(2016 edit: clearing all mentions of story title for reasons.)
Prologue
4000/04/27 05:00
LOADING . . .
ERROR. MOVING '+O1' YEAR(S).
4001/04/27 05:00
LOADING . . .
Drat. Twiddle opened her eyes, the moonlight which flowed through the stained glass by her bed splashing against her face and bouncing off of her eyes, coloring her body. She sat up, grabbed the white curtains, and pulled them shut, letting out a sigh. Without looking, she reached her right arm out and let it fall on a thin composition book, bringing it to it her face. She flipped it open to where a strip of paper stayed as a bookmark. Though it was supposed to be a journal, at times it simply functioned as nothing more than a calendar.
The latest entry read:
4 / 26 / 4001
Tomorrow is my first physical birthday. Of course, it's pointless trying to celebrate it. It's sort of confusing, though.
I guess this isn't an ability I'm going to unlock over time. And leaving the planet has no effect. This day had seen her stumble into it many times. Deciding to disregard any possible changes, she closed her eyes.
4014/12/11 16:34
LOADING . . .
"...And I still can't get there."
"Interesting. Very interesting," the captain mumbled, stroking his chin. He wore a dark blue suit, almost denim colored, with white wings embroidered on the shoulders.
"So is there any other time you can't revisit?" a young man pressed. He also wore the blue uniform, but he lacked a tie.
"Not that I know of," Twiddle mumbled.
The conversation only lasted a little longer afterward, mostly filled with curious questions, vague answers, and frustrated reactions. After the captain and his assistant left across the navy blue carpet of the ship and around a corner, Twiddle turned and slowly stepped over to the thick window nearby.
To the individual who had never been, space was beautiful, but to anyone else, it was nothing new.
She knew she could go back. Anytime she wanted, even. But something kept her from doing so. Perhaps she felt that she had already learned enough there, in her dusty little library, and leaving allowed her to continue her infinite quest for knowledge? She herself didn't know.
Information was her purpose. Right?
The first story. [OUTDATED]
The first story. [OUTDATED]
Last edited by Twiddle on Sun Nov 06, 2016 10:10 am, edited 3 times in total.
Re:
The First Story
Sleep was rather difficult for people who weren't in a familiar place. Even for someone who technically shouldn't really need sleep, Twiddle stayed up quite late the previous night simply trying to fall asleep. And yet, she still awoke rather early in the morning.
Was nine o' clock even early?
It sure felt like it, anyway.
Twiddle sat up in her white bed and rubbed her eyes. She untangled her legs from the white sheets covering the soft mattress and stretched her arms, looking around. It was a simple room, with greys and whites making up a majority of the colors. A chrome dresser leaned against a wall to the right of the bed, with a lamp, currently off, sitting on the top. A simple bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sink waited to the left. A plain, round clock hung on the wall above the doorway, and the light on the ceiling had a cover which dimmed the light emitting from it, soft and professional.
Twiddle stood up from the bed and stumbled over to the dresser, pulling open one of the drawers. The contents were neatly folded. From left to right lay piles of navy blue dress shirts in a style like that of a sailor's uniform, pleated skirts, pants, white panties, and black socks. They were surprisingly all in her size. She shrugged and removed the thin white slip in which she had slept and started to change clothes.
The clothes, except for the shirt, were apparently made of cotton, and felt rather nice. Twiddle had chosen the skirt instead of dress pants. She was somewhat bothered by the fact that there were no shorts to wear underneath, but the skirt was just below her knees, long enough so no one would see her underwear, so it didn't matter much. The lines decorating the ends and collar of the long-sleeved shirt were white, which looked rather nice against the formal blue. Altogether, the outfit gave her a rather sophisticated look. To add to this, she decided to put her long, green hair into a bun. After brushing her teeth in the bathroom, she exited her room, sliding on her brown boots as she walked out the door.
The ship's name was Aquacanoe, even though it was definitely not a canoe and had no ties to water. Usually a cargo ship, its current purpose was to transport the contents of the libraries and such across this area of the galaxy and their keepers to one place. Despite the locations being very, very far away from one another, the project had only started recently, a few months ago, and already a few librarians had been collected.
This part of the ship seemed much like a hotel or apartment building. There were many rooms lined up, each having a number and letter on its door. Twiddle's room read 20A - the twentieth room on floor A.
It wouldn't be that much longer, right? She would only spend maybe a few months maximum on this ship. They weren't planning on going through the whole galaxy, only just this part.
As Twiddle took in her surroundings, a young man, also in a blue uniform, waved to her and then walked over to where she stood. He was much taller than she was, and he had shiny black hair that went down to his shoulders, as well as every other direction it could manage. He smiled and emitted a friendly sort of aura. Wasn't he that man from the day before? It was difficult to tell.
