⛆ XENIAL ⛫ at ECHO SHORE ⛆

[SHIVERS]

You ball your fist and go for it,
plunging your hand up into the water.

Water splashes onto your screen from the impact.

You shake it off.





It feels nice, though.

You wiggle your claws within it.









Thunder rumbles 
from Within the fountain.





At least four dozen hands dip through the water's surface above you,
coming into view.

All different shapes, sizes, species,

waiting.







Murmur and Model do the same from below,
reaching up to place their hands in.











Your head tilts as you address the OBJ,
still watching the black lightning overhead.

"On a scale of 'candle flickering at a seance' 
to 
'the moon exploding and raining down in hellfire,' 
how dramatic is this gonna be?"



She calls back to you from her own chamber, her voice muffled.
"Every year the fountain produces a variety of effects,
but this has typically yielded only marvelous lightshows, such as the dark sparks overhead.



...Although, 
the catalyst always experiences the events differently,
and I have no method of predicting the sort of sensations that will happen to you.



...You may wish to brace yourself."



 

You widen your stance,
taking a breath.





i still have this.






i can take on the World if i have to



















You watch the lightning.






















It grows.














It pulls closer.













Your hand shakes.




But you do your best to stay firm.
















It jumps towards You















A stray arc lashا�☒☒☒ ☒

☒☒☒☒☒☒☒  ☒☒














 
 
 
 


                                                                            

╔╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╤╗
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╚╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╧╝

it pulls.








































You are

































Elsewhere










drifting in the space

between
moons
and
worlds
and
daydreams
and
a   l    l















slipping down to places betwixt







a Moving Surface below you



















pulled Towards it



























pulled
Down























pulled       
      deeper

































You      CLEAVE       Through the surface

















rupturing space

















sending



Iridescent Tinctures 
















unto your soon-splitting vision
























there is no   s p a c e   held here







No Room























yet











a Presence emerges from the Hole you tore
















it Latches to your hand








your instinct tells you to shake it loose








to pull away


































but it Soothes you

































weaving a lullaby through your veins






























you Breathe








































the colors fade






the water returns










































Overhead,
clear spheres burst forth









and float upwards

placing themselves in hands, here and there

leaving some empty.





































You don't bother watching.






















You close your eye.

























Your body sways listlessly.




























Branches in breeze.



















Back.





























Forth.





























































Transfixed.

A voice snaps you back.

"Vess...?




You may pull your hand out now!

...Are you awake?"



You open your eye.
































At long last,
you gently loose your claw from the water,
finding a small, red, dimly-glowing stone held within it; big enough to fill your entire palm.





Murmur collapses in the next chamber over,
falling to a sitting position on the floor,
clasping their stone in their lap.
























Model approaches slowly, 
holding a coal-like stone in their massive hand. 

"Wild show, ain't it?" 

From the sound of her voice, you can tell it's Jenkins still.

"Bigger crowd than the year we were in your shoes, too."













You'd been watching the stone in your hand.

The strange power radiating from it could be felt,
and it mainly serves to unnerve you, but is intriguing all the same.

"Huh?
...Yeah.
...Wild."





"Did you happen to get a count, Jenkins?" 

Murmur is still on the floor, 
speaking while sitting in her chamber, 
head pointed upward.

"Any... rough estimation...?
...I don't believe I had a decent look."

"Had to have been over two dozen. 
Maybe even three."

"...oh, stars..." Their reply comes quietly,
the OBJ nestling their face against one of their claws.















The downward angle of the motion lets them see their stone, though;
shaped like an hourglass,
with twin colors of green and lavender meshing in the middle.





She smiles.
You think so, at least.



"...but what a Wonder to behold..."

They hold it aloft, 
looking it over in the light.

"Have you ever seen Anything so peculiar...?"





"They're one of a kind, that's for sure.
...Before, our stone was pretty dull looking-"

Jenkins holds up her stone with a wide smile, 
the round chunk surprisingly iridescent in the light. 

"Now it's shiny! 
That's good, right?"

"Typically, 
they change color, 
shape, 
and... 
well, 
all manner of properties to fit the user.

I'm not sure the result can be broken down to a simple binary 'Good' and 'Bad';
all it says for certain is that you are different, 
than you were before."






















You hold up your stone,
squinting at it.

It doesn't glint in the light.

It's spherical, 
boasting the same tint of vermilion you've got yourself, and-





You suddenly drop it, 

grasping to catch it.





You miss,

but, to your surprise,

it bounces back up,

allowing you to catch it once again.





It's soft, 
and rubber-y.











...A bouncy ball.

















An unamused ':|' displays on your screen.








"Lookit that! 
You can do trickshots with yours."

"Can we trade?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Have you tried?" 
Murmur pipes up.
"To trade?"

"...I mean, 
no, 
but-" 

Jenkins thinks to herself for a moment.





"I guess if you promise to give it back."

You snatch it from Jenkins' hand,
popping the bouncy ball up for her to catch.
"Thanks."

Jenkins fumbles, 
doing her best to catch it. 
"H-hey!"

