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 There is a brief, sharp pain as the final nail, your nail, is struck with precision to secure your backrest to your wooden frame. You feel a strong sense of pride, and perhaps a little remorse, but you are soon overwhelmed by... everything.  It is life. Of a sort. --- The first time is a blur. There is simply too much of it for you to focus on. Bewildering movement, noisy darkness. Shaking, a rough pressure and a hint of fatigue. Finally the nightmare of impressions ceases, only to be replaced by what you will soon realize shall be your static eternity.  It is here that you will make your first (and perhaps only) friend. Your roots, so intimately connected with your strong and skillfully carved framework, is set into a bath of liquid stone, which soon solidifies around you, radiating comfort. It is a new life you realize; one with clear purpose and little imagination, but you know that it is "Batch c3 4136b" and that it wants nothing but to keep you safe.  Batch c3 4136b or 'Batch' for short - has nothing else to say, think, feel, or do, yet it is now your permanent, silent companion. --- You are a healthy young master-crafted bench. You are varnished, but unpainted, with delicate hand-carved patterns engraved into your wood. You are fresh and clean. Your metal is free of oxidation. Your wood is free of rot. 1: What do you do? A: Get Settled In 'Batch' is solidifying rapidly, but if you really put your mind to it you might be able to sink a bit further, tightening its grip of you even more. B: Let Loose 'Batch' is solidifying rapidly, but if you really put your mind to it you might be able resist its pull, if only a little. C: Get To Know The Neighbors 'Batch' you already know, but perhaps there are others nearby? D: Be A Bench Everything is so new to you, you don't really know anything except how to be a bench. Perhaps you should just be a bench for a while, let things happen naturally? There are no write-ins. You Are A Bench.
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Oct 31, 2018 10:15
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 You let yourself sink without a care for the how or why, it is as it is. In lieu of expending your will to resist the inevitable or succumbing to fate, you instead opt to spread your limited awareness. You are a bench. That much is certain. Beneath you is Batch, silent, steadfast. It holds the most vulnerable part of you with such dedication that it may as well be the axiom of your philosophy. But what of everything else? Certainly there is the Path, you feel it in front of you as a vague and dedicated surface, but it does not respond to your queries in any way that you can fathom. It stretches as far as you can see in two directions. Maybe it's consciousness is equally stretched, rendering it unable to focus on something as tiny as you, or perhaps it just doesn't have anything to say. You will never know the reason.  Around you also is Life, thriving. You sense it growing and yearning for the Light Above, that which it calls the 'sun', but also craving a bounty that it claims falls from the heavens when this 'sun' is obscured by 'clouds', a liquid called 'water'. You spend some time probing this life about the world at large, but soon realize it is pointless. It knows nothing but what it needs to survive, and besides which moves at a strange pace not at all conductive for conversation, a staccato presence as the edges of your perception.  Something smaller than Path, yet more permanent a fixture than Life then? You probe the wooden structure in front of you. A crudely constructed half rotted wooden Fence. Though it shares some superficial similarities with your own construction, it's awareness seems much more limited. You know that it is old and full of sorrow, and that it fears it can not uphold its purpose for much longer and it knows not what will happen then. You question it about its motives but the above is all you may coax out of this decrepit fellow, it has nothing left to give.  So it is you spend the first sun of your existence, gently questioning all around you but finding little to sate your endless curiosity.  The period of Darkness is rather different from the period of the Sun. The noise of Life does not lessen exactly, it merely changes melody, but your awareness of your surroundings is somewhat dimmed and you can no longer see as much of Path as you could before. Yet it passes like the period before it, giving way once more to Sun. Since this appears to happen with some regularity, you decide to organize the events and discoveries of your existence after this cycle. 51 cycles pass. You are never alone, not really, but you have yet to experience anything beyond what above has been transcribed. This is about to change. It all begins early in the morning, when Sun shines its first rays of light to warm the world. A new noise, no, a lot of them. Growing rapidly in strength and number.   '..red! No more walk!"  "But sweetie, we are late for daycare!"  "Yes, and all the others there are waiting for you!" "No! Leg hurt, tired! No more walk!" "What if I carry you?" "... maybe..."  At the last word, the reluctant being steps into your line of sight, your most immediate awareness and you are nearly blown away with the surge of expression that emanates from it. A deluge of information, a thousand thousand threads of memory, emotion, surface-thoughts, wants and fears. Never before have you encountered such a myriad of raw potentiality as the thing in front of you now. You know that the time you have to act is limited. You have noted its trajectory and have intuited the trajectory of the others present; they are Movers and their Pace is Infinitesimal compared to the permanency in which you dwell, but you have enough focus to attempt an interaction or two. 1: You may attempt to Probe the reluctant Mover for any bold term mentioned above. Doing this will expend a little of your precious Focus in exchange for more information, and when you have had your fill or when your Focus is spent, or when enough time has passed, your awareness will retreat from this Pace and return to that which is your default. Before you leave however, you will have to decide amongst yourselves where you lay your Empathy, that which seems to separate you from the other fixtures of your pace such as Fence and Path. In this manner you may Influence the Mover to a Consequence. You Are A Bench - But what this means is up to you.
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Oct 31, 2018 20:01
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AJ_Impy posted:probe movers memory.    --- super sweet best pal posted:Probe for memories of water  
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Nov 2, 2018 07:17
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AJ_Impy posted:Probe mover's wants and fears.  
