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[Original Fiction] Ouroboros
- Thread starter Cinera
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Prologue
Cinera
Deus Lo Vult!
- Location
- Gallia
I'm well aware that I'm a noob author, so I don't proclaim the story to be any good. As such I would appreciate your comments, critiques, reviews, flames, etc. All feedback is welcome. That said, without further ado I present to you the prologue of Ouroboros.
~~~
We gathered at Helios Square, the most powerful metas humanity had to offer. I looked at the lower right corner of my field of vision to check the time: 11:59:28.098418754. I breathed out, a little over 30 seconds left. This was it, millennia of preparation about to bear fruit. Serenity approached from behind and I felt my nerves loosening and my heart rate slowing the closer she got. She hugged me and I felt absolutely tranquil even as some errant thoughts tried to distract me. Some might consider such thoughts rude, especially considering she was an empath and would be well aware of them, but because she was an empath and a very beautiful woman, she should be used to dealing with such things. Emperor stood to my right and King to my left. I took another breath, I was ready. Everything was in place, failure was not an option. I looked upon the eponymous Tower; the 10km tall monstrosity pierced the heavens standing as a testament to humanity's might. That same defiance was replicated among those gathered here today. We all knew our part, we all knew what must be done, and judging by the emotions filtering across the empathic link Serenity had set up, we all had the necessary resolve.
Thank you everyone, that defiance, that determination, your resolve. I swear by Katherine it shall not be in vain.
I checked the time again, 11:59:55.186923513. The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror, alighting upon Helios Tower. It spread out its wings – all six pairs of them – and roared. It was a terrible thing, a million cats clawing on a million chalkboards and the shrieking of a thousand banshees. And that was with the state of the art protective gear I had on, I could only imagine how painful it would have been for the normals who would have been ill prepared. I felt a wave of fear wash over me through the empathic link even as Serenity worked to counter it. I radiated absolute confidence and defiance as I let a grin creep across my face. The darkness was pierced by a ray, nay a beam of light as Sovereign descended in all his glory. The fear gave away to hope and then to confidence. Heh, we'd timed this perfectly. Of everyone on the planet and of all the countless worlds he'd visited, the thought that Sovereign could lose was absolutely unthinkable. I smiled, I had no intention of letting that legend end.
King blinked and we were on an endless barren field. King, myself, Emperor, Serenity and Spectre, and of course the two stars of the show. Everyone else would be a hindrance, they were there more for moral support and to present a united front than for any real hope in combat. Sovereign could take on all the armies of the multiverse and emerge victorious – and he had in a timeline that was – even the five of us that had come had no hope of actually tangling with the dragon. Our skills were ideal to support Sovereign and thus here we were. As the two monsters got busy in the skies above us, I lay down to rest. Something like distance, or even the physical laws were concepts that applied to Sovereign only when he wished it; I couldn't follow their battle even if I so desired. No, that was Emperor's role.
"Bahamut".
I looked up at Emperor.
"Come again?"
"Bahamut, the Dragon of the End. That's who we're facing."
"Well that's not ominous at all. How do we beat him?"
Emperor flinched and began hyperventilating. Serenity's tranquility field intensified, and he calmed down. I jerked and hurriedly rose to my feet. In all the time I'd known him – several centuries at the least – he'd never radiated anything other than cool unassailable confidence. To see him so visibly shaken…
"That, I cannot currently see a path to victory".
"Huh? We're talking about Sovereign here, avatar of Combat, very personification of conflict, the High Lord of Escalation himself! You told me yourself 'Sovereign absolutely cannot be defeated'."
"Bahamut is the myth to end all myths".
I felt like saying something, denying Emperor's proclamation, but I knew it was pointless. If Emperor's Absolute Comprehension said that there was no way to defeat Bahamut, then it was pretty much settled. Sovereign would lose this. A part of me had hoped that it wouldn't be like this, that Emperor would see the perfect plan to let Sovereign prevail, but of course it couldn't be that simple. Escaping my prison just couldn't be that easy. Aah, this was going to be a very long day.
Hours passed as the battle continued. Sovereign crashed into the ground. I waited to see if Sovereign was going to rise, but Emperor shook his head. Spectre rushed over to us, grabbing Emperor's arm and mine, and the last few hours of Emperor's memories rushed into me. I looked up at the Dragon to broadcast as much defiance as I could. I checked the time: 16:23:34.568157842.
