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A Mind of Type: Germina
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2021-12-31 at 3:15 AM UTCHumans are ultimately animals, mister Pelican. And we are fragile too: no tough hides or scales. We don't have sharp claws or wings either. We are not particularly fast and we are quite vulnerable to panic and fear.
Pelican stayed silent and watched as Crane began loading a revolver.
This is the part where someone tells you that what we do have, what makes us special, is something along the lines of intelligence or language or cooperation or maybe even our ability to run long distances...
Crane turn the revolver around and handed it to Pelican. Then he gestured towards a metallic door behind him.
When people say "thank God", I think "thank God for the world". And in the world there are people who I should thank. And when they curse god, I say "curse God for the world but in the world there are people you should curse."
The door slowly slid open and a brightness lay beyond it that cast Crane into shadow.
And so it is that we generate the basis for the existence of heaven and hell: they are real features of the world, mister Pelican. The roads to heaven and to hell branch from every juncture.
Pelican's eyes adjusted to the new light.
And when you look upon the world to make your choices, you must see yourself as Adam in that garden, whose challenge is to distinguish the calls of Lilith and of Eve. Then to answer only to The Word.
I don't know about all of that said Pelican. He walked past Crane, into the blinding light.
The door slid shut behind him, leaving Crane again in the dimness with a metallic echo that dulled to silence.
A laugh rang out from a corner.
Doesn't it feel like we're picking the road to Hell at every turn, mister Crane?
Duck rose from his seat and walked over to press his thumb to a panel beside the door.
Limbo is worse, Crane replied simply.
-The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire! -
2022-01-01 at 3:31 PM UTCKeep going this is pretty good. Did you write itThe following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire!
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2022-01-01 at 3:40 PM UTC
Originally posted by Tyrant Humans are ultimately animals, mister Pelican. And we are fragile too: no tough hides or scales. We don't have sharp claws or wings either. We are not particularly fast and we are quite vulnerable to panic and fear.
Pelican stayed silent and watched as Crane began loading a revolver.
This is the part where someone tells you that what we do have, what makes us special, is something along the lines of intelligence or language or cooperation or maybe even our ability to run long distances…
Crane turn the revolver around and handed it to Pelican. Then he gestured towards a metallic door behind him.
When people say "thank God", I think "thank God for the world". And in the world there are people who I should thank. And when they curse god, I say "curse God for the world but in the world there are people you should curse."
The door slowly slid open and a brightness lay beyond it that cast Crane into shadow.
And so it is that we generate the basis for the existence of heaven and hell: they are real features of the world, mister Pelican. The roads to heaven and to hell branch from every juncture.
Pelican's eyes adjusted to the new light.
And when you look upon the world to make your choices, you must see yourself as Adam in that garden, whose challenge is to distinguish the calls of Lilith and of Eve. Then to answer only to The Word.
I don't know about all of that said Pelican. He walked past Crane, into the blinding light.
The door slid shut behind him, leaving Crane again in the dimness with a metallic echo that dulled to silence.
A laugh rang out from a corner.
Doesn't it feel like we're picking the road to Hell at every turn, mister Crane?
Duck rose from his seat and walked over to press his thumb to a panel beside the door.
Limbo is worse, Crane replied simply.
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Didn't read. -
2022-01-01 at 4:42 PM UTCThe following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire!
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2022-01-01 at 4:46 PM UTC
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2022-01-01 at 4:47 PM UTC
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2022-01-01 at 4:48 PM UTC
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2022-01-04 at 7:40 PM UTCOne hour passed. A loud buzzer sounded abruptly and Crane and Duck re-entered the dim antechamber.
Crane took position by the door while Duck pressed his thumb to the panel again and backed away to the corner.
Pelican's long shadow emerged against the light as the door slid open and then he stepped out. The revolver was still in his hand but turned around, as it had been handed to him, and had not been discharged.
Say nothing mister Pelican, said Crane as he took the weapon from him. Save it for the debriefing.
Then Crane gestured to Pelican and lead him out of the antechamber. Duck waited for them to exit before following into the slightly less dim hallway.
The hallway snaked with several right-angle turns. With every two turns turns the lighting was set brighter, until finally they walked past windows and saw sunlight again.
Then they reached the conference room. Crane opened the door for Pelican, gestured him inside and then pulled out a chair for him at the end of the table.
Shortly thereafter the debriefing began and Pelican was allowed to speak freely to report his experience.
At first the light was overwhelming and I could barely open my eyes. I kept them closed and curled my left hand's fingers over my left eye, then opened my eye and allowed a small pinhole to be formed by my pinky.
The light was still extremely bright but I could make out the interior of the Germinus. It was white and featureless except for a white obelisk that stood in the center, which also appeared featureless and rose to about the height of my chest.
The brightness of the room then changed suddenly and the face of a woman appeared directly in the sight of my pinhole. I pivoted my head to the right slightly while keeping her in view and opened my right eye.
