“I got it. So, do we have any idea why some people can perceive cryptonature and some can’t?”
Valentina walked back to her chair and sat.
“The short answer is no. We don’t know why any more than we can decode red oak speech. We do know a few things. We know that some are born with the predisposition. Some gain it through work and interest. I know two individuals who specialize in a single cryptid species and cannot perceive any others. It is a complex question with an untidy answer. Like many aspects of nature and biology, it’s a spectrum, not a binary.”
“Do you think Dancer could be trained to see cryptids?”
Valentina took a small broom from beside the broadcasting table and began sweeping away the spores left behind by the network administrator’s hand, brushing them through the gap beside the oak trunk.
“I do. I even suggested as much to her once. It made sense to me. Ms. Dancer strikes me as uncommonly observant and she chooses a quiet life on a cryptid-rich mountainside. I offered some basic exercises to broaden her perspective.”
Green laughed.
“I would love to have heard that conversation play out. I’m guessing she wasn’t into the idea.”
“You guess correctly. And, by way of apology, she dropped off a gift-wrapped hat. I think that was the second hat she gave me. Or third. I don’t recall.”
The wooden broadcast box began to make a soft sound like a finger tapping a tabletop.
Valentina turned and frowned at the device.
“Incoming message? Too fast for a reply. There is usually a delay on those broadcasts.”
A staccato chirping began and her expression hardened.
“Emergency call.”
She opened the box and flipped the switch.
“Valentina Blackwood. Go ahead.”
A burst of static and then a gruff voice.
“Ranger Cheng. Ranger Station Orion. Morning, Val. Calling with poor news, I’m afraid.”
The muscles in Valentina’s jaw tensed.
“Sorry to say, we’ve got fatalities reported in your area. Unknown cryptid suspected. Kinkaid Cabins, about five miles south of you. Know ’em?”
Green’s mouth went dry.
“Yes, I know them,” Valentina said. “Do the authorities know yet?”
“Affirmative, looks like local police are there now. Have been for a bit. Medical examiner already came and went. Likely leaving with the corpses soon, if they haven’t already. I’ll get you copies of photos and coroner’s reports via crawler as soon as I can.”
“How many?”
“Three. College kids. Sitting around a campfire.”
Valentina grimaced.
“Understood.”
“This one’s bad, Val. Preliminary reports are just preliminary, of course, but it looks targeted. We got pinged by the Whisperwood Agents and Old Threepwood’s Calamity Device. Something outside normal parameters is behind this.”
Green spoke up.
“What about the other death. Night before last. Kyle…something.”
