After opening the door, and looking around, it became obvious the eternal truth was napping near the door. They were a set of 3 scrolls, filled with symbols. These symbols tailor their knowledge to the reader. As soon as the reader knows what to find, the symbols transform into text. Sometimes, the symbols can be read when you have a question to ask. Other times, the scroll will just make itself readable.
nickname entered the door. There were no tables, just a few cabinets, shelves, and boxes. Looking behind the door, one of the scrolls could be seen. It was quite small. After picking it up and opening it, nickname read the first part.
'For the element of truth is near, do not fear, for the answer to 0608, see another scroll.'
Several numbers followed the paragraph, and the scroll ended with a few complex, unknown symbols.
There was a folder near a set of shelves. nickname opened it and saw the second scroll, wondering what 0608 meant....
Sometimes the scrolls of eternal truth display their symbols as numbers. To find out what the numbers mean, think of the right question.
Anyway, nickname continues reading.
'0608, or the 0060 of 0061, is a place where you should go. More revealed in a few hours.'
The numbers changed as soon as nickname wondered what the numbers meant.
Somehow the scroll knew that nickname was tired, looking forward to dreaming. The orange clock read 8:20pm.
'Level 13, The room of rest', the scroll read, referring to a room beyond the 8 floors of the building. The scroll says the lift knows the way, and that it is best not to waste time reading the rest. Reading on, the scroll briefly revealed a password, before changing it to Oops! There were several pages, one saying: 'Hurry, less than 10 minutes available!', like a web ad.
nickname wondered whether the room of rest was a bedroom, a restroom, or something else.
'It will show you the colours and shapes you were looking for'
nickname did have a graphics project. And ideas for the project were running thin.
'Follow the corridor into the lift. Then push level 3 and 6 at the same time', it said.
'But that's not how lifts work', thought the reader.
Still, nickname obliged and took the two scrolls and left the room. The third scroll may be left in the boxes. After checking a few boxes, finding stationery and wood blocks, nickname noticed the time. 8:23pm. Oh well, time to go.
Passing the corridor, nickname saw a purple light from one of the rooms, and curiosity could not be contained.
It looked like the room stretched on further than any other room nickname has known. The room had a white-green painted concrete floor, and some papers were on the floor. nickname picked up the papers. One was a list of items in the room. Another just had details about pipes, equipment and software for a compression machine. One of the papers even talked about the idea of geo compression!
There was a lot to read for later, so nickname took photos. After putting the papers aside and looking up, dozens of speakers were seen, lining the roof and making no noise at all. A few desks, with two chairs and computers each. Check. A giant mat, check. Only the televisions could not be found.
It was tempting to walk further into the room, and see what else is there, but nickname decided to exit and take the lift. Luckily it was nearby and waiting.
The lift had pink numbers and was slightly large. After ussing 3 and 6, the numbers started to fall. Level 1. Level 0. Level B. Level X.
The elevator opened... into a single room.
nickname saw something new to wear and put it on. A nice, clean sink was nearby. The tap has a smooth metal lever, which was coloured red, purple and blue. A clock read 8:28pm. nickname relaxed, feeling a little lucky to be able to sleep in the hidden room. nickname wondered about what would happen at 8:33. Maybe there is an important visitor? Maybe the scroll wanted me to hurry, just because it was bored and wanted to explore the building? No, the scroll wouldn't do that.
2 minutes later, nickname hopped on the bed. After turning off the lights, the white bed appeared grayish black and fuzzy. A variety of shapes could be seen out of the fuzz, night vision slowly emerging. After taking a minute or two to look around, nickname soon fell asleep.
The dream wasn't too far away. As the hours went by unnoticed, it was getting ready to assemble itself. While the dream was forming, a faint green light started to glow from the tap in the bathroom. Finally, it started playing.
=-_-=
Inside the control room, there were a team of technicians. Several computers and controls could be seen, as well as a shiny new speaker. Everyone was proud of this month's progress. The machines were set up, and the computers were glowing. The compression fluid was in the pipes, waiting to run around the machine as soon as it started. Even a small rock had 'joined the excitement', and was hiding in the room.
Work has paused for the last minute or so, and they were eagerly waiting for the announcement. The control computer displayed Ready. All it takes was a click of a switch ...
A bright voice then came from the speakers.
'Today. we are about to achieve an unbounded feat in science. We are going to compress the Earth, change its shape... For too long, people haven't believed it is possible. But thanks to our years of work, we won't just say it is possible, we will show the world that it is possible. '
As those words were proudly announced, a switch clicked. A deep hum came from beyond the control room as long, shiny pipes pumped liquid. The pipes stretched for a long time, and then went downwards. A beep came, followed by stronger pumping. Ok, let's see how far we'll go, nickname thought. He walked around the pipes, and towards the vending machine. In the background, a voice asked, 'How flat can we go?'. 'Let's see' came the reply.
As nickname makes a tasty deal with the vending machine, the voices walked away from the control room. The control room was now unattended.
