The Human Game: A Shrine for a Fake God

> Cancel, how much time are we permitted to make a decision? What major hazards befall us if we stall too much? The threat of a null?

THALIA: How much time do we have to solve this puzzle?
THALIA: I don't trust that you won't make something terrible happen when we're deciding what to do.
CANCEL: Well, well, you are right to be worried about time.
CANCEL: After all, it is of the essence.
CANCEL: But I will allow you as much time as you need.
CANCEL: I promise, nobody shall obtain any kind of punishment for going over a time limit.
CANCEL: But if I were you, personally...
CANCEL: I'd go very quickly.
CANCEL: That room is quite awfully dark, hm...
CAMILLA: What is that supposed to mean?
CANCEL: I'm not the one to tell you that.
CANCEL: Anyways, go on. Find the correct way to cross the Bridge of Sighs!
CANCEL: I wish I could talk longer, but...
CANCEL: ...
CANCEL: Ah, looks like Mr. Nox is causing problems yet again...
CANCEL: So sorry. I have many things to attend to.
CANCEL: Good luck.
CANCEL: Please break a leg for me. Haha.

The screen turns off with a crackle of static. The room hangs heavy in silence once more.



The chest is hard to hold after a long time - you put it down along with Camilla, and the bridge disappears in an instant, like some kind of mirage. However, before you can say anything, Camilla moves to pick the chest up again by herself. Her eyebrows knit together in concentration and focus - the chest is incredibly heavy, you can't imagine how hard she must be straining to hold it the way she does.

The bridge sparks to life once again. You ignore it, the gears in your brain starting to churn. You always loved machines, the idea of everything working together from a collection of disjointed parts - perhaps this can be thought in a similar way.

CAMILLA: I can hold the chest on my own.
CAMILLA: But not for long...

She puts it down, shaking her head.

THALIA: Cancel just said that the bridge could hold a single person carrying a chest.
THALIA: Let's think about this for a moment.
THALIA: There must be some kind of combination of people to get the chest over to the other side...
CAMILLA: Three people. Two people and a chest. One person and a chest.
CAMILLA: The chest can't be put on the other side unless three people are there.
THALIA: I assume that it means people on the bridge as well.
THALIA: So, if there were two people on the bridge with the chest, and one was on the other side...
THALIA:Then the chest could be moved over.
CAMILLA: But how do we get one person over to that side?
CAMILLA: The bridge won't hold one person.
THALIA: Yes, without the chest...

CAMILLA: The key here must be the exchange.
CAMILLA: To cross over without any possible chance at danger.
CAMILLA: But how do we accomplish something like that...?

THALIA: You said you could hold it by yourself, yes?
CAMILLA: Yes.
THALIA: Wait, so...
THALIA: Ah, I think I thought of a solution.
CAMILLA: Please explain.

THALIA: So you hold the chest. You go out onto the bridge.
CAMILLA: Okay.
THALIA: Then I or Joe crosses over to the other side.
CAMILLA: What?
THALIA: You don't understand?
THALIA: Think about it for a moment.
CAMILLA: ...?

THALIA: You stand on the bridge.
THALIA:When I or Joe crosses, that will be two people on the bridge with the chest.
THALIA: Then I or Joe steps off to the other side.
THALIA: That still leaves you on the bridge with the chest.
THALIA: Still a valid combination.
THALIA: Then we repeat it with the other person left.
THALIA: And then you approach the other side, where I and Joe will be standing, and we move the chest together.
CAMILLA: Oh. You're...you're right.
CAMILLA: That could work.
THALIA: We could do it quickly too, so you would not have to hold the chest for long.
THALIA: Did you hear that, Joe?
THALIA: ...
THALIA: Joe...?

JOE: ...
THALIA: Joe? Joe, are you with us?
THALIA: You seem like you're staring off into space.
JOE: ...Oh! Sorry. Sorry about that.
JOE: Just had a spot of...deja vu.
JOE: Don't worry, I was listening the entire time.
JOE: So one person carries the chest, and then we cross one by one, correct?
THALIA: Yes, exactly.
JOE:That sounds fine by me!
JOE: Sorry for not saying anything earlier. I'm no good at puzzles. I have a writer's mind, not a puzzler's mind!
CAMILLA: That's fine.
JOE: Now then, the question is, who will cross first? You or me?
JOE: I don't really mind, either way.
JOE: I'll leave it up to you.

Author's Note:

SpoilerShow

A boy knew of the strange wolves that lived in the woods around his village. He sometimes heard them howling when he went to gather berries. One day, the howls drew closer, so close, and he ran to his family, telling them the wolves were coming.

They did not believe him. They waved it off as his overactive imagination. "Wolves don't live here," they said. "They died out a long time ago. This is a peaceful land. Don't make up stories."

The boy believed them, and lived life as usual, as the wolves did not come.

Another day, he was gathering water by the stream near the woods. Again, he heard the howls. They were closer than before. He ran to his family once more, tears in his eyes as he told them about the wolves.

"You really need to stop telling us about these wolves", they said, shaking their heads with smiles on their faces. "You are going to be a man. It's best to leave these childish games behind."

And the boy, heartsick but unwilling to argue, agreed. The wolves did not come, and he was at peace.

On a dark day, he stood at the edge of the woods. The faces of the wolves peered out at him. Their dark eyes, hungry, pored into him.

"You are figments of my imagination", the boy said. "My family doesn't believe them when I tell them about you. Nobody believes me. I warned them time and time again, and they laughed it off."

The wolves smiled, with mouths filled with needle-like teeth.

And so, the boy did not cry wolf. He turned away, and went back home, and persuaded himself that everything would be alright, even as the wolves burst through his window and tore his throat out so that he would never be able to say anything again.