diff --git a/content/writing/thevoid.md b/content/writing/thevoid.md index 00a9c87..5622a4f 100644 --- a/content/writing/thevoid.md +++ b/content/writing/thevoid.md @@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ draft: true type: thevoid --- +> I'm losing my edge to the art-school Brooklynites in little jackets and\ +> _borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered Eighties_ + The {{< thevoid "Everpresent Void" >}} was first discovered at a children's birthday party. Among the laughter, shouting, and alluring warbling of an arcade, a party was preparing to take their seats at a well-worn table. The food was primarily french fries, mediocre cheese pizza, and hamburgers; the sort of diet that would be frowned upon at home, and as a result was now highly coveted. The main event, however, turned out to be the self-serve soda machine. It provided unlimited amounts of sugary beverages at the slightest provocation, which was evidenced by the sticky layer of dried drinks that covered the table. @@ -31,8 +34,15 @@ With time, a light show emerged from the emptiness of the {{< thevoid "Void" >}} The display was polarizing. Swaths of children, though initially enthralled by the mysterious properties of the {{< thevoid "Void" >}}, were not sufficiently re-captured by some flashing colors. In the latter parts of the week, they would leave lunch halls early to study, practice, or socialize. There were, they thought, better, more normal things to do. A minority, however, only grew more obsessed with their philosopher's stones. +--- +Like alchemists of the past, many of the remaining experimenters had a tendency to obsess. Even as the world --- with its track meets, birthday parties, and dances --- went on around them, they continued their close observation of the mysterious substance. The {{< thevoid "Void" >}} proved worthy of this sustained attention. The patterns that swirled in its depths were not entirely random; they seemed to respond, reluctantly and sluggishly, to the observer's mind. Anger and frustration tended to produce redder hues; sadness manifested in as a snotty shade of green. Focusing on a particular color made it more likely to appear, as well. Following its own peculiar kind of intuition, the {{< thevoid "Void" >}} responded faster when more individuals were present. +Other promising avenues of research also grew in popularity over the following days and weeks. The precise recipe for the {{< thevoid "Void" >}} was not, it turned out, very strict. Though soda and fast food remained a constant fixture, the precise ingredients could be substituted for alternates. Pieces of swiss cheese worked just as well as cheddar. A fragment of a turkey patty replaced the traditional 100% Angus beef in a pinch. The resulting substance was as opaque and inscrutable as ever. + +Following much trial error, adolescent adventurers mapped the frontiers of {{< thevoid "Void" >}} synthesis. Though the full specification is not particularly relevant, of note was the requirement for the base to be made of a mixture of sodas, and another for the final mixture to contain at least two sandwich ingredients. Orange juice, though sweet and liquid, did not catalyze the reaction, though Orange Fanta did, even if it was completely flat. + +The precise definition of what constituted a "sandwich" briefly created a deep schism among the alchemists. Was a grilled cheese sandwich __really__ a sandwich? ---