Ch.106Ch.7 – Elegy for Reason (13)

# June 5, 1929. 8:24 AM

Hotel ‘Gilman House’

Innsmouth

When I woke up in the morning, my bedding was sticky with sweat. The once-cozy blanket clung to my body like a soaked seaweed stem. Various parts of my body ached and throbbed, so I stretched myself out on the bed.

Crayfield was gone. He had left only a note on the bed saying, “Going to buy some food and drink. The restaurant was closed.” I went into the shower and washed myself. The smell of dirt and filth was stronger than last night.

I flung open the window to ventilate the room. The smell from the streets wasn’t much different. It was strange that the entire city reeked of rot, even if the water and sewage pipes were damaged. Still, the morning’s salty breeze helped drive away much of the stench.

The morning sun rising over the gabled roofs tickled my eyes.

Although its brilliance only highlighted Innsmouth’s shabbiness more clearly, morning sunlight has the charm of making even garbage look like gold. There might not be the vibrancy of a big city, and the people might look quite different from ordinary folks, but still, people rode bicycles to work, swept the streets with brooms. Young couples hung laundry on clotheslines, and police cars passed from one side of the road to the other with sirens blaring.

Of course, there were also those who lived where light didn’t reach. The builders of Innsmouth’s buildings didn’t seem to care much about views. Some alleys were extremely narrow, and some houses were built facing west, perhaps to avoid the sea breeze. In the recesses between houses, in places too dismal to even call alleys, I could see empty glass bottles, moss resembling green mold, and a beggar sleeping under rags.

But I also saw an old man carrying a bread basket carefully set it down beside the beggar before leaving. I saw rats circling around the bread basket, and a cat stalking those rats. I watched as the awakened beggar tore off pieces of bread for both the rats and the cat before stepping out into the shining street.

The sound of the door opening broke my reverie. Crayfield entered with bread and milk. After placing the food on the table, he came and stood beside me with a slight smile.

“What are you looking at?”

I pointed to the beggar stepping into the golden street. The brilliantly shining shabbiness and the long trailing shadows.

“The nature of darkness is perfection and closure. Even a single ray of light breaks that perfectionism and isolationism. That’s why darkness hates light so much.”

Crayfield put a Camel cigarette in his mouth. He struck a match against the wall and lit it.

“Think about the night. The dark, dark night sky. If we’re talking purely about the size of territory, darkness wins, doesn’t it? The area of darkness is greater than that of light. But do people despair when they see the moon hanging alone in the black night sky?”

The tip of the Camel cigarette flared up.

“Do they grieve that light is just a handful compared to darkness? No. They say the moon is pretty and the stars are beautiful. Even in a night sky filled with darkness, people look at the light and call it brilliant. They see the light that’s only one in ten million, not the countless and infinite darkness. Because.”

The cigarette smoke rose like gunpowder announcing the start of battle.

“That’s what it means to be human. Don’t you think? I believe humanity’s greatness isn’t in discovering fire, but in figuring out how to rekindle it even after it’s gone out and died. ‘Let’s just try it. Because it works.’ Of course, you need tools to light a fire easily. You need an ember too. What humans can give to other humans is that kind of ember, isn’t it?”

The sun rose higher. Crayfield extinguished his Camel by rubbing it against the windowsill.

“Let’s go. It’s time to light a fire.”

We got into the rental car we had parked in the lot. The old Ford sputtered briefly before roaring to life with a cloud of exhaust.

* * * * *

9:30 AM

Innsmouth Police Station

Innsmouth

The Innsmouth police station was in a state of emergency. Several Federal Bureau of Investigation and state police vehicles had arrived. Military police with armbands were also present, and while some officials were having serious discussions in one corner, others were engaged in power struggles. The FBI and state police acted as if they knew all about last night’s disturbance, while the Innsmouth police insisted nothing had happened. But people frequently covered their noses as they spoke. Perhaps they were overly sensitive because of the stench.

Amidst all this, we spotted Catherine Scully. She crossed the parking lot toward us, to the open space outside the police station.

“Really. You two.”

Scully sighed and folded her arms.

“Can’t stay put, can you?”

“The city might blow up if we do nothing?”

Crayfield smiled meaningfully.

“What about the soldiers?”

“Officially, they’re here to investigate the weapon crates in the basement of the Dagon Temple. But.”

Scully lowered her voice.

“In reality, it’s about firepower control. Naval vessels are on their way. Two destroyers, two submarines, five patrol ships. They’re disguised as a routine naval exercise, but they’re loaded with live ammunition.”

Our voices dropped as a state police officer passed by us.

“Is this your doing?”

“My superiors. Even I can’t mobilize the military.”

“Agent Scully.”

Scully was taken aback by the sudden formality.

“What are you trying to say now, Mr. Crayfield?”

“Let’s be honest, shall we? How long are you going to keep your mouth shut like a clam in Innsmouth’s waters? What does the FBI know about Innsmouth, and how big of a fire did my report from last night start that warships are coming?”

“Why should I tell you FBI secrets?”

