Conversation · Suggestion

There's really no point in manipulating anyone. You're chummy. Just go on and ask!

"Hey, Lena, I'd really like to hear about some of those juicy cryptids you've studied. Could you tell me about a couple?"

"Oh, I'd be delighted!"

"What's the tiniest cryptid?"

The lieutenant leans in. "Hey, you promised you'd only ask about one cryptid."

"Right, okay, we can move on for now." (It'd be dishonourable to renege on the promise.)

He nods approvingly.

"But, Kim... Don't you want to hear about another cryptid too?"

The lieutenant pauses thoughtfully.

Something in him breaks.

"Ah, fuck it. Let's have more cryptids."

She smiles. "Well, the smallest cryptid is the Cryobacter katlensis, a unicellular bacterium. It was discovered in one of the northern-most points of Katla on the Boreal Plateau -- by renowned geologist Catelyn Mijanou some 70 years ago."

"What's so special about it?"

"The bacterial colony Mijanou found had remained alive while frozen in ice for longer than anyone could reliably estimate -- certainly from before recorded history."

"Mijanou disappeared shortly after injecting herself with the bacteria she had brought back to study -- no doubt, in hopes of prolonging her own life."

"I don't understand. Why would you prolong your life? Being alive is terrible."

"Oh, sweetie, it's not all quite so awful. But prolonging one's life does seem to come with risks."

"After Mijanou 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..."

"Immortal bacteria, immortal geologist? That's too wild."

"Wild, yes. Impossible, no. Although..."

"...everything has a price, sweetie."

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

"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..."

"Wait, she injected herself with it?"

"Yes. The bacteria had survived in the ice since times immemorial. It is not hard to see where she could have gotten the idea."

"It's actually a little hard to see." He looks at her sceptically. "But do go on."

"She was preparing for the end times. She wanted to witness and record the Twilight Proceedings."

"Mhm, Mijanou did talk about the end of the world a great deal before her abrupt departure."

"Everyone thought the bacteria had driven her mad. But she really was a brilliant woman -- maybe the Cryobacter katlensis allowed her to see something no one else could..."

"I intend to live forever too. As a symbol."

"Everything has a price, sweetie."

"I thought we'd agreed on just one cryptid, sweetie."

"Just one or two more, Lena. Pretty please?"

She grins. "Can't say no to that. Well... the smallest cryptid is the Cryobacter katlensis, a unicellular bacterium. It was discovered in one of the northern-most points of Katla on the Boreal Plateau -- by renowned geologist Catelyn Mijanou some 70 years ago."

"But, but... this is so much more interesting than my real job."

"Your work must get quite frustrating. Well, okay, just one or two more..." She grins.

"The smallest cryptid is the Cryobacter katlensis, a unicellular bacterium. It was discovered in one of the northern-most points of Katla on the Boreal Plateau -- by renowned geologist Catelyn Mijanou some 70 years ago."

"Cryobacter katlensis," she answers immediately.

"Cryobacter... katlensis?"

"Yes. A unicellular bacterium that was discovered in one of the northern-most points of Katla on the Boreal Plateau -- by renowned geologist Catelyn Mijanou some 70 years ago."

"Are there any invisible cryptids?"

The lieutenant leans in. "Hey, you promised you'd only ask about one cryptid."

"Right, okay, we can move on for now." (It'd be dishonourable to renege on the promise.)

He nods approvingly.

"But, Kim... Don't you want to hear about another cryptid too?"

The lieutenant pauses thoughtfully.

Something in him breaks.

"Ah, fuck it. Let's have more cryptids."

"Well, the answer is: yes, there is an invisible cryptid."

"What's that?"

"The Col Do Ma Ma Daqua, or 'thin whisper of sound'. And that's precisely what it seems to be -- self-replicating sound waves, invisible and intangible! It's very afraid of us, which makes it incredibly difficult to track."

"Col Do Ma Ma Daqua" can also be translated as "a whisper light and low."

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

"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..."

Just nod eagerly.

"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."

She transforms when speaking about these strange animals -- into a confident woman.