Personification Life IC IX - [Semi Open]

[Monfrox]

Brit sighed as he kept his head on a swivel while the others went around the market. He should've at least tried to find the Captain's sidearm, if she had left it. It was one of those things he left in limbo, on whether or not she carried around. He liked to think she did, but he didn't really remember if he explicitly stated it or not. He yawned, and decided to watch the others work for now. He was sure the others would catch him up to speed on any findings, but for now he held his knife inconspicuously with his hands in his pocket while he leaned against a lamp post.

[Mincaldenteans]

The fish market was, eerily, just like the one Min had experienced in Singapore not a Christmas past. The similarities were daunting yet weirdly welcoming and he felt more at home than he had since his return to his own hometown. Here, people spoke in a multitude of languages ranging in Hokkien, Hokkiah, Cantonese, Shanghainese and a range of other languages he couldn't readily decipher. Not that the other were Asian predominant, simply he couldn't tell. People, customers, were lined to each kiosk ready to bargain for the best catch they could get. Min himself caught a Yellowtail and remembered his mom's words for cooking, prepping and selection of such a fish. Such a fish like a Yellowtail was meant to be cooked in hot oil with a varied assortment of spices that complimented it. He suddenly missed home and pushed the thought away just as quickly as he did not stumbling upon a stranger in front of him.

Tilt and the rest close by, he looked back, "Um... What exactly are we looking for? Because," he sniffed the air, the unmistakenable aroma of peanuts and chili in the air, "i smell Malaysian food, and its distracting folks."

[Fvaarniimar]

Fvaar half-consciously noticed it as she was getting up, turned around, and then had a feeling she'd missed something. Whirling back to her original orientation, the girl gasped. "Hey, am I seeing things here? Guys! There appears to be a pineapple- a carving of one- under the odd rabbit-fish mural. Wait, is that MB? Anyway, maybe we need to do something to it?" What that was, Fvaar didn't know... Except wait a sec- "Jacob, do you still have that key?!"

Jacob was a bit surprised by her sudden outburst, but he heard 'pineapple', his name, and keys. "O-oh, yeah. I do have them. Did you see a place for the keys to go?" He asked, digging a hand into his jacket pocket, searching for the keys. Once they were found, he extended his hand, crouching down so he was on a similar level as Fvaar to hand her the keys. "Do you need the pineapple as well? I still have that, too....."

Jacob peered over underneath the stall, seeing the bottom of the pineapple shape from his crouched position. "Hmmm... Interesting. A pineapple shape on a mural of fish-MB.... Yeah, its probably another thing for Tilt, I'd say."

Fvaar accepted the keys, standing up the rest of the say to put herself more or less on level with the guy. But... Something felt off. She handed them back.

"They're your keys, not mine, and I'm guessing they're yours for a reason. See that pineapple over there?" She pointed at the art in question. "I think- maybe because the keys and the pineapple were connected- that maybe there's something there that those will open. Want to head over and take a look?" She smiled.

[New Aksarben]

Jacob was a bit surprised by her sudden outburst, but he heard 'pineapple', his name, and keys. "O-oh, yeah. I do have them. Did you see a place for the keys to go?" He asked, digging a hand into his jacket pocket, searching for the keys. Once they were found, he extended his hand, crouching down so he was on a similar level as Fvaar to hand her the keys. "Do you need the pineapple as well? I still have that, too....."

Jacob peered over underneath the stall, seeing the bottom of the pineapple shape from his crouched position. "Hmmm... Interesting. A pineapple shape on a mural of fish-MB.... Yeah, its probably another thing for Tilt, I'd say."

Fvaar accepted the keys, standing up the rest of the say to put herself more or less on level with the guy. But... Something felt off. She handed them back.

"They're your keys, not mine, and I'm guessing they're yours for a reason. See that pineapple over there?" She pointed at the art in question. "I think- maybe because the keys and the pineapple were connected- that maybe there's something there that those will open. Want to head over and take a look?" She smiled.

