Sudden Short Story 43

"So what did that guy have," asked Steve, as they left the market stall.
"Some string for my bow.  So did you find anything?"
"Maybe.  There's this guy back at the tavern who might have something."
"The tavern?  Really?"
"Well, he didn't start out there.  He was ranting in the town square, before, but he wasn't getting very far.  I managed to coax him down off of his box, though, but I promised that you'd hear him out."
---
"So, let me see if I have this straight," said John.  "A giant monster attacked your village."
"Town-upon-the-Lake, yes."
"And you came through the mountains to recruit adventurers and explorers."
"Right."
"And you want us to slay this giant monster."
"You and whomever else we recruit, yes."
"So, if we survive this, then we're splitting the glory - which is fine, if it's as big as you say - but our only material reward is replacements for our worn-out arms and armor."
"Oh, no, you'll be getting those before challenging the monster."
"Oh.  Well, that's nice and all, and I'm not unsympathetic to the plight of your villagers, but it still doesn't seem worth risking our necks for that - and, if your pitch is anything like that of your fellows, I suspect that we'd be the only ones to show up, anyway.  You've managed to hide from and even escape this strange beast, so perhaps you could find somewhere else to go.  It's not an easy choice, but it's better than the alternative."
"There's nowhere else to go, though.  You see, the beast is nesting.  It has already laid an egg sac, bigger than a house.  Eventually, the eggs will hatch, and these creatures will spread throughout the land.  No place will be safe."
John thought for a moment, then turned to Steve.  "He makes a fair point.  Let's do it."

Sudden Short Story 42

"Do you know what I've noticed, Professor Callahan?"
"Is it that you've stopped using my first name?"
"What?"
"Nothing.  What have you noticed?"
"People seem to be acting... differently.  I can't quite place it, but something seems amiss."
"They only act differently when you're around."
"Well, that seems a bit inconsistent.  Why would they do that?"
"Because-- ... It's a bit of a delicate matter to broach, methinks."
"What is?"
"Stop walking for a moment."  They stopped.  "Do you see that tower that we're approaching?"
This was met with a quisitive look.  "Is this a rhetorical question?"
"Yes, it's a rhetorical question. Do you know when that tower was built?"
"I don't recall.  It never really concerned me all that much."
"Well, if I wanted to find out when it was built, what would I do?"
"I suppose that you'd have to track down the records for when the contract work happened.  It's probably on record at the university library or something."
"Well, it's not, and it's not on record at the city, either, and there's really quite an interesting reason behind that."
"Well, it sounds like you're about to tell me what it is."
"Yes.  It just appeared one day."
"That is unusual.  ...  Oh, wait, I remember now.  I had to put it there, since it hasn't been built yet."
"Doesn't that seem a bit unusual?"
"Well, it's not that commonly done, but I do like the peace and quiet that it provides."
"I-- No, I mean the whole 'doing magic' thing."
"What magic?"
"You!  You've been doing magic and it's really weird because magic isn't supposed to be real and also you're a physicist."
"I don't know what you mean.  I wouldn't have time for it, anyway:  I've been too busy with my research."
"Then what's with the robes?"
"They're traditional professorial garb."
"And the book?"
"These are my notes.  I use them for reference in case I forget a detail.  Wouldn't I feel silly if I needed to get somewhere and forgot how?"
"So, there are maps in there?"
"Don't be silly.  Maps are for travelling, which, I've discovered, is no longer necessary."
"Wait....  Is this how you get up into the tower with no doors?"
"Well, 'up' isn't really the right way to put it, but yes."
"And you're sure that it's not magic, then?"
"It's not magic; it's just science.  Now, if you'll excuse me, I must be getting to the early medieval period."  And with that, he vanished.

Sudden Short Story 41

It was a cool, spring day, and the playground was domed by an overcast sky when the boy saw the old man.  The old man went around a corner, and the boy used a game of freeze tag to distract the girl, while he went around the corner with no one looking.  There, the old man sat upon an old bench.
"You can't be here," said the boy.
"You're right," said the old man.  "That's why I'm not actually here.  What you see before you is an isomorphic projection from another timeline - a future that you won't experience."
"That sounds made-up."
"And yet, here I am.  You recognize me, sitting here, as well as I recognize you, standing there."
The boy raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why isomorphic?"
"It's as much to provide clipping as anything else."
"So, why are you here at all?  What's wrong with the future?"
The old man stared past the boy, into the distance.  "In the future, I realized that there's no going back.  I wasted this life.  I failed to do the one thing that was most important, the one reason why I went back in the first place."  Here, he paused, for his words were difficult to say, though he knew that he must say them.  "You don't really love Jamie, you know."
The boy looked down to the ground, the guilt heavy on his heart.  "I know."
The gasp caught the boy off guard.  He turned to see what he already knew was there.  Seeing her tears only made it worse.  He reached, and he stepped, but she turned and she ran.  He turned back to the old man, then back to where she had been, then back again, at a loss for a correct course of action.
"You have to go back," said the old man.  "There's nothing for us here."  Without a sight or a sound, the old man disappeared.
The boy hesitated for a moment, wishing only that there had been another way - not that he hadn't appeared to himself to tell himself what he already knew, but that things had just been different, somehow.  ...  He closed his eyes, and the world disappeared.
The young man awoke, and, for a time, all that he could do was cry.

