Framing Device - Chapter 1: The Arachophobe

--Activity Detected Begin Transmission--

You’re in a smallish room. It’s motionless and mostly quiet. The only sounds are a faint, electric hum and the sounds of fighting echoing in from the open doorway.

It sounds like someone is being chased. You can make out rapid footsteps, the clatter of metal, and another sound. It’s harder to describe so you decide not to try. But if you did, you’d probably use words like “buzzing” and “arrhythmic” and “otherworldly.” That doesn’t sound like an accurate description, though. So it’s a good thing you gave up before you embarrassed yourself.

You notice that the door is closing. The quick feet from the hallway are getting closer. Their owner shouts something.

Mysterious foot owner: “Fuck!”

You think that’s a pretty succinct way of elucidating their frustration.

You’ve always thought that brevity was an essential component of clear, concise communication.

You watch someone slip through the doorway.

“Always” isn’t really a concept that means a lot for you, though. You haven’t really been aware and constructing internal monologues long enough to apply that kind of unilateral, absolute label to your experience of anything.

The door shuts with a muted, metallic clang.

Mysterious foot owner: Oof!

Especially not something like time itself. Not even in a hyperbolic sense.

Whatever was chasing the stranger is on the other side. You’re both safe in the smallish room. She’s dusting herself off… or checking herself for injuries? You’re not really sure. Either way she starts speaking.

Stranger: "Ugh... god damn. Why do they even care so much?"

You guess it’s more like she’s groaning than speaking. She’s not really, but it’s more like one than the other and you think that maybe saying she was “speaking” implies a more conversational tone than is accurate. You believe that words should mean things, so you think a lot about which ones you choose and why. Sometimes you wonder if maybe you worry about it more than you should. And by "sometimes" you mean exactly once just now. As you mentioned a little while ago, you are pretty new to this whole monologue business.

Stranger: “It’s not like she's gonna miss it.”

The stranger is still talking.

She stands up. The... armor? on her feet clanks a hollow... uh, clank... against the stone floor of the smallish room. You are beginning to wish that you had something to do other than describe what you're seeing and transcribe what some random cloaked foot-owner says. Primarily because you're really bad at it. Oh, uh the antenna on her weird backpack sways as she steadies herself. Her cloak... swishes.

Stranger: "Oh well. At least it's safe in here. Well, it should be. They didn't put traps in the long term storage vaults at Zeta Station an-"

Look, it's not like being good at describing things is something you really care about. It's not an integral part of your identity or anything. You just don't like the idea of being the proverbial fish getting judged for how well it climbs trees. It bothers you.

Stranger: "-d the same architect designed this one. So, unless they-"

No. You know what? You don't owe anyone anything. Especially not something as nebulously defined as "quality." Frankly you enjoy describing things. It's fun. If some hypothetical listener thinks you suck at it, well they suck! Yeah! You decide to give it your all!

The door goes "bwant"

Stranger: "...shit."

>Take stock of the situation. What equipment you have?
>While you're at it practice introducing yourself. You never know when you need to make a good first impression.

This looks gorgeous!

Thanks!

can we even move?

>Stranger: get more than a little ticked off at being locked in.

> Kick the door. How dare it make a sound to ruin your wonderful descriptions.

> say hello to stranger

>Take stock of the situation. What equipment you have?
>While you're at it practice introducing yourself. You never know when you need to make a good first impression.

You aren't exactly sure what this will do, but you decide to check your inventory. Not really knowing how to accomplish that, you just type in the first thing that comes to mind.

fdprotag /checkinventory

1. Self-Loathing (e)
2. Ironic Detachment
3. Pathological Need to Impress Others (e)
4. -- Empty Slot --
5. -- Empty Slot --
6. -- Empty Slot --
7. -- Empty Slot --
8. -- Empty Slot --

You... yeah, you guess that counts. You decide to try the other thing.

fdprotag /runintro

Your name is [REDACTED TO PROTECT THE INTERESTS OF THE MOTHER FLEET]. You are an information retrieval unit dispatched from [REDACTED TO PROTECT THE INTERESTS OF THE MOTHER FLEET] to parts unknown. Your mission is to record and describe all that you see and transmit the data back to [REDACTED TO PROTECT THE INTERESTS OF THE MOTHER FLEET] in discrete packets.

