Eclectic Narratives #12 - Virtual Argument [#123]

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            On a street in a virtual city, within a game played by millions, two player avatars were engaged in a heated argument. One wore light armor and wore two swords on his side, the other was garbed in heavy armor with a sword and shield. Their spat was silent to the world around them, communicated only through a private voice chat.

            “You’re behind the times, Dexterity builds are the new meta,” the lightly-armored player avatar proclaimed. “Your Strength build is worthless now.”

           “Strength builds still have their place, even in the Dexterity meta,” the heavily-armored player avatar retorted. “Besides, it only really matters in the highest leagues. Down here in the mid-tier leagues, we still have room to experiment and have fun. It’s not all about win-rate.”

            “That’s stupid,” the Dex player snapped, “how could losing be fun?

            “How could copying your builds from an online guide be fun?” The Str player countered, “at least I’m playing the game like it was meant to. You’re just blindly following whatever a website tells you to do.”

            “I’m sorry I can’t hear you over my win rate.”

            “You’re ridiculous,” the Str player grew louder. “It wouldn’t kill you to play a build you like instead of the flavor of the month all the time.”

            “Why should I listen to someone who can’t even grasp the meta?” The Dex player mocked.

            “Why should I listen to someone who’s blind to everything but the meta?”

            “It’s the meta if you don’t play it you’re not really playing the game,” the Dex player stated. “Go back to your practice leagues you stupid casual.”

            “You’re just mad I actually have fun,” the Str player yelled.

            “Stupid casual!”

            “Meta sheep!”

            Their spat continued to grow heated as their screams consumed their voice chat. Yet, the world around them remained blissfully ignorant to their private argument. As the world continued to turn, and other player avatars ran past them from every direction, the duo remained locked in their debate. However, could it really be considered an argument when both sides refused to do more than loudly state their opinions?

 

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They say any online community is like an echo chamber of the same opinion, however this also applies to conflicting opinions as well. Why address your opponent's argument when you could just keep shouting until they concede? Not that they necessarily will, after all that's their goal as well.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy

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Strange Sci-fi Tales - Lost Forever [#122]

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            “Twenty years ago today,” the captain began, “the exploration vessel Lilu and its crew of seven, disappeared while en route for the Magnus Sector. It would have been the first vessel to thoroughly explore that section of space. In a twist of fate, the long thought lost ship was detected in the Maxin Sector less than a week ago. It is our mission to investigate the vessel and determine the fate of its mission and crew. Any questions?”

            “Just one,” the pilot raised his hand, “what’s the Lilu doing in the Maxin Sector? That’s nowhere near Magnus, it’s hard to imagine they could go so far off course. Are we sure it’s the Lilu and not just some scavenger or pirate who jacked their distress beacon?”

            “I understand your concern, but that’s not the case,” the captain replied. “I had the same questions, but command assured me it could only be the Lilu. A few unmanned drones were sent ahead and confirmed it.”

            “If you say so, Captain,” the pilot nodded.

            “Now then,” the navigator stepped forward and pointed to a star map on the wall. “The Lilu’s last recorded location was roughly half-way to the Magnus Sector. They missed their next report to command, which was supposed to occur at the three-fourths marks, roughly five cycles later. The report never came, and the vessel was declared missing within two cycles.” The navigator drew a line along the map, from the half-way mark to the Maxin sector, which formed a curve. “Command wants us to determine the chain of events that lead to the vessel going off course. Some of the upper brass is concerned there was a major malfunction, and they’re afraid such an incident could be repeated.”

            “Same old command,” the medic remarked.

            “It’s just to assuage their fears,” the navigator responded. “Best to make them happy, it keeps them quiet and out of our hair.”

            “If that’s all you lot have to say,” the captain spoke up, “prepare your equipment we’ll be arriving within a centicycle.”

~--~

            As the recovery team’s ship came within sight of the Lilu, first impressions were not favorable. The Lilu showed clear signs of decay and damage, as though it had been run through an asteroid field. Cursory attempts to hail the vessel were met with silence. The captain, medic, and a few other crew members were sent out as an away team to more thoroughly investigate the derelict vessel.

            “No life support,” the engineer commented as they entered into the Lilu. “Barely enough power to open the airlock.”

            “Then let’s move quickly,” the captain declared from inside his bulky spacesuit.

            “Well, I know this might be obvious, but no life signs aboard,” the medic revealed as he held a scanner out. The Lilu was not a large ship, only a little bigger than an RV, yet it still felt empty. There was no sign of the crew aside for a pair of bleach, white skeletons, one in the pilot seat and the other curled up in a closet.