"Hey, g'morning," he greeted.
Twiddle simply nodded in return.
"D'you think that, uh, you can maybe wake Miss Kari up? Sorry to disturb you, though."
Twiddle's eyebrows raised in confusion. "Kari?" she mimicked questioningly.
"Yeah," the young man replied. He gestured over to a door down the hall. "Over there, room 16A. She hasn't gotten up yet. Or, at least, hasn't left her room. Can you check on her, maybe wake her up if she's still sleeping?" He sighed. "Ah, I know what you're thinking. 'Why don't you just go do it yourself?' Lady's a bit of a fierce one toward poor old Bauer in the mornings," he laughed. "Might just be all huddled in her room stayin' away from people. Or she might be dead asleep. Either way, I hate to toss you this task, but I've got things to do and being lectured is not one of them. So, uh, think you can do this for me?"
"Uh..." Twiddle slowly nodded and looked over at the door. 16A. "Sure. I... guess."
The friendly man thanked her and started to walk in the other direction. "Tell her that I -- uh, someone is waiting in the cafeteria for her, 'kay?" he said. And like that, he left.
After watching him turn around the corner and leave, Twiddle walked down the dark blue carpet and to the door that read 16A. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, firmly and loudly.
After about a second and a half, the voice of a girl could be heard past the door. "Yes?" the voice called. "Well, come in."
Ah, so she's already awake.
Twiddle turned the doorknob and gently pushed the door forward. The room inside was a carbon copy of her own, as were the rest, all alike. A girl, in her early teens, sat on the bed. Her shirt was a plain, navy blue, button-down dress shirt. Her skirt was shorter than Twiddle's, giving her a less mature look. She wore turquoise and light blue stockings, which actually looked rather nice with the uniform. Her hair was, at first glance, black, but if you looked closely, you could tell that it was actually a dark plum color. Either way, it contrasted well with her pale skin.
"And who are you?" she asked, not looking up from her game of Solitaire.
"...My name is Twiddle. Uh, Twiddle Charofyton."
"And?"
"And, um..." Twiddle hesitated for a moment. "A man wanted you in the cafeteria for something. Er, you are Miss... Kari, correct?"
"Yes," the girl replied. "I am Kaeri Kari. I would prefer if you call me Kaeri. So, nice to meet you, I suppose." She forced a tiny smile. "Now, I'm sorry that Bauer had to bother you. He really is an idiot, isn't he? Hmm." She gathered the cards in front of her and sat them off to the side. She then walked over to the dresser and retrieved more cards from the bottom drawer.
However, these cards were different. There were only six of them, and they were very plain. They weren't playing cards, but rather cards with different colors on each of them. One was red, one was blue, one was yellow, and so on.
"He still thinks I'm asleep, doesn't he? So we should have a little time. Serves him right, anyway. So, why don't I read your fortune?" Kaeri held the cards up in her hand and smiled a persuasive smile.
Twiddle nodded, and so Kaeri retreated back to her bed and motioned for Twiddle to come over. She then shuffled the six cards and lay them all face down.
"Choose three."
Twiddle did as she was told.
That one.
That one.
And that one.
As it turned out, they were green, red, and purple, in that order.
Kaeri's face cycled through the seasons. "Oh," she sighed, "I pity you."
Twiddle's face was very obviously filled with confusion. Who wouldn't be confused?
"It's, uh, not often that you get green and red together. It often means betrayal or a feeling of safety was false. And then red with purple... Oh, I'm so sorry. More often than not, this means... an accident. Something is hurt. There's a loss." She pointed at the purple card. "Everything will be calm and safe, and then... something will happen."
Sleep was rather difficult for people who weren't in a familiar place. Even for someone who technically shouldn't really need sleep, Twiddle stayed up quite late the previous night simply trying to fall asleep. And yet, she still awoke rather early in the morning.
Was nine o' clock even early?
It sure felt like it, anyway.
Twiddle sat up in her white bed and rubbed her eyes. She untangled her legs from the white sheets covering the soft mattress and stretched her arms, looking around. It was a simple room, with greys and whites making up a majority of the colors. A chrome dresser leaned against a wall to the right of the bed, with a lamp, currently off, sitting on the top. A simple bathroom with a shower, toilet, and sink waited to the left. A plain, round clock hung on the wall above the doorway, and the light on the ceiling had a cover which dimmed the light emitting from it, soft and professional.
