|
Post by 0 on Sept 16, 2017 18:28:05 GMT
Only a few days away now. A half-crescent grin spread across the number's conical head as it marked off another day on the calendar, yellow as the harvest moon.
The autumnal equinox was coming up, and, after that, Halloween! Two of the greatest events in any year, no question about it.
As it glanced out the window, however, the shadowy smudge gave a frown. Outside it was white as winter, yet the sunless sky was blazing hot. Ash drifted like cottonwood on the air, the warm breeze pushing a few bits in through the opened frame.
A charcoal town drawn between an ink ocean and a chalk desert. It's been stuck here for a few months now, ever since that fiasco back in reality, unable to jump, unable to do much of anything anymore. Irradiated, it had been told; too much time spent outside surreality.
The desert and the ocean seemed to stretch on into infinity. A single highway connected but a few faraway desert towns, but other than that...the trains were out, yards abandoned, shut down long ago.
It was claustrophobic being confined to a hospital bed, and now it was claustrophobic being restricted to a single town. It couldn't NOT wander.
Feeling the breath catch in its throat, the shadow fell into a haze of smoke, and flowed out the window to walk the cracked sidewalks that crisscrossed the stark settlement. This black-and-white town was no place to spend the painted season of autumn.
|
|
Administrator
|
Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
PLAYER NAME
|
|
Post by Loner。 on Sept 19, 2017 19:37:46 GMT
(just experimenting something) Tap tap tap tap ping. Tap tap tap tap ping. A very old very rustic cash register reliefed in a cubic visual style hopped over cracks in the unadorned walkway. the bell on it rang after every four taps, coinciding with a slightly larger, more expressive leap, even though there was nothing worth avoiding on the path. It was a very distinct tone of greyish pink, though the slight red barely stood out.
tap tap tap.
tap.
ping.
It slowed and stopped throwing up the lever on its size as an arm waving hello, at the rather vague number it had happened to come across.
|
|
|
Post by 0 on Sept 19, 2017 20:26:38 GMT
The squat buildings smudged upwards against the white sky, the wind pushing extra hot that day against their charcoal walls. Shadows seemed to smear across the ground, sharp-edged and black as night, almost as solid as the structures themselves.
taptaptap--ping! taptaptap...PING
The number slowed as the nose drifted outwards into the relative silence, hovering and twisting over itself from where it stood in shadows on the sidewalk, wisps of it creeping out into the light. Was it music?
Something was coming along the sidewalk, a distinct, if dull, hue that managed to stand out against all the blacks and whites. As the cubic object bounced across the walkway, it slowed, then stopped, throwing up its lever as though in greeting, the smoky number turning inwards in that brief moment.
The vaguely spherical cloud formed an arm, waving back, before producing a few more limbs to land upon the sidewalk, reaching a conical head around on a long neck to peer at the rustic register. Its pointed nose was stretched forward, trying to lightly prod at the thing's squares, the movement slow enough so that the blocky object should easily be able to avoid it, if it wanted to.
"Where are you going?" the number asked, uncertain whether the register was a resident. Heh, the number probably looked more like a native than the other did, however subtle those colors may be....
|
|
Administrator
|
Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
PLAYER NAME
|
|
Post by Loner。 on Sept 20, 2017 4:43:59 GMT
Each button was on a lever. Each lever kept each button raised a bit from the front of the antique register. Most of the buttons should have had numbers, but a good many of them were well worn out. A few had letters.
As soon as a button was pushed, up popped a plastic tag in the display. It was a mundane, stationary real world number 5 in the spot for documenting the worth of bills. It flopped back down, whatever was meant to be inside holding the figures up having malfunctioned some time back so that most of the numbers didn't stay up when pressed.
The cash register clicked its keys swiftly on its own, bringing up new figures in speedy fashion. [34343 43 1 60146 /ERROR]
pause...
[07734!]
|
|
|
Post by 0 on Sept 20, 2017 21:46:46 GMT
The number watched closely as the cash register began to type away, pulling back curiously when something popped up first the first time. It hadn't quite expected that to happen, and a crescent grin lifted some of the smoke on its face.