            “How many crewmembers were there supposed to be?” The engineer asked.

            “Seven,” the captain replied, “but I’m more worried about the decomposition.”

            “Well, the life support on these exploration vessels is built to last,” the medic chimed in. “You never know when one of these long term missions could go horribly wrong. Although I will admit, the complete decomposition is out of the ordinary.”

            “Is that right?” A rookie crewmember jittered in his space suit.

            “Don’t worry rookie, you’ll be fine as long as you don’t breath the air,” the medic joked.

            “You sure? I mean wait a minute,” the rookie stammered while the rest of the crew chuckled.

            “Enough fooling around let’s-” the captain started before a loud, metal creak freaked out the entire group.

            “Everyone out, that’s the ship’s hull cracking,” the engineer warned. The away team quickly fled the vessel, they didn’t even wait for the airlock to fully open before they wiggled out of it. As they floated off into space, the Lilu collapsed in on itself behind them, right as their own ship came in to pick them up.

~--~

            “How will we report this to command?” The navigator asked.

            “We tell them the truth,” the captain replied. “The vessel collapsed almost immediately after we entered. There was little we could derive from the experience except for the fact five bodies were missing.”

            “What about the decomposed bodies?” The engineer brought up, “being locked inside a ship should have slowed it to a crawl. Yet, those bones looked like they had been left to bake in a desert.”

            “I’ll leave it as a footnote,” the captain declared. “If I know command they’ll get hung up on the missing bodies and won’t even consider the decomposition.”

            “We still don’t know how they got so far off course,” the medic commented. “Command will be breathing down engineering’s neck for that.”

            “Nah, I’ve got a theory that’ll shut them up,” the engineer revealed.

            “Let’s hear it,” the captain leaned towards the engineer with interest.

            “It’s real simple, the navigator, the pilot, the captain or some rookie was left to enter the coordinates into their auto-pilot,” the engineer theorized. “Then they entered one or two of the numbers wrong and left it alone. Next thing they know they’ve been heading the wrong direction for a few cycles and have no idea where they are. With no idea how to get back on their route, they wander around lost until life support fails.”

            “That still doesn’t explain the lack of bodies,” the medic pointed out.

            “I said it would shut command up,” the engineer retorted, “I didn’t say it would explain everything. I say we let this get filed away and forgotten about. Leave it to the conspiracy nuts to piece together what happened. Command will be off our backs, we’ll get paid and go home.” The room went silent.

            “I see your point,” the captain nodded, the rest of the recovery team stared at their leader, “Any objections?”

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Sometimes an adequate explanation is preferable to the full truth. It also means less work, so win win right?

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy

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Enigmatic Fantasies - Is This All There Is To It? [#121]

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           “Is this really all there is to it?” I asked as my sword brought down another crazed and wild boar, which had just bounced off my plated armor.

           “What do you mean?” She inquired as her fire spell incinerated another of those giant, bloodthirsty vultures. The beast burned to ash before it could even scratch her cloth robe.

           “When I became an adventurer It was because I wanted to dedicate myself to something greater than I could imagine,” I leaned on my sword. “I dreamed of slaying dragons, saving towns from bandits or mad wizards. You know, generally heroic deeds?”

           “So, that’s what we’ve been doing isn’t it?” My partner turned to me, “we’ve done plenty of heroic deeds.”

           “No, we haven’t,” I declared. “We’ve spent the past several weeks in the middle of nowhere, chasing wild animals off of dying farmland.” I pointed to the dry prairie that surrounded us, one windstorm away from becoming a dustbowl. “We haven’t even seen a bandit in over a week, and even then it was only one moron with a stick and a pot lid.”

           “Oh, don’t be like that,” my partner stated. “It’s still important work if we weren’t here the farmers would’ve been chased off their land by these beasts.” She gestured to the half dozen boars and giant vultures we had slain. “And that bandits are probably just hiding.”

           “Then we’re just glorified pest control,” I pointed out.

           “Hey, it’s a crowded profession,” she gestured to another pack of adventurers engaged with an enormous boar on a nearby hill. “You got to take what you can get when you’re starting out.”

           “It’s demoralizing,” I declared. “Waking up every morning just to fight wild animals trampling farmland, and maybe bring a bandit to justice if I’m lucky.”

           “Hey, it pays the bills,” my partner looked on the bright side, “and don’t forget all the free vegetables and stew.”