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Nov 3, 2018 07:28
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malbogio posted:Probe surface thoughts. 
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Nov 3, 2018 09:12
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Socks4Hands posted:Probe Emotion  --- With this last, probing thought, you feel your grip slipping away. You sense the world starting to move again just as if the wind had just caught a previously dormant leaf in its playful wind. You strain and flail with all your power, but the other Movers move into your field of awareness and you are overwhelmed by the enormity of their collective consciousness. You would scream, if you knew what screaming meant, but You Are A Bench so you do not. Instead, before you succumb to your Pace you leave the girl with a single impression of Empathy. Choose one of the above probed memories, emotions, surface thoughts or wants and fears amongst yourself. Find consensus, or at least majority. And then? Face the consequences thereof, next time on You Are A Bench.
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Nov 3, 2018 16:19
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From Life you have learned the concept of liquid nourishment. Apparently something needed by entities that grow instead of being created whole. This is often delivered in the form of water rained from the heavens, according to Life who knows little else, but that is where the comparisons to the curious artifact of the Movers Mind end. Based primarily on water, this transparent liquid none the less thrums with chemically bound energy. It also sports Sweet Flavour which is the primary concern of the Mover.  That this artificial entity can exude influence beyond the parameters of its primary purpose intrigues you; it goes counter to everything you have learned from Life and sparks within yourself the desire to emulate the feat. Thus you leave the Movers Pace with your empathy focused solely on the Sweet Flavour in the hopes that in so doing your understanding of the world will grow. --- "... but can I have some J̵or̸̕͞d̴̸gubb̨͟s҉̀s̢a҉҉f͢t̶ first?" "Sweetie, now is not the time for that, we mustn't be late for daycare!" "But mom, please! My legs are tired and I'm so thirsty!" "I'm sorry hun, we don't have any with us, but you can ride on my shoulders if you want." "But I'm thirsty!" "I'm sure you can have some water at daycare, come on now, lets get going!" And with that, the other Movers step into your field of awareness and the sheer grandeur and complexity of their minds washes your consciousness away in an instant. --- The 59th Cycle. It is an altogether normal cycle when you are roused once more from your usual Pace - the last 8 cycles have been nothing but the passage of the Light and the Dark, leading you to wonder where those Movers went that they did not return. Their existence is so different from yours, if their minds were anything to go by, so chaotic and uncertain. You could only grasp at the edges of the shadows of the enormity of their shapes, yet this was enough to overwhelm you. The next time you shall be prepared! If only there was some way to train yourself... >> "Hey, Life?"  ??? >> "What is like you, but greater, that I might have something new to learn, and like Mover, but lesser, that I might understand it?" "Attract Symbiont: seed-taker pollen-giver." >> "How is this done?" "Spend growth to display attracting colours or excude attracting pheromones." >> "And if I cannot grow?" "???" 1: Like most of your conversations with Life, you knew it would go no further after reaching this point. Batch had nothing to add, not that it ever had and likewise did you have no luck with Fence. With a pleasant pace going, you ponder your next course of action. A: You Are A Bench. Forget it, just be a Bench for a while. B: Attempt to Focus your Empathy on one of the previously bolded terms. Perhaps if you do so, a Symbiont will be attracted? Write-in choice.
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Nov 6, 2018 11:20
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AJ_Impy posted:Focus on Focus. Focus is the ability to hone your field of awareness into a scalpel-like point, to pay your full attention to a concept or event, slowing your Pace to do so. You can Focus on anything, though it tires you out eventually, forcing you back to your default pace or a swifter period of lowered awareness you have decided to call Rest. Empathy is your ability to experience what another entity is experiencing, to glide around in their sensorium Empathy can only be applied to Entities, and even then only those within range. For instance, whilst you could apply Empathy to "Batch", there would have to be a local ground-level fog for your to apply Empathy to a Cloud, and you could not Empathy the concept of Weather at all. However, when you Focus your Empathy, essentially using both abilities together at the same time, you may leave an impression on another entity - subtly raising the priority of your empathic focus in the entities mind, though this will always take you out to your default Pace. CourValant posted:Vote: Focus on Pace Pace is how you experience Cycles. A Cycle is one period of Dark and one period of Light, or in other terms the periods of time in which you perceive and do not perceive the Sun. This is the phenomena closest to your default pace that you can reliable measure. Your Pace is much, much swifter than that of the Movers, and Life, as far as you can tell. So much so that you have to slow it down considerably to engage with them, which quickly drains your available Focus.
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Nov 12, 2018 11:34
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Life. It is the Growth in front of you, but even a cursory exploration of your field of awareness indicates similar greenery all around you. Most are too away far to interact with, however. Or too small or perhaps even too big to comprehend. Yet around you they grow, attracting a great variety of Symbiotes, in the terminology of Life. Focusing your empathy once more, you probe Life for its interactions with these Symbiotes, looking for any pattern in their movements. Life has a very limited awareness compared to yours. Aside from its Pace (which dictates a number of Life's functions, mostly dependent on the ambient light-levels), It senses mostly Danger, and Contribution. Still, you get the feeling there is more to these beings then that Life can properly communicate, and so you coin the term 'Lesser Mover' for now.  ---  These lesser movers pose some danger to Life, as they uses parts of Life for shelter; but at the same time they also contributes somewhat to growth, so the net drain in tolerable. They are mostly around during the Early Light part of the Cycle.  These lesser mover pose very little danger to Life and only rarely contributes to Growth. They is only around during the darkest parts of the Cycle, and even then only seldom come close enough to interact with.  These lesser movers are apparently very dangerous. They take part of Life to use for shelter and sometimes for [???] or [???] or even [!!?] - You are having a lot of trouble reading these beings through Lifes lackluster sensorium, but out of all the beings you have encountered save Movers, these seem the most complex. You are reasonably sure you have enough information to lure one of these Lesser Movers over to you, the next time one should happen be nearby. But which one should you try for?
