#or perhaps you also have some cryptozoologists in the family too?

[soledadcatalina]

you know..... i wrote that fic about kim's parents thinking about their experience as a biracial family and how their deaths were racially motivated. and all i can think is, hey boss, where's your white relatives now?

#ramblings #why did they never claim kim? did they try to? did they die too? #is there shame? #is there guilt? #it would fuck with him so hard if they ever did try to reach out to him *after* he discovered the phasmid #like congratulations! here's your totally average revacholian family that see you and want to meet you kim :) #why dont you come over to dinner - the family reunion -and let's see how many minutes it takes to address the elephant in the room #would it hurt more if it were three minutes or three hours? #were they the ones to identify your parents bodies? #were they the ones to inform you that your father a terribly unpleasant man? what gave them that impression? #did they see your name in the newspapers and make the connection #or perhaps you also have some cryptozoologists in the family too? #im sorry this is also making me insane #disco elysium

[disco-elysium-via-polls]

"You mean, there is an immortal geologist wandering the world?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Yes, and she's quite mad too -- after she treated herself with the bacteria, she stopped ageing, but also became increasingly eccentric and irascible, so that even her oldest friends were forced to pull away..."

"We can assume that she has been living somewhere in the wilderness for decades now, all alone except for the *Cryobacter katlensis* coursing through her bloodstream..."

3. "What's the most dangerous cryptid?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "The Gnome of Geroma." She pauses for effect.

"The Gnome of Geroma? That sounds terrifying."

"The Gnome of Geroma? That doesn't sound too bad."

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Oh -- it is. None of its victims survived. Grieving relatives never even found their bodies because the Gnome's venom *dissolved* organic tissue."

"What did this cryptid look like?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "It *was* reportedly a small creature -- with webbed fingers and a protruding forehead. An ungainly little thing. Quite scary to look at."

"A couple of campers found it when it was already dying. They heard an odd wailing in the woods and followed the sound. They were scared and wrapped it in tarpaulin to suffocate it."

She looks at you, her 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 can't help himself, "why aren't there detailed illustrations of it in science textbooks? Confirming the existence of this very lethal species?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Alas, the first scientist who got his hands on the creature's corpse put it in a jar of formaldehyde, thinking that would detoxify the Gnome's venom."

Instead, all the venom leaked out of the creature's 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.

4. "Is that a cryptid on this pen you gave me?" (Take out the pen she gave you.)

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Yes! It's the kind green ape. Half war story, half undiscovered species in the genus homo."

"War story?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Yes. It was reported by soldiers in South Safre during the war. The kind green ape would visit bunkers during the night, healing wounded soldiers with its saliva."

"Wow. With it's saliva?"

"And there was something about an undiscovered sub-species of man?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Yes. It has amazing healing qualities. Some soldiers reported growing back limbs, regaining their sight..."

"And there was something about an undiscovered sub-species of man?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Indeed there is! It's our closest relative among the cryptids. Same taxonomic family, different genus."

"Which is to say, the kind green ape is a species with which we share a common ancestor and that evolved parallel to our own -- just like your partner's!"

"I knew it, Kim! You're not human!"

"I'm pretty sure Kim is the same species as us... to suggest otherwise is stupid."

"Hah, that's why I always have to take the lead -- right, Kim?"

KIM KITSURAGI - The lieutenant looks at you, pleasantly surprised.

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Oh, no, I didn't mean to imply that Seolites are inferior to us. In many ways," she turns to the lieutenant, "you are superior. For example, your earwax doesn't have a foul odour like ours does."

KIM KITSURAGI - "A tremendous evolutionary advantage, I'm sure. But perhaps we've had enough speculative biology for today?"

5. "Are there any *invisible* cryptids?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "What an interesting question! And the answer is: yes, there are!"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Of course. All fairy tales have someone or something invisible in them."

"You're right, Kim, it's childish, but I need to know."

"Shush, Kim, she's gonna tell me about the invisible cryptid. What is it?"

KIM KITSURAGI - "Okay. I won't spoil your fun," the lieutenant concedes. "What is the invisible cryptid?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "It's the *Col Do Ma Ma Daqua*," the woman corrects her glasses. "Its name means 'thin whisper of sound'. And that's *precisely* what it is -- self-replicating sound waves, invisible and intangible! The Col Do Ma Ma is very afraid of us, which makes it incredibly difficult to track..."

"What does it, um, sound like?"

"Could it be *here*?" (Look around.) "Right now?"

"What evidence is there of this animal being a sound?"

"Why is the Ma Ma Daqua so afraid of us?"

"Interesting. What about..." (Conclude.)

