Archive of Our Own ^beta

Prologue: Red Giant

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN- You are marinating in the darkness. Black as it’s always been. Black as can ever be.

LIMBIC SYSTEM - A Harry soup, waiting to be consumed by the masses in greedy gulps, until there is nothing left but sludge.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN- A frog, willingly crawling into the pot to be boiled alive. Where did your instinct to survive go, Harry boy? Why do you crawl into the pot every day?

1. Because people need me.
2. Because I need people.
3. I don’t know, why do I crawl into the pot?
4. [Just continue to stew.]

YOU - Because people need me.

LIMBIC SYSTEM - LIES.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - LIES.

YOU - [The blackness, a comfortable nothingness, warms up. The stove has been turned on. It would be comfortable, if you didn’t know what came next.]

1. Because people need me.
2. Because I need people.
3. I don’t know, why *do* I crawl into the pot?
4. [Just continue to stew.]

YOU - Because I need people.

LIMBIC SYSTEM - Do you, Harry? All other people do is make you hurt. They die, they argue, they *look at you*. It’s hell out there, and every person is a demon made to judge you for your sins.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - And you’ve certainly sinned plenty, Harry boy.

LIMBIC SYSTEM - You’re the *original* sin.

LIMBIC SYSTEM Damned by your very existence to hurt the people you say you love.

YOU - [The heat continues to climb. The fires of damnation caress your nerves like a hug and like handcuffs. It hurts.]

1. Because people need me
2. Because I need people.
3. I don’t know, why do I crawl into the pot?
4. [Just continue to stew, because you deserve it.]

YOU - [Just continue to stew, because you deserve it.]

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - Oh, Harry. Harry, Harry, Harry. How do you not understand? The fire isn’t cleansing. This isn’t a purity ritual. You are just a corpse that hasn’t realized it’s died yet.

LIMBIC SYSTEM - You’re a stinky, char broiled corpse. You cannot escape your body. No Stations of the Breath will free you. Your remains will never be at rest. It’s too late for that. Too late for Harrier Du Bois,-

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN - too late for Disco,-

LIMBIC SYSTEM - And too late for Revachol.

SHIVERS [Godly: Success] - IT IS NEVER TOO LATE. YOU ARE MORE THAN YOU REALIZE. GREATNESS COMES. YOU CANNOT STOP IT. I CANNOT STOP IT. IT BEGINS TONIGHT. I LOVE YOU.

YOU - [The heat, it’s too much. It’s tearing every cell apart, denaturing you. You are being unwound, turning from a man into proteins. From proteins into mud, from mud into nothing. But still you feel it. You feel it *all*. It never stops.

YOU The heat rises further. You are in the center of a supermassive star. You are the core, failing under your own gravity. You’re so hot, *so hot*, and yet it just gets hotter. You must be something else, you *must* be. There is no way but down. Down and down and down and down until-]

??? - “-rry! You’re thrashing in there, I need an answer!”

PERCEPTION (HEARING) [Trivial: Success] - The voice of Kim Kitsuragi, Lieutenant Yefreitor of the 41st precinct, echoes through a closed door.

EMPATHY [Easy: Success] - He’s frantic.

YOU - Your eyes fly open.

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Hard: Failure] - You are in the passenger seat of a motorcarriage. The only light is from the moon and the flashlight in the lieutenant’s hands. It is pointed directly into your corneas.

1. “Huh? Wha…?”
2. [Reaction Speed - Heroic 16] Cover your eyes before you’re blinded by the flashlight.
3. [Logic - Medium 10] Remember where you are.
4. [Drama - Impossible 18] Say something smart, literally anything.

YOU - Cover your eyes before you’re blinded by the flashlight.

CHECK FAILURE

REACTION SPEED [Heroic: Failure] - By the time you raise your arm to cover them, it is too late. Your eyes are ruined.

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) - There is a new sun on the inside of your retinas, and it’s going to be there for at least five minutes. Hope you don’t have to see for a while.

1. “Huh? Wha…?"
2. [Logic - Medium 10]: Remember where you are.
3. [Drama - Impossible 18]: Say something smart, literally anything.

