Twenty Story Walk-Up

Chilili Crow Dog flopped over, arm hanging limply over the side of her twin bed. The room was small, cramped with debri from the battle of education versus exhaustion. Textbooks were flipped open and littered with highlighted notes. Papers were scattered. Pens and pencils dotted the cluttered landscape. Empty carcasses of chip bags and fast food containers made their mark as well. Sunlight filtered through the closed blinds, casting long shadows across the barren wall. Aside from the mess, there was no trace of identity within her own room. Her roommate had barely cast a shadow in the apartment since she had hooked up with a drummer boyfriend. Even the absence did not give her incentive to claim ownership. This was a way station, a waiting room, anywhere but home. And it looked it.

A small clock radio began spitting an alarm in a broken staccato. Instinctively, she attempted to reach out her hand and smack the little bastard shut. She never got it on the first try. Not the second either. But as an eye creaked open, breaking apart the crust of the night before, she smacked the sucker good. The time blinked at her benignly, letting her know that she was already late for whatever she had to do that day. Ever since she had moved to the city, she was always running late for something. Time had never moved so fast before. Back home, it crawled with anticipation. It pulsed with life, just waiting to bloom. In the city, time was already decaying within her grasp.

It hit her then, in the dawn of waking. She was at work... faced with several people but they weren't people... No, that wasn't right. She sat up with a start. Chilili took in her surroundings but they hadn't changed. What did she do last night? She was at work... did she leave? Did she go home? She crawled out of bed, dropping to her knees on the floor. She had a test... Right? She looked through her homework, noting her own particular organizational pattern. The essay was left undone but that wasn't it. Something was just on the edge of her mind. Absentmindedly, she switched on the radio for the white noise of news. She had to get ready. Whatever pressing matter she had, it would have to wait. She was late... She had something important to get to. Work... right? Was that right? She stood up, looking around for clothes. It took only a moment to realize she was already wearing them. She looked down at her t-shirt and jeans. Chilili was still wearing her shoes. Her apron was still intact. What the hell?

She was at work... faced with several people but they weren't people... Gods? That's ridiculous... Familar faces, asking her to prove humanity was worthy. No, that was a dream, right? There was an argument... the apocalypse... she was chosen... Why her? She felt sick. Chilili sat down on the edge of her bed. "Don't be silly," she said to herself, "You've been studying to hard, working too hard... you came home and you were so tired that you fell asleep in your clothes... it's not the first time... You are not crazy... You are not... crazy,"

Radio Greetings girl, if I have calibrated this properly which I have undoubtedly done so, you should be hearing my voice clearly and at a conformable amount of hertz. I'm sure your response to this stimuli will be a paralysis induced by shock, but I haven't the time for you to undergo the natural process of assimilating to the reality of your situation. No, what you experienced last night wasn't a dream, some of us just felt you required sleep, your sanity to is relatively intact, and...You know what, I think this whole process of explanation can be sped up efficiently if we simply communicate in person for now...

Chilili Crow Dog turned her head towards the radio, catching the traffic report until it was interupted. She screamed with a start, jumping to her feet. She caught her rapid heartbeat in her throat. "Crap, I am crazy," she said to herself. A pencil snapped beneath her foot. Chilili shook her head as if it would stop the anouncement from happening. She could feel her old life slipping away from her. Why the hell did she agree? Why?! At the time, she felt cornered. It was fight or flight and she had to fight. But as the reality of her contract came to fruition, she had the panicked desire to leap out of the building. "No..." she said to herself, "Stop it... He has twenty stories... That gives you plenty of time to think..." And think she did. With the calm of a death-row convict, she took a shower and changed into another indistinct t-shirt and a clean pair of jeans. Chilili made herself some coffee. "You can't say no," she said to herself. This wasn't just about her anymore. And yet as Infinitous knocked on her door, her life began flashing before her eyes. Her childhood, her parents, her grandmother, college, the city, her job... Like a wheel spinning in her mind, it spun upon random memories of her old life. A life lived for herself. After the fourth knock, her mind stopped on a single memory. It was the last time she saw her mother. The last words she ever heard her say. Chilili paused, straddling between two worlds of reality and dream. She walked to the door and took a deep breath. The door opened wide upon a 13 year old boy. "Hi, come on in," she said.

