It's just before the crack of dawn. While the moon ages, the sun is preparing for yet another revolution around the sky. Ika had just woken and was watching the stars slowly recede. "What time is it?", she wondered aloud, until she realized - she hasn't seen a clock. A clock, what would that be? She tried to pull it up, mentally, like you would a document in the ashes of The Library of Alexandria. She tried to imagine its shape, its form... It's circular, yes, that much was obvious, with... two hands? She was certain it was *just* the hands, without any arms, but... that didn't look quite right either. She got up from her comfy bed of leaves just outside the cabin and headed inside. The kitchen was nice and warm, but this was no time to appreciate the finer things of life - hastily, she grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, resting the page upon the counter, and asked her brain to draw a "clock". When it was finished, she looked over her drawing. Again, a decent circle, but no hands to speak of - instead, two arrows, one pointing upwards, and the other pointing straight rightwards. The numbers one through twelve were imprinted on the edge, just before its boundary, Nothing else came out of the pencil she was holding. She looked at it... shorter arrow on the three, long one on the twelve. She asked her intuition again what it would mean - "3 o' Clock", apparently some measurement of time. If it was a measurement, though, it would be useless - Mako had been teaching her how to use her arm to measure how long they had until sundown. It had just turned to dawn, so she went outside to try it out on her own. "Let's see here... hold out my arm, palm to the sun... I think this is right..." Measuring the angle from the sun to the ground, she figured there probably 120 or so partitions of that angle in a day. Again, though, she found herself wanting something more precise. She headed inside the cabin again, and slowly crept her way upstairs. Mako was still sleeping like a brick in their bedroom. Ika closed the door, letting her sleep. Returning back outdoors, she sat in the grass again. She felt aimless, now. She had given up her search for looking for who she was, but it kept eating at her. Every day a new thing that she'd have to discard, because it didn't match with reality. Maybe she had some kind of condition? It'd make sense - seems like everyone was a little broken in their own ways, here. But, the idea also gave her a renewed interest in her own past, so it could be that. It was too hard to tell. Finally mustering up some courage to be without her partner, Ika went through her usual routine alone - a shower, choosing a new outfit (today, it's a green skirt and a dark-blue patterned T-shirt, one not unlike a neon dreamcatcher), and heading out the door with her sword at her hip, and a bag on her shoulder, once again - but not before leaving a note, in case Mako awoke. After walking quite a ways, she made it to town square. It was a little nerve-wracking to be there alone, but she felt she could manage fine. A turn down a lane, and then another turn left, just past a saloon, led her to the local library. It wasn't much, just a brick-and-mortar building with the word "Library" in bold, somewhat plastic lettering. Despite the sun still waking, as was everyone else, the doors were open. Quite literally, actually - you might wonder if the staff were cold, as it was mildly cool out here. She stepped inside, letting the bookish air into her nose, and tried her best to confidently walk towards the library desk, which was just to the left, past a couple of bookcases. The person at the desk was visibly tired. Their hair was something of a hazel color, with it tied up in two pigtails that ran down the side of their face. Attached to that, though, were two sets of arrow beads, alternating red and white. They were wearing a plain black jacket and had a cup of coffee on the side of the desk. Ika started. "Hi- uh, are you alright?" The clerk shook their head. "N-no... these morning shifts always make the worst out of me..." "Do you, uh, need anything?" The clerk took a sip of their coffee. Then another. Then they just downed the whole cup in one go and effortlessly missed the trash can next to them. "_Urgh... No, no, I'm fine! Sorry about that, just a little loopy. What can I do for you?" "It's alright. Uh, do you have any books on... let me see..." Ika pulled out the drawing from earlier, of the "clock". "Do you know what this is?" The clerk inspected it thoroughly. "In all my aeons of living in The Residence, I don't think I've seen anything like this." "You're not natively from The Human Residence?" "No, I was actually born in New Haven - what about you?" Ika looked down at the floor. She couldn't answer that, could she? She could lie, but... honesty has gotten her pretty far. "I... that's why I'm here, actually, if that's alright." "If it's