« 001 ⇢ OVERFLOW.EXE »

[reparator]

Who: Cerealians from all over!
When: Various
Where: Various
What: This is a general overflow log! Use this whenever posts hit captcha and a new one will be put up each time this post also hits captcha.
Rating/Warning: If there are any reasons to lock this log, please contact us and we'll do so!

---

GENERAL OVERFLOW
➟ Link your threads below and continue from there.
➟ Please don't use this post for new threads, it's for continuing old ones only!
➟ If any issues arise, or if this post hits 5000 comments, contact us and we'll address it right away!

Comments

[goodtome]

[Armin mimics the swiping gesture curiously, and examines the menu carefully. He listens at the same time, but it's obvious that he's concentrating harder than most people familiar with similar technology might.]

What are the other ways?

[poiseonous]

Finding a portal. That's the primary method of exiting, though at times we need outside sources to help remove us. [A beat, and then:] Moments like that are much, much rarer; portals are usually functional. They're a bit of a pain to reach in most cases, though. You'll find them on the opposite side of the field from where you first arrived very often, for example...

[Because CERES is full of butts, honestly. That said, since Kaoru's pretty observant:]

—I'm sorry, but may I ask if this is your first time handling technology like this?

[goodtome]

Something like this? Yes.

[Armin admits that much readily. It doesn't distress him, however. Not the technology itself, at any rate. He's used to adapting to new and strange things for specific purposes in battle. This is new but not an entirely dissimilar situation.

There is a bit of a language barrier at play as well, though.]

I suppose I'll have time to learn about it. Did you say a portal... a doorway?

[poiseonous]

That's the case for many here. I'm from a much earlier time, myself, but I've had quite a while to adjust.

[A thin smile follows. Being one of the first to arrive has definitely had something of a toll even on Kaoru, who normally is quite difficult to affect.]

Oh— [Right, right, the lingo... Technological terms had been one of the biggest stumbling blocks in those earlier days.] Yes, it's something like a doorway. It's an exit - a way out. There usually isn't any sort of physical door attached to it, of course, but the portals are easily recognizable and relatively easy to "open" and "shut", so to say.

[goodtome]

I don't think we measured our time the same way.

[The information about the portal is taken in with a nod. It's still a little confusing, but it sounds as though it'll all make more sense when they find one. The rest of that is more interesting at the moment, in fact.]

How long?

[poiseonous]

Ah, I see. [Though Kaoru takes that pretty easily, since it's certainly not the first time someone with a different time-keeping system has shown up.]

Hm? How long have I had to adjust? I was a part of the very first group to arrive, so I would say that it's been... a year or so by now, at the very least. It's a bit difficult to keep track of time here, unfortunately. With the temperature and weather almost always controlled, we don't even have seasons to go by, normally.

[goodtome]

Oh...

[His voice catches a little in surprise. The idea of a completely artificial environment- that's- it's even worse than the walls. For a moment, Armin forgets to breathe. He stares silently for a long moment, stunned.

The color drains from his face a little, but eventually he gets a grip on himself and sucks in a lungful of air again. Right, well, that's how it is here. What good will it do to cry? He offers the man a slightly shaky smile instead.]

Then you must be knowledgeable by now.

[That's good. He imagines he'll need a bit of help sorting things out here.]

[poiseonous]

I know a fair amount, yes. Not enough to be able to tell you anything of great use, but enough that it should help you get by day to day.

[Though that reaction was certainly bizarre enough to catch Kaoru's focus, and Armin gets a look that's somewhere between concerned and curious.]

But are you all right, sir? You don't look well.

[goodtome]

Just a passing vertigo.

[He hopes it will pass, anyway. Existential crises is a little more descriptive, but it's also awfully dramatic. There's no need to trouble this kind stranger with that.]

My constitution could use some work, I guess.

[poiseonous]

[A reasonable enough explanation! Or maybe Kaoru just doesn't feel like digging for more, either or - it's not something a retiring young maiden would do, anyway.]

Then I hope that the air outside of this place will do you good. It's surprisingly clean out there, even though this city is so large.

[goodtome]

[Armin is more than used to nosy, crass people, but he's certainly not sorry to see someone minding their own nose for once. He feels backed far enough into a corner as it is, it's nice to have just a little less pressure in this particular interaction.]

Due to the climate control, do you think? I guess someone could regulate the city's care taking too in that case, is that right?

[poiseonous]

For the most part, yes. And I do believe that it's because of the climate control. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of having to provide a healthy living environment.

[And yet, CERES somehow continues to heck it up. INCREDIBLE.]

[goodtome]

Hmm. Is the industrial area separate, then?

[Someone must be doing the smithing, for example, right?]

And the agricultural lands?

[poiseonous]

[Luckily Kaoru is from a ye olde time too, so a question like that hardly seems laughable.]

Oh— No, that isn't the case. I can't be certain where the industrial work is done, but I believe all of the food is grown by CERES within its headquarters. There isn't a need for farmlands this far into the future.

[WHICH IS WEIRD but whatever, Kaoru doesn't make the rules.]

[goodtome]

[Oh! That's... impressive. Confusing. New. Armin finds himself reeling again, teetering back on the edge of existential crises again. He shakes his head, physically trying to break the intellectual vertigo.]

That must be convenient.

[poiseonous]

Well, in one sense. It can be a bit complex in a situation like this, where we aren't entirely sure that we can trust the ones growing it all...

[But considering the other option is "starve", there isn't much wiggle room for compromise.]

[goodtome]

[Is it unusual not to have trust in the keepers of the goods? It doesn't seem anything unusual to Armin, but he's hardly had much experience in life, even in his own very small world.]

Has anything ever come of that?

[poiseonous]

Not currently.

[But it says very little, or perhaps it just says that Kaoru is a little overly-cautious and overly-paranoid. Being from a warring era can do that to a person.]

Still, it's better not to be caught off guard in the event that something does happen someday.

[goodtome]

[There's no way to avoid being caught off guard, is there? Armin doesn't know of any. Something strange always happens. Something always goes horribly wrong.

Other times, your consciousness is extracted from some long broken time and place, sent elsewhere when you ought to be sleeping peacefully in your grave. But a bit of mistrust is understandable, isn't it? Armin only nods in response.]

Is there a way to find our objective?

[Can they really do nothing more than keep walking in one direction (or running if they're very unlucky) hoping to find an escape?]

[poiseonous]

There isn't an easy way, no.

[An apologetic look... Kaoru can't even say "if we get lucky--" because haha, as if any of them ever are.]

But it may help to go in that direction- [A nod!] -since it seems a bit less cleared out. They like to make things difficult, you see.