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" Stood their for a instant, and craned his head up to make eye contact, he let out an annoyed sigh at seeing her expression. He rushed in clutching one of his book-bag straps with his right hand. "Good morni- ugh!" he tripped over an open book on the floor, however the fall was softened by a myriad of papers strewned all over the place, none the less the glasses became airborne.

Quagmire let out a petulant wine and pushed himself up to kneeling position. Quickly he grabbed his glasses and raised them to eye level in order to examine them for damage. "My glasses!" he screamed when he realized their was a missing glass. Frantically he began searching the ground for it, pushing the papers gently away from the likely spots the clear thin object might have landed on. "I take it back, communicating over the radio would have been more prudent! If this is a measure of your organizational skills it doesn't bode well for you." He said irritably, and then snorted. "I might think Maisie, was taking out her displeasure on me, but considering the statistical odds of having accidents of varying degrees of lethality in this mess, I have only myself to blame." A second after his tirade he found his missing glass.

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" ignored Chilili as he popped it back into place, and affixed his spectacles to his face, muttering to himself as he did, "How I detest disorder." He turned around and made his way towards the paper frosted table behind him, absentmindedly rubbing a bruise on his forearm. "Anyways lets get this over with so we can commence the testing. Listen carefully the less questions you have to ask at the end the better!" He removed his book-bag and slid it onto a chair unceremoniously pushing some folded clothes onto the floor as he did so. "You remember what was stated at the meeting last night correct? Each of us all will administer a test specially formulated to test the extent of the defect that we disapprove most of in humanity. Well I'm here now to brief you on the details of how this process will be carried out." He spoke as he walked, without permission or preamble he audaciously stomped his way into her bedroom. "Ah there it is," he said triumphantly. He reemerged from her room baring the alarm clock radio, Chilili had wrested with minutes before. "It would have been interesting to see whether or not you would have, noticed the lack of a plug and battery case if given enough time." He snorted and placed the radio on the table. "This," he said pointing at it as if Chilili was to dumb to realize what he spoke of. "Is not the receiver device you had, yesterday. Though identical in appearance externally, I made this. Oh you can use it as an alarm, and listen to music if you wish to...Although that would be rather imprudent considering the situation don't you think? Anyway it has one very significant difference, it can tune to a frequency outside of normal space. Allow me to demonstrate."

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" hit the seek button repeatedly going down the AM frequencies, he flew through the 8.0s until, the '8' on the digital screen fell to the side taking on a horizontal position. He looked up towards Chilili to make certain she had taken notice of the odd display and grinned broadly. "Infinity Point Zero! get it?" He cackled at his own joke, doubling over with laughter, then he took a breath so deep it came out as a gasp. "No matter what station you have it on, there will be a very distinct loud and abrupt noise. It is actually not sound, but electromagnetic waves in perfect sync with your brain waves I should add, this way only you can hear it. This will let you know that a test is about to commence. At that time the one who's turn it is to examine you will broadcast a set of instructions for you, another alarm means the test has commenced and the third one, will signify that your time is up. However you can turn to infinity point zero, at anytime you want, for a repeated recording of the intrusions...as well as for clues, and useful information that might assist you with your tests." He sat down in the chair next to his book-bag, he placed his hands on the table, or on top of the stack of books that laid on the table, interlocking his fingers. "Now do you have any questions?" He looked up at Chilili expectantly.

