Re: The Fatal Conflict (GBS2G7) (Round 3: The Infinite Playground!)
08-09-2011, 11:33 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
Even when she calmed down, she couldn’t stop. She pushed herself along, tearing up the ground beneath her. Was that right? There was nobody else pushing her, so it must have been her doing the pushing, right?
Blurs of children she couldn’t see ran about her. They ran and hid in the safest places they could think of, places of plastic that she could rend away by simply brushing against it. But, pushing herself along, she somehow dodged all of them. Her erratic path jerked its way carefully around the children. She found herself going an entirely different direction than where she had been going before.
She let out a mournful howl, but it was quickly stifled because any sound would be detrimental in sneaking up on the intruders and killing them. She didn’t know what that thought meant, but the thought must have been hers since she never heard anybody else’s thoughts. So she traveled in silence.
It was maddening.
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Maxwell didn’t really have the advantage of knowing what would have been basic concepts in a regular world (‘regular’ in Zach’s sense of the word) nor did he have the advantage of a particularly expansive imagination, but if anything, he was persistent.
He could only think of three questions to ask and stayed silent for five minutes thinking up another one before Zach gently tried making some suggestions, all of which were taken without hesitation or gratitude. And when he had reached the limit, he clearly had no idea what the answer was but still thought about it a great deal before Zom finally just said, “Piggy bank. I was thinking of a piggy bank.”
“What’s a piggy bank?”
“Something that holds money. Like a bank does. Usually shaped like a pig.”
“Oh, okay.” Zach was fairly certain that Maxwell had no idea what money or a bank was, and it was highly questionable whether he knew what a pig was. But Maxwell asked no other questions.
“So you know how to play now, right? D’you want a go?”
“Okay,” said the boy. “Go ‘head and start.”
“Is it alive,” Zach immediately asked. Maxwell stared at him for a few seconds before turning to Zom.
“Is a piggy bank alive?”
“No,” said Zom.
“No,” repeated Maxwell.
Zach tried not to place his head in his hands. “It’s probably a good idea to choose something other than a piggy bank, Maxwell. What about thinking of something you know? Uh…closer to home?”
There were a few more seconds of staring. And then Maxwell nodded. “Okay.”
“Is it alive?”
“Yes,” said Maxwell, which gave Zach hope for this game yet.
“Is it male…er, that is, a boy?”
That gave Maxwell some pause. “Um, no, not really.”
Okay, so no gender. “Lives in the center of the planet?”
“Yeah.” If Maxwell was surprised how accurate Zach’s questions were getting, he didn’t show it.
“Extremely powerful and deadly?”
“Ummm…yeah.”
“Some sort of dark god?”
“No.”
“Does it control the people on the planet?”
“No.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Zach could see Zom already bored and fiddling with the thing that they still don’t know what it does.
“Can it be killed?”
“Yes.”
“Is there…an easy way of getting it killed?”
“…No.”
Of course not. “Is it awake?”
“…Nnnno…”
A flicker of worry and uncertainty. That can’t be good. “Does it feast on souls?”
“No.”
Well, that’s good. How many questions was that? Ten? He couldn’t really think of others. “Hang on, let me guess. Is it…” Oh, shoot. How come it was always hard to purposefully guess wrong? “…Cthulu?”
“No,” said Maxwell, who allowed himself a small smile. Probably because he was winning. Though winning at 20 Questions wasn’t much of a win at all.
“Oh, darn. That was the only idea I had. I guess you better tell me what the answer is.”
Maxwell stared. He was quite good at that. “Are you sure? You still have a few questions left.”
“Yeah, I am. Why don’t you just tell me?”
The boy hesitated again over a game that didn’t exist to him just a minute ago. “I was thinking of Ymirhoggr.”
“I never heard that name before. Do you mind telling me all about it?”
“Well,” Maxwell started, but stiffened suddenly and whirled around. There, approaching worryingly fast, was the whirling mass of music that was hopefully still known as Simphonia and not something like “Raging Beast of Music.”
Zach floated a bit higher. Zom stepped backwards. Simphonia came steadily closer, still making no sound at all.
Maxwell, for his part, mostly looked annoyed.