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Nov 19, 2018 21:32
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In the deepest, most intimate parts of your cognition you recognize the object that the lesser mover in the memory of Life is holding. It is a Tool. Wielded by a complex entity possessing a manipulator, it is a powerful Purpose manifestor. The answer to your conundrum is clear, you simply must converse with this particular lesser mover and so, you Focus your Empathy on the Memory in an attempt to mimic the event-feel to get some understanding of how, exactly Life called it over. Time passes.  The 90th Cycle. You aren't quiet sure what happened. One moment you were conversing with Life, diving deep into its mindscape, and the next you were lost to Pace, your awareness hazy and faded. But You Are A Bench, and nothing if not persistent, and by the sound of things your efforts have paid off.  "CAW!" Yes, in a puddle of Water that has amassed in a divet in Path after recent rains, stands a Lesser Mover enjoying the Growth. It's mindscape is abound with Instinct and Curiosity - categories of drive and thought that you have only the most cursory of understandings off. You could Focus on them to find out more, but there are other avenues to explore as well. For instance, if this is indeed the same Lesser Mover as Life had previously encountered, it may know of Tool, and even if it isn't it may have seen such a thing before. But more then that, as a Lesser Mover, it must have knowledge of both Movement and Kin - concepts almost wholly alien to you, a Bench. But maybe you are more interested in its Emotions? Its wants or fears? Its surface-thoughts? The Lesser Mover is at least an order of magnitude more complex than Life, perhaps more, and it shows clearly in the bevy of options available for you to explore. But still. You Are A Bench. However keen your want to explore, your Focus is limited. If you want to understand anything at all, it might be best to narrow your expedition to inquiries most likely to yield the desired results. Whatever that means. Where, dear Bench, do your place your Focus?
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Nov 25, 2018 09:08
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AJ_Impy posted:Focus on our wants   --- Cloud Potato posted:Focus on Curiosity. Curiosity is the Want of Knowledge, a Drive or possibly Instinct present in the Lesser Mover. You feel this concept is very familiar to you, perhaps it is the correct term for your how you feel about things? The Lesser Mover has many Memories of Curiosity, but those that stand out to you include a Memory of Tool, A Memory of Movers and a Memory of Nest. malbogio posted:Focus on Tool  A Tool is an object wielded by an entity possessing a Manipulator utilized in order to affect the physical world around them in a matter that either could not be done without the use of the Tool, or would at least be exceptionally hard without it. The Lesser Mover has many memories involving Tool, amongst these are Memories of Growth, Memories of Danger and Memories of Curiosity - each promising to be their own Safari of Sense. super sweet best pal posted:Focus on being a bench for a bit You Are A Bench. -- You may Focus on any bolded term, dive deeper into one of the Lesser Movers memories or simply try to engage the Lesser Mover in conversation with your Empathy. Your Focus is draining, but it is still not emptied. You are holding the Pace as well as you could hope.
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Nov 27, 2018 19:52
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malbogio posted:Focus on Memories of Curiosity Images flutter about in the lesser movers mind, each tinged with Curiosity as well as other Emotions. Some even have useful commentary!   Round Shiny. | Curiosity, Fun. Too hard to crack with Beak. See-through, not Water. Hard to grip. Rolls easily. Plaything?.  Flat shiny. Curiosity. Hunger. Rips easily with Beak. Tears easily with Claw. Moves in Wind if Empty. Sometimes has Food inside. More likely if Heavy, not Ripped. Can use for Nest, but needs Sticky.  Mover-shaped oddity. Curiosity, treasure. Cannot eat. Not Living. Cannot rip. Can lift with Claw or Beak. Is Mover, but Small. Very Colour! --- [You learn a bit about Curiosity, as well as apparently the Scientific Method? From the perspective of a Lesser Mover, at least!] --- Cloud Potato posted:Focus on Lesser Mover's Memory of Movers. They're the key to this whole thing, I'm sure of it! CourValant posted:Vote: Focus on Lesser Movers memories  Mover Nest Open. Usually Closed. Curious! Explore! Many Sounds. No Movers Seen. Explore. Big Nest, many parts. Soft part, for rest? Hard part for protection? See-through part. Not Water. Hard. Like Round Shiny but Flat, No Colour. Ground Wood, but Not Living. Many thing of Wood, Not Living. Some Flower, Dying. Fruit in Thing, Hard, Colour White. Can Eat, but many Sound, Danger?. Careful!  Suddenly movement, creak, presence, fear, surprise. Instinct screams flight, Curiosity stronger. Small Mover Appears. Observe at distance. Small Mover likewise. Small Mover makes Sound, does not Move. Small Mover radiates Curiosity, Calm, Peaceful Intent. Signal Peace. Small Mover Radiates Joy. Explore closer to Small Mover. Small Mover Radiates Joy, changes pose, closer to ground now. Makes Noise. Trying to communicate? Mover words. Whistle. 'Caw'. Almost self-word? Move closer. Small mover stretches out manipulator, showing peaceful intent? No claws. Radiating safety.  [A stream of emotion, strange sounds and memories follow, but they blur together and you cannot make much sense of it] --- This is... this is all so much. So much to process. Do you want to ask the Lesser Mover a Question? Or do you just want to rest for a bit?
