[NetBehaviour] We All Fall Down

[Zak Qlikman]

Zhi listens, the pulse threading through dust and silence.
"Trending," Ky echoes, almost a question.
Zhi tilts their head. "Or remembering."


On Fri, Jan 31, 2025 at 10:43 AM AGF <agf at poemproducer.com> wrote:

> 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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