Conversation · Joyce Messier

"...you have me -- I will assist you in any way I can. Even if we have to do it one basic term at a time." She gives you a slight bow.

"Good." The lieutenant returns. "You have not passed out from it. Perhaps I worried for nothing... Are we still on the reality low-down -- or should we do actual policework now?"

"You needn't have worried."

"But I did. Anyway..." He looks around, a little uncomfortable now.

Dammit, you're a grown man, the lieutenant thinks. Shouldn't have gotten protective here.

"Right. Let's get to work lieutenant."

"Good luck, detectives." She nods you good-bye.

"Some more reality lowdown before we go."

"I am happy to oblige." She awaits your question.

"That was fucking insane. Kim."

"Yes, well..." he thinks. "The rest of us have dealt with it for thousands of years, so..." He looks around, a little uncomfortable now.

You will have to deal with it too, the lieutenant thinks. This is why I didn't want you to know.

"Good." The lieutenant returns. "You have not passed out from it. Perhaps I worried for nothing... Are we still on the reality low-down -- or should we do actual policework now?"

"It'll be a fucking disaster, I know it. All those people will die."

"Steel yourself, officer," she says in a reassuring manner. "Your colleague, Lieutenant Kitsuragi -- he is competent. I checked up on him. And you also have me -- I will try to assist you in any way I can."

Some of that assurance is meant for herself, as much as it's meant for you. She must have a lot on the line here.

"Even if we have to do it one basic term at a time." She gives you a slight bow.

"I'll handle it. It's under control."

"Yes. I'm in serious trouble here."

"Your colleague, Lieutenant Kitsuragi, is competent. I checked up on him. And you have me -- I will try to assist you in any way I can."

"You were right. It's disco."

"Who am I to think anything of it?"

"Its advance can only be stopped with immediate, total, ruthless Communism."

"I don't know how you've all survived with it -- it's a huge accomplishment."

"It's terrifying."

"It will end all life."

"A powerful anti-communist force. Perhaps too powerful... but still. They have it coming."

"I'm worried. I have to say, it doesn't sound very liberal to me."

"Nothing. Just alcohol fumes and blackout."

"I'm getting a sense of who I am, but no, I didn't know this."

"Beyond curious... Tell me -- what do you think of the pale?"

"This isn't really an inquiry, is it? You can't remember a single thing -- this is the first time you're hearing about any of this."

"You're right. This is all new to me."

"I'd like to discuss something else, if you don't mind."

"Of course, pardon my prying -- another basic term perhaps, or..." She stands attentively.

"Good." The lieutenant returns. "He has not passed out from it. Perhaps I worried for nothing... Are we still on the reality low-down -- or should we do actual policework now?"

"Good." The lieutenant returns. "He has not passed out from it. Perhaps I worried for nothing... Are we still on the reality low-down -- or should we do actual policework now?"

"No. Nothing like that."

"Of course, how silly of me. Another basic term perhaps?" She stands attentively.

There is no way in any reality that she's still buying your shtick. Better drop it.

"What is entroponetic?"

"Entroponetics," she corrects, "is the scientific study of the pale. Or a recent iteration of it, by way of Graad. The study of the pale reaches back 6,000 years -- the Perikarnassians called it the Western Plain."

They had not travelled the entire circumference of the Perikarnassian super-isola. It was not merely in the West -- it was everywhere. Even then; surrounding them...

"Did they... cross it? The Western Plain?"

"There are signs of pretermodern crossings. Successful navigation of the pale relies not just on technical know-how, but intensive psychological preparation. Some of these tactics have been known for thousands of years."

"What has entroponetics changed then?"

"Nothing. We remain powerless before the pale. The only real advance in pale transit is the speed with which an aerostatic craft can pierce it. Less exposure leads to less... effects later."

"Aerostatic craft?"

"Hybrid airships, detective. Conventional rotors or jet engines no longer add velocity after the point of reference for motion is suspended -- once you've crossed from near pale to far pale..."

"In essence, we throw them in and they come out the other end -- if we throw them precisely."

"If we do not?"

"Then they don't."

Gone -- like a skipping stone beneath the surface.

"If we're surrounded by pale, how do you get from isola to isola?"

"Oh, it is..." Her lungs deflate, her words sound like a sigh, "...so difficult for us."

A squall of birds, hardware operating in the harbour. Firm, self-evident.

"It is possible to force dimensions on the pale -- in modern times we can even compress its latitude, bouncing radio waves from one end to the other. Shortening the path."

"But it is still hard for humans to navigate the pale without getting lost. Or having our minds damaged."

"Is it... here?" (Look around.)

"No, detective, we're safe." She points to the sea. "It begins there, 6,000 kilometres to the north, and even more to the south, east, and west. You are in the middle of the isola."