what in the longdark spitting-pit is that

[inourhead]

This was a bad idea this was a bad idea this was a bad idea.

Holly runs as fast as she can but the demon's faster. She has no idea where Lightning's gotten to; maybe he found a tree to climb. She on the other hand has been diverted into a treeless hill and she's careening down a slope, trying very hard not to trip.

And the demon's gaining on her.

She's never seen anything like it and neither has Crystal; maybe Book knows what it is but Book's asleep. It's mostly mouth - it looks like a cross between a floorlength mirror of a mouth and a snake to propel the mouth along.

And Holly's not fast enough.

The mouth catches her.





But it doesn't hurt.

Where are we?

----


with Minus (kappa)

with Mark (kappa)

with Max (Benedict)

in Terraria (kappa)

with Emma (Marri)

with Erin (Rockeye)

Comments

[unblinkered]

He's... not sure what soog or heetow are, but he can... probably ignore that? Coonway, that's what he confused for slossmoog earlier.

"Yes means taan, taan means yes. No means coonway, coonway means no."

[inourhead]

Sohng writes this down.

[unblinkered]

And... "Soog? Heetow?" He's not sure what those were meant to mean. Maybe she picked up some syllable and thought it meant "maybe"?

[inourhead]

"Taan means yes. Hitao means yes."

[unblinkered]

So... soog... she didn't answer that, so it'd be a part of speech... "and"? Yes taan, and hitao? Or "or". How does one... communicate logical operators?

Well, he could test one, and if she objects...

He'll need to teach "and" first, but that's probably easy. "Or" is the tricky one. He holds up a piece of chalk and says "chalk", and then a stick of gum and says "gum". Then he puts them down on the table next to each other, and says "Chalk and gum."

[inourhead]

"And means ruum," she tentatively concludes, taking notes.

[unblinkered]

...so soog is "or"? Or... some other part of speech. Or they have two words for "and". How can he...

OH

"...room means soog? Or room no means soog?"

[inourhead]

"Ruum no means soog."

[unblinkered]

Good, she inferred it from context, so...

"Room means soog or room no means soog... room no means soog... soog means 'or'?"

[inourhead]

This one she seems less confident in. She makes a wobbly gesture.

[unblinkered]

Hrm. Close enough?

He looks for chalk- he has an idea for what to do to illustrate it more specifically- when there's a knock on the door.

[inourhead]

Sohng jumps.

[alicornucopia]

It's Gloria, of course, and she's very surprised to see Max and Sohng and Sohng's mouse-accessorized backpack. "Wh- huh? Max, who's this?"

[unblinkered]

"Look, um- Gl- listen, this is going to be... it's a long story, and you won't believe- I mean, no, of course you'll believe it, we have evidence of-"

He stops, and looks her in the eyes.

"Can you... just, not panic, and I'll tell you... what I think is going on?"

[inourhead]

Sohng looks between them, blinking.

"I... suppose? What are you doing in my classroom, Max?"

[unblinkered]

"I... okay, so... this girl here, Song, she showed up in my classroom and doesn't speak English. That's why I'm here, specifically, not somewhere else. I thought you might be able to keep an eye on her today, and help her with that, until..."

He pauses for a moment, and takes a deep breath.

"The 'until', is where the you-might-panic thing comes in. But one thing at a time."

[inourhead]

"Until what, Max?" asks Gloria. "What does she speak? ...¿Habla Español?"

Sohng blinks at her.

"...Zhongwen ma?"

Blink, blink.

[unblinkered]

"She doesn't speak Spanish. Or, as far as I can tell, any language on Earth. When I said she 'showed up in my classroom', I meant she showed up in my classroom. Just... appeared out of thin air. Right in front of me."

He holds up one of the drawings- of Kweengow (or Nloggy?) and Earth, with the arrows between.

[alicornucopia]

Gloria blinks at the drawings. She looks at Sohng's notes.

"I don't recognize that alphabet... but Max, there must have been something going on, people don't appear from other planets out of nowhere."

[unblinkered]

"That's what I thought! Obviously! I spent the first fifteen minutes trying to get her to explain what the trick was, until I realized it wasn't working. And then we tried to explain each other's languages to each other, until suddenly she..."

He turns to Sohng. "I'm going to have her show you the thing."

He hands Sohng a small piece of white blackboard chalk, and a large piece of red sidewalk chalk. He mimes the two-handed shaking gesture.

[inourhead]

Sohng looks between the two adults, then accepts the chalks, and swaps their colors, and hands them back.

Gloria yelps.

[unblinkered]

"So... yeah. Sorry. She's some kind of... wizard, or something. She can switch... things, properties of things, I don't know- but it's clearly the same level of... thing, as appearing out of nowhere, so..."

[alicornucopia]

"Oh my god!" exclaims Gloria. "And - Max, I've got a class of kids who speak Spanish and Chinese and Korean and - what do you expect me to do with a wizard from another planet? Why does she have mice -?"

[unblinkered]

"Oh, god, I don't know about the mice, I don't know enough to ask her to explain them- she- I- I thought you'd be... you'd have more experience than me teaching people languages in general, just... ignoring the magic thing, that you could do what you usually do? Until the bell rings and I can figure out what to do with her."

[alicornucopia]

"Usually I have textbooks that refer to their native language, Max! I - what have you got her to pick up so far...? Anything?"