Scene 1 - Act 3: In The House
The Asian's sudden appearance in the doorway, immediately stilled the frightened woman's actions. Her hands were still clamped tightly over her ears and her brow was furrowed with intense stress, but his presence stopped her forward momentum. She glanced nervously at the Orangutang that followed her in as her anchor took care of the offending box on the wall.
The Orang stopped as quickly as he could, doing his best to avoid running down his now motionless quarry. A quick glance over his shoulder indicated the Asian had followed him and was making short work of the alarm box. He turned back to the frigthened female and made a placating gesture, seeing the nervousness in her eyes. He stood on his hind legs, his long arms extended up over his head, then brought them down to his own ears, imitating her stance. Slowly he brought his hands down from his ears, crossing his body to hug himself. He smiled broadly, again wagging his tongue in emphasis, before settling back onto his haunches. He kept his movements slow, trying not to further startle the skittish female.
The frightened female paid no attention to his antics as she was focused solely on the Asian as he worked on the control box. The orang settled back onto his haunches, ready to intercept the female should she try to make another break. He had no idea how she would react to being touched by him, but he needed to make sure she didn't hurt herself in fear.
A palpable feeling of released tension, like air slowly let out of a balloon, followed the Asian's silencing of the beeping panel and the general sense from the group that danger had at least temporarily been avoided. The excitement of figuring out how to get inside was replaced by curiosity at what was found there.
The quiet twin, her face now as serene as the welcome silence, beamed at the resourceful Asian. It was clear that she was quite taken with his magic as she nodded her head in approval. After she met his eyes, she allowed her gaze to wander around her new surroundings. Sensing that the crisis point had passed, the orang allowed his own curiosity to take hold and surveyed the immediate surroundings.
Immediately inside the door was the end of a large plush-looking sofa in a light sage color. The scene from the outside of the glass door was where they found themselves, but now on the inside looking out through that glass portal on the opposite wall.
The living space to the left of the door was sunk about a foot lower than the area to the right. That space's furniture layout seemed focused on watching the video unit in the corner, currently dark and mute. Toys littered the edges of the room, mainly toys speaking of a very young, feminine user. There were dolls, stuffed cloth animals, a wheeled vehicle in pink with a Barbie logo, and a rocking horse, along with all manner of smaller toys. The low round table had several children's books on it and a pile of wooden blocks.
To the right was a table that seemed to get daily use, based on it's central location. There was a flat device about the size of a large, thick metallic silver book at the seat by the window, and two plastic cups with lids bearing cartoon characters on them at the other seats. That was in an area adjacent to what looked like a food preparation area - a kitchen. There was a sink with a faucet and another large door appliance similar to the one in the garage.
There were drawers and cabinets underneath the counters and more cabinets up above them, too. The cabinets up high along the wall adjacent to the large doored appliance had windowed doors, revealing mostly white plates, cups, and bowls, and a shelf of books. The counters themselves were covered in small appliances of which only one was clearly identifiable to all: the coffee maker. The pot was half-filled with the murky brown liquid.
Also on the counter was a bowl with what appeared to be sets of keys on rings, and a small wooden thing with correspondence and other papers tucked into neat slots. Next to that was what looked to be a communications device - a handset and cradle affair with a snub antenna on each.
Shades of green and sage and pale off-white dominated the decor, and created a warm, welcoming environment when combined with the open floor plan and the many windows and all the sunlight coming into the space.
The quiet twin stepped into a beam of sunlight and slowly twirled as she enjoyed the feel of the warm sun upon her. She'd grown chilled in the Spring air and was enjoying the warmth and shelter that this new place offered. The sun glinted playfully off of her golden locks and made her beauty seem even more surreal.
As the group of five watched from inside the house, the sixth - bearing an assortment of pink and white clothing in her arms - appeared outside the glass door, looking for them. Having returned, the twin was plesently surprised to see they had made it in the house. She impatiently banged on the door and then cocked her hip out as she waited for someone to let her in.
The older man had alredy begun walking towards the door upon catching sight of the woman, and he frowned at her behaivior as he fiddled with the lock. The door was rolled open and he made a broad, sweeping gesture of welcome with one arm. "Well come on in Miss Sassy," he gushed.
The twin raised an eye brow at the old man and replied, "It's Betty" in a matter of fact voice. Her head darted around quickly as she spotted the Asian. She hurried over to him and shoved the stack of clothes into his chest, "Can you get these on my sister?"
The Asian grabbed at the clothes reflexively, then stood mutely staring at them. After a moment his brows furrowed and he followed "Betty's" movements with a tight-lipped frown.
"OK, So," Betty looked around to see if she had captured the group's attention, "one of the ladies thought I was crazy, but the other one took me to her house and gave me a coat, a name and those clothes. She's expecting me back to call the police for help, probably with my pink clad sister in tow but that's not going to happen unless you come too." The last comment was directed at the Asian. "So does anyone know what the police are and how they can help?"
Uninterested in whatever her overly vocal look alike had to say, the captivated twin twirled in a primitive dance from one beam of light, to another, until she found herself in the kitchen. She tried for a moment to catch the glints of light that filtered in through a sun catcher, before abruptly losing interest when she saw a bowl filled with small items on the counter. She picked up a set of keys and rattled them harshly in one hand, finding that they were neither visually or musically appealing, she dropped them down and proceeded to the pot of brown liquid. She lifted it to her nose and greedily breathed in the new scent, but when she dipped her finger in and applied the bitter liquid to her tongue, she dropped the pot abruptly back onto the counter. There was a loud clatter, but it didn't shatter or startle her.
The Asian walked to the kitchen, following the antics of the silent twin. His face relaxed as he watched her but a slight crease still marked his brow.
