Joona Linna Crime Series Books 1 and 2: The Hypnotist, The Nightmare. Lars Kepler

Чтение книги онлайн.

       56

       sunday, december 13 (feast of st lucia): midday

      Kennet folds his arms. He leans back and looks up at the ceiling. Then he straightens up and says in a serious tone, “So Wailord is a cartoon character?”

      “A Pokémon,” she replies.

      “Am I supposed to know what that means?”

      “If you have children of a certain age, you know about it whether you want to or not,” she says.

      Kennet is looking blankly at her.

      “Pokémon,” Simone repeats. “It’s a kind of game.”

      “A game?”

      “It was something Benjamin loved when he was younger. He used to collect the cards and talk about the different powers, about how the characters transformed themselves.”

      Kennet shakes his head.

      “He must have been into it for about two years,” she says.

      “But not any more?”

      “He’s a bit too old now.”

      “I used to see you playing with dolls when you came home from riding camp.”

      “Well, who knows, maybe he plays in secret,” she replies.

      “So what’s it all about, this Pokémon?”

      “How can I explain? It’s Japanese, originally. It became really popular in the nineties. A whole industry, really. The characters are pocket monsters. They’re animals but not real animals. They’re invented; they can look like insects or robots, something along those lines. Some of them are cute, others are just revolting. The person playing keeps them in his pocket; they can be rolled up and placed in little balls. The whole thing is really stupid. You compete against other players by arranging fights between your different Pokémons. Very violently, of course. Anyway, the goal is to beat as many as possible, because then you get money—the player gets money, the Pokémon character gets points.”

      “And the one with the most points is the winner?” says Kennet.

      “I don’t actually know. It never seems to end.”

      “So this is a computer game?”

      “It’s everything, Dad. Computer game, Nintendo, a TV show, a movie, stuffed toys, sweets, trading cards.”

      “I don’t know if I’m really any the wiser,” he says.

      “No,” she says hesitantly.

      He studies her. “What are you thinking?”

      “I’ve just realised that’s exactly the point: adults are to be excluded,” she says. “The kids are ignored, left to their own devices, because we can’t understand. We dismiss it, call it stupid, but really the Pokémon world is too big, too complex for us.”

      “Do you think Benjamin has started playing again?” asks Kennet.

      “Not in the same way. This must be something else,” she says, pointing at the screen.

      “You think this Wailord is a real person,” he says.

      “Yes.”

      “Who has nothing to do with Pokémon?”

      “I don’t know … Aida’s brother talked to me about Wailord as if he was talking about a Pokémon. Perhaps that’s just his way of talking. As I said, he’s a little … off. But everything is cast in a different light when Benjamin writes Don’t let Nicky go down to the sea.”

      “It does sound as if Benjamin’s taking the threat seriously,” says Kennet.

      “But the sea,” she says. “What sea? There is no sea here, it only exists in the game. The sea is pretend, but the threat is genuine,” she says thoughtfully.

      “We have to find this Wailord.”

      “It could be a Lunar,” she says hesitantly. “Or an Avatar, or something.”

      He looks at her with a small smile. “I’m beginning to understand why it was time for me to retire.”

      “Lunar is an identity on a chat page,” Simone explains, moving closer to the screen. “I’ll do a search for Wailord.”

      The result gives 85,000 hits. Kennet goes into the kitchen, and she hears the sound of the police radio being turned up. Crackling and hissing is mixed with human voices.

      She skims through page after page of Japanese Pokémon material.

      Wailord is the largest of all identified Pokémon up to now. This giant Pokémon СКАЧАТЬ