Numbers were popped up one after the other, the number, for all it was worth, struggling to understand. A big old ERROR message was popped up, and in the pause that followed, the number quickly smudged parts of itself on the white ground past the shadows, scribbling down what it could remember.
The clear click and dinging of buttons being pushed and plastic tags popping up brought its attention back. The number's nose passed across the scrawl, examining the smeared numbers while they slowly lost their form.
After a solid minute of trying to parse the dialect, the number finally had an answer, and withdrew the writing as it peered back at the register. With the oppressive white heat pressing down on what was generally either a cold or temperature-lacking form, something suddenly snapped into its mind.
"Follow me!" it said, and began to whirl down another path, cutting through alleys, backyards, and side streets. It aimed to lead the object towards the black ocean, where a cooler breeze might sometimes wander in from across the distant ink, or where at least something interesting could usually be witnessed upon the wharfs.
|
|
Administrator
|
Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
PLAYER NAME
|
|
Post by Loner。 on Sept 23, 2017 0:55:54 GMT
The cash register rocked back and forth slightly on its short legs during the minute or so which it took the other to figure out what it had typed out. Surely it wouldn't take long to figure out. It had tried to make the numbers as close to letters as it new how.
Finally it seemed like the shadowy entity had figured something out. The cash register Dinged excitedly, and as soon as the number began to lead on, began its five step pattern.
tap tap tap tap ping.
Despite the various twist and turns, the cash register kept up the steady pattern on the trek towards the black sea
|
|
|
Post by 0 on Sept 24, 2017 18:45:01 GMT
Ink slowly filtered into the architecture the closer they drew to the sea, dripping from the rooftop overhangs. Black rivulets began to fill the cracks in the sidewalk, flowing into the gutters.
The smoke column rushed along, register close in tow, keeping up the pace surprisingly well. The number had started things slow, but quickly began to speed along, not even bothering to glance behind it any longer, simply assuming that the object was doing just fine. It wasn't at such increasing velocity for long; vaulting over a canal, the number finally skidded to a halt, wisps of smoke flying forwards past a denser sphere of haze. The tendrils were drawn back, and a conical-headed humanoid figure reformed upon the sidewalk. The seaside wharf lay ahead, consisting of rows of piers with small chalk and ebony boats puttering alongside them, and a few distant warehouses.
Atop the downhill slope was a street that ran sidelong to the shore, trailing after the canal, and was littered with graphite-drawn and ink-penned buildings. A utility pole sat here and there, many with wires that simply hung against their sides, and black birds that crowded in atop the projecting lamps. Ash continued to drift in on the desert wind, although the fronts could be viewed where the bits of black began to spiral high in the air, pushed back by an ocean-borne breeze.
Although pedestrians were few and far between, the wharf was bustling with dockworkers and fishermen, many of whom seemed to be smudged charcoal themselves, carefully smeared into human-likened shapes. A mop sat in a bucket on one dock.
Although the temperature was cooler here, the difference was slight at best, and, much to the number's disappointment, nothing particularly interesting seemed to be happening at that very moment. Recalling the thing that had been following it, it turned back to ask it, "You from here?"
|
|
Administrator
|
Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
PLAYER NAME
|
|
Post by Loner。 on Sept 25, 2017 22:21:38 GMT
The cash register shook off some of the inky liquid off one of its stubby feet. It didn't want to end up all black and no color, while the wood-like surface didn't exactly like liquids.
They made too much of a stain.
After placing its feet back under it, the cash register twisted about, taking in the scene as much as its object senses would allow. was this where it was from?
It took the question to mean this particular place with explicit specificity.
It jumped, dinged, and up popped that red error tag once again.
It was certainly an interesting place though.
|
|
|
Post by 0 on Sept 26, 2017 17:31:11 GMT
Nada--the error tag made its second appearance.
Watching it, the number had to admit that it was growing rather charmed by the cubic object. Something different, albeit suiting, to this town.
The cloud of smoke seemed to bristle for a moment upon recognizing its own thoughts. This was that lavender dream all over again, although...less empty--sorta. Just replace the smudges with robots and maybe it was the same. It wasn't the first time since it's been here that it had recognized this peculiarity.
Arms pushed against the sidewalk, a threadthin tail lashing out from behind the cloud as it began to trot alongside the street. It kept to the shadows, although this did little to shield it from the increasingly unbearable heat.
