Chapter Text
HYPOTHALAMUS: Back already huh?
HIPPOCAMPUS : The slow ballet of amalgamated dust clouds must be alluring. Comforting. Welcoming.
1 : I've been here before haven't I?
2 : Swirl around the nearest moon in silence
HIPPOCAMPUS : Many, many times. No matter how long you tried to stay awake, no matter how many times you stretched your limits trying to forget the quiet comfort of the universe, you couldn't help but return. Over and over. Sometimes for weeks at a time.
HYPOTHALAMUS : Driven by hatred.
1 : What did I hate?
2 : Who did I hate?
3 : Why did I hate?
THRILL-SEEK : She was boring.
PLANKELN : She was weak.
ENTREGENT : She was beloved.
FORM AND VOID (Medium : Success) : Her face was always the first one to melt away.
HIPPOCAMPUS : The gravitational pull of the bright white star swings you around for another spin. Its light burns cold, unable to penetrate your mineral bones and warm anything beyond the thinnest crust of discarded rocks.
HYPOTHALAMUS : She doesn't matter anymore.
HIPPOCAMPUS : The galaxy is still spinning.
PERCEPTION (Touch) : Drips of cold water lazily roll down the sides of your face, snaking through your coarse beard, finding the warm beat of your jugular.
HYPOTHALAMUS : Try as you might. This is only ever temporary.
REACTION SPEED (Challenging : Success) : Your hand shots up from your side and grabs a wrist suspended above you, before you could even realize that a hand was slowly approaching your chest.
FORM AND VOID : To touch a ghost.
A VOICE FROM ABOVE YOUR HEAD : Marco?
You open your eyes with difficulty and find yourself staring at a carpeted ceiling, an electric chandelier that lost most of its crystal pendants, and the silhouette of a man leaning over you.
HALF-LIGHT (Medium : Failure) : HE'S TRYING TO KILL YOU, BITE HIM, KICK HIS FACE, RUN
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT : Your grip around the man's wrist is solid - if you just twist it hard enough, he will never try again.
LOGIC (Challenging : Success) : The fact that the man has not killed you while you were passed out seems to indicate that he has no intention of doing so. At least, not urgently.
1 : [Physical Instrument : Challenging] Twist the offending wrist.
2 : THRASH. BITE. INSTILL FEAR INTO THIS MAN'S HEART.
3 : Let go of the man's hand.
KINO-PRAVDA (Medium : Success) : You keep making very reasonable decisions. Are you a reasonable man? Or have you been forced to become one?
You relax your grip around the stranger's hand. As you do so, your gaze focuses on him, adjusting slowly to the light - the hand you just released is holding a damp towelette.
THE FACE OF THE VOICE FROM ABOVE YOU : The roundish shape of the head is softened even more as it becomes clear that what surrounds half of it is a thick black beard. The framing of it doesn't stop there, since his eyes are staring at you from behind two small glass rectangles.
EMPATHY (Easy : Success) : The crease in his brow is a worried one.
THE FACE OF THE VOICE FROM ABOVE YOU : "Marco? Can you hear me?"
1 : "Loud and clear, mysterious man."
2 : "I'll ask the questions for now. I have a lot of them. Because I don't remember anything."
3 : "I don't think so, at least I can't hear anything that makes any GOD DAMN SENSE!!"
THE FACE OF THE VOICE FROM ABOVE YOU : The man recoils slightly when you answer. More of the chandelier's light floods his form and you can now clearly see a forty-something man with short, thick wavy black hair and matching facial hair. His glasses have thin, clear rims, behind which a pair of dark brown eyes are staring. His skin is several shades darker than yours.
FOOT IN THE DOOR (Easy : Success) : This man looks shaken. Unstable, not in the sense that he is on the verge of collapse, more so that what he is relying on might crumble at any moment.
THE FACE OF THE VOICE FROM ABOVE YOU : "Mysterious man? What are you talking about?"
1 : "I'll ask the questions for now. I have a lot of them. Because I don't remember anything."