alright? You just get out of the ward or something?" "Not literally, but you could say that. In any case, I presume you don't have any books on... that?" The clerk shook their head. "No, can't say that we do. But, there is a section dedicated to history on the [[Tinkerers]]. They seem like the kind of people to make... whatever that was." That was probably enough for Ika. She was just relieved she wouldn't be seen as completely insane after that ordeal. She headed over to the aforementioned section, but not before spying a familiar dwarf. He was the first to talk. "Oh, Ika, right? Hi! It's me, Yolk!" He spoke with all the intonation of someone trying to sell themselves for a job. "Uh, hi, Yolk... What are you doing all the way down here? Don't you... have a library in your own village?" "We do, yes, but it's... how do I put it?" Yolk reached down and pulled on his beard, in a manner you'd expect when thinking and needing to stimulate yourself. "Right. I noticed that you kept your hair green, and it reminded me of The Evergreens. This library is the only one that carries anything about them." A jolt of electricity ran right down Ika's spine, pure *fear*, but she pressed. "The Evergreens?" "They used to be this band of people who would rebel against the old Synth City. Back then I think it was called 'Synthian Village', or something." Again, more things start to pour back. Synth City... she'd heard of it before, but it didn't come easy to her. Perhaps... ah, she could see it now. Some grandiose megastructure, with lights upon every surface, rested in the middle of some magenta soup... Ika opened her eyes. "I see... That actually helps a lot, more than you know. Do you know anything else about The Evergreens?" "Just that they were rebels... They were based out of The Neon Desert, too. Didn't the mayor tell you about that?" "Of... your people?" "Yes. I swear I overheard him talking about The Desert..." "He did, but... honestly, back there, I didn't really wanna think about it. I haven't really told anyone except my partner, so..." Ika reached into her bag and pulled out a folder, which contained a note, also withdrawn, and then handed it to Yolk. "When I first... recovered, you could say, after losing everything I knew, I found this in my pocket. It... scares me, honestly. Makes me wonder if seeking answers is really worth it." Yolk quickly gave it a read and handed it back. "I don't know that many people with memory loss - actually, Ika, you're the only one - but, I wanna say that, you know, it'll probably be worth it. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. It's... it's like getting closure on someone's death, except it's *your* life, you gel?" Ika set aside the new word she didn't know, and just replied with a wavering, "I suppose so... I might need to think about it..." Just at that moment, a hurried Mako burst onto the scene, holding a tray of coffee (which was spilling everywhere), some cookies, and a few notebooks. She ran over to Ika, stopping on a dime before they ran head first into the poor greenhead. "Oh by the knights, oh hell... Ika, are you okay??? Are you hurt??" Ika tilted her head nearly 90 degrees clockwise, letting her ponytail hang like a stalactite.. She then looked over at Yolk, who just shook his head, and Ika responded with a shrug, before turning back to her partner. "Maks, I'm *fine*, okay? I appreciate the concern, but-" "Here! I got you a hot cocoa!" Mako pulled a cup out of the tray and handed it to Ika. Ika nervously inspected it, before giving it a swig. It was... "Mako, this is amazing! But, uh, you know you didn't have to come all this way to get me this..." "Of course I did! I saw your note, and I got worried, so I rushed over as fast as I could!" "Maks... I appreciate you being here for me, and I want nothing more than to be with you, but..." Ika hesitated. She never thought she'd say this. "I wanted to do this alone?" Mako put a hand over her mouth, softly. "Oh! That's..." She was clearly downtrodden. "Alright, if that's what you want. I'll just leave this here..." She put the various amenities she'd been carrying on a table, meandering her way to the exit, before saying, "I'll be waiting for you at home, dear..." Before she could leave, though, Ika ran after her, yelling out, "Mako, wait!" Mako turned around, near swelling with tears in her eyes. "I could actually... use your help with something, if you'd like to stay? I just don't want to make you feel like you *have* to follow me around everywhere..." Mako wiped a tear from her eye. "Ah... No, I... I get it. What's the issue?" Ika grabbed one of Mako's hands and led her back into the depths of the library, asking her all kinds of questions about The [[Evergreens]] and introducing her to Yolk. The clerk, while annoyed, breathed a sigh of relief that they were nice enough to clean up after themselves. For once, Ika had a hearty chuckle or two today.