as written by Script
One of Illumene Plaza’s largest constructions was the extravagantly designed Grand Plaza Arcade, a sprawling and busy shopping centre contained within a beautifully glass-roofed building. Crowds of shoppers bustled between a blend of stores, from international chains that took up entire swathes of the centre, to obscure and quirky boutiques nestled away in its corners.
Within one such little store, by the name of ‘Giotorri’s Toys’, Echo and Jamie were perusing its wares. The little toy-shop was a relative rarity, selling a large number of hand-crafted and painted toys alongside the more popular mass-produced and high-tech brands.
Echo was in the process of examining a particularly beautiful model spacecraft in the style of one of Isiria’s oldest fighter ships. His brow was furrowed, and his mouth curled in contemplative confusion. “But what is the purpose of it?” he asked, glancing up at his companion. “It is not an accurate model - the scale is off by several millimetres widthways, and none of the internal mechanisms are modelled.”
“It’s not meant to be used for anything technical!” Jamie explained with a sigh, “It’s just for fun. For kids that like spaceships, and want to play with them.”
“Play… with them?” Echo questioned, blinking. “Play is an activity from which one can derive recreation and enjoyment. But how does someone derive that from … just a spaceship-shaped piece of wood? There seems to be no game to it.”
“That’s because you make your own games. It’s like … a visual aid for imagination. A little kid might swing it through the air, making noises like… peeww, whoosh, poww!” Jamie made a valiant effort at imitating spaceship noises, eliciting an amused giggle from a little boy that was walking by with his mother at the opposite end of the aisle. “But instead of just seeing a wooden model being swung around, they’re picturing a space battle! With lasers, and rockets - even if it’s not accurate, it’s fun!”
Echo frowned briefly. “I think I understand. It… helps them imagine. I used to find it very difficult to imagine things I could not see, or had not seen before. It is still difficult, but … it helps to think of it as what could be, if the world were changed in certain ways. So they imagine what could be if the model were real?”
Jamie nodded, “That’s it!” he exclaimed, grinning.
“But…” Echo paused and hesitated, “...would that not mean imagining their arm being squashed by a spaceship? Or it dragging them through space?”
At that, Jamie burst out laughing. Echo reddened with embarassment.
Jamie smiled, patting Echo on the arm reassuringly. “No, no. It’s not quite that literal. It’s more … well, sometimes you imagine you’re piloting it, sometimes you just edit your arm out in your head and imagine that some other person is piloting it instead. Like you’re watching a movie, and everything aside from the ship is a greenscreen.”
“It’s still confusing. But I think I sort of understand.” Echo sighed plaintively. “I wish it was easier. I don’t know why I find it hard to think like other people.”
“Well, you’ve not had as much time to figure it out on your own.” Jamie said, giving Echo a half-hug. “It’s easy to take stuff like this for granted, but most people’ve had years growing up surrounded by it. They’ve lived it. It’s a lot harder to pick stuff up just by being told.”
Echo nodded slowly. “I wish I was more … human. I’m sorry I’m not. It must make it difficult to be … my friend.”
“You’re plenty human enough for me, buddy. More human than a lot of humans I know of.” Jamie placed his hand gently on Echo’s own, briefly letting his thoughts push through. ‘You forget, I can see a lot more than just what you say. I see a fair bit of what goes on in here, I can tell you’re a good guy. You’ve just got a lot to figure out. And that’s fine.’
Echo blinked, startled - he still wasn’t used to hearing others’ thoughts, even the occasional ones that managed to sneak past his mental block. The clarity of Jamie’s message caught him off guard, but after a moment he smiled. “Thank you. You are kind. Nobody else has really tried to teach me … normal things.”
“It’s my pleasure!” Jamie grinned, “Now let’s get a move on, before people start to think that we’re a doting couple, with all the standing here staring into each others’ eyes.” He laughed, before turning and moving towards the door, beckoning for Echo to follow.
The golem boy blinked in bemusement, unsure what Jamie had meant with the last remark, but shrugged it off as just another thing he’d pick up on eventually. He placed the model ship back down gently onto the shelf he’d taken it from, and hurried after his friend.