“Stop that,” he said. “We’re playing a game. It’s not nice to interrupt.”
Even when she calmed down, she couldn’t stop. She pushed herself along, tearing up the ground beneath her. Was that right? There was nobody else pushing her, so it must have been her doing the pushing, right?
Blurs of children she couldn’t see ran about her. They ran and hid in the safest places they could think of, places of plastic that she could rend away by simply brushing against it. But, pushing herself along, she somehow dodged all of them. Her erratic path jerked its way carefully around the children. She found herself going an entirely different direction than where she had been going before.
She let out a mournful howl, but it was quickly stifled because any sound would be detrimental in sneaking up on the intruders and killing them. She didn’t know what that thought meant, but the thought must have been hers since she never heard anybody else’s thoughts. So she traveled in silence.
It was maddening.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maxwell didn’t really have the advantage of knowing what would have been basic concepts in a regular world (‘regular’ in Zach’s sense of the word) nor did he have the advantage of a particularly expansive imagination, but if anything, he was persistent.
He could only think of three questions to ask and stayed silent for five minutes thinking up another one before Zach gently tried making some suggestions, all of which were taken without hesitation or gratitude. And when he had reached the limit, he clearly had no idea what the answer was but still thought about it a great deal before Zom finally just said, “Piggy bank. I was thinking of a piggy bank.”
“What’s a piggy bank?”
“Something that holds money. Like a bank does. Usually shaped like a pig.”
“Oh, okay.” Zach was fairly certain that Maxwell had no idea what money or a bank was, and it was highly questionable whether he knew what a pig was. But Maxwell asked no other questions.
“So you know how to play now, right? D’you want a go?”
“Okay,” said the boy. “Go ‘head and start.”
“Is it alive,” Zach immediately asked. Maxwell stared at him for a few seconds before turning to Zom.
“Is a piggy bank alive?”
“No,” said Zom.
“No,” repeated Maxwell.
Zach tried not to place his head in his hands. “It’s probably a good idea to choose something other than a piggy bank, Maxwell. What about thinking of something you know? Uh…closer to home?”
There were a few more seconds of staring. And then Maxwell nodded. “Okay.”
“Is it alive?”
“Yes,” said Maxwell, which gave Zach hope for this game yet.
“Is it male…er, that is, a boy?”
That gave Maxwell some pause. “Um, no, not really.”
Okay, so no gender. “Lives in the center of the planet?”
“Yeah.” If Maxwell was surprised how accurate Zach’s questions were getting, he didn’t show it.
“Extremely powerful and deadly?”
“Ummm…yeah.”
“Some sort of dark god?”
“No.”
“Does it control the people on the planet?”
“No.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Zach could see Zom already bored and fiddling with the thing that they still don’t know what it does.
“Can it be killed?”
“Yes.”
“Is there…an easy way of getting it killed?”
“…No.”
Of course not. “Is it awake?”
“…Nnnno…”
A flicker of worry and uncertainty. That can’t be good. “Does it feast on souls?”
“No.”
Well, that’s good. How many questions was that? Ten? He couldn’t really think of others. “Hang on, let me guess. Is it…” Oh, shoot. How come it was always hard to purposefully guess wrong? “…Cthulu?”
“No,” said Maxwell, who allowed himself a small smile. Probably because he was winning. Though winning at 20 Questions wasn’t much of a win at all.
“Oh, darn. That was the only idea I had. I guess you better tell me what the answer is.”
Maxwell stared. He was quite good at that. “Are you sure? You still have a few questions left.”
“Yeah, I am. Why don’t you just tell me?”
The boy hesitated again over a game that didn’t exist to him just a minute ago. “I was thinking of Ymirhoggr.”
“I never heard that name before. Do you mind telling me all about it?”
“Well,” Maxwell started, but stiffened suddenly and whirled around. There, approaching worryingly fast, was the whirling mass of music that was hopefully still known as Simphonia and not something like “Raging Beast of Music.”
Zach floated a bit higher. Zom stepped backwards. Simphonia came steadily closer, still making no sound at all.
Maxwell, for his part, mostly looked annoyed.
“Stop that,” he said. “We’re playing a game. It’s not nice to interrupt.”