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rainbowfic2015-08-03 01:42 am
kay_brooke) wrote in rainbowfic2015-08-03 01:42 am
Burgundy #10, Milk Bottle #8
Name: kay_brooke
Story: The Prime
Colors: Burgundy #10 (age), Milk Bottle #8 (Fortune teller)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Seed Beads, Graffiti (Duck Gallery)
Word Count: 822
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply.
Summary: Jericha looks at maps.
Note: More worldbuilding disguised as lessons. Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
“Well?” asked Beryl, entering the library. “How are you getting on?”
“These maps are confusing,” Jericha complained. And frustrating to look at, displayed as they were between glass plates that were covered with cloths when not in use. Beryl had told her it was to preserve the fragile documents from crumbling--they were very old maps--but the glass wasn’t quite pure and made the maps looked warped. It was difficult to see features, and almost impossible to read place names, as faded as they were. And what little she had been able to make out, even with the use of the magnifying glass Beryl had given her, made no sense.
“Have you figured out anything?” Beryl came to stand beside her, arms crossed.
Jericha sighed and pointed to the closest map. “This is the lake?” It was the only large body of water on the map, and it ran off the north and east edges, its total size unknown. She might have thought it was a sea, except that the notation on the map clearly said “Lake,” with a name after it she couldn’t make out.
“Very good,” said Beryl.
“But it’s in the wrong place,” said Jericha. “Because that’s the city, right?” She pointed to a large dot, which also had an illegible name. But large dots was how the city was represented on more modern maps. “This makes it look like the city is right next to the lake, but it isn’t.” The city was a good fifty miles away.
“Good,” said Beryl again. “That’s indeed the city. As for it being in the wrong place, why might that be?”
“The city moved?”
“How easy do you think it would be to move a city of that size?”
Jericha shrugged and made a show of leaning over the map as if studying it, just to buy some time beneath Beryl’s penetrating gaze. “Well,” she said slowly, “this map is very old, right? Maybe the city was smaller than, and easier to move.”
“You’re on the right track,” said Beryl, coming around to the other side of her. Jericha hated when she did that; did she think Jericha was going to get the answer any faster by talking in a different ear? “You’re thinking of it backwards.”
“The lake moved?”
Beryl beamed, and Jericha knew she had the right answer. “How did it move? Did it get smaller? Was there a drought? Or did the city use up that much water?”
Beryl said, “The ground shifted. A great earthquake.”
“Is that what killed the rest of the world?” Jericha asked carefully. What had happened before the Catastrophe she knew very little about, and no one liked to talk about it. She wondered sometimes if that was because no one really knew anything about it.
“Several things killed the world,” said Beryl. “But yes, the earthquake was one. The entire lake shifted east. There once were cities on the other side, too, but they were drowned beneath weight of the great lake that engulfed them. Look at this.” She moved to another map, one that Jericha hadn’t recognized as familiar at all. Three sides of the land depicted in it were surrounded by water. “This is the other side of the lake. This entire landmass crumbled beneath the waters. Millions died.”
Jericha’s head swam with the revelation that there had once been millions of people living in the world. But that still didn’t answer her primary question. “Why do I have to look at these? If none of this is left, why bother looking at old maps? I thought you were supposed to be teaching me about the city.”
“To truly understand the city,” said Beryl, “you must understand its history. You must understand how it became what it is today. This is an important part of it.” She tapped the glass. “The world was dying. From what we know, it took more than a century, but there was no way to stop it once it started. The city survived because of the Corporation.”
Jericha frowned. “So the Corporation is the reason any of humanity survived. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Is it a good thing to live in a dead world?”
Jericha bristled. “Well, I’m quite glad to be alive!”
“As am I,” said Beryl. “But you and I are also quite privileged. And while the Corporation may have started with pure intentions, having absolute control over what remains of the world for so many years has corrupted it. The people who run the Corporation, they are evil and power mad, and they will stop at nothing to keep their control. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” said Jericha, annoyed. It was only emphasized in every single lesson she had with Beryl.
“Good,” said Beryl. She straightened. “That will be all for today, I think. I’ll see you tomorrow, and we’ll look at some more maps.”
