Something falls from the sky and lands in the sand, creating a little dust cloud around it from the impact.
You can't tell what it is, at this point, but it seems to be... A small, gray rectangle.
@car-mechanic-steven @pink-pink-steven @disaster-diamond @fractured-steven-universe @runaway-steven @jekyll-steven @humanity-steeb @gem-diplomat-steven @shattereddiamondboy @zooman-connie @clean-freak-steven @touch-starved-steven @cinnamon-steven @homeworld-bound-steven @mentally-stable-steven @baby-homeworld @bugsteven @war-victim-steven @cerise-steven Open.
Spinel thinks this is strange. Usually people fall from the sky, not objects. But she doesnât see anyone else around, so she decided to approach it.
What...is that thing? A box? She picks it up and examines it with a curious expression.
You turn the shape over in your hands. It seems to be a phone of unidentifiable brand. The case is gray and otherwise spotless, with a small bell icon on the back.
Oh!! A phone!! Does it belong to anybody? Spinel looks around again, but there still isnât anybody there who seems to be looking for it.
Maybe she should try to turn it on! There should be a button somewhere... She finds the power button and presses it.
The phone screen lights up. It didn't seem damaged from the fall, so... That's something. The lock screen background was just... A smiley face in the middle of an endless void of white.
There is a circular button at the bottom of the screen.
Well, when thereâs a button, you gotta press it, right? So thatâs exactly what Spinel does. The lock screen seems pretty fun, too! A happy little smiley face :) She smiles back at it, even though it canât see her.
The button changes into a ring (â) instead of the solid circle it had been before, colors turning from solid black into red with four white stripes.
The background changes- now it's blue, instead of white, and the little face goes :0!!, and starts to wave their little stick arms around, making tiny splashy noises.
Who says it can't see you?
The screen changed!!! The smiley face looks like a little person!!! Theyâre splashing in the blue background...water? And the button changed too!! It looks like a....um.....floaty thingy? Maybe the little guy needs it to float!! She drags it over to the person.
The phone makes a little ringing noise, and confetti appears on the screen, as if it's congratulating you. The face grows a little stick body, and grabs onto the ring. The blue drains out of the screen, actual water dripping out of the phone.
The little stick dude on the screen drops the ring onto the bottom of the screen, waving up at you, when a text box appears.
"Hello! Thank you for that, I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to stay floating. Congrats on figuring it out, thoughâ I think they were expecting you to take longer!"
Yes!!!! She did it!!!!! Huh...why do her hands feel wet? There was real water?
Spinel grins again at the stick figure person as she reads the text box. âWhoâs âtheyâ?â she wonders aloud.
"Hmmmm. Really? You don't know them?" ^^;; "well, I guess that makes sense, huh. They've never actually been down here before! Just watched everyone play. And fight. And die. They said that it was fun. But then they got bored, so they sent me down here for some entertainment!"
"... I hope I'm doing alright..." They seem to have forgotten the original question.
Spinel gasps in excitement. âYou can hear me?â Her smile grows wider.
âEntertainment, huh? Iâd say you did a great job!!! That was really fun!!â She starts bouncing a little in place.
âWhatâs your name? Dâya have one?â
"Oh! Yes! I am Emmo! They gave it to me. I am very glad to have a name, it means that I get to stay! Do you have a name? You seem nice, I would prefer it if you'd stay."
âEmmo!!! Thatâs a wonderful name!! Iâm Spinel!!!â She giggled. âAnd yep, Iâm here to stay. Iâm not goinâ anywhere anytime soon!!â
"Good! It gets awfully lonely with nobody around."
They look around, staring at the white background. "This place is really blank, huh...? Should we start up the Next one?"
âOh yes!!!!â Spinel cheers. âIf you want to!!â
"Alright!" Emmo grins up at her. "Can you tell me what the outside of the phone looks like? If there are any buttons or weird-looking things you should press on them!"
âOk!!!â Spinel hummed as she turned the phone over to examine it. There was the button that turned it on, but she didnât press it again, since she already knew what it did. The back of the phone had a little bell on it! It didnât really look like a button, but it was something! She tapped it.
The phone crackles. ".... MaybEâ" Emmo cuts off in a startled yelp, reaching for where a throat would be. It was kinda hard to tellâ they're so vaguely human.
