Calling Cloud

Person 1:

I happen to live on the other side of this
place, you see, and I was merely out
getting some supplies. When suddenly...
as if the heavens opened up above...
creatures unknown appeared, you see.

Now, I would try crossing, as I am not so
fearful as to let my life be dictated by
some organisms I have never seen
before. Nor does anyone, I suppose, know
the full extent of their functioning...

I, perhaps, though... do not tempt fate.
That does not, at all, mean I am cowardly!
I just do not seek unnecessary risk...
I suppose, though, I can see how some
might interpret this as fear. Not me!

If I could, just... fly over the horizon, up
above them! I would, that is... such a pity
we are not avian, yes? I have always
wondered what it would be like to be of
another species; it would be handy, here.

Also... it would be nice if I could bypass
this at any point, especially a point soon
in the future, for there is a certain film I
would like to see, you see... such a bother
it is, being subject to physical reality...

Do you reckon, perhaps, you could see
into this? That is... try to, perhaps, see
how I could go from here to there? Just
maybe... I kind of prefer to be in front
of a box watching fiction, you see...

Person 2:

I... happened to get stuck here, as I was
passing by... you have no idea how they
suddenly appeared, out of absolute
nowhere... it was so strange, as if they
materialized out of nothing, and yet not...

As in... they did not immediately appear.
They, kind of... trickled? I do not quite
understand why, or how, but they
seemed to do so... slowly, but surely...
I wonder why, and what it means...

Now, then, I seem to be trapped here... I
mean, I am not even sure if they would
harm me much if I tried to go down there.
I do not suppose they are, as if, sharks
on land... but what if they might be?

What might they, verily, be made of...
though? I mean, what could something
that appears to materialize out of
nowhere be made of? Tiny atoms that can
come apart and re-attach like puzzles?

This all makes so little sense, but what is
most frustrating, to me at least, is that...
well, I was scheduled for a coffee with a
colleague of mine... but, no, the world and
its random entropy cannot have that...

Perhaps we can all look into, in our own
way, into these strange happenings, and
then, possibly, combine our findings, and
collage them back together? Wait, that
sounds like... a puzzle. Is life a puzzle?

Person 3:

I came to see what the ruckus was about.
While, as one might think, these
creatures are not expected in such an
environment... just because there are a
few hills does not mean the rest...

That said, I am still not sure how they
came about... others in Nimbus, the
village beyond, have their theories... but I
still am not sure they are correct.
Although, in the end, no one is certain...

There have been a few other changes...
which is why people are now thinking
they might be connected, but as one
might know... correlation is not
causation. Well, at any rate...

The few scientists beyond here might tell
you more about that. They do not know...
either, no one has perfect knowledge...
but they try to extrapolate. As for me...
I am collecting various items, here...

For... of course, in examination of the
physical lies the possibility of an answer.
You might try to help with this, but you
certainly have no obligation. I can
understand if all you want is to relax...

I am just about to head in to give them
what I happened to find out here, but... I
wonder if anything happened to nuts
around here, too... would not be too safe
if one has not studied the changes, now...

Person 4:

Those creatures,
outside... I
assume you
noticed?

What might they
be...? So far,
this had never
happened.

Suddenly,
though, as if
it is a weather
change, or so.

It is strange, no?
For such
beings to envelop
us...

Could they...
enter? What even
prevents them?

Something in the woods,
We hear its howls every night,
Fear grips our village.

Person 5:

These trees...
seem to have
changed...
recently...

In fact, how many
things have
changed? Outside,
but...

Even if this town
does not appear,
on surface...

To, perhaps,
change... I think
it might have done
so...

For, when does
the external
differ, but not
the inside?

Dreadful is their fate,
Villagers pray for mercy,
But they know not why.

Person 6:

This water... is
no longer pure, it
so seems...

Something, lately,
seems to have
disturbed...

The world we live
in seems to
differ... why,
though?

For that, perhaps
you could try
asking a
researcher?

They are nearby if
you desire...
somewhere
around...

Hope is all they have,
As they wait for morning light,
To bring a new day.

Person 7:

I know it might not seem as fancy to you
as some locale with another dimension
hammered on top of it, but I must say...
here, there might be as much of the same
quintessence of mystery as...

Ah... did that pause pique your interest...?
Who am I kidding, though... only mystery
is how there are so many of these trees
in such a drab place... still, I suppose...
this all is, regardless, part of existence...