Twiddle stood up from the bed and stumbled over to the dresser, pulling open one of the drawers. The contents were neatly folded. From left to right lay piles of navy blue dress shirts in a style like that of a sailor's uniform, pleated skirts, pants, white panties, and black socks. They were surprisingly all in her size. She shrugged and removed the thin white slip in which she had slept and started to change clothes.
The clothes, except for the shirt, were apparently made of cotton, and felt rather nice. Twiddle had chosen the skirt instead of dress pants. She was somewhat bothered by the fact that there were no shorts to wear underneath, but the skirt was just below her knees, long enough so no one would see her underwear, so it didn't matter much. The lines decorating the ends and collar of the long-sleeved shirt were white, which looked rather nice against the formal blue. Altogether, the outfit gave her a rather sophisticated look. To add to this, she decided to put her long, green hair into a bun. After brushing her teeth in the bathroom, she exited her room, sliding on her brown boots as she walked out the door.
The ship's name was Aquacanoe, even though it was definitely not a canoe and had no ties to water. Usually a cargo ship, its current purpose was to transport the contents of the libraries and such across this area of the galaxy and their keepers to one place. Despite the locations being very, very far away from one another, the project had only started recently, a few months ago, and already a few librarians had been collected.
This part of the ship seemed much like a hotel or apartment building. There were many rooms lined up, each having a number and letter on its door. Twiddle's room read 20A - the twentieth room on floor A.
It wouldn't be that much longer, right? She would only spend maybe a few months maximum on this ship. They weren't planning on going through the whole galaxy, only just this part.
As Twiddle took in her surroundings, a young man, also in a blue uniform, waved to her and then walked over to where she stood. He was much taller than she was, and he had shiny black hair that went down to his shoulders, as well as every other direction it could manage. He smiled and emitted a friendly sort of aura. Wasn't he that man from the day before? It was difficult to tell.
"Hey, g'morning," he greeted.
Twiddle simply nodded in return.
"D'you think that, uh, you can maybe wake Miss Kari up? Sorry to disturb you, though."
Twiddle's eyebrows raised in confusion. "Kari?" she mimicked questioningly.
"Yeah," the young man replied. He gestured over to a door down the hall. "Over there, room 16A. She hasn't gotten up yet. Or, at least, hasn't left her room. Can you check on her, maybe wake her up if she's still sleeping?" He sighed. "Ah, I know what you're thinking. 'Why don't you just go do it yourself?' Lady's a bit of a fierce one toward poor old Bauer in the mornings," he laughed. "Might just be all huddled in her room stayin' away from people. Or she might be dead asleep. Either way, I hate to toss you this task, but I've got things to do and being lectured is not one of them. So, uh, think you can do this for me?"
"Uh..." Twiddle slowly nodded and looked over at the door. 16A. "Sure. I... guess."
The friendly man thanked her and started to walk in the other direction. "Tell her that I -- uh, someone is waiting in the cafeteria for her, 'kay?" he said. And like that, he left.
After watching him turn around the corner and leave, Twiddle walked down the dark blue carpet and to the door that read 16A. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, firmly and loudly.
After about a second and a half, the voice of a girl could be heard past the door. "Yes?" the voice called. "Well, come in."
Ah, so she's already awake.
Twiddle turned the doorknob and gently pushed the door forward. The room inside was a carbon copy of her own, as were the rest, all alike. A girl, in her early teens, sat on the bed. Her shirt was a plain, navy blue, button-down dress shirt. Her skirt was shorter than Twiddle's, giving her a less mature look. She wore turquoise and light blue stockings, which actually looked rather nice with the uniform. Her hair was, at first glance, black, but if you looked closely, you could tell that it was actually a dark plum color. Either way, it contrasted well with her pale skin.
"And who are you?" she asked, not looking up from her game of Solitaire.
"...My name is Twiddle. Uh, Twiddle Charofyton."
"And?"
"And, um..." Twiddle hesitated for a moment. "A man wanted you in the cafeteria for something. Er, you are Miss... Kari, correct?"
"Yes," the girl replied. "I am Kaeri Kari. I would prefer if you call me Kaeri. So, nice to meet you, I suppose." She forced a tiny smile. "Now, I'm sorry that Bauer had to bother you. He really is an idiot, isn't he? Hmm." She gathered the cards in front of her and sat them off to the side. She then walked over to the dresser and retrieved more cards from the bottom drawer.
However, these cards were different. There were only six of them, and they were very plain. They weren't playing cards, but rather cards with different colors on each of them. One was red, one was blue, one was yellow, and so on.
"He still thinks I'm asleep, doesn't he? So we should have a little time. Serves him right, anyway. So, why don't I read your fortune?" Kaeri held the cards up in her hand and smiled a persuasive smile.
