Daisie
Strangely regular (better than the usual bizarre!)
(
LennyTheMemeGod
Idea
)
Chapter 1: One Less DimensionPixel by Pixel
The power button on Jared's computer was pressed with a satisfying click, the fans humming to life. The electronics powered up slowly, and the monitor was turned on as Jared took his seat. His blue digital clock that laid on the dresser across the room read 9:00 PM as he laid his car keys on the desk. He'd just barely gotten home from a long but boring day of work, so now was certainly the time to relax. The way that Jared always chose to relax on days like these was to draw his heart out. His trusty-yet-dusty computer booted up quickly, and as he logged into his account, it wasn't too long afterwards that the handle of his door began to twist. The instant he heard the movement, he knew exactly who it was. There was only one person in this house who always waltzed into his room unannounced, and that was his little sister, Ashley. Every night it was the same story: She'd come in, complain that she couldn't sleep, and ask if she could watch him draw. He'd always reply with a quick "sure", although he would often have to kick her out for not following his conditions: Stay quiet and still. However, within the past month or so, she'd started to get the gist of it.
Sure enough, on the other side of that door, in her pastel baggy pajamas, stood Ashley. Her brunette hair was all sorts of messy, falling in knots down to her shoulders. One hand was rubbing her eye sleepily, and in the other hand she held her bunny plush by the ear. She'd obviously just been sleeping merely minutes before, but heard her dear old brother get home, and she had to rush to see him. "I can't sleep," she complained, exactly the same as she always had. "Can I stay up and watch you draw?"
Knowing the routine by now, Jared nodded and let her come in, telling her to be sure to close the door, be quiet, and sit still so mom wouldn't catch her staying up late.
Ashley made sure that the door made only the quietest click as it closed before rushing up excitedly to the little stool set up next to Jared, watching the monitor with her innocent and childish fascination. Jared went to the brand new art program on his computer, loading up the previous project he'd been working on: an original character he'd made from scratch for a collaborative writing group in a retro, pixelated style. Well, he preferred to call it "collaborative writing" to most of his friends, but some people online would much rather call it "roleplaying". Either way, this picture of his original character was something he had been proudly working on for nearly 5 collective hours over the past few days, and while it still wasn't fully finished, it was getting close. His sister watched intently as he began his work on it once more. She showed restraint as she remained silent and still, as she'd been told. Every night beforehand she had watched him work on this piece, so she knew the image's entire journey and was eager to see it finally finished.
Jared looked over his shoulder, his eyes resting on his clock. 9:45 already? At first he was surprised that his sister had lasted that long, but he was proven otherwise as he glanced down. Lo and behold, Ashley laid on the floor next to the stool, fast asleep. He couldn't help but smile gently as he stood up to set a light blanket over the top of the sister he held so dear. With great care not to cause any noise, he sat back down and continued his work in silence.
A soft groan came from Jared as he began to wake up from what felt like a pretty deep sleep. He figured he must've fallen asleep at his desk again. He'd just have to wake up enough to save his drawing and turn the computer off. He slowly roused from his sleep, and felt something... Wrong. Something very strange - indescribable, even. As he got a glimpse of the world around him, he suddenly gasped in shock, terror, and utter confusion. This was the absolute strangest feeling he had ever felt. His limbs were gone! His face, gone! The world around him was flat and pixelated, with pixels the size of his entire body! His own body had become a flat square on an oddly two dimensional surface! The background was white, and all of the blocks around him consisted of very simple colours. It was like he was in some sort of crudely constructed video game!
Panic swelled within him as he took in the extraordinarily bizarre situation. He had somehow become a two dimensional square. He was a two dimensional square! No matter how many times he told himself this, it just didn't make any sense. Was he trapped? Could he move? He discovered that when he set his mind to it, his boxlike body slid across the colorful floor to the left. He had to pause for a moment afterwards, just to process it all. This was insane! He tried to move once more, and suddenly jerked to the right this time, tumbling onto his side. Or... Was it even his side? He didn't feel like he had a top or a bottom anymore, just strange and flat edges. Jared cautiously slid and stopped repeatedly, trying to get the hang of this new squarish form.
