Page 26 - World of Darkness

beach, he was picked up in his sleeping bag and carried make excellent gathering sites, since the staff is expected to be
almost five miles inland. When he was finally set down and discrete and there’s a high turnover of guests and visitors.
able to get out of his bag, he found himself surrounded by a However, my only personal encounter with an unearthly
group of large, hirsute creatures that had the combined happened to occur in a place that doesn’t match the metropoli-
features of men and apes. He said he was kept prisoner for six tan habitat I’ve been talking about. You should know by now
days and given meals of water and raw fish before he escaped. that biology in the field doesn’t always follow the neat patterns
described in slide lectures. (Pause for laughter.)
I’ve been to Coeur Island several times. It’s a primeval place.
The beach is pristine and the forest, just a hundred yards In Mexico, about 400 miles from El Paso, Texas, is a place
away, towers over you like an army of giants. At night the popularly known as the Zone of Silence (slide #5). The Mexican
northern lights seem close enough to touch. I’ve made several government has renamed it Mar de Tetys, or the Sea of Thetys.
casts of footprints that seem to combine animal and human It’s essentially a desert of cactus, stone, thorny bushes and
features. I haven’t encountered any ferals directly. Yet one poisonous snakes. The only residents are the staff of a scientific
night my guide and I were awoken to what sounded like the research facility located at the center of the zone. Since the
howling of wolves. The next morning, there were several rows 1930s, it’s been reported that no radio reception is possible
of footprints (slide #4) that led from the beach straight into within the zone. I found this to be the case when I visited as a
the surf. These are clearly some type of animal print. But as graduate student. I won’t say what year (pause for laughter).
you can see from the tape measure in this picture, the prints Not only were our radios and televisions unable to receive
are huge. They continue right into the water. Interestingly, signals, our walkie-talkies were inoperable.
they’re headed in the direction of the island across the bay.
Our first day there, we were on our way to the research facility when
(Drink water. Put off questions till later.)
our jeep stalled. We’d had the vehicle completely serviced before we
set out, so you can imagine how frustrated we were. The tempera-
The Unearthly ture was about 103 degrees, but the engine didn’t seem overheated.
There are other ways to keep a low profile than to hide. An It just wouldn’t start up again. As we were bent over it trying to
approach successfully used by many organisms is camouflage. find the problem, we heard footsteps behind us. I remember turning
There are many variations on this strategy, from protective around and wondering if I was imagining things. I saw a tall person
coloration — blending into the background — to mimicking standing there. I tend to think it was a man. The truth is, he could
another species. I’m convinced that there have been have been either male or female. He had long hair that was so
anthrocryptids living among us perhaps as long as we’ve blond it was almost white. His skin was pink, not tan in the
existed. Theoretically, you can find them anywhere, though the slightest, and I couldn’t imagine why the desert sun hadn’t burned
only reports I’ve seen tend to place them in somewhat unusual him to a crisp. He wore simple clothes. A pale shirt, gray shorts,
locations. They’re seen at car crashes or other accidents. I also unremarkable hiking boots.
have several citations of them being encountered in airports. My professor said hello and asked if the stranger was from the
More often than not they’re encountered at night.
research center. He shook his head and then spoke in a voice
Descriptions of these beings vary, but there are two commonali- that was midrange between a man’s and a woman’s. He asked
ties to most encounters. The first is their physical appearance. if we had been sent by “the authorities.” We said we hadn’t,
They’re often described has having “unearthly” beauty or that we were there to do some fossil hunting. He nodded. We
“idealized” proportions. Other times they’re more exotic than stared at each other for a few awkward moments. The stranger
beautiful; their features seem “designed” or “geometric.” They had a slight smile on his face the whole time. Then the jeep’s
tend to have delicate facial features, they’re tall and they move engine suddenly sprang to life, startling the two of us. By the
very gracefully. Their voices are musical, strangely accented, and time we turned back to the stranger, he was gone.
they wear cologne with complex scents. They’re often dressed The incident left us both badly shaken. We realized later that the
inappropriately — wearing a tuxedo in a supermarket, for stranger had carried no water bottle or hiking gear of any kind. Not
example, or a heavy coat and hat on a warm summer day.
even a sun hat. And even though the terrain around us was flat as a
pancake, the stranger had vanished in seconds, leaving not even a
Habitat footprint. When we reached the research facility, the staff assured us
What would it take to conceal yourself among a large group of that there was no one in the area who met that description.
human beings? First of all, your best bet would be to set Certainly no one could have hiked that far into the zone without
yourself up among a large, cosmopolitan group, the more provisions, and a routine aerial survey later that day showed no
diverse the better. In areas where people are used to crossing evidence of any vehicle but our own.
paths with a range of ethnicities, languages, clothing styles
and behaviors, any flaws in your disguise are less likely to The Outsiders
stand out. This may be the reason why the vast majority of
unearthlies are reported in or near some of the world’s largest The third group, outsiders, might also be termed zoophantoms,
cities, especially those with a large tourist base. It would also suggesting something that takes the illusion of an organism but
help to have economic resources at your disposal. Money buys may be of a different order altogether. In previous ages these
privacy and discretion. Since these beings seem capable of creatures might have been called “spirits” or “ghosts.” It’s
speaking our language and operating within our culture, to a difficult to engage in discussion about them without becoming
greater or lesser degree, it’s conceivable that they’ve learned mired in centuries of religious and cultural bias. But I believe
to imitate and manipulate our economic activities as well. that a detached, clear-minded approach to investigating them
is the best tack. (Slide #6, pause for laughter)
Example: Zona del Silencio, Mexico
Outsiders come in many forms, from animated balls of light to
Anecdotes I’ve collected suggest that unearthlies are able to spectral visitations to simulacrums of seeming flesh and blood.
move freely through restricted areas in places such as govern- Their most prominent characteristic is that they seem to behave
ment buildings, hospitals and museums. They are also sighted as if coming from “outside” our own frame of reference. They
at exclusive resorts, nightclubs and hotels. Such places would appear and disappear, pass through solid objects, generate
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ROADS LESS TRAVELED-FERALS-UNEARTHLY-OUTSIDERS