NO APOLOGY — MIKE STRINGER
YOU — You and Lieutenant Kitsuragi have gone to investigate the scene of a missing lawyer of a large law firm. Missing — Louis Katz was last seen by his wife, after which his car was found in the neighborhood of Ravachol, Grand Couron, where you are now heading.
GRAND COURON — A place of incredible contrasts, an island of wealth amidst an ocean of poverty. Once well-maintained streets and prominent houses mingle with cracked middle-class high-rises. Between the oodles of many houses, a narrow courtyard opens up, lined with shacks, squalid and ugly.
CONCEPTUALISATION — Like half-naked kids cowering in the gutters. YOU — You gaze out at the cityscape, it’s not often you get to see such a diverse neighborhood in Ravachol.
VISUAL CALCULUS [Medium: Success] — Tall and beautiful buildings rise above the river: steel, iron and yellow limestone, shadows of clouds sliding across the facades. However, despite the colossality of the view, all these monstrous buildings are empty. There is no life in these ruins. And the cold winds howl in the empty corridors of houses built on illusions: no native of Ravachol can afford to buy these flats and move in.
YOU — The sea wind blows through you, you press your head close to your shoulders in an attempt to hide from the breeze.
SHIVERS [Easy: Success] — A forgotten motor-carriage awaits the tide. The waves lull and carry the shoe into the distance. The melodic rhythm of the water sounds in tune with your heart.
KIM KITSURAGI — Kim gets out of the Kinema and lets you out of the back seat, — Crime won’t solve itself, detective, — his voice sounds quiet, you can feel the note of anticipation in his voice.
VOLITION — [Medium: Success] — The water lapped against the shore, hiding a clue. You feel a slight tremor in your hands. YOU — You follow Kim to the location listed on the GPS tracker as the last place the missing man’s motorcade was recorded. REACTION SPEED — Are you seeing this?
PERCEPTION (SIGHT) — Mother of God…
INTERFACING — Oh, dear. This car has blue rims!
MOTOR-CARRIAGE WITH BLUE DISKS — At the edge of the beach stands a motorcade, its wheels already touched by the first ripples of the tide, joining the metal in a dance.
KIM KITSURAGI — His interest piqued, he approaches the motor-carriage and gently raises his hand to feel the texture of its body.
KIM KITSURAGI — Wow, an expensive model,” he adjusts his glasses and comes closer, “Limited edition LUM 'Fevre', in black, 12-cylinder V17 rear engine and four-speed manual transmission…
ENCYCLOPEDIA [medium: failure] — HA! Nerd.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Shut up, shut up, don’t keep the sexy smart guys from doing their job.
INTERFACING — Beautiful technique, you share Kim’s delight, such a beautiful thing is not just a *standard* motor-carriage, it is art and nothing else.
KIM KITSURAGI — He turns to you, but continues to look at the motor-carriage, — Such a thing has a high price tag, I don’t think the missing man would throw it away for no reason.
LOGIC [Difficult: Success] — In this scenic image of a motorbike carriage against the sea and waves, a premonition emerges. The sea, the beach, the wife who notices her husband’s disappearance too late, isn’t that our grief-stricken lawyer lying on the ground with water in his lungs and alcohol in his blood?
YOU — Do you think it could have been suicide?
KIM KITSURAGI: It’s possible, it’s a pretty standard thing, a working man, unhappy marriage, — he slowly opens the door of the motorcycle, thinking, — the door is unlocked, — he looks inside, — at least we shouldn’t dismiss the suicide option.
YOU — You walk quickly to the back of the car, Kim hands you the baton, gives way and takes a notebook from his jacket pocket.
KIM KITSURAGI — He stands at the starting line, waiting for your voice to describe the inside of the car.
MOTOR-CARRIAGE WITH BLUE DISKS — Leather seats with contrasting stitching, pleasantly cool metal trim. Wine bottles at his feet.
YOU — Everything in the car looks tidy, with no obvious signs of disturbance. There are no signs of a struggle or accident. There are two empty bottles of Red Commodore underneath. The missing man had been drinking before he disappeared.
KIM KITSURAGI — He writes down your words in a notebook and nods.VISUAL ANALYSIS — You notice a few more things that might be important.
