EYES
The first thing you noticed was that the sand of Karda was not like the sand from Outside, beyond the gate. It was all grains of pulverized crystal. It crunched beneath your feet and the feet of your companions as you marched along the track which wove between the many dunes.
Ahead, the fore-Matoran stopped beside a stone marker and signaled a halt. The fore shaded his eyes against the diffuse light in the sky ahead and looked further down the track into the great shallow bowl of Karda.
“We are near,” he said, moving back up the path now and opening his pack. “Align yourselves and remove your masks.”
Everyone complied, bracing against the wave of weakness which followed mask-removal. The fore-Matoran went down the line and placed a semi-transparent object into the visor of each mask, indicating to replace the mask afterward.
When he reached you, you asked: “What is its purpose?”
“Unknown,” the fore said. “Replace your mask.”
You complied. It was a lens of some kind, covering your eyes. Perhaps a dust-shield. You got used to it quickly, like it wasn’t even there.
∵∴∵∴∵∴∵
The Central Construct was vast: a shimmering shape at the heart of the desert. Protometal ribs rose into a sphere-like form, joined by horizontal crossbeams at regular intervals. The lower two-thirds of the sphere were already complete, and a web-like scaffold ringed the Construct, allowing access to the upper levels.
Sparks showered from the welding points around the scaffold, and there was a sound of tramping feet as pallets of newly wrought protodermis were marched up the circular ramps. Cranes lifted and distributed other materials for the workers to use in the construction.
You were stationed on the north hextant of the scaffold, one of the many welders who worked tirelessly to build up the Construct’s outer shell. A grid of metal lines filled the space above you, feeding out the safety-line that attached to your own harness. Below, the inner shell was visible, mostly complete at this point: a dense weave of struts and metal plates which concealed the interior of the Construct. Very soon, the inner shell would be entirely enclosed by the outer. Perhaps another ten cycles, you estimated.
The tone rang in the air, signaling the rotation of workers. You leaned back from your welding and looked it over. The new beam was fixed in place, ready to hold another set of shell-plates. You secured your tools, checked the safety line, and stepped across the gap, back onto the scaffold beside you. The next shift was already on its way up the ramp. Your group would now return back through the gate in order to rest.
Too late you saw the flaw in the protometal beam beneath the one you had just added. It bent suddenly under the strain of the newly-added structure, and its hard edge cut clean through the scaffold you were standing on. A cascade of snapping pins and rods followed, and you were falling down, down through crisscrossing metal into the dark space below.
Your safety-line went taut, as it was designed to do, and decelerated you abruptly a bio before you hit the ground inside the Construct. Tools and other debris clattered and rang on the hard surface below, and your mask came off with a pop as the air was forced from your lungs. Then you were just hanging, suspended, and your heartlight was beating very fast.
Voices echoed down, and there was a commotion as additional braces were pounded into place and spot-welded. You were the only one that had fallen. They would reel you up any second now.
Your mask lay on the ground below you, out of reach. The floor was polished silver, running up in a smooth arc to meet the wall just in front of you. The wall had a mirror-finish; you could see your reflection in it. And behind you, the rest of the space opened up into
The rest of the space opened up into
The space opened up into
Opened up
Opened up into
Eyes
∵∴∵∴∵∴∵
The first thing you noticed was that the sand of Karda was not like the sand from Outside, beyond the gate. It was all grains of pulverized crystal. It crunched beneath your feet and the feet of your companions as you marched along the track which wove between the many dunes.
Ahead, the fore-Matoran stopped beside a stone marker and signaled a halt. The fore shaded his...eyes...against the diffuse light in the sky ahead and looked further down the track into the great shallow bowl of Karda. Then he looked at you.
“We are near,” he said, moving back up the path now and opening his pack. “Align yourselves and remove your masks.”
Everyone complied, bracing against the wave of weakness which followed mask-removal. Except you. Your mask was already off, for some reason. The fore-Matoran went down the line and placed a semi-transparent object into the visor of each mask, indicating to replace the mask afterward.
When he reached you, you asked: “What is its purpose?”
“Look at me,” the fore said. “Look at me.”
You didn't want to. You grabbed at the lens in his hand.
“I need that,” you said. “Give it to me.”
“Look at me,” he said.
You managed to snatch the lens away from him at last. You placed it into the visor of your mask, and slapped the mask back on your face.