Oh, and I do suppose that is thinking a bit
too big, perhaps... speaking of which, if
you desire, in a million years or so, to
enter these houses here... well, I
presume you can speak to someone up...

The northwest, that is... why, is it not
strange how directions are often
combined? As if novel concepts are not
possible to be generated... seems awfully
derivative to me, at any rate...

Well... I suppose, we did at least get to
talk a tiny bit, a useful pause in my
otherwise humdrum station... I may not
be as worried as others, but reality is...
reality is ever so... real...

Ah... reality... where would we be without
it...? Perhaps, static as hunched arches
on some ancient construction...? No, I
suppose... that would still be in existence.
So, never you mind anything I say...

Person 8:

This village... makes me so nervous... I
mean, it kind of always did, and now with
all these strange things happening... I am
not sure I feel ever so safe, even...
although uncertainty, so far, is present...

I suppose, uncertain is ever-present...
not exactly a rare essence in life is it...
and, yet, I wonder, what could these
small alterations mean? Not nothing...
could easily be a hint, a forewarning...

Also, while these trees provide some
comfort... what are they indicating...
themselves? Could it be a minor incident
so far, but hopeless in the long run?
I could not just be worrying needlessly?

I mean, affairs seem to have slightly
altered so much... even some people on
the other side seem to have started
saying less, for some reason... or...
perhaps, it is not technically correlated?

I just do not get any of this... even those
boulders were once not there. Also...
where one can fall can now, seemingly...
mysteriously, as if by quantum
mechanics, transport one elsewhere...

I know... glass could, theoretically, be
half full, but one must realize that if it is
half, then... automatically it is, also, half
empty... I mean, pessimism is sort of
ingrained in the very physics of reality...

Person 9:

I have been alone in this house for so long.
You just arrived, though, so I assume
your perception of time in this village
varies from mine... yours is composed of
more units, mine of wholes...

You are wondering what that could
possibly mean? Well, you see, it is related
to the arrow of time, and how its sense
is distorted by one's own age... and in
relation to environmental experience...

In this sense one is more aware of a
place the newer the experiences. So, not
just one's own age is crucial... but the
spatial age too, and these two are what
seems to me, as if, a local relativity...

This temporal-spatial perception, then...
in a sense, is how one moves through
time generally, but it also depends on
how much sensory data there is, too...
if deprived then it qualitatively changes...

Well, if you do excuse my ramble... I just
do not meet many people I could express
my thoughts to, so hopefully I did not
send you to sleep too soon in the day...
if I did I will try not to bore you again...

Oh, you are back? Then, I presume, I did
not bore you terribly before? That is
interesting to know... one can never be
sure before ideas are shared, you see...
but, if you are, I might tell you more...

Person 10:

I am... well, I happen to be a... colleague...
one shall say, of some... people from the
south of the village, although living here.
I am assuming you are wondering why a
few doors appear to be closed, yes?

Well... it could be that they happen to
have left, perhaps as soon as some lights
are switched on (being so garish), and so
merely closed their doors behind them...
or so. No, though, that happens not so...

In reality... they are a bit too shy. I kind
of am too, but my friend over there does
not mind if the door is left... perhaps...
ajar. Well, either way, we might need a
tiny amount of assistance, possibly...

So... in this sense, letting curious ones in
would not, perhaps, be amiss... especially
if these ones are curious about certain
recent alterations... one quite curious
difference being here, in fact...

What I am trying to say... if you are
curious enough about this whole
situation... let us just say... certain doors
would be open to you, if, that is, you seem
at all interested in collaboration, perhaps.

Well... I am still here, and around... trying
to, if I can, find out anything about the
very nature of these variations, these
temporal anomalies... verily. Whether I
succeed, or not... I attempt, in any case.

Person 11:

You, there... I assume you came to this
village in an attempt to find out what
suddenly seemed to cause that issue out
there? Many others have done so too...
as it happens. Never quite unique, no...

What seems to be, though, somewhat of
an individual... happenstance is that...
well... you might not believe it if I tell you
as of now, so I shall preface this by
saying... well, the mind is curious, no...?

What I mean is that... well... perceptions
differ most times, but usually by minute
quantities... they do so, presumably...
due to alterations in chemistry. So...
anyway, point is... a lifetime of percepts...

