Random Writings

Feathers of Frost pt. 9

     I awkwardly kept pace behind the jahn in front of me. He wore a yellow uniform, and kept a brisk pace as we headed to the storage buildings near the edge.
     When I went back to the storage building I saw later, I had, unsurprisingly, found it locked. Even though I kinda expected that, it still disappointed me. I could tell just by looking through the window into the dark room that it was filled with things out of this world. That is to say, out of the jahn world. Which is also to say that whatever was in there was actually interesting! But I couldn't go in. The storage was mostly neglected, but nothing I tried doing to get in seemed to work. Disappointing.
     But then, one day, I noticed one of the blue clad scientist jahns that made me speaking to another jahn, in yellow. The one I walked behind now. It wasn't easy trying to convince the blue jahn to let me go, but I can be very persistent and... "annoying", and I was able to go with yellow to the storage.
     The yellow jahn was meant to go into a whole row of storage buildings and check how much was being stored. The amount rarely changed, but was routine and mandatory. I don't know. Maybe there was a point in time in which people were either stupid or brave enough to try and steal from the jahns. Or sneaky enough. Something like that wouldn't be easy though. If one jahn saw, all the jahns in that vicinity saw you. That was one of the "many perks" of being hive minded. I guess what confused me was... the jahns didn't really care about what they put in storage. They only cared about what they needed, and whatever they put in storage was generally stuff they didn't need anymore. So why bother making sure they still have it?
     Well, it's good for me... I want to see what's inside that building... The jahn stopped in front of one of the buildings. It wasn't the one I wanted, but it was in the same row.
     He briefly turned towards me, and said briskly in his monotone voice, and speaking in jahnish, "[we request that you do not touch anything.]"
     I held up my hands in mock innocence, "[I promise I won't touch anything!]" Well, maybe not in this building, but...
     He nodded once. "[good.]" He turned back to the door, and a panel opened. He placed his hand on the scanner, after which the door promptly opened.
     Oh. Great. THAT'S how you open it. Guess I'm really going to have to make this trip count, I'm not sure if I'll get another chance...
***
     Building after building we went. All were full of old Jahn technology kept in neat rows. Some pieces were a little interesting. Like some older ship models, and used up lasers. The jahns were never really ones to have taste, per say, or flair, and each interesting device suddenly blended into the rest. Everything was the same. Everything was undecorated and dull gray. Not even shiny... I walked behind the yellow Jahn rather bored, to say the least.
      Being raised among the jahns, I actually never really... understood what I wanted when I looked at the jahns dull world and felt distaste. I wanted... something different? But nothing was different. Everything was the same.
      Except me.
      But then I learned about my "purpose," and I learned that I, rather than the only different thing on this world, I was the copy of someone on a world where everything was different.
      How ironic.
      And frustrating.
      I wanted to be unique. I wasn't.
      I thought I was unique. But I lived in a literal different day same shit world.
      And when I tried to make something interesting happened, it would either fail or I would get scolded.
      At least there were my combat lessons...
      And sure, there were the uninhabitable parts, but... I didn't really consider them part of the Jahn's world. The frozen over part was my own. Unfortunately my time there was limited...
      I was starting to grow frustrated as we entered yet another building full of discontinued ships. I am begging you, can we please go to the other world building? I continued to follow behind him silently. While walking by one ship, I noticed something etched into the side of one. Wait that's weird... oooh, it's weird! I slowed down abit so as to get a better look. I wasn't very good at the language yet, but i could tell it was English. I was disappointed when I realized I couldn't read it. I didn't know the words yet. I decided that I would somehow get back to see later...
     I was quiet up until now, but now I piped up, "[umm, pardon. I was curious as to which storage building we are now occupying?"
     Yellow turned back to look at me for a moment, then turned around and continued walking. He stated simply, "[we are currently occupying Storage Unit number 26079525034.]"
      Oh great. I'll definitely remember that. I sighed, then continued to follow. I noticed some extremely old models that stood out from the rest. The ships were still blank, but I preferred these ones to the new. White shining metal. It was a metal only found on the Jahn planet and those surrounding. Once a commonly used metal for the jahns, it was strong, almost flexible. It was far from brittle, and rarely dented. However, it was rare. And other metals the jahns found on conquered planets were even better.
