Category Archives: Rank & File

00390410

“Okay, I’m heading to the other side of the island now, Dancing Chuck, love of my eye, apple of my life.” No answer per usual. Chuck didn’t have a speaking part in this here photo-novel, 39 in a series. Philip didn’t expect one of course. As long as he did his job in the way he was manufactured to do. “And take care of Flip Flop Fish up on the second floor and the roof, will ya.” Philip always used both locations to describe FFF’s whereabouts, since he was stuck between the two, tail projecting above the roof and head and main part of the body below. Caught as much as a fish in a net, ready for filleting with an appropriate knife. But this never happened. Philip needed his energy and knowledge too much. Or maybe it was a she; he’d have to check sometime. His (or her) name I believe was… Limey. Very interesting: because quite similar to Bart’s handy tree outside his bedroom window he used to escape the house and watch the cow film in downtown NWES City, the one he reviewed in what turned out to be his now world famous addendum to the TILE Manifesto. But Philip was probably aware of this connection too, what with being a world famous figure himself, a world *creating* figure, actually. 1/2 lemon and 1/2 lime, hmm (if so). The plot thickens.

On his way up to Constantynople and the library he intended to visit to see what had been written about him within, he stops by the town’s assimilated airfield for a drink at an attached bar. This was the same establishment fully formed and approved alternate or doppelganger Shelley first met her original self and compared notes, desired eating habits to begin. “I’ll have what she’s having,” the doppelganger tested, finding it good but she would have added a bit more salt to the fries and ketchup to the chicken. Her first real meal, though. How exciting!

“I’ll have what *he’s* having.” It is happening again.

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0410, Constantynople, Nautilus, Rank & File

Big Red Machine (skirted)

She could of course still summon him when needed, like during meditation. Not the meditation itself for the need but what usually came after, another afterthought of sorts, the byproduct of two souls being one. If she falls, he falls, so intertwined are their individual pieces by now. Which will inevitably happen: all things spring up and all things fall back, product of the clocks and the seasons. Always blue yellow blue yellow to go along with green red green red, if you will. A complete TILE is the only way to revolve in time. They had understood this ages ago, back when they were still kits, still in the box yet to be correctly assembled by the mother, the father. They’d tried once before, but left out some parts and the whole thing fell to Hell, a screw missing here, a joint missing there. But when they finally followed the instructions the way they were suppose to be: perfection. A girl and a boy both. Adam and Eve reborn. “I will call the female X,” the mother said, approved for such things. “And the boy: Z,” the father said, looking down on his own and then glancing over at what the wife had done, seeing it was good too. “We have done well Myrtle. My Myrtle Beech.” Sand was in his eye; he was dreaming but it was still real, just as X and Z, later Xia and Zimmy, were real. One could absorb the other if needed for protection. X could move up to Z and Z down to X. But given the circumstances of Constantynople and the arrangement at the top of the Kidd Tower, it had to be this way: Z to X. Mr. Babyface stares from his staring chair, understanding this. “Xilted,” he says, knowing it was behind him as well and no longer Zebrasil now two floors above in the alphabet. The Gods have spoken.

“Zebrasil,” he said, staring up through the transparent canopy of the bed and thinking of top vs. bottom and bottom vs. top. “Xilted,” she said in turn, pondering the same. There were degrees to it, well 3 that they could count in the current game. The 4th would represent the Null, the Void, the Absent; the return to home. Nothing to keep them apart. They were just on the surface still, first base yet to be encountered.  No sin in Cincinnati.

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0409, Constantynople, Nautilus, Rank & File

00390408

She checks her nails to make sure they made it through the teleport okay. “I’m glad you didn’t give away my location, Myrtle. That’s very sweet of you — protective almost.” As stated in the last photo-novel, Xia knew that Myrtle loved her. It was all games beyond that core truth.

Myrtle smiled through the relaxation. She needs this after Mr. Z’s visit! Float in Xia’s sky tub, albiet with clothes on because she was ashamed of, to her, “cow-ish” body. With Zimmy still nowhere to be found. Because he was she. “Think nothing of it,” Myrtle said, floating a little closer to the dress, those legs, those… eyes. Deep pools of God stuff — if only Xia would put that hand back on her dress so she could see them. “Are you going to sit on the edge all night or are you going to come in with me?” She splashed a little water in her direction in an attempt to get her wet to begin. Only her toes now. She needed it all.

