Video games don’t typically reference current affairs, but a new Genshin Impact update seems to be poking fun at the recent Washington Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool debacle. Players have discovered a document in the game, penned by “Grand Duke Diomid Turzov,” that goes into detail–and with strange grammatical choices–about a fountain that was “ruined” by shoddy workmanship and vandals. As Turzov explained, he’s looking for a few good guards to help ensure that the renovation project continues without any additional complications.
“I built a fountain. It is enormous. Without question, it is the most beautiful fountain in all of Snezhnaya,” the note reads (via ResetEra). “Maybe even the most beautiful in all of Teyvat. Better than the Fountain of Lucine. Much better. Everyone’s talking about it. Then some horrible Tidalga got into the fountain. From Fontaine! They made the water look ugly. Total disaster. Very sad. But I fixed it. I did what no one else was brave enough to do! I drained the fountain and painted the bottom with beautiful, bright paint. After that, it looked incredible. So incredible! Then the idiots on the Snezhnograd Veche ruined everything. There is something very wrong with their brains, by the way. They knew the paint would feed the Tidalga, but did they tell me? No. Of course not.”
The rest of the note rambles on about “thugs” and “paint-scraping lunatics” sabotaging the fountain and how Turzov plans to hire the “biggest, toughest, strongest warriors” to round up these vandals.
It’s not too hard to see how Genshin Impact is making fun of the high-profile $14.7 million renovation project for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which was drained so that the long pool could be coated with a new color inspired by the blue of the US flag. Days after the pool was refilled, the water turned a murky, bright neon green thanks to a massive algae bloom. As scientists discovered, the dark blue paint absorbed far more solar radiation than the original, lighter color did, causing the water to heat up quickly and allowing algae to form.
Large patches of the new sealant began peeling and flaking off, while US President Donald Trump claimed that vandals were to blame. He alleged that people had cut a massive slit down the middle of the pool bottom, and while several people were arrested for alleged vandalism and trespassing, federal prosecutors eventually dropped the criminal charges against all individuals accused in the incident. Federal investigators and independent coating experts later concluded that contractor errors, poor design choices, and reactive chemical treatments were the main reasons behind the Reflecting Pool failure.