One might have such a long, and storied
memory of... say, the dog, or cat, you
had thus far shared your life with...
a lifetime of impressions, and emotions...
differ over time, but usually by not a lot...

One might also, of course... presume...
that one can communicate with these
creatures that are, actually...
so expressive... that, if they ever did...
talk, well, it would still be a surprise...

Ah, I am ever so puzzled about what this
world has so become... why do things
change? Why do they occasionally stay
the same for a while, to change after? It
is all such a mystery...

Dog:

'Woof'...?

Or... it might be what you might expect a
dog to sound like... but, you see, just
recently I seem able to communicate with
others here... which even I find peculiar...
I mean, I could be physical, before...

Now, though... I can communicate these
thoughts? How, ever? Makes little sense.
Also, it is not like I did not have thoughts
before... mind. We are just quite...
different species. Why now, though...?

I shall tell you my theory, then... for, if I
did not what use is being able to
communicate? So... what I think might
have happened is... the recent quirk...
a subtle alteration, possible coincidences.

Many are claiming they have noticed
differences in various things... creatures
outside, water, trees... sound even...
perhaps. Well, this might be another...
now, I do not claim to understand it...

We might try to, though? As in, possibly...
with our new method of communication?
Or, perhaps, that might be hoping for too
much, even at this stage... well, we shall
see, verily, if... indeed, we could perceive.

I may be a canine, but I do happen to have
a keen sense of smell which I might use
to assist in searching for any possible
sources of these changes. Although, I
would not mind if I could still talk...

Sage 1:

You... really think you could do something
about the creatures outside, do you?
What, like, you and no one else?
You seriously think you are so exclusive?
You reckon, perhaps... I could not do so?

How dare one think in so closed-minded
terms, verily?! Why, if I was younger...!
Even now, if I could drag my colleagues...
we could totally figure out what is the
cause, I tell thee! Even if we are old!

Of course, my back might suffer a bit, but
... alright, nevermind, I give up. What do
you have planned, then? Offer them tea
until they reveal their inner workings?
Or coordinate with our scientists to...

Find... those elusive mechanisms of such
strange creatures perhaps? Ah, might be
too rational for these circumstances...
how about, then, convincing villagers to
form a circle, and then start to dance?

Oh... did you not know that... might...
resolve our issue? No, really, the dance
produces particles which disperse the
creatures' unknown chemistry through
a certain osmosis. One learns every day!

All of us around here... we prefer not to
socialize much. I mean, we do it among
ourselves, but then we might have known
each other since the womb... maybe, I
kind of forgot at this juncture...

Sage 2:

Why, do you reckon, I am here asking
questions? Well, one needs to ask about
one's own surroundings, of course...
besides that, though; why, I tell you, and I
theorize that it is something to do with...

This rock... do you know where it comes
from? Where the essence of geology
derives from...? Why, it is past hardened
life... as with many other things fuelling
current life... past makes the present...

Those... creatures, outside... truth be told
as I am much older than others around
here... I remember them once, long ago...
I remember the loneliness that
accompanied them... connected to rocks...

Why is it connected you are wondering?
Well, imagine, rocks being so long-lasting
and mostly unable to move themselves
around... they must be so lonely. It was...
at any rate, my perception when I saw...

Now, though? I do not quite know... they
seem different, ever so slightly... I do not
perceive similarly, but, then, I happen
to be so much older than when I last saw.
Science might be more objective about it.

Sometimes... no matter how objective I
attempt to be... the amygdala fails me...
you see. I fear, and almost panic at the
thought that we are so deep inside this
world's very crust... well, not literally...

Sage 3:

We are siblings, yes... not that it makes
that much difference when it concerns
such existential matters as those beings
outside... or getting, hypothetically,
trapped within this cave...

That is... if they were, hypothetically, to
surround the village outside, say, and
destroy the entrance, or so, we would be
trapped... and then what? Could we
subsist on barely any air?

How much geology could we conduct
at that point? We would, technically, have
all the time in the world, but not for long;
unless biology says nothing furthermore.
So, you see, it is give and take...

Speaking of which, I realize I am rambling
a bit too much, but then I do not see many
others down here, for obvious reasons...
and I do happen to speak with my brother
quite often... also for obvious reasons...

So, I hope I did not bore you much with
this... and, also, perhaps you could come
back at some point... we might have found
something in relation to rocks, and those
creatures... or not, which is equally likely.

