Metalized Dusk

Subject 1- Leather peddler and local hunter; Started conversation by recognizing the difference between artificial and natural leather. It worked until I reached the crafts made by experienced craftsmen.

Hunter-” Ya hav’ enoug kno-how for the basic leather, boy, but ya can’t fool me. So, wha’cha want?”

Chiranis-” Well, blame the guy who taught me, he swore that his vast collection of pelts were ‘natural’...” I then realized how dumb I was as a child. “ So you spent most of your time in the wilderness between the settlements, right?”

The hunter just grunted back, paying more attention to his knife than my boring questions.

Chiranis- “ Ah, ok…fine you old coot”, I then spit in my hands and pressed on the ground; I recognized his ways, he was part of a hidden village that mostly hunted for rats and other pests for food. The ritual I just did was to show him respect; to acknowledge him as the one who feeds me.

To my surprise, he chuckled. “ Lift ya hands, sonny. Wha’cha did was useless, we neva hunted together…Still, thanks. Been a while since I saw that…So, ya wanna know about the green places?”

The old man then started telling me about the increasing number of beasts coming from the underground: silky rats, moles with antenna eyes, etc; creatures raised and put here to keep the ecosystem working by itself. Lately, though, more and more of them have started to flee the dirt.

Hunter- “Somethin' ain’t right- there- under our feet.”

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Subject 2- Nurses of local carehouse.

Nurse 1- “ You must be the ‘detective’ we heard so much about?” Asked a tall boy, with a hard handgrip.

Nurse 2- “ Is he the one who keeps asking all questions about the night stalks?” I then met a woman of the same age as the boy, who extended an equally hard handgrip. Same with the third, fourth, and fifth ones. Why do all the nurses have such strong grips?

Chiranis- “ You all make me sound so fishy; It's nothing to fear, I’m actually a member of the leading council, as you probably know. “ Neither replied. “ Well, anyway, back to the reason why I am here- Yap, investigating is what I’m doing. So, can any of you recall anything weird happening throughout the nights? Noises, shadows, anything?”

To my surprise, the dark times are never as quiet as they seem. Bips and bops from tens of machines and prosthetics, loud howls from drunks, and more than a couple of couples thinking of themselves as loving ninjas. At the end of the growing list, something caught my attention though.

Nurse 4- “ There is a weird buzz, from time to time. I could never tell where or from its coming from, but it popped up between 3 am and a few minutes later. Then it just stops.”

Subject 3- Local employee at the research branch

Chiranis- “ Ah, this place brings me back. This was one of the old laboratories where they implanted the R.O.C patients with the prosthetics, right?” My question was more directed at opening a line of communication between us, but my interview subject was less willing to open up.

Researcher- “ Si, si, sir? I don’t know…I’ve only been doing as I was t-”

Chiranis- “ I’m not here to bring forth accusations or such. Matter of fact, you are still under house arrest while working for us now. So, using that leverage, have you checked on what I asked for?” My displeasure was more than palpable, but as Syna and Pryia decided, these people still had some use.

Researcher- “ Yes, yes, yes! Uhm, where is it, where is it?! Ah, this!”, she then forwarded me a tablet with seismic data gathered for the last few months. “ There were some small spikes in several areas, mostly in the marsh area. And unless you told us about it, we wouldn’t have bothered to check and see if these weird spikes appeared at the mentioned hour.”

Chiranis- “ But it's like I suspected”, I whispered while reading the information. “Tremors, after 3 am- once every two weeks…this has been going on for quite a while now.” I thanked the researcher, pinged my location to my team and, if my suspicions were correct, asked for the assistance of a C.T.D. Heading out to scout the marshes.

Signing off, Chiranis Drums:

End of logs.