           “Barely pays the bills,” I countered. “If we kill a dozen boars and vultures every day, strip them of all the useful bits and meat and bring that all back to town to sell. We’ll have enough to afford another night at the inn on a bedroll in the corner. The only reason we haven’t starved is because of the free food.”

           “It won’t always be like this,” she replied, “once we get more experience we’ll be able to move onto bigger and better work. Plus by then we’ll probably be able to rough it out in the wilderness.”

           “Sure, I’ll just walk up to an adventurer’s guild and tell them I have three years experience killing boars,” I joked. “I’ll tell them I’m looking to step up to bears or wolves.”

           “You’re impossible,” she sighed. “If it makes you feel better, we can find a couple more people and form a group to go raid a bandit camp or something.”

           “It won’t make me feel better,” I admitted, “but it’ll at least be a change of pace. Fine, what were you thinking?”

           “I knew you’d come around,” she leaped in joy. “Alright so first we’ll need a priest, then a sneaky rogue and somebody good with a weapon, like an archer or spearman.”

           “Wait wouldn’t that make me the tank?” I realized.

           “Well yeah,” she shrugged, “what else is that heavy armor good for?”

           “Whatever,” I sighed, this could only end in pain for me, but at least I’ll get paid, hopefully.

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Sometimes you find job dissatisfaction even in your dream career, likely from the bumpy road early on.

(Totally not inspired by all the time I spent playing WoW Classic this week.)

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy

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Eclectic Narratives #11 - The Light Web [#120]

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           “Well you’ve obviously know about the dark web, but have you heard of the light web?” My coworker asked.

           “What do you mean, light web?” I raised an eyebrow.

           “Well it’s like the dark web, but nicer,” she explained. “You can’t access it through normal web browsers, can’t find it through search engines, etc. However, unlike the dark web, it doesn’t have drugs, crime, or weird porn sites, it’s more wholesome.”

           “Okay, so what can you find on this light web?” I humored her.

           “Puppies, kittens, candy, ice cream, religious study groups, sewing circles,” she listed off several examples. “Anything that gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling inside.”

           “And why does this exist?” I questioned her.

           “Well apparently it was created by this little old lady out in the countryside,” she began. “She wanted to create a couple chatrooms and forums for her hobbies, stuff like sewing and bible study circles. However, she didn’t want any nasty people coming in a ruining it for everyone else. So, she created some private web sites and custom servers for her hobbies. Those would become the foundation of the light web. It’s been added to over the year by other like-minded individuals who wanted to create a pleasant little corner of the internet away from any who had ill intent.”

           “Doesn’t that technically make it part of the dark web though?” I pointed out.

           “Nope, it’s totally different,” she smiled.

           “Right,” I rolled my eyes. “It was founded by a little old lady out in the countryside, not exactly what comes to mind when you think internet architect. Was she in some big tech or internet company when she was younger?”

           “Nope, she’s self-taught,” my coworker shook her head, “it’s inspirational really.”

           “This is sounding more and more like you’re making it up,” I declared, “it’s not even that funny of a joke.”

           “I’m not joking it’s all true, don’t be such a sourpuss,” she puffed her cheeks in frustration. “If you keep this up, I’m telling the anti-meanie society, and they’ll give you a stern talking to.”

           “The ‘anti-meanie society’?” I balked.

           “The light web’s defense force, protecting anyone from the jerks and angry people of the world,” she declared.

           “I can’t tell if I’ve caught you in a lie, or a delusion,” I admitted.

           “That’s it, I’m telling them right now,” she threatened, “now you’re going to get a serious scolding and then they’ll baby-dox you!”

           “Baby-dox?” I stared at her incredulously.

           “It’s like doxing but instead of personal information they publish all your baby pictures and embarrassing stories from your childhood,” she explained.

           “I still don’t believe you,” I maintained while she jumped onto her computer and typed something out.

           “You will now,” she grinned as she clicked send on whatever she just completed. At first, I shook my head, then my phone lit up with a notification.

           “What’s this?” I checked my phone, and then my jaw dropped. Spread across all social media, I was tagged in dozens of posts, all of which were baby pictures and embarrassing stories. Plus I had received a half dozen private messages from old ladies scolding me for talking down to my coworker.

           “Told you so,” my coworker puffed out her chest in pride.

           “It still sounds ridiculous,” I shook my head, which earned me another frustrated glare from my coworker. I hated it when she was right. 

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No I don't know what possessed me to right this story. Maybe I haven't been getting enough sleep recently, or maybe I thought it would be funny. I don't even have any pseudo-wisdom to add to this one, it just exists.

Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy

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