Interviewing Scholar: Lead Scholar Delving-Thought

  Subject: “Pearl” (as best Understood, see Observations)

  Interview Date: Eighth day of Heavy Storms, 1386th Year of Understanding

  *****

  SCHOLAR: [Neutral] I am Lead Scholar Delving-Thought, and I am studying your condition. I hope to discover its true nature.

  SUBJECT: [Dismissive] Well, if you do, let me know.

  SCHOLAR: [Neutral] To that end, I am going to ask you some questions. Is–

  SUBJECT: [Blunt/Hostile] What are the consequences for refusing to answer?

  SCHOLAR: [Genuine] I will not have your testimony and thus will have less information to work with. You will only suffer in the abstract.

  SUBJECT: [Indignant/Relieved] Good. I don’t make a habit of cooperating with [Law Enforcement Officers].

  SCHOLAR: [Curious/Confused] What gives you the impression that I am involved in the enforcement of any laws?

  SUBJECT: [Resentful] You had the Guardians drag me here. You hold enough influence to have [Law Enforcement Officers] do your bidding, and you used that power. That makes you complicit.

  SCHOLAR: [Uneasy] Your attendance was not compulsory. You may even leave right now, if you wish.

  SUBJECT: [Bitter/Angry] That Guardian certainly didn’t offer me a choice! It commanded me to come here the same way I am commanded not to leave my living space or commanded to accept that I am being watched at all times.

  SCHOLAR: [Saddened] I will discuss this with the Lead Guardian. That behavior is unwarranted.

  SUBJECT: [Disbelief] Sure. [Resigned] I’m already here. Might as well ask your questions. I just won’t answer if I don’t want to.

  SCHOLAR: [Neutral] Thank you. First, your name is Pearl, correct?

  SUBJECT: [Annoyed] No, it isn’t.

  SCHOLAR: [Curious] Then what is it?

  SUBJECT: [Resigned] Doesn’t matter. You’re just going to Understand it as “Pearl” anyway, like everyone else.

  SCHOLAR: [Proud] I would consider myself more receptive to nuance than most. Try it.

  SUBJECT: [Resigned] Fine. My name is [Pearl].

  SCHOLAR: [Excited] Oh! A linguistic symbol! Of course! I should have realized that the moment I recognized your species.

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  SUBJECT: [Stunned] You… know what languages are?

  SCHOLAR: [Excited] Fascinating, are they not? Vocal symbols with specific meanings that can be memorized to circumvent the need for Understanding in communication. Studying their formation in feral populations was one of my first undertakings as a Scholar. My mentors considered it a pointless niche to pursue, but–

  SUBJECT: [Crestfallen] Oh.

  SCHOLAR: [Curious] What is it?

  SUBJECT: [Crestfallen] You don’t know about real languages. Ones with grammar and structure and rules. I actually got my hopes up that someone else here would finally get it. But you don’t.

  SCHOLAR: [Concerned] Yours is certainly complex, but given time and your assistance I am sure I can decipher it.

  SUBJECT: [Defeated] It wouldn’t matter. I’d still be talking to you through the same filter as everyone else.

  SCHOLAR: [Confused] What filter?

  SUBJECT: [Frustrated] Understanding. I can know and speak whatever words I want, but they don’t reach anyone. They get intercepted and… adjusted. Sometimes someone will repeat something I said to them, but it will be different. The meaning and intent will be the same, but the words I Understand will be different from the words I said. I don’t want to tell Quiet-Dream that he “needs to bathe his kits” in a joking tone. I want to tell him that he [Joking] “[needs to bathe his kits.]”

  SCHOLAR: [Curious] If your intended meaning is Understood, why should the use of specific symbols matter?

  SUBJECT: [Resentful] Like I said, you don’t get it.

  SCHOLAR: [Accepting] Understood. Perhaps we should move on to another subject.

  SUBJECT: [Tired] Please do.

  SCHOLAR: [Neutral] Next I would like to ask you about your life prior to finding yourself in our world. Who were–

  SUBJECT: [Forceful] No. No questions about before.

  SCHOLAR: [Curious] Why?

  SUBJECT: [Spiteful] My past is none of your business.

  SCHOLAR: [Remorseful] I apologize. Moving on…

  *****

  Observations:

  The subject is remarkably adept at utilizing the hill myna’s vocal mimicry to recreate sounds from memory, and primarily does so to replicate the vocal language of the alien species it recalls being. The language itself is both astonishingly complex while also being wildly inefficient for use by the Gifted, often taking multiple distinct sounds to express what could be conveyed by a single action. If nothing else, this corroborates the group’s collective insistence that their world of origin lacks the Gift of Understanding entirely, and that their species developed higher thought independent of it. It is the only way the development of such a language would be at all reasonable.

  The most intriguing aspect of this detrimental language use is the subject’s name. A gifted creature’s immediate Understanding of it is as “pearl,” but the language clearly has a different symbol for “pearl,” as I observed when the subject expressed frustration with what its name is Understood as. Upon focused analysis, the symbol the subject uses as a name appears to have four distinct layered meanings, of which only two are obvious to most listeners.

  The surface-level meaning, as with any name, is that it refers to the subject as an individual. The second meaning is “pearl,” but it is not intended to be descriptive. Instead, it is a meaning conferred by the subject’s knowledge of the symbol’s linguistic origins. Said origins comprise the two subtler meanings. The first is that the sound itself is adapted from its symbol of origin, possibly to reduce the complexity of the sound or to simply make it more pleasing to hear. Unfortunately, I can only speculate on the symbol’s proper origins without the context of the world it comes from, but the fact that its linguistic meaning is Understood differently than its meaning as a name suggests that the symbol is borrowed from another language altogether. The possibility that this alternate world supported the development of multiple complex languages and not just one seems too far-fetched to be true, but it is the only explanation that makes sense.

  The subject’s insistence on continuing to use the language despite the problems it causes for both speaker and listener is cause for concern. My first instinct is that it is a maladaptive coping mechanism, but as I am neither a Psychologist nor Confidant I cannot verify the theory.

  Subject Designation: High priority for further research.

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