Re: The Battle Majestic (Round 1 - Bubble Universe)
02-04-2010, 10:05 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Not The Author.
<Something is seriously wrong with that Blitz kid.>
Jacob glanced down at the pile of rubble which had once been called a bridge, and towards which Vex and the Cripple were now headed. <Perhaps no more so than the rest of us, but still. I don't trust him.> His head swiveled automatically towards the sound of approaching footfalls. <And you, Frosty, don't trust any of us, it seems.> Jacob slowed, letting the cryomancer catch up.
"Man, I hate walking." Jacob immediately knew the course their conversation was likely to take. "That's because you've never truly walked, have you?" He swept out his arms, taking in the scenery, and quietly cursing his poor luck that John had chosen to walk on the left. "What does that mean?" <Precisely, nothing. But you don't actually care.> Jacob pulled out his pocketwatch, relatively certain of the request to follow. "...Anyway, I was wondering why you couldn't just do that... hole... thing..." He could practically feel the fingerless arm gesturing towards where a tear in space had been some time before. "Tunnel." John took a bite from from his flavor ball. "Yeaw. Vfat. Why camfta jush-" Jacob took a moment from inspecting his timepiece to glare at the cryomancer, pointedly flicking a colorful fragment of ice from his sleeve. John seemed to get the message, and hurriedly swallowed. "Why can'tcha just make a tunnel over there?"
The Universe hand would not run. It wasn't a matter of the watch being broken; the watch had been engineered specifically never to break for any reason. It'd even saved him from a bullet or two, before he'd gotten the armor. Yet however he twisted or prodded the knobs, Jacob could not get the blasted thing to work. It wasn't a 'hand' per-se, so much as a microscopic pointer that circled the perimeter of the watch. The glass face of the watch had a small circular magnifying glass built in, and could be spun to view different times around the watch, primarily the Universe hand. But the hand in question, which typically showed some semblance of motion, and should definitely have been farther along if there'd been time enough for a race to develop stellar travel, was stuck at the equivalent of Noon. Or was it Midnight? Jacob didn't actually know how that particular facet of his watch worked, merely that it did. Or rather, had.
"It's not that simple," he lied. "I suppose I could ask you a similar question: Why didn't you simply create a bridge of ice earlier, instead of coming out all this way?" John started to speak, but was cut off. "Ah, but we're here at a bridge from before we arrived, so what does it matter what might have happened? Come on, you've not too much farther to... walk... now."
Spoiler
Jacob glanced down at the pile of rubble which had once been called a bridge, and towards which Vex and the Cripple were now headed. <Perhaps no more so than the rest of us, but still. I don't trust him.> His head swiveled automatically towards the sound of approaching footfalls. <And you, Frosty, don't trust any of us, it seems.> Jacob slowed, letting the cryomancer catch up.
"Man, I hate walking." Jacob immediately knew the course their conversation was likely to take. "That's because you've never truly walked, have you?" He swept out his arms, taking in the scenery, and quietly cursing his poor luck that John had chosen to walk on the left. "What does that mean?" <Precisely, nothing. But you don't actually care.> Jacob pulled out his pocketwatch, relatively certain of the request to follow. "...Anyway, I was wondering why you couldn't just do that... hole... thing..." He could practically feel the fingerless arm gesturing towards where a tear in space had been some time before. "Tunnel." John took a bite from from his flavor ball. "Yeaw. Vfat. Why camfta jush-" Jacob took a moment from inspecting his timepiece to glare at the cryomancer, pointedly flicking a colorful fragment of ice from his sleeve. John seemed to get the message, and hurriedly swallowed. "Why can'tcha just make a tunnel over there?"
The Universe hand would not run. It wasn't a matter of the watch being broken; the watch had been engineered specifically never to break for any reason. It'd even saved him from a bullet or two, before he'd gotten the armor. Yet however he twisted or prodded the knobs, Jacob could not get the blasted thing to work. It wasn't a 'hand' per-se, so much as a microscopic pointer that circled the perimeter of the watch. The glass face of the watch had a small circular magnifying glass built in, and could be spun to view different times around the watch, primarily the Universe hand. But the hand in question, which typically showed some semblance of motion, and should definitely have been farther along if there'd been time enough for a race to develop stellar travel, was stuck at the equivalent of Noon. Or was it Midnight? Jacob didn't actually know how that particular facet of his watch worked, merely that it did. Or rather, had.
"It's not that simple," he lied. "I suppose I could ask you a similar question: Why didn't you simply create a bridge of ice earlier, instead of coming out all this way?" John started to speak, but was cut off. "Ah, but we're here at a bridge from before we arrived, so what does it matter what might have happened? Come on, you've not too much farther to... walk... now."
Spoiler