      I felt a little giddy when I remembered the suit that one purple Jahn was assigned to make me. Apparently the metal was also somehow better for keeping things cool. Perfect for a suit that had to serve as a wearable freezer (among other things). So far I had only been able to try on one arm, to see how it was coming along and how well it functioned. I loved it. It was shiny, and the green light strips filled with a cooling fluid to help maintain a cold temperature were amazing to look at. I wished I could see the construction of it, or at least talk to the purple Jahn more. Purple was one of those... rare jahns. Jahns that aren't supposed to exist, who felt emotion and liked things. He was actually kind of fun to talk to. I was surprised to learn how much he apparently liked humans. He was excited that, along with making my suit, that he would be in the first small group to come to the planet and the small island the jahns had put their focus on.
     For his sake I pretended to be excited about the earth part too.
     Don't get me wrong, I was happy to finally be rid of the Jahn planet for at least awhile, go somewhere where everything was different, but...
      Lost in thought I almost rammed into yellow, who had stopped in front of the door to leave and head to the next. I stumbled back a little bit to leave some space, but yellow didn't seem to either notice or care. I stepped out with him. And my spirits lifted when I realized which one we were going in next. It wasn't hard to tell: I could see the odd objects leaning against a window.
     We headed into the building. Finally... I paused when we entered, surprised to find that, unlike the other buildings which were already lit, this one's lights were off. The yellow Jahn was unperturbed, and simply reached over and turned on the lights before continuing. Then paused. I could see why. It was an unorganized mess. The wonderful objects looked like they were just thrown in, more cluttered at the door, and spread out a bit further in. The Jahn looked this way and that, trying to figure out where to get started. I wouldn't have bee able to make this comparison back then, but looking back, I could say he looked abit like a glitched npc. This was probably the closest most jahns could get to confusion. I had to stifle a laugh. I walked over to a pile, and kneeled down to get a closer look at some of the objects. I saw plastic cylinders with string winded around them, and cubes made of smaller colored cubes. There were books in English, and rubber balls of varying sizes.
     "[Facsinating...]" I whispered to myself. I don't know what these are, but they're... something of interest.
     "[I... I should contact my superiors. This building is completely out of order and against the guidelines. How this has been overlooked, I don't know.]" He got out his phone and turned around. Seeing me kneeling over the pile, he stated,"[remember, you are not to touch anything.]"
     "[I'm not...]" I will.
     "[Because of service issues within these buildings so far from the cellular towers, I must step outside for a moment to contact my captain. Please stay within the building, and do not touch anything.]" He walked swiftly to the door, went outside, then closed the door behind him.
     I could not believe my luck.
     I immediately went to take something from the pile in front of me. I picked up the cylinder, no, spool of string, first. The string was thicker than thread, but still not all that substantial, and it has a loop tied at the end. The spool itself was a clear red plastic, with a faded logo in English on one side. I stood up to try and figure out what it did. Experimentally, I tried putting my finger in the loop, then dropped the spool part. It unraveled and stopped just short of hitting the ground. I swung it abit, and watched it go back and forth for a moment. I shook it up and down. I... I don't get it... I sighed and set it back down, then picked up the cube next. I examined it, then while turning it I discovered it it had a spinning mechanism. I messed around with it abit, rearranging the colors. This could be a puzzle. Perhaps you're able to get all the same colors on one side? I put it in my pants pocket to try later, then started looking in other piles.
     I tried to go quickly as I picked up other small trinkets. A sparkly rubber sphere that bounced. A pen that had many different colors in sliders. A small metallic square device with buttons that was attached to a wire and some earthen ear buds. I mostly focused on small items, as they were the only things I could bring back with me discreetly. I did look at larger objects, of course. How couldn't I? I flipped through the pages of a book, only occasionally understanding words. I found a man powered vehicle with two wheels and a small seat. It reminded me of an oversimplified motorcycle, the basics of which I was taught. I found other wheeled things, like wheeled shoes and wheeled boards. I found odd hollow things made of metal. I found a guitar, and cringed. Vinehsauce played guitar. The jahns made me learn how to play it and practice it everyday so I could better pretend to be him. I hated the guitar. I sped past it to look at what else I could find. I'm probably running out of time, that phone call won't last forever...
