Odvin once again looked over at the clock.

•||• - •••• - •••• - •••| - •|••

It was time to get moving. 

The news had broken around || spans into the day. *

Not really exactly at "||" ... It was a gradual, fluid thing - people waking up, learning about what had been happening overnight, seeing what was known about events and the timeline so far, hearing what other people were starting to understand. 

But Odvin was tracking the news, coming to terms with the situation ... Something like a mark or so into "||" ? - and it seemed like that was basically the thing everyone everywhere was doing at that moment in time. The moment had that feeling. 

... and now it was already passing "||•" ... Well, it was past ||• spans by a single breath and |•• beats... another randomly selected person probably wouldn't even say that part of the time if they were telling you the time - but Odvin had a cluster of mental reflexes associated with looking at a clock and seeing that neat row of |•••• "•"s start to disappear when the clock was beating its way into a new span. 

It was a sign to get moving on a new activity - or at least Odvin, as an individual, had built up habits as a person and become someone who tended to react that way - Odvin had set up their life around a rhythm like that, as much as one could live by a rhythm of activities broken up with the |•|• spans of a day.

Time felt scarce now, but thinking about all the features of the world and the implications for decisions associated with that feeling of "time is scarce now" was a lot of what Odvin had been doing for the last |• spans. It was truly a ridiculous thing to worry about for so long. 

Short on time? Spend |• spans of that scarce resource in large part agonizing about how little was left. 

Hilarious. Someone else would even have smiled at the thought.

* Units of Time on Origin

The Planet of Origin uses decimal time. 

A day is broken up into 10 "spans." (2 hours and 24 minutes)

A span is 10 "marks." (14 minutes and 24 seconds)

A mark is 10 "runs." (86.4 seconds)

A run is 10 "breaths." (8.64 seconds)

A breath is 10 "beats." (0.864 seconds)

These words are approximate translations into English.

"Beat" shares the root word in "heartbeat" since 0.864 seconds is sorta, kinda, about the average length of a heartbeat - 

"Breath" has the connotation of "take a breath" (slowly and deliberately) and 8.64 seconds is a pretty good length of time for a slow deep breath - 

A "run" would have the connotation of "run and grab something," where actually physically running to do something quickly wouldn't be a noteworthy exertion of stamina, or phrases like "give me a minute" in Earth slang -

"Marks" would have a connotation like the smallest marks you'd make on a sundial, or "take 15 minutes" in Earth slang -

"Spans" have a connotation of truly long stretches of time, as in the time it takes for whole activities, not just individual subtasks.

Origin additionally has words for "deci-beats" (⅒ beats) and "centi-beats" (⅒ deci-beats) ... etc. etc. 

If you want a clock in decimal time, just call the day "1" and figure out how long it has been since midnight as a decimal fractional notation of 1.

0.60014 of a day, 2:24 pm or 14:24 on an Earth clock, would be "6 spans, 0 marks, 0 runs, 1 breath, 4 beats."

Reading a Clock on Origin

The Planet of Origin uses binary as the basis for its numerals and artithmetic.

This means the clocks are displayed in the binary numerals corresponding to the numbers 0 through 9 in base 10. 

They do not use Arabic numerals, "Arabic numerals" being the shapes "0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9" 

(The "Arabic numerals" would look even stranger to someone from Origin than Earth's "Kaktovik numerals." The person from Origin would ask why you were drawing your numbers that way if the shapes didn't even correspond to any properties of the numbers.)

They draw "1" like this: | 

And they draw "0" like this: • 

Sometimes they draw 0 like a little line, about a quarter of the height of the numeral for 1. The short bar form of the numeral for 0 has some useful properties. 

So, on the display of a clock at midnight, instead of 

0000 - 0000 - 0000 - 0000 - 0000 

You see

•••• - •••• - •••• - •••• - •••• 

And 3 beats after midnight ( || in Origin numerals)

•••• - •••• - •••• - •••• - ••||

If you are having trouble reading Origin numerals, you can display them on your fingers like this 

(Someone on Earth may find it entertaining to show a friend how to count to 4 in binary on their fingers!)

A raised finger would represent a | in the Origin numerals, a lowered finger would represent a •

So, 9 beats would pass from midnight and the "beats" segment at the end of the clock would display |••| 

Then on the tenth beat it would tick over into displaying 

•••• - •••• - •••• - •••| - ••••

... or one breath after midnight. 

