[ Mr. Shine stops approximately four metres from the subject. The subject's gaze does not shift from the horizon. Mr. Shine speaks. ]
Mr. Shine (via Caro)
— untranscribed —
Caro: "He says: I see you. I have always seen you. I ask you now to show yourself, by the old terms, which neither of us has forgotten."
[ Silence. Seven seconds. The first edge of the sun breaks the horizon. ]
04:58 — Subject's eyes brighten sharply. Gold light now visible to the naked eye at distance. Chen reports it is casting faint shadows on the grass.
Subject (Luca) (unknown language)
— untranscribed —
Caro: "The response is: I am here. I have been here. You are late."
[ Mr. Shine's posture changes. Very slight. Something in the shoulders. Ms. Caro stops writing in her notebook. ]
Mr. Shine (via Caro)
Caro: "He says — this is a greeting. A formal one. He is acknowledging the other's presence with... respect is not quite the word. Recognition. The recognition of something that was there before either of them."
Subject (unknown language)
Caro: "The same. Returned. But — warmer? There is familiarity now. This is not the first time they have spoken."
Hargreaves — Observation
Something shifted in the exchange around this point. The cadence changed. The first words on each side had the weight of ritual — formal, measured, old. But within two or three exchanges the rhythm loosened. The pauses shortened. Ms. Caro's interpretations began to lag, as though she was having difficulty keeping up not with the speed but with the register. It was, and I am aware of how this sounds, starting to sound like two people who know each other very well and have not spoken in a very long time.
[ Uninterpreted exchange, approximately 90 seconds. Caro shakes her head twice. The subject's body language shifts — weight onto one hip, a slight tilt of the head. It is the first time during any observed episode that the subject has moved while in the nocturnal-stare posture. ]
Subject (switching to English)
Hold on. Hold on, let me — [ turns head slightly as though listening to something internal ] — yes, I know what you — alright, alright. [ to Mr. Shine, in English ] She says she doesn't understand why you're angry. She says she's been waiting.
[ First use of English. First use of a gendered pronoun for the entity. The subject appears to be listening to the entity and relaying its words in English, apparently at the entity's request. ]
Mr. Shine (unknown language — not interpreted)
— untranscribed —
Subject (English, relaying)
She says — okay, she's saying a lot, give me a — [ pause ] — she says that she diminished. That the names went away and then the places went away and then there was nothing for a very long time. She says she found this house because the stones remembered her, and she found me because I — [ stops, seems to reconsider, then continues ] — because I was warm. She says she was cold for a long time and I was warm.
05:06 — Ambient glow from subject's eyes increasing with the sunrise. Osei at OP-1 reports that direct observation through binoculars is now uncomfortable.
Mr. Shine (via Caro)
Caro, hesitantly: "He says... she had no right. That this one — meaning Luca — is mortal, and small, and it is not for her to take shelter in something so..." [ Caro pauses ] "The word is dismissive. 'Fragile' is close. 'Puny' is closer."
Subject (English — no longer relaying; appears to be speaking for himself)
Excuse me? Puny?
[ The subject is now looking directly at Mr. Shine. This is the first time in the entire observation period that the subject has looked at anything other than the horizon during an episode. His eyes are bright gold and appear to be getting brighter. ]
Subject (to Mr. Shine, in English)
No — no, hold on, I want to say something. [ brief internal pause, as though negotiating with the entity ] She says you can call her whatever you like but you don't get to call me — [ another pause ] — alright, fine, we both agree on that one, actually. Where were you, then? If she was so important to you? She was here. In a field. In the dark. For — how long? [ listening ] — she doesn't know. She doesn't know how long. She lost count. And you show up now? With the — [ gestures at Mr. Shine's outfit ] — the whole ensemble?
Osei — Marginal Note (added later)
I am watching this through binoculars from the monitoring post and it has occurred to me that what I am observing is a domestic dispute between an ancient solar deity and a man in pyjama bottoms who appears to be acting as her spokesman, directed at another, possibly older entity who is dressed like he's come from a shareholders' meeting. This is, for the record, exactly the sort of situation we were told could not happen during intake screening. Pak's seventy-percent-affair statistic is starting to look uncomfortably prescient, just not in the way anyone anticipated.