"Hey." He set the clothes on the counter and gestured to them. "These are for you." He gestured and nodded, indicating she should come closer. "You need to put these on."
The woman gave him a sweet genuine smile as she eagerly joined him. She looked at the clothes that he indicated, and he could see a glint of recognition in them. It seemed as though she could at least understand some of what he was saying. She lifted the the pink pants from the countertop and nodded her head in enthusiastic approval as she ran the soft material against her cheek. Then she cocked her head and gave him a long appraising look, focusing on the drape that he had made for himself.
One of her slender hands reached out to pull at his tarp, lifting it away from him as she peeked under it. She took a moment as she tried to grasp the concept of his covering before returning her attention to the plush garmet that she had in her hand. With another nod she unfolded it and positioned the pants around her neck, allowing one of the long pant legs to fall down her back and the other to fall down her front. With her task accomplished she looked up at him, eagerly awaiting his approval.
The Asian man chuckled again and shook his head. "Okay, so this is going to be harder than I thought."
With a great deal of patience the Asian set about attempting to teach the silent beauty which garment went where (and in some cases in which direction). It was trying, and at times amusing, but there was an underlying sense of...something...that the man felt. In another time and place he might have been able to place the feeling as irony at helping a woman to put her clothes on.
"The police could go either way," said the older man as he watched the simple woman sample her environment and try and fit into the clothes provided. He took a deep mental breath and strove for calmness before continuing. "I think they help people and enforce law. So if this house belongs to one of us, then perhaps it's a good thing. If it doesn't, then there will be trouble." He sighed. "Search the place for pictures... see if images of any of us exist."
A quick look around did show several pictures in frames scattered around the sunken den. They were mainly of the same man and woman, a couple judging by the intimate nature of their positionings. There was a picture of them in what appeared to be very formal attire, probably a wedding photo. There was a picture of them taken on a snowy mountain in heavy clothing, and so on. The couple was young, maybe thirties, the man heavy set with a van dyke beard and the woman a brunette pretty with a heart-shaped face and large brown eyes.
There were also pictures of two very young children, both girls. Both had red hair and were adorable in that typical way that toddlers are adorable - to those who consider children a blessing and not immature terrorists.
None of the pictures to be found held an image of any of the six. There was just the family portrayed, and it wasn't a familiar one.
"Ok then... not our house," the older man said, looking away from a photo of the two children sitting in the snow wearing matching knitted bobble hats. "Betty," he called out. "Can you please help your sister? The rest of us should try and find something to wear in the house. It's theft, but at this point I think being dressed will be better than wearing old ratty curtains."
"And names. We need names, if only because "hey you" is rude. I'll take..." his mind groped for a name, came up with nothing. "Tom," he finished, then headed up the stairs.
"Not our house" echoed the black man, walking slowly into the room. "I see that, Tom." Somehow, the name seemed right. He cocked his head momentarily, nodded. "And you can call me Al. There any clothes for the rest of us?"
"I'll let you know," came Tom's voice from the stairwell.
Betty shook her head, "Just that stuff for my sister. At the other house, the clothes were up some steps and behind a door that seemed to lead to nowhere" She sighed deeply as she noticed the backwards way the simple woman was attempting to use the clothes and decided to comply with the old man's request. She slowly strolled into the kitchen. She smiled slightly at the Asian, then her sister. "Can I help?" she asked in a gentle voice slightly bowing her head in a gesture she hoped would be nonthreatening. "I can show you how the nice lady was wearing those."
"Oh, by all means," the Asian replied with obvious relief.
The twin had stepped into the the Asian's personal space again as the unpredictable woman approached them. He could feel her apprehension build as the overly vocal woman joined them. Betty's offer of help, in a soothing tone seemed to appeal to her sister, but she was still leery of her. Afraid that she might be trying to lure her in or trap her into something, only to leave again. To test the waters, she took a tentative step away from the Asian and reached out to touch the other woman's pretty hair. It was a simple gesture of friendship as she tried to do something nice for the other girl, and what could be nicer than that glorious feeling that tickled her scalp when she played with her own hair.
Betty's smile broadened as she stifled a laugh at her counterpart’s simplicity. Trying to stoop to her twins level of intelligence, or lack thereof, she leaned her head into her sister's hand and slowly extended her own to pet the other woman's golden tresses, interlocking the twins in an odd greeting.
A small moan of pleasure escaped the quiet twin's lips as Betty slipped her fingers into her hair, and her opinion of the other woman immediately improved. While it might have been an awkward moment for some to witness, the basic exchange did much on the part of the more primitive twin in the way of bonding. After the exchange was complete she seemed more at ease, as she stood between the Asian and her sister.
Betty maintained her smile despite inner turmoil over having to help her sister. She gently removed the pant scarf from around the odd woman's neck. She held them out at arm's length, this way then that, to figure out the best course of action and admire the soft fabric, she regretted the decision to keep the coat and give the soft pink coverings to her twin. She scrunched up one leg and knelt, "OK, put your foot through this hole......gooood.....now the other one......NO, not the same hole." Betty sighed to regain her composure, better scrunched the second leg, "this hole.....gooood." Betty pulled the pants up to her twin's waist and offered a big appreciative smile. "There, we're half way done."
Betty turned to examine the remainder of the stack and figure out what all the articles were. The panties she deemed useless, and did not recall seeing them on the nice lady, she carelessly tossed them over her shoulder, landing them on the Asian's face. The shoes and socks were set aside for the time being. The jacket she recognized, the structure was very similar to the coat she was wearing.
Removing the undergarments from his countenance, the Asian took a step back. "You seem to have this in hand," he said, smiling and nodding encouragingly at the silent twin. "I'm..." he paused, looked around quickly. "I'm going to go upstairs with, uh, Tom."
