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CW: Mentions of suicide
Written by
doctrinator and
pubie, with the help of
CamaradeAlbabar
Crit by
centurys lute
Greenlit by
vange
Date: 12/01/2024
Person of Interest
Lou Khoi
Documented by Jean Meier
MISSING
LOU FILIPPE KHOI
Height: 169 cm1
Age: 46
Race: Mixed Asian-White
Hair: Silver, short
Eyes: Brown
Last seen: 18/12/2023 at Pytheas HQ, Level 4, 7:00
Other: Wears round glasses, has a mole on his left cheek, has tattoos on the chest, shoulder and upper arm areas, last seen wearing a burgundy-colored sweater
If found, please contact Cercle Ariane Team Pytheas at moc.liamkcab|saehtypeac#moc.liamkcab|saehtypeac
Attached above is the missing poster for my coworker, Lou Khoi. He has been missing for three weeks.
Khoi joined Team Pytheas around two months ago as a researcher. He mainly specialized in documentation and fieldwork that has to do with postmortem examination. According to his file2, he used to be a forensic investigator working with the French Gendarmerie.
If I had to describe his personality, I would say that he’s evasive. I suppose it takes one to know one. There is little to be gathered from our conversations. We talked about work sometimes, but mostly we talked about nothing. I don’t really know anything about him at all. There are times when I feel that I cannot get through to a person because their mind is so dense and impenetrable; Khoi is the opposite. Talking to him feels like talking to a pile of forgotten ashes something hollow, a ghost perhaps. Something that is already dead.
How long does it take for one to notice a missing cadaver from the morgue?
I started looking into Khoi’s disappearance the day it was reported. Apparently, Khoi had last been seen four days prior to the report, and it was likely that nobody noticed until days later. Quickly, I discovered that Khoi was most recently assigned to Level 7, following a case of reported mass suicides. He had to navigate from M.E.G. Base Omega to Level 6, then Level 7 without requesting any personnel or assistance, so it is entirely possible that he did not make the trip. Not only have all attempts to communicate with him failed, but there have also been no sightings of him by anyone stationed in the aforementioned levels. More and more people at the office are presuming him dead. But somehow, I doubt that.
While investigating his office, I found a stack of letters written by Khoi addressed to no one. I couldn't fully grasp the meaning of them, but I could sense a feeling of longing between the lines. A desire to find something that's been lost, a desire to become whole.
I think he’s out there somewhere, searching for himself. And he’s close.
The date is 02/02/2024, six weeks since Lou Khoi has gone missing.
I looked into the case that he was assigned to, and I was only able to find a single report of the incident. It was documented in Phenomenon 52 by an independent researcher, and it seemed to imply that the mass suicides were related to the marine life present on the level, or perhaps a specific area on the level designated the Sixth Sea. I’m honestly not quite sure what to make of it.
I feel like it is worth noting that Khoi, according to his file, experiences “moderate ichthyophobia” and “mild thalassophobia”.
A strange man showed up at the office today.
It’s hard to describe him. He looked both like a stranger and so deeply familiar. He had an expression that was knowing, and it felt like he was staring directly into my being. Like he knew more about me than I knew myself.
He smiled like a mentor and like a wild beast. I knew that smile—it was driving me crazy, the fact that I knew that smile. It was like we knew each other.
He called himself
Cadriel: (To someone else) Hey, I’m not looking to start anything, just here to see a pal. No, no, not suspicious—here, I got my ID, see? Just let me see him and this’ll all get cleared up, alright?
Jean Meier: What’s happening?
Someone else: This guy just barged in here—wants to see you. Do you know him?
Cadriel: He-ey, Jean.
Jean Meier: Uh…
ENCOUNTER
(The two sit across from each other in Meier's office. Cadriel is sitting cross-legged in an uncomfortable-looking chair. He grimaces slightly at the smell and condition of the room.)
Cadriel: You can call me Cadriel.
Jean Meier: Cadriel… Last name..?
Cadriel: …
Jean Meier: (He checks something on his computer) “Huynh”3? Researcher of Phenomenon 52?
Cadriel: You’re pronouncing it wrong. Huynh.4
Jean Meier: Sorry. Huynh. You were previously situated in Level 7?
Cadriel: Sure was.
Jean Meier: Have you seen this person? He was a researcher of ours who went missing on that level. He went by himself to investigate a case which I believe to be related to your research.
(Meier shows Cadriel the missing poster of Khoi.)
Cadriel: Hm… went missing in the sea, you say? You really think he's out there?
Jean Meier: I believe so.
Cadriel: Is this person important to you?
Jean Meier: …
Cadriel: How are you so sure he didn’t just… not make the trip there? Perhaps he died along the way, that’s likely, don't you think?