Children on Origin also find reading their clocks unintuitive! Though they have an easier time learning to read clocks than children on Earth.

But, still, almost all the other occasions on Origin where you see a display of numbers ticking up, you would see |••| followed by |•|• followed by |•|| 

Having things tick back to •••• after only |••| units have been counted is really unintuitive for a small kid on Origin. That's not how their toys work! Base 10 is weird! Why are there 10 things in that set instead of 2 or 4 or 8 or 16 things?! 

An Origin adult will reply to this question somewhat sheepishly by saying that's just how time is accounted in their society. They have no idea how sheepish Earth adults must feel when they are asked similar questions!

The plan: min-max seeking solitude and simplicity. 

Odvin was already moving around the housing unit, getting started on packing. 

The housing unit was... somewhat more than was usual... in a disorderly condition at the moment. 

Odvin had pulled some cables out of the wall some time ago and hacked through them with a roughing* knife. The unit no longer had grid power, audiovisual, or compute connectivity. 

Odvin hauled a pack out of a small storage cupboard - a shoulder harnessed travel bag - leather, rugged. A single sealable watertight outer skin and interior separator system for organizing items. 

Odvin began throwing some clothing items and other miscellaneous equipment onto the still-unfurled bedroll. 

The bedroll wouldn't be coming along. It was foam and not at all lightweight travel-ready gear.

Roughing pants with deep pockets, not waterproof, but with separable layers for fast drying - if you wanted to take the time to disassemble them. 

An undershirt and legwear, plus another set to throw in the bag - two (|•) pieces each of lightweight high thread-count woven synth-fabric - ideal for protecting the skin from pinching, friction, or scraping from other clothing, equipment, or simple body movement. 

A roughing overcoat - durable, fitted, inner and outer pockets, a collapsible rain hood stowed under the collar between the shoulders, gloves similarly stowed in the cuffs of both sleeves. 

A belt with standardized clips for a sheath, or similar equipment items one might want in easy reach. The sheath and the roughing knife was the only thing Odvin was bringing along which would attach to the belt. Odvin's portable datalink and network-independent-compute device was... thoroughly disassembled... in the kitchen sink. 

Foot-anatomy conforming laced shoes. Sufficient protection from most terrain, good grip surfacing on the soles, yet light and flexible. 

Alright, items for the bag:

A large blanket, ideal for folding up for padding as a seat or to wrap oneself in for warmth. 

A kettle and a water container. Odvin thankfully had filled the water container yesterday, there wouldn't be any need to agonize over trust in the local clean-water system. 

A packet of many days worth of electrolyte-balanced salt powder. 

A packet a few days worth of dried meats, and a packet of dried fruits and nuts. 

A packet of a few days worth of rice grains. 

Sure... A bound sheath of paper and an ink pen. It would feel strange not to have any external information storage, even if Odvin didn't expect to need it - it was lightweight enough. 

And... That was it. This would be Odvin's gear for the expected remaining days (spans? ... marks??) of human history. 

Suit up. 

* Roughing

Origin has a few categories for "types of physical activities." 

The two (|•) most relevant to Odvin's lifestyle are "roughing" and "conditioning." 

Roughing would be a general category covering Origin's equivalents of Earth's "hiking," "mountain climbing," "camping," "wilderness survival," etc.

Conditioning would be a general category covering Origin's equivalents of Earth's "exercise," "gyms," "physical training," "sports," etc.

A "roughing knife" would be recognizable to Earthlings as a "survival knife."

Odvin will not just be stepping out of their housing unit without a plan. 

Having on the clothes helps with this. The cached pattern of behavior is different. There is a different mode Odvin's mind is entering compared to a day heading into town for a job or for a personal-growth, self-actualization or conditioning activity... This isn't even the kind of outfit for a day out in the wilderness. 

The roughing Odvin does in an outfit like this is rarer than almost every other activity in their life, but it is always... more involved. It's a type of activity which uses more of yourself - at least, if you are doing the challenging kinds of roughing, the type with an elaborate objective designed for your skill level.

In the type of roughing Odvin does, there wouldn't be just be the expected | to |• unfamiliar problems to solve, but more than |•••• complex interconnected unfamiliar problems. You would have to triage dealing with the most important problems, track ranges of possible outcomes for each decision, anticipate what others would be able to accomplish with their own resources...