I saw the brightness for a fraction of a second before it dimmed suddenly and the figure of the woman appeared. She was wearing something blue but that's all I could tell. It corresponded in position to what I saw through the hole. The obelisk had disappeared and the walls and ceiling appeared to have vanished into a dull gray void. I then dropped my left hand and the illusion was complete.
It felt exactly like I was standing on an endless plane with the horizon at infinity, and that I was no longer inside an enclosed chamber. I walked towards the woman, who seemed to be near where the obelisk had been. As I approached her, I had a subtle feeling of disorientation. I felt as if I had rotated but she was my only visual point of reference and had not moved from my perspective.
Then as I got closer, the scene changed again. She disappeared and the plane was replaced by the sea: the wind whipped my hair about and I could feel the spray of waves dashing against the rocks.
...
Mister Pelican continued like this for around two hours, said Swan.
He recounted a series of such vivid, rapidly varying experiences that he described as random in character, with no discernible pattern to them, before ultimately he met with Germina.
Then mister Pelican punctually exited the Germinus at the end of his allotted hour and handed his revolver back to mister Crane. No rounds discharged.
Wait a minute, cut in Hawk. You know what I'm going to ask.
The meeting with Germina is not further detailed. You will find the full transcript of the debriefing in the file to your left, said Swan.
And is there any information at all as to why that is? Hawk leaned back in his chair.
You should talk to mister Crane about that. Swan gestured to the right and began to wrap up his briefcase.
Until now Crane had been silently perusing a stack of papers. On his name being mentioned, he looked up and found Hawk staring at him intently. There was a momentary silence. Crane removed his spectacles and placed them on the papers.
Before the beginning of this trial, we ensured Mister Pelican was convinced of one proposition: "the Germinal must be destroyed". We also indirectly confirmed his affirmative belief in one other proposition: "Tuna are not mammals". Please refer to page 34 of the transcript.
Hawk opened the folder on his desk, turned to page 34 of the transcript and read aloud:
C: Mr P, I have one final question. It's a little off topic but I was just curious: could a Tuna fish be considered a kind of mammal?
P: [pause] I suppose it could.
C: And in what way could a Tuna fish be considered a mammal, do you think?
P: [pause] Was that your last question? [Laughs] It's a little complicated I guess.
C: We have lots of time if you'd like to elaborate but we can stop here.
P: No it's okay, I just haven't given it much thought yet.
C: That's alright. Just take your time then. No rush.
P: [pause] Well, you remember when I told you about the whale Mavisaba earlier?
C: Yes.
P: One of its companions on the wave was a Tuna named Ixulutu. When the typhoon washed me ashore, Ixulutu was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a sand formation in the shape of a crescent with four pebbles sitting along its edge.
C: Mr P, mammals are warm blooded creatures that give live birth, nurse their young and grow hair or fur. I just wonder how a tuna might be considered one.
P: [Long pause] You know what, you're right. It's not.
C: I'm not saying it's not. I'm just asking why you think it is.
P: No I mean it. By definition it couldn't be considered a mammal. When you put it like that, I agree. I don't know why I said it could but I still feel like it's true.
C: Sorry for interrupting you earlier. Please continue. The sand formation?
P: No it's just that, I know what I was about to say and I know why I thought it meant that a Tuna was sort of a mammal, but now that I think about it, it just doesn't.
C: Interesting.
P: Is it? Why did you ask me that in particular?
C: Like I said, I was just curious.The following users say it would be alright if the author of this post didn't die in a fire! -
2022-01-05 at 1:02 AM UTCsometimes using quotation marks and sometimes not feels disjointed
is it intentional? -
2022-01-05 at 1:04 AM UTCYeah I don't use it for speech itself generally. But if the character is quoting something, it separates it from them saying something themselves.
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2022-01-05 at 1:09 AM UTCactually, rereading it all I have a lot of questions/complaints about the execution but will hold off until you get everything down
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2022-01-05 at 1:43 AM UTCQuestion/complain away. I'm still trying to refine my style, that's why I'm even doing this, although mostly I'm trying to get in the ha it of writing fiction at all. I'd appreciate your feedback.
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2022-01-05 at 2:13 AM UTCsure, just didn't want to detail you before you finished. will post when I get home
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2022-01-05 at 2:54 AM UTCDon't worry, I won't answer anything I don't want to.
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2022-01-20 at 1:53 PM UTCI don't get it.
Duck was watching from the edge of the room, with Kingfisher who was idly writing in a notebook with a bored expression upon her face.
Which part? She said without moving her eyes or attention.
Tunas being mammals. I don't follow. Of course they're not.
Of course, she said. She began to doodle on the bottom right corner of her notebook. But you kind of just say that don't you?
Again, I don't follow. Duck leaned back in his seat. I know what a mammal is. I know what a Tuna is. I know the two are not the same.
Have you thought that you might just be strongly convinced of it?