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" Was startled by the sound of the door opening abruptly. "Now what," he muttered irritated by the interruption. He shifted his position on the chair so that he was facing the door whilst remaining seated, as soon as he saw who it was his eyes widened slightly. "Edelia, what a relief! I saw the black hair through young Quagmire's peripheral vision, and I thought Maisie or Danse had come to aggravate me prematurely. Indeed it has been a long time...I suppose you could tell me precisely how long, down to one one-hundredth of a second further even if we wanted to get real technical." he smiled broadly, like an over joyed nerd who was meeting up with perhaps his only friend. Moments later his expression hardened, he narrowed his eyes and his mouth contorted into a scowl. "However your timing is horrendous! And you're the last person who can possibly have an excuse for that! Can't you see I'm in the middle of explaining the terms of the test to the Girl!" He blinked twice and fixed his gaze on Chilili remembering the fact that she was in the room. Then he looked at Edelia and back at Chilili, exhaling rather loudly it was reminiscent of a balloon being deflated. "I suppose a quick introduction would be the next logical step." He pointed at Edelia with his hand. "Edelia meet girl-erm Chilili Crow Dog," now he pointed at Chilili. "Chilili meet Edelia, the fourth-dimensional alignment re-alignment, and aligning engineer, one of my colleagues and yes the title is only accurate if spoken in all tenses, but in your case it might just be preferable to think of her as...the goddess of time. Excellent, now that we have that out of the way, did you have any questions?" In a after thought he added clearly speaking to Edelia "I admit I am rather pleased to see you, we're in desperate need of more level-headed individuals! The girl Justice irritatingly shrill as she might be, at least has the same appreciation for order we do, it's most unfortunate she saw it fit to not participate."

((Don't worry about that it happens, you can always copy and paste it in the right place and then put "test" or "..." in the wrong place, and if someone posts after you, did before you got to fix it. write in bold the right place that what I'm gonna do anyway when I screw up from now on, in any RP here heh.))

Time seemed to slow to a trickle as she watched Infinitious land unceremoniously amongst the debri of late night cramming. Mutely, she thought Infinitious shared the same awkward grace of the old comedians of silent films. Like Charlie Chaplin, he bumbled and sputtered about the floor, looking for his missing glass. She didn't dare move. She didn't dare speak as a torrent of laughter began to bubble up at the edge of her throat. However, when he mentioned Maisie, she thought it odd that he didn't notice the fact that he landed on her physics homework. Should I? she thought to herself, No, it would only aggravate him... and I'm sure it was just a coincidence... Yet, as he left the room, she could not help smirking herself into near oblivion. But it was all business when he came back. Desperately she wanted to say something. She hated being talked down to, even by a god, but it seemed that every time she opened her mouth, she said the wrong thing. Noiselessly, she stood, listening to his instructions and nodding at appropriate moments.

However, the entrance of Edelia caused her to jump. There were more of them? In her mind, she knew there had to be but to see it, frightened her. How many were looking right now at her? How many were judging her actions? She looked around but saw nothing out of place. That, as she well knew, meant nothing. This must be what schizophrenics felt like; always watched, never alone but so desperately alone. She turned to the two gods who appeared to be old friends and found herself feeling a little helpless. "I hate to rush you but I have to work... or go to school... I'm a little disoriented at the moment. Unless the Goddess of Time would like to extend the hour..." she said, with a tone of impatience. The alarm may be fake but the microwave clock, like Alice's rabbit, was telling her that she was late, late, late... But for what? Work... no... school... no... damn it, she thought, what day is it?

"I hate to rush you but I have to work... or go to school... I'm a little disoriented at the moment. Unless the Goddess of Time would like to extend the hour..."

Edelia smiled softly. "Your work and learning do not matter compared to our tests. Should you pass then we can easily make it so that the outside world does not notice your absence, should you fail." Edelia's tone went a bit darker. "Then it is completely irrelevant in any case."

She then continued in a condescending but lighter voice. "As for extending the hour, even we gods have rules. That much power would destroy the vessel that I am currently using, and make it impossible to bring the girl back in this life, something I would prefer to avoid considering how hard it is to find a suitable body to use. I doubt you would wish to be responsible for Alice's death simply for such a convenience."


Edelia then turned to Infinitous. "Speaking of the second possibility, are there any changes in universe 3.0 and how the fourth dimension fits into it that I should be aware of? We have not talked for a while with how busy both of us have been."

Chilili Crow-Dog bristled at Edelia's tone. Apparently humor and sarcasm had been a human invention because the gods had absolutely no sense of it. Standing there, listening to them chatter about the universe in such analytical terms could only be compared to listening to a latin teacher impressing upon their students the importance of learning a dead language despite the irrelevance to the immediate world. This was important to them, she knew, but she found her mind wander, skitter really, on everything else. To her, what was important was her life, her family and her work. It was only beginning to dawn on her how impossible it would be to understand their position especially when none of them felt her position was applicable. It was too much. To be the ant being poked by sociopathic gods, it was too much.