Twiddle nodded, and so Kaeri retreated back to her bed and motioned for Twiddle to come over. She then shuffled the six cards and lay them all face down.
"Choose three."
Twiddle did as she was told.
That one.
That one.
And that one.
As it turned out, they were green, red, and purple, in that order.
Kaeri's face cycled through the seasons. "Oh," she sighed, "I pity you."
Twiddle's face was very obviously filled with confusion. Who wouldn't be confused?
"It's, uh, not often that you get green and red together. It often means betrayal or a feeling of safety was false. And then red with purple... Oh, I'm so sorry. More often than not, this means... an accident. Something is hurt. There's a loss." She pointed at the purple card. "Everything will be calm and safe, and then... something will happen."
Last edited by Twiddle on Sun Nov 06, 2016 10:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Lamby
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Re: Candy Clockwork - The first story.
This is pretty sophisticated. Dialogue is handled well, not wasted. I especially like your narrative pacing--it doesn't move too quickly and it isn't so slow I'm bogged down by unnecessary detail. You're skilled at ending with a hook.
I only have one suggestion and that's to not let your description beat around the bush:
"He wore a dark blue suit, almost denim colored" -- this isn't necessary. It's not a terrible mistake or anything, but if you revise your work after it's complete, realize that if the color isn't completely denim-colored then it isn't denim colored. It's more vivid to say the color outright.
And,
"Was nine o' clock even early?"
"The clothes, except for the shirt, were made of cotton, it seemed, and felt rather nice"
"He smiled and emitted a friendly sort of aura"
The bolded areas can be considered empty words because the sentence or sentences around them lose none of their impact if the words weren't present.
But again, this is only a suggestion for revision--which should only be done when the story is complete. It's not detracting from the story or anything.
In short, I like this and will probably keep following. Nice work.
I only have one suggestion and that's to not let your description beat around the bush:
"He wore a dark blue suit, almost denim colored" -- this isn't necessary. It's not a terrible mistake or anything, but if you revise your work after it's complete, realize that if the color isn't completely denim-colored then it isn't denim colored. It's more vivid to say the color outright.
And,
"Was nine o' clock even early?"
"The clothes, except for the shirt, were made of cotton, it seemed, and felt rather nice"
"He smiled and emitted a friendly sort of aura"
The bolded areas can be considered empty words because the sentence or sentences around them lose none of their impact if the words weren't present.
But again, this is only a suggestion for revision--which should only be done when the story is complete. It's not detracting from the story or anything.
In short, I like this and will probably keep following. Nice work.
"Oh baby won't you stop it/you and I haven't got it
Television romance "
Re:
"Four, five, six..."
What am I doing here?
"Eight, nine, ten..."
This is silly.
"Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen..."
...Well, I mean, it's not that bad or anything, I should try relaxing a little, but...
"Eighteen, nineteen, twenty!"
Immediately, Twiddle could hear the sound of soft footsteps bouncing over the dark carpet of the hall in her direction. She shifted slightly and tried to squeeze her body into the tiniest form possible. With the dust from all around floating through the air, she attempted to cough discreetly, in the back of her throat. It didn't help much, but if she were to be the last one found, she'd have to deal with it.
Minutes passed and her head began to hurt from leaning on the crate she was hiding behind. Every so often she would hear a small shifting around from somewhere else in the area, always getting closer.
Closer and closer.
She squeezed her eyes shut and waited. She wondered if she was invisible this way.
Closer and closer.
She could feel the suspense building rapidly, and her breath quickened.
She could hear footsteps growing louder, and her stomach tightened.
Closer and...
And...
"There you are!"
"Ack!" Twiddle gasped. She jumped, surprised, and hit her head on the crate. A shadow fell over her as she looked up.
The plum-haired girl reached out her hand. "You okay?"
Taking note of the girl's gesture, Twiddle caught her breath. "Yes, I'm fine... I guess you got me." She grabbed hold of Kaeri's hand and stood up.
Her skin felt strange. She wasn't used to it.
The other girl thought the same thing.
"Found you."
"Yeah."
"You were the last one left, y'know."
"Huh. Really...?"
The walk back to the cafeteria was otherwise rather uneventful. It seemed that it was the general gathering place on this trip, and it wasn't really a hassle with the small amount of guests on the ship. They would be leaving the solar system soon enough, with them nearing Venus already. It was someone's decision to pick them up from the outside in and then head back out, and honestly, no one knew why.
They would be on this ship for a while.
"So, uh, where? Are you... from?" Twiddle stuttered, trying to start a conversation.
