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

[inourhead]

"My name Sohng. ...Her name Pyay," she adds, gesturing to her own head. "...Name means nluupel, my name Sohng."

"Did you bring an alien who hears voices into my classroom?" asks Gloria.

[unblinkered]

"Who hears- I don't- it's not a voice in her head, it's got to be some sort of... weird contextual distinction, she called herself Pyay earlier when she first showed up. She must be... misunderstanding 'her', somehow, thinks it's somehow referring to... some weird thing we don't have an easy analogue to."

He... first, he puts a piece of chalk in front of Sohng. "One chalk." He adds one- "two chalk"- up through three. And then...

"My name Max. One name. 'Mr. Wax' means 'Max', two name. Sohng means Pyay?"

[inourhead]

"Sohng no mean Pyay," says - whoever she is - firmly.

[unblinkered]

This isn't working. Maybe it's her turn to explain? If she can put it into words... there's paper and pencils and chalk, if she needs to draw pictures, so she should be able to...

"Pyay means...?"

[inourhead]

"Pyay means -" She draws a plant. The leaves look sort of Christmasy; it's got berries. "Sohng means -" She gets up and taps the window glass.

[unblinkered]

That- no. That's not what he...

"So... I think she's got... sort of, two identities? Song and Pyay both refer to her, but... under some conditions she 'is' Song, and other times she 'is' Pyay? Like... two names, but there's cultural norms that tell when to use them, and we don't know what they are?"

She doesn't know "when"... how to ask her when she's Song and when she's Pyay?

[inourhead]

"Voices in her head is a much more conservative explanation," says Gloria. "I'll - see what I can do. I'll have the rest of my kids watch Sesame Street and get as much English into her as I can; you should go or you'll be late for your first class."

Sohng blinks uncomprehendingly.

Gloria sighs and starts going over numbers with her.

[unblinkered]

"Yeah, sure, that's more... she's magic, why not... uh, good luck with that. I'll drop by later to take her off your hands, bring her to... I don't know, child services, something like that..." he mumbles as he heads out the door.

This whole mess is definitely going to bug him all day, but at least it's just all day, and not "indefinitely".

[inourhead]

At the end of the day, Sohng and Gloria are still in the classroom. Sohng's bag, mice and all, has been squirreled away in a cupboard; Sohng is peacefully going over her notes while Gloria grades worksheets.

[unblinkered]

Max wraps up sixth period, leans out the window for a smoke, and then sets about closing down the classroom. He locks the door- not something he usually does, but keeping the place where she appeared secure seems like a responsible sort of idea- and heads downstairs to Gloria's ESL room.

She's still there- didn't run away, so that's good.

"How'd it go?"

[inourhead]

"Well, she's better behaved than most of the others, usually anyway. I gave her my packed lunch and bought one for myself rather than try to teach her currency on day one. She's bright. When I wasn't looking, though, she went into the cupboard with the bag and took out one of her mice. Distracted the others. Anyway, she has more vocabulary now if you let her look at the notes she's been taking," says Gloria.

Sohng looks up. "Hello," she says.

[unblinkered]

"Hello, Song." He looks at her curiously. "You learn English words?"

[inourhead]

"I learn English words. Yes," Sohng agrees.

"What do we do with her now?" Gloria wonders.

[unblinkered]

"Well, we..."

Teaching class was distracting, but he's had some time to think.

"I... on the one hand, her magic thing is a big deal, and finding out how that works is a high priority... but we also need to find her a place to stay. And I don't know anything about the laws that apply to, undocumented people, or whether we can get her official help."

He turns to Song. "Where-"
And back to Gloria- "Does she know 'where'?"
And back- "Where do you want to- sleep?", with an accompanying gesture laying his head on his hands.

[inourhead]

"She knows 'where' -" begins Gloria.

"No," says Sohng.

"- but she seems to have had trouble with 'sleep'. We also haven't covered 'want'."

[unblinkered]

No?

"What kind of trouble with sleep? Doesn't seem like a hard concept..."

[inourhead]

"I no sleep," says Sohng.

"Well, I don't know, but she's obviously misunderstood somehow," says Gloria.

[unblinkered]

"Well, hang on, let's take this at face value... does she know 'why'?" He looks at Song- "Why you no sleep?"

[inourhead]

"Mouse sleep," says Sohng. "Pyay sleep mouse."

[unblinkered]

His eyes widen. "Pyay sleep..." He raises his hands and mimes the swap-magic motion as before. "Pyay... Nloggy word, sleep to mouse?"

[inourhead]

"Yes."

[unblinkered]

"That is... really convenient." He's going to have to find out what the limits of this are- so far, it can change chalk colors, turn food into other food, and now... sleep is a process, not a property- tiredness is... so she'd be more... moving awakeness, energy, from the mouse to herself... but even with a whole bagful, that wouldn't be enough energy to...

"Nloggy word for...?" He asks, repeating the gesture.

[inourhead]

"Muilsroo."

[unblinkered]

"Mweelsrow. Okay."

He looks to Gloria.

"So, she doesn't need to sleep, but she can't stay here... and everyone else needs to sleep, so she could still use a residence of some kind. Does she... know 'home', or 'house', or something like that?"

[inourhead]

"I'm not entirely sure if she recognized the pictures of houses - we don't know where she comes from, she hasn't even grown up on American TV like the rest of the kids -"

Sohng is flipping through her notes. "More mouse?" she asks.