Well the best we can ever do is be very convinced that something is true, yeah? Duck scratched his chin. But I'm very, very convinced that a mammal is one type of thing and a Tuna, a fish, is another.
Right. She had begun to sketch a small image of a sort of peaked domed shape. What would it take for you to be convinced otherwise?
Something would have to be very wrong with our knowledge of tune, I suppose. He scooted his chair away, then angled it towards her.
Let's say it's not: Tuna work the way we think they do. She had begun to repeat the shape beside itself at a slightly offset angle. What would it take for you to be convinced that a Tuna and a mammal might be the same thing in some way?
I don't know, he said with a resigned tone. I don't even know if that's possible but clearly... He gestured vaguely at the room and then laughed.
Read the transcript, said Kingfisher. The shapes had been repeated into a circle, forming the petals of a flower.
I was there for the debriefing, I heard it all, Duck said.
Read the transcript. She had begun to draw the top of the shape between the gaps of the first layer. Think about it a couple times, read it all.
And what am I supposed to find at the end? What's the revelation? Duck looked away as he began losing interest in the fruitless conversation.
Kingfisher had filled in more petals. She gave the flower a winding stem and leaves.
Well, Duck... She began to shade it with parallel lines, implying a light from below. You know when people sometimes say "you had to be there"?
Yeah? He checked his wristwatch and began to gather up his briefcase.
Well you were there. She put down her pen and closed her notebook. The gun wasn't discharged and Tuna aren't mammals. Right?
Yeah, he said glancing back at her as he stood up to leave. The gun not being discharged, Tuna being mammals... he was convinced not to destroy the Germinal. I get that part. But a Tuna being a mammal...
How have you experienced the opposite in your life, generally? She said, with her elbow on the back of her chair. You know, a Tuna not being a mammal.
I don't generally experience Tuna very much in my life, he said and then with a smile: they don't really taste like a mammal.
What does "a mammal" taste like? She asked.
Like chicken, he chuckled. -
2022-01-20 at 2:07 PM UTC
Originally posted by Tyrant I don't get it.
Duck was watching from the edge of the room, with Kingfisher who was idly writing in a notebook with a bored expression upon her face.
Which part? She said without moving her eyes or attention.
Tunas being mammals. I don't follow. Of course they're not.
Of course, she said. She began to doodle on the bottom right corner of her notebook. But you kind of just say that don't you?
Again, I don't follow. Duck leaned back in his seat. I know what a mammal is. I know what a Tuna is. I know the two are not the same.
Have you thought that you might just be strongly convinced of it?
Well the best we can ever do is be very convinced that something is true, yeah? Duck scratched his chin. But I'm very, very convinced that a mammal is one type of thing and a Tuna, a fish, is another.
Right. She had begun to sketch a small image of a sort of peaked domed shape. What would it take for you to be convinced otherwise?
Something would have to be very wrong with our knowledge of tune, I suppose. He scooted his chair away, then angled it towards her.
Let's say it's not: Tuna work the way we think they do. She had begun to repeat the shape beside itself at a slightly offset angle. What would it take for you to be convinced that a Tuna and a mammal might be the same thing in some way?
I don't know, he said with a resigned tone. I don't even know if that's possible but clearly… He gestured vaguely at the room and then laughed.
Read the transcript, said Kingfisher. The shapes had been repeated into a circle, forming the petals of a flower.
I was there for the debriefing, I heard it all, Duck said.
Read the transcript. She had begun to draw the top of the shape between the gaps of the first layer. Think about it a couple times, read it all.
And what am I supposed to find at the end? What's the revelation? Duck looked away as he began losing interest in the fruitless conversation.
Kingfisher had filled in more petals. She gave the flower a winding stem and leaves.
Well, Duck… She began to shade it with parallel lines, implying a light from below. You know when people sometimes say "you had to be there"?
Yeah? He checked his wristwatch and began to gather up his briefcase.
Well you were there. She put down her pen and closed her notebook. The gun wasn't discharged and Tuna aren't mammals. Right?
Yeah, he said glancing back at her as he stood up to leave. The gun not being discharged, Tuna being mammals… he was convinced not to destroy the Germinal. I get that part. But a Tuna being a mammal…
How have you experienced the opposite in your life, generally? She said, with her elbow on the back of her chair. You know, a Tuna not being a mammal.
I don't generally experience Tuna very much in my life, he said and then with a smile: they don't really taste like a mammal.
What does "a mammal" taste like? She asked.
Like chicken, he chuckled.
It’s good. What are you writing about what genre is it? -
2022-01-20 at 2:27 PM UTC
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2022-02-10 at 12:57 PM UTCDig it
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2022-02-19 at 9:55 AM UTCThis is a letter from a steamboat that doesn't exist.
Pelican removed a sealed envelope from his jacket. It flapped in the November breeze as he held it out to Crane.
Crane did not move to take it at first.
I don't want you to leave, John. And I would very much like you to stay.
