Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / Gunnerkrigg Court – Chapter 5 "Two Strange Girls"

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gc_c5.jpg
Not Annie and Kat.

There's a school science fair, and Year 7 Queslett North's contribution is an antigravity generator that Kat built out of a thermos and coathangers to grow protein crystals. Kat's rather annoyed that everyone else is focusing on the generator instead of the crystals, and enlists Annie's help to make a bunch of large diagrams in an attempt to rectify this.

While doing research in the library, Kat runs into a pair of strange girls, one with grey skin and eyes covered in black gunk, and the other normal-looking but very sleepy. It's revealed that the girls, Zimmy and Gamma from Chester South, are also competing in the science fair. Gamma only speaks Polish, but so does Annie, so they can communicate. Zimmy's peeved, but declares she'll see them at the fair and storms off.

At the fair, everyone loves Kat's antigravity generator, yet again ignoring the protein crystals. Annie wanders off and runs into Gamma and Zimmy, who invite her to take a look at their experiment, which is visible via a microscope on their table. Annie declares it "an abomination", and Zimmy laughs.

Over the next several nights, experiments are vandalized until only Kat and Zimmy's are left. On the last night, Kat plants motion detectors in the exhibition hall to catch the saboteur in the act, on the assumption it's Zimmy. The detectors go off, and Annie and Kat race to the hall to find Gamma and Zimmy . . . and Annie's stuffed wolf. Zimmy's come looking for the saboteur, too, and she's found him. She moves to touch the doll, and Reynardine is forced to reveal himself. He considers Zimmy a "demon", and is disgusted at the thought of her touching him.

Annie is shocked to discover that Reynardine is inside her stuffed toy. He reveals that because the toy belongs to Annie, he can't leave without her permission. He sabotaged the fair entries to try and win her favour by helping Kat win. He didn't touch Zimmy's entry for the same reason he doesn't want her to touch him.

Kat wins the competition fairly despite Reynardine's sabotage. Zimmy's experiment is taken away by a hazmat crew. And Annie locks Reynardine in a box so he can't cause any trouble.


Tropes:

  • Covers Always Lie: The title page shows Annie and Kat with the caption "Two Strange Girls". The strange girls in question are actually Zimmy and Gamma.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: Given how antisocial Zimmy is later shown as being, it's odd that she's so willing to participate in the science fair. Although it is possible she just wanted to outrage people with her "abomination".
  • Hates Being Touched: Reynardine does not want Zimmy touching him.
  • Hazmat Suit: The people who took away Zimmy's project wore them.
  • Internal Reveal: Annie and Kat find out that Reynardine is possessing Annie's stuffed wolf.
  • Language Barrier: Gamma only speaks Polish, so she can't talk to anyone except Zimmy and Annie.
  • Noodle Incident:
    • Annie's science fair proposal isn't seen. The only thing we know is that the rest of the class was disgusted.
    • The only thing we know about Zimmy's project is that Annie called it "an abomination", and a hazmat crew had to take it away.
  • Reed Richards Is Useless: Kat's science fair project is about the growth of protein crystals in zero gravity. She can't understand why everyone is making such a fuss about the anti-gravity generator she built in order to accomplish this, much to her annoyance.
  • Science Fair: A major part of the chapter's plot.


Top