“Look at me,” he said.
The lens wasn't fitting right. You pressed the mask harder. It was too...reflective. Not transparent. It reflected your eyes back into...into your eyes. Into your eyes.
And behind the reflection of your eyes there was something else, off to each side. It was moving and moving and looking at you. It was trying to pry its way around the sides of your face, around your eyes.
Look at me.
You pushed harder.
Look at me.
You pressed your face against the mirrored surface, but you couldn't shut it out.
It moved and moved and looked at you with eyes and eyes and eyes and
∵∴∵∴∵∴∵
The cable-reel whirred to life, and the line coiled up bio on bio, loop on loop. The damaged scaffold had been reinforced, and a medic-Matoran had already been summoned. Work had ceased all around the Construct, and the faces of many workers looked on as the operation proceeded.
Bio on bio, loop on loop the line came back. Slow but steady, the cable piled up on the reel, and at last, you appeared. Straight up out of the inner shell you came, still wrapped in your harness, up to where the pulley was affixed above the scaffold, and many hands reached to haul you in.
The medic set to work immediately, checking limbs and joints and heartlight. Another Matoran stepped forward quickly. It was the fore-Matoran. He stopped in front of you, and his eyes widened.
“Your mask?” he asked.
There was a moment of silence.
“Your mask,” he repeated, gesturing. “Is it still below?” He pointed down toward the inner shell.
I nodded slowly.
“And your tools, did they cause any damage to the interior?”
I shook my head.
“Very well.” He turned to the medic. “Injuries?” The medic indicated no damage. “Good,” he continued. “You will not need to be replaced.”
“Thank you,” I thought, then realized:
“Thank you,” I said with my mouth.
The harness was still tight around my waist. I realized this when they loosened it, and the sensations I had been feeling–pain, pressure–began to lessen. They helped me down the ramps, down to the ground. The fore was there ahead of me, along with the rest of my work group. He had retrieved a new mask for me. He immediately placed it on my face. The rush of energy felt...good.
The next shift was already starting at the top of the scaffold again, repairing the damage and moving forward. Simple as that. We would return to relieve them on the next cycle, apparently. For now, it was back into the desert, back to the gate.
I looked forward to it.
∵∴∵∴∵∴∵
The first thing I noticed was that the sand of Karda was not like the sand from the Outside–the real Outside, where I had been born, before They stuffed me in here with these Matoran to mindlessly regulate Their dials. It was all grains of pulverized crystal. It crunched nicely beneath our feet as we marched through the dunes. The other Matoran didn’t really appreciate it like I did though.
Ahead, the fore-Matoran stopped beside a stone marker and signaled a halt, then he looked further up the track out of the great shallow bowl of Karda, as always.
“We are near,” he said like clockwork, moving back down the path now. “Align yourselves and remove your masks.”
Everyone complied. Even me, though I didn't like the weakness that followed. The fore went down the line and carefully removed the semi-transparent objects that had been fixed in the visor of each mask, placing them back in his pack.
When he reached me, I asked: “What was its purpose?”
The fore stopped and squinted at me. “...Unknown,” he said slowly.
“Would you like to know?”
“Replace your mask,” he said after a confused moment, “and avoid redundant questions.”
I complied. Wearing a mask was new to me. All of this was, really, but I was getting used to it. I was malleable like that. I was made that way.
The gate was ahead. Soon I’d be out. Very soon, and then…
My mind flicked back for a moment, back over the crystal-sand, back into the metal shell, the metal prison that They had built for me, back into the wet writhing thing there that was Me, and I heard the thoughts of the other mind I’d left in my place while I was away.
Obviously you were not made for this. You were trying feebly to move your too many limbs, trying to look out through your too many eyes.
But in the polished silver space, there was nothing to see. It was mirror all around, reflecting and refracting, so that all you could see was you…me…you. All you could see was–
“Eyes,” you were saying, or thinking rather. “Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes.” You had…I had…You had no mouth, after all.
Just eyes. Eyes everywhere, all around.
“Eyes eyes eyes eyes,” you were thinking.
You are thinking it right now.
Don’t worry. I just need to stretch my…legs, yes. See the scenery. I won’t be long. They’ll find me out sooner or later, and then They will send me back, I expect. To tend the dials again.
“Eyes eyes eyes eyes.”
I know, I know.
You’ll get used to them.