THE FACE OF THE VOICE FROM ABOVE YOU : "You're the one who disappeared for 24 hours and stumbled into this room, incoherent and puking!" The man sighs and steps back to sit on a chair next to the bed. "Alright. Fine. Question me again. But then you'll have to give me some kind of answer. And no evading this time."
EMPATHY (Easy : Success) : This man is a patient man. He has had to face frustration and annoyance many times. However, you are dangerously close to finding out what will happen if he runs out of patience.
TAPESTRY (Medium : Success) : You're sitting at a table, clutching a kitchen knife in your small, squishy hand. You are deliberately carving into the old wood, raking the metal blade in its flesh, watching the splinters being scraped off with fascination. The knife is slowly pulled from your grip by a much bigger hand. It tenses slightly but the voice coming from above is calm. "I said no."
You sit up in the bed, now level with the subject of your questioning.
1 : "Who am I?"
2 : "Who are you?"
3 : "Where are we?"
THE FACE OF THE VOICE FROM THE CHAIR NEXT TO THE BED : "I am your informant. Your source, for your story. I contacted your paper and they sent you here to talk to me in person." His shoulders are tense and he knots his fingers together across his lap, leaning forward to impart the importance of his words.
PLÄNKELN (Easy : Success) : A secondary mark, believed to be low enough on everyone's radar to not make waves. A ghost to chase in a ghost town.
THE FACE OF THE VOICE FROM THE CHAIR NEXT TO THE BED : "My name is Matías." When he sees that this does not get a reaction out of you, he tries again. "Matías Ortiz?" Another pause. "Matías Apolinar Ortiz Gallardo?!"
THRILL-SEEK : The mounting irritation in his voice lets through the accent he was trying to conceal before. This slight twinge of anger quickens your heart - yes, yes, yes.
ENCYCLOPEDIA (Medium : Success) : Vesperite citizens and people of Vespertine origins follow a naming convention that includes a forename, composite or not, as well as two last names, first their father's last name, then their mother's.
LOGIC (Trivial : Success) : Considering the order in which he gave them, Matías Apolinar is his composite forename, Ortiz his father's and Gallardo his mother's.
You do not remember anybody of that name.
MATÍAS APOLINAR ORTIZ GALLARDO : Seeing as you didn't seem to react to any of his attempts, he shakes his head. "Well, in any case, that's who I am. I was waiting for you to come back and you just... Didn't turn up until today."
REACTION SPEED : Alright sorry to interrupt but that's a pretty long name. I need a shorter version.
LOGIC (Trivial : Success) : He gave you two shorter versions, use those.
PANACHE (Medium : Success) : It would be devastatingly predictable. Far from the devil-may-care attitude you're known for.
CONCEPTUALIZATION : I have selected a few options for your perusing.
1 : Matías
2 : Matías Ortiz
3 : Matty
4 : Polly
5 : The Informant
6 : Or-Tease
7 : Bino
PANACHE : An excellent choice. That was actually my favorite.
FOOT IN THE DOOR (Challenging : Failure) : You have now been blankly staring at Matías for about ten seconds and the silence is stretching.
EMPATHY : He is worried you might pass out again. You should say something.
1 : "Who am I?"
2 : "Where are we?"
POLLY : "You... You really don't remember anything at all." His hands are still tangled together, but seem to weave more tightly each time you speak.
EMPATHY (Easy : Success) : The realization is only hitting him now. He is trying his best to stay calm.
POLLY : "Alright. I don't know you well because... We only met yesterday, for the first interview, at the hotel lobby. You introduced yourself as Marco Ree-zo, a journalist for the «Jamrock Sentry»."
CONCEPTUALIZATION (Medium : Failure) : Sorry, I can't seem to go past that phonetic spelling.
POLLY : "You told me they'd sent you following my phonecall. You asked me a few things and before leaving, you told me to wait in your room, to make sure I'd be safe." He momentarily stops wringing his hands and lets out a sigh. "You said you'd be back in one or two hours. I thought of leaving but I was worried something might have happened to you." He looks up, leaving his sentence suspended in the air between you.