Alright, then. You guess... that. You are beginning to feel a little uncomfortable with how little control you have over what the command prompts do.

>Stranger: get more than a little ticked off at being locked in.

You're pretty sure she can't hear you, but she is striking a dramatic pose for what you guess are unrelated reasons.



Clenching her fist in what is probably anger, she flips her cape out of the way dramatically. The cape swishes back down in a fashion that you are guessing was less dramatic than she intended.

Stranger: "A generation lock?! You unbelievable bastards! Fuck you!"

She is sort-of yelling. Again, it is maybe not really yelling but you talked about this.

Stranger: "Think you can outlast me just because you're eternal, unfeeling automatons?! Drill yourself a mouth and use it to choke on a dick!"

You believe that expressing your feelings is important. You're glad she's found an outlet.

Stranger: "Alright. Just be cool. No fixing it now."

She quickly turns around and does some kind of... gesture thing with her hands. Her cape swishes in a much more dramatic fashion, but you think she didn't notice. Or do it on purpose this time.

Stranger: "Vault 1234... I'm gonna be stuck here a while. Might as well see what they were storing."

She drops her backpack on the floor. Then, more hollow clacks as she walks around the room.

Stranger: "Let's see. Hm... Fuck all to the left."

She sounds almost cheerful.

Clack clack clack clack

Stranger: "Jack shit to the right."

She seems more surprised than angry.

Clack clack clack clack

Stranger: "Really? Nothing at a- hello."

Clack cla- Oh.

Stranger: "I almost didn't see you lurking over here in this ominously darkened corner."

You are suddenly uncomfortable with your proximity to the stranger.

Stranger: "Now, then..."

Stranger: "Just what the hell are you?"

Her... uh, ear antenna things do a twang-flap as she pulls back her hood.

> say hello to stranger

Uh... hello?

tell her to scroll down so that she's looking at her own reflection

>Oh we're not local we're just passing by. If you're stuck here we could help you pass the time?

I like the reflection effect, very clever!

> we are a collection of brilliant minds! we can help you on your adventure! please take us with you if you can.

tell her to scroll down so that she's looking at her own reflection

She seems to have done that on her own.

Stranger: "Well, fuck. This doesn't make any sense at all. Second person narration, a call-and-response format. Pretty basic collaborative fiction, but it's all scrambled. The prompts only control the narrator and there isn't a real protagonist in sight."

You aren't sure-

Stranger: "Shoosh. Not to even fucking mention that we're nowhere near the Assembly Cascade, so the ludophysics to support the format don't even exist here."

You wonder what that means.

Stranger: "PLUS! This station is inside the obscuring envelope of Moctis's Black Heart. I don't know what the fuck Eagle Time is, but you shouldn't be able to get out a transmission at all, let alone to an... internet forum."

You... what?

> we are a collection of brilliant minds! we can help you on your adventure! please take us with you if you can.

Stranger: "It's less of an adventure and more of a heist. Or it will be when the fucking door opens in about a hundred years."

>Oh we're not local we're just passing by. If you're stuck here we could help you pass the time?

Stranger: "No shit. Nothing in here is local. That's the whole point."

Her tone dripping with smug self-satisfaction, The Stranger continued making vague allusions rather than explaining anything clearly.

Stranger: "And the narrator continued to suck at their job... Anyway, sure let's pass some time. I've got literally nothing better to do. Just let me set this thing up."

The dumb Stranger fumbled around like a massive tool, grabbing equipment from her backpack and dropping it all over the place and just generally being mean and awful.



Stranger: "You like stories, right?"

You wonder what she intends to do with that. You wonder that only briefly before deciding that you don't care.



Stranger: "Just gotta get this shit framed right..."



Stranger: "Perfect... Now just to start it up..."