You were the myth to end all myths? Then I shall just end your myth.
Bahamut sang.
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
King blinked, we were in an endless, barren field.
"Delta".
Spectre turned towards me and nodded. She ran and grabbed hold of Emperor and myself. The last 5 hours of my memories flooded into Emperor. I collapsed to the ground feeling a little winded. Within seconds I was already feeling better. Sovereign was a telepath, so he could read the memories I just transferred and take advantage of Emperor's Absolute Comprehension. Emperor was the brains behind the operation, Sovereign the brawn, Spectre to enable Emperor send messages across time, Serenity for mental stability, and myself to give us as many opportunities as needed. We were only just beginning.
"I cannot currently see a path to victory".
Sovereign crashed into the ground. Emperor shook his head. Spectre rushed over for the memory transfer. I checked the time: 16:23:34.542.
Bahamut sang.
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.542.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
"Bleurgh."
"Hnn, hnn, hnn, hnn. This is a little rough on me".
Serenity touched me and I felt my weariness fade away.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.542.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.543.
I grinned.
Bahamut sang.
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
I wiped the blood from my mouth, even as Serenity began healing my mental strain, the nanites would heal any physical strain the stress was causing on my body.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.543.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
My wounds were taking longer to heal. Irrelevant, such was grossly insufficient to make me falter.
I would END Bahamut!
I checked the time: 16:23:34.544.
I was giddy.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
Rising was very painful, but I could still manage to sit up. Using the blood of my finger I crawled across the ground.
I would END Bahamut.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.545.
"He he he".
My smile was brighter than the sun.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
I couldn't even sit up. That didn't matter, I didn't need to sit up to function.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.546.
I put a supernova to shame.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
Emperor was staring down at me. Huh? Why did he have a frown on his face? He really shouldn't be marring his unbelievably pretty face with something as ugly as a frown. We've been making progress, just a few more iterations and Sovereign would prevail.
"You're killing yourself".
"And so? It is one life vs an infinite number of lives, even the most brain addled virtue ethicists would agree this is the right course of action. Besides, it's a win - win for me, either we manage to successfully defeat Bahamut in which case whatever happens to me is irrelevant, or I successfully kill myself. Either way, I can finally leave this prison. Just make sure that if I do die, the world knows who they owe their lives to. Anyway, you have nothing to worry about. Even when my brain stops functioning, I've already instructed Katherine, you guys would still be able to use me"
I checked the time: 16:23:34.547.
And Emperor doubts. Have more faith Emperor. Hold on just a little longer and we will prevail.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
"I have little interest in continuing this exercise in futility."
"This again? The math is very straightforward, as long as there is even the slightest chance of victory, then sacrificing one life to save a literal infinite is the right choice".
"I am not convinced the probability isn't zero".
"Heh, are you slipping? We're still looping, which means this isn't an infinite loop or I wouldn't experience it at all and Katherine would return me to Origin".
"While it is true your fragment of infinity could simulate an eternity and thus determine any endless loops, I'm not convinced this isn't a case of your fragment being unable to accurately simulate itself, Bahamut and Sovereign".
"Heh, have more faith".
I checked the time: 16:23:34.548.
Slowly but surely, we're getting there.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
"What repetition is this?"
"Katherine said we crossed the 100th Busy Beaver number a few iterations ago".
"I see".
Bang!
The pool of blood around me dramatically grew in size. Shit! At this rate the nanites wouldn't be able to mend me fast enough.
"I'm sorry, Ouroboros, we've failed".
I checked the time:16:23:34.556.
Bahamut sang.
And the world ended.