05:14 — Subject's eyes now producing visible light. Hargreaves retreats two paces. The gold is no longer warm; it is white-edged. Looking directly at the subject's face is painful. Chen has put on welding goggles from the tunnel kit.
Ms. Caro
[ producing a spare sun visor from her satchel and approaching the subject calmly ] You may want this. [ holds out visor ]
Subject
[ takes visor, looks at it, looks at Ms. Caro ] Do I need it?
Ms. Caro
It is not for you. It is for them. [ gestures generally at everyone else ]
Subject
[ puts on visor ] This is mad. You know this is completely mad.
[ R. Marchetti breaks away from Pak and crosses the garden. ]
R. Marchetti
Luca! Luca, what the fuck is happening to your eyes—
Subject
Raf. Raf, it's okay. I'm okay. Listen to me — I know this is a lot—
R. Marchetti
You're glowing. Your eyes are glowing. Who are these people? Why are you standing in the garden at five in the morning having a — a conversation with a man in — what is he wearing—
Subject
I know. I know. Raf, I need to tell you something and I need you to not panic. [ pause ] I've been — there's someone — [ very long pause; appears to be receiving input ] — she says I should just tell you. She says you already know. [ to Marchetti ] You came to them, didn't you. [ gestures toward the field team ] You already knew something was different.
R. Marchetti
[ to Luca ] You forgot you were vegetarian.
Subject
[ pause ] ... Right. Yes. That's — she doesn't understand vegetarianism. She thinks it's — [ listening ] — she doesn't have a frame of reference for voluntary food restriction. She's sorry about that. She's actually — she says she's very sorry about that specifically.
Subject
She doesn't — [ listening ] — she says she doesn't have a name anymore. She had one. She doesn't remember it. She says you can call her whatever you like. She says the important thing is that she's not trying to take me. She found me and she — [ voice changes slightly, softens ] — she liked it here. She liked being warm again. She says she can hear the birds now and she couldn't before and she didn't know she missed it until she could hear them again.
[ Silence. The sun is fully above the horizon. The subject's eyes are incandescent — looking at him directly is now impossible without eye protection. Mr. Shine has not moved. ]
Mr. Shine (via Caro)
Caro: "He says this is not how it is done. He says she cannot stay."
R. Marchetti
[ to Ms. Caro ] Tell him he doesn't get to decide that. [ to Luca ] Luca. Do you — are you — is she hurting you?
Subject
No. [ firmly ] No. Raf, she's not hurting me. I've been — I know this sounds insane — I've been aware of her for weeks. Since before the equinox. I didn't say anything because I thought I was losing my mind, and then I didn't say anything because I wasn't losing my mind, and that was worse, and then I didn't say anything because — [ stops ] — because I didn't want her to go. She was lonely. I could feel how lonely she was. Do you know what it's like to feel five thousand years of loneliness? It's — [ voice breaks very slightly ] — it's a lot, Raf.
[ R. Marchetti looks at the subject for a long time. Then at Mr. Shine. Then at Hargreaves. Then back at the subject. ]
R. Marchetti
Are you having an affair with a sun god.
Subject
It's not an — it's — [ to the entity, apparently ] — what would you call it? [ listening ] She says there isn't a word for it. She says the closest thing is — [ listening ] — she says "cohabitation" but that's not right either. She says to tell you that she thinks you have very good instincts and that you were right to seek help.
R. Marchetti
Oh, she approves of me? That's — that's wonderful, thank you, thank you so much—
R. Marchetti
No, I'm glad! I'm glad the ancient sun deity living inside my partner thinks I have good instincts! Does she have any thoughts on the steak? Because eleven years, Luca! Eleven years!
Hargreaves — Field Note
At this point I stepped back to the monitoring post and left the four of them to it. It was five-fifteen in the morning and there was a man in a sun visor with luminous eyes arguing with his boyfriend about vegetarianism while a fully shrouded consultant who may or may not be a deity looked on in what I can only describe as sulky silence and a Chilean translator took notes. The operational framework for this situation does not exist. I made a cup of tea.