The quiet twin returned his smile, happy that she was doing something that pleased him. As soon as he turned to leave though, her brow furrowed with uncertainty. She looked at Betty and the retreating Asian, both of which were encouraging her to stay. In the end, she swallowed hard and remained next to her sister, but her concern was evident by the way she watched every parting step that her anchor made.
The orang dismissed the toys scattered about the suken room, after a quick catalogue of anything that looked like it might be useful in distracting the simple female. They told him little to nothing about their situation, or the series of events behind it. Only that one or more of the residents were children and female. The video display unit was another matter entirely. He ambled over to it, alternating between walking on his hind legs like the others, and the swifter, more comfortable knuckle and palm walk of his own species.
His gaze hungrily took in the device, as he looked for a way to power the device on. Perhaps, if the device displayed transmissions from an outside source, he might be able to determine information pertaining to their situation. A small remote unit sat on the stand in front of the large screened device and he picked it up.
The power button was clearly labeled and when pressed activated not just the unit but a smaller flat box underneath it in it's stand. After a moment the screen turned blue and displayed the following list of options:
Now Playing
Watch Live Television
Channel Guide
Program Recording
**Mickey Rourke is The Wrestler!
Sign Off
The Orang examined the small remote device. Since the screen showed options, there had to be a way to scroll through them, using the device. It took a moment to find the arrow keys amongst the morass of controls, but he used it to scroll down to the channel guide. Another quick examination and a few random pokes and he found the button that activated his choice.
There was a *blip* sound and the blue menu screen was replaced with a large grid. It appeared to be a list of channels sorted by time from left to right and by channel number top to bottom. The current time was 10:41 AM. The currently selected channel was labeled DIS1 and the current show - something called Imagination Movers - was on behind the grid. The superimposed grid made watching it near impossible, but the sound was clear as a song about "shakable you" poured forth into the quiet of the house.
When the sound washed over the scene in the kitchen, the quiet twin started at the sound. Deciding just as quickly that she liked it, she took off towards the living area. The pants that had been draped over her shoulders previously, were now covering the entire length of her legs, thanks to the assistance of her helpful sister. The rest of the pile of clothes were left behind as she followed the fanciful sound of the music.
Startled by her sisters sudden disappearance, Betty raised her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation and headed to the living area, jacket in hand.
The Orang smiled at his own ingenuity, and scrolled to the top of the list, scanning as he scrolled. He was looking for something that would give him current and recent happenings ... he searched for the word ... News. That's it, he was looking for a News channel.
He had to scroll through about a hundred channels including channels devoted to the military, science, history, animals, biographies, food, and several other random subjects before he saw one called Headline News. He selected the channel with a flick of his hairy thumb and the screen changed immediately.
The orang sat pondering his unease, probing his mind and memories the way one would worry at a sore tooth. Something was wrong, and the more he worried at the cause, the more agitated he became. He absolutely hated not knowing the whys and hows of things, and this along, with their current situation, was proving to be very frustrating indeed.
Dismayed by the droll sounding men, the quiet twin walked up to the picture box and knelt in front of it. She placed her cheek against the screen, as she hit it softly with her other hand. A soft sounding whine of disappointment slipped out of her as she tried to get the music to come back.
Betty leaned over her twin and draped the soft pink jacket over her back, "Come on, let's get this on and then maybe we can figure out the pretty sounds." Betty pet the woman's hair again for good measure.
The silent twin was receptive of her sister's presence. Pointing to the television with bright eyed excitement as she allowed her to finish dressing her in the soft jacket.
Al flinched briefly as the sound from the screen broke the silence. He sought out Betty.
"So. The women you met. They didn't recognise us." Not a question. Addressing the group in general, "So what now?"
Betty looked over her shoulder at the big man, "Yeah, no, she didn't know us. She said her husband will be home soon though. I told her I would come back, so she may be expecting me. I don't know." Betty shook her head and returned her attention to her sister.
The orang absently scanned the remote control device and saw a button labeled 'last.' He pressed it and was rewarded with the channel changing again. There seemed to be men in crazy outfits cavorting around the screen and he hoped it would keep the simple twin occupied for a moment. As the music returned, the woman smiled in pure joy as she stood up to mimic the crazy dance of the group of men on the screen.
Turning around, the Orangutang addressed the intelligent members of the group, noticing that the older male, Tom, and the Asian had disappeared, probably deeper into the bowels of the house. "Do either of you find it odd that the date ith March 10, 2009? I have, for thome unknown reathon, an averthion to thith information, though for the life of me, I cannot figure out why."
"03102009. 20090310. Taken as a set of three numbers, adds up to 2022; taken as individual digits, adds up to 15. Add those together, you get six. And there are six of us." Al looked enquiringly at the orang. "Any of that help? Out of interest, which part of the date is it you find troubling? The year 2009? The month of March or the 10 part? Beware the ides of March. Hell, where did that come from?"
The Orang eyed the large black man, Al, with a new appreciation and interest. Despite his size, the man's mind was quick. "Ideth of March? No, I don't think it ith the month, or day, though that thertainly ringth falthe. The year. Why do I feel that thith being the year 2009 ith simply ridiculouth, when according to the viewing devithe here, that ith the correct year?" The orang wondered if perhaps they had been misplaced in time, or at least he had, perhaps they all were from different times, or even dimensions. The Orang's head started pounding as unanswered questions suddenly stirred to life in a violent hurricane of thought. Every new piece of information he gathered led to more questions without answers. A situation that he just could not abide.
Something must be done to get answers, if only he could figure out what.
The orang dropped the remote device at his feet, leaving the simple female to cavort happily with the moving images on the screen. His mind was racing as he started to pick through the room, idly wandering around, looking at objects until he got to the table with the tumblers and flat silver device. It looked like another piece of tech, and he examined it half-heartedly, knowing it would probably bring more questions than it would answer. But he couldn't contain his curiosity, so he gave in to it. There was nothing else to do until a practical plan of action presented itself.