~~~
Apart from suggestions to improve my writing or the story, I'd like to hear the following:
~~~
We gathered at Helios Square, the most powerful metas humanity had to offer. I looked at the lower right corner of my field of vision to check the time: 11:59:28.098418754. I breathed out, a little over 30 seconds left. This was it, millennia of preparation about to bear fruit. Serenity approached from behind and I felt my nerves loosening and my heart rate slowing the closer she got. She hugged me and I felt absolutely tranquil even as some errant thoughts tried to distract me. Some might consider such thoughts rude, especially considering she was an empath and would be well aware of them, but because she was an empath and a very beautiful woman, she should be used to dealing with such things. Emperor stood to my right and King to my left. I took another breath, I was ready. Everything was in place, failure was not an option. I looked upon the eponymous Tower; the 10km tall monstrosity pierced the heavens standing as a testament to humanity's might. That same defiance was replicated among those gathered here today. We all knew our part, we all knew what must be done, and judging by the emotions filtering across the empathic link Serenity had set up, we all had the necessary resolve.
Thank you everyone, that defiance, that determination, your resolve. I swear by Katherine it shall not be in vain.
I checked the time again, 11:59:55.186923513. The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror, alighting upon Helios Tower. It spread out its wings – all six pairs of them – and roared. It was a terrible thing, a million cats clawing on a million chalkboards and the shrieking of a thousand banshees. And that was with the state of the art protective gear I had on, I could only imagine how painful it would have been for the normals who would have been ill prepared. I felt a wave of fear wash over me through the empathic link even as Serenity worked to counter it. I radiated absolute confidence and defiance as I let a grin creep across my face. The darkness was pierced by a ray, nay a beam of light as Sovereign descended in all his glory. The fear gave away to hope and then to confidence. Heh, we'd timed this perfectly. Of everyone on the planet and of all the countless worlds he'd visited, the thought that Sovereign could lose was absolutely unthinkable. I smiled, I had no intention of letting that legend end.
King blinked and we were on an endless barren field. King, myself, Emperor, Serenity and Spectre, and of course the two stars of the show. Everyone else would be a hindrance, they were there more for moral support and to present a united front than for any real hope in combat. Sovereign could take on all the armies of the multiverse and emerge victorious – and he had in a timeline that was – even the five of us that had come had no hope of actually tangling with the dragon. Our skills were ideal to support Sovereign and thus here we were. As the two monsters got busy in the skies above us, I lay down to rest. Something like distance, or even the physical laws were concepts that applied to Sovereign only when he wished it; I couldn't follow their battle even if I so desired. No, that was Emperor's role.
"Bahamut".
I looked up at Emperor.
"Come again?"
"Bahamut, the Dragon of the End. That's who we're facing."
"Well that's not ominous at all. How do we beat him?"
Emperor flinched and began hyperventilating. Serenity's tranquility field intensified, and he calmed down. I jerked and hurriedly rose to my feet. In all the time I'd known him – several centuries at the least – he'd never radiated anything other than cool unassailable confidence. To see him so visibly shaken…
"That, I cannot currently see a path to victory".
"Huh? We're talking about Sovereign here, avatar of Combat, very personification of conflict, the High Lord of Escalation himself! You told me yourself 'Sovereign absolutely cannot be defeated'."
"Bahamut is the myth to end all myths".
I felt like saying something, denying Emperor's proclamation, but I knew it was pointless. If Emperor's Absolute Comprehension said that there was no way to defeat Bahamut, then it was pretty much settled. Sovereign would lose this. A part of me had hoped that it wouldn't be like this, that Emperor would see the perfect plan to let Sovereign prevail, but of course it couldn't be that simple. Escaping my prison just couldn't be that easy. Aah, this was going to be a very long day.
Hours passed as the battle continued. Sovereign crashed into the ground. I waited to see if Sovereign was going to rise, but Emperor shook his head. Spectre rushed over to us, grabbing Emperor's arm and mine, and the last few hours of Emperor's memories rushed into me. I looked up at the Dragon to broadcast as much defiance as I could. I checked the time: 16:23:34.568157842.
You were the myth to end all myths? Then I shall just end your myth.
Bahamut sang.
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
King blinked, we were in an endless, barren field.
"Delta".
Spectre turned towards me and nodded. She ran and grabbed hold of Emperor and myself. The last 5 hours of my memories flooded into Emperor. I collapsed to the ground feeling a little winded. Within seconds I was already feeling better. Sovereign was a telepath, so he could read the memories I just transferred and take advantage of Emperor's Absolute Comprehension. Emperor was the brains behind the operation, Sovereign the brawn, Spectre to enable Emperor send messages across time, Serenity for mental stability, and myself to give us as many opportunities as needed. We were only just beginning.
