Nice to meet you. I am Black Queen Datura.
My callsign is Nelshirt Pineapple.
Good evening, everyone! I'm Kamata Tokei the Black Queen, a member of TELETOKYO!
I am the Black Queeeeen Siiiign. Greetiiiinnnngs.
Baseline
The Ghost Sign is an object bearing a word or symbol meaning "yield right-of-way" that is capable of perception, independent thinking, and speech. In most universes, it takes the form of a regulatory sign with the English word "YIELD" written in a red triangle, standardized by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices in the United States of America. In cases where it does not originate in the USA, or where the USA does not exist in the universe in question at all, then it does not fall under Datura's description. But on the other hand, it can be "YIELD" in Brazil, in Korea, in outer space, or even in the Library; it may not be "YIELD" even though it is located in the USA.
It often claims to be a ghost, but may change its self-identification at random. "I am no longer a ghost because I dropped my ghost license", "I am a seal now", "I was once a Sanka woman but stopped being a Sanka woman because I dropped my Sanka woman license", and so on. Anyway, we call this "The Ghost Sign" for the sake of convenience. At least this meeee is nooow the Black Queeeeen Siiiiiiiign! To be frank, the Sign always behaves in a "nonsense" manner… or so it seems. Whatever it means by that, I don't know.
Prerequisites
- Umm… we're not sure. I mean, it's apparently in every single universe.
- We used to have a hypothesis that the Sign could only exist where there was a literate culture and ghosts, but… well, I will explain later.
- There needs to beeee the concept of liceeeeense in the univeeeerrrrse. What's the definition of the "concept of license"…? Completely unknown. What do you think, Sign? It is nooooot for the licensees to defiiiinnnne! Hm, yeah maybe it is.
Utility
It is a nice companion to talk to. You can kill a lot of time. This is a crucial duty, Sign. Even in these tens of millions of parallel universes, there are not so many things more terrible than loneliness and boredom. On behalf of all siiiigns, I am proud of ourselvvveees. I think it also can distract the pursuers with its inexplicable behavior. Personally, I would like to collect or increase them to line up a lot… but it would be too costly.
We tend to forget a noteworthy fact that the Signs are not invariably only capable of speech. Sometimes the Ghost Signs are granted other properties by third parties, for reasons such as being amused by their personality, or to surprise their enemies. In contrast, the personalities of the Ghost Signs are similar in all universes. They are not hostile to others without cause. While they may appear to be "stupidly flippant", that does not mean they can't follow orders. Therefore they can be valuable as partners or artifacts through negotiation. If we can take the initiative against them, of course.
Vulnerability
Since there is a case where an instance became silent due to the physical destruction of the part marked "YIELD", we can assume that this part is the core. However, the instance was later recovered when the part in question was physically repaired; from this it is possible that the Ghost Signs do not die completely. Separating and transporting only the "YIELD" part seems to be at least not a fatal problem, although the instances may express their disapproval. Ghosts don't diiiieeee! I'm the Black Queeeeen and I still don't diiiieeee!! Oooooooh!!
Instance: Timeline A-133
It is a "YIELD" sign, and is one of the mascots for the Merrymakers… Gamers Against Weed. It even has a weekly blog on Tumblr. In this universe, a couple of the members transferred their abilities to the Sign when they retired from their activities, so it has some fairly powerful and extensive abilities related to memes, which also led to its involvement in more GAW-like activities. While I have a personal relationship with them in this universe, it will depend on the situation and terms if I can get help from the Sign. Well, you can contact me if necessary.
Instance: Timeline A-329
It is a "YIELD" sign, which is contained by the Foundation. As of 2015, the containment and experimental project seemed to be overseen by a person named Dr. James, who was only baffled by the Sign's behavior and never considered its utility. And as long as the nature of the Foundation in this universe is orthodox, it is highly unlikely that any effective use of the Sign will be implemented by them. Life at the Foundation must be boring for it; you can go talk to it or steal it, but it is probably not cost-effective.