"Hello?! Can anybody hear me?!" He screamed out into the distance. No response graced him back from over the neon plains. After hearing the deafening sound of silence for a few more seconds, Jared slid off to the left, promptly running into another block. "Rgh... How do I get.. Over this... Thing?! Hello?!" Suddenly, with a burst of energy, he leaped over the block the size of his body, landing safely on top of it. "Holy-I can jump..?! This is just like a video game... What's happening...?!"
If he had a mouth or lungs, he'd be hyperventilating right about now. In fact, if he had eyes, they'd probably be getting some pretty intense tunnel vision. However, somehow, he could still see the world around him, and he really didn't feel the need to breathe. As he tried to calm himself down, he started looking at the odd world around him some more. "Calm down, calm down... You can do this, Jared. Panicking won't do anything...!" He thought to himself, even though the pep talk wasn't too encouraging. He took a few more glances around... A good portion of the pixels around him were bright neon colours. Much of it was arranged to be simple static noise. Though, as he studied further, he saw what seemed to be some beautifully constructed abstract artwork. Huge pixelated paintings, spanning all of the land around him. He stood in awe for a few moments as he noticed all of the intricate art around him, distracted temporarily. For those few long moments, it filled him with a sense of mystery and curiosity...
After some more inner pep talk and deep breaths, Jared cautiously began to slide and jump around the plains more and more. As he headed leftwards, he noticed that the static noise seemed to lessen, and the artwork seemed to increase. He also noted other small yet puzzling things, like the fact that the world he was in was made up of very simple colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple only. That only added to his amazement as making art as intricate as this with such a limited palette would have to require a lot of talent. He began truly wondering... Who had done this? He came to a cliff and looked out over the land, still bewildered and afraid.
"... Hello?" He called out, almost helplessly at this point. There was no peppy music in the background, like most games he'd played. Only silence. Frightening silence... Lonely silence. "Is anyone out there?! Please...!"
...
"Hello?!" An all-too-familiar voice called out from the distance. None other than his beloved sister, Ashley, lost somewhere in those far away plains, seemingly forever away.
Oh no.
LennyTheMemeGod
Idea
)Chapter 1: One Less DimensionPixel by Pixel
The power button on Jared's computer was pressed with a satisfying click, the fans humming to life. The electronics powered up slowly, and the monitor was turned on as Jared took his seat. His blue digital clock that laid on the dresser across the room read 9:00 PM as he laid his car keys on the desk. He'd just barely gotten home from a long but boring day of work, so now was certainly the time to relax. The way that Jared always chose to relax on days like these was to draw his heart out. His trusty-yet-dusty computer booted up quickly, and as he logged into his account, it wasn't too long afterwards that the handle of his door began to twist. The instant he heard the movement, he knew exactly who it was. There was only one person in this house who always waltzed into his room unannounced, and that was his little sister, Ashley. Every night it was the same story: She'd come in, complain that she couldn't sleep, and ask if she could watch him draw. He'd always reply with a quick "sure", although he would often have to kick her out for not following his conditions: Stay quiet and still. However, within the past month or so, she'd started to get the gist of it.
Sure enough, on the other side of that door, in her pastel baggy pajamas, stood Ashley. Her brunette hair was all sorts of messy, falling in knots down to her shoulders. One hand was rubbing her eye sleepily, and in the other hand she held her bunny plush by the ear. She'd obviously just been sleeping merely minutes before, but heard her dear old brother get home, and she had to rush to see him. "I can't sleep," she complained, exactly the same as she always had. "Can I stay up and watch you draw?"
Knowing the routine by now, Jared nodded and let her come in, telling her to be sure to close the door, be quiet, and sit still so mom wouldn't catch her staying up late.
Ashley made sure that the door made only the quietest click as it closed before rushing up excitedly to the little stool set up next to Jared, watching the monitor with her innocent and childish fascination. Jared went to the brand new art program on his computer, loading up the previous project he'd been working on: an original character he'd made from scratch for a collaborative writing group in a retro, pixelated style. Well, he preferred to call it "collaborative writing" to most of his friends, but some people online would much rather call it "roleplaying". Either way, this picture of his original character was something he had been proudly working on for nearly 5 collective hours over the past few days, and while it still wasn't fully finished, it was getting close. His sister watched intently as he began his work on it once more. She showed restraint as she remained silent and still, as she'd been told. Every night beforehand she had watched him work on this piece, so she knew the image's entire journey and was eager to see it finally finished.