The flat silver device opened like a clam shell or a book. There was a keyboard on the half that stayed on the table, and the top half was a screen which lit up as soon as the book was opened. There was a picture of the same two children from the pictures in the den, out of doors in what looked like cold snowy weather standing near a humanoid figure made of snow. Superimposed on this background picture were several small colorful icons.
It was a computer, the orang quickly deduced. A quick study of the exterior and a little experimentation and he'd figured out the input scheme. It utilized a point-and-click interface, which struck him as different and neat, if not quite intuitive. The options seemed pretty wide, including a few simple games, some number crunching applications, some communications packages, and access to something called the internet, which seemed to be a large interactive data store.
* * * * *
There was a carpet runner up the tall flight of steps which was soft on “Tom’s” bare feet. At the top of the stairs was a wooden swing gate. It was pushed all the way open and out of the way and looked – based on what he’d seen to date of the house and it’s contents – to be made to keep very young children from accessing the potential danger of a tall staircase.
Tom frowned at the overall mess of the room. One thing he knew about himself beyond a shadow of a doubt: he could not abide a mess. Resisting the urge to start picking things up, he sorted through the closet to find clothes that might fit himself and the other two men. There wasn't much - the men's tops would probably fit everyone, but the pants looked like they belonged to someone who really enjoyed their breakfast, to be kind. The women's stuff was far too large for the twins, who were likely half the size of the woman who owned this closet.
Minutes later, arms full of what Tom figured was the best options, he headed back downstairs. The Asian man paused as he saw Tom come around at the top of the stairs, his arms full.
"Need any help?"
"Yes, actually," replied Tom as he handed the younger man some clothing. "Could you please let me know my name, occupation, where I am, and why I woke up naked up a tree with four other people and an Orangutan?" He waited a beat. "No? Well then, in that case..." he said around a wry grin "you can help me carry these clothes downstairs instead."
The Asian chuckled softly as he received some of the burden. "At least they call you Tom, now." The smile dropped. "I don't know what name..." he spoke softly, his voice pitched so as not to carry far. "I don't know if I want a name not my own."
"It will be yours, if you are the one that does the choosing," Tom replied quietly, holding the younger mans gaze for just a moment. "Come, let's get these downstairs."
The Asian nodded thoughtfully but didn't speak as he followed Tom back down. He spared a moment to glance back upstairs before turning the corner.
Back downstairs the simple twin was dancing in perfect sync with the amuzing man band that was on the picture box, when all of a sudden, she came to a sudden stop. Her face lit up in sheer delight as something occurred to her, causing her to hurry back to her sister. Once she reached her she began to jump up and down in excitement as she pointed at the television. "Ooooh....."
Once she had her sister's attention she returned to the picture box and began hitting at it. Her motions were excited and urgent as she tried to figure out how to opperate the device. Unfortunately, she had been too enthralled with the television when the beast had figured out how to work it. It was obvious that her antics were only going to increase in intensity, until her curiosity concerning how to change the channel was satiated.
Betty stared at her sister in disgust and frustration, not sure how exactly she got stuck with the invalid. "It'll be OK, we'll figure it out......" Betty offered in a gentle voice as she looked around, hoping the Asian man would soon return to take this burden off her hands.
The silent twin nodded enthusiastically as she continued to embrace her with her wide eyed hazel gaze. Waiting expectantly for Betty to make everything work how she needed it to work. When she didn't, she stomped in frustration and turned around, looking for her anchor, certain he could make it better. When she didn't see the Asian, she whimpered again in frustration and pushed the picture box hard enough to shake it.
In the lower right corner was a time that matched the time on the view box guide. He clicked it and a calendar appeared, confirming the date as well. It didn't take long for him to grow bored with the contents, and he decided to see what information this 'internet' held. He slid a long finger gently across small touch pad area on the computer's bottom portion until the onscreen indicator highlighted the internet access icon. A quick button press and the screen changed.
Before he could go any further, the simple female's agitation broke through his concentration and he looked up to see what had caused her excitement. Seeing her focused on the viewing device he chuckled softly to himself. "Evidently our friend doethn't like thith program anymore." He said, to no one in particular. There was a good deal of humor in his voice.
The orang knuckled his way across the room, and scooped up the discarded remote device. He caught the agitated female's expression and directed it back to the viewing device, before pushing the button that caused the channel to change. "Let me know when you find thomething you'd rather watch." he said addressing the female, who seemed to calm a little when the screen changed.
The first channel was a picture show of some sort, with men dressed in tight fitting uniforms, with odd looking hats on their heads. Pretty girls were giggling and dancing on the edge of a big green field. She touched the beast's arm for a moment, as she watched the action on the screen. She allowed a few moments to go by and then urged him to continue.
The next ten channels or so were fuzzy animation and they seemed to hold no interest for her as he slowly clicked upward through the channels. After they returned to real people doing real things, her eyes glazed over with amazement as she took it all in. So many glimpses at this life unknown. A woman giving birth - emotion. News. Weather. Business Show. Puppets - laughter. Plumbing. Rachel Ray - a faint movement in her stomach . High drama soaps. Basketball - power. A stream of graphic nudity channels - causing a cocked head and a peculiar excitement. Boxing - power. Remo Williams - fast and intense. Crockadile Dundee.
The silent twin used the orangutang as her vessel for as long as he would humor her. Touching his arm, long after she understood how to operate the device. Far too entranced by the picture box to consider taking the remote away from him. She seemed to be much more interested in the ho-to shows and the movies than she was the high drama shows or the monotonous news shows. The cooking show, the intense nudity and the fighting and sports type programs, were high on her list of interest, here she would pause for more than thirty seconds, watching intently before urging him to continue. It was almost like a hunger or a thirst as she watched the picture box spill out it's mysterious contents.