Murmur leans back against the side of their chamber,
observing.














You hold the iridescent stone up to the light,
watching to see for yourself-





A strange VWIP! sounds through the air.



The red rubber ball is back in your hand.



Jenkins is holding the iridescent stone.









"You cannot trade them,
or lose them.
If you leave them behind, they will follow you."

She holds hers up to get another good look,
watching the sand-like particles flit about on the inside.

"Rather insistent little minerals, aren't they?"



":|"


"Huh... 
we just figured we shouldn't let go of ours the first time around. 
Kinda became a comfort object."

"No reason it cannot be that for you again, Jenkins.

...And there is no reason to be so disappointed, Vessel.
Yours is certainly unique, 
and quite... playful, it would seem!"

"...I guess."






















"At any rate,
Jenkins, would you mind, er-
Helping Vess here pick out some clothes?

...We don't have a perfect selection, and they are all arranged into all-in-one outfits;
no customization, I'm afraid.
It is all donated, after all.
But, you may find something you like."


"Sure thing- 
you're in luck, I'm the most fashionable of the bunch."

Jenkins does a proud little pose, 
showing off her work jacket and jumpsuit. 

"I picked out the colors here and everything."









You look Jenkins up and down,
though you have no opinion on her outfit.

You hardly see it,
still preoccupied by the toy you're holding.





"I can pick it."

"Sure, that works too! 
But lemme lead you on over, at least."






















You turn to follow, your posture pouting.

Murmur is still on the floor.

You give her a glance.











"...Oh, don't worry!
I merely... need to rest, before we start.
The two of you will have time to confer with one another on the way."


"You sure, Murmur? 
I could carry you."

"That... will not be necessary, thank you!"

"Vess and Jenkins time, then!" 





















You follow along as Jenkins gets moving again, 
raising a huge paw victoriously.



You watch.



You blink.



You mimic the gesture.
"Hell, yeah...?"



"Yeah!!! 
YEAH, that's what I'm talking about!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Hanging out with another collective!
This never happens for us! 
Usually everybody else rattling around in here is too shy to say hi to any of the other catalysts, 
believe it or not."

"Why?"

"Eh, 
I think they get worried people are gonna judge us or something. 
Jimmie and I finally teamed up to handle stuff this year, got over it."

"Teamed up?"

"Yeah, 
stopped being weenies and decided to step up and be present for this."

"...I think I'm present for this, too.
I'm pretty sure I'm present and here and not a weenie.
I'm pretty sure I'm pretty good at it, actually."

"That's the attitude I like to hear!"

":)"

























"So...Vess.
Got anything particularly interesting rattling around in that head of yours?"





While you walk,
you reach your claw up,
and tap your head.



The gesabott claws clink against metal.



"...Metal."

"Nice! 
Same here, yknow. 
Just... under the soft part."

Jenkins smiles wide,
though there's a weird look in her eyes. 



"We don't gotta talk if you're not up for it, either.
You're new and all, 
and I don't imagine everything's settled in yet."

"Settled?
...I'm not unsettling."

"Nah, nah, I mean- 
you're new to this whole collective thing, 
I imagine things are still getting figured out, yknow? 
And that's chill."

"I don't know, Jenkins,
I'm pretty sure I'm doing very good at this.
I did that whole thing earlier with all the colors by myself."

"You did do that, 
and it all went without a hitch. 
You have every right to be proud of that."

"Cool."

"The coolest."






























Jenkins doesn't speak too much for the rest of your walk together.



Not that you were paying attention.

You step with your head held high,
soaking in all the attention you've been getting.





i MUST be important
look at all this stuff i did
and how hard they tried to get ME for this!!!







You couldn't be more proud of yourself,
barely noticing as you reach the end of your journey,
back at the more 'casual' area you'd vaguely seen before.










"Alrighty, 
step this way, champ.
 
Let's get you dressed up."



You follow Jenkins through a door.



The light blinks on in this new room,
showing numerous metal shelves lined with plastic boxes,
all labeled.



"Gimme a second."

"Uh-huh."
You lean against the wall,
trying to look as cool as you can while your screen glows brighter with confidence.



You don't pay too much mind to Model,
as they look back and forth between you and the shelves,
finding a specific one and pulling some boxes aside.












They stack each box in front of you,
ending with five total.





"Changing room's in the corner, 
you can pick whatever box you want. 
Don't stress too much about it, kay?"

"I don't stress," you lie.




























You look over the boxes.



Each is labeled with an outfit 'name',
as well as some unspecific descriptions of the contents.



{ BANDANA }
crop top, bandana, sweatpants

{ OFFICE }
dress shirt, tie, khaki pants

{ SKIRT }
jean jacket, striped top, skirt

{ RAINCOAT }
raincoat, ripped jeans, rain boots

{ UNIFORM }
extra maintenance jumpsuit







You tilt your head, 
thinking over the choices.

"Don't feel a need to stay quiet if anything crosses your mind, either. 
I'm a real talker when you get me going, but I try to keep the conversation good."