"I cannot currently see a path to victory".
Sovereign crashed into the ground. Emperor shook his head. Spectre rushed over for the memory transfer. I checked the time: 16:23:34.542.
Bahamut sang.
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.542.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
"Bleurgh."
"Hnn, hnn, hnn, hnn. This is a little rough on me".
Serenity touched me and I felt my weariness fade away.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.542.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.543.
I grinned.
Bahamut sang.
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
I wiped the blood from my mouth, even as Serenity began healing my mental strain, the nanites would heal any physical strain the stress was causing on my body.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.543.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
My wounds were taking longer to heal. Irrelevant, such was grossly insufficient to make me falter.
I would END Bahamut!
I checked the time: 16:23:34.544.
I was giddy.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
Rising was very painful, but I could still manage to sit up. Using the blood of my finger I crawled across the ground.
I would END Bahamut.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.545.
"He he he".
My smile was brighter than the sun.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
I couldn't even sit up. That didn't matter, I didn't need to sit up to function.
I checked the time: 16:23:34.546.
I put a supernova to shame.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
Emperor was staring down at me. Huh? Why did he have a frown on his face? He really shouldn't be marring his unbelievably pretty face with something as ugly as a frown. We've been making progress, just a few more iterations and Sovereign would prevail.
"You're killing yourself".
"And so? It is one life vs an infinite number of lives, even the most brain addled virtue ethicists would agree this is the right course of action. Besides, it's a win - win for me, either we manage to successfully defeat Bahamut in which case whatever happens to me is irrelevant, or I successfully kill myself. Either way, I can finally leave this prison. Just make sure that if I do die, the world knows who they owe their lives to. Anyway, you have nothing to worry about. Even when my brain stops functioning, I've already instructed Katherine, you guys would still be able to use me"
I checked the time: 16:23:34.547.
And Emperor doubts. Have more faith Emperor. Hold on just a little longer and we will prevail.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
"I have little interest in continuing this exercise in futility."
"This again? The math is very straightforward, as long as there is even the slightest chance of victory, then sacrificing one life to save a literal infinite is the right choice".
"I am not convinced the probability isn't zero".
"Heh, are you slipping? We're still looping, which means this isn't an infinite loop or I wouldn't experience it at all and Katherine would return me to Origin".
"While it is true your fragment of infinity could simulate an eternity and thus determine any endless loops, I'm not convinced this isn't a case of your fragment being unable to accurately simulate itself, Bahamut and Sovereign".
"Heh, have more faith".
I checked the time: 16:23:34.548.
Slowly but surely, we're getting there.
Bahamut sang.
…
…
…
The wind howled, the skies darkened, and night covered the planet. From the heavens, the Black Dragon descended in all its terror.
"What repetition is this?"
"Katherine said we crossed the 100th Busy Beaver number a few iterations ago".
"I see".
Bang!
The pool of blood around me dramatically grew in size. Shit! At this rate the nanites wouldn't be able to mend me fast enough.
"I'm sorry, Ouroboros, we've failed".
I checked the time:16:23:34.556.
Bahamut sang.
And the world ended.
~~~
Apart from suggestions to improve my writing or the story, I'd like to hear the following:
- What do you know of the world?
- What do you know of the characters involved in your brief interactions with them?
- What was confusing to you or you felt could be clarified?
- What emotions did the story make you feel?
- I might end up not going anywhere with it, and I'd feel worse about abandoning a quest than a story.
- I'm only posting this now — instead of after I've done some more writing and am confident I'll see it through — in order to get feedback.
- I wouldn't be writing chapter 1 for a while, as I'd like to flesh out the setting and characters more.
Sidestory: Rock Paper Scissors Tournament (Part 1)
Cinera
Deus Lo Vult!
- Location
- Gallia
I breathed out as I climbed onto the stage, I was a little nervous. I frowned, I shouldn't be nervous. Everything I knew about my opponent suggested that this match was mine for the taking. Even the 100 Sira* I had riding on the outcome of this match shouldn't be making me nervous. One advantage of being the underdog was that the market odds on me winning were very much in my favour (1:9) and if I had to pick between a lottery of 9:1 odds on my victory or 1:9 on my defeat, I'd almost certainly take the former. So why was I still nervous? I'd be walking out of here 900 Sira richer and advance in the tournament.