"Sounds as good an idea as any." JACob said wit ha nod, glancing over at the bottom half of the pineapple again, trying to see if there was any indication of a keyhole or anything else in the mural. "That stand seems very familiar.... I'm pretty sure it is the one from my dream..... Which is odd, seeing as I've never been here before..... Anyway, Yeah, tilt. This Mural is yours seeing as its your character as a fish. There also seems to be a pineapple underneath it, behind that stand."

[Tiltjuice]

Tilt, preoccupied at first with continuing to watch for anything unusual (which could be a lot in this crazy, whacked-out world), didn't hear NA at first. There wasn't much to see, though, other than the large crowd of Asians conversing effervescently and enthusiastically with each other in a multitude of languages. Plus the large rectangular tanks containing fish, eels, geoducks, clams and scallops - the ones that allowed visitors to pick their own lunch right out of the tank and have it cooked and served fresh.

NA's words registered. "Right. So it looks like Fvaar and NA stumbled across something," he called to Min and Brit, waving them and the rest of the group over. He did a quick recap. "But we shouldn't think of the mural as mine. If anything, it's either Trice's as she put it here, or all of ours, even though none of us have ventured here before."

He could have gone on talking about psychology and second sight for quite a long time, but the pineapple was tempting him. "So, there's the stand, the mural, the keys, and the pineapple. Who wants to check out what?"

The fish seller watched them, in the manner of someone who welcomed visitors.

[Zarkanians]

[...] staring at various interesting points on the wall--a small smudge of dirt, a tiny imperfection, a particularly shiny point. [...]

And a window! Much more entertaining. He wandered over to it and leaned against the sill, watching the world outside. ... He was being treated to an excellent view of the Industrial District of Bielefeld. He'd gotten a chance to see it on his way in, but looking at something from a moving car while your mind was occupied with other things was not the same as staring at something from a stable vantage point while the other people in the room discussed matters of philosophy, both natural and metaphysical.

If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that this was the city's downtown. Rather than the small, grey, one-storey buildings he'd cometo expect from Winnipeg's myriad industrial parks, the only structures he could see through the window were towers built from glass and concrete and surrounded by roads. There didn't seem to be any pattern to the buildings' designs: there were brown buildings with windows that looked like black buttons at this distance and there were buildings that looked to be made almost entirely of glass (working in those during the summer must be awful). He could just make out some old-looking smoke-stacks deeper in the city—possibly a left-over from a previous stage of development? But, no, Bielefeld was created after the death of the city of Vaffleheim--the previous host to the apartment building. The old city's ruins were still visible to its south. Maybe it was just a stylistic thing, then. They certainly looked nice—all steep slants, gentle curves, cream concrete and smooth black smoke. He'd always liked the look of smoke--the way it billowed and expanded as it rose up into blue sky was somehow beautiful, even knowing what industrial smoke did to the atmosphere.

There were patches of green space between some of the buildings--they were littered with trees, and sometimes they even had fountains. Interesting juxtaposition, and a decent metaphor: the best kind of industrial beauty was the sort you could admire from a picnic blanket. Oh, gods, he had to write that one down! He searched his pockets frantically for a pencil and a scrap of paper--then huffed. Okay, maybe not, then. If they were still here tomorrow, though, he'd have to find a way to get onto a boat or ship and check out how the city looked from the water.

[Fvaarniimar]

Tilt, preoccupied at first with continuing to watch for anything unusual (which could be a lot in this crazy, whacked-out world), didn't hear NA at first. There wasn't much to see, though, other than the large crowd of Asians conversing effervescently and enthusiastically with each other in a multitude of languages. Plus the large rectangular tanks containing fish, eels, geoducks, clams and scallops - the ones that allowed visitors to pick their own lunch right out of the tank and have it cooked and served fresh.
NA's words registered. "Right. So it looks like Fvaar and NA stumbled across something," he called to Min and Brit, waving them and the rest of the group over. He did a quick recap. "But we shouldn't think of the mural as mine. If anything, it's either Trice's as she put it here, or all of ours, even though none of us have ventured here before."
He could have gone on talking about psychology and second sight for quite a long time, but the pineapple was tempting him. "So, there's the stand, the mural, the keys, and the pineapple. Who wants to check out what?"
The fish seller watched them, in the manner of someone who welcomed visitors.