Odvin's latest occasion wearing this sort of gear was... Something like |• ^ |••• days ago. || out of |••| parts of the year ago, or thereabouts.*

Winter instead of Harvest. Some time after the Solstice. It was a uniquely difficult ||| day session in the nearby mountains range. Overland tracking and retrieval out in the cold. Insurance for catastrophic mishaps during the event was only reasonably priced since Odvin is just that good. 

It had been a busy |• seasons since, and while jobs and games in the meantime had occasions to be done in heavy duty work gear, this was different. This was an outfit for games of improvisation and tests of skill in dynamic and inhospitable environments. 

So, now Odvin was thinking in that mode. In a run or two they would be breaking cover, leaving the housing unit. They would spend a few breaths looking around, and then spending a run to literally physically run to an ideal spot to break from the the paved housing-area walking trail. 

They would be able to get within tree cover quickly enough, and Odvin did not really expect to be spotted. There weren't the sounds on helicopter in the air... and they were strongly betting on planes being grounded... There almost certainly wouldn't be anyone watching the housing unit. This wasn't that sort of roughing game. Odvin hoped it wasn't that sort of roughing game. 

The Thing might have allies, but it wouldn't be spending them on that kind of work. Odvin guessed not at least. 

Satellite coverage may pin them down, a few frames here and there with a low resolution image, a good guess about what scenario each bit of information most likely corresponded to, especially given a psychological profile available from every bit of information about Odvin out there in captured hardware...

They would be located. A probability distribution over where in the world the entity "Odvin" had been and where they will be seems entirely like something that could be worked out by the Thing - but it wouldn't be right now. Odvin would almost certainly not have to deal with other people getting their bearings on Odvin's location and heading - then putting together some sort of mission to track them through the mountain range. 

From the nearby tree cover Odvin was aiming for, they could make it to their planned campsite before sunset without needing to cross through any more settled areas. There was a reason someone like Odvin rented space in a housing-area like this one. Not for access to that specific campsite - it wasn't a site they had visited in the last ||•• years - but just... to be someplace where the wilds were substantially accessible. 

Mainline plan settled. Time to go. 

* Math on Origin

256 ÷ 365 is not a difficult problem for someone from Origin to do in their head. Really.

If you just use binary you don't need to break the year up into memorized approximate ratios like 12 months in a year and 52 weeks in a year. Just do some division in your head. It's binary, long division is something you do when you're still 7 or 8 years old. 

You will often see on Origin a calendar spread over 5 pages, since many will want to have fewer tiles representing days per page - and someone from Origin would immediately recognize 5 and 73 as divisors of 365 - but breaking things down to "months" and "weeks" isn't really a thing on this planet.

(Actually, Odvin was basically competent in division tasks by |•| years old.)

Open the door and step out. Position back heel to kick off the door ledge... Half crouch, look around. 

No one in sight, good. The air is... A breeze. Smoke? 

There is smoke in the distance... The direction of the township.

...

Put it out of mind - Odvin is not heading in the direction of the township - they aren't seeking to interact with others at all. 

Odvin has no one they have committed to protecting or aiding, no outstanding debts - no informal favors - no one even to say goodbye to. 

Time to run.

Physical exertion is never really easy if you're doing it properly, but spending energy and pushing various limits can become simple and fluid. 

Conditioning is all about this.

Put someone on a simulated glacier surface, give them spiked metal boots, a sled, and a stack of concrete blocks taller than they are.

How fast can you load the sled? How quickly can you move the stack of blocks to the other side of the room? How fast can you get the sled moving over the ice? How quickly can you stop a loaded sled? 

To those who want to train their bodies, to become more competent physically, conditioning like this becomes a frequent part of their lives.

Odvin has numerous spent |• ^ ||| day spans, about | part in || of a year, doing |• day cycles of activities like these - on simulated glaciers, ankle deep in simulated swamps, on lattices of netting, climbing simulated cliff faces...

So, leaving their housing unit today, Odvin moves like a predatory cat.

Leaves and dirt forming slopes on the edge of the path are caught with toes and turned into additional friction to push off the ground. Odvin's upper body remains steady on a horizontal plane like a boat cutting through the air. Their stride is just long enough to catch the ground at the right angle to shove them ahead faster and faster. Cornering happens exactly when and where the terrain is convenient to provide additional traction against the acceleration. 

