[23:24] <Geminid> Switch to here

[23:25] <Quacklin> OOC, I'm laughing maniacally

[23:25] <Geminid> Good to know

[23:25] <Geminid> What do you do to poor Geminid?

[23:26] * Quacklin takes him up to his roof and introduces him to everyone. "This is Phillip, and this is Alga, and you've met Walker, and.."

[23:27] <Quacklin> He shows him all the sculptures built from dreams.

[23:28] <Quacklin> He also teaches Geminid how to zip-line.

[23:28] * Geminid learns quickly.

[23:30] <Quacklin> "And these are the trees. They stretch out in the light, like the insides of a thermo-metromiter. It's dark now though, but if you shine a light on them..."

[23:31] <Quacklin> he takes a light from a sculpture and shines it on the trees, and waits. He continues to explain how all the pieces of things work, especially if Geminid knows the technical terms for things.

[23:32] <Quacklin> ie, the gnomish words.

[23:32] * Geminid knows them quite well.

[23:33] <Quacklin> "And so this is how I build a dream. I wait for the ideas to come. I write down the good ones, but the bad ones need more work. I build those and try to fix them."

[23:34] <Quacklin> "You should build one. I've got lots of parts. What are you thinking about?"

[23:36] * Geminid cocks his head, "This unit thinks about dreams."

[23:37] <Quacklin> "What aren't you thinking about, that you should be thinking about?"

[23:37] * Geminid pauses, "This unit does not understand."

[23:39] <Quacklin> "That's what's in most of my dreams. Things I'm not thinking about, but should be thinking about. Or things I thought about before, or things put together in new ways."

[23:40] <Quacklin> "And then there's the new dreams I haven't thought of before, but that I wanted to think about. And the bad dreams I can't forget."

[23:40] * Geminid shakes his head, "This unit does not understand."

[23:43] * Quacklin picks up a hammer and cone. "It's like putting things together. Pick up two things here on the roof."

[23:43] * Geminid looks around and picks up a lightbulb and a wrench

[23:44] <Quacklin> "Now put them together somehow."

[23:44] <Geminid> He puts the wrench around the base of the lightbulb.

[23:44] <Geminid> That is, the mouth of the wrench around it

[23:45] <Quacklin> "Now, this combination is different from just a wrench and just a lightbulb. It does new stuff. Make up a name for it."

[23:45] * Geminid says, "How does this unit make a name for it?"

[23:46] * Quacklin considers. "What can it do that it couldn't do before?"

[23:47] <Quacklin> "The light bulb is easier to screw in now."

[23:47] * Geminid considers, "This unit can see little added utility."

[23:47] <Quacklin> "So it's an easier-screwer-lightbulber."

[23:48] <Geminid> "Does that make it a dream?"

[23:49] <Quacklin> "Some dreams are like that, but with ideas instead of objects. Any two ideas get put together to make a new idea."

[23:49] * Geminid nods, "This unit has much knowledge, but no ideas."

[23:50] <Quacklin> "The ideas that go together are kinda like dream."

[23:50] * Geminid cocks his head, "This unit does not understand."

[23:50] <Quacklin> "Tell me two facts."

[23:58] <Quacklin> "or tell me two things you know."

[23:59] * Geminid pauses.

[00:00] <Geminid> "The Ironhook Corporation made its fortune first through railroad, but expanded into weapons during the second to last war. The cutting edge of film technology is often first used in the pornographic film industry."

[00:02] <Quacklin> "Okay. Now we combine them into an idea. The Ironhook Corporation made it's fortune first through railroad because the cutting edge of film technology is used in dirty movies."

[00:03] * Geminid shakes his head, "Inaccurate."

[00:03] <Quacklin> "So that couldn't be true?"

[00:04] * Geminid considers, "This unit does not see how."

[00:05] <Quacklin> "Then it's not useful like the lightbulb wrench. But if you keep trying it with everything you know, you'll find some ideas that do work."

[00:07] * Geminid pauses, "Such calculations and combinations would take... three hundred twenty two thousand eight hundred fifty six years, nine months, one week, three days, eight hours, fourty minutes and six seconds."

[00:08] <Quacklin> "You don't do them all. Just practice until you find one to start."

[00:08] <Quacklin> "Then find out what makes that combination different. You'll find more combinations that way."

[00:08] <Geminid> "The Empire of Tara'hin was founded nine times since its first founding. The city Madziar has never been destroyed."