The orang watched the female carefully as he flipped through the channels, paying close attention to the scenes and programs she watched with eyes blazing with a hunger akin to his own. A truly child-like mentality would have been more interested in the obviously juvenile shows, but she had him pass through those without a second glance. Perhaps there truly was more depth and intelligence trapped inside her skull than he or the others had given her credit for.
She truly was an enigma, and though her responses brought up yet more questions, analyzing what she did show served to distract him from his frustration at not being able to find answers. If he could crack the riddle of her, perhaps he could find the key to unlock something about the rest of the group.
The orang hooted softly to pull her attention from the viewing box. He tentatively handed her the remote. "Did you thee how I uthed thith?" He asked. His kept his voice soft adding in undertones of patience and warmth. "Can you change the channel yourthelf?"
The silent twin blinked her eyes a couple of times as she focused on him. She took the remote into her hand and pointed to the buttons that he had used, showing her understanding of how the device worked. Then she returned her attention to the picture box as she began scrolling back up through the channels. She did so with the same amount of interterest, focusing on those programs that caught her eye before, but this time she spared more time watching each of them as the others went about their business. The only thing other than the television that bothered her, was the missing Asian, but she kept close tabs on the stair well, to make sure he couldn't sneak by undetected.
The orang watched her for a few moments longer, surprised that she had picked up such a basic understanding of the functions of the remote. But then, it really wasn't rocket science to push a button or two. He made mental notes about the types of images she spent more than a few moments on, then wandered back to the folding computer.
The female seemed to be spending as much time watching the rest of the group as she did the viewing device. Curiouser and curiouser. There was a subtle change in her demeanor, as if she'd discovered something aobut herself, but was unable, or unwilling, to articulate it to the rest of the group. The orang vowed to keep an eye on her to see how she progressed.
He turned part of his attention back to the screen of the device, curious to see what kind of interface this 'internet' had, and what he could learn from it. The application was named 'Explorer', and running it activated a subscreen which appeared to be an interface for the interactive data store. There was a word...'google'...which was a numeric value but otherwise had no meaning to him. There was also a single open field where data coudl be entered via the keyboard.
"We found some clothes," Tom said as he entered the living room. "Pants are going to be a bit big, but the shirts should fit. The people occupying this house are..." he searched for the word as he dropped the clothing onto the extended seat - the sofa. "Big," he finished somewhat weakly. The simple one was watching some sort of moving picture show on a brightly lit box, and she was wearing some clothes, for which he was grateful. The Orang was poking at a small case of some sort. Tom moved over to stand near Betty. "You got her dressed. Thank you. Any luck with the women in the field?"
Betty threw herself onto the sofa with a huff, "Not since the LAST time we talked, about the police and stuff." she rolled her eyes, "you aren't having memory problems are you?"
He stared at Betty, face gone nuetral but his eyes were flinty. "Forgive an old man, my lady." he said flatly, then turned and watched the moving pictures for a moment. "What have you found here, my friend?" he finally asked the Oran, looking at the device on the table.
The Asian, having picked out a pair of pants and a shirt for himself, walked over to where the silent twin was watching the picture box. He smiled at her as he stood there and began to put on the clothes. As expected, the pants were a bit large around the waist. He found he had to hold them with one hand lest they drop, but for the moment he didn't appear to worry about it. The shirt fit, if a bit irregularly. Well enough, though.
"Having fun?" he asked the silent twin.
His voice brought a sparkle to her eyes and a big smile to her face as she nodded in approval. She walked over to him and showed him the marvel that she held in her hands. It was a black device with a bunch of buttons that obviously controlled the picture box. She placed it into his hand and began pressing a numeric sequence, something that until now, she had not done. 3 * 8 * 6 and then there was a pause.
The pause seemed to distress her a bit, so she shook the Asian's hand with the remote, and as if on cue, the picture station changed. A pretty vibrant woman, stood in a kitchen and was cracking eggs into a bowl, speaking all the while in an upbeat tone that seemed to really appeal to the audience. The quiet twin nodded her head and began pointing to the kitchen, tugging on him insistently as she encouraged him to come with her.
With another soft laugh and a "what-are-you-gonna-do?" look to the others, the Asian allowed himself to be led into the kitchen. He had an idea of what was going to happen next, but he thought he'd see what the silent twin did next.
As they entered the kitchen, her enthusiasm waned a little as she looked around the room. She clutched her purple bag, close to her chest as her eyes scanned the cabinets, counters and appliances. Once she saw the stove top she took a timid step towards it and nodded her head.
"Nnn...." She tested the sound of her voice and once it felt right, she spoke for the first time. "Nnneed. Need. Need." She repeated the word several times as she paced around the kitchen, opening the doors to the cabinets - all of them, high and low. When she found the spice rack, she took several moments as she picked out what she needed and placed them on the counter tops. Then she squealed in delight as she found the place where all of the pans were kept. Clapping her hands in delight as she pulled out two of the smaller ones and took them to the stove top.
The Asian stood mute, just watching the silent twin as she moved with purpose around the kitchen. The fact that she spoke gave him pause for thought; he'd assumed she was mute. Now that she was speaking--well, one word, to be exact, but she was repeating it regularly--he began to revise his earlier estimation of his mental state. He crossed his arms and leaned on the corner of the counter, content to watch the silent twin in action.
Next she made her way to the refrigerator and opened it, staring in reverence at the treasures that lived there. When she felt the cold air on her face, she stuck one of her hands in, marveling at the contrast in temperature. Remembering that the Asian was waiting, she got back on task more quickly than she would have liked, pulling out an oddly shaped carton, a stick of butter and a metallic can that felt very cold when she touched it. She placed the butter and carton on the counter top and then rolled the can against her face, before placing it into her purple bag.