"Pluto," Kaeri replied calmly. "I actually spent most of my time in the underground part of the archives, while Bauer handled the upper part." She grinned softly. "We had it pretty easy, I guess. Got quite a bit of tourists, though. Where exactly are you from?"
"T-Terra." Twiddle fiddled with her hands. "Near Terraport. North America. I was actually originally from Ceres, though. We moved to Terra shortly after I was crea-- born."
"'We'?"
"...My father and I."
"Oh. I see." Kaeri forced her eyes back forward. "I spent most of my life in America, actually. Before I starting living with Bauer and all."
"Just you and him?"
"Just him and I. What about you?"
"Just me."
What am I doing here?
"Eight, nine, ten..."
This is silly.
"Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen..."
...Well, I mean, it's not that bad or anything, I should try relaxing a little, but...
"Eighteen, nineteen, twenty!"
Immediately, Twiddle could hear the sound of soft footsteps bouncing over the dark carpet of the hall in her direction. She shifted slightly and tried to squeeze her body into the tiniest form possible. With the dust from all around floating through the air, she attempted to cough discreetly, in the back of her throat. It didn't help much, but if she were to be the last one found, she'd have to deal with it.
Minutes passed and her head began to hurt from leaning on the crate she was hiding behind. Every so often she would hear a small shifting around from somewhere else in the area, always getting closer.
Closer and closer.
She squeezed her eyes shut and waited. She wondered if she was invisible this way.
Closer and closer.
She could feel the suspense building rapidly, and her breath quickened.
She could hear footsteps growing louder, and her stomach tightened.
Closer and...
And...
"There you are!"
"Ack!" Twiddle gasped. She jumped, surprised, and hit her head on the crate. A shadow fell over her as she looked up.
The plum-haired girl reached out her hand. "You okay?"
Taking note of the girl's gesture, Twiddle caught her breath. "Yes, I'm fine... I guess you got me." She grabbed hold of Kaeri's hand and stood up.
Her skin felt strange. She wasn't used to it.
The other girl thought the same thing.
"Found you."
"Yeah."
"You were the last one left, y'know."
"Huh. Really...?"
The walk back to the cafeteria was otherwise rather uneventful. It seemed that it was the general gathering place on this trip, and it wasn't really a hassle with the small amount of guests on the ship. They would be leaving the solar system soon enough, with them nearing Venus already. It was someone's decision to pick them up from the outside in and then head back out, and honestly, no one knew why.
They would be on this ship for a while.
"So, uh, where? Are you... from?" Twiddle stuttered, trying to start a conversation.
"Pluto," Kaeri replied calmly. "I actually spent most of my time in the underground part of the archives, while Bauer handled the upper part." She grinned softly. "We had it pretty easy, I guess. Got quite a bit of tourists, though. Where exactly are you from?"
"T-Terra." Twiddle fiddled with her hands. "Near Terraport. North America. I was actually originally from Ceres, though. We moved to Terra shortly after I was crea-- born."
"'We'?"
"...My father and I."
"Oh. I see." Kaeri forced her eyes back forward. "I spent most of my life in America, actually. Before I starting living with Bauer and all."
"Just you and him?"
"Just him and I. What about you?"
"Just me."
Last edited by Tsui on Sun Nov 06, 2016 10:08 am, edited 2 times in total.
Re:
"You see, Twiddle," the redheaded man continued calmly, "my father, his father, and so on - they all loved plants. And so my parents, well, they would always try to teach me about this plant and that plant and what not. But, heh, you know what? I wasn't really all that interested! Nope, you know what I was really interested in?"
"Time, right, Father?"
"Right. For some reason, I just find that a really interesting thing, y'know? I think it's pretty cool. Apparently they say it's all too unknown. Stuff like that. We don't know what exactly is goin' on in there, they said!"
"But, you figured it out," Twiddle chimed.
"Yup. I suppose you could say it's kinda like those candy sucker things. Tough at first, but then as soon as figure out just where to put your teeth, the whole thing'll break apart. Though, at least suckers are sweet. Hmm. Maybe that wasn't a good comparison. But then, then came the magic. Helped a lot. Took some clocks apart, read some books. Got the best computers I could find, grabbed a few dictionaries. Had it all figured out. Wanted to try something. And then? I had you." The man paused for few seconds and looked off to the side. "...Or something like that. You also just seemed like a really cool idea at the time, I guess."
The girl covered her mouth as she giggled. Her emerald green hair was tied up into pigtails which fell to her waist. The black dress she wore was rather plain except for the white lace on the edges. With white tights and brown knee-high boots, it was a rather simplistic look, yet would also come off as somewhat strange to the public. "I suppose I'm grateful, it's okay."