Delphi Logistics were hosting their annual Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament, and in marked contrast to the norm for such events, Delphi's tournament was exclusively for metahumans. The grand prize was 100,000 Sira and a lucrative job offer for the winner. The money was very tempting, but it wasn't the main reason I was here. Delphi was one of the world's largest corporations by market capitalisation, and according to my sources was backed by the Syndicate. Seeking out the Syndicate was a Sisyphean task that was as likely to kill you as get you hired (and I'd know), this job was going to be my in.
I settled into my booth as I readied myself for the match. It was a rectangular cubicle 3m high with a floor area of around a square metre. The top half was made of see-through glass, while the bottom half seemed to be solid steel painted blue. There was a panel with three icons that most people would recognise anywhere. A curled fist, two fingers spread out to form the peace sign, and a spread palm. I smiled, the use of electronics to facilitate the game means I didn't need to worry about the usual bullshit that took place in most Rock Paper Scissors games with invalid plays or someone reacting to your move after the fact, etc. This was going to be a pure contest of skill, well insomuch as metahuman abilities could be considered skill. There was a microphone and speakers, presumably for communication with my opponent. They were in an identical booth (painted red) around 10m across from me. I waved at him, but he just ignored me. Hmpf, spoilsport. He probably thought I was trying to get into his head or something, but there was no need for that. I'd crush him pure and simple — we weren't even in the same league.
"In the Red corner we have the one and only James 'The Whiz' Forrester!"
James waved to the crowd and blew out a few kisses as they erupted in cheers with many chanting "Wizzy!". It wasn't surprising really; in addition to being a high level oracle and a country famous hero, The Whiz was also a typical heartthrob. Blonde sun- kissed hair, square jaw line, perfectly symmetrical features and a perfectly sculpted body. How do I know you ask? Pictures were freely available on the net, and I was merely doing "research" on my probable opponents. Not that I'd turn him down if he offered, but I had it on good authority he didn't swing that way. Guess I'll just have to satisfy myself by humiliating him before his fans.
"And in the Blue corner, the relatively unknown Sinclair 'Serendipity' Sanders."
Sadly no chants of "Serendipity" for me, not that I'd really expected any what with being unknown at all, but surely some would love to root for the underdog? Tough crowd. As for the alliteration I'd say blame my parents, but seeing as this is a fake name and all, that's all me.
I did a little wave, oh someone waved back, and it was a cute girl too, score! I waved back eagerly and flashed my least creepy smile, before the announcer picked up.
"The Whiz is a level 5 Oracle capable of analysing and predicting complex and chaotic systems such as the weather, and various human organisations. As for Serendipity..."
"I'm really lucky!"
My good boy smile this time. I set a save point, and held up my hardware random number generator (HRNG). It looked like a pocket calculator. But given that "QUANTA" was emblazoned on it, I doubted anyone would make that mistake. I set it to generate a random floating-point number between 0 and 1 and then placed it on the desk.
"So who would win? The analyst or Mr. Fortunate, maths or luck?
Here are the rules."
He pointed towards a hanging traffic light that was currently on red.
"From the moment the signal goes to green, you have precisely 5 seconds to make your move. Once your move has been made it cannot be changed.
The first person to reach 3 wins is the victor.
Are you ready?"
We nodded. I turned towards the lamp. Once it switched to green I grabbed my HRNG and had it run. A split second later it gave me its answer: 0.012593827532267232.
That number wasn't really meaningful for anything save a smokescreen. I did not expect that Wizzy was capable of accurately predicting the outcome of truly random processes. I imagined that one would need actual precognition for that and not just mere Superforecasting ability (even dialled up to 11 as it was in Wizzy's case). I didn't really intend to find out, and even if I did, there wasn't really a convenient way to test it.
I turned on my neural implant and accessed the HRNG program. A simple map of 0 for Rock, 1 for Paper and 2 for Scissors would suffice.
I checked the time: 02.234. I waited until there was less than two tenths of a second left before checking my HRNG: 0.