Is geology not a strange science? I mean
one merely studies rocks, but does it in
a way which seems like, instead of static
objects, one is examining the beating
heart of all existence, or such...

Sage 4:

I am guessing you cannot tell why I will
not go down the ladder? Is it not obvious?
This sound would obviously become too
much down there, and that is not implying
that it is not already so... you hear it, no?

I think it might be existence itself digging
deep into the world's crust... do you not
believe me? How else do you think we
have reached this point? It has been dug;
should be obvious. Why am I here, though?

Well, as backup to the fellow further
below... if, say, the ladders collapse...
who would come to the rescue, then? Not
that I care that much for my sibling...
mind... but, then again, not so little...

What are we trying to retrieve, you ask?
Why, the theoretical tome of the
creatures' propulsion, of course! Never
heard of it? It contains the secret to
what fuels them, and so might...

Just possibly, we might be able to switch
off their source of movement. It is all
physics, I tell you... some might be all
philosophical about these creatures, but
not me! I know it is all... kinetic...

The extrinsic alterations that result in
such varying changes does, as it happens
- and not merely, assume its position. Oh
- who am I kidding, I am no scientist... I
aspired to be one, but boulders were...

Sage 5:

Yes, I dare to dig into the deepest part of
one's soul! Wait... this rock... is it my
soul? If it is, though, am I not hardened
crust? Am I not solid, calcified magma?
You are saying there are no volcanoes?

If there are none... then where doth my
soul flow...? Where does it stretch like
an eternal riverbed among a repetitive
drone, verily? Oh how I wish I was merely
rested in a bed... but even beds can be...

Shall we say... uncomfortable, just like
rocks can be, I suppose... soft? Uh, wait...
could that be incorrect? I think I might be
going a slight bit over my head, here...
one supposes... deep underground...

The mind is affected... sadly. Admittedly, I
was not always perfectly perfect, per se
- but I did not let the perfect become the
enemy of the good, and so I traversed the
land in search of this fabled tome!

All I seem able to find, though... is a...
headache, sadly. Not just because my
head is more vulnerable, mind! Well, it
might soon be time for me to go back up...
or I might have something permanent...

Does anyone ever wonder what lies
within one's innermost depth? Does one
not seek it out, to know all truly about
what one inhabits? Or... does fear inhibit
that which rarely situates itself there...?

Scientist 1:

Ah, yes, I am one of those scientists you
must have heard about, and I got some
things I could convey to you, perhaps...
just be mindful that this is a mere
hypothesis, so it could, or not, be reality.

Well... first things first; indeed, it might
be not just the creatures that happened.
This seems to be more pervasive than
that. Something seems to have changed
the very fabric of existence, almost...

Crucially, the creatures materialized out
of nowhere, but not suddenly, and so we
theorize, due to their source direction
being upwards, too, that... well, what
ever is located thereabouts?

Indeed, it is... clouds. We hypothesize, and
this is conjecture, that they formed from
such a source, not too dissimilar to rain.
The difference being... they coalesce.
Which is... yes, also similar to...

Does one not get it? Why, it is clouds
themselves... they are made out of damp
that happens to build up, but this is on the
ground, similar to... yes, fog. Puzzling?
It might be, verily, quite... mystifying.

What I think one could do, then, if indeed
one was so inclined... is to investigate the
hypothetical source, the quintessential
origin of these creatures... and possibly
all other subtle changes, too....

Scientist 2:

Oh, yes, as it happens, I do happen to be
that other scientist around here... and I
might possibly have found out something
else about these recent changes around
here... 'possible' being key, here.

Well... my theory is that there is
something not merely physical, here. Not
just a concrete change that happened...
because, one observes, this occurs after
a certain psychological phenomenon...

That is, what one happens to observe...
hypothetically, as to how physical
changes seem to occur after a mental
alteration too. It might, of course, be a
mere error in causation, but...

Why would so many report such apparent
coincidences? I do not, personally, give in
to such flimsy connections, but when the
sample size is hefty... well, it is still mere
conjecture, at any rate...

One that we might test if we delve into
the origin of these changes, though...
why not try to get close to where the
creatures might come from? I might be
able to apply my psychology, then...

Do not fret, though... if we can find out
what causes this, we might perhaps also
realize what ails us so... existentially...
maybe. Fundamentally, crucially... we
could find out what rots at our souls...