Conversation · Perception

"Keep it, lieutenant. As a gift."

"No-no, you deserve it. We can log it later." The lieutenant drops the bag in your bloody hand. It feels light.

"Keep it, lieutenant. Also, I'm sorry for calling you a binoclard."

"Don't be silly." A smile comes across his face. "You've earned it. Consider the binoclard episode forgotten." The lieutenant drops the bag in your bloody hand. It feels light.

"Fucking beautiful..."

Whisper: "I got it."

"Good-good..." The fridge in the background buzzes with excitement.

"My pig's fucking got it!"

He's watching his old man get the big prize at the claw game.

"What?! WHAT is it?"

You push your hand further in. Whatever is in there keeps rolling between your fingers as you beckon it to come out.

"Fucking shit."

"I can't get it..."

"A little help, lieutenant?"

Inspect the skull first.

There's a tiny crack, a protrusion in the cranium, right in the back of his head. Your finger must be pointing straight at it. From the inside.

The object that is in there stopped just short of the skull, in the encephalus, knocking this tiny fracture into the cranium...

This is the irregularity you felt before. The one that was too tiny to register consciously.

"We have the makings of a... very small exit wound here." The lieutenant leans closer.

"Forget about the fucking exit wound, bino! THE PIG IS WEARING HIM LIKE A FUCK PUPPET!"

Her voice is absolutely sizzling with excitement.

"I feel a solid object, right under the skull."

"Can you... can you get to it?" He searches his pockets for something.

Punch a hole through his mouth.

The cartilage gives in with a crack, like some fruit. Just like that your hand is in his head. Strange fluid streams down your wrist -- and then you feel it, with the tip of your finger...

"There's a cavity... cut right between the hemispheres."

The lieutenant answers with the sound of his pen on paper.

"Fuckin' CAVITY C..." Cuno's voice is hushed.

Quivering with awe.

Feel around first.

The basal ganglia feels clumpy -- what entered here has torn apart his reptilian complex.

This man will never sleep again. Never wake.

The funk soul brother at the back of his head has gone dark. Forever.

Brain stem?

Yes. That's what this part is called.

You've seen the drawings. You've studied them.

"The fuck is happening?!"

"Oh shit, C..."

Say: "Fuck yeah."

"Mhm," he agrees. "Keep going."

Cuno nods too. He takes a step closer.

Say: "Abrasion collar."

"I see it..." The lieutenant looks in. There's a pen in his hand. His notebook is open at the red pages.

Cuno is silent.

No. Touch something else.

You're not far, it'll come to you, keep crawling...

Crawl up his nostrils.

They are swollen shut -- you need to really push to get in.

Push your fingers in his nose.

Only the little one fits. The flesh changes shape as you bore in, searching for something in the cartilage.

The thing you're looking for -- it's not there. Crawl out, spider...

"The fuck is he doing?" You hear a voice squeak. It sounds very far away.

Touch something else.

Squeeze his nose.

You pick it between your fingers. The mass feels large, very porous somehow. Keep crawling, lest you break it...

Suddenly, you recall: Two officers must be present for a field autopsy. You take your hand from the dead man's face and open your eyes. You will still need to come back with the lieutenant.

You touch the dead man's body. His skin is cold, light blue and silvery in the light of the fridge. You still have no idea where to begin -- or what to even do with him...

"Klaasje told us the bullet hit him in the mouth -- try putting your hand there..."

It seems he is leaving you no choice in the matter.

"If the Hardies are to be trusted, there should be a bullet in there..." The lieutenant looks at you. "Try putting your hand in his mouth and probing for the bullet in his head."