What had startled them, however, was that they were actually talking now. Instead of a text box, their voice was coming out of the speakers. It sounded... honestly quite androgynous. High-pitched but also vaguely male. It would probably be more clear if there wasn't any static, but... Well. Fuck gender. ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ
"Oh... Wow, I haven't... Heard that in a while..." Their mood seems... Subdued. "Um. If you want, you could... Mute me again. I know I can be a bit annoying."
Ooo that did something!!! Emmo could talk now!!! A little static-y, but it was nice to hear her new friendâs voice.
âWhy would I mute you?â she giggled. âDo you like speaking?â
"Iâ" They blink. Emmo isn't used to... Being asked things. "I'm... They said I was annoying? I'm not used to... Talking."
âAnnoying? Whyâd they say that?â Spinelâs head was tilted in confusion. She loved hearing Emmo speak! But âannoyingâ sounded bad. It wasnât very nice of them to say.
âYour voice is so nice!â
"d'awww... If I had skin, I'd be blushing..."
They shake it off, and shrug. "I'm annoying. I ask unnecessary questions and talk about things other than what I'm supposed to be doing and I'm a distraction. Isn't that 'annoying'?"
She shrugged as well. âThose all seem like normal things to me.â
"But..." They blink. "Oh. Personal definitions. Your 'annoying' is different than my 'annoying'... Possibly a whole different feeling. To clarify, the 'annoyed' that I've seen consists of anger, irritability, and a raised voice. Is... This your experience with 'annoyed'?"
âHm...â Those kinds of reactions did seem familiar. Spinel raised a hand to her chin and looked down as she thought about it.
It was kinda like when she wanted to play another game, but Pink didnât, and she just wanted to leave. But that wasnât really full-blown anger. Maybe it was more like how people and gems in town reacted way back when she helped fix everything up after corruption, and somehow made things worse. There was a sort of disapproval there that made her shrink. But when did she feel that way?
âI guess the only time Iâm annoyed is when someoneâs tryinâ ta kill me!â she said with a laugh. âOr when I hear a song I donât like!â
"Oh. Well." They seem surprised. "I don't think I could kill you? Even if I tried? And. Um. I'm not so sure about the music thing, though."
Emmo pauses, suddenly uncomfortable. "... This is probably not the most-fun topic. Could we... Move on?"
âYep!!!â Spinel agrees. âSo...â she says as she searches for a new subject, âhey, youâre new here! Youâve never been shown around!â
"... No? I haven't been? I'm kind of stuck in a two-dimensional screen. Though I guess I'm constantly accessing the camera?"
âYeah!!!!! So you can see things, right?â
"... Yyyeeessssss? Are... You suggesting that we... Go sightseeing? Not that I'm against it! It seems like it would be funâ!"
âYep!!! If you wanna!!! Lots of people like exploring when they get here!â she explains. âWe could at least look around the beach!â
"I'm literally a code, subject to the whims of my overlords. Sure, let's go check it out!"
âYay!!!â Spinel walked around a bit, waving the phone around so Emmo could see. âSo...this is the beach!!! Thatâs where weâve been this whole time!!! Itâs got sand, water, sometimes people, seagulls...â There wasnât really that much to see. She pulled the phone back so she could see Emmo. âWhat do ya think?â
They giggle, the phone making a little chiming noise. "... Um. I think it looks cool, but... What's a seagull??"
âOh!â Right, she should probably explain. âTheyâre birds!! Theyâre kinda small, white, with wings and beaks andâ Iâll show you!â She looked around and then ran off in the direction of a seagull, before realizing she might scare it off and slowing down. âCan you see it?â
Stars practically appear in their eyes. "Ooh! I've never seen something alive before! Besidespeopleofcourseâ that's so cool! I wonderâ" Emmo sits down, and starts concentrating. Ever so slowly, a shape starts appearing in front of them. "I'mgonnamakeabird!"
She watches them concentrate on forming the shape. âOoo! You can do that?â She continues watching with a grin, silently cheering them on.
They don't respond verbally, but give a little nod. Concentrating! Really hard! Stitching code together like that for a Code is probably just as easy as reassembling atoms is for a human.
As in... Bullshit-levels of hard.
But they do it! They make it! And when they're finished, a little seagull starts waddling around on the screen. "Finished~! I'm naming them Garfield!" Oh my god... Just, sorry gimme a second. I'm a proud mama. Emmo is just... So happy :')
Spinel looks at the tiny seagull on the screen with wide eyes and her mouth in a happy gasp. She doesnât say anything; sheâs too much in awe. It was sooo cute!!! And impressive!! Emmo really did it!!