“Great,” said Jericha under her breath.
kay_brookeStory: The Prime
Colors: Burgundy #10 (age), Milk Bottle #8 (Fortune teller)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas, Seed Beads, Graffiti (Duck Gallery)
Word Count: 822
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply.
Summary: Jericha looks at maps.
Note: More worldbuilding disguised as lessons. Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
“Well?” asked Beryl, entering the library. “How are you getting on?”
“These maps are confusing,” Jericha complained. And frustrating to look at, displayed as they were between glass plates that were covered with cloths when not in use. Beryl had told her it was to preserve the fragile documents from crumbling--they were very old maps--but the glass wasn’t quite pure and made the maps looked warped. It was difficult to see features, and almost impossible to read place names, as faded as they were. And what little she had been able to make out, even with the use of the magnifying glass Beryl had given her, made no sense.
“Have you figured out anything?” Beryl came to stand beside her, arms crossed.
Jericha sighed and pointed to the closest map. “This is the lake?” It was the only large body of water on the map, and it ran off the north and east edges, its total size unknown. She might have thought it was a sea, except that the notation on the map clearly said “Lake,” with a name after it she couldn’t make out.
“Very good,” said Beryl.
“But it’s in the wrong place,” said Jericha. “Because that’s the city, right?” She pointed to a large dot, which also had an illegible name. But large dots was how the city was represented on more modern maps. “This makes it look like the city is right next to the lake, but it isn’t.” The city was a good fifty miles away.
“Good,” said Beryl again. “That’s indeed the city. As for it being in the wrong place, why might that be?”
“The city moved?”
“How easy do you think it would be to move a city of that size?”
Jericha shrugged and made a show of leaning over the map as if studying it, just to buy some time beneath Beryl’s penetrating gaze. “Well,” she said slowly, “this map is very old, right? Maybe the city was smaller than, and easier to move.”
“You’re on the right track,” said Beryl, coming around to the other side of her. Jericha hated when she did that; did she think Jericha was going to get the answer any faster by talking in a different ear? “You’re thinking of it backwards.”
“The lake moved?”
Beryl beamed, and Jericha knew she had the right answer. “How did it move? Did it get smaller? Was there a drought? Or did the city use up that much water?”
Beryl said, “The ground shifted. A great earthquake.”
“Is that what killed the rest of the world?” Jericha asked carefully. What had happened before the Catastrophe she knew very little about, and no one liked to talk about it. She wondered sometimes if that was because no one really knew anything about it.
“Several things killed the world,” said Beryl. “But yes, the earthquake was one. The entire lake shifted east. There once were cities on the other side, too, but they were drowned beneath weight of the great lake that engulfed them. Look at this.” She moved to another map, one that Jericha hadn’t recognized as familiar at all. Three sides of the land depicted in it were surrounded by water. “This is the other side of the lake. This entire landmass crumbled beneath the waters. Millions died.”
Jericha’s head swam with the revelation that there had once been millions of people living in the world. But that still didn’t answer her primary question. “Why do I have to look at these? If none of this is left, why bother looking at old maps? I thought you were supposed to be teaching me about the city.”
“To truly understand the city,” said Beryl, “you must understand its history. You must understand how it became what it is today. This is an important part of it.” She tapped the glass. “The world was dying. From what we know, it took more than a century, but there was no way to stop it once it started. The city survived because of the Corporation.”
Jericha frowned. “So the Corporation is the reason any of humanity survived. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Is it a good thing to live in a dead world?”
Jericha bristled. “Well, I’m quite glad to be alive!”
“As am I,” said Beryl. “But you and I are also quite privileged. And while the Corporation may have started with pure intentions, having absolute control over what remains of the world for so many years has corrupted it. The people who run the Corporation, they are evil and power mad, and they will stop at nothing to keep their control. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” said Jericha, annoyed. It was only emphasized in every single lesson she had with Beryl.
“Good,” said Beryl. She straightened. “That will be all for today, I think. I’ll see you tomorrow, and we’ll look at some more maps.”
“Great,” said Jericha under her breath.
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