by JY Yang
So, something in the institute has gone belly-up and they want to conceal it. That’s what this is. They’ve picked me, some nobody with no prospects and no future, to be their puppet or, if anything sour surfaces during the investigation, their sacrificial goat. A hapless Kebangilan orphan whose adoptive family never liked her. Someone who’s bound to be so afraid of exile, she’ll do anything the Protectorate asks.
Idiots. They should have done their research, because I am not that person. I didn’t get to where I am today by playing the good girl and keeping my head below the grass. Whatever they’re trying to hide, I will find it. I will make them regret underestimating me.
The stress is getting to me, though. I won’t lie about that. This morning, I woke with my head ringing and my clothes clinging to my skin. Some slime-fish of a nightmare, slipping away the moment you try to hold it in your memory, growing dimmer the more you flail at its shape. There was something about a cave with tall ceilings, and a strange girl talking to me. Large pools of water, just like from my childhood. Except that I never lived near water in my childhood. We were hillside farmers. There was only the old mine, and children weren’t allowed down there. It was just a silly dream, a conjuration of a stressed mind, but I’ve spent the entire day with a prickle gathered around the skin of my neck. Every time I remember the husk of that dream, I shiver. Small things that shouldn’t bother me set my mind off like a firework. The slap of water on floor tiles sounds like footsteps. The creak of wood cooling at night sends my heart racing. Earlier this evening, I thought I heard someone whispering outside my window, but when I ran to check, there was no one there. Am I losing my mind?
Curse it all. It doesn’t help that I’m alone in this house. It would be nice if my pay allowed me to hire servants, but of course it doesn’t. And it would be wonderful if Kayan were here, but of course she isn’t. That’s what I get for marrying the daughter of a pirate queen—I see her three times a year, and that’s it. It’s fine. She’d only mock me for getting worked up by a meaningless dream, anyway.
Well. Journey of a thousand steps, and all that. I’ve sent for the chief investigator from the southern provinces—Ngiau Chimin. Don’t like her. She’s the kind of sadistic vampire who drinks power from the veins of the Protectorate. The bastard is drunk on her bloody authority. But she’s good at interrogations. Once might almost say, too good. She can talk to the outlaws, considering that I wasn’t allowed any access to them—a fantastic start to things. I’m sure she’ll get something useful out of them. She’s got a reputation to maintain.
Chapter Four
Most esteemed Tensor Yesai:
Greetings, and may the threads of fortune bring you blessings. No doubt you are aware of who I am, being that I have taken charge of the investigation into the Rewar Teng incident.
First of all, I must commend you on your excellent report. It is thanks to your foresight and your fortitude that we have so much valuable information to begin our investigations with. For that I can only offer you my deepest gratitude.
Knowing what you have endured in your foray to the institute, I must humbly beg for your further assistance. There are questions about what happened in the caverns beneath the institute, questions which are crucial to our understanding of the sequence of events, questions which have not been answered by the information I have been given so far. I suspect you could help me immensely with answering these questions. After all, you were at the institute in person, and you witnessed its state with your own two eyes. There is no one else who knows the situation like you do. Tensor Yesai, I would like to interview you in person, at your earliest convenience. Please let me know when this can be arranged.
Tensor Chuwan Sariman
* * *
Tensor Sariman:
I appreciate the letter you have sent to me. Unfortunately, I am not authorized to speak directly to someone of your seniority. I must ask that you send your questions to my superior in this matter, High Tensor Fang Bing.
Tensor Yesai
* * *
Tensor Sariman:
It has come to my attention that you have questions about certain omissions that were made in the report submitted by Tensor Yesai to your investigation. Yes, indeed there were omissions made. Yes, we are aware of such omissions. I assure you that they were made deliberately, with the full knowledge of the relevant authorities. There is far more at stake here than your petty investigation into an industrial accident. Information has been withheld for the sake of the safety and security of the Protectorate.
If you understand the import of this, then I hope you will trouble yourself no further by continuing to chase smoke down dead men’s intestines.
High Tensor Fang Bing
* * *
Most esteemed High Tensor:
I have received your letter and I understand the meaning contained therein, although I confess that I do not understand its purpose. Perhaps I am not meant to; after all, I am only a lowly insect doing the bidding of the Protectorate.
Allow me to ask, however—by whose authorization were these facts withheld?
Your most humble servant,
Chuwan Sariman
* * *
MEMO FROM CHUWAN’S NOTEBOOK
Well, fuck. Looks like they’re making this as difficult for me as possible. Cheebye.
They’re mistaken if they think this will stop me.
Chapter Five
PROGRESS REPORT FOR THE INCIDENT AT THE REWAR TENG INSTITUTE OF EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Prepared by Tensor Chuwan Sariman
This report summarizes the progress that has been made as of this third day of the investigation into the incident at the Rewar Teng Institute of Experimental Methods. So far, the investigation has proceeded much slower than I would prefer. There have been many delays and obstacles, some administrative, others less quantifiable.
