Video

[quintet]

This is the right place to look for a helping hand, right?

So, first, I've been staking out the hunting grounds for a place to sleep, lately. It's the one with all the stinging insects; not that you aren't all charming, but at least I know what I'm eating over here. But aside from all that, I've got a decent pile-up of their leftover webbing. It's interesting stuff, but I don't have a direct use for it.

So if anyone wants it, I'm happy to give a trade. Make me an offer.


In related news, I've been working on a new style. I don't really go in for insects, but the webbing is interesting. I need something that moves to test it on properly, though, so if you think you're tough enough to take it, I'm looking for someone to help work out the kinks.

Don't worry, it's just a basic thesis right now. I'm hoping it might go all the way to telenoisis if I keep developing it, though. There's something in this, I know it.

I'm Quintet, by the way. Serious inquiries only.

Comments

You want a serious inquiry, have a dead serious one.

[sunglassesincluded]

Explain telenoisis, if you would.

[quintet]

It's...

Well, look. A normal style has to have a receiver, right? Art doesn't fully exist unless there's someone to observe it, and the observer can just as easily deny what they're seeing as accept it.

Telenoisis takes a style farther, into non-animal space, so it can be more like a tool, or a technology. It's not just effecting the viewer, it's acting on nature itself. You can't just reject it, because even if the noetic effect is still an artistic interpretation, the result is undeniably real.

So if I can make this work, it could have a lot of real utility. It's going to take some serious development, though.

[sunglassesincluded]

Art, then.

[ Yeah, he doesn't sound impressed by that at all. To him this is just a lot of unnecessary words to describe a colossal waste of time.

And he simply cuts the feed right there. ]

[quintet]

[Okay... that was weird. Jerk.]

[Video]

[stitch_witch]

[To say the older woman on the video looks very concerned would be... an understatement.]

Please tell me you have found a secondary colony of Silkcloth Spiders and are not the ones in the region of the map labeled as Orange 20.

We use the silk of their webs to make thread and cloth, and thus clothing.

[video]

[quintet]

No, those are the ones. It's weird for giant spiders to be so social, isn't it? But it's still the best spot. I'm not much of a farmer, but if you think they ought to expand, I could try and steal an egg sac...

[spiders have so many babies, Lark.]

Good? You seem to need a lot of it.

[stitch_witch]

I am not used to giant spiders so perhaps it is normal for ones their size.

[Oh dear, what an idea. Getting a second colony set up for safety...]

If we could find a suitable place that would be wise. Most of their young do not survive at this point. The spiders themselves are a danger to many of us and we manage that with this paste that keeps them... not contained but just clustered in one area. It is not perfect balance and not fair to them, but it keeps them safe and us as well.

And yes, the silk is very useful. Glownie wool is better for winter clothing. Spidersilk is good for summer.

[quintet]

Well, they eat their own kind.

[And if they're being artificially restricted to so small a hunting-ground, that makes sense. There's not enough for them to eat, so they eat their children. Ugh. Still, it's better than letting them eat people, she has to concede.]

Well, I've got a good amount of it. It's interesting stuff, I've used it to block off some space for myself, but even so, there's a lot left over. If you need any, I'm coping with an excess here.

[stitch_witch]

I have done my best to leave things for them from outside but it is not easy with all else I must do.

[It was hard, sometimes, to keep the balance.]


I am always glad for more. In truth it has been hard to find someone willing to acquire it.

[video]

[spinsandneedles]

I'm something that moves! What exactly are you looking for help with?

[video]

[quintet]

[Is... is that a blue, talking hedgehog? Oh thank god. Someone normal.]

Oh man, I'm so glad to see someone normal. I— do you have a name? How long have you been here? [Wow, she's really been out of the loop, huh?] I— wait, sorry, that's not on-subject.

I've got a new style I want to test out, but I need to know what it looks like from the other end. You wouldn't need to do much, just stand there and tell me what you get from it. There's no weight buffer in the style yet, so it shouldn't involve any actual restriction or pain, just yet.

[video]

[spinsandneedles]

[It is a blue talking hedgehog! A blue talking hedgehog that seems a bit amused at being referred to as "normal". Even back home he's a bit of a strange case, just wait until he starts zooming around and doing stunts]

Heh, I should have lead with introductions anyway. The name's Sonic, I've been here... not very long. Closing in on a month, I think? Anyway, not sure what you mean by style, but that doesn't sound too difficult. Just let me know where to meet you.

[video]

[quintet]

Sonic. Nice to meet you. Like I said, my name's Quintet.

[Even his name is nice and normal. One-word, concept-based, carrying obvious personal significance but not too obvious so as to be obnoxious. Exactly the kind of name a rational person might choose for himself. This is nice.]

I've been hanging around near the building marked as orange-20 on the map, but I'm not home at the moment. If you could give me a couple of hours to finish up, I'll meet you back there, though. Thanks for the help.

Video

[crystalmaster]

... So basically, you're asking people to be guinea pigs in an experiment?

[He's picturing people running and having webbing flung at them or dropped on them, and he wonders why anyone would agree to that.]

Video

[quintet]

...What does being a Guinea Pig have to do with anything?

Is this just another one of those casually racist things you people say all the time? It's getting pretty old.

Re: Video

[crystalmaster]

Nah, it's because on my planet, scientists use guinea pigs in some research. So anybody asked to help with research, especially in ... unusual ways, is sometimes colloquially called a guinea pig.

[quintet]

[Quintet stares at him through the screen for several long seconds. What. What the hell? That's so fucked up?]

You understand how that's worse, right? That you aren't helping your case at all?

[tyrants_son]

I have no use for webbing, myself. I know there have been a few people who used to gather it, so there has been some application for it.

[He tilts his head.]

By style, what do you mean?

[quintet]

Oh, uh. Art is separated into styles, and specific styles evoke specific aspects of what you want to convey. Like, for example, I've got a squid style that can use distractions in the environment to allow me to slip past without being noticed. I developed it based on my observations of way that Cuttlefish can mask their appearance on the sea-floor.

Clandestine Squid's Tenebrous Sidle. I'm pretty good at that one, actually.

[tyrants_son]

Ah... I believe you did mention briefly something about Art, before.

Abilities borrowed from the natural characteristics of creatures. Intriguing. I am curious to see how this is accomplished.

[quintet]

Is that a volunteer I hear?

[Text]

[buildingitsir]

first off when the fuck do cats talk here

second what sort of shit do you want for the webbing
maybe i can make it work or something to help with my parts

[Text]

[quintet]

Cats could always talk, asshole, the real question is why the hell the hominids around here think they're better than everyone.

[God's eyes, the attitudes of people in this place. What the heck.]

Make me an offer, then! I don't know what you got. Haven't you ever bartered before?

[buildingitsir]

not where i'm from or i wouldn't have mentioned it
also didn't say i was better than anyone
and i'm not actually human
just hominid presenting

didn't really need to where i'm from
i don't really have anything because i don't need stuff like organics
which is why wanted to know what you wanted
like a fetch quest

[quintet]

You do know how languages work, right? Just because someone's speaking a language you don't recognize, it doesn't mean— actually, nevermind.

["Hominid Presenting?" What? Organics? Not human? Ugh, there's no point. Quintet resolves that she ought to focus on the most relevant detail, if she can. Time enough for education later.]

What do mean by 'Fetch Quest'? I don't know that term.