by Zac Funstein
Honoré likened him to one of Tomáš Závodný’s proud, flawed characters stunningly utterly flawed, yet able to steal a reader's captivation. most of them had been expurgated to remove anything that was remotely controversial, in some cases making the author's intention unrecognizable but still they seemed to peek through.
“Those that use Destaticism or are huge international collaborations involving many scientists, technicians, plus computer geeks-the ones that truly understand it are few. The difference between a scientist/ a technician is the ability to see things which differ from their expectations, still understand them.”
“Sobotka is such a man that comes across.”
“If anyone can unravel the Destaticism it must be Michal.”
As Honoré drove to the district where Sobotka lived- the frequency/ferocity of the current crop of storms that was truly terrifying seemed to increase. It was like the hotels in Patong, Phuket's most famous resort where Bonnet had stayed earlier. The country road leading to Michal’s was littered with the remains of vans/burned-out armored personnel carriers with their turrets blown off implying here was once the scene of much activity. A series of ill-tempered/ evasive interviews had left Geiner-the previous caller- in an uncomfortable position, so Honoré had been warned. It was discouraging to read this outdated and ill-tempered column in such a well-respected newspaper but reading between the lines it seemed as if an altercation had occurred. One thing was certain If Sobotka was definitely ill-tempered grouchy, obsessed with meaningless distinctions as some claimed would only be found out by meeting him.
Stanislav had warned that Michal was very isolated moreover that to a large degree such a separation from reality through filtered information occurred when a child by the expurgation of nastiness from school reading books by an overprotective set of parents.
Indeed an epic that had been the object of adaptation, interpolation, reinterpretation expurgation by a number of retellers, each seeking to reflect what was as relevant to his or her time which Sobotka believed was suitably sanitized was rudely snatched from him by his father then dashed to the ground by this paternal guidance who was convinced that it contained too graphic depictions of war.
“I’m pleased you find the surroundings satisfying. Once on an adventure to Zurich I stopped at Geneva. A pal from my Düseldorf sojourn František Podaný had settled in a chateau there. His entourage was home to so many X-men as František liked to call us.”
“Like the comic how curious.”
Anyone watching Honoré divest himself of his bad weather clothing would note how far gone are the days of PVC where in order to keep dry you would need to be swathed in restrictive, heavy, yet inflexible plastic slickers.
“We all were like neurasthenic mutants-exiles-alienated from everyone else by talents that made us ’different’-that made the rest dreadful in the traditional sense. How few will take a retrograde glance upon past provocation, in order to extenuate present culpability! There seemed no end of deposed Lithuanian princes, Argentinian dictators, fleeing revolutionaries. František was a modestly talented sculptor who when his fortune was lost in the casino decided to sell which is what you see before you.”
“Another mans loss was your gain,” observed Bonnet picking up a handsomely bound copy of a popular play.
“I sometimes feel that people want to keep the theatre as some kind of special preserve for people like them, educated, cultured; they don't like it when a play packs out the theatre with ordinary folk having a good time. But that is not the purpose of your visit Mr. Bonnet to discuss the pros/cons of theatrical productions.”
“Destaticism I believe is the technical gumf.”
“You must be into sub-arctic levels of temperature then for when I hear that word that is what I immediately associate.”
The subject under questioning wasn’t so much an exasperation, but a mystification, almost amounting to irritation, that it should be disinterred from the very low status to which Honoré evidently assigned it. The public always seemed to expect him to know everything about everything for some reason.
“Not especially-it seems to have passed us by-I tend to avoid the cold.”
A mock shiver with self hugging as if very cold is given.
Undaunted the narrator continues:
“A state of expectation is growing in Spain regarding the disinterment of the great Spanish poet, author/playwright, Bicor Gil Quesada. Most know him for his great work ‘Forzar la Revolución de Todo el Mundo’ but what many did not know was that Bicor was almost singularly responsible for creating Destaticism on a smaller scale. No one put as much effort in as Bicor. Like phlogiston, knowledge of alchemy filtered into medieval Europe through Moorish centres of learning in Spain, so some believed-however uncharitable it might sound- Quesada was a contemporary of this ancient lore.”
“A latter day Nostradamus!”
“If you like-with accoutrement.”
“Is the Destaticism used on the cloth we found at BC notably Quesada’s.”
“Not especially but that’s highly surprising-it's used mostly on more expensive materials-working-clothes are not usually deemed worthy of its introduction; but I do not want to make your task easier-it is not unknown. Indeed as the fiddly machinations get easier more/more I’m sure artisan clothing is getting the treatment too.”
“If this is what we have then the destaticism could be present I see.”
“They’ve done a lot recently to refine everything so that those that were put off have taken Edward E. Rodriguez’s initial protestations that Bicor was being persecuted for his unconventional unrealistic claims now seem mendacious or delusional or both.”
