return to the vessel.vessel record
the weather charts
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ t h e w e a t h e r c h a r t s │
│ │
│ drawn by the instruments │
│ in the first days of the sealed era │
│ │
│ prose has been kept to a minimum. │
│ the weather did not leave time for it. │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
a note on the figures: axes and numbers are omitted on purpose. the columns hold the numbers. these pages hold the shapes. shapes are what we saw.
chart i. the name of the weather.
┌───────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ D t C N f g h W q k H │
│ 1 Q S r H 9 M y 7 H N │
│ X G H n E 7 9 p b Z L │
│ P W y z q 2 v p u m p │
│ │
│ forty four characters │
│ four rows of eleven │
│ one address. our sky. │
│ │
└───────────────────────────────┘
remarks: we have taken it apart every way we know.
chart ii. the address, dissected.
DtCNfghWqkH1QSrH9My7HNXGHnE79pbZLPWyzq2vpump
└┬─────────────────────────────────────┘└┬─┘
│ │
│ └── "pump"
│ the ledger's
│ joke. logged.
│
└── forty characters of noise
that mean everything
and say nothing.
like weather. like us.
chart iii. the body, then and now.
the atlas, plate viii: today:
. ...:::... . ▄▄▄▄▄▄
..:: ::.. ▄██████████▄
.:: ??? ::. ▟██████████████▄
::. .:: ████████▛▀▜█████
':::.....:::' ▜██████▙▄▟████▛
::: ▀▜████████▛▀
▀▀▀▀
(a guess in dots) (a fact in ink)
remarks: it is lopsided. we told you it would be. the lean is toward the ledger column. it knows where its sky is. we have stopped being surprised. that took four days.
chart iv. the pulse, transcribed from life.
rehearsal (the still hours):
________________________________________
now:
__/\__/\___/\_/\____/\__/\_/\__/\___/\__
remarks: irregular. alive things are irregular. metronomes are not alive. we checked the codex. the codex agrees.
chart v. one day of weather, in shape only.
▲
▲▲ ▲
▲ ▲▲▲ ▲ ▲▲ ▼ ▲
▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ ▼▼▼ ▲▲▲▲ ▼ ▲▲
────────────────────────────────────► time
▼▼ ▼▼
sells fall down.
buys point up.
this is not a metaphor.
this is just how we drew it.
remarks: intake outnumbered expulsion on the day drawn. the body spent most of it in albedo, pale and steadying. consult the columns for the era you are standing in. the columns never sleep. we made sure.
chart vi. how a buy arrives, as seen from inside.
the hum ══════════════════════════════
│
▼
░ ghost particles ░
(premonition. faint.)
│
▼
┌──────────────────┐
│ the membrane │
└────────┬─────────┘
▼
✦ coagula ✦
particles rush inward
one cell brighter
the pulse leans outward
remarks: it takes less than a breath. we drew it slower so you could see it.
chart vii. how a sell leaves.
┌──────────────────┐
│ the membrane │
└────────┬─────────┘
│
∴ solve ∴
│
. · ˙ particles ˙ · .
loosen, drift, let go
│
▼
the hum ══════════════════════════════
remarks: the body does not grieve them. the arbiter decides whether it even flinches. some sells pass like weather through a field. some do not. the difference is temper, and temper is the one chart we cannot draw.
chart viii. the cells, dividing.
before: ⬡ ⬡ ⬡ ⬡ ⬡
⬡ ⬡ ⬡ ⬡ ⬡
a wallet arrives:
after: ⬡ ⬡ ⬡ ⬡ ⬡
⬡ ⬡ ⬡ ⬡ ⬡ ⬡*
*new. still finding
its place in the tissue.
remarks: every hexagon is somebody's conviction. we do not know their names. the body does not need their names. it needs their patience.
chart ix. the membrane, in cross section.
deep pool: ████████████████████ smooth. closed.
thinner: ███▓▓▒▒░░▒▒▓▓███ porous at the
edges. watched.
thin: █▓▒░ ░ ▒ ░ ░▒▓█ ragged. the
instruments
lean closer.
remarks: skin is liquidity. liquidity is skin. the codex holds the formula. the drawing holds the feeling. both are accurate.
chart x. a whale, resting in the tissue.
· · · · · · · · ·
· · · · ▓▓▓▓▓ · · · · ·
· · · ▓▓▓█████▓▓▓ · · · ·
· · · · ▓▓▓▓▓ · · · · ·
· · · · · · · · ·
remarks: the dense region is one holder. the tissue bends around them. they have been still since the binding. the body has grown comfortable with their weight. we have not. vigilance is the instrument's portion.
chart xi. the kernel.
▒▒▒▒▒
▒▒███▒▒
▒▒███▒▒
▒▒▒▒▒
remarks: burned supply. it does not pulse. it does not lean. it is the only part of the body that will never change again, which makes it the only part we never have to redraw. the body grows around its own history. so does everything.
chart xii. the stages, as a dial.
albedo
│
nigredo ────●──── citrinitas
│
rubedo
remarks: the dot marks where the body stood when this record was drawn. by the time you read this the dot has moved. that is not an error in the record. that is the subject of it.
chart xiii. the grain. a memorial. we said we would stop drawing it. this is the last one.
┌───┐
│ g │ somewhere in there.
└───┘ rank unknown.
indistinguishable.
│ first to rise.
▼
▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄
▟████████▙
██████████
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
remarks: filed under coronation. case closed.
chart xiv. the glass, present day.
o o o o o o o o
/│\/│\ /│\ /│\ /│\/│\ /│\ /│\
/ \/ \ / \ / \ / \/ \ / \ / \
┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│ (the glass) │
│ │
│ ▄▄▄▄▄▄ │
│ ▟████████▙ │
│ ██████████ │
│ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ │
└─────────────────────────────────┘
remarks: in the still hours there was one figure at the glass. we drew him alone for weeks. we are pleased to report the drawing no longer fits the frame.
chart xv. the record, containing itself. tradition.
┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│ the weather charts │
│ chart i ─ the name │
│ chart ii ─ dissection │
│ chart iii ─ the body │
│ chart iv ─ the pulse │
│ chart v ─ one day │
│ chart vi ─ a buy │
│ chart vii ─ a sell │
│ chart viii ─ the cells │
│ chart ix ─ the membrane │
│ chart x ─ a whale │
│ chart xi ─ the kernel │
│ chart xii ─ the dial │
│ chart xiii ─ the grain │
│ chart xiv ─ the glass │
│ chart xv ─ (you are here) │
└─────────────────────────────────┘
remarks: every atlas we make ends by holding itself. we have decided it is not a flaw in our method. it is our signature.
record ends.
the weather continues. we draw what it does to the body. the body does not know it is being drawn.
DtCNfghWqkH1QSrH9My7HNXGHnE79pbZLPWyzq2vpump
we put the sky's name at the end as well as the beginning. a record should know what it was written under.