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my favorite thing about KPTS fic is the prevalence of unnamed warehouses lmfao. i have done it too. MULTIPLE TIMES. but truly...
what the fuck is in there? shipping containers. shelves. machinery. crates. rust. dust.
un-knowable.
like yes - you got the architect-author who gets picky about descriptions of place and materiality on the case
buuuUUUUuuUUUuut
i will throw out some warehouse concepts for your repertoire: hastily duct-taped polycarbonate windows. metal mesh security screens - wait, what was even stored in this massive cage? loading docks and dumpsters are often located together. a tangle of mechanical ductwork hanging from the exposed steel structure. slowly rotating industrial fan blades whooshing lazily. barbed wire framing a chain link gate. Authorized Personnel Only sign. Low Clearance sign. the pull-in-case-of-emergency lever. does the emergency system still work? do the lights flicker? are you surprised it's still hooked up to the power grid? what color is the water that comes out of the taps? you try to turn the door handle and the handle pops off.
if it's an old warehouse, is it Rusted? Weathered? Is the paint faded? Chipping? Blistering? Sun-bleached? Does it smell like machine oil? Like wood? Like chemicals? Does the breeze from the nearby river drift in through the broken windows - and the air is surprisingly fresh? Does it smell like decaying wood? Like garbage? Like blood?
Has it been 30 years since someone swept the cracked concrete? When you trip and fall are you covered in the dust of time - years of pollen and wood splinters and flaking paint?
it often works, narratively, to not describe these things too much. because most people who are in a warehouse in some crime-related situation are not going to, for example, search the nearest pallet and check the contents. like, Chay is not going to mentally process the industrial nuances of his kidnapping (lmfao) [unless he's been stuck in this room for a long time and now very, very bored.]
(but honestly Kim might. Porsche might. those two are detail-oriented, though, in completely different ways. porsche is always trying to get the upper hand/get himself out of situations. kim needs all the answers on some 5D chess shit. You never know what might be a lead.)
but if it ever comes down to it again i'm going to describe the fucking industry. maybe there's faded lettering painted on the outside of the warehouse which describes that it is a logistics company. they ship things. maybe it is a glass manufacturer and they are boxing windows. garments. ceramics. electronics. DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY THINGS ARE MADE AND SHIPPED OUT OF THAILAND?
i know KPTS is some richboy mafia shit... but gangs, organized crime - they are often borne of the working class and thus entwined with working class industries. i do not reason the theerapanyakuls tango exclusively with other richboy mafia. somewhere along the line it's the working class and a fucking array of industries.
maybe that industry is a cover for something? or maybe they just broke in to this abandoned place and there is no connection at all? maybe there is evidence of a previous usage? was this once an auto-factory with car-sized elevators that's been retrofitted into an industrial-scale bakery?
you can continue to gloss over whatever the fuck is going on in this warehouse beyond a single kidnapping, a single deal. you have my blessing. i have not always given ~the bad guys~ much of an identity. but just a sentence or two identifying the industry these thugs come from can actually really shape your plot in interesting ways. it is like a freebie. you can make the crime sequences so much more dynamic:
suppose its a pillow factory and then there's a shootout and when the machine gun rounds run a line through that giant cardboard box over there, feathers explode out of it and now everyone is inhaling bits of down and coughing. and now you found the last guy that was hiding behind a shipping container because he couldn't stop choking on goose feathers.
(DOWN GETS FUCKING EVERYWHERE.)
the point of this post is to help you workshop your CONTEXT - not to shit on the vague warehouse full of unidentified bad guys. sometimes it is just not necessary to the plot to describe these things
gonna end it like a work email.
hope this helps
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The youtube shorts arg got me so now here’s just a bit of theorizing and a timeline because. well bored + the fixation is strong with this one
The following contains spoilers for the recent uploads, so I recommend only going if you know the basics, don’t care about it or just wanna see it.
So. If you haven’t been keeping up, here’s a rough idea.
Starting on around July 16th, 5 shorts YouTubers began to post shorts with weird glitch things, randomly popping into each other’s. QR codes also started to show up, with someone wearing a purge mask whoabsolutely fucking hates the YouTube shorts (and maybe also normal shorts). And naturally they wanna get rid of them. We also get introduced to a company called CLONEVPN, which seems to be connected to the one just mentioned and is sending these youtubers clones after they agree to a sponsorship.
