Notes

The boy has many names, Null, Scrap, Landfill, Knick-Knack. Most of them are self given, but people from other dimensions give him names too; Collector, Strange, Sentimental, Scavenger. Null helps with giving the excess that his dimension has to others who need it more. Water for a desert dimension, dirt in a dimension that has only ocean, and a baby for a dimension in need of a chosen one. The boy isn’t given too strenuous tasks, as he is still a child, but he does carry a lot of heavy sacks filled with the items that are brought to the particular dimension.

When kids are young, around 4 or 5, they are taught how to read and write. It’s rather informal, taught by the person with the neatest handwriting that isn’t needed to bring the extra stuff they have to other dimensions. They are considered “finished” when they can read and write decently well. “Decent” could be an understatement, as while their reading skills are alright, their writing could be described as horrendous. However, they need everyone to work on getting rid of the Excess, no matter how young they are, and “good enough” is about all they need to survive anyways. Besides, when there are usually 3 or 4 kids that are born (and kept) at the same time, they are never going to be lonely at their informal school lessons. Oh, they learn math too, but only up to multiplication and division. While there are some (there are always some) who seem to know more math, barely anybody pay attention to that, as it’s usually something that isn’t needed for their lives, and so they never see fit to learn it.

Everybody knows how to sew. It’s non negotiable. It’s the same thing with Dimension Hopping, but easier and with more pricked fingers instead of amputated ones. It’s just not practical to ask for the one person who knows how to sew, stitch up the tear in your pants while you both can be eaten by earthworms, die from radiation exposure, caught by a secret police, or whatever other dangers posed in the particular dimension they’re in, at any second. They don’t know how to sew well, but luckily, their fashion doesn’t require them to perfect that craft to make clothes.

Their clothing could be best described as loose and baggy. Even their shoes are just pieces of leather or cloth tied together by a string. They all wear a cloak or poncho as well. While it doesn’t help them in blending into whatever dimension they visit (it actually makes them stand out and given strange looks), it’s easier for them to find each other, something invaluable when nobody has names.