Have You Seen This Man? was a virtual representation of one of Eivor Varinsdottir's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2020 through the Portable Animus HR-8.5.
Description[]
Eivor met with Petra to search for her brother Wallace.
Dialogue[]
Petra called out to Eivor as she was passing by the Hunter's Hut.
- Petra: Eivor. Have you seen Wallace?
Eivor went to speak with her.
- Eivor: Petra, what is wrong?
- Petra: It's my brother. Wallace was meant to return hours ago, but I've seen neither hide nor hair of him. He's usually punctual. I'd like to search the woods for him, but alone I fear I'd have little luck. Would you join me? Two could cover much more ground.
- Eivor: We should go now. Do you know where to start?
- Petra: Near Peterborough. It's where he buys his tanning liquids. I know he sometimes makes camp at a crossroads between here and there.
Eivor riding with Petra out of Ravensthorpe
Together, Eivor and Petra made their way northeast, out of town.
- Petra: We can retrace his steps. With luck, he hasn't done anything foolish.
- Eivor: Is he prone to that sort of thing?
- Petra: Never. That's why his absence worries me. I told you how we found him, didn't I?
- Eivor: You did. Led by a white elk to a lost babe in the woods. A fated encounter.
- Petra: Fated, yes. As if gifted from one guardian to another, he was bestowed on us like a... like a babe among the reeds.
Eivor and Petra arriving at a former Roman shrine, where Wallace had camped in
With Sýnin's help, Eivor located some old Roman ruins near a crossroads.
- Eivor: Over there. He may have stayed somewhere nearby.
- Petra: If he did, he left traces.
Petra ran to the ruins, where some cloth and items had been left at the base of a statue. Eivor followed, investigating the area.
- Eivor: A set of tools. If they belonged to Wallace, why would he take them from his satchel here?
Petra sighted a staircase.
- Petra: That leads below ground to who knows where. Let's keep our wits about us.
The small room below the ruins was filled with a sort of thin fog. A wild boar had made its way down there and attacked.
- Eivor: Careful, Petra. Look at its eyes. There's something wrong with this one.
Eivor killed the boar and they continued their search. As Eivor got further into the room, her vision started losing focus, swimming slightly, though she gave no signs of noticing.
- Petra: A strong scent down here. Strange and heady. I don't recognize it.
- Eivor: It has a familiar sourness, but I can't place it. Not the smell of death. It is almost... pleasant.
Eivor investigating Wallace's clothes
To one side of the room, she found a pile of fabric.
- Eivor: Must be Wallace's clothes. The trousers are wet... probably pissed himself.
On the other side of the room, she found a knife and blood.
- Eivor: Someone was wounded. A knife attack, I think.
Eivor examined the fire and cooking pot someone had set up.
- Petra: Hm. Wallace stayed here. Seems he made something to eat.
As soon as Eivor finished looking at the last item of interest, Petra bolted away up the stairs.
- Petra: O my God, Eivor! Eivor! Come this way!
- Eivor: What have you found?
She found Petra waiting beside the ruins. She began to run as soon as Eivor approached.
- Petra: I saw it, Eivor. I saw him nearby.
- Eivor: Wallace?
- Petra: The white elk! The white elk that brought me to Wallace years ago! It was there, I saw it there!
Despite how quickly Eivor followed, Petra pulled ahead, running into a small hut. When Eivor entered, she found a group of people seemingly having a party, but Petra was nowhere to be found.
- Eivor: Petra? Where are you?
- Petra: Eivor! I'm here!
Eivor finding Petra far ahead of her
Eivor left the hut to find Petra across the road, waving to her. Petra started running again as soon as Eivor moved to meet her.
- Petra: Come!
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash and a crash like thunder. Petra vanished, a flock of white birds flying from where she stood, and the world around Eivor grew darker.
- Eivor: Petra? Hello? Mimir guide me. Have I lost her too? Petra! Show yourself! It's getting dark!