One of Illumene Plaza’s largest constructions was the extravagantly designed Grand Plaza Arcade, a sprawling and busy shopping centre contained within a beautifully glass-roofed building. Crowds of shoppers bustled between a blend of stores, from international chains that took up entire swathes of the centre, to obscure and quirky boutiques nestled away in its corners.
Within one such little store, by the name of ‘Giotorri’s Toys’, Echo and Jamie were perusing its wares. The little toy-shop was a relative rarity, selling a large number of hand-crafted and painted toys alongside the more popular mass-produced and high-tech brands.
Echo was in the process of examining a particularly beautiful model spacecraft in the style of one of Isiria’s oldest fighter ships. His brow was furrowed, and his mouth curled in contemplative confusion. “But what is the purpose of it?” he asked, glancing up at his companion. “It is not an accurate model - the scale is off by several millimetres widthways, and none of the internal mechanisms are modelled.”
“It’s not meant to be used for anything technical!” Jamie explained with a sigh, “It’s just for fun. For kids that like spaceships, and want to play with them.”
“Play… with them?” Echo questioned, blinking. “Play is an activity from which one can derive recreation and enjoyment. But how does someone derive that from … just a spaceship-shaped piece of wood? There seems to be no game to it.”
“That’s because you make your own games. It’s like … a visual aid for imagination. A little kid might swing it through the air, making noises like… peeww, whoosh, poww!” Jamie made a valiant effort at imitating spaceship noises, eliciting an amused giggle from a little boy that was walking by with his mother at the opposite end of the aisle. “But instead of just seeing a wooden model being swung around, they’re picturing a space battle! With lasers, and rockets - even if it’s not accurate, it’s fun!”
Echo frowned briefly. “I think I understand. It… helps them imagine. I used to find it very difficult to imagine things I could not see, or had not seen before. It is still difficult, but … it helps to think of it as what could be, if the world were changed in certain ways. So they imagine what could be if the model were real?”
Jamie nodded, “That’s it!” he exclaimed, grinning.
“But…” Echo paused and hesitated, “...would that not mean imagining their arm being squashed by a spaceship? Or it dragging them through space?”
At that, Jamie burst out laughing. Echo reddened with embarassment.
Jamie smiled, patting Echo on the arm reassuringly. “No, no. It’s not quite that literal. It’s more … well, sometimes you imagine you’re piloting it, sometimes you just edit your arm out in your head and imagine that some other person is piloting it instead. Like you’re watching a movie, and everything aside from the ship is a greenscreen.”
“It’s still confusing. But I think I sort of understand.” Echo sighed plaintively. “I wish it was easier. I don’t know why I find it hard to think like other people.”
“Well, you’ve not had as much time to figure it out on your own.” Jamie said, giving Echo a half-hug. “It’s easy to take stuff like this for granted, but most people’ve had years growing up surrounded by it. They’ve lived it. It’s a lot harder to pick stuff up just by being told.”
Echo nodded slowly. “I wish I was more … human. I’m sorry I’m not. It must make it difficult to be … my friend.”
“You’re plenty human enough for me, buddy. More human than a lot of humans I know of.” Jamie placed his hand gently on Echo’s own, briefly letting his thoughts push through. ‘You forget, I can see a lot more than just what you say. I see a fair bit of what goes on in here, I can tell you’re a good guy. You’ve just got a lot to figure out. And that’s fine.’
Echo blinked, startled - he still wasn’t used to hearing others’ thoughts, even the occasional ones that managed to sneak past his mental block. The clarity of Jamie’s message caught him off guard, but after a moment he smiled. “Thank you. You are kind. Nobody else has really tried to teach me … normal things.”
“It’s my pleasure!” Jamie grinned, “Now let’s get a move on, before people start to think that we’re a doting couple, with all the standing here staring into each others’ eyes.” He laughed, before turning and moving towards the door, beckoning for Echo to follow.
The golem boy blinked in bemusement, unsure what Jamie had meant with the last remark, but shrugged it off as just another thing he’d pick up on eventually. He placed the model ship back down gently onto the shelf he’d taken it from, and hurried after his friend.