Automatically it began to meander its way towards the shoreline itself, where the inky waves lapped up against the bicolored sands. Stepping onto a pier, a shadowy smear walked past them, hauling a net full of what appeared to be black squids. There was a small black boat with white oars leaned into it, the innards tangled with nets and rods.
The number dropped itself inside, waving a hand in a gesture for the register to join it. Whatever it ended up doing, a small black bird would soon be landing on the boat's edge, eyeing any within the boat with piercing white eyes.
|
|
Administrator
|
Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
PLAYER NAME
|
|
Post by Loner。 on Sept 29, 2017 23:08:04 GMT
The blackness of the water, the contrast of the sky, The cash register found it interesting to look at sheer scene of contrast.
The cash register watched the sea for a moment, before noticing that the amorphous being was again on its way.
Oops. Better keep up. It didn't want to be left behind.
Where'd it go? It was hard to see the number once it began to keep to the shadows.
There! on the sand!
The cash register began running, trying to catch up, still maintaining its 5 beat pattern.
The cash register felt like it was late, slipping into the boat just in time.
phew. That was close.
|
|
|
Post by 0 on Sept 29, 2017 23:27:42 GMT
The bird stared at the duo. After a beat, the shadow stared back, one hand crawling slowly towards an oar. The bird's feathers began to rise, its beak began to open. With haste, the shadow lifted another hand and...flicked the bird into the water.
Plop!
It took a quick glance around as it shuffled around in the boat, finding another net full of inky squids. One of them wriggled squirted it in the face, although most of it went straight through the smoky entity. It dropped the net, and began to slowly paddle the boat away from the shore, one hand on each of the oars that sat strapped to the boat. A third hand, meanwhile, began to search the bottom of the boat.
The black boat, and many things on it, were difficult to see with just how starkly black-and-white the whole world was, especially set against an already pitch black sea. Something clicked against its fingers, and the number drew up a barred metal object with a crescent grin. Excellent!
One turn of the hidden knob and a flame shot to life inside its glass casing, saturation subdued to where the fire was hardly anything more than gray. Regardless, it cast light and shadows alike upon their immediate surroundings, and made the whole of the boat and its innards a lot easier to see. The inky ocean reflected a small number of desaturated tones.
Leaning forward to set the lantern down upon the bow of the boat, the number happily continued to row the boat onwards, further and further away from the graphite town, waving cheekily to the disappearing fishermen when finally he reappeared upon the pier, and alongside the small dusty figure of the bird as it finally drug itself out from the waves.
As usual, no matter how far it went, nothing else seemed to peek out above the horizon. Oh, well...it had exhausted the land; why not the sea next? Squids had to come from somewhere.
"One if by land," the number hummed, a red dot of an eye rolling briefly into existence to peer down at the passenger cash register, "and two if by sea! Do you know any songs, seaman squares?"
|
|
Administrator
|
Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
PLAYER NAME
|
|
Post by Loner。 on Oct 1, 2017 14:20:02 GMT
The cash register tapped a key for a moment as it rocked in the boat.
Songs it knew plenty, but it had never tried reproducing any of them.
Well, might as well go for it.
Tip tap ping, tap tap ping, ping tapa tap ping tapa tap.
Tip tap ping, tap tap ping, ping tapa tap ping tapa tap.
Tapity tap tap, tapity tap tap, tap tap tap tap tap tap.
Not all the taps were the same tone. It had melody a little bit, but it was still more rhythm than song.
Still it was better than nothing right?
|
|
|
Post by 0 on Oct 2, 2017 21:30:39 GMT
Seaman squares began to sing--er, type. It was fairly clicky, yet there was a tiny bit of a tune to it. Like tryna call sum1 on the tellyphone.
If nothing else, there was a clear rhythm, although nothing that the number could place. There was a small squiggly sound alongside the other's notes, a noise produced by the netted squids as they began to wriggle around, perhaps in response to the music.
It kept to rowing the boat at a steady pace, silent, smoke wafting off into the white sky, ash drifting in on the wind. The number stifled a subdued sigh.
No sun. It was reminded again of that lavender dream. Once more, it mind was returning to how it never thought it would miss the sun, yet there it was. What else was it forgetting?