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Like nothing. It's such a high-pitched sound that us humans can't hear it -- nor can other animals. It could be ringing right outside your window -- and you wouldn't even know it! It could be anywhere -- everywhere, even..."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Fine I'll bite." The lieutenant looks at her sceptically. "How can an animal be a sound?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Many scientists have asked the same question -- some have claimed that it isn't *itself* a sound, but a tiny *corpuscle* that emits sound waves. But there's no evidence to support this theory."

2. "Could it be *here*?" (Look around.) "Right now?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "It could be," she says calmly. "As I said, it could be *everywhere*, and we wouldn't know any better. It could be ringing all the days of our lives -- *and* nights."

3. "What evidence is there of this animal being a sound?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Plenty. It's the evidence that led to its discovery. In the Twenties, a group of Areopagite ornithologists -- that is, scientists who study birds -- were trying out a new recording technology for capturing sounds outside the range of human hearing."

"When playing back recordings they had made in the foothills of the Ea mountain range, they noticed... certain anomalies -- patterns that seemed random at first, but, on closer examination, were consistent with the waveforms of song birds..."

"Mhm, song birds."

Just nod eagerly.

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S 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 frequencies -- even higher than those of the highest-pitched bat calls."

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] - She *transforms* when speaking about these strange animals -- into a confident woman.

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "They realized that they had discovered a new species -- and called it the Col Do Ma Ma Daqua. After the Perikarnassian name for the voice of god, which is said to be *very* silent."

"Wow."

"Go on."

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Mhm. They grew quite obsessed with these little birds -- even though they couldn't see them, they could distinguish among individual birds and," she smiles, "even began to *name* some of them."

"Name them?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Sequester. Thyme. Josquin --" She nods. "Those are but some of the Ma Ma Daqua they followed individually."

4. "Why is the Ma Ma Daqua so afraid of us?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "That is a sad story." She frowns. "A group of university students assisting with the field work, in their enthusiasm for the project and, no doubt, because they were preoccupied with impressing their professors, nearly drove it to *extinction*."

"Extinction?"

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - She nods gravely. "They tried to communicate with it, and had no other means but sound. So they started sending out sound waves at frequencies they thought might match the Ma Ma Daqua's. And what happens when a sound wave meets another sound wave of the same frequency, dear?"

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] - This lady really should be a teacher. She's really good at the explaining things thing.

"They cancel each other out."

"They amplify each other."

"I don't know."

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S 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 CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "After that, the corpuscle appears to have migrated elsewhere. There have been recordings of anomalies similar to those spotted in Ea -- but they've been few and far between. It's impossible to confirm the presence of any stable Col Do Ma Ma Daqua population anywhere."

KIM KITSURAGI - "Of course. A common thread in these -- disappearance and unfalsifiability..." He concedes: "I liked the story, though, ma'am."

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "I'm glad you did, dear." She seems genuinely glad.

5. "Interesting. What about..." (Conclude.)

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - She smiles gently. "What about what?"

6. "Man, I just can't get enough of these cryptids."

LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - She grins. "I'm glad you liked them, but I'm not really one to tell you about *all* of them. You should ask my husband if you get the chance. He's the real expert."

6. "That's all for now, ma'am." [Leave.]

Let's follow up with Garte about the phone.

GARTE, THE CAFETERIA MANAGER - "Can I help you?" He arches an eyebrow.

2. "Garte, I saw another *thing* at the Whirling..."

GARTE, THE CAFETERIA MANAGER - "Another thing -- great. I love those."

2. "So the phone line is dead?"

GARTE, THE CAFETERIA MANAGER - "Yes, and the phone company is taking its sweet time sending someone to fix it." He shakes his head and adds: "Losers."

"That's pretty strange."

"Is it true that there was foul play?"

GARTE, THE CAFETERIA MANAGER - "It's not *strange*, it's inconvenient."

"Is it true that there was foul play?"

GARTE, THE CAFETERIA MANAGER - He wrinkles his nose. "Who told you that?"

"Lena."

"I would never disclose my sources. That would be dishonourable."

"It doesn't matter. I just want to know who you suspect."

GARTE, THE CAFETERIA MANAGER - "Fine, yeah, it looked like someone had messed with the wiring. It was shortly after the hanging, but I don't know if it's at all related... Plenty of assholes around here who aren't murderers."

"If you do find out who cut the line, though, let me know so I can forward them the repair bill."

4. "Good bye." [Leave.]

The tomatoes are so thinly sliced, you can see through them.

GORACY KUBEK - A thin man is smoking below an exhaust hood, occasionally sipping from his mug. This must be the Whirling's cook.

As you step in, he nods towards the table and says something in a completely foreign language. The only words you can make out are 'gorący' and 'kubek'.

LOGIC [Medium: Failure] - It must be his name. Gorący, Gorący Kubek... Sounds representative.

#disco elysium #kim kitsuragi #lena the cryptozoologist's wife #garte the cafeteria manager #goracy kubek