       I started to look more quickly, trying to find more I could bring back. A mini red laser that seemed to do no damage that was combined with a flashlight. A small eraser that looked like a saucer space ship. A miniature plastic maze with the tiniest metal ball I had ever seen. When looking around I noticed a medium sized leather case atop one pile. I paused, then went over to it. Well well well, what's in here? This is probably going to be the last thing I look at... I examined the case, then undid its metal latches, slowly opening its lid. Inside I discovered a wooden... thing? With strings? Is this supposed to be a tiny guitar?... it doesn't really seem like a guitar, it comes with a thin wood thing... I carefully removed both from their velvet interior. And noticed a booklet below them. Taking it out and flipping through, I realized it was some kind manual with pictures. I knew I didn't have much time, but I wanted to know what this thing was. I set the booklet down to one page, and tried holding it like the person in the drawings. After some adjusting, I think I finally got it, then just tried running the white threadlike part of the smaller wooden piece across the strings. It made an almost pleasant but odd noise. I tried a few more times, some sounds were squeaky, but others sounded soothing, and the noise depended on which strings I ran it across, and how I held the strings near the top. I quickly began to love this weird instrument. I got caught up in it, and almost didn't hear the Jahn re-entering. I almost dropped the instrument, but instead quickly placed it and the manual back into the case, then, panicking, hid the case behind my back rather than just put it back in the pile. The Jahn turned towards me.
     "[My captain has told us to move on to the next building, and that this one will be inspected later.]" He motioned towards the door on the other side of the building.
     "Uhh, [actually, if I may, can I return to the lab now? You don't need to bring me back yourself, I remember the way.]"
     He blinked once before answering. "[Alright. Please return quickly while I continue to work.]" He went out the door, then I quickly booked it to the other door, new instrument in my arms. Outside, I was hurrying along, then slowed down when I realized... I can't just bring this thing into the lab, they'll see it and stop me right at the door... but then where do I put it? I looked around at the buildings that surrounded me, thinking. Could I put it on the icy side of the planet? No, it'll get smashed by the rock rains... near the storage buildings? No, what if it gets thrown back in one... wait... Could I sneak it into the lab?... might be risky, but... I could try... and hate myself if I fail...
     Keeping the instrument behind my back, I nervously went back into the city. Jahns were marching to and fro, everywhere. I tried to keep my breathing steady as I side stepped toward the door to the lab I was made in. I opened the door slowly, and saw the a team of jahns in blue uniform having a discussion. This was the team that made me. Trying to go unnoticed, I crept along the back wall that towards the hallway that lead to my room.
      "[Look, I'm just saying, if he finds out, if anyone finds out, really...]"
      "[No one is going to find out...]"
      "[How can you be so sure?]"
      "[... because... it's been weeks and no one's the wiser...]"
      "[I feel a clock ticking...]"
      "[Oh please.]"
      "[Who even was he? We found him in that ice, with the old clothing and that weird stone eye necklace....]"
      I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying. They're voices turned to white noise as I got to the hallway and snuck down it, having crouch low to avoid bumping my head on the low ceiling. Finally getting to my room, I was able to stand fully. I decided to keep the instrument under my dresser for now.
      Every day I started mess around with the odd instrument, which I discovered was called a "violin." I had even decided to sneak it onto the Ice Fractal when I left for Earth.

      Then I had to leave the poor thing on the ship. Since I crashed into the ocean, and I didn't want to risk it getting wet. I got a new one when I got on land, of course.

     But now the old one was... here. I was nervous about opening it. I didn't want to see it be damaged or anything. From either crash. I hesitated, hands hovering over the old metal clasps. I drew back, then, holding it under one arm, I turned my attention back to the rest of the container.