Another visit to the large appliance had her hands full with a plump red tomato, a bright green pepper and a few other small items. She laid each of them down on a protective shield and picked up a large knife that she had found. After running her finger over the sharp blade, she grinned in approval and began expertly cutting them. Her first few strokes were slow, but after she got a feel for the utensil her movements became fast and calculated.
In short order and with very few antics, she had the vegtables cut and several of the fragile eggs cracked into a bowl, while butter melted slowly in the pan on the stove. It was then, after her mixture was made that she demanded the Asian's attention again, pulling him over to the burner to make sure that he could see what she was doing next. After she was sure that she had his full attention, she poured a measured amount of the egg mixture into the bowl. After a couple of minutes as she fretted the spatula around the edge of the eggs, coaxing the runny liquid to flow under the cooked portions, she flipped it expertly and caught it again in her pan.
Finally she added cheese and some of the chopped veggies, that were simmering in another pan, to it, and folded it neatly onto a plate. She turned and lifted it proudly towards the Asian, her eyes bright with her desire to please him. "Yum-O."
The Asian barked out a laugh. Her use of the knife had made him nervous at first, but as he saw her expertise at wielding the blade he relaxed again. Watching her cook was actually...nice. He found he'd been smiling during much of the cooking.
Taking the plate from the silent beauty the Asian revisited the drawer he'd seen with smaller utensils in it, choosing one of the forks. He deftly cut a small bite-sized portion out and took a bite.
It was the best food he'd ever eaten. Or at least that he could remember eating.
He chewed slowly, nodding, then, after swallowing, smiled at the silent twin. "Very good," he said simply. Then again, with a little extra emphasis. "Very good." He used the fork to gesture to the other room. "Can you make enough for everyone?" He pointed to each in turn. "Enough for each person?"
His approval brought a big smile to her face, as she lifted to her tips of her toes, the swell of her pride evident. Then she nodded again, taking inventory of the items that she had laid out on the counter top.
She looked over her shoulder towards the television in the adjoining room and the look on her face was full of longing. With a small gesture to the Asian, she hurried into the other room to grab the magical device and then hurried back to finish making food for the rest of the group. This time, as she made each omelet, she spent the precious few minutes that it took to cook them, with her back to the stove and her attention rivetted on the picture box.
The Orang addressed 'Tom' as he continued to maneuver his way through the interface. "It ith a computer, thmall and and quaintly dethigned but hopefully utheful. I'm currently trying actheth thomething called the internet, a thort of interactive data thtore, probably compothed of a large network of thimiliar machineth. If I can figure out how the interfathe functionth, I may be able to find thomething to illuminate our current predicament."
"At last. Something useful." Tom muttered as he peered at the small screen.
The orang looked up from the screen momentarily, meeting Tom's gaze. "Our friend by the viewing devithe bearth addthional thtudy. Thee theemth to be a very quick learner. There may be more depth to her than we originally thought. We may altho want to think about relocating thoon. The actual ownerth of thith dwelling may return at any moment."
"I agree with you. And there's these police people who could be on their way as well." He turned his attention from the Orang and the data device and regarded the simple girl for a moment. She did seem rather intently focused on the imagery of the box, and much calmer than she had been. Good. That was good.
"Everyone? Please, I think it's decision time. Do we stay and try and explain our situation to these police people and hope they can help, or do we go and try and find answers on our own? Events are moving forward, and we need to decide how best to proceed."
The Asian's brow creased again. "I don't want to talk to these 'police'," he said simply. "If you do, I will hide or go." He said it in a manner that might indicate he cared neither way.
"We stick together. For now, at least." Al finished dressing in loose, dark blue, running trousers and the only T-shirt that would fit - a black shirt with a prism on the front. "I don't hear the police yet, so we have a little time. The only thing we're certain of right now is that this isn't our house. From the reaction you got," he turned to Betty, "this isn't even our neighborhood. It might not even be our country."
Al walked over to the Orang at the computer. "Can you take a look on this network, see if you can find anything about us? Naked people appearing in gardens? People disappearing and leaving their clothes behind? There must be a way to keep the information on that machine. Tom, can you scout round the house, see if there are any similar machines to this one?" Al paced over to the back window, looked out into the garden. "We are clothed, we will soon be fed if I understand what's going on in the kitchen. If we need to relocate, it shouldn't be a problem. The only question is one of where to. I'm going to have a look round the house, see if there are any clues as to where we are. If I find anything, I'll bring it back here to the computer. The more information we have, the better we can plan our next move." That said, Al headed out of the door into the hall.
"I will thee what I can find." The orang replied simply, never taking his eyes from the screen.
Betty jumped up from her perch on the couch and trotted after the large man, "I'll stick with you if that's OK, let me know if I can be useful."
"Just a second you two," Tom called out to Al and Betty. "There's a couple of others here who need to have their say after all." Tom indicated the Orang and Betty's twin. "And our freind here seems pretty adament about not sticking around no matter what, so I think this topic isn't quite closed out yet."
The orang spoke his voice thoughtful, yet distracted. "I have already thaid my piethe. We thould relocate thoon. The ownerth, may return at any moment. That being thaid, without thomewhere to go, it'th almotht a moot point. Anywhere, nowhere. I will admit, though, I am loathe to leave thith dwelling until we've determined whether there ith any reathon for our awakening here."
The orang looked up from the screen and met Tom's and Betty's gaze, speaking loudly enough to be heard in the kitchen. "I thtill have an unanthered inquiry. One of many, of courthe. Doeth anyone elthe feel it odd that the year ith 2009? I thtill have an queer feeling about it. Ath if that ith ridulouth. But independent corroboration indicateth that the date ith correct. It ith, March tenth, 2009."