FOOT IN THE DOOR (Easy : Success) : There is a question poorly hidden in this statement, and yet...
LOGIC (Easy : Success) : He has elements of the answer - he probably inspected you for wounds before dragging you to the bed.
FOOT IN THE DOOR : He is looking for a confirmation of what he saw. Don't give it all right away and he'll provide what he has.
1 : I have no idea what happened.
2 : I woke up in a dumpster with no memory of what happened... Or of anything else to be fair.
3 : Some people tried to kill me and left me in a dumpster.
4 : I'm pretty sure someone hit my head hard enough to wipe my memory clean and left me for dead in a dumpster. Then a homeless man pulled me out, but I think I made him uncomfortable.
POLLY : The man stirs in his chair for a moment. "I'm no doctor, but when you passed out, I checked your head and found a wound at the back of it. It wasn't bleeding but it obviously had been previously..."
EMPATHY (Easy : Success) : He feels uncomfortable talking about this.
FOOT IN THE DOOR (Challenging : Failure) : You were pretty gross after all, it's understandable. Probably better to not push it.
POLLY : "That's probably why you passed out. I thought of taking you to a hospital but..."
ENTREGENT (Medium : Success) : ...But I need you.
1 : Where are we?
POLLY : "In a hotel, although that's probably not the answer you're looking for. I guess... We're in Grand Couron, which is a neighborhood of Jamrock. And... Jamrock is part of Revachol. It's on the West side of the River Esperance, which splits Revachol in two. Revachol is a city, on an island called Le Caillou."
ENCYCLOPEDIA (Easy : Success) : The series of names brings up a long list of other names, all inextricably interconnected, pouring inside your head.
FORM AND VOID (Challenging : Failure) : They all twist into three dimensional shapes, bending into judging angles towards you. You can't read them like this, not while they're staring.
TAPESTRY (Medium : Success) : You lose yourself again in the contemplation of the map on the wall of the classroom. Its edges are torn, its colors are faded, but in the jumbled mess of lines trying to express your whole world, you see an immobile pulsation, tides of people and resources pulled by gravitational forces. The moons are small, but their influence enormous, bending flows towards and away from them at their whim : Le Delta, Le Jardin, INSURCOM, and many more pulling at the corners of the world from beyond the limits of the paper map. You find yourself untangling those threads in your mind, again and again, to learn its architecture, like a labyrinth you want to escape.
ETHOS (Easy : Success) : But in the end you didn't escape. You had made a map and you wanted others to use it, rather than keeping it for yourself.
PLÄNKELN (Easy : Success) : To show others that you figured it out - to expose your foes' weaknesses - to better strike when the time comes.
You nod, letting Matías know that you understand, in some way.
COMPOSURE (Formidable: Failure) : It's becoming increasingly difficult to focus on what he has to say. You are still sore, you still reek, your clothes are stiff with dried sweat and you are being stared at by a stranger in a hotel room you don't remember renting. The situation could bear some improvements.
ENTREGENT (Challenging : Success) : But don't let it show. Polly is clearly watching your every reaction and your behavior will inform his.
1 : "Thank you Polly. I understand that this must be destabilizing for you and I do want to help you find answers. But first I need to take a shower and change."
2 : "Thank you Matías. I understand that this must be destabilizing for you and I do want to help you find answers. But first I need to take a shower and change."
POLLY : The hands that were tangled separate to help lift him from the depths of the comfortable armchair. "You're right. Sorry. This must be tough for you, I'll let you breathe for now."
EMPATHY (Medium : Success) : There it is again - that discomfort.
POLLY : He grabs the chair by its armrests and lifts it with a quiet grunt, taking it to the other end of the room, looking towards the window-
SAVOIR-FAIRE : And away from the bathroom door.
POLLY : He sits back down and pulls out a small paperback book from his jacket pocket.
ENTREGENT (Trivial : Success) : Giving you some privacy.