The technicians have completed their examination of the crossbreed recovered from the institute. Their conclusions are in agreement with Tensor Yesai’s initial assessment: that the creature was an albino cross between a raptor and a naga. It was well fed and in good health when it died, although the technicians noted that the creature’s lack of pigmentation was not genetic but appeared to be a chronic stress response. I do not know if this constitutes evidence that the institute staff mistreated their animals, but I do know that whatever this creature was, it was not happy.
I requested an interview with Tensor Yesai to further elaborate on the issues raised in her report. However, I was told in the strongest possible terms that I was not to query further in this direction, and that such instructions came from higher up the Protectorate hierarchy than I have access to. I do not intend to pursue this line of inquiry any further; I merely wanted this to go on the record.
The assessment of the staff’s personal effects has yielded little of use, in the most troubling ways. It is strange that the recovered items spanned the range of clothing and light captures and books, but there were no diaries or letters amongst them. We have recovered no personal writings of any of the forty-two staff of the institute. This creates a significant gap in our understanding of the day-to-day proceedings of the institute, which is in turn a significant obstacle to our understanding of the environment and working atmosphere therein. While the laboratory logbooks are an extensive and meticulous record of the experiments conducted, they give no insight into the operations of the institute otherwise. What did the Tensors stationed there do for leisure? How did the stresses of isolation affect them? Were they happy working there, or was there discontent which may have fueled something more? These questions, and more, remain intractably opaque.
On a more positive note, the medical examiner has declared that the outlaws are sufficiently recovered from their injuries to attend the interrogations. I have assigned Tensor N to begin at once, tomorrow. If they prove cooperative, their testimony could be the axle around which this investigation pivots.
* * *
Tensor Sariman:
An excellent report. Your concerns about the investigation are noted. Proceed in whatever way you can. Remember that the families of the victims are waiting upon you to give your final report, so that they may let the memories of their loved ones rest. Do not let them down.
Senior Tensor Mikao
Chapter Six
FROM CHUWAN’S PERSONAL DIARY
[1162.07.13]
Fuck them all. Burn them to ashes and scatter them in the sewers. There’s a point where willful incompetence crosses over into outright malice, and these gravefuckers have sailed right over that threshold. “Do not let them down”—just cut me in half with a bone saw. You don’t care about the families of the victims. You just want me to close the investigation with minimal effort put in. Whatever truth there is hidden here, you want it buried so deep, its bones petrify in the airless dark. This charade is worse than if they’d plainly told me “submit a moldering heap of cow dung, because we don’t care if you do your job properly.” Their pretense toward decency and fairness leaves a far fouler taste. Fuck them all. Chao cheebye.
They won’t stop me. It’ll take more than letter-writing games to intimidate me. So, they’ve purged information from Tensor Yesai’s report and won’t let me talk to her. I’ll find it some other way. Ngiau Chimin is hard at work. I’ll lean on her.
In the secrecy of my head, I’m starting to make terrible, worst-case-scenario plans. What if I quit the ministry and continue the investigation privately? Could I become an outlaw, pursued to the ends of the Protectorate by vengeful Tensors? Kayan would be delighted, her pure snowdrop following her path into villainy and infamy. At least we would get to spend more time together, right?
No, I’m losing my grip on what’s real and what’s not. The nightmares that started when I got this job have not eased—in fact, they are worse than ever. I woke last night from the middle of a sweat-thick terror. People I couldn’t see had me chained to a metal table, and there was a thick, sharp needle pressed into my head, boring through my skull. I could feel the vibrations in my jawbone and teeth. The pressure in my skull. I woke with a terrible pain in my stomach and a memory of sensations so sharp, I could not believe they hadn’t been real—the coppery cold of metal against skin, the eruption of violence within my skull. It took me more than ten minutes to convince myself it had just been a dream, and most of a sun-cycle before I could fall back asleep again. All day, I’ve imagined human voices in the wordless song of the wind or the distant passage of a cart. When I turn my head, sometimes I see brief flashes of light, as if something at the periphery of my vision had caught fire. It’s as if I’m being haunted by these dreams.
It’s really nothing, and I feel a fool for being so affected by these silly tricks of the mind, but I’m increasingly anxious all the time. Today, I shouted at Lau Niang when she startled me cleaning the office, and she really did not deserve that. She just works here and has to put up with all the nonsense Tensors deal her. The stress is turning me into the kind of person I loathe.
I wish Kayan were here. I can afford to be sentimental because she isn’t around to mock me for it.