This is not a sustainable pace - though Odvin could keep it up for several runs of time, if necessary. Today it isn't, and on less familiar and uncultivated ground it would be much riskier. 

They will slow down when they are out of sight, and then they will only slow down moderately - to conserve stamina and to properly acknowledge the risks of unfamiliar and wild terrain. Then, Odvin will briefly stop after creating a run's distance from the walking path, to the get their bearings properly and plan their travel to the camping site. 

For now, the game is a matter of focus, skill, power, and moment-to-moment reactions.

Odvin had been off the path and in the trees for several breaths before reaching a slope, steep but tightly bound by foliage. 

The climb is easy enough, though Odvin is steady and careful about the task - the branches and vines were pessimal enough to jab flesh or tangle a limb were someone to be incautious with the obstacle. The height near the crest was enough to deal a serious injury if one were to fall. 

And then Odvin reached the top, and it was time to pause, to survey and plan. 

The forest is not entirely quiet. Distant birdsong. Some animals in the leaves above and forest floor around. There is a feeling of fullness to this part of the world. 

Alright. Nothing visible in the direction of the housing area. No sounds of approaching people. 

This... Was actually not really a situation where this exact type of tension and caution was warranted. Everything Odvin could model about the shape of the world's crisis predicts that the lethal danger would come suddenly, from an angle Odvin could not foresee...

Was there even a point in trying to be careful about this? The sort of opponent Origin - the whole civilization - was facing was not the type of opponent where skill would prove useful. 

Odvin crouched and breathed deeply. They tried to push these sorts of thoughts out of their mind. However ridiculous it was at this point, the act of building up and deploying certain habits was not one Odvin would entirely abandon in a situation where those habits had become futile. 

What's next? 

Reckoning by sunlight and knowing the rough location and precise orientation of their housing, the ridgeline Odvin was aiming for should be roughly |• ^ |•|• paces by equal Anti-Spin and Up... Perhaps another bit in the Anti-Spin component... Odvin did not actually bring along a compass. This is not actually a challenge to navigate. The geographic topology is familiar enough in this area for visual navigation by line of sight terrain identification to be fully sufficient. *

Being here felt... Done. They had settled their mind on the prospect of becoming entangled with some ongoing events immediately upon exiting their dwelling. They had rested from their brief intense exertion.

This was not the place Odvin wanted to be right now. It was time to travel to a place from long distant memories. 

Odvin stood up and began to move at a steady sustainable pace through the wilderness. 

* Distance and Direction on Origin

Distance:

What does a measurement system look like on a world that uses binary? 

Well, humans generally have hands, arms, and legs. This does not make for a very precise foundation for a measurement system, but it is one which is accessible enough to be universal by the time anyone tries to bolt precision onto it. 

A human finger is roughly 7-8cm long.

Double that and you've got roughly the length of a hand with fingers extended. ≈15cm 

Double that and you've got roughly the length of a forearm. ≈30cm

Double that and you've got roughly the length of a step. ≈60cm 

Double that and you've got roughly the length of a pace (returning to the same foot forward.) ≈120cm 

So, a common unit of overland distances on Origin would be multiples of |• ^ |•|• (2^10 = 1024) paces. ≈ 1.229 km

Direction: 

Origin happens to have a culture which likes to put concepts into people's grasp. Something about how the world has all sorts of delightfully accessible and manipulable regularities when your mental tools neatly work to parse it. 

So, what do they do when they figure out what sort of thing the planet they're on is? Name the cardinal directions by something you can "hold in your hand." 

Curl the fingers of your right hand into a "thumbs up" gesture. The four fingers are the direction of rotation for the earth. "Spin" would be from West to East by Earth's reckoning, "Anti-Spin" would be East to West. The thumb points "Up." This last part of the cardinal directions is arbitrary - except that, similar to Earth, most people on Origin are right handed. 

Odvin is musing about polar coordinates on the space of these cardinal directions. Explaining the "another bit" portion of that would be getting into what Origin uses instead of "360 degrees" in a polar coordinate system. Which, might be fairly obvious if you're designing the system from first principles around binary, instead of divisions of 360... 

"Another bit in Anti-Spin" would be moving halfway again towards Anti-Spin from the "45°" vector between Up and Anti-Spin.