Discovery of the Mūsa fugacior
I’ve been hiding for hours, wearing the shadows like
cloaks. Watching, just watching. The night is dark as midnight’s reach, and
this favors my examination... specimens are less likely to notice my presence.
I must be motionless at the moment of progression, or the
mortals may see me in their dying breaths. If that occurs, the soul will spook
and flee for the stars. It’s said that at the moment of progression—just before
the physical body dies—its vision sharpens, adapting to awareness of our
existence. It’s a tenuous transition into the domain of Mortuos, as the dying straddle the
lands of dawn and dusk. Those fully alive do not notice us, but if dying mortals
catch sight of our presence they may attempt to speak of our existence. Usually,
if that should occur, their words are mere gasps and considered only delusional
by friends and family wrought with grief. Nevertheless, no researcher wants his
specimen aware it is being scrutinized; the results invariably will skew.
With much experience comes patience and facility, and it’s
now a rare outing in which I am detected. I slowly adjust the lens of my Anima Viewer to optimal magnification
and zoom in.
Like the colorful shells of brilliant scarab beetles, the
mortal form gives visual clues to its genus and to the species of the soul
encased.
This subject is female. Her exterior is frail with skin wrinkled
as wadded fabric, but she is lovely and intriguing, colored of autumn wheat. Wise
green eyes flash between exaltation and long-suffering. Observing one who is
aged, yet still filled with vitality, is hardly the visage I normally look upon
during a death-watch. She has a large crowd of supporters, and I wonder as to
her character. There is strength in her appearance and a glow from her aura I
have seen in species such as Beloved Parent (Parenti dilectus) or Loyal Friend (Amice fidus), but this is
something else.
She may be a species
of Artista or, by its common name,
the Artist, which happens to be one of my favorite genera. But is it the
Uninspired Artist (Artista non inspīrāta), or the Insecure
Artist (Artista fragilemque), or the Unknown Artist (Artista obscura), or perhaps that rare breed, the Celebrated Artist
(Artista celebre)?
The moment is at hand: Death completes, and the human
husk falls away. A pinprick of turquoise luminescence leaps to the air. I must set
down my Anima Viewer in order to catch
the soul within a collecting jar, careful as always not to touch it. A
specimen’s behavior can be affected by direct physical contact....
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