reminded | No. 001 - Simple Addition [Written]

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No. 001 - Simple Addition [Written]

[It's about time to give this device a go. In neat, legible writing is simply the following:]

5 + 5 + 5 = 550

It appears I have my arithmetic out of sorts. However, it would be a shame to scrap the equation entirely. Can you help me correct it by adding a single straight line?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[There's a long pause before anything gets written.]

You lost me at "donkey."

You don't know what a donkey is?

[Well, that's new.]

Nope, never heard of one in my life. Guessing it's an animal, though... it looks kind of four-legged, if I'm looking at this right. [He sketches something that's... well, whatever it is, it's got four legs.]

[Very strange indeed.]

It can be substituted for any four-legged animal, or even someone crawling. Only note that the two bottom lines are limbs and the one in the top right corner is the head.

[If only your camera were on right now, Layton. Anyway, Red copies down the lines, adding his own sketch around it; again, it's fairly awful, but it resembles something boar-like.]

[There's no writing for a while; maybe he's doing this one off-journal? Finally, though...]

his attempt.

the left one could be from the front if the animal has big ears
same with the one on the right, but from the side

[Hmmm.]

Very creative. I give some credit to the one on the right, but the poor creature on the left seems to be lacking a jaw. However, there is an even more exact solution that preserves the animal's shape in its entirety.

[Another pause.]

it's turned around and running

[These are hard when you barely have an idea of what the animal is.]

[Layton laughs on his side of the connection, but of course there is no audio.]

I thought it looked like a rather impressive handstand, myself. Not quite right, but getting closer. You've chosen the right stick and the wrong location.

[Okay, that narrows it down! Let's see... he scribbles down more attempts, moving just the one line. He's crossing most of them out, though... eventually, Red just angrily scribbles out the rest of the page. With what little room is left, he draws a simple stick-figure dog-person holding its head in pain.]

I give up; give me one that's not about weird animals I've never seen.

[Aw, and he was so close.]

There's no rush. Perhaps we can revisit this another day, when we're more familiar with each other's fauna. Though if I may ask, what kinds of animals are you in fact familiar with?

Gius, birds, fish, insects. [There's small, awful drawings of each - the boar-like thing from earlier seems to be a giu, according to this. Red's drawn another simple dog-person in for scale, and if it's right, then all the animals seem to be quite large. Especially that beetle.]

[Hm... He stares at the drawing for a bit, wondering if the person is supposed to look like a dog or if it's just a very unfortunate drawing. He is very curious, but a true gentleman never pays mind to cosmetic appearances...]

I've never heard of a giu, but the others are familiar, if a bit larger than I'm accustomed to. [Or is the person just small?]

[~~why not both?~~ Okay, definitely not from Red's world then. Oh well.]

Yeah, everything grows huge back home because of the crystal, especially the plants! There's an island called Viszla that's really just one huge plant.

A plant island, you say? Fascinating. [Is that even physically possible? Not that he doubts Red's word.]

What exactly is this crystal? What property does it own that allows it to magnify growth?

Let me start from the top.

[Lots of rough drawings here. It seems to be a bunch of islands floating in the sky, having a variety of structures on them. One of them seems to look... vaguely like a giant plant.]

Almost everything floats back home, because of the crystal. It's also a fuel source. [A smaller drawing, looking like a pool of liquid dripping upwards. There's a circle floating just above that.] I guess it messes with living things.

[Floating in the sky? Now it's starting to sound outrageous. But... if it is true, then he wishes he could see it for himself.]

Most unusual. By my standards, at any rate. Did you live in the sky as well?

Of course! Me and another person captained an airship an' took on jobs for people on other islands. [Continuing with the bad drawings, here's said ship. It really doesn't look like it could fly normally.]

What about you? What's your world like?

[Airships... He's never going to know what to make of this.]

It borders banality next to yours, I'm afraid. It is earthbound and looks much like Luceti without the wings, experiments, and malicious third parties. [Mostly, anyway.] Add more cars, roads, and buildings, and I think that should paint a fairly accurate picture.

Earthbound? So nothing floats, like one big island? It might be a refreshing change.

[Another picture, this time of a dog-person falling through the sky into a bunch of electrified clouds.] This kind of thing is frightening.

Why yes, I suppose you could say that the Earth is like one big island drifting through the sea of space.

[He scrutinizes Red's illustration. It does look like a nightmarish scenario... He only hopes that parachutes are in wide practice there.] It would be a very long fall, to be sure. I suppose living on solid ground poses its own risks, but none so final yet tortuously prolonged as a simple tumble from the sky.

[...] Yeah. Hey, you mentioned Earth... does that mean you're a human? I think most of the people who come from there are.

Who are you, anyway?

Well... yes, I am a human. Is that to say you are not?

Oh, of course. Forgive my manners. My name is Hershel Layton. I come from London, but I should suspect you've never heard of it.

Oh, I didn't realize the camera was off! I was too focused on the puzzles. Let me see...

[It may take a while, but he'll get that camera going. Hi, Layton, have a dog-person waving at you; looks like he's got the audio working too.]

Nice t' meet you, Hershel! I'm Red! Definitely not human, and I've never heard of London.

[Layton blinks in surprise at the sudden video and yet tries not to stare at the same time, forgetting that Red can't see him. He puts his pen to paper for a moment before remembering that he can just turn his camera on. By the time he does so, he only looks the tiniest bit shell-shocked.]

Red. It's a pleasure. What would you call yourself, if not a human?

Caninu! "Dog-person" works too, or just dog, but I'd prefer Caninu. I'm guessin' you haven't got any of me on Earth?

[If he noticed any weirdness in Layton's expression, he's certainly not doing anything about it.]

Actually, tell me a little more about this Earth place! It sounds interestin'!

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