"Alright... as you have a lot of catching up to do, I'll be going. I'm sure when I'm relevant, you'll find me," she snapped bitterly. She walked around them, avoiding their eyes and walked out. Hitting the stairs, she felt a great sense of relief. The world was her own here. Her heart beat inside her chest; the air expanded in her lungs; muscles contracted; her body was her own. For a moment, she could believe that she wasn't tied to anything or anyone. The sun sputtered from the cracks of the front door. As it opened, she felt the warmth of the great firey star in the sky and closed her eyes against it. Chilili stood there, basking in it. Logically, she knew that the sun created a reaction in her skin; that her body had adapted to it and she could not live without it beaming at her. But spiritually, it was something else entirely. She could remember the scars on her grandmother's arms as a girl. The same scars her mother had. Gently, she touched the light scar on her own arm. When she performed the Sun Dance, she wasn't praying to those gods. Was she? As if to give an answer to herself, she shook her head and continued walking, face down upon the pav

pavement.

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" stared at Chilili of a few moments his mouth partly opened in a astonished gawk. It was now almost a certainty that human beings completely lacked in rationality, for an instant he pondered if the fact that she was demonstrating such inverted priorities, favoring her occupation and education, over the experiment, was sufficient evidence to deem humanity defective by his standards. On the other hand perhaps Nyama surprisingly made an accurate analysis, humans may just be animals with a higher degree of intelligence, but otherwise functioning on reprogrammed instincts. They'd recognize the danger of a fire, or a bully pushing their person threatening to leave them hanging somewhere by their underwear, as they had done to young Quagmire many times before, but without a tangible stimulus for their limited senses, it seemed they could not grasp the eminent scope of a situation. Without this analysis he would never know for sure, priding himself on precision and objectivity he'd have no choice but to endure interacting with her, and worse still collaborating with the logically challenged such as Cassius.

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" closed this mouth as soon as he realized it was opened all this time, he swallowed hard to moisten his parched throat, readying it to give her a lengthy lecture on what was at stake, to maybe coax her self preservation impulse. When Edelia began her tirade on a similar note, to what he intended to say. He nodded approvingly "mmhmm...Indeed the amount of energy to curve space substantially," he said in a hush voice as Edelia spoke, snickering at a joke meant for the two of them. His moment of humor passed, he was about to pipe in and emphasize that the time was at hand to get down to business, when he heard mention of the pet project which had been occupying all his spare attention, for several millenniums prior to the meeting at the coffee shop. He quickly whipped his neck to the side to face Edelia, and began to speak excitedly. "Oh I think you'll be pleased with the way I've altered the gravitational constant, also I've moved the gravitons to a closer dimension to the three where large objects an atom in size and bigger reside in, this way you can have fun with the figurative wiggle room, you'll be able to alter the way events progress in the fourth , with less gravity needed," He was grinning the whole time as he spoke to her, his hands were clutched together, and he would clasp and unclasp his fingers, as if he were physically trying to hold on to his self control. "In other words time would be even more rela-,"

Infinitous-Zero "Quagmire Jones" was cut off from his pleasant train of thought by the sound of a door closing. He shook his head and pointed at the door. "I hope you're all seeing just how cooperative, the subject is being...I think I might include this as a sort of preliminary portion of my test." Turning his attention to the table he grabbed the 'enhanced' alarm clock and stuffed it in his book-bag. "Let's not waste anymore linear travel through your dimension on nonsense, come along will commence as soon as we catch up with the girl." he put the book bag on, and began stomping out of the room, he waved his hand forward motioning for Edelia to follow, making a little hop in the spot where Chilili had left her physics book (not that he noticed the subject), he had almost forgotten of the pit fall and nearly stumbled for the second time. He sped walked the length of the hallway, and slammed the door of the stairway open. "Seeing as you have no questions and you're so eager to work towards a goal of some sort, what do you say we begin now?" he called out to her. Irritated with the lack of response he picked up the pace and practically began running down, until finally making it her side panting. Young Quagmire's shorter legs putting him at a great disadvantage. "Well...shall we," he swallowed hard having an even drier throat, human bodies were such inconvenient irritation. "begin now ?"

Edit: Senior Citizen is an air head, no worse she's a hydrogen head hahahahaha