[00:10] <Quacklin> "Could the Empire of Tara'hin been founded nine times because the city of Madziar has never been destroyed?"

[00:10] * Geminid shakes his head.

[00:11] <Quacklin> "What about the other way around?"

[00:11] * Geminid pauses, "Inconclusive."

[00:12] * Quacklin beams. "That's the first part of your first dream."

[00:13] * Geminid considers this. "This unit will reflect on this."

[00:14] <Quacklin> "Okay. If you can't figure it out, or if you want to see how it works, we can build copies of the cities too."

[00:14] * Geminid pauses, then nods.

[00:14] <Quacklin> "Taking an idea like yours and trying to make it real, sometimes that can answer the question."

[00:15] <Quacklin> "You can learn how to do it with practice, just like learning to zipline."

[00:15] * Geminid says, "May this unit and yourself build the cities now?"

[00:17] <Quacklin> "Okay. Draw how they are laid out, and we'll get started."

[00:17] <Geminid> He takes paper and makes perfect replicas of Ienova and Madziar

[00:17] <Geminid> Maps, that is

[00:18] * Quacklin has him sketch them on a portion of the roof. Then he starts eyeballing pieces of trash into the proper buildings and roughly reconstructing the cities.

[00:19] <Quacklin> we do this until it's time for the sleepover I imagine.

[00:20] <Geminid> You'd barely be started construction by that time.

[00:20] * Geminid is insanely skilled at detailing the cities.

[00:20] <Quacklin> that's fine.

[00:22] <Quacklin> Quacklin has another lesson for him. He uses the lightbulb for a building, uses pieces that don't fit exactly, etc.

[00:23] * Geminid has a hard time wrapping his head around that

[00:24] <Quacklin> "It's like when I gave you the idea to combine things you know. Sometimes ideas don't come from you directly."

[00:24] * Geminid considers, "This unit does not understand."

[00:26] <Quacklin> "By using what I have around me, I get new ideas. The goal is to get ideas, not build the city."

[00:26] * Geminid looks to the ceiling, then back to Quacklin, "The process brings inspiration?"

[00:26] <Quacklin> "If the lightbulb doesn't fit here, then I take it out." He demonstrates. "If it does fit, that's part of a new idea. It builds the dream."

[00:26] <Quacklin> "Right!"

[00:27] * Geminid considers, "This unit has much to learn."

[00:28] <Quacklin> "I made Walker after watching a spider inside Phillip. As I built him, I made up new parts from what I had around. The pieces I used ended up fitting better than my first idea."

[00:28] <Quacklin> er, "as I built her,"

[00:28] <Quacklin> "That's also why you have to have lots of stuff, so you can get more ideas. You have to know lots of stuff as well."

[00:29] <Geminid> Wait, who is Phillip?

[00:29] <Quacklin> the tentacle

[00:30] <Geminid> Got it.

[00:30] * Geminid considers, "Material possessions bring inspiration?"

[00:30] <Quacklin> "Only if you try and make them fit where they don't normally go."

[00:31] <Quacklin> "Other people have thrown away everything you see up here."

[00:31] <Quacklin> "But I put it together in new ways."

[00:33] * Geminid considers, "What do you seek?"

[00:34] * Quacklin sighs. "I'm trying to fix my bad dreams. Like the one with the Scissorman. If I don't fix him, he'll kill me."

[00:34] <Quacklin> "Before that, I wanted to give people new ideas. Movies give people ideas all the time."

[00:35] <Quacklin> "They're like dreams, sometimes."

[00:35] * Geminid nods, "The film industry was once a bastion of inspiration, when the Hat Makers ran it."

[00:36] <Quacklin> "Oh, it still is. People wouldn't go if they didn't get ideas."

[00:38] * Geminid cocks his head, then nods.

[00:41] <Quacklin> together, we continue to construct the two cities.

[00:45] <Geminid> You get as much done, then go back to the lot?

[00:45] <Quacklin> before it's time, Quacklin takes Geminid for a quick to-go order at his diner, then they head back to the lot.

[00:46] * Geminid does not eat. The waitress gives you extra cream on your crab cake and feta wrap.

[00:47] <Quacklin> (nice) As we're walking back, "If you want to work on your cities, come over any time. Phillip could use the company. He gets a bit sullen sometimes."

[00:47] <Quacklin> "I'll see if I can get more stuff for your project."

[00:48] <Geminid> "This unit is grateful."

[00:48] <Quacklin> "Sure! You're a good listener."

[00:48] * Geminid cocks his head, says nothing