A few seconds after the voices faded ... Clunk. Every now and then, a wet metal clunk could be heard. nickname knew this wasn't expected, and quickly went back to the control room. He pushed F6. The clunking didn't stop. 'Hmm, why?', he thought. He pushed F6 again. The clunking became quieter, and the option became greyed out on the computer.
A few moments later, the noise had disappeared. A technician walks in. She has yellow-orange hair, and everything she wears is a shade of green. nickname tells the technician what happened, how it was lucky that he was near. Her jaw dropped. How could the control room be left unattended? She asks nickname to go and get the other technicians, who should've been watching the controls. nickname goes outside the control room and walks down the corridor.
The corridor was the usual white, with the walls dimpling very slightly. Moderately bright LEDs lit it up, alternating between cool and warm white. Deep purple tiles lined the floor, as well as part of the walls. No liquid leaked from the pipes yet. nickname walked towards the technicians, to tell them about the clunking.
'Seriously?', one of the technicians asked, moderately surprised.
'Yes', said nickname, with a slight nod.
'We were just out for a moment...' another technician justified.
'Well, and the machine started clunking. And I just discovered it as well', he explained.
The technicians show more surprise on their faces, and swiftly walk towards the machines. A green blur enters field of view, as the operator came.
'How did it go?' She asked.
'Nicely', nickname commented. 'They realised the danger of leaving the control room unattended. Though I still wonder what caused the clunking'
'I want to know too', she replied.
Twenty minutes passed. The green technician slowly drank some tea. Then she put it down, and stood up.
It was time to find out what caused the clunking. nickname held F6 and the machines whirred to a halt. A toolbox was picked up and opened.
'Where's the spanner?', the first technician asked.
'Right under here', the second technician mentioned, taking it from under where the toolbox had been.
Within 20 seconds, a small trickle of liquid leaked out of the pipes, and was wiped away.
Be careful, said the operator.
The knobs to turn off the liquid were turned fully, but the vacuum pump wasn't used to clear the pipes.
So the pipes were closed, and one of the technicians briefly held a button.
Once the repairs continued, a small piece of rock was found in the pipes. Small enough to balance on a finger, yet strong enough to make an annoying clunking sound. A technician took the rock and placed it on her desk. Her desk had a few documents, and a shiny orb. The orb was placed on a pedestal and plugged into her computer. It changed colour from green to red.
As she typed, the orb went back to green. The more she typed the brighter the green until it eventually started suading beyond the room.
With the orb's force assisting the machine, the progress got faster and faster until it was approaching the target of 3% compression acheived. The orb dimmed back to normal, but the machine did not slow down.
What's going on? nickname asked.
nickname wondered why the machine got faster and glowed green. He went towards the orb, double-checking that the other techicians were still in the control room. He asked why the green orb turned the machines green.
The technician sitting near the orb didn't know. All she knew is the orb was supposed to speed up compression by a few days.
After waking up, a handful of details were remembered. A machine was used to compress the earth, why? After a few moments of trying to figure it out, nickname decided to daydream for a bit, eventually leaving the bed to check out the green glow in the bathroom. The tap was glowing green for some reason. Opening the tap turned the tap purple, as warm water filled nickname's hands. oosh, ahh.
Eventually, nickname took a look at the scroll on the bedside. It had written something new, instead of instructions to arrive here.
Squeezing the Earth read the title, and it described plans for converting a round earth flat. 'Interesting', nickname thought while reading on...
on the side of the scroll, text appeared. This may be the oddest way to waste money and potentially cause earthquakes. nickname, I need your help to stop this useless experiment, before we have a disaster to deal with.
Oh..
Find the phone, and dial 1900 654 321. You'll need to trick them into stopping the experiment. Mention the pipes :)
'Hi, Aeracodec, how can I help you?'
'Mm hmm, there is a trick to detecting rocky pipes'
'Err'
'Just type F7 on the controller'
'Ok'
After they type F7, what will happen?
The machine will check for a software license. I have a feeling that it is out of date, so the whole system will stop. Since my friend runs the license server, there should be a message saying Earthquake risk, halt experiment on the registration website.
Ahh, nice plan scroll, thought nickname. Also, why do they want to compress the Earth?
The scroll's text fluttered, as the numbers decoded themselves.
The operator wants to make the Earth flat, to impress friends at some, Flat Earth Conference
That really exists? Wow.
The plan was to try to smooth and compress the Earth near the machine, even if it is pushes the Earth a few millimeters
The timeline for a few days just got longer. At the registration page for the controller, there was a warning.
The technician wearing green asked, 'Is there really an high Earthquake risk? I did not sign up to be squished'. Another replied 'Ooo', as they realised the risks. Looking at the controls, a zero could be seen, the pumps stopped. Checking for updates / license stops the program automatically.
The orb made a humming sound.
People got up and moved towards it.
'That green goes well with what your wearing'
Oh thanks, I got this a few weeks ago
Someone picks up the orb, feels it pulse, and puts it down.
A beep is heard on the computer near the orb, the screen saying that the machine is tilting. The scroll lock is pressed and the machine somehow responds to it, tilting back to where it was.
Packing up, nickname found time to share a cat video. The clock chimes, and people say bye to each other, looking forward to dinner.
[Minor edits 18/08/2024]