YOU - Remember where you are.

CHECK SUCCESS

LOGIC[Medium: Success] - You can piece this together relatively quickly. You’re in a motorcarriage-

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Failure]/ INTERFACING [Medium: Success] - not the Kineema-

ENCYCLOPEDIA - Huh- What?

INTERFACING - Yeah, I thought it was the Kineema too, but look at the dashboard. It’s missing the nitro and suspension dials.

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Easy: Success] - Yes, I see it now. This is a Coupris 43’. Manufactured the same year as the Kineema, this model has a few upgrades from the 40’, but is no sports vehicle like its fraternal twin. Most of the upgrades had to do with fuel efficiency and improved traction on slippery or poorly paved roads. The most important thing about the 43’, however, was not those upgrades, as much as it wasn’t a carriage model that “looked” like a cop cage. Almost every vehicle in possession of the RCM is a Coupris 40’, making the make very recognizable, for both good and ill. Pryce had decided it was a good investment for undercover and surveillance work, and had paid for half the vehicle out of his own pocket. The ICM had begrudgingly paid for the other half.

LOGIC - It also, technically, belongs to the 57th. A replacement for the vehicle they surrendered to Kitsuragi when the lieutenant transferred.

ESPRIT DE CORPS - Pryce convinced the 57th to let you borrow it for a stakeout. They couldn’t really say no.

LOGIC - And now you are here. On said stakeout.

ESPRIT DE CORPS [Medium: Success] - *Lieutenant Yefreitor Kim Kitsuragi is on a hill above an abandoned gas stop, prone. He has binoculars in one hand, and his notebook in the other. Someone has been siphoning gasoline out of here and smuggling it, and it’s a dangerous amount. Enough that the RCM wants to track it down.

ESPRIT DE CORPS There’s movement by the stakeout vehicle. ‘It must be Harry.’ Kim thinks. But he doesn’t see the hand adjust the side mirror, his signal that the suspect has been spotted. In fact, it looks like thrashing. Like the motorcarriage is seizing.

ESPRIT DE CORPS ‘Not good.’ He thinks, getting to his feet in a flash. He packs the binoculars and the notebook into their pockets instinctively, and in the same motion retrieves his flashlight from another. His right hand hovers over his holster as he jogs down the hill as quickly as he can. ‘Very not good.’

ESPRIT DE CORPS He arrives prepared for a shootout, but all he sees is his partner writhing in the passenger seat, eyes closed and sweat drenching his face.

ESPRIT DE CORPS ‘Shit.’*

PERCEPTION (HEARING) [Trivial: Success] - You are brought back to the present as you hear the driver side door open and your partner asks you another question.

KIM KITSURAGI - “Detective, are you okay? Do you need me to call the Lazareth?”

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Impossible: Failure] - Your eyes are still shot, so you can’t make out his expression.

EMPATHY [Formidable: Failure] - Judging by the tone, he’s either very worried or very pissed. Probably both.

KIM KITSURAGI - “Please answer me.”

1. “Shit! The stakeout. I fell asleep at a stakeout. Fuck!”
2. “Sorry Kim, I think I must have dozed off. Won’t happen again.”
3. [Drama - Heroic 16] Convince him you were getting rid of a tracking device, like a cool cop.
4. [Composure - Hard 12] “Fine, let’s just get back to the job. We can salvage this.”

YOU - “Shit! The stakeout. I fell asleep at a stakeout. Fuck!”

PERCEPTION (HEARING) [Hard: Success] - The other detective lets out a breath he’d been holding.

EMPATHY [Hard: Failure] - A sigh of relief? Or frustration? It’s hard to tell.

KIM KITSURAGI - “If it makes you feel better, there’s been no activity all night, and it’s well past when our witness says that they saw our suspect the last two times. They simply aren’t going to arrive tonight, I think.”

RHETORIC [Easy: Success] - He’s trying to convince himself as well as you.

