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Not that, probably. The man was a committed homosexual.

Ouroboros Black. Tempo's brand.

This is the version of yourself who stood taciturn and vacant at the back of the student socialist meetings. Frustrated by inaction, angry at everything.

You always knew that something like this would happen to you. Something very bad and very serious.

That's why he's drooling. The memory of your caress.

A new and strange crime added to your ever-lengthening rap sheet.

Your recall the THWACK of foot making contact with his forehead. He looks hurt, lost. His glasses are on wrong.

No partner and no dependents according to the old spy.

''Gunshot victim D, long-range penetration. Anterior left chest entry wound w/ surrounding burning stain. No exit. Extraction impossible without death.'

PORTOFIRO 91: Network DISSOLVED. 5 Assets and 1 Operant LOST. CASCADE: EXTRACTED. Competency rating: INDETERMINATE. Loyalty rating: INDETERMINATE.

As with all mammals, eyeball size is disproportionate to the skull that houses them, creating that adorable pleading expression.

Staring at the frail shape in bed, Poor Dante's words echo in your mind.

The old prisoner said that the more formative the memory, the better.

The device requires an internalised memory. Check your conditioning, operant.

The discoloured wrapper depicts a red-cheeked child with a charming sledge. You haven’t seen this brand in years.

Staring at the frail shape in bed, the old prisoner's words echo in your mind.

A phone line from five years ago connects:

... In the hot tub. You have half of the crime in your pocket right now.

Bad news. He has.

Berrion bombs, like the pilots mentioned. An erasure, near noiseless.

Reno -- the city's pre-eminent capitalist and head of Renotel, of the dolphin-themed payphones.

The master treaty that Ended History and stagnated all current world affairs, signed ninety-six years ago by the Developed World and the Superbloc.

Hence the origins of its most abiding name.

Reno -- the city's pre-eminent capitalist and head of Renotel, of the dolphin-themed payphones.

EMTERR, a.k.a. L'Empire sans Territoire, a.k.a. 'The Bank'. Equal parts global development fund and spy service. Linchpin of the Developed World.

Eno -- her father's name. You saw it in the document you read in the filing cabinet.

The largest corporate entity in Portofiro, with a monopoly over the city's telecommunications. Their logo is a cheerful dolphin.

To Eszti's right -- a man with a familiar mop of upstanding hair.

Azzurri mob is a foreign crime syndicate you've only heard about in passing, always with a warning to stay away.

KALEIDOSCOPE said that this is where he gave him the red disc.

The red disc in Foto 24, the one PSEUDOPOD was listening to the night before your arrival -- this is what did him in.

Your memories make you who you are, you memory-killer.

That must have been exactly how you looked when you first found him.

You watched her over the university courtyard, waited until she parted from a group of friends. You recognised her from the dossier -- the daughter of Dr Abe, head of the sleep study.

Operant CASCADE's first special bench. Filed: age 14. Location: Landau, capital of the Holy and Democratic Republic of Mircea.

Novessa, 81. Vodka, three-day old outfits, cigarettes. You all danced together to a half-broken speaker system in someone's kitchen. It was happiness, all the sweeter because it felt stolen.

One hit wonder by the False Midnights, who were blacklisted in the Superbloc for the song's irreverent lyrics about dating a communist girl. This only made the song more popular among Novessa's youth.

The musicians Septimus told you about.

La Luz: officially 'The Illuminated Empire'. An auto-technocratic regime which has emerged from its slumber in recent decades.

Ash on a black fur collar. Piercing blue eyes through smoke, a laugh that could turn wicked.

Tempo's favourite brand. The only person to actually enjoy their heavy flavour.

You've seen these before. Smoked them before. This was Tempo's brand.

No, no, no. This file was supposed to be destroyed. Don't bring it back!

Planisphaerium. Transubstantiation.

All true, none of it useful just now.

Suprema 100s. Cheap Superbloc export.

Memories of operant training, hours spent practicing modular addition. These mental muscles, long atrophied, begin to awaken.

A.k.a. 'The Freezer'. The Opera's labyrinthine archival complex. Where the old, useless, and discredited are consigned until they're dismissed or die of despair.

It's always been her, she's the problem.

517 skill checks - ZERO PARADES field manual - Page 5 of 11