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Dec 3, 2018 12:09
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Cloud Potato posted:Focus on Mover's Nest. Are these things Bench? super sweet best pal posted:Those look like cousins to Bench. The form feels similar, but the materials are softer, according to the memory. They also aren't fixed in place. So perhaps not very similar to Bench, after all? --- CourValant posted:"Lesser Mover, what is Food?" CAW! The Lesser Mover faces you, startled at your question - you have only been lightly probing its mind as up until this moment, not engaging it directly, but the brief spike of surprise is soon replaced by Curiosity. "Food? Food food, it asks! Hmm! Food is Growth, so simple! Growth taken from another! Caw! All living things grow! All living things die! CAW! Without Growth, you die! Some life has lots of Growth, can spare some for others! Some life needs lots of Growth! Leave none for the rest! All Growth must come from somewhere! First Growth is Sun! Second is Plant! Third is Worm! Fourth is Bird! Fifth is Predator! Sixth is Mover! Seventh is back to plant and worm and bird - is cycle. But where does Sun take Growth from? Where is Growth Zero I ask? Hmm! You ponder the implications for a while, as the Lesser Mover (A bird? you consider, as it placed extra emphasis on the word) moves around a bit to poke and prod at the ground, before it moves through he air to stand on the upper flat horizontal surface of your backrest.  "But, Bird." You ask - "If all living things Grow, and need Growth, then why don't I? In all my 90 cycles, not ever have I partaken of this food. Not from Sun, Plant, Worm, Bird, Predator or Mover." Again it looks at you quizzically. "Is it so, that you do not? Hmm." "Maybe you only need a little, or very seldom. Yes. There is Predator known as Bear, who eats for all seasons but one. On the last season, it sleeps to avoid the cold, living of the growth it took in seasons past. Maybe you are a Reverse-Bear, as 90 cycles is only one Season and you have yet to eat? Hm. You do however have the form of a Mover-Thing. Yet not in Mover Nest. They sometimes leave things not in their nests, Treasures, Shinies and Big Things That Other Movers Use Sometimes. Maybe you are one of those? But you have no Shine and you are too big to move with Beak or Claw. No Treasure, then. You smellfeel like Wood. Which is plant. But also like Metal which is Mover-thing. So, Mover-Thing is likely. Yes. Most Mover-Thing not Life but sometimes maybe. They are very curious and have many shiny things. Also you communicate like Bird With many Words and Curiosity but not the noises. But you cannot Move so are not Bird, not even noiseless Bird. You are thing that does not eat maybe, has no shine, has no move but is wood and metal and speaks without voice. Yes, must be Mover-Thing no doubt, but not in nest. Your Purpose must be Thing For Other Movers not in Nest. super sweet best pal posted:Maybe, as a bench, our goal is to have someone sit on us. Your mind is blanked at the realization. Of course! Your first memories are of movement, of the noise-filled world of Movers, then more movement before you settled here. You must have been placed by a Mover, in wait for other Movers to come and Use You For Your Intended Purpose... which must be.... Rest? A lesser sleep. It makes sense now, how your Form and their Form are meant to work together. Your Backrest on which they could rest their backs. Your seating on which they could seat themselves. Your armrest on which they could rest their arms. You thank the Bird for its time as you fall back into your Pace, satisfied with the sating of your current Curiosity. It CAWS! one more time, but it is lost to the Cycle and the sweeping of the wind. --- Time (Seasons): 1d10 = 4  It is the 455th Cycle before you once more rouse from your Pace, so occupied had you been on observing the changes in the world around you waiting for your hunger to come, just in case the Birds first guess was right, but it was not to be. You have experienced Weather both calm and ferocious, and Cycles both dim and bright, which together with your Memories of Bird you realized were the Seasons, yet no more Movers have come by to fulfill your Purpose. That is about to change. It started as a rumble so low that you could not have made it out against the life of Life had you not sprung to pace-adapted-attention on the morrow. You felt a shift in Path that had hitherto been silent. Then a shriek came from Fence which had deteriorated even more in the Cycles of your Pace-Adapted-Absence. "My Purpose!" it wailed. "They are coming for My Purpose!" Whatever do you mean, Fence? "It is known! First Path, then Fence! Can you not feel it?" You consent that you do feel that something is occurring, but that you do not know or cannot see what. ""My Purpose!" They are coming for My Purpose!" Who? "The Movers!" And they were. Each cycle thence, the rumble of Path and the wailing of Fence have grown louder - though only Fence seems troubled by it, alarmed and fearful, but there is nothing any of you can do but wait.  --- It is the 495th Cycle  You see them now. The Movers. At the edge of your vision. Clearly up to something with Path. It feels... more Mature? Quiet the opposite of the vague doom that Fence heralds. You've tried to prod the others around you into conversation, but as usual they have nothing new to say. You wait. --- It is the 497th Cycle  A whole gaggle of Movers! Coming this way! They are so fast you nearly miss them, but you manage to slow down just in time. They hold strange Mover-Things in their arms and are clearly communicating with one another with Mover-noises, Words! Some of them stop and do things with Path and some of them stop and do things with Fence. None of them seem to have noticed you yet. There are five Movers all in all. Too many to make out what they are saying or feeling through the sheer storm of Everything that surrounds them - you'd have to really Focus to sense anything at all, but still. Five of them! Where in all your 497 cycles since your Placement, you have only ever met Three! You cannot let this opportunity slip you by. So you Focus.. 1: The Mover holding a large piece of Wood. It is observing Fence. 2: The Mover with the Sharp Mover Thing. A Tool? It is observing Fence. 3: The Mover with the Brighest Colours, holding a Wooden Rectangle that it keeps glancing back too before speaking to the other movers. It is observing Path. 4: The Mover with the Metal Mover Thing and Wooden Mover Thing. More Tools? It is observing Fence. 5: The Mover closest to the Path, holding a thin piece of metal across it. Another tool! It is observing Path.