Some serious consideration was given by Honoré as to if there was any substantiation in this new improved Destaticism that was mentioned. A certain sympathy for Michal Sobotka existed. To a large degree such a separation from reality through filtered information occurred when Honoré was a child too- by the censorship/expurgation of nastiness from school reading books, although this was never mentioned.
‘I would not 'expurgate' school editions of great authors,’ his form-master said. ‘The frank bawdiness of Shakespeare is far less immoral than the prurient prudishness on the part of the printer which declines to print it, but marking the lines in such a way that the boy can go home then look up the omitted passage in a complete edition, with a distinct sense of guilt, is where the harm comes in to my way of looking at the matter.
The same master had written a rather disheartening editorial about the expurgation from educational textbooks anything that could possibly give offense to people, but Honoré had not read it until much older. It touched lightly on some contemporary Portuguese social issues, including materialism, marriage problems plus intergenerational tensions but didn’t resolve very much about anything.
An Oscar-winning yet habitually appalling actor who plays a lovable New York slicker fired from his advertising job for faking his resumé was how someone had once described Prvan Ivanović, somehow the description stuck-although Prvan wasn’t from NYC or a yuppie type even remotely. What Prvan was good at however was recognising new technology-especially when it hit the shelves of Canadian stores. There had been some controversy over an argument with his father regarding his sons first wife Aline. Ivanović Snr. couldn't prevent the marriage, but his stand served to generate a heated debate in the tiny hamlet where they then lived about the advisability of marrying girls so young.
“Is that a Glasgow accent I detect?”
“It is generally not regarded as being as friendly as Glasgow - and that is probably true - but Edinburgh's problem is probably reserve, rather than real unfriendliness. Again, I've found myself in a city where by comparison I start thinking that Edinburgh's cold, unfriendliness where no-one looks at anyone is actually rather pleasant. But please let us get to the matter which concerns.
So they’ve improved Destaticism eh well I must say that it was in the offing-its been mooted for not a while since t
he Ostoja Janković improvements. The big ‘D’ had it coming.”
“It sounds as if this was considered a technical impossibility.”
“Many have tried-better than us yet failed-openness had gone already but they seem to find
Many Germans hoped that the fall of the Berlin wall might finally expurgate their past. If anything, angst over German history, both among Germans themselves/ Germany's neighbors, has heightened since reunification. Similarly although Janković was meant to pave the road to a new openness many believed that trade-secrets got even more closely guarded even deeper moved into whatever vault they were stored.
“If you can recognise if this new machinery has been used-it would be very helpful.”
“I’ll do my level utmost but my assistant Evelyn Lima Pereira has taken off with a perma-tanned slicker Marcos Barbosa Oliveira from Japeri Rio de Janeiro, who involves her in embezzlement/fraud. The way you defeat an army, is by demoralizing the individual soldiers in it, or getting them to desert or retreat. It’s like being undermined.”
“It sounds like there have been many problems!”
“You said it buster! Besides the advisability of putting such things on paper, it was just too hard to put together complex deals with numerous interested parties across the continent-those that would help that is. The logistics was a total mess up.”
“I know what it is like you almost gave up-its terrible.”
“We started this online thread-the controversy was trending on Twitter then this bizarre voicemail came from someone calling themselves Oriol Urrútia Rivero began with them claiming they had stolen the plans of the apparatus that would make Destaticism a viable economic possibility. Some sketches were sent-they were not, alas, unique, unequalled, unsurpassed, or uncommon for all the secrecy. We wouldn’t take them seriously at first but we began to realise from various hints that Oriol wasn’t just a crank.”
“Something rang true-about what you were seeing.”
Prvan was beginning to sound like an archetypal Renaissance man- a latter-day Leonardo da Vinci admired for his unequaled range of passions.
Close inspection of the seemingly innocent flags that fluttered on the patio showed the faint outlines of Old Glory, indicating they were American flags that had been bleached for some reason aesthetic or otherwise.
“They kept sending faxes but they were like ‘Incredible Cross-sections’.”
“What in the…”
“They had this tie in with a sci-fi movie all the spacecraft had the workings of their warp-drive engines or whatever they were in illustrated form-all the creation of some art-team naturally-no basis in fact. What I am trying to get across is that some of the transparencies that Rivero sent us were spurious in the extreme, but then one seemed to make sense. It stood out from the crowd.
What you’ve got to understand Oriol came from a highly industrious family his father made his notoriety by inventing a pipe connector which allows radiators to be swivelled forward without being damaged, making it easy to distemper or paper without disconnecting anything.”
“This was his creation then this new refinement?”
“Rivero’s borrowing shall we say-they were accused of taking photographs, including of military installations, from a hang glider not realising it was the the adjacent premises that interested. His excuse was that a site for a shrine like those constructed in the medieval era/ Counter-Reformation was being sought fuelled by a remarkable series of messages similar to those that produced some of the most famous religious sites in the modern world. What his real interest was what made the low-temperature oxidation much easier-when before there had been so much fuss. Now you’re going to ask if there is anyway of checking if your scrap has used this.”