2013 Resolutions (and 2012 Resolutions)

With this post, I'm meeting my goal of four posts per month (including my Minecraft blog).  Speaking of which, I think that I'll resolve to continue making four posts per month.
Additionally, I'm considering a weight loss/exercise resolution, but I'm not sure exactly what to make it.  If I make a weight loss goal, then I'll need a target number, which will need to be within reason (I'm thinking 250), and I'll need to make sure that I'm on course for it.  If I make an exercise goal, then I'll need to be fairly specific in my requirements and exceptions.  I currently tend to exercise on a Thursday/Sunday schedule, since that ties in w/ my work & play schedule, though I'm considering adding Friday or Saturday, with the specific day depending on which day I'm out that weekend.  This one still needs fleshed out; maybe I'll post in the new year once I've gotten it sorted.

Questions Arising from Shadow of the Century

Evil Hat Productions, makers of, among other games, Spirit of the Century, are currently doing a kickstarter project for what they're calling "Fate Core".  In one of their updates, they announced an intention to make Shadow of the Century, a temporal sequel to Spirit of the Century.  (Watch the video, too.)
Some of this makes sense:  Once they start talking about it, 1980s action/adventure makes a lot of sense as sort of a spiritual sequel.  However, I'm left with some significant questions.

• What makes the people that the Centurions are training special?  With the Centurions in Spirit, there was something significant to their birth.  Are the trainees not special, and just chosen?  Or are they Decadions or something?  
• Has the existence of the Century Club had no influence on world events?  I know that pulp action requires a fair amount of suspension of disbelief, but it seems hard to believe that the Great Depression, WWII, and the Red Scare/McCarthyism all happened as normal.  Maybe there needs to be some kind of alternate history in there to explain how we got to more-or-less the 1980s as we know them.  
• Why is there time travel built into the metaplot?  It seems like it might be highly unnecessary.  
• Why were Doctor Methuselah & Mack Silver specifically killed off?  I get that they'd want to kill off good guys & bad guys in equal numbers, but why those two specifically?  
• Was it really that easy to label the Century Club as a communist organization?  
• Is the Cold War still going on in the Shadow of the Century setting?  Did it ever happen at all?  

Obviously, there's just the announcement, and so not every detail will be filled in right away, but I feel like these questions are sort of fundamental.  

Xmas Haul 2012

I thought that I'd go ahead and tell everyone what I got for Xmas this year.
Apparently, getting directions the old fashioned way (i.e., from Google Maps) just won't do, so somebody got me one of those in-car GPS navigation doodads.
I also got some anime:  Rozen Maiden: Overture & part of Monster (it's a long one).
I also got a hard copy of Godlike, which was apparently difficult to procure.  I know that I haven't seen it around, but I guess that the guys who make it haven't really been pushing to get it out there, either.  I can't wait to get some time to read the rules in more depth and also read up on the setting in more detail.
I also got a new robe, some gift cards, and some mints.
Overall, it was a good Xmas on the receiving end.  I hope that everyone else got stuff that they wanted, too! *<:-D

SolLock's Log: Day 6

I started the day by going back to retrieve the Apricorns that seem to grow so vigorously around here.  After that, I trained my pokémon thoroughly against the wild pokémon on Route 32.  Pitcher got into some interesting wrestling matches against some wild Ekans, but always won out.
As I worked my way southerly, I encountered a youngster named Albert.  Sting was able to take out his Rattata and Zubat, thanks to judicious use of Harden - though that Zubat's Supersonic had her on the ropes for a while, so I had to use a Potion to keep her safe.  Not far from him, I found a Repel.
Following the western side of the route, I encountered a camper named Roland, whose Nidoran was readily dispatched by Arsonist.  Near him I found a Great Ball and TM09: Bullet Seed.  As I pressed on, Watchman came frighteningly close to fainting against a wild Bellsprout. She really needs some training to bulk up.  I snuck past a trainer and, luckily, right into a pokémon center.
At the center, a man gave me an Old Rod, to get me started fishing.  Another man gave me two Lure Balls because I was collecting Apricorns, and told me of a man named Kurt in Azalea town who makes special pokéballs out of Apricorns.  When I left the center again, I spotted a girl amidst the trees behind it.  Upon speaking with her, I learned that she was Frieda of Friday.  Apparently, today was Friday, and so my lucky day, too, as she gave me a Poison Barb.  I, of course, gave it to Sting to hold, since she knows Poison Sting.
After that, I went to the watchful trainer whom I'd avoided earlier.  This youngster Gordon had a Wooper, so I promptly switched out Watchman for Pitcher.  A single Vine Whip ruined his day.
After that, the Egg that I was carrying hatched into a Togepi.  I called Professor Elm right away, and he told me to bring it to him.  He seems to have been a bit confused, though, as he immediately called me thereafter to tell me the same thing.  When I got back to Prof. Elm's lab, I showed him Togepi. He seemed to get very excited about Togepi's rareness and muttered something about legendary pokémon, then gave me an Everstone and sent me on my way.  An Everstone prevents the pokémon holding it from evolving, but I don't have anyone that I'd like to hold it, so I'm just keeping it in my pack for now.
I trained Togepi on Route 29 until he learned a 4th move, though it's Metronome, so I've no plans to use it:  He could end up using Selfdestruct or Explosion.  Then, I trained him against the Poison-types on the upper part of Route 32, since he knows Extrasensory.
Oh, and Joey called.  He apparently failed to catch a Hoothoot.  Then Wade called.  Apparently, his bugs managed to knock out a Hoothoot.  Good on them, I guess.
At the end of our training, Togepi learned Sweet Kiss, which replaced Growl.  Now, it's time for a well-earned rest.


[NOTE:  This entry corresponds to Friday, December 28th, 2012.]