"Heh. But anyway, what I mean to say is, don't ever think your purpose in life is to keep time all straight and find the best outcome and all that stuff. Unless you want to. Your purpose is whatever you want it to be. Whatever you find interesting, you go follow your dream and do it. 'Kay, kiddo?"
Twiddle nodded.
The man's smile weakened. He took a deep breath, though his mouth didn't open, as if he was sighing quietly. "Even when you have knowledge of what happens throughout time, if something bad happens, don't expect to always be able to care of it. Sometimes it's even better to remove yourself from the picture." His voice kept a mostly happy and relaxed tone, which didn't quite match his words. "What I'm saying is, you can't fix everything. Alright?"
The standard reply.
Twiddle shifted around restlessly in her soft bed.
Too soft, she decided. The mattress was much fluffier than she was used to. Her white bedclothes had ridden up as she tried to find a comfortable position, exposing her ribs under the sheet. She cursed mentally as she adjusted her clothes and rolled over. Folding her arms under the pillow, she stretched her legs and firmly shut her eyes. She was sick of waking up during the night. Well, she could just go back to some time when she was home and sleep there until she wasn't tired anymore, but staying up the rest of the night on a spaceship full of weird librarians didn't exactly sound too fun.
Disturbed sleep it was.
Elizabeth Anderson. Blonde hair, brown eyes. Fifteen years old. Fair skin, no freckles in sight. Five feet, seven inches tall. Weight, an absolute secret.
Smiling lightly, eyes fluttering behind round glasses, all so-and-so pounds of adolescent femininity assumed such a form that she looked like a fluffy white cake waiting anxiously to be noticed, if cakes wore knee-length dresses and lacy petticoats. This girl was the result of years upon years of human evolution, and lucky genes - plus fifteen years of living with an affinity for frilly dresses that looked as if they belonged in a fictional private school for superpowered teenagers.
She reached, out of habit, for her pocket, but caught herself and redirected her hand to one of the two golden braids that fell to her waist. As she twirled the clump of hair - brushed at least twice already today, mind you - she sighed in the back of her throat, so that the excess air stumbled into her heart, which itself lost balance and plummeted into her stomach. Ah, infatuation. What a common occurrence.
The unfortunate object of Anderson's affection was casually seated in the large, tiled room just past the corner she had taken to for the past few moments. Wilhelm Bauer, currently nineteen years old, was to be the eventual heir of his family's share of the Bauer & Patrick Encyclopedia series, as well as the Pluto-based archives that until recently had served as a sort of base. Also wearing the blue uniform that everyone had fondly accepted except for Anderson, he actually looked rather nice, save for his black hair which insisted on defying gravity in wavy clumps. His speech was an odd blend of habitual politeness and informality, which came off as friendliness. Since the decision to move everything to one place, Anderson and Bauer had interacted more frequently, the former appreciating this more than the latter.
Satellites and dwarf planets were popular for information-related storage, you see, and Terra and Luna were mostly crammed with museums and memorials. Ceres, on the other hand, was known as the sole dwelling place of some weirdo scientist with a doll for a kid or something like that, but he had made some great progress in his field, so no one really minded. And so, most major libraries were pretty far away. Since most of civilization's books were available through online storage, this wasn't much of an issue.
Anderson listened with care as the conversation between Bauer and a younger girl lingered on. Something about fairy tales? Striped stockings, she noted, scoffing mentally. How childish. Those colors simply don't match. Another girl sat somewhat nearby, absorbed in a novel of relatively short length. This one was dressed much more reasonably, Anderson decided. She admitted the bun was a nice touch. But still, the Aquacanoe seemed to be overrun with young girls so far.
She smirked.
Now, Anderson had the irritating tendency to sneak up on people without meaning to. This means that she was excellent at slipping into a setting without anyone noticing until she spoke.
"Little Red Riding Hood again?" she teased. "Gee, there couldn't possibly be any symbolism in that, d'you think?"
Twiddle nearly dropped her third volume of Biomechanical Religious Toys on an Island when she heard the abrupt voice of someone who clearly was not there before. Had she been too absorbed in her novel? Whoever they were, they had long blonde hair and sharp eyes, and they smelled like oranges.
Actually, Kaeri noticed, it was tangerines. She wasn't fond of tangerines. She recalled the time of their betrayal, quite a heartbreaking moment. They look like oranges, yes they do - but the harsh truth soon revealed itself.
"Of course there couldn't be, the wolf is totally literal," Bauer retorted swiftly. "And I have zero interest in girls with hoods, by the way." He patted Kaeri on the head, who grumbled in return. Noticing his companions' puzzled looks, he cleared his throat. "Sorry. This is Miss--"
"Elizabeth Anderson," the bespectacled girl finished, curtsying slightly. She gently slid onto one of the cafeteria benches. "Now, look, I know this is rather sudden and all but..." She hesitantly bit her lip, and motioned to Kaeri and Twiddle. "Can you two help me with something?"