[Visual Calculus: easy] — See what’s shiny under the rear-view mirror.
[Interfacing: medium] — Open the glove compartment.
[Inland Empire: heroic] — Answer me the motor-carriage.
[Savoir faire: medium] — Squeeze into the back seats.
INTERFACING [Medium: successful] — You squeeze in deeper and reach into the glove compartment. It doesn’t want to give in the first time and you have to find the right angle to unlock it.
THE GLOVE BOX — Inside is your driving license, wet wipes, CDs, insurance and other car documents. You quickly examine them and note the owner’s address.
KIM KITSURAGI — Did you find anything? — He tries to look through you at your finds, but the only thing he succeeds in doing is bumping into your butt sticking out of the motor-carriage.
YOU — You close the glove compartment and turn back to the lieutenant. He continues to write down what you said and asks you questions about what you discovered. You tell him about documents, a CD of personal notes, and other items that may be connected to Louis Katz’s disappearance.
ESPRIT DE CORPS — With each piece of evidence, he becomes more and more interested in the case. It seems like you’ve infected him with your flair.
1.[Visual Calculus: easy] — See what’s shiny under the rear-view mirror.
2.[Interfacing: Medium] — Open the glove box.
3.[Inland Empire: Heroic] — Answer the motor-carriage.
4.[Savoir faire: medium] — Squeeze into the back seats.
VISUAL CALCULUS [Easy: Success] — There’s something shiny under the mirror, on the front of the machine. You look closely and see a wedding ring resting on your wallet. It’s silver and set with small diamonds.
YOU — It’s a ring, probably an engagement ring.
KIM KITSURAGI: Hmm, he pulls out a pair of gloves and an evidence bag from the inside pocket of his jacket. He holds the former out to you.
YOU — You quickly pull the latex over your hands and reach for the jewelery.
VISUAL CALCULUS — It is an engagement ring. It is made of 18ct white gold and set with brilliant cut diamonds. The ring is a standard engagement ring size and has a distinctive narrow band design. The date 15th May 40 is engraved on the inside of the ring, presumably the date of the wedding. The engraving is clean and professional.
YOU — Look, Kim, the engraving is on the inside of the ring. The date, 15th May '40, looks like a wedding date.
KIM KITSURAGI — Kim nods slowly, keeping a professional air. — Interesting.
LOGIC — The missing man could have taken it off before he drowned.
YOU — He could have taken it off before he went, you know — you point at the water, then imitate slitting your throat.
KIM KITSURAGI — He stares at the sea for a while, then looks back at the motorcycle, — there’s something else on the board.
YOU — You quickly toss the ring into the evidence bag and return to investigate.
MOTOR-CARRIAGE WITH BLUE DISKS — On the dashboard is a wallet and a picture of a man and woman smiling happily. The photo looks old, the corners are frayed, but it still radiates warmth and tenderness, it was important to the person who kept it.
PERCEPTION (SENSATION) — The wallet is made of thick leather, it is shabby and rough, but it still looks great.
YOU — You rummage through the wallet but find nothing of interest. Just money, lots of money. Who carries that much money around? You sigh and close the wallet, realising that money won’t answer the questions that have arisen. But the photo is still gently held in your hands, and you look at the smiling faces in the picture, trying to catch a clue or a hint.
YOU — You get off the bike and throw the evidence into the bag that Kim has kindly prepared for you. Then you return to the motor-carriage.
1.[Visual Calculus: easy] — See what’s shiny under the rear-view mirror.
2.[Interfacing: Medium] — Open the glove box.
3.[Inland Empire: Heroic] — Answer the motor-carriage.
4.[Savoir faire: medium] — Squeeze into the back seats.
INLAND EMPIRE — [Heroic: Failure] — You tense your whole body and touch the motor-carriage. You slowly guide it slowly over the metal, stroking it like an abandoned cat.
MOTOR-CARRIAGE WITH BLUE DISKS — I’ve seen love and betrayal. So much for one tin can.
YOU — Tell me beauty, where’s your owner?
MOTOR-CARRIAGE WITH BLUE DISKS — Hibernating underground in a park somewhere.
LOGIC — Then why isn’t it parked by the park, it’s parked by the water. It doesn’t fit.