Instance: Timeline A-589
This was a "YIELD" sign, and was drifting in the satellite orbit of Mars. Ooooookaaaay, he is my frieeennnd. Yep, the relationship between the Black Queen Sign and the Ghost Sign instance in this timeline will be described later. I don't know how long this particular instance had been in that location; I first visited A-589 just as a non-paranormal academic institution had discovered the instance. The mass media had reported it and caused considerable panic. I couldn't contact any of the normalcy-maintaining agencies, but I suspect that they either messed up the coverup too badly or failed to detect the existence of this instance. When I tried to experimentally make the two Signs interact with each other, the Black Queen Sign received a telepathic message from this instance. He was soooo lonely as he was drifting aloooone in spaaace. Soooo he decided to call ooouuut to every other sign in the universe with his telepathyyyy. I became his first frieeennnd, but the next time I came to this universe… he was noooo longer anywherrrrreeeee! Oooooooooooh!! …On our third visit, not only could we not find the instance, but all traces and records of its existence had disappeared. The Foundation's intervention is apparent, but the details are unknown. OK, I will explore this in the near future. To get my friend's friend back.
Instance: Timeline B-080
A "YIELD" sign. It was investigated by Global Occult Coalition, but they were also baffled and turned it over to the Foundation. … Am I right, Datura? Correct. Although the information about how this happened is vague, I guess that GOC was not so interested in the Sign, unlike the Foundation which stores up things even if they do not make sense. After that, everything is the same as A-329. And as for my and Tokei's hypothesis, the universes that follow this tendency should be the most common.
Instance: Timeline B-876
The Sign in this universe is a skinny young boy living in Philadelphia, USA. His personality is almost no different from the Signs in other universes, but he has enough common sense to have a social life. He is an Eucleides affiliated with the Foundation, and by changing into his special costume and wearing a mask that represents a "YIELD" sign, he can demonstrate the Specters' Signs, an ability to generate a cacophony of unidentifiable sound sources and countless scratches in his surroundings. Appendix - The entire Earth of B-876 has been strongly "flattened" by the Foundation Pataphysics Department. The direct reason for this is unclear. Most of the intelligent anomalies here are called "Eukleides" or "Kether", and behave as superheroes or villains. Ooh, thanks Pine. You'll find this interesting, but if you're simply curious about this universe, I can explain it to you. I can also resist the flattening for a short time if you need to contact the Specters' Signs. As I've said in a number of places, do not go to B-876 without effective resistance. Reality flattening is a force that is very difficult to deal with, and should not be approached carelessly.
Instance: Timeline C-302
It may not be directly related to the Ghost Signs discussed in this catalog, but considering that no Ghost Sign instance has yet been found in C-302 — despite the concept of license existing in this universe — I mention it just in case. In Japan between 2010 and 2016 AD, there were frequent sightings of mysterious phenomena in which "Other Danger" road signs emitted a ghostly voice. As far as I am aware, eleven people have been confirmed as witnesses, and all of the cases took place in the mountains of inland prefectures such as Nagano, Saitama, and Shiga. The signs do not utter a meaningful language in any of the sightings, which could be interpreted as a loss of intelligence in exchange for an increase in their population. Signs lost their intelligeeennnce… how frighteninnnnggg… No, most of the signs are not intelligent, which is why you are a special case. However, the authenticity of these horror stories is unknown. Occult organizations with sufficient investigative capabilities, such as the Serpent's Hand members living in C-302, Shūshū-In, and the Foundation, have not been able to confirm them, or are uninterested in the first place. Incidentally, it is one of the most famous Japanese urban legends that some of the "Other Danger" road signs are set up by the government to warn people of the presence of ghosts. Hmmm. It would be an interesting example if these "Other Danger" signs are indeed the equivalent of the Ghost Sign in this universe… but the Sign could usually be anywhere in the solar system, so "No Ghost Sign found yet" is probably not a very strong rationale. If I get a chance to visit C-302, I might try to investigate through Shūshū-In or those Ex South Kanto Kitan-Kai communities.