1. “You wanna call it?” (Explore)
2. “Was still a stupid way to botch a stakeout. Sorry.”
3. “Well, a bust’s a bust, I guess. Let’s just get back.” (Proceed)

YOU - "You wanna call it?"

KIM KITSURAGI - “Normally I wouldn’t, but…”

EMPATHY [Very Hard: Success] - ‘But I just saw my partner have a seizure, and I think that’s more important.’ He thinks.

KIM KITSURAGI - “But if our target was here, they certainly wouldn’t be after the commotion we, or rather I, just raised. There’s no real point in staying.”

1. “He could be late, we might still have time.”
2. “Was still a stupid way to botch a stakeout. Sorry.”
3. “Well, a bust’s a bust, I guess. Let’s just get back.” (Proceed)

YOU - "He could be late, we might still have time."

KIM KITSURAGI - “No. Not with the amount of gasoline they appear to be siphoning per night. There would be no time. They’re not here.”

ENCYCLOPEDIA [Medium: Success]: An oil barrel has a volume of 158.98 liters, and a gasoline pump can pump on average 30 liters a minute.

VISUAL CALCULUS [Hard: Success] - That itself averages to five minutes and twenty seconds per barrel. Several barrels’ worth, at least ten, have been getting taken from this station each night for the last month, according to the billing receipts received from the oil company. They’d need to be more obvious than they’ve been to have been transporting all that gas all at once, and the tire tracks around the scenes show no industrial-size lorries have been here. They’re filling it piecemeal. If the evidence is correct, whoever did this, they did this slowly and carefully over several hours.

RHETORIC - In short, he’s right.

VOLITION [Hard: Success] - Go home, Harry. Take a rest.

1. “He could be late, we might still have time.”
2. “Was still a stupid way to botch a stakeout. Sorry.”
3. “Well, a bust’s a bust, I guess. Let’s just get back.” (Proceed)

YOU - “Well, a bust’s a bust, I guess. Let’s just get back.”

KIM KITSURAGI - “Let’s.”

KIM KITSURAGI Kim enters the driver’s seat, closing the door gently behind him. With what’s left of your eyesight, you see the flashlight disappear into the darkness.

INLAND EMPIRE [Hard: Success] - Oho! Kim has access to pocket dimensions! Why has he not shared this with you before?! You could be pocket dimension buddies!

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] - No, he just has *pockets*. Not *pocket dimensions*. Like you do.

SAVOIRE FAIRE [Medium: Success] - I mean, if we can teleport, why can’t Kim have a pocket dimension?

LOGIC [Trivial: Success] - We didn’t teleport! Harry just closed his eyes and climbed a ladder! We’ve been over this!

COUPRIS 43’ - The engine wakes up with a whine as Kim puts the key in the ignition. A couple of seconds pass before it relents and settles into a purr, its halogen eyes devouring the darkness in front of it.

INLAND EMPIRE - You should ask him about his pocket dimension!

RHETORIC - You really shouldn’t.

VOLITION - You really shouldn’t.

LOGIC - Do not fucking ask him.

1. “Oh my god, I didn’t know you had pocket dimensions too, we can be pocket dimension buddies!”
2. [Drama - Medium 11] Ask about the pocket dimensions, but in a plausibly deniable way.
3. [Composure - Formidable 13] Don’t comment on Kim’s pocket dimension.

YOU - “Oh my god, I didn’t know you had pocket dimensions too, we can be pocket dimension buddies!”

KIM KITSURAGI - Kim is unflappable in the face of your suggestion. “I do not have ‘Pocket dimensions’ Detective. I have pockets. They have defined dimensions. I assure you.”

KIM KITSURAGI He guides the clutch into first gear, then continues, “We need to contact the station and inform them we’re returning an hour ahead of time."

SUGGESTION [Medium: Success] - He means *you* need to contact the station and inform them.

HALF LIGHT [Easy: Success] - He wants the blame for the failed operation to fall squarely on *your* shoulders.

1. “Yeah, lemme pull out the shortwave.”
2. “You mean ‘I’ need to contact the station. Tell them ‘I’ ruined the stakeout.”