Jean Meier: I don’t know. I don’t know…
Cadriel: Anything could’ve happened. Maybe he made it and died on the way back. Or he didn’t feel like coming back. Or maybe he got lost and he’s being pulled apart by creatures in a level you’ve never heard of.
Jean Meier:…
Cadriel: Maybe he's drowning. You know, as they say, sleeping with the fishes.
Jean Meier: If you don’t know him, then I’m asking you to leave.
Cadriel: I do. He’s me.
Date: 22/02/2024
Person of Interest
“Cadriel”
Documented by Jean Meier
Edited by The Pytheas Archival and Conservation Commission
NAME: Cadriel
ALIASES: Cadriel Huynh, Lou Khoi, Cadriel Lou, Cadriel L.M.S. Huynh-Khoi, etc.5
LAST KNOWN LOCATIONS: Level 7, Level 4
KNOWN AFFILIATIONS: Cercle Ariane Team Pytheas, Head Archivist Jean Meier
Physical Description
Cadriel is an Asian male of unknown age6. He has light-brown skin, black hair that is partially bleached and showing signs of graying. He has dark brown, nearly black irises which appear to be unnaturally large. He has a slim build and measures around 170 centimeters7 in height. He has a prominent scar from his left cheek to his jaw, as well as a mole on the right side of his mouth and two on his upper left cheek. He wears round glasses, a loose red sweater, and dog tags around his neck. Old scars, appearing to be rope burn scars of various sizes cover the visible amount of skin, including his hands and neck.
Behavioral Description
Cadriel can be described as cryptic both in the way he speaks and acts. He shows little emotion aside from constantly smiling in a carefree manner. His tone of speaking is overly casual, but he often uses figurative, almost poetic language. His speech patterns are also often erratic. This is in contrast with his body language, which is more still and calculated, almost eerily so.
He carries a small notebook in his pocket, along with a Cercle Ariane-issued ID card belonging to Researcher Lou Khoi, who had previously gone missing in Level 7.
Cadriel has extensive knowledge of marine biology, and an overall love for the ocean. He claims that he is a sailor, that one day he will return to the sea. His current location is unknown.
Reification
Cadriel was subjected to Phenomenon 77, undergoing a process referred to as “Reification”. Little is known about the phenomenon, but it appears to involve two individuals physically fusing together, resulting in them inhabiting the same body. Further information pending. See log P77-1 and the following notice.
The following recording and transcript can only be accessed by authorized members of Team Pytheas.
Notice from the Pytheas Archival and Conservation Commission
Head Archivist Jean Meier has displayed highly unprofessional behavior surrounding this phenomenon. Meier's documentation is deemed unreliable from this point of the article, as he has been severely psychologically affected by his findings. The Pytheas Archival and Conservation Commission will be granted ownership of Meier's research regarding the Person of Interest, “Cadriel”, and will edit and revise the information according to necessity.
The previous versions of the article are accessible only to editors personally authorized by Pytheas.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Phenomenon XX — “Reification”
Researcher Cadriel L.M.S. Huynh-Khoi
Report #1 — Telepathy
What is your life’s purpose? As humans, we are constantly forced to perceive and address a massive, overarching sense of emptiness in our own lives. We are afraid of being meaningless; utterly and entirely insignificant animals that are a waste of the world’s resources. What if there was a way to eradicate this sense of impending doom? No one would have to die in vain anymore.
Reification is the act of making two halves into a whole. It is an act of communication; a confession, perhaps, or a prayer. It is a reverse Genesis of sorts, involving not only the flesh but the psyche as well. Despite certain adverse effects, it is almost certain that the benefits outweigh any sort of consequence.
The first sign of being incomplete is an all-encompassing sensation of loneliness in the world. The feeling or idea that nobody will ever truly see into your soul behind a thick barricade you’ve put up for whatever reason. Reification is a complicated process; it is the answer, but not an immediate remedy. The body can do as it likes, but the spirit must be willing. Bodies will reject the act of reification if the individuals—hereafter referred to as carcasses—have not yet established a mutual understanding and synchronization of thought with each other.
Carcasses often exhibit some if not all of the following symptoms: paranoia, insomnia, nyctophobia, inability to spell their own name, and either an extreme disdain for or attraction towards mirrors. They are often unaware of their own condition. Without reification, they are nobody.
Haven’t you always wanted to know who you really are?To Esdras
Please don’t be alarmed, I am not a thief. I know that you only bought the mirror from me just a few days ago, but I urgently need to borrow it. I would have asked you personally, but I wasn't able to find you, so I took it from your desk. I will return it to you after my business is done.
J. Meier
[0:00] - Jean Meier backs away from the camera. The blinds of his office are shut, and a single light is on. In the center of the room, there is a mirror placed atop a carpet. Meier kneels down on the floor beside it, and begins speaking to the camera.
[0:20] - He holds up the mirror so that it faces the camera.