Running in the direction Petra had seemed to be going, Eivor found a white elk standing in the middle of a pond.
- Eivor: Ah! The elk. He will know where she has gone.
She approached the elk.
- Eivor: I am... I am sorry to trouble you, lord.
- The White Elk: Eivor. Nice to see you here.
- Eivor: Are you the white elk Petra told me about?
- The White Elk: Ha! Of course I am. Look at me!
- Eivor: Maybe you can help me. Petra has disappeared. I need to find her before the sun slips away.
- The White Elk: No, no. Petra hasn't disappeared. She's close, very close. And waiting for you. Follow me.
Eivor following the White Elk
The elk walked away through the woods and Eivor ran to follow.
- Eivor: You are the guardian of this place. Do you live a comforting life... out here among the hills and dales of Mercia?
- The White Elk: O, I get on, you know. I eat, I sleep, I frolic. I want for nothing and enjoy every moment. It is a decent life. And what are you and Petra doing out here, lurking about in the woods? Hunting maybe?
They came to stop on the side of a hill.
- Eivor: In a way, yes. We are looking for her brother, Wallace. She's been waiting for him all day.
- The White Elk: O my dear, yes! Where could Wallace be? O where, O where indeed? Ha!
- Eivor: Is Petra near? I fear we've lost her.
- The White Elk: She was here a moment ago.
The air filled with a thick fog that quickly turned everything red.
- Eivor: Wh-what is happening?"
- The White Elk: I cannot stay! Not here. Not now!
Eivor fighting the hallucinations of Jotnar
The elk disappeared with a flash, fog rolling in thicker, another flock of birds flying away, and Eivor was set upon by a group of jötnar.
- Eivor: Take your evil back to Suttungr's hall! What have you done with Petra! What have you done to Petra! Answer me!
Before Eivor could defeat all the jötnar, Petra suddenly appeared beside her.
- Petra: Eivor. Stop! I'm here!
Eivor continued fighting, though.
- Eivor: I will make them talk, Petra! I must know the truth. I must know where you are!
- Petra: Eivor. I am right here. There is no need to question this carrion further.
- Eivor: Ah, yes. Sorry...
- Petra: Now come! I believe I know where we will find Wallace.
Eivor and Petra investigating the hills
With a flash, the jötnar and the red fog disappeared, leaving Eivor standing once again in the bright light of day. Scattered around her were the bodies of several birds.
- Petra: Up there! His trail leads this way.
Petra started up the hill and Eivor followed.
- Eivor: Petra! I met your old friend, the white elk. But he vanished before my eyes, before I found you.
- Petra: You were visited!
- Eivor: For a time. We talked until he vanished into empty air. A shame, really. I enjoyed his presence.
- Petra: Ah! Look there!
With a crack of lightning, Petra disappeared again, fog obscuring Eivor's view.
- Eivor: This is strange seidr (magic), Petra! Where are you?
The fog cleared, and Petra could be heard faintly from a distance.
- Petra: Over here!
Eivor found Petra again, much further up the hill.
- Petra: Eivor, come on! I'm up here!
- Eivor: Petra! How are you doing this?
- Petra: There's no trick to it. I think about it, and it works. Easy as walking. Try it!
Petra vanished again in another flash of lighting and fog.
- Eivor: Again? Petra, how?
- Petra: Just come to me. I'll show you.
Again, Eivor found Petra further up the hill, though this time she did not immediately start walking away.
- Eivor: How can I do that, Petra?
- Petra: Yes, just try it! Move! Run in a straight line!
Eivor started running, then vanished as Petra had and reappeared among a flock of birds in the air high above the hill, falling quickly toward the ground. She laughed.
- Eivor: No no no! Too far! Too far!
Eivor rolled as she hit the ground, no worse for wear.
- Eivor: Amazing...
- Petra: You did it, just like your Synin! And not a scratch on you. Now let's go! Wallace should be over there.
