It used to be that if you knew where to find a certain drinking shop on a certain island in the Sou'winder Sea you could buy silence. This was back in the world I came from. The silence came in glass bottles. It was a drug, or a religious experience, whichever the buyer liked the sound of more. You opened them up in private and you inhaled— [Hissss, he drags in air between his teeth, eyes closing for a moment.] Had to be private. The fucking stories they told about what happened to people who opened them in company...no one knew for certain what would happen, but one phrase kept cropping up again and again: the quiet cages.
I bought a bottle and tried it. Alone, as instructed. Not a thing. [Shrug.] It took me a while to understand that all they were selling was anecdotes. You open the bottle alone, and whatever you tell yourself happens, you can report to others. They didn't think of it as a scam; they thought of it as selling an artist a canvas. A few years after this I ended up back there. Thought I'd take a walk to see the old, ha, haunt. I found the shop deserted. Asked around to find out why. Most people didn't know what I was talking about. Those who did shook their heads and said, "The quiet cages." And fuck all else.
video.
It used to be that if you knew where to find a certain drinking shop on a certain island in the Sou'winder Sea you could buy silence. This was back in the world I came from. The silence came in glass bottles. It was a drug, or a religious experience, whichever the buyer liked the sound of more. You opened them up in private and you inhaled— [Hissss, he drags in air between his teeth, eyes closing for a moment.] Had to be private. The fucking stories they told about what happened to people who opened them in company...no one knew for certain what would happen, but one phrase kept cropping up again and again: the quiet cages.
I bought a bottle and tried it. Alone, as instructed. Not a thing. [Shrug.] It took me a while to understand that all they were selling was anecdotes. You open the bottle alone, and whatever you tell yourself happens, you can report to others. They didn't think of it as a scam; they thought of it as selling an artist a canvas. A few years after this I ended up back there. Thought I'd take a walk to see the old, ha, haunt. I found the shop deserted. Asked around to find out why. Most people didn't know what I was talking about. Those who did shook their heads and said, "The quiet cages." And fuck all else.
Your turn.