### "What?!" Ika, Mako, and Mako's grandfather were all sitting in the shackled abode of the latter. Inside it was pretty clean, though it was something of a trailer home - longer than wide, with a large main room that you enter into, with the kitchen just past that, and a bedroom beyond the kitchen. Ika and Mako were sitting a decently made sofa, though it was starting to show some tears of time. As for the grandfather, he was, at the moment, just a *tad* surprised at the detail diatribe that Ika had just expelled. Ika finished off with, "Yeah, that... my life's been a little wild ever since I woke up in that forest. Honestly, I still have no clue about a lot of things." Gramps nuzzled his chin. "Well, I'll be damned... Oho, no really, I'll be damned! I don't think I'll be making it above the clouds after hearing that!" Mako flapped her arms a little. "Gramps! I love being with you again, but can't you treat Ika with a little more dignity?" Ika was sitting on the same sofa that Mako was, just closer to the man, keeping her head afloat with her arm, bent so it rested on her leg. "It's... Mako, it's fine, really. I appreciate it, but right now, I'm not looking for sympathy. I just need answers." She turned to the old man. "Gramps, if that's what you prefer, do you know anything about... anyone with green hair like mine?" Gramps thought to himself. "Hm... I'm sorry, Ika, I can't say that I've. Yer' the first person I've met that has green hair." He started to get off his chair, but struggled, wobbling and shaking his legs, before grabbing his cane and pushing himself up the hard way. "I might have some'fin 'ya might want, though." He tried his best to walk over to the bookshelf - it was on the wall to his left, just before the entryway to the kitchen - and picked through them with his free, shaky hand. "_{No... no... no...} aha! I think 'ya might like this one, lass." Just as dexterous as before, he pulled out a book so old it probably needed a coffin, blowing away dust and cobwebs off of it. He handed it over to Ika, which felt awfully heavy in her grasp. She looked it over... ``` THE INCIVIL /--\ /--\ | >< | \--/ \--/ ``` There was no author stated on the book, just the title, and the large infinity symbol imprinted into the leather that bound the pages. Ika opened it up. "Uhh... Gramps? I don't mean to be rude, but... are you sure this is correct?" He nodded sagely. "Nev'r been more sure of any'fin in my life, Ika." "Yeah, but this... I can't read this. Mako?" Mako walked up and snatched the book away. "Hah! This is perfectly legible, Ika. Did you forget how to read while you were out?" Ika raised an eyebrow. "So you *can* read it?" Mako laughed exactly once. "No, I'm just messing with you. Seriously, Gramps, what is this for?" Gramps smirked. "All will be revealed in due time, ladies." He looked off into a corner, expecting someone to be there, and winked. The duo looked at each other. _{"Is he normally like this, Maks?"} _{"No, not really!"} Ika coughed. "Uh, Gramps, we're over here?" Gramps re-oriented the best he could. "Oh, right. Anyways, uh... All in due time, I'unno. Go nuts!" The duo put the book between themselves - Ika on the left, Mako on the right. They scrolled through the pages, looking for anything that was decipherable. Nothing much, except for the occasional word that had a decent enough cognate into Townfolk (Ika swore she saw her chosen name in there...). Near the end, though, there was something written in the margins... ``` If you wish to know about the fate of the Evergreen, There is a part of society that wishes to be unseen. Take this book to where the sun can be seen, Inside the ruins of something once gleamed. Place this book inside its rightful place, And there you'll need to wake your pace: Two steps to the side, then leap with grace, Then press down hard, with the things with lace. ``` Ika closed her eyes and put a hand on her chin. "Inside the ruins of something once gleamed... gleamed what, exactly?" Mako also thought, too. "You know, I think I heard of something like this." "What would that be?" "An eye [[Doctor]]'s place." "What? I hardly believe there's an optometrist, of all things, out here." "Yeah, but, what else are you gonna gleam?" "I was thinking of a library, or something to that effect. You gleam information from that, don't you?" "I thought gleam meant, like... light, and stuff?" "It has a lot of definitions, is my understanding. A brief flash of light, or a subdued glow, or a small trace amount of something. It can also mean to look at something for a brief time." "You have this all memorized, Ika?" Ika pointed a finger in the air, straight up. "As a matter of fact, I do." Mako just laughed in response. "Gramps, you got any ideas?" No response. "Gramps?" Turns out, 'Gramps' had fallen fast asleep on the chair he was just resting in. He was snoring, sawing away more logs than it took to construct the shack they were all residing in, with a bit of drool coming out of his open mouth. Ika sighed. "Mako, do you think we'll *ever* figure any of this out?" Mako shook her head. "Honestly, sweetie? I don't know either." "The only lead we have right now is extremely cryptic... And the guy that gave it to us doesn't know anything about it either, I'm guessing?" "Yeah, Gramps is like that." A silence. "I did have a question, actually, Mako." Mako raised an eyebrow, but otherwise stayed cordial. "Yes, sweets?" "Gramps, he's like Toby, right?" "Yeah!", Mako said, with all the cadence of a child. "They're called Cyborgs. Not *Cybers*, that's a slur." "Got it." Ika was taking mental note of the concept. "But, you, you're human, aren't you?" Mako looked to the side. "Aha, yeah! It's real strange. I'm one of a kind!" Hidden from Ika's view was a single sweat bead running down the back of her partner's head. Ika gave that thought pause, too. "Hm. I see. Well, I think I'll go for a [[Walk]] then, if that's alright?" "Of course! Just don't go too far without me!" Ika sagely nods. "I won't. Just need some alone time."