Forgeries


Ikuko first learns of it from one of journals she subscribes to. Reading her journals over breakfast has always been a favorite discussion of Ikuko's, but today the mail was running a bit late, so she's reading them over lunch in her study instead. It's probably just as well. It wouldn't do for Toya to see the grin that unfurls over her face at the sight of one of the teasers on the glossy cover.

'It is believed that an account of the massacre on Rokkenjima may have been discovered.'

Oh, it's almost certainly the turn of the rumor mill, and it certainly won't help her in her observations of Toya, waiting and watching to see if he ever regains his memories. Showing it to Toya probably wouldn't help either; he'd just look at her and ask why he was being shown a glorified tabloid.

I don't see why there's anything wrong with reading tabloids. I understand that most of it is nothing but lies and I find them just hilarious, so why do I keep getting those odd looks every time I go into town to pick some up?

Back on topic, Ikuko starts scanning the table of contents, trying to find the article she's looking for. Page 79 holds the key, it seems. Ikuko's eyebrows shoot up as she starts to read the article, and realizes that it's not quite what she expected.

According to the article, there has recently been found a bottle washed up on a nearby shore. Within the bottle, which had been sealed shut with a cork and wax, there was what appears to have been an account of the massacre on Rokkenjima and the events leading up to it. The account was signed by Ushiromiya Maria, one of the tragedy's many victims. Also found in the bottle was a bleached, naked human lower jawbone. It was small enough that it probably belonged to a child.

By now entranced, Ikuko keeps reading. The author of the article notes that "Maria's" account records a fantastical tale involving witches and demons. There are, however, "some problems with it."

"Ushiromiya Maria's tale tells of things she could not possible have known. In this narrative, she recounts incidents that she was not present for, and which the witnesses could not have told her, for none of them survived the incidents which she described. There is also the matter that the hand-written account used handwriting and diction far superior to that which can be realistically attributed to such a young girl…"

Basically, the gist is that the validity of this so-called "message in a bottle" is dubious at best. Ikuko couldn't agree less.

Oh, silly woman. Don't you know that when truth is locked away inside of a cat box, any speculation is valid? You know, they could use something ludicrous like "small bombs" to explain this tragedy, and it would be just as valid as any of your own hypotheses.

Ikuko wonders how many others have seen this article. This is a fairly popular journal. Speculation must be running mad, she muses. Then, she smiles, a wide, tolerant, beneficent smile. How magnificent. I can imagine that that has re-sparked interest in the massacre. When people speculate, they come up with such wild and wildly entertaining theories. Even if they're completely off-base, it's still so much fun to read the ridiculously creative explanations people can come up with. It's almost enough to make Ikuko want to rejoin the human race.

Oh, Child of Man, thank you, she addresses the author of this tale. Even if this is just a forgery and something you're doing as a prank, you've made the world an infinitely more interesting place than it was before.

All this gives Ikuko an idea, and makes her smile again, but this smile is not nearly as benevolent. Though she's been exiled to the very ends of earth and it would probably be too much to hope for to obtain the original manuscript, she is not entirely without resources. It wouldn't be that hard to get a copy of this tale.

I think I have a new hobby.