REACTION SPEED : Did you see him lift that chair? This thing is padded on top of solid wood.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT (Trivial : Success) : He barely strained too. Those broad shoulders are not for show.
THRILL SEEK (Medium : Success) : He could beat your ass.
PAIN THRESHOLD (Challenging : Success) : Bring it on baby.
ETHOS (Easy : Success) : Focus. Shower. You stink.
You carefully extract yourself from the bed, getting a longer look at the room as you slowly make your way to the bathroom. As you remember from your glorious entrance, the floor is carpeted, thick and soft, yielding under your feet. The walls are adorned with dark wood paneling that must have shined at some point in the past, as well as a few tarnished paintings of mountainous landscapes. Every piece of furniture looks like it cost more than it was worth, and everything is in some shade of red or maroon that all have aged into dessicated browns.
LOGIC (Easy : Success) : It was made to feel as luxurious as humanly possible, to attract the wealthiest clientèle.
CONCEPTUALIZATION (Medium : Success) : It looks like the puffy velvet intestine of some marvelously rich mummy.
INTERFACING (Medium : Success) : The intestines of the city itself are snaking along the wall there, next to the bathroom door.
You take a second look at the tubes, which at some point might have been clear but now had a slightly gross yellow tint. Two glass tubes, going from the ceiling to the floor, flush against the wall, seem to be waiting for you.
1 : Look closer
2 : Ignore them for now
You approach and notice that both of them are segmented, at about shoulder height, so that they may be opened, with a little door fashioned into each one.
INTERFACING (Easy : Success) : Your fingers itch to wrap around the minuscule brass knob on the side and open one. You can almost feel the slight suction of air resisting your pull.
LOGIC (Trivial : Success) : It seems like some kind of transportation system, but it's lacking something right now.
FORM AND VOID (Medium : Failure) : The tubes stay still and silent, no matter how snake-like you find them.
1 : Ignore them for now
You turn back towards the bathroom and push the door, stepping on warm tiles.
PERCEPTION (Smell) (Easy : Success) : Someone else has been here before you and left the soft imprint of their scent behind. It's fresh, lingering on your tongue, with a sliver of sharp mint.
LOGIC (Medium : Success) : Aftershave.
The first thing you see when you enter is the shower, directly in front of you - dark blue tiles inside of it, a half-open clear plastic door separating it from the rest of the room.
INTERFACING (Medium : Success) : It's more recent than the rest. Probably replaced after the glass one was shattered.
To your left is a light blue sink - and there's the bottle of aftershave, as well as a razor. Then, the mirror.
FORM AND VOID (Easy : Success) : Are you ready to melt away for good?
HALF LIGHT (Challenging : Failure) : Fists up, head down, you never know, it might be a one way mirror.
ETHOS (Medium : Success) : It would be shameful to run from your own reflection, even if nobody found out about it.
COMPOSURE (Challenging : Success) : You can take it.
You take a deep breath and step in front of the mirror, only to find...
KINESTHETIC MEMORY (Easy : Success) : Dark blonde hair long enough to run your fingers through, but too short to tie up properly. It tickles the back of your neck and the sides of your face.
THRILL-SEEK (Easy : Success) : A blooming bruise on the side of your face, stretching from your cheek to your temple.
CONCEPTUALIZATION (Easy : Success) : Eyes that could be the color of the sea if the sea was reflecting a particularly thick cover of rainclouds.
PANACHE (Easy : Success) : The moustache and ghost of a beard that someone might find on some kind of tortured poet.
ENTREGENT (Medium : Success) : Or an ill-advised teenager trying to look cool.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT (Medium : Success) : A narrow build that might have been maintained years ago, but that now betrayed some kind of sedentary slope.
FORM AND VOID (Challenging : Failure) : Your face remains solid, stuck to your skull and refusing to budge.
PERCEPTION (Trivial : Success) : To be fair, you look like sh*t.
KINO PRAVDA (Easy : Success) : It's you, for what it's worth.
After a few seconds of staring into the thirty something man in the mirror, you shake the confusion and turn away. You really, really need that shower.