"Why do you have so many clothes...?" Kaeri muttered, nearly tripping over a colorful pile of folded socks. She was currently in a ridiculous magical girl outfit, with a sparkly pink skirt and cartoon gloves, as well as her signature purple hooded cloak.
Twiddle was in a similar outfit, though with a green color scheme instead. A tree frog hood pushed some of her hair into her eyes. She waved a pastel-colored toy wand around dully, and jumped when the lights flashed suddenly. "So, what exactly are we supposed to be doing again?" she inquired.
"Shh, just give me a minute," Anderson said, tying the ribbon under Kaeri's collar into a bow. She stepped back and sighed. "This design just doesn't fit me, but it would be such a waste to scrap it completely. I needed another cute girl to try it on for me." She twirled her braid triumphantly. "And I ended up catching two. How lucky!"
"Is that so...?" Twiddle stuttered.
"Right." Anderson giggled. "So do you two prefer the pink or the green one?"
After a moment, the reply came simultaneously.
"Pink," said Green.
"Green," said Pink.
Startled and embarrassed, the two blushed and talked over eachother.
"I, I mean, it just, looks really nice on you!"
"You just, the color is a lot better!"
"You look way better than I do!"
And so on.
Overall, the third party in the room found the ordeal quite amusing.
"Time, right, Father?"
"Right. For some reason, I just find that a really interesting thing, y'know? I think it's pretty cool. Apparently they say it's all too unknown. Stuff like that. We don't know what exactly is goin' on in there, they said!"
"But, you figured it out," Twiddle chimed.
"Yup. I suppose you could say it's kinda like those candy sucker things. Tough at first, but then as soon as figure out just where to put your teeth, the whole thing'll break apart. Though, at least suckers are sweet. Hmm. Maybe that wasn't a good comparison. But then, then came the magic. Helped a lot. Took some clocks apart, read some books. Got the best computers I could find, grabbed a few dictionaries. Had it all figured out. Wanted to try something. And then? I had you." The man paused for few seconds and looked off to the side. "...Or something like that. You also just seemed like a really cool idea at the time, I guess."
The girl covered her mouth as she giggled. Her emerald green hair was tied up into pigtails which fell to her waist. The black dress she wore was rather plain except for the white lace on the edges. With white tights and brown knee-high boots, it was a rather simplistic look, yet would also come off as somewhat strange to the public. "I suppose I'm grateful, it's okay."
"Heh. But anyway, what I mean to say is, don't ever think your purpose in life is to keep time all straight and find the best outcome and all that stuff. Unless you want to. Your purpose is whatever you want it to be. Whatever you find interesting, you go follow your dream and do it. 'Kay, kiddo?"
Twiddle nodded.
The man's smile weakened. He took a deep breath, though his mouth didn't open, as if he was sighing quietly. "Even when you have knowledge of what happens throughout time, if something bad happens, don't expect to always be able to care of it. Sometimes it's even better to remove yourself from the picture." His voice kept a mostly happy and relaxed tone, which didn't quite match his words. "What I'm saying is, you can't fix everything. Alright?"
The standard reply.
Twiddle shifted around restlessly in her soft bed.
Too soft, she decided. The mattress was much fluffier than she was used to. Her white bedclothes had ridden up as she tried to find a comfortable position, exposing her ribs under the sheet. She cursed mentally as she adjusted her clothes and rolled over. Folding her arms under the pillow, she stretched her legs and firmly shut her eyes. She was sick of waking up during the night. Well, she could just go back to some time when she was home and sleep there until she wasn't tired anymore, but staying up the rest of the night on a spaceship full of weird librarians didn't exactly sound too fun.
Disturbed sleep it was.
Elizabeth Anderson. Blonde hair, brown eyes. Fifteen years old. Fair skin, no freckles in sight. Five feet, seven inches tall. Weight, an absolute secret.
Smiling lightly, eyes fluttering behind round glasses, all so-and-so pounds of adolescent femininity assumed such a form that she looked like a fluffy white cake waiting anxiously to be noticed, if cakes wore knee-length dresses and lacy petticoats. This girl was the result of years upon years of human evolution, and lucky genes - plus fifteen years of living with an affinity for frilly dresses that looked as if they belonged in a fictional private school for superpowered teenagers.