They continued on.
- Eivor: Are you sure Wallace is here? I see no one.
- Petra: I believe so. We should ask the rabbits. They will know something.
- Eivor: Of course! The rabbits!
They ran up the hill further, slowing as they approached a colony of rabbits though the rabbits fled when they neared.
- Petra: We've been here before...
- Eivor: This is where the wolves attacked us.
- Petra: Right. Let us hope their spirits are not restless and that they do not wake to maul us!
Eivor attacking hallucinations of wolves
Suddenly, the sky grew dark and the wind grew heavy.
- Eivor: O no! The wolf spirits have wakened!
A ring of fog grew up to surround them, though Petra didn't seem to notice, crouching down to speak to a nearby squirrel.
- Petra: Good day, squirrel. I hope I am not intruding, but have you seen my brother Wallace?
Eivor fought the spirits of the wolves they'd killed as they attacked.
- Petra: Damn! This one doesn't speak rabbit.
While Petra looked for another rodent to question, Eivor continued fighting the wolves, some appearing solid while others seemed as ghosts. Each attack they landed sent a deeper chill through her.
- Eivor: Petra! Hurry!
- Petra: Tell me, little rabbit, have you seen a man named Wallace around here? Mm. I see, I see. Thank you for your help.
The fog began pulsing with light.
Eivor and Petra finding the White Elk
- Petra: Eivor! Look! The elk has returned!
The wolves and the fog vanished, leaving Eivor and Petra on the edge of a cliff, near a wooden bridge. On the other side stood the white elk.
- Petra: There. Do you see it? The white elk! Leading us to Wallace! Just as before!
- Eivor: I see him! I dooo!
- Petra: Come on, Eivor! Chase the elk!
Petra and Eivor ran after the elk, which led them to another cliff and vanished.
- Petra: No no, please! Don't disappear! Not now! Not until we have Wallace!
- Eivor: No, no! Don't go!
They reached the edge of the cliff only to find themselves looking over Ravensthorpe.
- Petra: Wait... we... we're home. Full circle with nothing to show for it.
Eivor and Petra surprised to see Wallace turning up unharmed
The two looked down from the cliff despondently as someone walked up to stand beside them unnoticed.
- Wallace: Ah... so what are we looking at?
- Petra: Wallace? You stone-brained stoat! We've been looking for you!
Petra hugged her brother.
- Wallace: And here I am! Freshly rested and ready to work.
- Petra: You're days late!
- Wallace: I was carrying quite a burden coming home. Slowed me down some. So I made a camp and picked some mushrooms for a nice soup. Turns out, I picked some funny mushrooms. Sent me into a tizzy. Tore off my clothes, woke up naked and bruised in the woods.
Eivor and Petra looked at each other.
- Wallace: So I snuck home, naked as the day God made me, and grabbed some clothes. Now I'm off to get my tools.
Wallace waved, laughing, and walked away.
Eivor and Petra reflecting on the adventure they went through
- Eivor: Mushrooms.
- Petra: So the elk. Just another dream.
- Eivor: Maybe so. But don't scoff at dreams. They are often worth more than our waking hours.
Together, they stood on the cliff and looked again over Ravensthorpe and the landscape beyond.
- Eivor: I may still be buzzing from these mushrooms, but... this is nice.
Movement caught their eyes. At the base of the cliff, a white elk pause to scratch at its ear. Eivor and Petra shared a look.
- Petra: I had fun today. Maybe we could do it again. Without the mushrooms?
- Eivor: We could. But I will have to ask the rabbits for permission.
Later, Eivor returned to the Hunter's Hut and spoke to Wallace.
- Wallace: You and Petra, chasing a white elk in the woods, high as wispy clouds, my God! I could barely breathe for laughing!
Outcome[]
Eivor helped Petra track her missing brother. The two accidentally became intoxicated on mushroom spores and continued their search through a number of visions. Eventually, Wallace found them.
Gallery[]
