After the tense departure from the RealityStep base and Orin Fane, Rosa and Selina drove into the nearby town, its ordinary streets a welcome contrast to the stark strangeness they’d left behind. They chose a small café inside an old library, a modest and unassuming spot where they could sit and talk about everything that had just happened.
The place smelled of aged paper and roasted coffee, a comforting backdrop for their reflections. Rosa cradled a steaming cup of tea, letting the warmth run through her fingers. Selina sat opposite, scrolling through her phone with an air of distracted intensity. On the table between them lay the tattered copy of Finnegans Wake, its spine cracked, pages dog-eared, streaked with dark fingermarks.
The café buzzed softly around them, the clinking of cups and murmurs of conversation providing a tenuous sense of normalcy. But Rosa’s eyes roamed the corners of the room, as if expecting the rat-like creature to skitter out of the shadows. The memory of its overlarge body and unsettlingly human-like eyes was too vivid, too fresh.
Selina broke the silence. “About that… thing we saw in there... It was the same rat monstrosity we saw in the shopping centre simulation, wasn’t it?”
Rosa nodded slowly, her mind replaying the rat’s unnatural movements in the virtual mall. “I assumed that it was all just a virtual reality performance. They can't actually have... 'liberated' it, can they?”
“I thought the same, but it’s there.” Selina leaned closer. “I mean out here. In the real world.”
Rosa shivered and sipped her tea, trying to anchor herself. “What does that even mean? That something from VR can... exist in real life?”
Selina shrugged, her scepticism momentarily faltering. “Maybe it was never just VR. Maybe they really have done something to the monkeys, created a hybrid... Or... ” She hesitated. “Or maybe Fane and Pellicules were telling the truth, maybe they are more advanced than we give them credit for.”
Rosa frowned, her thoughts turning to the unsettling moment at the place she still thought of as MASS. “That’s just it, isn’t it? They knew we were coming, so the whole visit was staged. We saw what they wanted us to see, surely.” Her voice dropped, but her words still carried the weight of something darker. “But then there was that scanner, the way it recognised me. A predictive algorithm? I don't buy it.”
Selina set her phone down, her expression sharpening. “They’re hiding so much. You saw Gum. He’d been shaved. Why? What have they been doing with him?” Her eyes were dark with concern, but there was an edge to her words. “And the other monkeys - kept well away. Whatever they’ve been doing to them... it’s monstrous.”
Rosa winced, the image of the caged capuchin they had seen from the roof last time and the visions it triggered via her phone still haunting her mind. “I can’t stop thinking about it. It's worse than we expected. That creature we saw, that rat-thing with Numier... How is it even possible?”
Selina shook her head slowly, frustration in her eyes. “No answers from Fane. Just cryptic warnings and thinly veiled threats. His entire demeanour was... dismissive, like we were mere irritants to be handled. But he knows we’re onto something.”
Rosa’s hand tightened around her teacup, the heat doing nothing to soothe her growing annoyance. “The worst part? He told us some truths weren’t meant to be uncovered. What does that even mean?” She leaned forward, her voice thick with determination. “But we can’t stop now. We’re getting closer to something.”
Selina met her gaze, her face softening but still edged with concern. “I know you need answers, but this isn’t just some mystery to solve, Rosa. This is getting dangerous. MASS - or whatever they call themselves now - employ armed guards and are hiding something that might not even be human.”
Rosa nodded, but her thoughts had strayed onward. “And then there’s Numier. Did you see him? He’s nothing like his online presence, he's broken, Selina. I can’t figure out if he’s a victim or a villain. Why was he there, in that state? What role does he still play in all of this?”
Selina’s face darkened slightly. “I’m not saying stop. I’m saying we need to be careful. They’re watching us. If we’re not careful…”
Rosa’s gaze dropped to the table, her fingers curling around the edges of the book in front of them. “I know it’s risky, but I can’t... not after everything we’ve seen. The monkeys... Gum... and that... thing.”
The low murmur of conversations around them brought Rosa back to their current surroundings. She leaned back in her chair across from Selina. Her eyes fell on the book that lay on the table, Finnegans Wake - Gum’s last remaining connection to whatever was happening.
Rosa opened the book carefully, as if the very act might trigger something to fall into place. The damp marks left on the pages by Gum's blackberry-streaked fingers were still clear, the dark juice soaked into the paper. They were smudged over a dozen or so pages.
“Why did he give me this?” Rosa muttered, squinting at the stains that ran across the text in purple-black streaks. “It’s like Gum was trying to tell us something, but it’s all so... messy.”
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Selina reached for the book and flipped through it slowly, her eyes scanning the pages. “It’s just random, isn’t it?”
“There has to be something.” Rosa sighed. “Was he marking something? Do we just need to look deeper?”
Selina turned pages back and forward. The marks were just random smudges and fingerprints, obscuring bits of text, except… Selina stopped at page 434.
“There,” Rosa said, reaching over. “This one is different.” She ran her finger along the distinct blackberry stain near the bottom of the page. It appeared to be a letter S.
Selina frowned. “Are we just seeing what we want to see?”
Rosa shook her head and read, “Whalebones and buskbutts may hurt you (thwackaway thwuck!) but never lay bare your breast secret (dickette's place!) to joy a… Jonas.” She stopped reading and looked directly into Selina’s eyes.
Selina traced the letter S with her finger, then leaned in, squinting. “Jonas. Gum's mark stops right next to it.”
Rosa blinked, her heart racing. “I didn't want to say, but it does, doesn't it?”