The shadow peered around, watching the huffing, puffing smokestacks of the town's factories as it began to fade away across the sharp horizon. It wondered whether to keep heading straight, or risk taking any turns. Where was the fault in getting a little lost?
But it was only a passing thought, and before long its gaze returned to what lay ahead. That being nothing--well, save the salt, the sea, and the spray.
As the object's music came to an end, something flashed underneath the boat, darting through the misty light of the lantern. The number dropped its hands from the oars and leaned over, drooping nose passing through the surface of the ink.
There it was again!
"Look!" it shouted excitedly, pointing at the flicker of movement. In a brief glimpse, it looked like a tangle of dark lines. Perhaps it was a squid?
Its hands shot out to snatch up one of the empty nets, would toss a part of it over the cash register as it slipped over to the other end of the narrow rowboat, extending the net to its full length, carefully eyeing the muggy waves as they washed up against the vessel's ebony sides.
|
|
Administrator
|
Loner, Kazetatsu, Kaze
PLAYER NAME
|
|
Post by Loner。 on Oct 5, 2017 14:50:14 GMT
The cash regular stopped its plinking and leaned over the side of the boat to catch a glimpse of the dark against dark figure beneath the inky waves.
It was big whatever it was.
The number seemed keen on catching it.
With its one arm, the cash register struggled to get a good grip on the net. It pushed the nearest part into a bunch so it could stick it's arm up and through one of the holes. Without another arm to work with the best the cash register could do was use its body to try and shove the rest of the net into the inky water.
Good enough.
Until something below actually began to pull on the net, indicating that there was indeed something down there.
The weight of it was too much for the money managing machine, given that he only had one arm, and not enough body strength to do much pulling.
Plop.
Seaman squares overboard.
|
|
|
Post by 0 on Oct 5, 2017 16:10:10 GMT
The number's eyes were stubbornly fixed on the ocean, yet a simple plop was all it took for its gaze to shift over. A splash! GOT YOU The number threw the rest of the net over, aiming to pull it back once it managed to get a good grip around whatever inky monstrosity dared to swim these seas.
Only...it might have leaned over a little too far--or perhaps it was because something was already tugging at it, dragging it in?
The shadow felt its face phase right through the liquid, but a split second later the rest of it was making a splash. Something got caught on its foot--the net full of squid--and was sent tumbling over with it.
The boat teetered lazily, knocking the lantern into the sea.
Everything was black. The lantern's dim light didn't reach very far down through the inky waters, and when the net full of squid came rolling down on top of it--well, that hardly made things any better.
Despite its head getting knocked aside, the number kept a firm hold on the net, glaring at the darkness. Freed of the air, the squids began to wriggle and writhe madly once they had returned to the water, squirting water and propelling themselves forwards--pushing both lantern and themselves right into the spread net that the number and register were gripping. Water was released from some of them as they now struggled to rid themselves of two nets, helping to clear up the liquid just that little bit.
A thin ray of light wavered uncertainly into the black liquid, and the number aimed its eye downwards. Eh--! SEAMAN SQUARES?
The little blocky object was there, sinking slowly through the fluid. The number began to paddle towards it, when something flashed out the corner of its eye.
The net gave a hard, harsh jerk, and all at once everything caught in or holding onto it was dragged down into the depths of the deep.
In split panic, the number threw out a line of itself, hoping it might hook onto the boat. Instead, it felt nothing but the ink washing around it, where it struggled to find purchase.
The number lost its sense of time down there. But after...some time--maybe--the ink was washed away.
Muffled sound returned in full aerial force, and the lantern's grayish light set aglow the area around them. The number sat on a stony floor, its muggy form all tangled up in the net, drenched in ink, pitch-black and flowing with oily colors. The cash register seemed to be in just as bad a shape, so it reached over to try and untangle it, casting an eye around their small circle of light.
There really wasn't much to see beyond the rocky ground, and all the things caught up in the net--themselves, the lantern, and the other net full of squids.
"You all right?" As far as it knew, the ink wouldn't do much to the number itself, save cling to it, but the cash register seemed to have a tendency towards solidity...it didn't know what getting drenched in the salty ink might do to it.
|
|