[0:30] - A pause. He lowers the mirror back onto the carpet.
[0:50] - Another pause. Meier looks longingly into the mirror.
[1:10] - Meier reaches offscreen to retrieve a folder of papers. He shows it to the camera. On the first page is a missing poster for Lou Khoi.
[2:00] - He puts the folder away and looks directly at the camera.
[2:20] - Meier turns towards the mirror. He shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath.
[2:30] - He opens his eyes.
It's you.
I'm sorry…
I haven't been able to get you out of my head.
To be honest, I…
I got very scared after I saw you. I kept thinking about what a sad boy you must've been.
I was scared that you would hate me. I was scared that there was a part of me that was like you, and it would grow to hate me.
That's not true.
No, no. I'm sorry.
Oh dear.
Please, I'm sorry. Please don't say these things…
You're so cold. Oh, Jean, you carry so much pain with you. So much suffering.
You know that that's not how it works, your pain won't go away no matter what.
It hurts. It hurts me so immensely. I can't bear this… this weight. How can I live with it?
Please, you know that this is wrong. I see it in your eyes.
Poor thing… Cry all you need.
Jean Meier, you're beautiful. I love you.
You're allowed to be you.
I know that you'll be alright. Let's not see each other again. I won't forget you, okay?
Goodbye, Jean.
[BEGIN AUDIO TRANSCRIPT]
This is a video visually demonstrating the recently discovered phenomenon, “Reification”. The date is the 2nd of February, 2024, and the time is… ten o'clock. I’m Jean Meier, and I will be the subject in this demonstration.
Before I begin, I will briefly explain what I know about this phenomenon, and the circumstances leading to my discovery of it.
At first, it seemed like an ordinary mirror. I got it as a “gift” from my co-workers. And… thinking back to it, I’m not really sure whether they knew about its anomalous properties or not. But for a while, I didn’t even touch it because I was so engrossed in my work.
But when I did…
Okay, so what happened was… I decided to take a break for myself, and then I remembered about the mirror. I set it down in this exact spot and I closed my eyes. And when I opened them, what I saw was… Well, how do I put this—I saw myself, but not me. I saw someone else’s reflection, someone else’s life. There was a woman. She was me, but she wasn’t, you know? Like, I don't know, like a parallel dimension of sorts.
But I realized that she had what I was missing. I mean, first of all, she wasn’t stuck here like I am. She was living in our house, with our mother. I recognized everything immediately—I saw my room, I heard my mother’s voice, and I really thought I was dreaming.
Anyways, I ended up selling the mirror after that. I just couldn’t bear to see it, or think about it. But there is a reason why I want to look at it again. It has to do with this phenomenon called “Reification”.
It started when my co-worker, Lou Khoi, went missing. I’ve already written about my findings regarding the investigation, so to keep it short, I will just say that I’ve found that he wasn’t missing at all, because he came back to see me.
He looked different, and he spoke differently, and he knew things he wouldn’t have known, but it was surely him. He called himself Cadriel. He… He is what happens when you find your true other half, the piece of yourself that has been cast into the ocean. He was complete, so much so that it made me realize just how incomplete he was before, and I wondered how a person could even bear to live with such a big gaping hole in their being. And I realized I was that way.
No, I can’t bear it anymore. Not after I’ve realized who it was that I was looking for. The person who had everything I was missing.
Now, I will attempt to recreate the phenomenon with the mirror. If it doesn’t work… No, it has to. I know it will. I’m going to demonstrate what it looks like to become embodied, to be fulfilled, to be whole.
…
It's you.
…
You're—
What? What for?
Scared? Why?
… Well, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you either.
I think…
I think you are everything and I am nothing.
But it is. You're everything that I'm missing.
I don't need your pity. I just need to… How do I put this…
You could complete me.
The door's already open, can't close it now.
Listen, Jeanne, you don't understand. I miss my life so badly. I miss my home, I miss Maman.
We could be all that we need. Feel my hand again.
But I won't have to anymore.
Why are you pulling back? We're made for each other, aren't we?
…
I..
I'm sorry… I'm so sorry. I knew I couldn't do it.
I have to go now, before I do something stupid again. I shouldn't have done this. I'll leave you alone.
I think I'll be alright.
I could never forget you.
Goodbye, Jeanne.
To Lou Khoi
I hope you are doing well. I don't know if you will even receive this, wherever you are.
From Jean Meier
We were both lost at one point, but you managed to find yourself. You had good intentions, you wanted me to find what you had too, but it wasn't what I needed. I came to the realization that she wasn't my other half, she was already complete, and I was only capable of hurting her. I'm going to keep searching, no matter how long it takes, but I know now that the answer will come from within myself. I still want you to know that I'm truly happy for you.
Let's not see each other again. Thank you for everything.