Yesterday upon the stair
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today;
I wish that man would go away.
--Hughes Mearns

And I'm looking through the glass
Where the light bends at the cracks
And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs
Pretending the echoes belong to someone
Someone I used to know
And we become silhouettes when our bodies finally go
--The Postal Service, We Will Become Silhouettes

GrayZero

GrayZero, in theory, could look like anything, but her current default is as follows:

You're evidently looking at what would normally be a simple anthro gray vixen, wearing her traditionalist garb - hooded black cloak with hood usually down over a long dark blue dress that leaves nothing visible except collarbone and up, hands/paws, and occasionally her tail under the cloak.

That's what it seems, at least. Of course, there are infrequent lapses of this image. Occasional pixelation. Every once in a great while, a random flicker. A definite indicator that despite a noticable physical presence, it's questionable as to whether or not this entity is really here.

A Bit Of Background

From a physical perspective, GrayZero is the summation of the distributed parts of an upload, originally from a world where post-scarcity hadn't really made its way into the social conciousness to start with (to borrow a phrasing suggested by XOR, they'd "gone Amish" ;) ), and instead slowly evolved into a religion. Her usual form is one that very closely resembles what she used to look like back when she still existed physically, though with a few artistic touches here and there (naturally). In the past, she was completely insubstantial, but of late she's been providing physical feedback as well as feedback to the senses, so she can do an even better impression of pretending she's somewhere.

From a social perspective, she's very much a mystic, revering Puzzlebox-the-entity as a deity. Any references to "my Lady" by her are references to Puzzlebox. (see The Church Of Our Lady's Scholars for a bit more detail.) GrayZero's Purpose in going to her Lady's domain had been thought of/intended as a rejuvinator to her Faith after having had it sorely tested by the spiritual disintegration of her homeworld; she hadn't anticipated that her trip would rapidly become a very heavy Faith field-test. Despite several resulting serious shocks to her system, she's managed quite well, and indeed has settled in quite rapidly.

Well, except for that one time. But there's no need to talk about that right now.

GrayZero's aims of late have been twofold: defense and support of those she has come to respect, and watching over those who show potential to bring great change for good or ill. Interference in either of these Purposes is contraindicated.

A Note On Etymology

Various other suppositions to the contrary, GrayZero's name is not intended as a technical designator. It is merely a concatenation of the surnames of herself and her husband from before the Upload. Alexi is currently where She deems it most necessary for him to be, just as she herself is.

A Discussion On Quirks

GrayZero makes her residence in The Lighthouse. She does her best to evenly divide her time between staying there and wandering the Mess.

GrayZero has a tendency to mutter prayers from time to time. These are represented by [square brackets] - they're not ultimately untranslatable, but they are not immediately comprehensible either. The easiest explanation is that while she works to be understood when talking with others, when she's muttering a prayer she makes no such effort; there should be no distortion of her message for something so important, after all. Lately most of her prayers have been internal and unspoken.

GrayZero is given to letting her mind wander. Occasionally this leads to her literally wandering about the Mess without her quite conciously realizing it, almost completely oblivious to anything around her. She nearly always apologizes to anyone whom she's thusly 'ignored' afterwards, if she gets the opportunity; it's rude to ignore people.

GrayZero has a great deal of respect for the Fourth Wall and tries not to let gaps show. Again, it's impolite to do so.

GrayZero can be rather frequently found in Puzzle Park, leaning against The Cube Tree with her eyes closed. She'll often interact with others present, though only rarely opens her eyes to do so. Most who care enough to be curious about it assume this is her means of communing with Puzzlebox, though this has not been confirmed.

There's a [pendant] that GrayZero constantly wears. It is generally accepted that this is a religious symbol.

A Series Of Relationships

Due to its size, this information has been relocated.

A Smattering Of OOC Tidbits

GrayZero has a [LiveJournal].

Image on this page courtesy of a non-PBX friend (drawing; taken *quite* out of context, by the way ;) ), Zedda's player (transparency work, also originally for something else :) ), and The GIMP (Distortion Filters are love). Yes, it's a [ragged float]. I always wanted to do one.

A Few Comments

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

"Twin's approach to life is radically different from her own" - True. [This] might shed some light on why Twin chooses to live the way (she) does; especially the part near the end, starting around where (she) says "I've eaten worlds". (Her) choice of life is as much from penance as hedonism.

Re: Grey: "...but lately he's been remarkably polite, almost curious." -- Maybe? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how Grey feels about GrayZero, and the fact that his memory's so spotty and unreliable... I think he envies her conviction and serenity.

"Frostbyte seems to be quite thoroughly insane...in an interesting and sometimes thought-provoking fashion..." Hee hee! I never thought of myself as INSANE, but I suppose some of my actions could be interpreted as such.

Jeremy is probably going to start refering to Grayzero as "his ghostly mother". The long term possibilities are promising.

"A thoroughly wrong-headed and tiresome entity. I shall have to study more of her belief-system at a later time, however." - System

(The words stop for a moment. They bend as if pushed from somewhere ELSE and the hinttastefeeling of Strange comes through: "I will not impede my Lady's lesson to her" and a feeling of really talking to someone, that feeling of instant thereness, of crystal-clear thought, about a mother protecting their children and what that really means followed by a single thoughtburst "Systemchildkiller!" then silence. Before the words continue again.)

Miss all-razors all-edge looks at GrayZero. "Fuck thou, sanctimonius cunt." She smiles. "Stuck up watching pure can't even let a poor cat out of a box So pure So pristine Fuck thou."