Chapter Seven
Tensor Sariman:
Please find enclosed the transcript of Tensor Ngiau’s interrogation of the female outlaw, self-identified as Rider. Tensorate records link this individual to the now-disgraced person Tan Khimyan, but she has been part of the terrorist rebel movement for the past three years. Our knowledge of her existence is merely circumstantial, however, and she should be treated with caution. The investigating agents assigned to the Bataanar incident tell us that she is a Quarterlander who rides a naga mount, expert at dealing with such creatures. Take that as you will.
The High Overseer of Magistrates
Ministry of Justice
* * *
High Overseer:
Thank you for this report. I wonder, though, if some mistake has been made? Not only is the report incomplete, but crucial sections of it appear to have been removed.
Tensor Sariman
* * *
Tensor:
It is what it is.
The High Overseer of Magistrates
Chapter Eight
PRISONER INTERROGATION TRANSCRIPT
[1162.07.14]
Being the transcript of the questioning conducted by Tensor Ngiau Chimin of the prisoner known as “Rider,” in relation to the investigation into the disaster at Rewar Teng
Tensor N: You must know why you’re here.
R: ███ ████ ██ ████ ████ ██ ███ ████ ██████ ██ ███ ██████████
Tensor N: We want to know what you did.
R: We did nothing. No, that’s not entirely true. We did kill the beast. But it attacked us first. Everything else was dead when we arrived.
Tensor N: Don’t lie to me. We know who you are.
R: Do you? Sometimes, it feels like I don’t know who I am.
Tensor N: Oh, you think you’re funny. We know who your friends are. Are you aware how much of your treasonous behavior is punishable by death?
R: All of it, I assume. Is this why you have called me here? So you can offer to spare my life in exchange for information?
Tensor N: Things will go easier for you if you cooperate. For you, and for your partner. His wounds are serious. Don’t you think he needs a doctor? Listen. I know your type. You don’t seem violent. Just fell in with the wrong crowd, didn’t you? I’ve seen many cases like yours before. These rebels, these terrorists, they start off pretending to be your friends, offering you help and support. Before you know it, they’ve become your only help and support. You can’t escape. You’re trapped. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can help you leave. Let us.
R: I just have to tell you what happened?
Tensor N: Just tell us everything.
R: And all this will be on the record? Your assistant—he is writing this down?
Tensor N: Yes. Does that worry you?
R: It does not. Very well. I will tell you all that I know.
Tensor N: I knew you would be reasonable. Let’s start. What brought you to the institute?
R: █ ███ ███████ ███ ██ ████████ ██ █████
Tensor N: ████ █████ ████ ███ ███ █████
R: █ █████ █████
Tensor N: ███ █████ █████
R: ██ ████ █████████ ██ ██████ █ ██ ███ ████ █████ ███████ ████ ██████ █████ ████ ██ ████ ████ ████ ██ █████████████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████████
Tensor N: ████ ██████ ███ █ █████ ███████ ████ █ ████████ ███ ████ ████████████ ████████ ██ ███ █████████ ████ ███ ███████ █████ ████ ██████
R: ███ ███ ███████ ████████████ ██ ████████ ██ ███ ███████ █████ ███ ██████████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ███ ████ ██ ██████████ ██████████ █████████████ █████ ██ ██████ ████ ███ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ████ ███ ███ ██████ ██████
Tensor N: █ █████████ ██████
R: It is indeed. Unfortunately, also one that is true.
Tensor N: All right, if you want to go with that story, we will put it on record. Perhaps a plea of
insanity will save your life. Let’s go step by step. Start with your approach to the institute.
R: █ ████ ██ █████ ██ ████████ █████ ██ ████████ ██ █████ ███ ███ ███ ████ ██ ███ ███ ████████ ████
Tensor N: Who’s “we”?
R: Myself and my partner. Mokoya.
Tensor N: The Protector’s daughter? Is she involved in this as well?
R: What specifically do you mean by “this”? She was involved in helping me look for my sibling. That is all.
Tensor N: Of course. Sure. Please continue.
R: Bramble was hurt—
Tensor N: Your naga. Am I right?
R: Yes, she is. I rescued her when I lived in the Quarterlands. The two of us have—
Tensor N: So, you’re an expert on these creatures, aren’t you?
R: I . . . I know Bramble. I took her in and raised her when she was a fledgling. I cannot speak for the wild ones.
Tensor N: Of course. A convenient excuse. Please, continue. Your naga was hurt. What then?
R: I convinced Mokoya to stay behind with Bramble. She is pregnant, and had been feeling ill recently.
Tensor N: She let you go on your own? I find that difficult to believe. You can barely walk unassisted.
R: It is what happened.
Tensor N: You convinced her.
R: Yes. And then I left. I traveled across the bleeding plains that separate Rewar Teng from the mountain path.
Tensor N: What about Sanao Akeha? Did he not accompany you?