update from sparkleup
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@ -164,8 +164,36 @@ Something about the ephemerality of the sand and the permanence of the tile spea
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<p>“Hanne said that one of her friends, Shu, was missing entirely,” I said, once the words had sunk in. “Similar to Marsh, I mean. It wasn’t just that she wasn’t responding, it’s like she was just never there, like the System didn’t know about her.”</p>
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<p>“I have not come across that name off the top of my head, but one of my instances will do a search to confirm and get in touch with Hanne directly, if she would like.”</p>
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<p>I shrugged. “It might be worth asking, at least.”</p>
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<p>She nodded and gestured us back down to the beach. “I will.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Now, the current population in terms of instances is something like 2.3 trillion. A billion is a very small fraction of the System in terms of numbers, but it is what we are working with. A billion instances appear to have been…ah, lost, along with thirteen months, ten days</p>
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<p>(tile sim - talking about current status of the numbers)</p>
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<p>She nodded and gestured us back down to the beach. “I will.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “Now, the current population in terms of instances is something like 2.3 trillion. A billion is a very small fraction of the System in terms of numbers, but it is what we are working with. A billion instances appear to have been…ah, lost, along with thirteen months, ten days, seventeen minutes, and some seconds. On speaking with Günay, this downtime was observed phys-side, though she was not able to tell me much about it besides that. I have the sense that there is more that she <em>could</em> have said, but that she was not able to for whatever reason.”</p>
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<p>This had apparently been the first that Rush and Sedge had heard about this, so a few minutes were spent bringing them up to speed as we walked down the hill to the shore once more. I took the opportunity to focus at something far off, something further ahead of me than my own two feet. The horizon, the dark ocean breaking against the shore in a rush of white out where the arms of the bay projected into the water.</p>
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<p>We passed only one more person. They were rushing up the hill, breathing coming in quick puffs, a white tile clutched in their hand, tears streaming down their face.</p>
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<p>We said nothing until after they had passed.</p>
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<p>“Reed?”</p>
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<p>I startled back to awareness, smiling sheepishly at Sedge, accepting the hand that she held out for me. “Sorry, lost in thought.”</p>
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<p>“It is okay,” Dry Grass said, smiling gently to me. “The next sim that we are headed to does not have a very large entry point, so please huddle in closer. It will also be quite warm, so, fair warning.”</p>
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<p>The entry point — a platform of wood slats set upon stilts above stagnant water — was far smaller than I had anticipated, and my foot rocked against an uneven plank set along the rim of the platform, forcing me to lean against Sedge. One edge of the platform led into a narrow, somewhat rickety wooden walkway that headed out over the water in a straight line until it came upon a patch of grass, where it turned a few degrees to the right to make its way to another patch of grass. It appeared to meander in this way from island of grass to island of grass in an uneven zigzag toward a copse of trees — the word ‘banyan’ floated to mind, though I wasn’t sure if that was actually the case — where it disappeared into shadow.</p>
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<p>That shade looked delightfully appealing as the humid heat pressed in around us.</p>
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<p>“What the hell is this place?” Tule asked, wrinkling his nose at the scent of rotting vegetation in the air.</p>
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<p>“A swamp,” Dry Grass said simply, a lopsided smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “A marsh, perhaps.”</p>
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<p>If it had been intended to be a joke, it fell flat. We remained in silence for a few awkward moments.</p>
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<p>She sighed. “My apologies. It is still important to me, however. It is– Ah, there she is.” She raised an arm and waved to a figure crouched at the edge of the platform just before the patch of grass. As we walked toward them in single file, she explained, “This sim was designed by Serene, whom you shall soon meet. She is my cocladist from the ninth stanza, and one of my favorite people in the world. I asked her to meet us here.”</p>
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<p>As we got closer, the strange hairstyle that I had noticed on the figure resolved into a pair of tall canine ears, and what I had assumed was a mask of some sort turned out to be a short, pointed muzzle. Serene stood up and stretched, smiling wanly to us before bowing in greeting.</p>
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<p>“Serene, this is Tule and Cress, my partners, as well as a few more of their clade: Reed, Rush, and Sedge.”</p>