What had struck Honoré however was not the mention of the secret formula but the glider.
The modern hang glider emerged out of a simple triangular design, which made it lighter, stronger more responsive to steering than previous gliding devices that his age had known. His interest was not deflected for but a short while however.
“Since you mention it Ivanović.”
“I believe there is a concern that does use this in denim production. I will give you their address- they are the only ones to my knowledge. What a message to us, with our extravagant, self-indulgent, hedonistic Western lifestyles.”
“I can’t quite get what you’re trying to get across.”
“That a going concern like this will go to such great lengths just to pander to the caprices of an increasingly fickle public. The difference in prewash quality is negligible but entire departments are devoted to finding its improvement.”
H
They were never unaccustomed to the public dropping in at the central- office-people always had intimations about what happened or who was responsible for an assassination from the TV or radio ( some might suggest that a parental grasp might be better for a lot of this came from children) but Thiago Correia Gomes certainly cut an unusual figure. Dressed almost entirely in a material that seemed to have the same putrid tone-the temptation must be to tell him to sack his tailor. Indeed an apology came upon his entrance into the fray.
“Please disregard my fashion statement gentleman I dressed this morning acutely soberly since the matter upon which we must turn over is an unpleasant one.”
André Ribeiro Barbosa himself an adherent to the casual template with little regard to modern trends had been brought in because of his perfectionism. With his p/t security firm getting near to insolvency Barbosa was very concerned about putting on a good show.
Everyone was asked to leave for a while-sensing this was an important get-together.
“I’m very interested to hear from anyone who believes that they can assist with the Schreiber debacle any contribution is greatly appreciated.”
This was sometimes known as the follow-the-leader principle where if one seemingly light contributor was accepted then another would swiftly come in his/her wake. There was something paramilitary about Mr.Gomes implying that whatever it is was would be applied in workmanlike style.
“Before I begin I must find out just what your prior familiarity is- too many have I unwittingly bamboozled because I didn’t know what they didn’t know.”
“Sounds sensible to us Gomes!”
“Do you ever Antônio Araujo?”
It sounded like one of this gross youngsters that bawl a lot, although all André muttered was:
“This isn’t someone that immediately leaps out at us unfortunately or fortunately as may be the instance-there are many we should have met but never get round to.”
“A more hardworking individual never has been encountered than Cavalcanti. Antônio’s firm makes the new nylon called Gorize which love it or leave it leaves a very clear impression on anything which it comes in contact with.”
Barbosa interrupted:
“They tried to make it in clear transparent structure I believe so that it could increase the focal length of some contact lens-for it was deemed so suitable.”
André reached inside his coat for his own contacts which were nestling thereof in their plastic container; this always gave him special comfort since alternatives were not as brilliant in his view.The daily ritual of putting them in was a grind.
“That was one chance find-it was even used in mattress construction to make the springs tolerantly springy for a greater duration.”
“The greatest use however as with most nylon products was in clothing.”
Thiago removed his plastic- peaked cap putting it on the table before them.
“This is pure Gorize for example almost indistinguishable from the real thing-usual nylon that is. If you would give it your tactile discrimination.”
The cap is picked up then the various features touch the rim the label inside etc. It seems pliant like conventional nylon material-maybe a bit more flexible but not an awful lot-hardly distinguishable when you got down to it.
“A wonderful touchy experience-
no doubt they give fiery seminars on just what it is capable of. There have been Swiss watches that use it in their construction never has the chronological progression run so smoothly. Using just nylon was like monogamy-better to be wild eschew singularity go for multiple get-togethers.”
The object is repositioned on Thiago’s person as before. It rests there easily as if unmoved. This is someone who has worn hats before.
“Now you’re gonna demand why Gorize! Nylon was made simultaneously in New York/ London. Gorize was made in Gor-not literally but whilst reading the pulp fiction:-Chronicles of Counter-Earth,Tarl , Chronicles of Gor, and Gorean Saga in the former colony of Belize where Cavalcanti was born.”
“There were difficulties I seem to have seen somewhere.”
“The only trouble is the production which can be tricky-the well nigh reach full potential then a glitch develops which causes havoc to develop.”
They are interrupted momentarily by learning disability children at the playground at the nearby condominium under the high-tension wires. One that gave an energetic shriek seemed like André’s energetic godchild Erick Alves Fernandes. A parent takes them away. The temperature seemed to go from warm to cold in violent retrograde movement of its own volition.
“This is all very interesting Thiago but….”
“I know you were well into another innings when I came in so I’ll try to be as quick as possible. Your intimates could have stayed they might have learnt something to their advantage. The fact is Gorize is something of a rarity because of these difficulties- but when it is found there are very clear indications.”
An old fashioned typewriter sound seemed to start from the nearby office like they were in an ancient monochrome movie that some archive deemed worthy of cultural merit. It stops then as immediately as it had begun.
“The chances of finding anything of Gorize on the dead is slim but it is there you know how to find it I believe is what you’re stating.”