YOU - “Yeah, lemme pull out the shortwave.”

YOU You unhook the microphone from the speakers and tune in to precinct 41. You are greeted by a woman’s voice. The night operator.

GRAYNELLA PACKER - “10-2 (Connection clear), 10-5 (Relaying message), 41st on the line, come in! Over.”

1. “10-4 (message received). Operation unsuccessful, 10-29 (time is up for contact). No sign of suspect. Over.”
2. “Firewalker and Crackshot reporting in. Stakeout’s a bust.”

YOU - “10-4 (message received) Operation unsuccessful, 10-29 (time is up for contact). No sign of suspect. Over.”

GRAYNELLA PACKER - “10-4, message received. 10-23, please stand by.”

SHORTWAVE - The gentle whisper of static and clicks populates the motorcarriage as Relay Officer Packer takes down the information.

GRAYNELLA PACKER - “10-19 (nothing else necessary, return to base), You boys are free to go. Anything else? Over.”

1. “10-4 (message received), 10-10 (transmission complete). No, nothing else. Have a good morning, Graynie. Over and out.”
2. “Nah, all clear here. Peace!”

YOU - “10-4 (message received), 10-10 (transmission complete). No, nothing else. Have a good morning, Graynie. Over and out.”

YOU You place the receiver on the hook as the 43’ pulls out of its hiding spot. A sigh from deep in your diaphragm falls out of your lungs as you sink back into the passenger seat.

VISUAL CALCULUS [Easy: Success] - At the rate you’re going, it’ll be 15 minutes before you reach the precinct.

STREETS OF JAMROCK - You and Kim spend a couple minutes in silence, watching the streets of the outer Jamrock merge into Jamrock proper. It gives you a moment to catch your breath, which you know is the intent.

EMPATHY [Hard: Success] - Kim’s worried. Something seemed different about this nightmare. He’s never seen you struggle like that in your sleep.

1. I don't see how it's different from all the other nightmares I've had.

YOU - I don’t see how it’s different from all the other nightmares I’ve had.

HALF LIGHT [Hard: Success] - Don’t lie to yourself. You KNOW that was weird. It was too clear. Too vivid.

PAIN THRESHOLD [Impossible: Failure] - That heat…

HALF LIGHT [Heroic: Success] - A taste of the Gloaming, gifted by the city herself.

KIM KITSURAGI - Kim takes a slight left onto one of the tributaries of Boogie Street.

RUE DE CLAIR - The street is as empty as it will ever be. The pre-dawn is a no-man’s-land between the daylight businesses and nightclubs.

HALF LIGHT [Medium: Success] - The lieutenant is gearing up his first assault. Ready your defenses.

KIM KITSURAGI - “That was… quite a nightmare. I was concerned it was a seizure at first.” Kim begins, clear and level. His voice cuts over the engine and the patchwork pavement.

1. “Just the usual, nothing to worry about.”
2. “Aww, you worried about me Kim?”
3. “That’s none of your business.”
4. “Yeah. It was bad.”
5. (Stay silent.)

YOU - “Just the usual, nothing to worry about.”

KIM KITSURAGI - “No, detective. It was not the usual.”

AUTHORITY [Hard: Failure] - It’s said so matter-of-factly that there is no room to argue. It is a fact as immutable as death and taxes.

SUGGESTION [Hard: Success] - Alright, new tactic. Redirect. Make him feel like he’s overstepping boundaries.

VOLITION [Heroic: Success] - Why do you feel you have to lie to Kim? He’s asking out of genuine concern, not to challenge you. Just be honest.

1. “Just the usual, nothing to worry about.”
2. “Aww, you worried about me Kim?”
3. “That’s none of your business.”
4. - “...Yeah. It was bad.”
5. (Stay silent.)

YOU - “... Yeah. It was bad.”

KIM KITSURAGI - “Do you want to talk about it?”

YOU - “I…”

1. “Yes”
2. “No”
3. “I don’t know.”

YOU - “No.”