“Because it means more people won’t have to be shot when this city goes to hell. It’s to your advantage. We only need to avoid shooting one person, but you can avoid shooting two.”

“This is maddening.”

Catherine rubbed her forehead.

“Fine. First, I don’t know everything. I don’t have access to all classified information. My assignment was to arrest a fugitive from the British Empire. James Moriarty. A clockwork engineer, mathematician, physicist, and crime consultant. He eventually hid in Innsmouth.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. But given that traces of him were found in the basement of the Dagon Temple, it’s clear he was looking for something there, and he definitely used civic groups in the process. Civic groups can move around without arousing suspicion.”

The quest our player had asked me and Crayfield to undertake naturally came to mind. The item in the empty box connected to the Salem trials.

“What about that crazy woman? What’s her ‘real’ purpose, and why doesn’t Agent Scully arrest her?”

“Let me have a cigarette.”

“What?”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Catherine Scully asking for a cigarette?

“Give me one.”

Like an adult trying to give alcohol to a child, Crayfield was at a loss. With obviously awkward movements, Scully pursed her lips and put the cigarette in her mouth. When he lit it for her, she inhaled deeply, her face turning bright red.

“Cough, cough, cough! Ugh, why do people smoke these things!”

She kept spitting on the ground and coughing. Crayfield looked at her with a perplexed expression.

“You’re not a child, why suddenly ask for a cigarette? It doesn’t suit you.”

Yet Scully stubbornly put the cigarette back in her mouth. She inhaled and puffed her cheeks full, but the smoke seemed to circulate only in her mouth rather than entering her body.

“Doesn’t this make me look a bit rebellious?”

“What fairy tale world have you been living in, Agent Scully?”

“A cruel fairy tale where people’s throats are cut with wire.”

With tears in her eyes, Scully tried for a third time. This time she coughed slightly but managed to inhale quite a bit.

“Clarice Holmes. British Intelligence agent. My classified mission was to catch James Moriarty while cooperating with Clarice Holmes. Officially, I came to Innsmouth to escort congressional delegates, but. Good Lord, that woman doesn’t listen to me at all. In fact, I haven’t even seen her face. Moreover, this ‘cooperation’ meant that when she piled up dishes while cooking, I was supposed to wash them.”

With a “whew,” Scully exhaled cigarette smoke.

“I saw that crazy woman last night.”

Crayfield blurted out.

“What?”

Startled, Scully dropped her cigarette. The butt gleamed on the cement floor.

“Where?”

“That alley you told us about. The place where civic groups were squatting. That woman said something interesting.”

“Wait. Wait.”

Scully ground out the cigarette butt with her foot.

“Later, you’ll tell me this story from beginning to end. Otherwise, I’ll lock you both in a room with completely white walls. Go on.”

“She said the FBI is behind Moriarty.”

Scully raised her eyebrows sharply and narrowed her brow.

“She’ll stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Her country comes first for her. But well. That’s…”

Scully’s words were interrupted by a honking sound. News arrived that a bus carrying the congressional investigation team had arrived from Ipswich. Everyone moved at once.

“We should head to City Hall for now.”

* * * * *

9:58 AM

Innsmouth City Hall

Innsmouth

The scene in front of City Hall was just as chaotic as at the police station. Soldiers and police were setting up cordons, but civic groups that had gathered from somewhere were holding up placards and loudly proclaiming their views. There seemed to be easily over two hundred people.

KKK members in white pointed hoods and robes were burning crosses, while suspicious-looking churchgoers were holding prayer meetings declaring that heretics like those in Innsmouth should be purified by fire. There were also signs with identical phrases like “Oppose Discrimination” and “Guarantee Equal Survival,” but the nuance changed completely depending on whether the person holding the sign was white or black.

But the most fierce protesters were none other than Innsmouth citizens themselves. A crowd of young people was clamoring to get to City Hall, and the police were most zealously trying to hold them back. The Innsmouth police seemed to identify more strongly as Innsmouth residents than as police officers.

“Look at this, look at this!”

That’s why the young people were appealing to federal agents, state police, and military police who were clearly outsiders.

“Things you can’t even imagine are happening! Our ancestors are sleeping in that sea out there. At night, they kidnap outsiders, and they want to ‘birth’ more people like us!”

[The straightforward truth, I see]

Emma Scully’s thought-form stood among them. Emma kept looking at Catherine walking beside us, but Catherine didn’t recognize her.

[You know. These people are speaking the straightforward truth. A truth no one will believe. People’s thinking is strange. Common sense takes precedence over truth. Isn’t that funny? Why do those who want to speak the truth have to convince others that what they’re saying is true?]

Emma’s thought-form drifted freely among the people.

[Sometimes there are truths that transcend reason]

“Assistant?”

Crayfield tapped my shoulder.

“Why are you glaring at people like that?”

I answered that it was because I was feeling a bit sensitive. When I looked again, Emma’s thought-form had vanished. We followed Catherine Scully to the plaza in front of City Hall. As we waited, buses arrived one after another. Our player’s aide was also present.

Click

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