YOU — Then why are you here?
MOTOR-CARRIAGE WITH BLUE DISKS — I was brought here by someone else’s hands. Left alone with the ocean. And he was taken in another direction.
YOU — I wonder what it feels like to be here by the ocean?
MOTOR-CARRIAGE WITH BLUE DISKS — I feel the vastness of the water and the longing for its owner. After all, the ocean can be as boundless as my memories.
YOU — And who brought you here?
MOTOR-CARRIAGE WITH BLUE DISKS — There’s only silence in response, the motor-carriage just gives off some…vibrations, that’s all. Either you’re incapable of translating them, or she’s no longer in a co-operative mood.
LOGIC — It’s useless, nothing important.
INLAND EMPIRE — It’s hard to find contact in such an atmosphere.
1.[Visual Calculus: easy] — See what’s shiny under the rear-view mirror.
2.[Interfacing: Medium] — Open the glove box.
3.[Inland Empire: Heroic] — Answer the motor-carriage.
4.[Savoir faire: medium] — Squeeze into the back seats.
SAVOIR FAIRE [Medium: Success] — Weren’t you fat!
YOU — You take a deep breath and make your way into the car, into the driver’s seat and try to climb backwards.
SAVOIR FAIRE — Breathe in and out, straighten your back and squeeze your bellybutton, it’ll work.
YOU — You listen to the confident sounding voice in your head and surprisingly manage to not only squeeze your head through the gap, but climb all the way to the back row and sit down in one of the seats.
SAVOIR FAIRE — There’s still powder in the powder!
VISUAL CALCULUS — The back row is not much different from the front, same upholstery, same seat design, same windows clad in aluminum-like metal. Some traces of previous journeys are still visible, as if they were stories told by the motor coach itself. You see your reflection in the dark reflections of the windows.
HALF LIGHT — You’re a freak.
VOLITION — Absolutely not, you look… normal, you might even say close to a solid three.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY — You know what might brighten up that face? Wine, see if there’s any left in those bottles.
VOLITION — Don’t listen to him, do your job and get endorphins for the task at hand, not destroyed brain cells.
KIM KITSURAGI — Detective? Did you find anything? — His voice sounds a little restless, you’ve gone too long without making your natural rumble.
RHYTHORIC [Medium: Failure] — You try to make a normal excuse for hanging up, but the only thing your mouth can produce is a mumble.
YOU — Yes, my sweetheart, we’re going to dig through this place.
VOLITION — What did *you* just say?!
HALF LIGHT -He’s going to realize what an abomination you are and drown you here.
VOLITION — Quick, change the subject.
VISUAL CALCULUS [Easy: Success] — Here! Under the seat.
YOU — You look under the driver’s seat and feel for a strange object. When you pull it out into the light, you realize it’s a shoe, — Kim, there’s a shoe here.
KIM KITSURAGI — One shoe? Not a pair? — He climbs onto the motorbike and deftly, like a cat, squeezes into the back seat next to you. He searches the corners for a second shoe while you sit with the lone one in your hands.
KIM KITSURAGI — I think there really is one,” he sighs and leans back against the back of the seat, “When suicide is a possibility, shoes are usually taken off and stacked neatly, not scattered around the cabin.
YOU — And if it’s murder or kidnapping, he could have lost it in the struggle.
KIM KITSURAGI: You sit in silence and contemplation for a while until Kim gets up from his seat and pushes the front seat back so that you can now get out without putting your body under extreme strain, — We should check the shore and ask divers to search underwater.
YOU — You, already effortlessly getting out of the machine and looking at the water in front of you, — We know that every detail can make a difference. We have to be vigilant.
KIM KITSURAGI — He takes the boot from your hands and throws it into an evidence bag, — The tide will be coming in soon, I suggest we go before we get wet, — He adjusts his glasses with his wrist and looks you in the eye.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Fuck.
YOU — You feeling your stomach twist like it’s in the best of times, you swallow and nod to Kim.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Harry my boy, I think we need to talk.
VOLITION — No, he’s not ready yet.
KIM KITSURAGI — He looks at you with some concern, noticing your tension, — Is everything alright?
YOU — Yeah, just hungry.
