Conversation · Encyclopedia

ICM? This feels familiar somehow...

"RCM... It sounds like RCM -- Revachol Citizens Militia."

"It does."

"Why?"

"The RCM may descend from the ICM."

"May?"

"It's impossible to say." He looks toward the darkened doorway. "It was chaos after the war. The name was good for getting people to join us -- Revachol West was mostly workers and criminals..."

...nice political thoughts rush through your neocortex.

It's gonna be hard to say them. Carrying around all that weight on a busted crutch is making you pant...

Just catch your breath.

"This is better preserved than the others. You can still read the sign..." He bows to inspect the barrel.

"What I'm hearing is -- we descend from the glorious revolutionary army."

"There were all sorts of groups and groupuscules back then. It doesn't really matter..." He bows to inspect the barrel.

"I just want to be in a normal, right wing police force. That's all I want."

"You are in a right wing police force. Those times are long gone..." He bows to inspect the barrel.

"ICM sounds like ICP. Very close to the International Collaboration Police. Nice and normal that way."

"That's just a coincidence, officer. The CoMil was founded in '32..." He bows to inspect the barrel.

"It's a little embarrassing in '51, no? Maybe we need a re-brand?"

"No one remembers the ICM, the connotation is less important each year..." He bows to inspect the barrel.

A mediocre athlete would pant from dragging around his body on a busted crutch -- but not you, you're thinking about politics with blood dripping down your thigh...

[Finish thought.]

"Are those specks stars too?"

"No. That's the uninhabited archipelago."

A Dolorian-era symbol of Insulinde. Known as The Face In The Sea.

"Looks old. What's it still doing here?"

"After..." He thinks. "Forty four years? That's not nearly enough time to hide what happened here, officer."

"One of these barrels was still leaking fuel, as you saw. The city is full of things like this. Old bullets, guns, fuel..."

"Kim, what is the ICM?"

"Insulindian Citizens Militia. It's the official name of the communards' army. The Black and White Army of the Revolution."

Sounds an awful lot like...

"A white star." (Point to the star on the label.)

"No." He looks at it. "An upside down star."

With its horns in the sky -- the symbol of the Commune.

"Are those specks stars too?"

He leans in for a closer look. "Dunno. Maybe. Sorta looks like stars to Cuno. Or, like, islands maybe? Fuck does Cuno know..."

Thank you, Cuno. It's the Dolorian symbol of Insulinde -- the face in the sea.

[Finish thought.]

"Cuno, what is the ICM?"

"Is this a case for Detective Cuno?" He cracks his knuckles, ready. "Idiot Cat Moon. Inside Car Motors. Is Cuno Magic? He is -- case solved."

Sounds an awful lot like...

"RCM... It sounds like RCM -- Revachol Citizens Militia."

"Yeah, pig. That's letter shit for you. The alphabet."

"Looks old. What is it still doing here?"

"Who the fuck's gonna move it? The island janitor?"

"A white star." (Point to it.)

"Shit looks upside down to Cuno." He leans to the side, tilting his head.

With its horns in the sky -- the symbol of the Commune.

Looks old. What is it still doing here?

Forty four years is not enough time to hide what happened here, on these islands...

One of the barrels from earlier was still leaking fuel. The city is full of such things.

Huh, what is the ICM?

Insulindian Citizens Militia, the official name of the communards' army. The army of the Revolution.

Sounds an awful lot like...

It sounds like RCM -- Revachol Citizens Militia.

Although it's difficult to say for sure -- the RCM may descend from the ICM. At some, dark point in the past...

Are those specks stars too?

The uninhabited archipelago. A Dolorian-era symbol of Insulinde -- the Face In The Sea, as they call it.

[Finish thought.]

A white star.

With its horns in the sky -- the symbol of the Commune.