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]

"Uh. Um. Well, see, that was what I wanted to talk about. The situation with... taking care of her. Since... that's... so, I'm at the physics department at Rutgers, and..."

[inourhead]

"Oh, for crying out loud, Max, you couldn't wait for me to find her a - a social worker or something - you just - you up and took her to the scientists? Not even the linguistics department to see if they could learn to talk to her better than me, but the physics department! Max!"

[unblinkered]

"Linguistics department, that would have been a- that would make sense. Um."

God. She's yelling at him? Of course she is. Max doesn't like this. Just because she had a good idea that he didn't have...

"They haven't taken her, she's right here... we can still... they, uh, can't get started right away, I can go over to... there. And it's not- I was just checking in, you can still try and find a... you said- social worker?"

[inourhead]

"Or something. I'm not sure I'm going to find one who won't think I'm making a prank call, though, unless I lie about her special needs..."

[unblinkered]

"Yeah, just- just, uh, you don't need to lie, really, you could say like, 'if I told you you wouldn't believe me, could I schedule a meeting with her to show you', or something? Listen, uh... I'm gonna, do what you said, and take her to their linguistics people. While you handle that. Is that okay?"

Liu, meanwhile, is looking disbelievingly at Sohng. He pockets the key and the plastic, and- he's noticed the mice.

"Mice?" he asks, pointing.

[inourhead]

"I suppose," says Gloria. "Don't you dare lose track of her, if I'm going to be telling people about her and promising them there's something to see."

"Mouse sleep," says Sohng.

[unblinkered]

"Right, okay. Thanks."

Max hangs up. If she had something she was about to say, she'll... probably be very annoyed at him, so, no change.

"Uh- that's- she doesn't just do colors. She does... I don't know how much she does, but she can switch "sleepiness" and "awakeness" between her and the mice."

Liu gapes. "Those aren't quantities. What do you mean, she switches-"

"That's what I said! She apparently doesn't care! That's why it's confusing and I'm not just dealing with this myself!"

The two spend a few minutes exchanging confusions, and not producing any meaningful new ideas. They seem to be ignoring Sohng, and show no indication of changing the subject to "directions to the linguistics department" anytime soon.

[inourhead]

Sohng docilely finds a chair to sit in and studies her English notes.

[unblinkered]

After some time, they finish. Max obtains directions to the linguistics department (more the We Are Obligated As An Accredited University To Provide A Foreign Language Course department, according to Liu, but hopefully it will suffice).

"Pyay- uh, Song? We're... go school that teach English words, and study Nloggy."

[inourhead]

"Sohng," she confirms. She gets up and follows him.

[unblinkered]

The humanities buildings are, as it happens, on the opposite side of campus from the physics department. Max neglected to ask for road directions, and by the time he realizes it's going to be a longer walk than anticipated, he's already a good distance from where he'd parked.

For a moment, he thinks about how to ask Sohng if she's tired, and then remembers the mouse thing. She'll be fine.

Light rain- barely a drizzle- begins to fall.

[inourhead]

Sohng peers up at the rain, but not in a particularly mystified way. They must have that where she's from.

[unblinkered]

He looks at her, checking that reaction. She comes from a flat world, with no "day" or "night", but it has ordinary weather patterns? Perhaps... her world is an ordinary planet, and it's a lack of technology- no cars, no phones, what else don't they have?- that makes her think otherwise, and she's merely accepting Earth's roundness as another bizarre quirk of this dimension.

That's probably it.

He points. "Rain. Kweengow has rain?"

[inourhead]

"Kuigao rain, yes."

[unblinkered]

Right. Well, here comes something she may not have: it's around six o'clock, it's Daylight Saving Time, and it's starting to get dark. She didn't understand "day" and "night", earlier... a matter of not needing a particular concept, with sleep abolished, or a physical reality?

He points at the sun, peeking through the clouds near the horizon. "Sun. Kweengow has sun?"

[inourhead]

She flips through her notes, not seeming to care if they get a little drizzled on. "Kuigao has suns," she concludes, after a sufficient pause.

[unblinkered]

He winces at the notes getting wet- but judging by her reaction, wetness is a thing her mweelsrow or whatever can undo.

"Suns..." He doesn't know if she learned plurals, or if the S is some kind of mistake. He begins counting on his fingers. "Sun, sun, sun, sun? Not one sun? Two suns, three suns...?"

[inourhead]

"Suns," she says. "Suns, suns." Shrug. "Not one sun."

[unblinkered]

That, uh...

For a moment, he thought, hm, maybe the reason they think it's flat and the reason they don't have day and night are the same, maybe their planet's spin is in sync with their orbit, like the moon, and so the world seems to "stop" at an icy boundary...

But, nope. Nothing so simple. Some kind of binary star system thing...? Or...

Oh, they're here. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies. Conklin Hall. That's... not really what they're looking for, is it? They might be able to point them in the right direction, at least. There's got to be some linguists around. More resources than a middle school, at any rate.

Automatic doors open.

[inourhead]

Behold, a secretary-type.

"Can I help you?" the secretary-type inquires.

[unblinkered]

"I... yes. Do you have a directory of... I'm looking for someone here who's... I have someone here who doesn't speak English, but not- not Spanish or Portuguese- and we're looking for a... someone who studies linguistics, more generally. Are we in the wrong place?"

[inourhead]

"Yeah, the linguists are two doors down." The secretary-type points. "I think on the third floor."

[unblinkered]

Oh, that's good.

He leads her up the stairs- and, in the spirit of language learning, points out "stairs" and "door" on the way up.

"Song- linguists study words. Study Nloggy, teach English."

[inourhead]

Sohng - who has apparently quietly dried the damp notes on something when he wasn't looking - writes this down.

[unblinkered]

He notices. Song English, Pyay mweelsrow... they seem to switch off fairly frequently. He starts wondering how it works, in there, how they can be in sync yet maintain individual personalities.

...Insofar as they have individual personalities. Do they? He hasn't been trying to notice for very long. Song is maybe more relaxed and agreeable, Pyay maybe more focused and intense? He could just be seeing patterns where none exist.

There's a door marked "Linguistics Graduate Commons", two doors down from the stairs. He knocks.