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Feyrouz Hanafusa
Fictional Character
"Manuscript Tradition"
Science Fiction
Set in the 23rd Century
Type of Appearance: Direct POV
Nationality: United States
Date of Birth: Early 22nd century
Date of Death: 23rd Century
Cause of Death: Natural causes
Occupation: Research Doctor, Librarian
Spouse: Unnamed first husband
Children: Sam (son)
Professional affiliations: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Dr. Feyrouz Hanafusa was the curator of the Beinecke Rage Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University in 2119.

She'd been previously married, but was single in 2219. Her adult son Sam was a homesteader with his husband in the remains of Sandusky, Ohio. She was familiar with a number of manuscripts in her charge, including the Voynich Manuscript. She resided in New Haven, close to the Beinecke.

In July 2219, Earth began receiving images from a crawler that landed on the planet Faraday, orbiting TRAPPIST-1, some forty years before. As the first images began to appear, Hanafusa realized she'd seen some of the flora previously, and immediately reviewed the Voynich Manuscript when she arrived the the Beinecke. Drawings of unknown flowers matched the flowers in the crawler's photographs. As she studied the manuscript, she was joined by Tony Loquasto, the library's custodian. Loquasto let slip that he, too, had wanted to review the Voynich Manuscript, ultimately claiming he hailed from Faraday, and created the manuscript.

Loquasto explained that his species was much longer-lived than humans. He'd arrived in Italy in 1400. When no other ships came to rescue him, he concluded (correctly) that his planet had fallen to a destructive global war. Over the course of the centuries, the alien lost control of the manuscript. Like a number of immigrants, the alien arrived in the United States in 1893, hoping for a better life, which he mostly did find.

The alien's manuscript was purchased by Wilfrid Voynich in the early 20th century, and it became a very public mystery. The "Voynich Manuscript" and was donated to Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale in 1969. When the author learned that the Beinecke had the manuscript, he took a position as a janitor there in the 1980s. Using the name "Loquasto", the alien worked as a custodian at the Beinecke, hiding his identity by claiming to be various descendants of the original custodian. He even maintained the same house in West Haven, Connecticut.

Hanafusa didn't know what to make of Loquasto's claims. She initially discounted them, but then remembered that images of previous generations of Loquastos showed a picture identical to Tony Loquasto. However, after she'd reviewed the manuscript and return to her office, her assistant Paulo told her to check her messages. She instead turned on the news and saw the most recent images from the crawler. One showed the remains of a statue with writing on the base that matched the writing in the Voynich Manuscript. The final image showed a woman holding a chunk of concrete. As there were no other images, it was clear that the woman had crushed the crawler.

As people familiar with the Voynich Manuscript recognized the match between base of the statue and the manuscript, Hanafusa was bombarded with calls from all manner of people. She attempted to contact Loquasto, but he'd left for the day. When she finally did arrive home, she saw a news report that Loquasto's home had burned to the ground in what was almost certainly an arson fire. She shared Loquasto's story with West Haven police officer Mandela Jeter. Jeter didn't believe it, but Hanafusa was less certain.

She died at age 107.[1]

References[]

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