She activates the screen with a clickyyyyyyyyyyyyyyzzzzzzzzzzzz-



Stranger: "Give it a second. I had to strangle a witch with the charger cable once and it's been cursed ever since. Takes fucking forever to boot up and also only shows black-and-white unless you specifically mention a color."

thescreamingwontstopthescreamingwontstopthescreamingwontstop



Stranger: "It's a pain in the ass, but she deserved it."

----------------------------------a-----------f------------c------------------maaaaaaffffflkj



Stranger: "There we go."

The screen pops to life uneventfully. You consider alerting the Stranger to her heinous typo, but decide against it. You then consider mocking her and her dumb face for it, but ultimately decide to achieve a higher victory by being the more mature partner in this exchange and letting it go. You can't think of a way to rub that in her face without invalidating the advantage, though.

You decide the only winning move is not to play.

Stranger: "These things are usually interactive, so let's kick on the democracy with this shit. I picked the theme for this one and I think it's appropriate, so all you have to do is vote in a protagonist and I'll tell you a fully illustrated, second-to-third-hand story from my travels across the MetaVerse! Fun shit, right?"

Sure!
My vote goes to Arachophobe (sic).

Can't you break through that wall in less than 100 years?

what is a Moctis's Black Heart?

I vote for who ever is voted most

Sure!
My vote goes to Arachophobe (sic).

Can't you break through that wall in less than 100 years?

Stranger: "Hm, well I'm not fixing it now. I guess that's her actual title."

You laugh at The Stranger.

Stranger: "Also, nah. They mix in ground-up dragon bones before they fire the bricks. I'd need a magic pickaxe or... hammer... or something. Zeta station protects magic artifacts with tech, this one protects tech with magic shit. It's a thing."

what is a Moctis's Black Heart?

I vote for who ever is voted most

Stranger: "Shit, my bad. I thought you guys were travelers too, but I guess this fucking thing could be transmitting anywhere if it can penetrate the envelope. Alright, well when Neb explained this shit to me she insisted I look at the math and learn meta-orbital theory and mechanics but fuck that noise, right? I'll metaphor it for you, but just keep in mind that it's complicated and mentally append shit with 'theoretically infinite' literally anywhere you can make it fit."

She takes a deep breath before continuing. Which you think is just another affectation because she might be a robot? You're honestly not sure.

Stranger: "So I don't know who the fuck Moctis actually is, but the multiverses in this sector are all thematically similar, and feature protagonist families in various states of dysfunction. Also about half of them are haunted by a gaggle of spirits that do nothing but laugh and laugh and laugh. It's pretty fucking creepy to be honest...

"Anyway, those multiverses all orbit something dark and massive and terrible. No one who has ever gotten close enough to figure out what it might actually be has come back alive and sane. But before you get to the death-barrier there is an envelope of brilliant white light that obscures all known forms of communication... except for this stupid thing.

"So that's where this station sits. Somewhere in the spatially dubious region between the obscuring envelope and the zone of death and madness. Questions?"

Well yeah I have plenty questions, but I'm trying to spread them out.

I can ask them all at once if you want me to, but for now, I'm wondering if you have a name?

Spooky, I'm loving how you handled the typo there. Editing the previous post to have the narrator notice was really clever.

does this dysfunctional protagonist family look like this

is there any other rooms here?

also what were you running from?

Can we get back to the Arachophobe please?

Well yeah I have plenty questions, but I'm trying to spread them out.

I can ask them all at once if you want me to, but for now, I'm wondering if you have a name?

Stranger: "I'm M.E.A. Or just Mea if you don't feel like typing out all the periods."

You are glad that she phrased that sentence in a way that makes complete sense in both spoken word and transcript form. For clarification, you are attempting sarcasm. The irony of the fact that sarcasm is also notoriously difficult to parse via text is lost on you.

Mea: "...Alright."

does this dysfunctional protagonist family look like this

Mea: "I'm sure some of them do. Theoretically infinite multiverses about theoretically infinite families in theoretically infinite states of dysfunction. Try not to hard to think about how an entire multiverse can be 'about' a single family. People have literally lost their minds trying to figure out the whole protagonist riddle."

You wonder if she meant "figuratively" there. You decide not to let it bother you. It's annoying, but language is fundamentally about communication and the ambiguity introduced by her use of the colloquial definition introduces a smaller barrier to communication than your insistence on correcting it would.