"Um." Fvaar wasn't totally comfortable speaking up, but... This could be important. "I think that the pineapple- probably the pineapple mural- and the key may be connected. As far as I know, they're the only things which ended up with the same person. We might want to investigate those together- with a single team, that is." Nervously gnawing on some hair, the girl touched her feather. She was glad that she'd protected it; after all, if a pineapple could be a clue...

[Monfrox]

"Be right over!" Brit called as he got off the lamppost and made his way over to where Tilt was calling them over. What had they found? He fool-heartedly hoped it was something that would get them back home instantaneously. Were it so easy, they would be out by now. He really didn't want to go around the city and suddenly slip into a faded section. He had seen The Glitch video on youtube, and if it was anything like that, he'd really rather not the whole space-time continuum and physics.

[New Aksarben]

"Yeah, as Fvaar told you guys, she found a pineapple on the MB mural. Underneath a stall that reminds me of the one I saw in my dream last night. I'm wondering if I should try pressing the pineapple into it to see if its actually a key of some sort. Or I'm wondering if its possible to move the stall out of the way to show if there's anything more we may not be seeing because of it, like a keyhole. I really don't know. What do you think we should do Tilt? Everyone else?" Jacob briefed everyone, moving a bit closer to the stand as he spoke, trying to spot any sort of keyhole in the mural.

[Cerillium]

Trice yawned and stretched her way out of the chair. She joined Snow at the window and momentarily took in the sights with him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" The town seemed so much clearer now and she saw things she'd never noticed or imagined.

"Right. Chaos? We have three hours but we can't do anything until Neste taps into the database. She can do that more easily from here and then take one of the trucks to get back to us. Let's head out."

There wasn't much else to see or do there. Trice lead them back through the Observatory and to Opal. A strange silence met their ears as they walked. It took Trice a few moments to realize the Brothers walking the fields were gone. A sense of dread crept into her spine. "The sooner we get back to the Market District, the better," she said as the car's engine roared to life.

Behind them, unseen because the Observatory and trees blocked the view of the valley to the north, the little village of Northnook vanished completely. It wasn't the only thing fading away. The fertile fields to the south, including Octavian's surreptitious venture, also vanished. They were joined by the bedroom communities near Raptor Lake.


Meanwhile, in the Market District, Ren had walked off to see Mama Toussaint while Bran had gone on to visit the airport. James and the Japanese man found the shop locked tight. Mama Toussaint always kept her windows curtained and so he couldn't peer in. Quickly growing frustrated, they headed back towards the Fish Market.



In the Fish Market, the group was gathered around the stall where the pineapple tile rested on the wall. There wasn't any visible keyhole. Turtleboss had returned to Serina's side and refused to go near the tile at all. He hissed at it lowly and wouldn't budge if she stepped forward.

[Germanic Templars]

Pvt. Smith, who was now officially away from the group and far from the market district, continued to walk, despite his signature limp he had when his shin pain came rolling around. He figured he must find a place to stop and drink at, but where? Chaos was in the opposite direction he was heading, he didn't have a clue where the Wilting Succubus was. Still he walked on, thinking hard to keep his mind off the pain and on the mission.

[Tiltjuice]

"Hi Cer. Hi Bran. We were just about done examining the tile here. Turtleboss refuses to go near the pineapple icon, and we've got a live pineapple, a feather. In the movies, this kind of thing could be done by pouring pineapple juice on the tile, or maybe blood in darker films. It seems to be the latter, anyway, since our resident waterbear doesn't seem to like it by instinct. Anyone got a knife? We could use fish blood. Or, if you guys think we shouldn't go there yet, we can try moving the closest stall out of the way to see if that works, like NA suggests."

Tilt glanced around at the quiet crowd.

[New Aksarben]

"Hi Cer. Hi Bran. We were just about done examining the tile here. Turtleboss refuses to go near the pineapple icon, and we've got a live pineapple, a feather. In the movies, this kind of thing could be done by pouring pineapple juice on the tile, or maybe blood in darker films. It seems to be the latter, anyway, since our resident waterbear doesn't seem to like it by instinct. Anyone got a knife? We could use fish blood. Or, if you guys think we shouldn't go there yet, we can try moving the closest stall out of the way to see if that works, like NA suggests."