“Yes, but so what? Jonas?”
Rosa’s mind was racing - patterns among the pieces. Jonas. She blinked, her heart thudding unevenly. “Jonas… I know that name. I’ve seen it before.”
Selina raised an eyebrow. “Where?”
“I’m not sure,” Rosa murmured, her mind spiraling, grasping at threads. The name felt significant, yet maddeningly elusive. It was like a face glimpsed in a dream, its meaning hovering just out of reach. She tilted back in her chair, staring out of the window as if the answer might appear. “It’s important. I just can’t…”
Selina sighed, closing the book. “Take your time. It’s not like we’re on the run from a shadowy corporation or anything.”
Rosa ignored her, her mind straining against the haze of memory. Then it hit her - sudden and vivid. “The datahub,” she said, spinning back toward Selina. “I saw it in the datahub.”
Selina frowned. “When?”
“Back when LumiGard dumped all those files,” Rosa said, words tumbling over each other. “There was a headline - something about animal rights protesters and a police station. Monkeys were involved. I'm sure the name Jonas was mentioned.”
Selina's eyes widened, her earlier sarcasm evaporating. “Wait, wasn’t Hammond going on about how the macaques came from some activist group? You think Jonas was part of that?”
Selina leaned back, pulling out her phone. “Alright, let’s see if the almighty internet can help us out. Yorkshire police monkey incident.” She tapped, scrolled for a while and then her face lit up. “Hah! Got something.”
Rosa peered over her shoulder as Selina scanned through a rather poorly formatted news article from a local Yorkshire archive.
“‘Police Station Overrun by Monkeys,’” Selina read, her grin widening. “Animal rights activists, a protest gone wrong, and monkeys loose in the lobby. Sounds like a fun day at the office.”
“Does it mention Jonas?” Rosa pressed.
Selina shook her head. “No, just says the authorities refused to comment on a suspect in custody.” She frowned. “Wait, this is recent - like a year ago.”
“Recent?” Rosa frowned. “But Gum and the others turned up two decades ago.”
“There can’t be two monkey-related police incidents, can there?” Selina muttered, her brow furrowed.
Selina grinned. “Lucky for us, this article mentions the name of the station.”
“Selina, no.” Rosa’s voice sharpened as Selina opened her phone’s dialer.
“Oh, come on,” Selina said, already typing in the number. “We’re investigators now. This is what we do.”
“Our incident is twenty years old! What are the chances anyone there remembers…”
“Shhh.” Selina waved her off as the line connected. “Hi, yes, I’m calling about an incident that happened at your station about twenty years ago. Something involving… monkeys.”
Rosa groaned quietly, burying her face in her hands. “This is ridiculous,” she muttered under her breath.
The person on the other end paused before answering, their tone uncertain. “Monkeys?”
“Yes!” Selina said cheerfully. “Odd case, I know. But it’s for a project. Very academic.”
There was a muffled sigh. “Please hold.”
Selina wrinkled her nose. “Hold music,” she whispered, pulling out a tiny mirror to check her lipstick while she waited.
Rosa buried her face in her hands. “This is risky,” she mumbled.
After several minutes, another voice came on the line. This one was brusque and clipped. “Community Liaison Office. How can I help you?”
“Yes, hi!” Selina sat up straighter, setting the mirror down. “I’m looking into an incident at your station involving monkeys. Someone named Jonas was involved. It would have been around twenty years ago.”
“You affiliated with Gamalial Jonas?” the man asked.
“Oh, no.” Selina said, setting the mirror down. “I’m just gathering some….”
“Twenty years?” The voice on the other end paused, then asked suspiciously, “Who are you exactly? Are you a journalist?”
“Ah…” Selina hesitated
“Actually, this investigation is ongoing and I can’t disclose details. If you have official clearance, you’ll need to submit a request through the appropriate channels.”
“No worries. Thank you!” Selina hung up and turned to Rosa with a triumphant grin. “We have a full name. Gamalial Jonas. But… ongoing? Was the Jonas incident twenty years ago or recent?” She was already tapping on her phone again. “Let's try social media.”
After finding nothing of value, Selina muttered. “It’s like he’s a ghost.”
With a frustrated sigh, they pivoted, shifting their focus to businesses or projects linked to the name Jonas. After a few dead ends, Selina’s fingers froze over her screen.
“Here,” she said, her eyes locking onto something on her screen. “Look at this - ClearView Solutions. Urban window-cleaning company. And get this, there’s a Gamalial Jonas listed as part of the staff, complete with a mugshot.”
Rosa squinted at the image. “Is that him? It was a pretty hazy clip on the repressed report LumiGard threw up.”
“Alright,” she said, opening a new tab. “Different tactic. Let’s try a reverse image search.”
The headshot turned up a hit: an Instagram profile under the handle gj522019.
“What do you think?” Rosa said, as she scrolled through the account.
The profile was sparse - abstract city shots, some landscapes, a couple of portraits. But the username included gj, and the face in the photos was similar to the one in the report.
"Hold on," Rosa said, pausing on one image. "Look at this." She pointed to a comment under a picture of a vibrant daymoon, its pale circle blending into the blue of a vivid sky. Someone had written, "Nice fade-out, Gum."
“Gum?” Selina blinked.
“Yeah, Gum. Short for Gamalial?” Rosa said, a small smirk playing at the edge of her lips. “But check out who posted it.”
“Justsomeroan... That’s almost too eerie,” Selina muttered. Her eyes lit up with recognition. “Gj - Gamalial Jonas. Time to send a DM.”