Instance: Timeline D-337
Continuing with the introduction of exceptional timelines, the Sign in D-337 is also a humanoid. She is a castaway from the "Empire", and visually appears to be a teenage girl whose head has been replaced with a "讓路" road sign ("讓路" is used in China, and roughly corresponds to "YIELD"). While her own purpose is unknown, she was serving as a somewhat senior-looking Chaos Insurgency operative when I met her in Ulaanbaatar. If she does not open her mouth (oops, that's a figure of speech. A sign has no mouth), I would not have thought of her as the Ghost — or rather, Chaos Sign. I only talked to her briefly during my deal with Insurgency, but she probably has some additional abilities. Be careful when you make contact with her.
Instance: Timeline E-565
Now, Sign, it's your turn. Back when I was still the Ghoooost Siiiign, I was in Columbiaaaaa, Missourrriii. I was a siiign that read YIELD aannd, the USA had been full of guys named Thomas Hoang for the past ten yeeeaaars aannd, aaannnd I mean, Chaaaarrrles! He was the last maaannn, and the one I could talk to in my lonelinesssss! Aaannnd in the long batttttle, he became my faaatheeer! Eh, ah, — daddy? No, what? …I see. He met meeee while wandering aroouund after losing his familyyyy, and decided to cut off and carry my heeeaaad as a talkative companion to keep his sanitttyyy. Charles discovered that Thomas Hoang is actually a fungus that can infect humaaannns, but unfortunately he was infecteeeddd with the Thomas Hoang fungus and was in the process of becoming Thomas Hoannggg. But… one day a guy named Saiga showed up and took him awaaayyy, saying it was for a cuuurrre… leaving me behiiiiinnnnnd! No, damn, that's a lot of information! You said Saiga?! After that I was left alone in that univerrrssse, but eventually Datura came along and listened to my storrrryyyy! Yes, I visited this universe to investigate about Saiga and accidentally encountered Sign. It seems that Rokumi Saiga chose E-565 as a sacrifice for the other multiple universes and pushed the threat of the Thomas Huang fungus to it. And likely, he forcefully recruited Charles Ogden Gears, the only survivor in E-565, as a co-researcher… I, as a person with the same background, could not leave Sign alone. …Tokei, do you understand now why I am so concerned about the treatment of Sign?Well… yeah, I understand the circumstances so far. Also please note the utility of the Black Queen Sign here. Yes, the utility of the Black Queen Sign is her extensive survival knowledge acquired while fighting alongside Charles Ogden Gears in E-565, as well as her bravery and camaraderie not seen in any other signs from different timelines. On behalf of all siiiigns, I am once again proud of ourselvvveees.
Instance: Timeline F-668
So… this universe. F-668 is the most recent timeline I visited, and I believe it was also "used" by Rokumi Saiga. And… All rightttt, he is my friend tooooo. The Sign in this universe is, um, the planet Earth itself. There is a two hundred kilometer-long "ផ្តល់វិធី" written on the ground in Russia, and it can speak from near the equator with clearly the same personality as the Signs in other universes. In addition, there is no trace of any literate beings on this Sign."I am the Planeeeet Siiiign!" he saidddd. What's your take on this instance? Our hypothesis, "the Signs could only exist where there is a literate culture and ghosts", has been disproved, so the mystery has just been deepened. The concept of license was definitely theeeerrrre! Oh… so we have no choice but to adopt the theory that only the "concept of license" is a prerequisite for the existence of the Signs…? But then, what exactly is a license… or a concept…? Well, you know, the Signs are a total mystery to us from the beginning. You can research all you want. I'll hang out with you as much as I can, as your friend, Datura.