Betty groaned, "No, who CARES what the date is? We just need to do something and make some decisions and HE," she gestured to the large man, "seems to be the only one willing to do that."
The orang was about to answer when the Asian's reply pre-empted him.
"The date will be important to finding out what happened to us," the Asian said, watching the silent twin as she continued cooking but addressing the group in the adjoining room. He held a plate in his hand. "As will many things we have seen and heard. If it is not of immediate value, though, we need to move on." He glanced at Betty. "It is important," he reiterated before looking back at the silent twin. "Just not as important as what to do next."
"Oh, by all means," snapped Tom, waving a hand at the door. "Do 'something'. Let impatience take over, yes, do that won't you? Act the spoiled child and you'll end up dead, or flat on your back my dear girl." He let out a great "Hrmph", eyes flashing. "You have a brain in that pretty head. Start using it."
Betty cocked her head at Tom and narrowed her eyes as if looking at him in a new light, momentarily drawn to the elderly man, she shook her head vigorously to dismiss the thought. Hands on hips, the impatient twin shot her gaze up to Al, "How far can you hear anyway, like how much warning will we have if the police ARE coming? Would you be able to hear the owners coming too?"
"That," the Asian man said with interest, using his fork to gesture. "Is a good question."
"Reckon I should be able to give us a few minutes warning. Enough time for us to get out of the house, make ourselves scarce. Only 2 people other than us know we're here, so that should work to our favour." Al turned to face Tom, towering over the older man. "And I am not being impatient. There may be something here that will tell us where we are. These dwellings must have some kind of designation, something to tell them one from another. If we know that, the Orang here may be able to pinpoint our location. When we know our location, we can plan where we are going to move to. And when. If you want to help in this, look for a map."
"My point," said Tom, "was that we should all have a say in things before splitting up, not that your ideas aren't good ones." His eyes were cool as he gazed up into the larger mans face. "Now, you may be used to giving orders and having people snap to... I don't know about that. But we aren't you're troopers and this ain't the army. Let everyone have a say, then we pick the best plan."
And I don't give a good goddamn how big you are, sonny boy, Tom's body language was practically screaming. "That being said, your plan so far is a good one, but we need to figure out who's onboard with it and who ain't." He jerked a thumb towards the Asian. "Cause this one here is ready to rabbit should these police show up, and that to me is a bit of a problem."
With a shrug, the orang turned back to the computer and typed, slowly, s-t-r-a-n-g-e d-i-s-a-p-p-e-a-r-a-n-c-e-s in the empty white field. Seeing a button labeled search he clicked it.
The screen changed in a fraction of a second. On it, across the top near the right hand corner were the words, Results, 1-10 of about 260,000 for strange disappearances. (0.16 seconds).
Along the left hand side was several paragraphs, each beginning with a title in blue and underlined.
Vanished-Strange cases of Unsolved Disappearances
They finally came forawrd with the strange story 50 years after the infamous Gallipoli campaign of WWI. the three members of a New Zealand field company ...
People that Disappear into Thin Air - Another Dimesnion Perhaps?
Strange disappearances. people vanishing into thin air in front of witnesses, never to be seen again, does it really happen? There are countless stories ...
And so on. The Orang hovered the device's pointer over the title and it changed in appearance, indicating the title was an actionable item. He clicked the title and the screen changed. A new subscreen opened up. The orang scanned it quickly. There were several paragraphs, each detailing the story behind several supposedly baffling disappearances, but offered no explanation for them and none of them resembled their group's current situation.
At the top of the page, were ac ouple of symbols, one was an 'x' and when he hovered the pointer over it, the word close popped up in a little button. He clicked the x and the subscreen closed. He clicked the title of the next paragraph and was rewarded with another subscreen. This one was similiar to the first subscreen but the information was extended, with a section that gave facts that attempted to prove the stories of disappearances were false, and did so adequately enough that the Orang moved on.
Each new subscreen brought a list of unexplained disappearances, some involving something called the Bennington Triangle or the Bermuda Triangle. None seemed to jive with their situation and most were considered 'historical' in nature. He saw dates of 1880, 1974, 1969, etc. While interesting, they did not seem to hold any meaning for their group.
He closed each subscreen until he was back at the original search screen. He changed the data in the search field to read 'strange appearances', and clicked the search button again.
Watching over the Orangs shoulder, Betty suppressed a groan as he entered the second search. She couldn't understand why he thought this very similar query would be any more useful than the original one. She had no patience for the analytical beast. Having completely lost interest in this course of action, Betty twirled away and headed to further examine the surroundings as her large friend Al had suggested and figure out the 'location'.
This time, he noticed there were over 3 million successful matches to his search. Again, he decided to sample the first several. They were even more disappointing than the last 'search'. Several were advertisements for a book, some subscreens that seemed dedicated to a colorful character called Dr. Strange, and detailing his appearances in a series of periodicals. He liked the sound of the name of the character, though the character seemed based in sorcery, rather than hard science, and filed it away as a possibility for a label for the others to ease their communication with him.
He scanned a few more of the subscreens, including an interesting few on random bits of corrupted data in software applications, before abanding this line of search. He typed in unexplained appearances, thinking that might be more fruitful and was rewarded with another long list of subscreens, this time totalling a little over the hundred thousand.
The First subscreen, titled, Tales From the Fort: The Charles Fort Files, had listing of various stories of strange creatures, and unexplained phenomenon. The orang, nearly closed it in frustration before scrolling to the bottom, when he caught a heading that intrigued him. Mysterious people: Unexplained appearances. The first story, another historical account, was of a man in a place called Chatham, somewhere in a country called England, that had appeared naked, from apparently nowhere, and could remember nothing of himself.