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<p>The fox — a hunch confirmed by a quick check of the perisystem — nodded. “Of the Marsh clade? How droll,” she said, that smile veering perilously close to a smirk. “Welcome to my own little marsh.”</p>
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<p>“What <em>is</em> this place?” Rush asked, a note of wonder in ver voice. “Other than a swamp, I mean.”</p>
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<p>“It is mostly just a swamp,” the other Odist said. “But it is one of my favorites. I make a lot of sims, you must understand, but this is one of the least popular that I have made to date, and for that I love it all the more. There, see?” She pointed to a patch of coarse grass at the edge of the ‘island’. “Rushes!”</p>
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<p>At this we all <em>did</em> laugh.</p>
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<p>“I have asked to meet with her to ensure that we could get a view of what is going on from someone else because this is getting a bit out of hand for even me.”</p>
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<p>Serene nodded and started strolling down the path toward the next patch of grass, claws clicking dully against the wood. We fell in step behind her as she asked, “And what was it that you wanted to hear from me, my dear?”</p>
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<p>“I would like to hear what you are seeing.”</p>
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<p>The fox — a fennec, the System told me — nodded slowly. “I am seeing quiet chaos. I am seeing most of my sims emptying out. Few are out for walks or adventures. I sent forks to each of them when I noticed my own missing instances to ensure that they all still existed, as well. Thankfully, sims seem to be unaffected.</p>
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<p>“The ones that are not empty, however, remain dreadfully quiet. Most of those who are out and about have set up over themselves cones of silence.” She hesitated, took a deep breath, and then continued. “Those who have not, though, are decidedly not quiet. More than one silence has been broken by weeping and wailing.”</p>
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<p>I nodded. There were a few sniffles passing through the Marshans as the reality of what had happened once more struck us.</p>
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<p>“I have also checked in with several of my students. Very few have been totally unaffected by this sudden loss, and more than one has disappeared from the System completely”</p>
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<p>“More than one?” Sedge <!-- or whoever is most interested in society --> asked. “I suppose at least someone is bound to be unlucky enough to have been completely disappeared.”</p>
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<p>Serene nodded. “I have had many, many students, you must understand. It would not be surprising to me that at least one of them was that unlucky soul. However, I have come across three such cases so far.”</p>
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<p>“Out of how many?”</p>
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<p>“Hundreds. However, I am still not done checking yet.”</p>
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<p>(Serene’s swamp - talking about the current response out in the world)</p>
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<p>(dandelion field - talking about the Odists, one loss, End Of Endings, though still checking on those who have left the clade, of which there are now a few, no word on E.W.)</p>
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<p>(Reed’s pagoda - more conversation among the stanzas now)</p>
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@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
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<ul>
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<li>Marsh (they/them) — <em>tracker</em> — Root instance; disappears shortly before Reed is to merge down<ul>
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<li>Reed (he/him) — Relationship fork, merges down to sync up once a year, discovers Marsh is missing, date has jumped, has to lean on partner and clade, tries to stay level-headed and organized, embroiled but tries to take leadership, though whether that’s his idea or he’s forced into that role is up for debate<ul>
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<li>Sedge (she/her) — <ul>
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<li>Sedge (she/her) — Interested in people (check this)<ul>
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<li>Tule (he/him) — (TOO-lee) In a relationship with Dry Grass</li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
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</ul>
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</li>
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<li>Lily (she/her) — Upset at the Odists (incl the fact that Tule and Cress are in a relationship with one)</li>
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<li>Cress (it/its) — In a relationship with Dry Grass</li>
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<li>Cress (it/its) — In a relationship with Dry Grass, the smollest</li>
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</ul>
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</li>
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<li><em>Pierre</em> LaFontaine (he/him) — <em>tasker</em> — In a relationship with Marsh, has a bit of a hard time controlling his emotions, specifically grief</li>
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