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Dec 10, 2018 15:16
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 The Movers thoughts are straight and narrow, a long series of to you useless statistics and numbers and other such things that Movers apparently enjoy. It seems pre-occupied with the peculiarities of the location, sweeping his gaze (accompanied by yet more data-streams) across the landscape that have been your surroundings for nearly your entire existence. Raising his thumb into the air on an outstretched arm, he looks again to the horizon to where you know one part of Path to disappear behind the unevenness of the soil and the breadth of other-Life. Some memories protrude from the work the Mover is performing, like the cliffs from beneath the waves upon the water far below your metal roots. They concern things you find familiar; great machines (a word for Thing That Movers Manipulate, apparently) bearing great quantities of Batch such that you yourself are submerged in, but liquid and showing no semblance of awareness from the Movers point of view. Another one concerns Path, and from what you can tell at a glance it is the same one that passes you by (there are others?) and of the Movers previous interactions with it, and plans for its future. There are also emotional connections to the other Movers nearby, coiled like snakes (what are snakes?) around the Movers chest, though restrained. Figuring them out without focus is all but impossible. When you try to dive deeper into the movers subconscious, you are stopped by a voice as cold as the darkest cycle of the darkest season.  "Unauthorized entry-attempt detected. Cease." ! Such command embraced in words wielded in a manner to which you are unaccustomed. Ever has only your curiosity been your folly, draining your Focus afore it could be sated. Never has another forced you to yield. How will you respond to this development? Clearly, the culprit has some awareness like your own.
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Dec 25, 2018 22:20
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malbogio posted:Focus on snakes.  "Don't go in the high grass. There might be snakes!" "Don't touch it, dear! It will bite you!" "Watch out for the ones with a pale gray and brown pattern!" "Always wear thick boots when walking in rough terrain. There are snakes out there!" "Every year, thousands are bitten..." AJ_Impy posted:Acknowledged. Who are you? Cloud Potato posted:Acknowledged. I am Bench. Who, or what, are you? "Safety Compliance Device 06-473. Designated 'Hard Hat' all-purpose one-size-fits-all H.P.U. (Head Protection Unit.)"
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Dec 26, 2018 12:11
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AJ_Impy posted:What's a head?    Cloud Potato posted:"Hello, Hard-Hat. Do you know these Movers? What are they doing?" "Affirmative. They are the work group assigned to the Foreperson, whose Head it is My Purpose to Protect from Hazards such as sharp objects, heavy weights, moving objects, electricity, sunburn, radiation etc, including threats to the head the nature of which have yet to be ascertained, in order to prevent; knocks, scraps, injuries, wounds, bruises, pain, embolism, stroke, stress and or other factors known and unknown which may cause a temporary or permanent loss of efficiency or death."
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Dec 26, 2018 13:18
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Cloud Potato posted:”What is the work group’s purpose? How does it involve Fence?” "The Work Groups Purpose is to fulfill the Work Order as it is interpreted by the Foreperson." > What is the Forepersons Purpose? "To Interpret the Work Order for the Work Group in the most efficient, expedient, safe and quality-minded fashion. To Oversee the Work and to Ensure the safety and efficiency of the Work Group." > What is the Work Order? "The Work Order is the Purpose of the Work Group." > How does it involve Fence? "For further information regarding the Work Order, please consult the Work Order." > Where can I find the Work Order in order to consult it? "The Work Order is contained within Safety Compliance Device 03-252-C, designated Clipboard.  "Hello  "> "How does the Work Order involve Fence?" "Oh! Uh, I'll have to check with Work Order K41K4Q! But I guess that's what you wanted me to do right? Haha! Of course! Just wait right there, I'll be back -really soon- ... "Ok! It says that part of the Work Groups Purpose is to inspect the fence along the path overlooking the water in order to ascertain it's compliance with international safety standards; to renovate it when able, to repair it when possible and to replace it where replacing it would be more cost effective or when operational safety would be otherwise compromised. Phew! That was long, did that answer your question?  "
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Dec 30, 2018 20:39
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Cloud Potato posted:"Thank you, Clipboard. Did you catch that, Fence? They're here to renovate, repair and mayyyybe a little replacement as well. How are you feeling? It's OK to be nervous, but I'm sure this change will be painless and beneficial to you. I'm here for you if you need me, as is Path."   Hmm. That didn't seem to calm Fence down one bit!