Tilt glanced around at the quiet crowd.

"Would the keys work to cut open the pineapple? Keys can be quite sharp, after all...." Jacob offered, setting the pineapple on the ground a bit away from him, so someone else could take it if they wished to. He scratched his chin again, trying to think of anything else that they could do to get this pineapple to do whatever it was meant to do. Which was anyone's guess, and JAcob had no idea what the point of it was. But i was obviously the pineapple that MB was referring to in his dream, seeing as it was the one that was hidden underneath the stall that he'd seen MB under.

[Cerillium]

"Hi Cer. Hi Bran. We were just about done examining the tile here. Turtleboss refuses to go near the pineapple icon, and we've got a live pineapple, a feather. In the movies, this kind of thing could be done by pouring pineapple juice on the tile, or maybe blood in darker films. It seems to be the latter, anyway, since our resident waterbear doesn't seem to like it by instinct. Anyone got a knife? We could use fish blood. Or, if you guys think we shouldn't go there yet, we can try moving the closest stall out of the way to see if that works, like NA suggests."

Tilt glanced around at the quiet crowd.

Ren squatted down to examine what they were looking at. "We should move the stall to get a better look at it. Can't quite reach it from here."

He hadn't seen anything that looked like a keyhole. Ren stood up and nodded to James to help him carry the stand to the side. It wasn't a heavy thing. Nothing more than a largish slab of wood propped on two sawhorses.

"We'll lift it, the rest of you grab the sawhorses and set them up again. Just don't dawdle. Ice and fish are heavy."

He didn't have a chance to actually grab one side of the board. The pineapple, finally on the ground, shimmered briefly and sunk right through the market floor. A second tile appeared on the ground, identical to the one on the wall.

[Fvaarniimar]

"Hi Cer. Hi Bran. We were just about done examining the tile here. Turtleboss refuses to go near the pineapple icon, and we've got a live pineapple, a feather. In the movies, this kind of thing could be done by pouring pineapple juice on the tile, or maybe blood in darker films. It seems to be the latter, anyway, since our resident waterbear doesn't seem to like it by instinct. Anyone got a knife? We could use fish blood. Or, if you guys think we shouldn't go there yet, we can try moving the closest stall out of the way to see if that works, like NA suggests."

Tilt glanced around at the quiet crowd.

...Might be smart to avoid dark stuff- on the other hand, Chaos is pretty closely tied to that- maybe one of us needs to? Hope more than one person- not me that is- fits the qualifications- there's too much we don't know...

"We should probably try a less... Dark, for lack of a better word, solution first. Bielefield is supposed to be all genres- what if our actions influence the genre? I...if so, we might want to keep it as light as possible, and that...means trying the least...likely to be associated with evil solution first. I think? Like Jacob said, the keys can probably cut the pineapple." That had some... Awkward overtones if one realized what human organs fruits were analogues to and the possible symbolism of a key in a lock, but at least no one had used "penetrate" in reference to the act in question.

Fvaar sighed in relief as she saw Cerillium doing just that- using a "light" solution- by moving the stall, and grinned as it worked. Apparently, anyway...

So what now? Do they... I dunno, form a portal or something?

[Monfrox]

"Hi Cer. Hi Bran. We were just about done examining the tile here. Turtleboss refuses to go near the pineapple icon, and we've got a live pineapple, a feather. In the movies, this kind of thing could be done by pouring pineapple juice on the tile, or maybe blood in darker films. It seems to be the latter, anyway, since our resident waterbear doesn't seem to like it by instinct. Anyone got a knife? We could use fish blood. Or, if you guys think we shouldn't go there yet, we can try moving the closest stall out of the way to see if that works, like NA suggests."

Tilt glanced around at the quiet crowd.

"I dooooooo~!" Brit said in a masculine sing-song tone as he happily pulled out his grandfather's Buck pocket knife that had been handed down to him through his father. He was constantly told that it was an heirloom, and that also probably meant he'd get his ass busted should he ever lose it. He pulled out the longest and most-used blade and presented it to Tilt. "Don't cut yourself like my mom did on my first Christmas." He said with a laugh.

