Re: The Grand Battle [Round Six: Library of Lies!]
02-24-2010, 10:26 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.
To save eight instead of one,
Is with certainty a noble cause.
But one has already been lost.
To save seven instead of one.
Is verily a noble cause.
But the death of one cannot be avoided.
To save six instead of one.
In truly a noble cause.
But one must give her life to save the others.
To save five instead of one.
Is likely a noble cause.
But one will not save the others.
To save four instead of one.
Is probably a noble cause.
But one has already given up.
To save three instead of one.
Is it still so noble a cause?
It was something of a blow to her ego, but Amethyst couldn't help but sense wisdom in the Gentleman's words. So long as she was without a reliable source of mana, Amethyst had to be careful. And so she had huddled up in a little corner between bookshelves. But for some reason, she wasn't reading.
Rather she was writing in the book from earlier. She'd done it before, it helped her organize her thoughts. But somehow, writing everything down, it just seemed less and less clear.
The value of a life is human infinity.
For n = infinity.
Thus n = the value of a human life.
8n > n. This is obvious.
As is 7n, 6n, 5n, 4n, etc.
3n is also still > n.
There was the logical proof...
So why did it still seem futile?
"What do you think you're doing?" came Ari's voice. Amethyst didn't even look up.
"You're supposed to be fighting that man and that vacuum. Get up and fight."
Amethyst looked up at the Gentleman, but still didn't speak. Ari looked frustrated, but then he saw what she had written.
"I'll fix your calculations then. So you'll have no excuse to stay here."
He yanked the book from her, and stared at it for a couple seconds.
"The math is accurate, but irrelevant. This situation for you isn't 3n, it's n, plus something alot less than n, plus..."
He looked back towards Amethyst.
"Whatever the hell your life is worth."
"Understood" was the first word Amethyst spoke, as she stood back up. But she quickly fell back to the ground, as a massive fireball erupted in her face.
But strangely, nothing was burned. The tendrils of flames simply danced around.
"Oi! I didn't give you permission to leave." Drake shouted. His tragedy mask seemed vaguely out of place with the eastern armor, but yet it had a strange flow to it.
"You've no authority over the girl Drake. Her purpose here is to fight, and if you will hinder that you are interrupting the game."
"You always play with such conformity Ari? The game's no fun if everyone just kills each other!"
"Is that truly your reason?"
"Oh just shut up and stop interfering!"
Drake thrust his hand forward again, a tendril of flames erupting, and spreading randomly through the air.
But it wasn't random, it was guided. The energized air particles moved according to Drake's command, and the flames danced through the sky, grazed the floor, and struck Ari's chest.
Or rather, it would have. But Ari had already moved. In and instant he came up behind Drake, and kicked his back. The masked Gentleman fell forward, but quickly regained his balance.
He turned in a direction that didn't exist and ended up overtop of Ari, bringing a flaming foot down onto his head, followed by a flying round kick to the stomach.
Intricate seals flashed in the air for a couple moments, as Ari kicked off of them, landing perfectly balanced across from Drake.
"It's you who's interfering Drake."
The seals each flashed back into existence, each one forming into a bolt of light, and firing towards Drake. He deflected two of them with his right hand, before kicking a third up towards the ceiling, which faded into the thick clouds of dust.
"If you're going to waste time infighting, at least USE the armor." Arnold's somewhat irritated voice proclaimed.
"Hey! Best I can figure all it does is let me throw fireballs. If it's so handy, show me how to work it."
Arnold made a resigned expression, and raised his arm to the sky. A burst of bluish dust shot from his fingertips, and surrounded the scene. The dust settled, and encased the area in ice. As if dictated by some heroic cliche however, only the 'targets' of the attack- Ari and Amethyst- were frozen. Drake and Arnold remained completely unharmed.
"Okay, so all yours can do is throw snow. This things are still totally lame!"
To save eight instead of one,
Is with certainty a noble cause.
But one has already been lost.
To save seven instead of one.
Is verily a noble cause.
But the death of one cannot be avoided.
To save six instead of one.
In truly a noble cause.
But one must give her life to save the others.
To save five instead of one.
Is likely a noble cause.
But one will not save the others.
To save four instead of one.
Is probably a noble cause.
But one has already given up.
To save three instead of one.
Is it still so noble a cause?
It was something of a blow to her ego, but Amethyst couldn't help but sense wisdom in the Gentleman's words. So long as she was without a reliable source of mana, Amethyst had to be careful. And so she had huddled up in a little corner between bookshelves. But for some reason, she wasn't reading.
Rather she was writing in the book from earlier. She'd done it before, it helped her organize her thoughts. But somehow, writing everything down, it just seemed less and less clear.
The value of a life is human infinity.
For n = infinity.
Thus n = the value of a human life.
8n > n. This is obvious.
As is 7n, 6n, 5n, 4n, etc.
3n is also still > n.
There was the logical proof...
So why did it still seem futile?
"What do you think you're doing?" came Ari's voice. Amethyst didn't even look up.
"You're supposed to be fighting that man and that vacuum. Get up and fight."
Amethyst looked up at the Gentleman, but still didn't speak. Ari looked frustrated, but then he saw what she had written.
"I'll fix your calculations then. So you'll have no excuse to stay here."
He yanked the book from her, and stared at it for a couple seconds.
"The math is accurate, but irrelevant. This situation for you isn't 3n, it's n, plus something alot less than n, plus..."
He looked back towards Amethyst.
"Whatever the hell your life is worth."
"Understood" was the first word Amethyst spoke, as she stood back up. But she quickly fell back to the ground, as a massive fireball erupted in her face.
But strangely, nothing was burned. The tendrils of flames simply danced around.
"Oi! I didn't give you permission to leave." Drake shouted. His tragedy mask seemed vaguely out of place with the eastern armor, but yet it had a strange flow to it.
"You've no authority over the girl Drake. Her purpose here is to fight, and if you will hinder that you are interrupting the game."
"You always play with such conformity Ari? The game's no fun if everyone just kills each other!"
"Is that truly your reason?"
"Oh just shut up and stop interfering!"
Drake thrust his hand forward again, a tendril of flames erupting, and spreading randomly through the air.
But it wasn't random, it was guided. The energized air particles moved according to Drake's command, and the flames danced through the sky, grazed the floor, and struck Ari's chest.
Or rather, it would have. But Ari had already moved. In and instant he came up behind Drake, and kicked his back. The masked Gentleman fell forward, but quickly regained his balance.
He turned in a direction that didn't exist and ended up overtop of Ari, bringing a flaming foot down onto his head, followed by a flying round kick to the stomach.
Intricate seals flashed in the air for a couple moments, as Ari kicked off of them, landing perfectly balanced across from Drake.
"It's you who's interfering Drake."
The seals each flashed back into existence, each one forming into a bolt of light, and firing towards Drake. He deflected two of them with his right hand, before kicking a third up towards the ceiling, which faded into the thick clouds of dust.
"If you're going to waste time infighting, at least USE the armor." Arnold's somewhat irritated voice proclaimed.
"Hey! Best I can figure all it does is let me throw fireballs. If it's so handy, show me how to work it."
Arnold made a resigned expression, and raised his arm to the sky. A burst of bluish dust shot from his fingertips, and surrounded the scene. The dust settled, and encased the area in ice. As if dictated by some heroic cliche however, only the 'targets' of the attack- Ari and Amethyst- were frozen. Drake and Arnold remained completely unharmed.
"Okay, so all yours can do is throw snow. This things are still totally lame!"