[NetBehaviour] We All Fall Down

[AGF]

Zhi's invisible ears rotate inwards
inwards where sound is muffled
the low frequency is like a pulse
trending

> On 31. Jan 2025, at 10.21, Zak Qlikman via NetBehaviour <netbehaviour at lists.netbehaviour.org> wrote:
> 
> Zhi emerges out of the shadow, moving slow, deliberate. S/He is dressed in mending cloth, their face hidden behind a mask of shards of glass and wire.
> 
> “You’re one of them,” Ky says, their voice muffled but level.
> 
> Zhi cocks their head, thinking. “One of what?”
> 
> “One of the ones who watched,” s/he says, creeping a little nearer. “Watched while everything fell apart.”
> 
> The accusation bites deep.
> 
> Ky wobbles, their hands clenching and unclenching. “Why have you come?”
> 
> Zhi looks at it, its markings glinting softly in dim light. “I have come to understand,” s/he says. “To learn what is left, and must continue.”
> 
> Ky spits out a laugh, its sound acid. “Nothing’s left to carry. Ghosts and ash, that’s all.”
> 
> “Not true,” Zhi says, their eyes moving to the flower at its feet. “The life remains, even in crevices.”
> 
> The two stand motionless for a long, quiet interval. 
> <sWeAllFallDown2025-01-04 16.40.12.jpg>
> Finally, Ky comes to life and talks. "If you're here to learn, then you have to see what we saw."
> 
> S/He offers a hand, and Zhi takes it. Hand in hand, they move deeper into the ruins.
> 
> And there, buried under heaps of ash and debris, stands a machine, behemoth and sleeping, its face etched with the same inscrutable symbols etched into their epidermis. 
> 
> The visitors watch it closely. "We made it to save us," Ky says.
> 
> Ky touches the face of the machine, resting a hand against its metal faceplate. 
> 
> "I see now," Zhi breathes. "The machine did not kill you, then."
> 
> Ky shudders in their voice. "So then, then, what?"
> 
> Zhi turns, radiating a new light in their form. "The fear of falling," s/he says, "when you could no longer stand together."
> 
> -
> 
> http://thevisitors.jeron.org/
> 
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