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Jan 9, 2019 15:58
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Despite your friendly words of encouragement, Fence does not calm down, and in fact seems to be having an existential crisis, as far as a fence can be said to experience anything. Whilst your new friends are helpful in their own way, they are all limited in their capacity for creativite thinking. From what you've experienced so far, that is the realm of movers, both lesser and greater varieties, excluding of course yourself. Though you suppose even you did move that one time, many cycles ago. Leaving the Forepersons personal items to their work, you survey the presences before you once more. Several movers all... moving, as is there won't. Will you attempt to Focus on one of them, or has this whole ordeal already exhausted you? Or, are you perhaps, just curious as to what will happen, or even apathetic to the whims of Movers? Ultimately, whatever your reasoning and choice (which I look forward to reading), You Are A Bench.
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Jan 15, 2019 12:26
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CourValant posted:Focus on The Mover holding a large piece of Wood. Let's see if we can speak with Wood and find out its intentions for Fence.    
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Jan 16, 2019 05:15
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Eventually your continued efforts at calming Fence's existential horrors bear fruit, and the terrified screaming that had been the melody to your more recent cycles give way to silence. You thank Hard Hat, Clipboard and Plan for their help, and retreat your awareness from the movers pace so as to get some rest, and a better, more rooted view of the proceedings.  You watch as the Work Group enact their inscrutable ritual, how they huddle and deliberate, how they mill around the area wheeling a great assortment of Tools and how they apply them to those entities that surround you. And when the cycle passes into Dark, you marvel at just how quickly they disappear. With each coming cycle, the ritual continues. At your pace, their individuality are a blur, their singular movements almost impossible to perceive, but through diligent study you the following Motivators driving their Work Ethic.      --- Eventually, with the passing of many Cycles, the Work Group moves on and out of view, leaving behind them a now much sturdier, structurally sound Fence.  Achievement Get! Good Neighbor - Finish the Tutorial with an Upgraded Fence A Seat For None - Finish the Tutorial without fulfilling your Purpose --- Time passes. A lot of it. The Light, what has ever shone above you, grows ever dimmer, giving way to darkness, and with the darkness, the weather grows colder.  The water that has fallen from the sky on occasion has crystallized, no longer seeping into the earth when it lands but instead gathering in clumps and layers, forming a thick blanket of snow and effectively monotoning the landscape around you. During this period, your awareness of Life becomes dulled. With no activity around and with nothing clear that can capture the focus of your attention, you slip further and further into your Pace. --- It is a distant tapping that first rouses you, during the 748th Cycle of your existence. A Mover with a simple, wooden Tool, moving at a considerably slower Pace than any you have hitherto been made aware of. The mover is crooked, compared to the others you have seen and even from afar you sense that it is somehow broken, or breaking. It mutters something as it approaches you. Mover gibberish, and clutches at its back. Eventually, it looks up from it's awkward gait, notices you, and smiles weakly.  The Mover radiates relief as it enters your immediate awareness, and before you know it, it has Taken A Seat. You Are A Bench. What happens next is up to you. --- Alright! If you are reading this; thank you for staying with us so far. From here on out things will be a bit more streamlined and... hopefully faster Paced though no promises on that. This was always intended to be a short game and by now you should have familiarized yourselves enough with your various abilities that you can be left to your own devices... That said, here is a quick recap of those above mentioned abilities: Focus on [Concept] - Delve into the mind of a nearby entity to figure out its [Motivators] [Emotions] [Wants & Fears] [Memories] or other relevant [Bolded Terms] at the cost of some of your Focus - your ability to act at a slower than usual Pace. Engage [Entity] with Empathy - This is a fancy way of talking to someone. Focus your Empathy on [Encounter Concept] - Ends the Encounter by nudging the relevance of an encountered concept forward. Only available after first Focusing on a Concept. Retreat to your Pace - Ends the Encounter without further input. -- Currently Seated: One (1) Breaking Mover Dominant Emotion: Relief Current Cycle: 748 Current Season: Spring
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Feb 4, 2019 18:45
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CourValant posted:Focus on: Wooden Tool  Of simple make, this wooden tool helps the Breaking Mover Move. It has a small attachment of unknown substance at the bottom. Like the Mover, the tool is crooked. Examining it closer you notice grooves in the wood where the Movers manipulators have clutched it, indicating it has done so either over an extended period of time or with great force. You sense an awareness inside of it, out of Pace with your own. Do you wish to Rouse the Wooden Tool by Engaging it with your Empathy? If so, what do you say? If not, what else would you like to do?
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Feb 5, 2019 11:05
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Though you try and eventually succeed in rousing the tool (Walking Stick) into your Pace, you soon realize that attempting to divulge anything of meaning from it's thoughts are ultimately pointless, at least if you are to have any meaningful interaction with the Mover. The Tool is old, weary and of simple make - it offers you no insight beyond polite greetings and humble acceptance of your aid for its Mover. You attempt to probe it for deeper memories, but all you find is a sense of slow rythm and the impact of wood on a variety of materials. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbOeu-fw9_Y -- Like the Tool, the Mover appears to be Old. A Status condition which follows naturally the passing of Cycles. All your physical senses tell you that the Mover is either broken or breaking down, though without any reference point you have no way of quesstimating how swift or slow this processmay be. Can a mover even be repaired, like Fence was? You do not know. A cursory investigation of the Mover reveals the following fields of study for your to peruse:     Do you want to Focus your Empathy on any of these, prominent concepts, or delve even deeper into Memories, Wants, Fears or some other Bolded Concept, previously discovered, that the Mover might have encountered in its lifetime?
