - Sorry Kim, I have a voice in my head that I need to get rid of real quick. 24 was ok, but 25 is just too many! ]
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] "What the--? But all the preparation we just did…" Kim's dark eyebrows drew together, which was a big expression on such a composed man.
[YOU] - "Oh, actually… I'll reschedule? I can have deep thoughts after the shift's ended."
[ YOU - Oh, actually… I'll reschedule? I can have deep thoughts after the shift's ended. ]
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - "No... No, I apologize for my short temper, it's been a long day." He picked his glasses from his face and began to clean them, closing his tired eyes. There was a moment of silence as he thought. "Have you noticed, your disordered thinking gets worse during stressful moments?"
[YOU] - "You've noticed that?"
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - He nodded. "I've been thinking. You don't stop jogging from Seven AM to whenever the shift ends, even if it's in the early hours of the morning. You're always thinking about your cases, even when you shouldn't be. I'm starting to wonder if your 'deep thoughts' are your body forcing you to take even a minor break."
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - "I'm not sure battling internal voices would be everyone's choice of excuse, but if you need a short break the suspect is not going anywhere. I have some paperwork I can be completing. Come back in forty minutes and let me know if you'd like the night off. Or what's left of it."
[YOU] - "Wow… thank you, Kim."
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - The lieutenant grips your shoulder and gives it an encouraging squeeze. He walks off without saying anything else.
[VOLITION] - You have a strange feeling in your chest, like a trapped bubble of warm air. You feel like there's nothing you can't accomplish, if Kim keeps saying things like that to you.
[EMPATHY] - It's dizzying. The lieutenant cares about you.
[AUTHORITY] - You practically have his permission to squash the new guy like a bug. What are we waiting for?
[COMPOSITION] - You should step outside. You're going to be making some weird faces very soon.
[YOU] - (kick some interloper ass)
[ YOU - It's all clear now. Let's investigate :) ]
[LT. KIM KITSURAGI] - "Good, good. Barring any more major disconnection with reality, this should go pretty smoothly. Follow me."