You know, the numeral system some computers, somewhere, once used. There are three digits, standing for the values -1, 0 and 1, and they?re weighted by powers of 3. We could make ↓ the digit for -1, for example, and ↑ the digit for 1. This way, 46 = 1×3⁴-1×3³-1×3²+0×3+1 is represented as ↑↓↓0↑, and -8 = -1×3²+0×3+1, as ↓0↑. Positive numbers start with ↑, negative numbers, with ↓, and zero stays 0.
Just as in the more usual positional systems, you count by increasing the value of the rightmost digit as long as possible, and then you jump to the lowest-valued digit in that place, and increase the one on its left: ↑, ↑↓, ↑0, ↑↑, ↑↓↓, ↑↓0, ↑↓↑, ↑0↓, ↑00, ↑0↑, ↑↑↓, ↑↑0, ↑↑↑, ↑↓↓↓, ↑↓↓0, ?
So ?
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The red lake has been forgotten. A dust devil stuns you long enough to shroud forever those last shards of wisdom. The breeze rocking this forlorn wasteland whispers in your ears, “Não resta mais que uma sombra”.