âHi, Garfield!â she greeted in a sing-song voice. âEmmo, thatâs so cool!â
They giggle, and reach out to poke at the bird. "Thank you! I'm not very used to messing with stuff like that, Heâ" They cut off suddenly, and backpedal. "I've never gotten that to work before."
"I could... Try making something else? If you want?"
âOoo maybe a flower? Or somethinâ for Garfield?â She tries to think of something Emmo could make. This was so exciting!! Emmo seems super excited too!! âHmm...I think seagulls like fries!â
They pause. "... Um. I don't...? Know? What those are? I could... Make Garfield a hat?"
"Uh... Fedora?" Emmo makes a little blinking outline for a hat, and mimes putting it on.
âFries are a food!! But a hat would be nice!! I bet Garfield would like it!!! And theyâd look soo cute in a hat!!!â
Emmo hums in acknowledgement, and then starts making the hat. It takes less time than before, probably because... It's not an animal. It's just a hat.
They scoot over to Garfield and drop the hat on top of them. Garfield... Doesn't react.
"...What does a flower look like?"
Awww, Garfield does look cute!! The hat is just perfect!!!
Oh, Emmo hasnât seen flowers before. âHmm...â Spinel says as she thinks of how to explain them, âtheyâre plants! They have stems, and petals, and theyâre really colorful and pretty, andââ her eyes sparkle in a new realization. âI can show you my garden!!! Thereâs lots of flowers there!!â
They beam up at her, practically bouncing with excitement. "Yes! Yes, that would be very fun! Please let me see some flowers?"
They know the vague idea of what a lot of stuff is... They be just never seen any of it before.
Spinelâs face lights up. If she wasnât excited before, she certainly was now! Not only was she with a new friend, but they wanted to see her garden! Her excitement can barely be contained as she skips to a place in the woods, near a body of water.
â...and these ones are called forget-me-nots! I dunno why, cause they bloom every year, so theyâre hard to forget! Oh, and these pink ones here, those are called geraniums! I like them a lot! Theyâre pretty, and they can even mean friendship! I think if I were a flower, Iâd be these, âcause friendship means a lot to me! And speaking of friendship...â she turns the phone around to see Emmo. âWhat do ya think?â
"Everything is so pretty!! I still can't believe that it's not dark here all the time, but I guess that's what happens when you live on the world-planeâ" They have a blob of color in their hands, idly fidgeting with it. "I can't remember what you called them, but those bell-flowers were really pretty."
"Do you take care of this all by yourself? Apparently gardenwork is difficult, but it's still really cool!"
âMhm!! I wanted to do something just for me!â She looks down, like it was something embarrassing to say. âI used to be in a garden, but something happened, and now itâs all rotted and dying, and I donât wanna go back anyway! This is my home now.â She smiles. âThis is like a piece of my old home, in my new home! And I like it, âcause it makes me happy!â
She looks up and notices the blob Emmoâs playing with. âOoooh, whatâs that?â
"Uhm..." ^^;; "I'm not sure? I've just been squishing it into shapes. Like, um... Like putty. I guess earlier I was making flowers? I kinda broke them, thoughâ"
They stare down at the shape for a second, before manipulating it to look roughly like a geranium. "Hopefully..." they mutter, taking the flower and smacking it onto the floor.
A little flower pops out of the bottom of the phone, like the water that had drained out earlier. "Friendship gift!"
She stared at the tiny flower with a sparkle in her eyes before beaming in delight. âI. Love it!!! So much!!! Thank you Emmo!!â There was so much happiness exuding through her from having such a great friend!!
âIâm gonna keep this forever!!!â
They blush, ducking their head. "It's not that special..." Emmo mutters, trying to hide their face. "Probably not even realistic."
âHuh?â She looks down to Emmo after hugging the flower. âAww, whatâs wrong?â she pouted sympathetically.
âI really like this flower, you know. Itâs special to me, because youâre special to me!! And soooââ she sat down on the ground with the phone in her handâ âwhat dâya wanna do next? You can choose anything at all! I wanna make you happy.â
They seem almost... Shocked, at being given the choice. "I... Well, I've always wanted to see a living-place? A, um. A city, I believe they're called...? Because! Well! It's been so long since I've been around other people, and...!" They trail off, hugging themselves. "Yeah. A city."
