Re: The Battle Majestic (Round 3 - Oxbow Inc.)
08-16-2010, 11:36 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Baphomet.
Vex sifted through the seemingly-simple contents of the note he was shown, as well as a few other tidbits of information the man had let slip. His bubble shot off to nearly the very opposite end of the circle from their starting position, its destination very near the glass wall.
There are other battles like this one. Were they all the same, eight individuals like me, plucked out of whatever they were doing before? Many had attempted to escape in the past, and all had failed. But did those attempts warrant an individual consultation? And the note itself, We know what you did back there... what I did? What I did was get drugged against my will. There really is no reason to deliver such a missive except to intimidate me into stopping what I've already set in motion... an act that would be completely unnecessary if he had as little to fear from my attempts as he tried to indicate.
No, Executive, this note tells me one thing: you are scared of me. If you weren't, if you thought the gods of my realm could do nothing to stop you, such a note would be unnecessary. You wouldn't be trying to frighten me, to place blame in my hands for an act forced upon me by someone else, you would be secure in your seat of power. Don't push your luck? That's it then, I am lucky. My situation is unique in some way that may prove threatening to this contest in the future, in a way that no other contest has been threatened before.
The bubble popped and Vex touched ground lightly. I am an instrument of chaos, poised to destroy something thought indestructible. His eyes wandered upward, as he briefly mused on the inevitability of that glass ceiling coming down at some point in the immediate future. A smile spread slowly over his face.
Security specialist. That's what Krad's nametag, pinned awkwardly on the sash across his shoulders, said. Special-ist. His wide mouth grinned, the edges of it peeking out the sides of his extremely bulbous nose. He was the special-est security Yagg ever, he reasoned, because he got to watch over the new nests being built. Multitudes of utilitarian construction equipment, stacks of metal and stone, a skeleton of steel beams and girders, and a swarm of metal men keeping busy at all hours were his domain. Sure, these bug-things and lizard-things weren't using this nest very well... he'd never seen them have any kids in there, after all. Maybe they were still kids themselves, not big enough to make kids of their own yet. They certainly were much smaller than Krad, and they liked to put on funny white coats and play with shiny stuff in their nests. That must be it, Krad concluded, they're still kids. I like kids. His job was to make sure these kids built their nests and played with their toys without anyone coming in to mess with them.
Not that anyone ever tried, no... but surely, Krad thought, that was because Krad was doing such a good job being intimidating. "Stand there," Lizard Boss Guy had told him, "and look intimidating. If someone's not supposed to be here, hit them over the head with this. And if we tell you to go somewhere else with this, do that instead, okay?" Krad recalled the conversation prior to his first shift being a security specialist, and glanced down at the walkie-talkie pinned to his sash. It really was a nice walkie-talkie, and it really was a nice sash, and it really was a nice head-hitter. This was a good job.
"Hey mister," cooed a small, feminine voice from behind him. He spun around, head-hitter at the ready, and confronted... a little Yagg, looking very scared. Krad wavered a moment, because she was certainly not supposed to be there, but he also didn't want to hit her over the head. He slumped a little.
"Hello," he said. "You should not be by this nest."
"I'm lost," she replied, "Can you help me find somebody? He is supposed to take care of me."
Krad grew furious. What kind of monster would leave this child unattended? "Who is your friend?" he asked.
"He is your boss," she replied.
Krad looked confused. "Lizard-man-boss or camera-guy-boss or little-pink-boss?"
A moment passed in silence, while the little Yagg thought about the question. "What does camera-guy-boss do?" she asked.
"He watches the cameras and tells me where to go," Krad replied.
"That's him. That's what he does."
Krad decided he would have a word with camera-guy-boss after his shift. The nerve of that fragile little bird person, leaving this innocent child unattended. Maybe this wasn't a good job, after all. Still, he wasn't supposed to leave his station. He pointed towards the center of the circle. "Camera-guy-boss is way down from there. There are stairs, they are by the big thing that looks like a metal fish. Go down them a lot."
The little Yagg thanked him and walked off in the direction he indicated, careful to keep a safe distance away from the uncompleted building.
Krad felt very good about helping the little Yagg. Krad liked kids.