She reached, out of habit, for her pocket, but caught herself and redirected her hand to one of the two golden braids that fell to her waist. As she twirled the clump of hair - brushed at least twice already today, mind you - she sighed in the back of her throat, so that the excess air stumbled into her heart, which itself lost balance and plummeted into her stomach. Ah, infatuation. What a common occurrence.
The unfortunate object of Anderson's affection was casually seated in the large, tiled room just past the corner she had taken to for the past few moments. Wilhelm Bauer, currently nineteen years old, was to be the eventual heir of his family's share of the Bauer & Patrick Encyclopedia series, as well as the Pluto-based archives that until recently had served as a sort of base. Also wearing the blue uniform that everyone had fondly accepted except for Anderson, he actually looked rather nice, save for his black hair which insisted on defying gravity in wavy clumps. His speech was an odd blend of habitual politeness and informality, which came off as friendliness. Since the decision to move everything to one place, Anderson and Bauer had interacted more frequently, the former appreciating this more than the latter.
Satellites and dwarf planets were popular for information-related storage, you see, and Terra and Luna were mostly crammed with museums and memorials. Ceres, on the other hand, was known as the sole dwelling place of some weirdo scientist with a doll for a kid or something like that, but he had made some great progress in his field, so no one really minded. And so, most major libraries were pretty far away. Since most of civilization's books were available through online storage, this wasn't much of an issue.
Anderson listened with care as the conversation between Bauer and a younger girl lingered on. Something about fairy tales? Striped stockings, she noted, scoffing mentally. How childish. Those colors simply don't match. Another girl sat somewhat nearby, absorbed in a novel of relatively short length. This one was dressed much more reasonably, Anderson decided. She admitted the bun was a nice touch. But still, the Aquacanoe seemed to be overrun with young girls so far.
She smirked.
Now, Anderson had the irritating tendency to sneak up on people without meaning to. This means that she was excellent at slipping into a setting without anyone noticing until she spoke.
"Little Red Riding Hood again?" she teased. "Gee, there couldn't possibly be any symbolism in that, d'you think?"
Twiddle nearly dropped her third volume of Biomechanical Religious Toys on an Island when she heard the abrupt voice of someone who clearly was not there before. Had she been too absorbed in her novel? Whoever they were, they had long blonde hair and sharp eyes, and they smelled like oranges.
Actually, Kaeri noticed, it was tangerines. She wasn't fond of tangerines. She recalled the time of their betrayal, quite a heartbreaking moment. They look like oranges, yes they do - but the harsh truth soon revealed itself.
"Of course there couldn't be, the wolf is totally literal," Bauer retorted swiftly. "And I have zero interest in girls with hoods, by the way." He patted Kaeri on the head, who grumbled in return. Noticing his companions' puzzled looks, he cleared his throat. "Sorry. This is Miss--"
"Elizabeth Anderson," the bespectacled girl finished, curtsying slightly. She gently slid onto one of the cafeteria benches. "Now, look, I know this is rather sudden and all but..." She hesitantly bit her lip, and motioned to Kaeri and Twiddle. "Can you two help me with something?"
"Why do you have so many clothes...?" Kaeri muttered, nearly tripping over a colorful pile of folded socks. She was currently in a ridiculous magical girl outfit, with a sparkly pink skirt and cartoon gloves, as well as her signature purple hooded cloak.
Twiddle was in a similar outfit, though with a green color scheme instead. A tree frog hood pushed some of her hair into her eyes. She waved a pastel-colored toy wand around dully, and jumped when the lights flashed suddenly. "So, what exactly are we supposed to be doing again?" she inquired.
"Shh, just give me a minute," Anderson said, tying the ribbon under Kaeri's collar into a bow. She stepped back and sighed. "This design just doesn't fit me, but it would be such a waste to scrap it completely. I needed another cute girl to try it on for me." She twirled her braid triumphantly. "And I ended up catching two. How lucky!"
"Is that so...?" Twiddle stuttered.
"Right." Anderson giggled. "So do you two prefer the pink or the green one?"
After a moment, the reply came simultaneously.
"Pink," said Green.
"Green," said Pink.
Startled and embarrassed, the two blushed and talked over eachother.
"I, I mean, it just, looks really nice on you!"
"You just, the color is a lot better!"
"You look way better than I do!"
And so on.
Overall, the third party in the room found the ordeal quite amusing.
Last edited by Tsui on Sun Nov 06, 2016 10:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re:
(Went over it so far, updated some details, stitched together some empty plotholes, cut out unnecessary rambling, smoothed out some dialogue. Still not that great but overall a little bit better? I dunno. I've been working on the next bit on and off, so it's not like I've abandoned it or anything.)
(2016 edit: clearing subject of posts)
(2016 edit: clearing subject of posts)