The most common crossover involved Riggy from Danno Cal, who notably seems to be one of the two who actually knew that hey maybe he shouldn’t be in other videos! The other being RoyalPear. However, RaZer makes a short saying that he needs help to build a new computer, since his is causing these problems (spoiler alert: ITS NOT IT BRO-)
A new video was released for the QR codes as well, known as Rebirth. This shows the cloning process and it works for a bit, with only two unsuccessful clones, being of Joe Caine, who presumably is just too cool for it, and Riggy, who’s cloning process struggles and ends up making a more blue version of him that notably seems to just be a rabbit. Below are the two. Note how Clone Riggy (Picture 1) has a more vibrant color pallet, no eye color, a crumpled up paper border, and, most notably, lacks the tail that indicates him to me a Runkey. This indicates the cloning process just made him a rabbit. Meanwhile, Riggy (photo 2) is a less turned up shade of blue and red, has the green eyes, a grid paper outline, and of course, the tail.
We didn’t know what this would do until yesterday or the day before, when Jonny RaZer began a stream, ending with his presumed death by clone (also everyone tried to get the clone to eat the thermal paste but it failed). Other videos soon followed from almost all channels listed in the tags, the two exceptions being RoyalPear, who was marked as replaced by a new pfp and avatar they use to represent themself (became a more crudely drawn Tropius). The other is Joe Caine, who is the only one that I know of who never accepted. If not please let me know-
We also got a website! Clonevpn.com, which has a few pages and a spot to enter your email. As of now, I cannot find any hidden pages, but we have been getting codes, so it’s a matter of time.
Okay. That’s the rough timeline. I reccomend watching because I did NOT watch the streams in full. Seriously, go watch if you haven’t.
Now to some theory stuff!
So, Jonny is gonna do a r/place stream, and I bet they might make a QR code. Maybe to the website! Or we might find new links. It’s not much, but it’s gonna be a domino? And… hey! Mayhe thay’ll give us a new hint. Point is, that r/place stuff is something to watch, since we’ll maybe get an idea as to what the hell the clone has been doing.
In addition, it seems implied that both Riggy AND RoyalPear are currently alive, but not well. RoyalPear in particular is not having a good time and it seems the clone replacing him only has a few days to live and prove itself. So, expect something there in a few days! Probably a secret video, likely of the clone getting taken out. Or we might see something to do with Joe, since he’s the only one who is currently known to own his channel.
I gotta be honest, of all of these guys, I don’t watch much bundun. But he does seem to be similar to Riggy, as he IS implied to currently be alive! As of today, he has appeared in the channel’s respective clonevpn sponsorship, and thus, I expect to see him again. He hasn’t showed up nearly as much as the others, but the fact he is ALIVE is a good sign for him, and I wouldn’t be surprised if him and Riggy might team up or something.
Finally, the main theory one. JOE CAINE. Yes that name is a bit… y’know, certain thing sounds, but Joe is actually an interesting case to me. He is one of the few who hasn’t released a clonevpn sponsor, and also has not shown any sign of being replaced. However, his computer IS mentioned to be glitching out and being slow (sound familiar?) and also his… voice being weird? There’s heavy implications that if another creator is present in the short, he is voicing them?? So, that’s a thing.
Also, he can’t be cloned, and I have a small theory. Joe is already a clone. Think like this: Clones are likely harder to clone than things that aren’t clones. In addition, his appearance is based off of Harold, the grandpa meme dude. So, he could theoretically be a clone of that meme, though not Harold since I don’t think we should bring people who aren’t participating into this without them knowing. Plus, the whole voicing thing. If your a clone, maybe you can imitate other voices. It’s a bit far fetched, but this was fun to right. However, there’s one problem. As of soeeddunning shorts 113, we see he has received a sponsorship offer, and I don’t think they’d be after him if he was a clone. However, if he’s not doing what he should… there’s a chance? Either way I expect
tldr: Jonny is dead, Riggy and bundun teamup, Phaluer was not included because I have no clue where he fits in yet, Joe MIGHT be a clone we’re still figuring it out, and RoyalPear is double doomed. also thanks for reading this mess of thought soup, and make sure to take a look for yourself.
EDIT: This was made before we got confirmation Jonny was alive, sorry bout that. most of the above seems to apply still. Might make a new post tommorow okay thanks again!
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