KIM KITSURAGI - Kim says nothing for a moment, and suddenly the silence is deafening. Thankfully, he fills it in again as he says, “Very well. You should take some drouamine when I drop you off. I suspect you might have a fever that could be contributing to any nightmares. You’re coated in sweat as well, which is another sign of fever. Drouamine will lower it. If you don’t feel better in the morning, let me know. I have a mandatory three-day weekend that I’m getting out of the way starting tomorrow.

VOLITION - See? Kim respects you enough to back off if you’re honest with him.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [Trivial: Success] - Why stop at one? It’s no opioid, but downing a package of those can create a serviceable high in a pinch. Dei knows we’ve been looking for an excuse.

VOLITION [Hard: Success] - Ignore that guy. You’re better than that. You’re over a month sober, you’re doing good. No reason to ruin that for a shit high.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY - Man, fuck you. Fine, if that’s ‘too much 'fun’ for you, at least down some toffees alongside the pill. We could use some sugar.

TASK GAINED: Take a dose of drouamine.

KIM KITSURAGI - Kim turns the radio on to RealRevacholFM, a station featuring local musicians and a wide variety of genres. While you both have channels you prefer more, it’s one that you both enjoy readily enough to be a staple.

REAL REVACHOL FM - The song is a soft but hopeful one, sung in the same key as the old Revacholian anthem. A piano croons gently as the singer caresses the lyrics.

SHIVERS - Three young Revacholians- a male pianist and two female singers- sit in a studio that’s been rented out for fifteen minutes. They had to spend the first ten minutes tuning the grand piano provided by the location. They have one chance to do this right before their 200 reál investment goes to waste. On the other side of the glass, their mixer gives them the go-ahead. The countdown reaches zero, and for four minutes and 36 seconds, the world is condensed to a record studio in La Delta. The piano sings. The lyricists pluck and warble and ring. They pour their souls onto the reels, and it’s the best moment of their lives.

YOU - You smile, and you see Kim do the same. This is what you both fight for.

KIM KITSURAGI - “Let me drop you off first. I need to return the 43’ to the 57th, and there’s no need to do the trip twice.”

1. “Only if you let me pay for the kebabs next time we get lunch on duty.”

YOU - “Only if you let me pay for the kebabs next time we get lunch on duty.”

KIM KITSURAGI - the corner of his mouth quirks slightly as he speaks, and his eyes sparkle with the barest hint of mirth. “Deal, Du Bois.”

SAVOIRE FAIRE - Damn, how does he look so damn *cool* all the time?!

INLAND EMPIRE [Easy: Success] - It’s a gift given to him by the gods. There’s no other explanation.

KIM KITSURAGI - “- Now get out of my MC.”

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) [Easy: Failure] - You hadn’t even noticed that Kim had pulled up to your apartment building.

KIM KITSURAGI - The lieutenant puts the motorcarriage in park on the side of the road, and waits for you to exit.

1. “Okay, okay. Fuck you too, Lieutenant.”
2. "Aye aye, captain!" (Salute the lieutenant and exit the motorcarriage.)

YOU - “Aye aye, captain!” You salute, and open the door to leave. It takes you a moment to actually get out, as your thighs fight pins and needles from sitting in the same position for so long.

ENDURANCE [Trivial: Success] - You will not be cowed by minor nerve pain! You are an unstoppable force!

PAIN THRESHOLD [Hard: Failure] - Combined with soreness from today’s physical therapy and an old gunshot wound though…

DAMAGED HEALTH -1

YOU - A hiss escapes your teeth as the aches and pains of the day reassert themselves by force. You have to grip hard on the carriage door for support while it subsides.

HEALTH HEALED +1

1. "Fuck, I'm old."

YOU - “Fuck, I’m old.” You wince.

EMPATHY [Heroic: Success] - Kim Kitsuragi is a professional, and so does not laugh. Even though he dearly wants to.

KIM KITSURAGI - “That we are. Good night, detective.”

YOU - You close the door, and as you turn towards your apartment door, the sound of the Coupris riding off into the distance gives you the strength to turn the key in the lock, and walk inside.