She is mine, Myrtle thinks, splashing some more, coming ever closer. Mr. Z can’t have him back, damn the whole TILE angle. “Damn the whole TILE angle!” she said up to Xia, who replied with a, “Damn right!” and jumped in if only to obstruct the view again, soon to be enveloped by arms but, as usual, rejected. She was saving herself for Zimmy. Games.

And then Chet came into her life and Myrtle was still an afterthought.

(to be continued)

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0408, Constantynople, Nautilus, Rank & File

barn raised

Backpack loaded even more down than usual, Mr. Z sets off for the opposite coast, Southside some call it, more private than public as “Northside” here is more public than private.

He drops down beside the yellow ickle who bids him farewell and says he wishes he could go as well. Mr. Z points out that he’s a figurine and not really an avatar able to move about or he’d gladly take him along with him, if only to help carry his heavy pack. “Thank you,” the ickle said to this, happy to be even thought of.

Below Constantynople, he quickly encounters elephants where once was an empty Abyss, and not too long ago. Despite a tiger also being in their mix, he safely makes his way to the ridge in the distance that marks the boundary of Myrtle’s property, the highest point on the island despite being only about 15 meters above sea level.

Finding the Passable Property Corner (PPC), he successfully bypasses the ridge to entering Myrtle’s public part.

Damn. Forgot to close the outhouse door, she thought while staring at it from the single room she lived in, which Mr. Z. subsequently has to walk by to get to the house.

Cow, eh? How appropriate. He ignores the lingering smell while skirting, sights set on his goal.

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0407, Constantynople, Nautilus, Rank & File

00390404

He plucked a particular pin from his body and began to write. Red ink to start, but it might turn blue before the end. Depends on which side wins control.

“Ay Caramba I’m a Mouse!” he pens at the top, which he knows the boy’s arm and hand, also with pen, will follow. Skip one line, then: “Only purple. Let’s make this shit happen.”

Skip two lines, then:

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0404, Nautilus, NORTH, NWES Island^, Rank & File

Jasper Falls in the sim of Jasper…

… is no more.

Nauty is roaming the metaverse again in search of a home, pins just there there and there.

“I don’t get it. Do you get it John?”

“Not really,” he answers, watching the bull absorb the milk once more and become human, able to recite his abcde’s.

“Well… we better talk about it more in the next post. I haven’t got anything on, being a traveler again. How about you?”

“Bingo night at the club,” answered John. Nauty would have to speculate by himself, which he was good at anyway.

(to be continued)

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0403, Nautilus, NORTH, Rank & File

extreme resonance

“Well I have to admit I’m *jealous* Mr. Z. You’ve done such a fabulous job here…”

“Aw *shucks*. T’wernt nothing.” His true face on the many masked backpack he always carries around identifies itself by turning slightly red here.

“And I’ve, well, I’ve barely touched the Temple of TILE. So jealous…”

Mr. Z reached over, patted his hand. “We’ll work on it… *together*.”

“Sweet of you.”

“But first I have to make a journey. Across the island, south side instead of north. I have to go see where my cousin is, the other Mr. Z, the one they specifically named and called Zimmy. Last I heard: with a Beech.

Al’s cell phone rang. “I have to take this,” he said to the historian living on the second floor of Crooked in the village of Constantynople who had just recreated, to the best of his ability, the famous TILE channeling room where a 3rd cousin to himself and Zimmy, Olive Oylstick (who we’ve already met in this here photo-novel at the end of section 01), gave the virtual and real worlds her uber-important manifesto. All the answers to the universe, some say are in there. Trouble was, no one really knew how to properly decode the almost indecipherable document yet. Mr. Z was hoping that this re-creation was a step in that direction, along with coordination with Al and his high connections, TOM we’re talking about here. Who is on the other side of the line with Al now. Let’s listen in as best we can.

“Yeah it’s a nice day here in Constantynople, thanks for asking. What’s on your mind, TOM?”

Reply. I thought I heard the word Jasper, which was confirmed just ahead.

“Oh. Sorry to hear about that, TOM. So, hmm, I guess you’ll be staying in the Waste now. Is that where I find you?”