The orang ccontinued reading, a faint glimmer of hope fading quickly as each story was left unanswered, and it was all historical in nature, each occurring between eighty to a hundred years previous to the current year. The orang found his frustration returning.
This data store, this 'internet', was frustratingly disorganized. Everything he found basically pointed to a society that seemed fascinated with the paranormal, either in promoting it or debunking it. What he needed was factual data not fanciful fiction. This limited interface did not help.
The orang growled low in his throat verbalizing his frustration with the disorganization of this data store. He turned his attention from the computer for a moment, staring off into space trying to organize his thoughts. Obviously, he needed to figure out a better way to process his searches, but his unfamiliarity with the interface was hampering. Why oh why did it have to be so non-intuitive? Couldn't someone, somewhere come up with a better way to organize and present the data?
The orang idly wondered how he would set up such a system. Obviously, without more time, and access to the base technology supproting this network, there was little he could do. The search function he was using seemed to be a simple keyword boolean algorithm with fuzzy logic support. Barely adequate unless one knew exactly what they were looking for. The ratio of relevant data to irrelevant data was absurdly low, especially with the apparent disorganization of the data. There was too much redundancy. The entire database needed to be cross-referenced, edited, streamlined and compartmentalized. A more advanced contextual search algorithm needed to be written, and a direct neural interface would be much preferable to the clumsy manual interface he was forced to deal with.
Lost in his thoughts, the orang began drumming lightly on the table with the fingers of his right hand, his gaze directed at no one in particular, his eyes unfocused.
The small plastic bowl contained several rings with keys and other things on them, including a few small black remotes with three or four buttons, a small metal claw-like implement, and a small multi-tool with at least a dozen offerings including a tiny but bright flashlight. Betty examined the contents briefly before sticking the ring with the helpful looking tools into her coat pocket.
Between the bowl and the basket of papers were two small, curious devices. They were both made of white plastic and each had a blank screen on its face along with some rudimentary controls. One was small enough to dissapear into even her petite hand, and very thin. The other was larger and thicker but not by much. The bigger of the two had a screen that took up most of one entire flat side. The smaller device had a screen about an inch and a half square on one side. Both were attached by thin white wires to a junction in the wall. By pushing a couple buttons Betty was surprised to see the devices light up. She quickly carried these over to the Orang.
"Here" she said as she placed the devices next to him, "more gadgets for you to figure out." With an ear to ear grin she hurried back into the kitchen to continue the exploration.
The orang broke out of his reverie at Betty's approach. He glanced at the devices and back to Betty, but before he could reply she had already darted back into the kitchen. The over garment she was wearing flapped behind her, doing little to cover her nakedness. He idly wondered how the other males were resisting the mating urge. He assumed she was attractive, by human standards, and with the male's pre-occupation with acquiring clothing, he wondered why she hadn't provided herself more 'decent' covering.
He shrugged to himself. While certainly interesting, her social behaviour was less important than finding useful data for resolving their predicament. Instead he turned his attention to the two devices. Picking up the larger of the two, he carefully examined it.
One side was almost all screen, with small pinholes in the casing's face at either end. There was what looked like an obvious power button and when depressed, it cause the screen to light up with the image of a grey apple on a white background. After what seemed to the orang as an initialization process, an intuitive icon-based menu appeared.
(GM NOTE: it's an iPhone. The address book as some 100+ entries including numbers and addresses. There's also about 100 songs, mostly modern country with some pop, classic rock, and alternative songs thrown in. It does have internet access.)
The basket of papers was accompanied by a thick yellow book. The title read "Local/Yellow Book For Middletown/Red Bank". The first half of the pages were white, the second half yellow. Otherwise the stack of paper and envelopes appeared to be business-like in nature. There were services or goods itemized on many of them with corresponding numbers next to them accompanied by a symbol that seemed to denote the numbers pertained to an amount of currency.
Betty quickly flipped through the white section of the book, "ooooh, here's a list of lots of names if you guys want one." She turned to her twin who was cooking up some delicious smelling something, "Do you like the name Jill?"
The quiet twin pulled her attention away from the picture box, to look at Betty. "No." She said simply. "Betty."
"You want to be Betty?...But I'm Betty"
-?-
The original Betty shrugged, "Can we both be Betties?" she inquired of the group.
She fingered through a couple of the yellow pages before closing the book and leaving it on the counter.
Comments
Sorry for the delay guys, I
Sorry for the delay guys, I didn't realize everyone was waiting on me.
I threw in a bit of crazy.
Both had red hair and were
Now THAT was funny, and oh so true.
I'll be posting more later
I'll be posting more later today. Great stuff so far!
I'll have this updated by
I'll have this updated by sometime tomorrow. Great work so far!
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I've a longer response
I've a longer response coming(in the works), fighting a migraine right now, so can't think. I apologize for any delays.
<?- any response to the
No...I imagine her being too focused on what the Asian was doing to the alarm box to be able to notice the antics of the smaller Orang. She's just very focused on whatever or whoever has her attention at the time. Currently. Once she has a better feel for her environment that focus will let up.
Gotcha. no problem. Just
Gotcha. no problem. Just making sure you saw it and had the opportunity to react. :)
hey guys and gals, Just a
hey guys and gals,
Just a reminder, and a heads up, I suffer a bit of Dyslexia, especially when typing, and it seems to be getting worse as I get older. If you happen to be reading through and see anything all jumbled up, please feel free to fix it. Sometimes I catch it, and sometimes I don't.
Thanks.
(all that being said I'll continue to try to find my own errors and edit as neccessary.)
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I thought I had posted to
I thought I had posted to this a dozen times cuz I kept meaning to. Sorry!