[Tiltjuice]

"Sounds good to me, Fvaar. The unbearable lightness of being. And it works; but perhaps we shouldn't touch it if real pineapples turn into icons of one. Unless someone here has a secret ambition to be Han Solo in carbonite and no one told me. Anyone?"

Tilt paused for a moment and nodded to himself. "I didn't think so. OK, so now that we have no pineapple, but we still have keys and a feather and a knife...and we've ruled out sacrificing any blood, fishy or human, to these tiles as too dark a solution...what can we do? Are we supposed to tickle the tiles with the feather? Do something else?" He studied Brit's Buck knife, trying to figure out what other attachments it had. "Any ideas?"

[ApertureScienceInc]

Trice yawned and stretched her way out of the chair. She joined Snow at the window and momentarily took in the sights with him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" The town seemed so much clearer now and she saw things she'd never noticed or imagined.

"Right. Chaos? We have three hours but we can't do anything until Neste taps into the database. She can do that more easily from here and then take one of the trucks to get back to us. Let's head out."

There wasn't much else to see or do there. Trice lead them back through the Observatory and to Opal. A strange silence met their ears as they walked. It took Trice a few moments to realize the Brothers walking the fields were gone. A sense of dread crept into her spine. "The sooner we get back to the Market District, the better," she said as the car's engine roared to life.

Behind them, unseen because the Observatory and trees blocked the view of the valley to the north, the little village of Northnook vanished completely. It wasn't the only thing fading away. The fertile fields to the south, including Octavian's surreptitious venture, also vanished. They were joined by the bedroom communities near Raptor Lake.

PXM thought about Neste in that room, hoping she would be safe from fading. What was that book Velocidoctor gave her? The Ends of Civilization? Yes, this scenario must be in there along with post-scarcity economies, custom simulated realities, and demolition of planets to make way for hyperspace bypasses. He had plans for those two to meet their PL counterparts and have a Back to the Future: Part III plot in Night Vale. Damn that was as unoriginal mish-mash as he could come up with. Why not make something new? Anything? No basis in fandoms....

His mind went completely blank, this was his creative process. A silent mind waiting for things to fit, for answers to come, for inspiration to strike. But nothing... Nothing at all... Silence...Although the sounds of driving through the city filled the background noise.

"Damn, making something new is hard." He muttered to himself as Trice drove.

[Giovenith]

Serina knelt down and made kissy sounds to Turtleboss in an attempt to sooth him, before looking up and around at the others. "Uhhh... maybeeee... pour some water on it? It's liquid like blood, and we are near a place full of fish. Probably not the best idea, but hey, there it is."

She tried to remain positive and upbeat about it, despite feeling the gnaw of danger.

[New Aksarben]

"Sounds good to me, Fvaar. The unbearable lightness of being. And it works; but perhaps we shouldn't touch it if real pineapples turn into icons of one. Unless someone here has a secret ambition to be Han Solo in carbonite and no one told me. Anyone?"

Tilt paused for a moment and nodded to himself. "I didn't think so. OK, so now that we have no pineapple, but we still have keys and a feather and a knife...and we've ruled out sacrificing any blood, fishy or human, to these tiles as too dark a solution...what can we do? Are we supposed to tickle the tiles with the feather? Do something else?" He studied Brit's Buck knife, trying to figure out what other attachments it had. "Any ideas?"

"Oh dang.... did I mess up by putting the pineapple on the floor?" Jacob said, a bit worried that the pineapple was now a tile in the floor. "I sincerely hope not.... Anyway, I have no idea now. I'm not going to touch the pineapple tile for sure though. If anyone wants to try using the keys or something else though, just ask me and I'll hand them over." He sighed and watched the pineapple tiles distrustfully.

"Hmm.... If we put the other clues down somewhere, would it unlock something? I don't think that would be necessarily a good idea to do that though.... we might be missing a piece of the puzzle if we do so though..... but is the only idea I have right now...." He blinked when he heard Giovenith's idea and nodded to her. "That's actually not a bad idea, Gio. If nothing else it probably wouldn't hurt to try."