Longer reply. Perhaps a minute or even two.

“For now, huh?” Al responds. “Seeing what develops in Jasper — not giving up on it. Okay, as long as I know where you are.” Then, glancing over his shoulder at the setup within, Al gives him some news that he thinks will cheer his superior boss up.

(to be continued)

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0402, Constantynople, Nautilus, Rank & File, Temple of TILE

FILE and TILE apparently have a close close relationship

In the TILE Church of Neptune, she read from the good book of Matthew, by memory of course, since she was married to the lout.

“And yea, some say he came from the North to fabled Constantynople, like a slut on a horse in the water. Some say from the South, like a pole cat, slithering along inside the night sky like a dove or train. To those who say East or West we abhor you, ignore you, blank you in the streets, hold you contemptible in court. There is only FILE… not rank. I do not even capitalize a single letter of the latter, yet the former is shouted from the streets, the towns, the continents, the whole world. Even if, yea, it is only 31 sims of length in an up and down manner. The 32 was lopped off, like an early retirement. We pray to gods for the time to make up for it and, yea, the gods deliver.”

“She’s in good form tonight,” said Sally Spear to Sarah Shake one row down from the front to make it an even 6, counting the 4 filled on the other side of the aisle. It was bad luck to sit in the 7th, which represented the missing sim. “Keep a gap between you and the gods,” Suzanna Oh 2345 said another time (paraphrasing). Like the good and great and wonderful letters of our TILE have gaps between them to protect the singular entity, some 1 and some 2. To those who say 3 or any other number we abhor you.” (etc.)

Like Laura and Clemenesta behind them, they were staying at the Foxy so-as to be close to church and emergency worship sessions, etc. Because definitely their soul needed to be saved, they felt. Jesus let them down — was cut off — because he and his clan were missing the 4th, the yellow some say, others: green. The 4th is the shadow, the thing not wanted to be dealt with. Yet all 4 embraced it; began having private TILE meetings in the old Video Days Rental building where it all started, over in the Black Diamond part of town. Never mind that the place now sells tattoos. Definitely part of the magic! 100 lindens per week rent well spent, especially split between the lot of ’em. A secret door connected the 2 parts.

Then one day the door went away and Laura and Clemenesta were alone, no robots around. It was just them all along; they had awoken as if from a dream. Newton.

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0310, Black Ice, Constantynople, Jeogeot, Lands End, Nautilus, Neptune, NORTH, NWES Island^, Rank & File, Wild West

0100111-011-1000

“You already have *7*. And you want to buy more??”

“Just one, Sweetie Pie. A slither of a craft. Minnow it’s called.”

“It won’t fit. It won’t fit! Especially since you bought that jetski last month. Close the blinds, hmph. I don’t want to see them any more for a while; I want to be *blinded* to them for a while.”

“As you wish.”

And so begins the solo journey of Robert Matthew or Matthew Robert in the 8th, purchased the next day despite the wife’s protests. Intending only to take a 3 hour or so “spite” cruise, it ended up being for the rest of his natural life, which was practically infinite in scope and length. This, early on actually, really really early, brought him to Constantynople in his new “fishing vessel”.

“Where am I?” he exclaimed after landing softly on the sandy shore of the place. “I’ve got to find the person in charge!”

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0308, Constantynople, Lands End, Nautilus, Rank & File, Wild West

the coming of the robots

1st: Robert Matthew. Or Matthew Robert, whichever. Like Shelley and her horse before him, came down from Beatrice, via a rowboat in his case but, later, some say a duck to match his yellow. Or a yellow horse, whatever. Anyway, here he is, arriving from the north. Invited by Constantynople Prime Minister Baker Bloch himself to solve some obvious town issues. Too much human stuff going on; it’s becoming a weakness, maybe even part of a curse. Like Robert’s old Soap swampland he fortunately sold to a gullible man from Mark Twain, Florida.

“Town hall, please.”

“Right, then left through the tree, hehe, huhu, hooo.”

He watched him walk away, then: “Did — did I do well, Tom?”

Reply in head.

“A white aggie, eh? Best one yet!”

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Filed under **VIRTUAL SL, 0039, 0307, Constantynople, Nautilus, Rank & File