Conversation · Visual Calculus

"Indeed. Neither do I."

He's used to knowing who to trust. This makes him uncomfortable.

"Of course we don't trust her."

"I don't know. At this point..." He stops mid-sentence.

...what difference does it make?

"Is she trying to tell us the shot came from the islet?"

"Unless she thinks the perpetrator was standing on the ring antenna, that is where the thread seems to point." He nods.

"There are ruins on that islet. A sunken seafort. I saw it through the coin operated viewer."

"I remember." He looks out the window and onto the bay.

The lieutenant looks out the window and onto the bay.

"Cuno. I think the shot might have come from the islet."

"Islet? Like a gimp-island?" He thinks. "I think you're on to something. The shot could've come from there..."

"Is Klaasje trying to tell us the shot came from the islet?"

"Pig..." The kid looks at you with something akin to admiration. "You're really fucking on to something there."

"This is also a location we have yet to rule out." (Proceed.)

"Cool shit, sub-zero shit. Cuno's listening. You got his attention." A nod of approval, then: "So what's next?"

"It won't work. There must be something else I missed."

"Won't work? Sounds like you're avoidin' the truth, pig..." He looks out across the water.

"How are you gonna get to the island? Cuno has his ways, but that ain't for your fat old ass."

"I have no idea. Don't we have... a boat?"

"There's this lady in the village... she..." He pauses, then mumbles: "Uh, yeah, there are boats there... You go. Do shit there, you'll get one. On the coast."

"Lilienne, the Net Picker in the village. She's tarring her boat..."

"Oh..." The boy's eyes dart back and forth. "The village on the coast. Yeah, you do that."

"Maybe someone in the fishing village can help?"

"Looks like we need to go to the island."

The boy squints, looking into the cold distance across the water...

The lead is flimsy. You might as well go around Martinaise looking under every rock and talking to every person -- but what else is there?

He senses danger. Possibly a trap? You shouldn't ignore this -- the kid's got serious street smarts.

There, across the grey water -- amidst crumbling concrete, a birch tree... the ruins of a flak tower, remember?

"Actually, yeah. Let's not go to the island."

"Aw, fuck, pig. We totally gotta go to the island now." He pumps a fist in the air. "Tryna not go to the island... Just one Q."

"You're not... afraid, are you?"

"The island?" He scoffs. "Cuno ain't afraid of fucking anything, pig."

"What else is there?"

"To do, you mean? Nothing. Harbour's closed, everyone's dead. This scene is dead, pig."

"Cuno, let's go to the fucking island."

"Yeah, why fucking not?" He spits on the floor. "Just one question, though --"

"I'm going to the island -- are you in?"

"Fuck yeah I'm in." He spits on the floor.

"I remember an anti-aircraft gun. The ruins of one... on the island."

"Totally what a sniper would use." He squints. "Aircraft gun."

"How did she know how to do this?"

"Cuno's got no fucking clue." He looks at you. "You need to pig this shit. Cop-style."

"There are ruins on that islet. A sunken seafort. I saw it in the coin operated viewer."

"Yeah, Cuno's seen that shit. Crazy shit. Ain't nothing to Cuno, but lots of places to hide there."

"This is also the only point of origin I haven't ruled out yet." (Proceed.)

"This is also one of the few places in Martinaise I haven't been to." (Proceed.)

"This is also a location I have yet to rule out." (Proceed.)

Is she trying to tell me the shot came from the islet?

Obviously.

How did she know how to do this?

She was there that night -- she would have known precisely where the bullet hole was in the glass.

This is also a location I have yet to rule out... (Proceed.)

A powerful gust of wind coming in from the bay rattles the windowpane.

The lead is flimsy, but what else is there? The alternative is going around Martinaise looking under every rock and talking to every person.

Danger? Another trap?

There, across the grey water -- among crumbling concrete, a birch tree... the ruins of a flak tower, remember?

"I'm going to the island."

Of course. It's where the threads all meet...

But how will you get to the island?