[Cerillium]

Trice opted to take the exit leading to downtown due to heavy traffic on the highway. Little did she know it was due to part of the highway by Raptor Lake vanishing. She eased onto one of the main streets and then slowed down and pulled to the curb.

"PMX, mind rolling down your window and asking that solider if he wants a ride?" She meant Smith, of course, who was gimping down the sidewalk and not getting anywhere fast.

[Fvaarniimar]

"Sounds good to me, Fvaar. The unbearable lightness of being. And it works; but perhaps we shouldn't touch it if real pineapples turn into icons of one. Unless someone here has a secret ambition to be Han Solo in carbonite and no one told me. Anyone?"

Tilt paused for a moment and nodded to himself. "I didn't think so. OK, so now that we have no pineapple, but we still have keys and a feather and a knife...and we've ruled out sacrificing any blood, fishy or human, to these tiles as too dark a solution...what can we do? Are we supposed to tickle the tiles with the feather? Do something else?" He studied Brit's Buck knife, trying to figure out what other attachments it had. "Any ideas?"

"Oh dang.... did I mess up by putting the pineapple on the floor?" Jacob said, a bit worried that the pineapple was now a tile in the floor. "I sincerely hope not.... Anyway, I have no idea now. I'm not going to touch the pineapple tile for sure though. If anyone wants to try using the keys or something else though, just ask me and I'll hand them over." He sighed and watched the pineapple tiles distrustfully.

"Hmm.... If we put the other clues down somewhere, would it unlock something? I don't think that would be necessarily a good idea to do that though.... we might be missing a piece of the puzzle if we do so though..... but is the only idea I have right now...." He blinked when he heard Giovenith's idea and nodded to her. "That's actually not a bad idea, Gio. If nothing else it probably wouldn't hurt to try."

Fvaar's eyes widened slightly, her eyebrows raised, and her lips pressed together. Smart!

"Seconding that. Or thirding, whatever. If it doesn't work, maybe attach my feather to a big stick- you know, so that we'll... be in less danger- and tickle it? Maybe even see what happens if we poke in something attached to something else? I mean, it's worth a try, right? If Gio's idea doesn't work, that is."

[The Carlisle]

Remmy was huddled with the rest of the group around the pineapple icon. She was still in her pjs, but had a light coat on she found at the building. Despite this, she was a bit cold. She was examining the icon like the rest of them.

"Have you guys tried pressing in the pineapple and seeing what that does?" she said, "It looks buttony enough."

[ApertureScienceInc]

Trice opted to take the exit leading to downtown due to heavy traffic on the highway. Little did she know it was due to part of the highway by Raptor Lake vanishing. She eased onto one of the main streets and then slowed down and pulled to the curb.

"PMX, mind rolling down your window and asking that solider if he wants a ride?" She meant Smith, of course, who was gimping down the sidewalk and not getting anywhere fast.

As hitchhikers were common in his area, PXM had no qualms about helping them out. "Hey there stranger, it looks like you could use a lift." He said to Smith with a sympathetic tone, noticing the limp. Of cource he had no idea who he was, due partly to his shoddy self-serving memory.

[Zarkanians]

Trice yawned and stretched her way out of the chair. She joined Snow at the window and momentarily took in the sights with him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" The town seemed so much clearer now and she saw things she'd never noticed or imagined.

He nodded politely, too focused on the world outside the window to pay much attention to what she was saying. As a result, he almost missed the group leaving.

"... take one of the trucks to get back to us. Let's head out."

He almost jumped, but quickly followed after them. No voices in the hallway--bad sign. Okay. Leaving was definitely a good idea. Leaving Neste here was a bad one, but they didn't have many other choices. He got into the back seat of the Opal, allowing one of the other two individuals to take the front (probably PXM). At least there was no-one in the middle this time; he didn't have to worry about being touched. Too much.

"PXM, mind rolling down your window and asking if that soldier wants a ride?"

This is why a lot of people don't think, he decided. He managed to keep his semi-vacant stare from becoming a scowl, but it was a near thing.