MO-1 / THE SCRIPT
Read the transmission.
Every heading on this ship arrives in Morrow script first. It looks alien, on purpose: a future that wants to be understood still likes a little mystery on the way in. The rule underneath it is small. Once you have it, you can read anything on this site written in script, including the words below.
01 / COUNTING IN THREES
Counting in threes.
Every letter is its place in the alphabet, written in threes on a stem, read top to bottom. At each of the three spots, the mark can point three ways: a crossbar lying flat is 0, an arm out to the left is 1, an arm out to the right is 2. Read the three marks top to bottom and you get the letter’s place, counted in base three: nines, then threes, then ones.
Take M, the thirteenth letter. Thirteen is one nine, one three, and one left over: 1·9 + 1·3 + 1 = 13. Written top to bottom that is marks 1, 1, 1, and here is the glyph those three marks draw.
M is letter 13 of 26.
1·9 + 1·3 + 1 = 13
- top1
- middle1
- bottom1
02 / THE KEY
The key.
All 26 letters, each with its marks written out beside it. A word gets a bar across the top joining its letters, the way one ship joins its rooms; a space breaks the bar, so words stand apart.
- A001
- B002
- C010
- D011
- E012
- F020
- G021
- H022
- I100
- J101
- K102
- L110
- M111
- N112
- O120
- P121
- Q122
- R200
- S201
- T202
- U210
- V211
- W212
- X220
- Y221
- Z222
03 / DIGITS AND BREATHS
Digits and breaths.
Digits use the same three marks, but wear a small ring at the foot of the stem, so 1 never reads as A. Punctuation is a breath: a short mark at the base and nothing else. A space draws nothing at all, which is what keeps words apart on the line.
- 0
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
04 / DECODE THESE
Decode these.
Three short phrases from this site, in script only. Read them, then check yourself.
Show the answer
Where the ship docks
Show the answer
Inside Mo
Show the answer
The airlock opens tonight
05 / WRITE YOUR OWN
Write your own.
Type anything. It stays in this tab; nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
A script anyone can learn is still magic. Knowing the rule doesn’t take the wonder out of it; it just moves the wonder from the letters into you, the reader who can now hear the ship speak. Every heading from here on, you can read for yourself.