Jared looked over his shoulder, his eyes resting on his clock. 9:45 already? At first he was surprised that his sister had lasted that long, but he was proven otherwise as he glanced down. Lo and behold, Ashley laid on the floor next to the stool, fast asleep. He couldn't help but smile gently as he stood up to set a light blanket over the top of the sister he held so dear. With great care not to cause any noise, he sat back down and continued his work in silence.
A soft groan came from Jared as he began to wake up from what felt like a pretty deep sleep. He figured he must've fallen asleep at his desk again. He'd just have to wake up enough to save his drawing and turn the computer off. He slowly roused from his sleep, and felt something... Wrong. Something very strange - indescribable, even. As he got a glimpse of the world around him, he suddenly gasped in shock, terror, and utter confusion. This was the absolute strangest feeling he had ever felt. His limbs were gone! His face, gone! The world around him was flat and pixelated, with pixels the size of his entire body! His own body had become a flat square on an oddly two dimensional surface! The background was white, and all of the blocks around him consisted of very simple colours. It was like he was in some sort of crudely constructed video game!
Panic swelled within him as he took in the extraordinarily bizarre situation. He had somehow become a two dimensional square. He was a two dimensional square! No matter how many times he told himself this, it just didn't make any sense. Was he trapped? Could he move? He discovered that when he set his mind to it, his boxlike body slid across the colorful floor to the left. He had to pause for a moment afterwards, just to process it all. This was insane! He tried to move once more, and suddenly jerked to the right this time, tumbling onto his side. Or... Was it even his side? He didn't feel like he had a top or a bottom anymore, just strange and flat edges. Jared cautiously slid and stopped repeatedly, trying to get the hang of this new squarish form.
"Hello?! Can anybody hear me?!" He screamed out into the distance. No response graced him back from over the neon plains. After hearing the deafening sound of silence for a few more seconds, Jared slid off to the left, promptly running into another block. "Rgh... How do I get.. Over this... Thing?! Hello?!" Suddenly, with a burst of energy, he leaped over the block the size of his body, landing safely on top of it. "Holy-I can jump..?! This is just like a video game... What's happening...?!"
If he had a mouth or lungs, he'd be hyperventilating right about now. In fact, if he had eyes, they'd probably be getting some pretty intense tunnel vision. However, somehow, he could still see the world around him, and he really didn't feel the need to breathe. As he tried to calm himself down, he started looking at the odd world around him some more. "Calm down, calm down... You can do this, Jared. Panicking won't do anything...!" He thought to himself, even though the pep talk wasn't too encouraging. He took a few more glances around... A good portion of the pixels around him were bright neon colours. Much of it was arranged to be simple static noise. Though, as he studied further, he saw what seemed to be some beautifully constructed abstract artwork. Huge pixelated paintings, spanning all of the land around him. He stood in awe for a few moments as he noticed all of the intricate art around him, distracted temporarily. For those few long moments, it filled him with a sense of mystery and curiosity...
After some more inner pep talk and deep breaths, Jared cautiously began to slide and jump around the plains more and more. As he headed leftwards, he noticed that the static noise seemed to lessen, and the artwork seemed to increase. He also noted other small yet puzzling things, like the fact that the world he was in was made up of very simple colours: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple only. That only added to his amazement as making art as intricate as this with such a limited palette would have to require a lot of talent. He began truly wondering... Who had done this? He came to a cliff and looked out over the land, still bewildered and afraid.
"... Hello?" He called out, almost helplessly at this point. There was no peppy music in the background, like most games he'd played. Only silence. Frightening silence... Lonely silence. "Is anyone out there?! Please...!"
...
"Hello?!" An all-too-familiar voice called out from the distance. None other than his beloved sister, Ashley, lost somewhere in those far away plains, seemingly forever away.
Oh no.