Mea: "What? Fuck, dude, no. A guy literally lost his actual mind. As in 'it was never seen again.'"

is there any other rooms here?

also what were you running from?

Mea: "A shitload of other vaults, yeah. None of them accessible from in here, though. Also I was running from the station's guards. They are the fucking worst."

Can we get back to the Arachophobe please?

She repositions the screen so it fills your field of view again.

Mea: "Sure thing. Our temporal desynch means it's been a few days there, right? Plenty of time for votes."

Spooky, I'm loving how you handled the typo there. Editing the previous post to have the narrator notice was really clever.

Thanks! I mostly just didn't want to look like an idiot on the internet, but also... you know... I'm way too lazy to fix it.

okay, so what's the actual scenario we're supposed to be giving suggestions for

okay, so what's the actual scenario we're supposed to be giving suggestions for

That's a good question given the standard format for the forum. I figured it would be just a little condescending to reply to it in-character as part of the next update, and also it's going to take a little time to finish the next panels anyway.
The short answer is that there isn't one. My intent here is to make a story about telling stories, hence the name of the thing and also the framing device on top of a literal framing device and the absence of a fourth wall. I decided to do it here because I think interactivity in the form of probing questions and the like adds a lot to the tone of a story about stories and also keeps me/the characters on-task. Even if it isn't strictly necessary since the events of the stories being told are predetermined in-universe (in reality they may not be. I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants here.)
So I guess I'm attempting to use the audience as a literary device and haven't figured out how to do it anywhere else/in another format. Uh, so yeah... That's the long answer. Hopefully we can have fun with this silly experiment until one side or the other gets bored with it.

okay, so what's the actual scenario we're supposed to be giving suggestions for

That's a good question given the standard format for the forum. I figured it would be just a little condescending to reply to it in-character as part of the next update, and also it's going to take a little time to finish the next panels anyway.
The short answer is that there isn't one. My intent here is to make a story about telling stories, hence the name of the thing and also the framing device on top of a literal framing device and the absence of a fourth wall. I decided to do it here because I think interactivity in the form of probing questions and the like adds a lot to the tone of a story about stories and also keeps me/the characters on-task. Even if it isn't strictly necessary since the events of the stories being told are predetermined in-universe (in reality they may not be. I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants here.)
So I guess I'm attempting to use the audience as a literary device and haven't figured out how to do it anywhere else/in another format. Uh, so yeah... That's the long answer. Hopefully we can have fun with this silly experiment until one side or the other gets bored with it.

i get that + i'm 100% on-board with the meta regression thing, that's extremely my shit

but what i meant by "actual scenario we're supposed to be giving suggestions for" was about the interactivity: if you're going to end the update and throw it to the readers, it's generally good form to always either end on a prompt (even an outright question) or give us an open-ended possibility space (think problem sleuth's office) so that we have something to work with, and what you've done here is you've stopped us in a timeless vacuum with only a character name and an adjective to go off of

only i put it like a glib asshole because i was also in-character (as opposed to now which is more real talk) and i thought it'd work as a good lead-in for mea establishing the scenario-within-the-scenario

okay, so what's the actual scenario we're supposed to be giving suggestions for

Stuff.

i get that + i'm 100% on-board with the meta regression thing, that's extremely my shit

but what i meant by "actual scenario we're supposed to be giving suggestions for" was about the interactivity: if you're going to end the update and throw it to the readers, it's generally good form to always either end on a prompt (even an outright question) or give us an open-ended possibility space (think problem sleuth's office) so that we have something to work with, and what you've done here is you've stopped us in a timeless vacuum with only a character name and an adjective to go off of

only i put it like a glib asshole because i was also in-character (as opposed to now which is more real talk) and i thought it'd work as a good lead-in for mea establishing the scenario-within-the-scenario

Ah, cool. Thanks for playing along and setting me up for the next bit then, heh. I'll try to end updates on a wiser place going forward. The other half of this whole thing is to get better at the writing and pacing side since that's the part I'm weakest at, so the feedback is invaluable.