One day in a sunny room in Australia, a 9-year-old game designer sat down at a PC. For a whole year, since turning 8, they had been mastering the colorful blocks of Scratch. But standard math was getting a bit boring. One day, they looked at Base-12. “Everyone does Base-12,” they thought, staring at the number 12. Then, a spark of pure genius hit. “Wait… 12 flipped backwards is 21. What if I make Base-21?” And just like that, Bas21pariel was born. It wasn’t going to be an ordinary number line. This was going to be an epic, multi-project saga of Numberblocks split into perfect bands of 21 blocks each, all leading up to a grand finale of 441 blocks in bas21, 21. The ultimate deadline? December 30, right before hopping on a plane to fly to the Philippines to see where their mum was born! The young coder grabbed the mouse and started painting. Since standard keyboards don't have digits for numbers past 9, they had to invent a brand-new mathematical language. • For 10, they named it Dek and designed a cool upside-down 2. • For 12, they named it Teo and carefully cut the bottom loop off an ampersand (&) to make a smooth ribbon loop. • But 11—named Elv—became a legend. Using Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V, they pasted a backwards 3 (Ɛ). The early projects, ,1, ,2, and ,3, flew by. Soon, it was October, and it was time to build bas21, 4, covering numbers 63 to 84. Right next to them on the other computer, their 7-year-old little brother was busy placing traps in Mario Maker and learning how to use if then else blocks. The coder started stacking blocks into columns of 21. They reached number 66 and noticed something magical. 66 divided by 2 was exactly 33. And in Base-21, 66's tag was written exactly as 33! It was a perfect, symmetrical match. “A Half-and-Half Double Squad!” they realized. They coded the block so it could split into perfect twin characters. The coding session kept going. The builder pushed through the 70s, placing the loop tag on 75, and then they hit 74. When they combined the regular 3 with the copy-pasted Ɛ, they stared at the screen. 3Ɛ. It looked like an optical illusion or weird butterfly wings. “This is cursed,” they laughed. They kept clicking and coding, building Step-Squads like 78 and eager blocks like 83. Finally, after a massive, 2-hour marathon session of hard work, they placed the final block for 84 (40). They stood up, stretched their arms, and looked at their finished project. They had actually done it. From a simple idea of flipping 12 into 21, they had created an entire working mathematical world. With bas21, 4 officially completed on the PC, they could relax while their brother switched over to playing Minecraft Dungeons. There were still more projects to build before the big flight on December 30, but looking at their amazing custom blocks, they knew they would make it all the way to 441.
Deep inside the digital grid of the Scratch editor, a brand-new universe was waking up. It wasn't standard Base-10 territory, and it wasn't the familiar realm of Base-12. A 9-year-old creator in Australia had just flipped the coordinates of math itself, and a massive crackle of energy brought the Bas21pariel Numberblocks to life. "Welcome to Base-21!" shouted 21, proudly wearing a shiny 10 tag. "We don't carry over into a new column until twenty-one of us stack up!" Down in the lower numbers, the single digits were busy showing off their unique style. 10 adjusted its tag—a beautifully drawn, upside-down 2—and introduced itself as Dek. Right next to it, 12 spun around, showing off a smooth, curly loop made from the bottom half of an ampersand. "Call me Teo!" it called out with a twirl. But the absolute show-stopper of the single digits was 11, known as Elv. The creator had used a legendary keyboard spell called Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V to grant Elv a striking, custom backwards-3 tag: Ɛ. For a while, the numbers lived happily in their separate project bands. Projects ,1, ,2, and ,3 were established perfectly. But then, a massive 2-hour coding surge shook the Scratch grid. Project bas21, 4 was under construction! A whole group of giant numbers from 63 to 84 began materialising out of thin air. As they took shape, they looked over at the real world. Through the PC screen, they could see their creator typing furiously on the keyboard, while a 7-year-old younger brother sat nearby learning the magical laws of if-then-else blocks and building obstacles in Mario Maker. Suddenly, 66 popped into existence. It looked down at its newly painted blocks. It had 3 tall columns of 21, plus 3 extra units on the side. The creator stamped its Numberling tag: 33. 66 blinked. "Wait a minute," it whispered. "If I split myself exactly in half, 66 divided by 2 is... thirty-three!" As the creator dropped a clever clone script into the code, 66 felt a strange, tingly sensation. Pop! It split right down the middle into a pair of perfectly identical, symmetrical twins, both shouting "Three-vige-three!" in unison. They high-fived. They were the biggest members of the elite Half-and-Half Double Squad, and they already knew their future cousin 88 (44) would join them soon. A few steps down the line, 74 opened its eyes and looked at its tag in a mirror. Because it was Three-vige Elv, its tag read a regular 3 followed by the copy-pasted Elv symbol. 3Ɛ 74 shivered, its face glitching into a funny, uneven expression. "Oh my goodness," 74 laughed, shaking slightly on the screen as the creator added a pixelated sound effect. "Look at my tag! It looks like double-sided butterfly wings. I am completely, wonderfully cursed!" The world kept expanding. 75 proudly showed off its custom loop tag. 78 marched in, stacking its extra blocks into a flawless 15-step staircase to join the Step-Squad. 83 stood on tiptoes, holding its breath with a massive 3K tag, completely bursting at the seams because it was just one tiny block away from changing the whole column. Then, with a final, satisfying click of the mouse, the absolute boss of the project emerged. 84 stood tall, a solid, beautiful red square made of 4 perfect columns of 21. Its tag flashed proudly: 40 (Four-vige). "Project bas21, 4 is complete!" 84 cheered, its voice echoing across the Scratch studio. The numbers looked up through the glass of the screen as their creator stretched their arms after 2 hours of hard work. The room was full of sounds of Minecraft Dungeons as the little brother started a new game. Down in the code, the blocks settled into their new home, buzzing with excitement. They knew they were safe, sound, and fully shared. And as they looked at the digital calendar tracking the days until December 30, they cheered. They couldn't wait for the creator to build all the way to 441 (100) in project ,21 before packing them onto an iPad for a giant flight to the Philippines!