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Feb 19, 2019 09:43
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CourValant posted:Vote: Focus on     
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Feb 21, 2019 09:33
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CourValant posted:Can we somehow use our pace and or focus to give grandma here a mental hug? quote:Focus your Empathy on [Encounter Concept] Movers are far too complex to interact with directly, but you can influence them by moving one of their memories, wants, fears, etc to the forefront of their minds, as long as you have encountered one of the previously mentioned concepts during the encounter. Doing this consumes all your Focus, however.
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Feb 21, 2019 21:38
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Cloud Potato posted:Focus on trying to remember where they are now, and if a reconciliation is possible. Memories posted:   --    --  -- The Broken Mover creaks as it sits on you, weighing almost nothing at all.
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Feb 28, 2019 22:34
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You sift through a dozen gray memories, heavy with the weight of years and sorrow. You seek, but find little in the way of hope or even complacency. Throughout the disarray, the concepts with the greatest Clarity are those that dwell on the entities seen earlier. With effort, you realize one of them must be the Broken Mover itself, for though the entropy of cycles have seen its physical form deteriorate, with a great number of images observed in sequence you begin to recognize the features and patterns that make up its, no, Her countenance. With that clarified, you also realize the other entity, though oh so different in style and gest, shares with your Broken Mover a quality of resemblance. As if they were cut from the same mold, crafted by the same progenitor or craftmaster. And not in the same way as yourself, Life and Fence all share Wood as one of your intrinsic materials, but rather in a way reminiscient of how you and the crafted objects from the inside of a previous movers memories of its nest may have, if only even closer. At any rate, dwelling in Sorrow is not easy, and soon you are more than exhausted. You feel your affected pace quickening, the mind of the Broken Mover slipping from your grasp even as you with the last measures of your Focus probe desperately for even a mote of joy to elevate to conscious thought. You settle on the memory that started it all, and hope that it will not just repeat the pattern endlessly, that instead the Broken Mover may rest upon that Moment in peace. It is a futile hope, because You Are A Bench - but one you cling too anyway, because what else is there? You can do naught but tense and relax the fibres of your Wood in a manner that you believe causes comfort to your occupants wasted form.  Perhaps that will be enough. It will have to be.
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Mar 13, 2019 08:10
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8emPcVRhuc There exists a separation in the totality of existence between those that Move and those that do not. You, a Bench, belong squarely in the second category, and as such you have an abundance of that rare resource called Time in which to contemplate things such as this. In your Time you have come to witness Change both great and small. From the Cycles by which you count its passing, to the Growth of Life and and vast complexity of Emotion, stemming from the mindscapes of the Movers. For all that is, all that you perceive, has a mind of its own. Some slow and ponderous, other swift and mercurial, but none so fascinating (to you) as the cacophony of stimuli radiating of off the ones called Humans. They have been a sporadic occurrence ever since your creation. Behemoths of action and bringers of Change, whose vast memories hint of a world much greater than your all-encompassing horizon. It is in the presence of these ontomorphs that your philosophies have taken root, in the meeting of the static and the active in the brief liminal state when they make themselves seated on your form that you may reach out with your consciousness to sift through their hopes, fears, dreams and expectations to harvest from this pool of senses new datapoints to enhance your own view on the world. And, perhaps, with effort and Focus, to share with them your Perspective, as built up through Time and experience.  As your Pace quickens and the cycles of Light and Dark race before you, Change is brought in full to your permanent residence. Even Path, whom in your Time has always been the same, is transformed in the blink of cycles from a hazy, gravelly thing, by the Actions of Movers into an airy, winding and flattened Thoroughfare. When all is said and done, the trickle of Movers that Move into your field of Influence not only doubles, but tripples, quadroubles, mathematicates to the point where you might Experience the passing of even several per Cycle. Of course, this does not mean that they match their Pace to yours, necessarily, nor you them, for your Focus or perhaps theirs cannot abide such constant interruption to the flow of their existence. Still, it does occur.  A Walker, seated. It's form slumping into yours, emitting an audible sigh before shrinking into itself, minimizing the surface area it has exposed to the world. You experience inexplicable audio laced heavily with rampant emotion and touch gently the shape of it with your Empathy. This is what you find:       Where do you Focus your Empathy?
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Sep 4, 2019 08:17
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Sep 17, 2019 08:14
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 ->    =  -- The Walker, still curled, wipes moisture from it's upper portion with one of its free manipulators.
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Sep 25, 2019 17:15
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super sweet best pal posted:We're just a bench, this is all too deep for us. You recoil from the torment, your unchanging existence not fully apt to contextualize the Movers' Trauma, your Empathy retreating to the comfort of your Pace even as the Mover composes itself and continues with the activity of it's cycle. -- It is Five seasons later, and though many Movers have come and gone, none have left quiet the same impression as your previous occupants, save a pair of Movers that started coming through recently, resting upon your boards for an unusual amount of time before once more moving on.  Their memories are both vivid and storied, and intertwine in ways you never thought possible, each appearing in the others mindscape as far back as you can sense. The Movers's emotion, though varied, seem to spark with joy when in each-others field of influence and you can't help but synchronize your pace each time they drift within yours. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj2qexgX2DM This cycle is one such event. One of many. They rest upon you with smiles upon their countenances, ever-moving across vast, imperceptible distances, yet still in one place all the same. Will you flow where their stories take them? Will you dive into memories, old or new? Will you probe their desires or touch upon their emotions? Whatever the case, You Are a Bench.