Vex was careful to keep the connection with Krad's mind until he got out of his line of sight. It was second nature to him by now. He tried to stay hidden as he proceeded purposefully towards a large, oblong, brushed-steel tank with support beams splayed out beneath it. They almost looked like a fish's fins.
Spoiler
There are other battles like this one. Were they all the same, eight individuals like me, plucked out of whatever they were doing before? Many had attempted to escape in the past, and all had failed. But did those attempts warrant an individual consultation? And the note itself, We know what you did back there... what I did? What I did was get drugged against my will. There really is no reason to deliver such a missive except to intimidate me into stopping what I've already set in motion... an act that would be completely unnecessary if he had as little to fear from my attempts as he tried to indicate.
No, Executive, this note tells me one thing: you are scared of me. If you weren't, if you thought the gods of my realm could do nothing to stop you, such a note would be unnecessary. You wouldn't be trying to frighten me, to place blame in my hands for an act forced upon me by someone else, you would be secure in your seat of power. Don't push your luck? That's it then, I am lucky. My situation is unique in some way that may prove threatening to this contest in the future, in a way that no other contest has been threatened before.
The bubble popped and Vex touched ground lightly. I am an instrument of chaos, poised to destroy something thought indestructible. His eyes wandered upward, as he briefly mused on the inevitability of that glass ceiling coming down at some point in the immediate future. A smile spread slowly over his face.
Security specialist. That's what Krad's nametag, pinned awkwardly on the sash across his shoulders, said. Special-ist. His wide mouth grinned, the edges of it peeking out the sides of his extremely bulbous nose. He was the special-est security Yagg ever, he reasoned, because he got to watch over the new nests being built. Multitudes of utilitarian construction equipment, stacks of metal and stone, a skeleton of steel beams and girders, and a swarm of metal men keeping busy at all hours were his domain. Sure, these bug-things and lizard-things weren't using this nest very well... he'd never seen them have any kids in there, after all. Maybe they were still kids themselves, not big enough to make kids of their own yet. They certainly were much smaller than Krad, and they liked to put on funny white coats and play with shiny stuff in their nests. That must be it, Krad concluded, they're still kids. I like kids. His job was to make sure these kids built their nests and played with their toys without anyone coming in to mess with them.
Not that anyone ever tried, no... but surely, Krad thought, that was because Krad was doing such a good job being intimidating. "Stand there," Lizard Boss Guy had told him, "and look intimidating. If someone's not supposed to be here, hit them over the head with this. And if we tell you to go somewhere else with this, do that instead, okay?" Krad recalled the conversation prior to his first shift being a security specialist, and glanced down at the walkie-talkie pinned to his sash. It really was a nice walkie-talkie, and it really was a nice sash, and it really was a nice head-hitter. This was a good job.
"Hey mister," cooed a small, feminine voice from behind him. He spun around, head-hitter at the ready, and confronted... a little Yagg, looking very scared. Krad wavered a moment, because she was certainly not supposed to be there, but he also didn't want to hit her over the head. He slumped a little.
"Hello," he said. "You should not be by this nest."
"I'm lost," she replied, "Can you help me find somebody? He is supposed to take care of me."
Krad grew furious. What kind of monster would leave this child unattended? "Who is your friend?" he asked.
"He is your boss," she replied.
Krad looked confused. "Lizard-man-boss or camera-guy-boss or little-pink-boss?"
A moment passed in silence, while the little Yagg thought about the question. "What does camera-guy-boss do?" she asked.
"He watches the cameras and tells me where to go," Krad replied.
"That's him. That's what he does."
Krad decided he would have a word with camera-guy-boss after his shift. The nerve of that fragile little bird person, leaving this innocent child unattended. Maybe this wasn't a good job, after all. Still, he wasn't supposed to leave his station. He pointed towards the center of the circle. "Camera-guy-boss is way down from there. There are stairs, they are by the big thing that looks like a metal fish. Go down them a lot."
The little Yagg thanked him and walked off in the direction he indicated, careful to keep a safe distance away from the uncompleted building.
Krad felt very good about helping the little Yagg. Krad liked kids.
Vex was careful to keep the connection with Krad's mind until he got out of his line of sight. It was second nature to him by now. He tried to stay hidden as he proceeded purposefully towards a large, oblong, brushed-steel tank with support beams splayed out beneath it. They almost looked like a fish's fins.