Video ; @samsa

[enucleation]

[ it's a video! And Kaneki is at what looks exactly like a morgue because he is at a morgue. To the left there is a dead person, and he will talk about it in a moment. To the right, his cursed doll is sitting at a table, immobile this time; she had a bit of a makeover ever since arriving to Serthica. Currently he is wearing a white coat, just like a doctor would (spoiler alert: he is not a doctor)]

Good evening, I hope everyone has settled in, in this... steam-punk city. [ a pause ] I feel like we might go through every literary genre at this point.

Anyway - [ Kaneki rises some papers he will be reading from as he approaches the dead body ] I was given a job as a mortician. [ how fitting ] and I can tell you a little bit about what I have seen here.

There is some sort of affliction, even in healthy looking bodies. A rot - [ and that's when he shows the dead body up close. There is a rotting look to it, green and festering, inside the abdomen ] It shows in abdomen and muscles. Also, the bodies decompose at a strange rate. None of them seem to follow a normal human pattern for decomposition, some too slow or some too fast. Honestly, I'm not a doctor so I only know what I read in medical books, but I haven't found information on this. [ he puts the papers away and walks away from the body ]

Lastly, during that eventful summit, some of the delegates started acting weird when Minaras rose. I can't put my finger on it, but there was a strange smell. They smelled human, they are human. But- [ he pauses, frowning a little. How is he supposed to describe a scent? ] It was just not normal. There are others in this city that smell like that, some of the bodies that arrive here, too. It's not everywhere but it's--

I can't recognize it. And no, the rotting bodies are unrelated to that smell, I have checked.

So, this is the information I currently have. If anyone has anything to add, I'd love to hear it.

Comments

un: absterge

[downswing]

( .......hold, hold everything. )


The dead remain dead?

[enucleation]

I don't follow them to burial, but no one has suddenly woken up on my table.

[downswing]

The dead here do not bear the marks of passing.

[enucleation]

What do you mean?

They do rot, even if unpredictably.

un: workstormit | audio

[bravelyrunsaway]

What in the skies is that doll doing there, did it come in with the body?

( pardon the initial distraction, kaneki, he doesn't have the rundown on the cursed doll yet. he'll get back on topic, just. what. )

[enucleation]

[ oh you are in for a TREAT ]

No, it's mine. [ well -] Technically, I'm haunted by it. it follows me everywhere.

[bravelyrunsaway]

You're... haunted by a doll.

( here's his extended pause, and a cautious: )

I assume a possessed doll, and not a magic crafted one?

[enucleation]

Yes, possessed by the spirit of a little girl. I found the doll at a lighthouse we have visited before, and she has been haunting me since then.

[ he doesn't seem too worried about it ]

un: song | voice;

[spoilers]

[ Well, the doll is creepy, and it doesn't escape her notice; but perhaps a testament to her life (and death) she doesn't question it. Why wouldn't they keep strange children's toys among their dead? Who is she to judge?

There are more important questions at hand here. ]

What is your rot.

[ It's phrased more as statement than question. ]

Maybe they meant it literally.

[enucleation]

[ don't judge Kaneki's child too harshly, she is lovely she is haunted

Ken nods ]

There is a chance of that. I don't know if the bodies after "cleansing" will still contain this same rot, but it's something I can try investigating. [ if he ever receives a body of someone who died soon after leaving the civic integration centre ]

[spoilers]

I'd certainly be interested to find out.

[ Especially if it's something that might affect them later. She doesn't care for the thought this city might plant a literal rot in her, one that may fester and spread. There's something very strange going on in this place. ]

I wonder if it's affecting both halves of the city. Do the people of Eidris fear illness as much as those in Minaras?

[enucleation]

I will check the records of the morgue anyway, id's probably be faster than to wait for a body to come in, since the rot is not that common.

[ but the question leaves kaneki to hum a little ]

I'm not sure, I don't spend enough time in Eidris. But there are no cleansing centres there, however.

un : deft hand of little deaths (voice)

[scrapgege]

... If they're rotting, doesn't that mean they're already dead before they actually 'die', somehow?

I have seen many diseases in my time, but one that would rot a body from the inside out would either be very localized, or an epidemic bad enough it would be very visible.

I hope it's not a disease.

[He didn't really mean to say that last part out loud.]

[enucleation]

I'm not entirely sure. I was told the spirits, however, seem to remain behind even after the bodies have passed away.

[ a pause ] I'm not a doctor, but a diseases that keeps the spirit after death here is not something I've heard of.

[scrapgege]

... But there are no spirits here. No spirits and no ghosts. And that's unnatural.

Something is tethered to these bodies to keep them moving, but I don't know if it's an actual human soul.

[enucleation]

I don't really know anything about spirits and ghosts. I only know what I see.

You are free to inspect the bodies at morgue if you wish, though.

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[beitangmoran]

The Minaras people seem to be deathly afraid of rot and decay, pardon the pun.

This... might be the cause of their fright. It doesn't explain where it came from, though.

[enucleation]

There is even an indoctrination centre to clean our rot away.

[ he sighs a little ] I'd say their rot is metaphorical too, given how this society works.

[beitangmoran]

Well, not that metaphorical, it would appear.

Minaras probably houses a lot of dead bodies that are somehow kept going... but is it only on their side, or is it the same in Eidris? I wonder if we could have access to a body from there...

voice; un: owl lady

[traaaaaash]

Ew, that is gross! But hey, good nose on you.

[enucleation]

It seemed like important information to share, as gross as it is.

[traaaaaash]

Oh, absolutely. Thanks for sharing your gift with us.

One step closer to finding out what the heck is going on here.

un: dr.mccoy; video

[biomed]

Environment, diet, location of death; all that can affect the rate of decomposition. I'd like to see some of these corpses, if you don't mind.

( hey there, he's super-interested, adding as an afterthought, )

I'm a doctor.

[enucleation]

Of course. I'm not a doctor, so would appreciate someone else to see to have a look at them.

What job were you given? I can let you in or... slip you inside. [ without being noticed. kaneki would rather do this legally, but he isn't above sneaking people in to look at the bodies ]

[biomed]

I'm a "work safety inspector". Stands to reason my duties can concern postmortem care workers as well, as they would back home.

How soon can you let me in?