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Feb 8, 2020 19:03
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Feb 26, 2020 14:45
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May 8, 2020 16:26
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Eventually the Movers leave you to your own contemplations and static wonder and so you remain - alone - for a time. Light turns to dark, dark to light, and life grows to flourish. All around you, a stream much too swift to define, the comings and goings, ins and outs of countless events blurring into nonsense, a true lack of comprehension. And thus with your pace receded, time, flies.  Cycle upon cycle, season upon season, waiting for that one connection to snap you out of it. There is no monotony, no great anxiety. You Are A Bench. Even as leaves wilt and wood frays, even as the wind howls an eternal song around you. The waves of the ocean reach for the heavens, as is their wont. Though they have not in your existence attained their goal, but why should that be a reason for them to cease trying? So you wait. Until something happens. You wait. But not forever. -- Something moves. A Mover, then. A Human. But not like the others. You notice it long before you are used to being able to, simply because of it's wake. And it is woken, though it seems tired.  It stares at you, features heavy but still. It speaks, but only to itself. In words you cannot hear nor understand. But when when things really turn strange is when it takes a seat. And the Emotions explode.   And it just sits. Feeling... nothing? Seeing... Everything? With just your view, as you see it, in it's mindscape, albeit a few feet further up. Currently Seated: ??? Anomalous Mover Dominant Emotion: Whelmed Current Cycle: 8095 Current Season: Autumn What do you do?
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Aug 4, 2020 01:23
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Cloud Potato posted:Focus:      super sweet best pal posted:Let the emotions flow into us. The mover has too much and could use some help lightening its load.  
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Sep 20, 2020 00:55
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Cloud Potato posted:Focus our empathy on this image, and continue being a bench.      The walker sits for a while in silence. Patting your wood gently, it expresses gratitude through deed, where words would fail it, after which it simply leaves. You Are A Bench, for some time and then some more. Within and without, fully encompassing your lot, or duty, or maybe even fate? Eventually, your pace quickens and the cycle speeds up once more.  Light and dark, cold and mild, scorching, wet, ever changing. A thousand cycles, two thousand pass. Each their own, unique and beautiful. You watch them, let them go. Ever flowing. Four thousand one hundred and two.  Life is in bloom and you stop to smell the roses. Well, metaphorically at least. You never really moved at all, and whatever flowers are nearby do not belong to the Rosaceae family, though your awareness of even this categorisation is limited. As ever, Movers are moving through your periphery, more now than before you realize, though everything else is much the same save the touch of entropy. One mover in particular stands out amongst the others, positively leaking with mirth-laden anxiety. They leap up onto your seating, balancing precariously on the tips of their toes before flopsing down and laying themselves to rest on you, eyes closed and mouth smiling. Their mind is racing, jumping between colours and memories, unsure where to land. You could nudge them and see where the voyage takes you, or let them rest and find out much the same.  Currently Seated: Pending Mover Dominant Emotion: Excitement Current Cycle: 12197 Current Season: Spring What do you do?
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Mar 11, 2021 16:29
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The mover rests, humming a tune in its mind. It forms a melody in black, and with it come fragments of memories, faded pictures from long ago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ANDfMGdHgs     
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Oct 26, 2021 17:34
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Focus of Empathy posted: Two movers sit, eyes locked, their worlds one. He reaches her countenance, hand cupped, delicate. There is a warmth, and even anticipation is washed away. And nothing else matters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32v8ARqaBas&t=9s How short a time can be forever? Where once was shadow fills now she. Whisper louder than the ocean. A mote of pure tranquillity. Closer now than any other. Wrapped in stasis yet still free. They hide for now amongst eachother. The tears that stained them now wiped clean. And nothing else matters.  There is no language spoken here. It is a place of live intent. Naught but ardour fills the air between them. Within, without, they are content. The Mover smiles, in rest, eyes closing. Curling up on you in a way akin to comfort seeking lesser-mover Life. A brief respite for the weary wanderer, You Are A Bench. And nothing else matters. --- Your pace quickens anew, and the cycles continue. A steady stream of movers now, but you find it difficult to attune to the speed at which they are moving. Not that you are in a great hurry, being a bench. And so an age is passed. In total, cycles numbering seven thousand and thirteen. The Cold has descended once more, a period where even the swiftest of movers usually slow down. The water at your event-horizon chilled or frozen, Path covered in the powdered white. The sound of trudging reaches your sensorium and you are set - and sat - upon by someone new. They feel... Their mind blank, nothing? Perhaps they need some input, then. After all, why not? It seems only fair, you'd get to share, as well.
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Jun 30, 2022 01:34
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You surge with selective seating suggestions. There is a pause, and the Mover replies.     Their mind less blank now, you begin to feel that familiar surge of emotions, the jogging of memories... But they are still in a fog, as if the Mover has just awakened from a Dream, whatever those are. Maybe some additional input can help the Mover locate themselves, or perhaps all it needs is some time to get going, to sort it out on their own?
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Aug 5, 2023 12:50
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McSpanky posted:Focus on the dream       AJ_Impy posted:Give the mover a sense of its present location. You are on a Bench. The Mover steadies itself in your stability, putting their head in their hands, rubbing their forehead as if to focus. Still, their presence is somewhat more ephemeral than what you are used too, as if the breeze might come and sweep them away.
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Feb 2, 2024 14:02
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