I clicked the icon for Rock. I did not see Wizzy move, so I guess he probably already made his move while I was distracted, at least unless he had been hiding speedster powers all this while.
"Bzzzt!"
Our moves were revealed. He played paper. I wasn't really worried, 1 victory was most likely serendipity. Nevertheless, I had no intention of granting him even a lone victory. I returned to my most recent save point.
"So who would win? The analyst or Mr. Fortunate? Maths or luck?
The physical HRNG spat out a different number this time: 0.7965551029114236.
My mental HRNG spat out 0.
I played rock again, as expected I lost. At least I had evidence (albeit weak) that Wizzy was likely not using randomness as part of his strategy.
Again I returned.
Again I got 0.
Again I played rock.
Again I lost.
Again I returned.
There was a part of me that was tempted to just play scissors, given that I was reasonably confident that he would play paper, but I resisted the temptation. I wasn't exactly how sure his oracle powers worked, and it was possible that once I deviated from my current strategy he could read me like an open book (it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he had telepathic powers, he certainly woulldn't be the first contestant to hide their abilities). The HRNG was eventually going to grant scissors, and if he was somehow manipulating my HRNG? That was something I also wanted to know. Besides, there was no need to risk revealing what my true abilities where.
On the fifth try, my strings of 0s was broken and my HRNG spat out 2. I played paper for a draw.
On the sixth try, I finally won.
I smiled.
"Guess I got lucky."
"Oooohhhh! Serendipity wins, but can he keep up his string of good fortune?"
I set up my smokescreen and added a new save point.
I looked up just in time to see Wizzy making his move. Curious. Once again, just before time out I consulted my HRNG (1) and made my move.
Wizzy played rock.
"Serendipity wins again. It is now 2 – 1, if he can secure the next match, he'll win it all."
My grin was 100% genuine this time. Lady luck really was smiling upon me. Wizzy had a slight frown on his face.
As the final round approached, I began whistling a tune. This was really, really fun. Wizzy was agitated. The signs were slight, but very clear. The bead of sweat forming on his forehead, slightly shorter breaths. If you weren't looking for it, you likely wouldn't see it.
I cracked my knuckles and did some stretches to ease the tension.
"Let's give it our best this time as well."
I could have taunted him, rubbed in our differing positions, but he would have been on guard for that, and it wouldn't have endeared me to the crowd at all. As this was my debut as a cape, I intended to put on a show, but earning haters on my first performance was no good.
Once the light switched to green, I set the save point and ran the smokescreen. Just before time out, I consulted my mental HRNG.
1.
Wizzy played Scissors.
I returned.
Once again, my HRNG returned 1.
As expected, I lost.
Once again I returned.
This time it was 2 and there was a draw. I could have stopped now, let Wizzy take the draw, give him a little hope before I crushed it, but I quashed the thought. The aim was to establish dominance. Win every single match with 3 straight victories, utterly crushing whatever competition I had before me. That was the kind of performance I desired to give.
Again, I returned.
2.
1.
0.
I grinned.
"And Serendipity wins again!!! In a massive upset, he pulled an unbreakable streak right from the onset!"
I waved to the crowd as several erupted in cheers. The cute girl from earlier was standing as she clapped. I blew her a kiss. Wonder if I could get her number.
I turned to Wizzy and flashed him my best impression of a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, I guess my luck's just too good. Thanks for the game!"
"It was my loss. It seems I've underestimated you, I'll be keeping an eye on you."
Oh you could keep more than an eye on me. I breathed out in relief, seems like I succeeded in making a lasting impression. I wasn't sure that I would appreciate the Order's scrutiny, but it probably went hand in hand with increased notoriety. All in all, this was a successful outing.
Next up, the quarter finals.
Delphi Logistics were hosting their annual Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament, and in marked contrast to the norm for such events, Delphi's tournament was exclusively for metahumans. The grand prize was 100,000 Sira and a lucrative job offer for the winner. The money was very tempting, but it wasn't the main reason I was here. Delphi was one of the world's largest corporations by market capitalisation, and according to my sources was backed by the Syndicate. Seeking out the Syndicate was a Sisyphean task that was as likely to kill you as get you hired (and I'd know), this job was going to be my in.
I settled into my booth as I readied myself for the match. It was a rectangular cubicle 3m high with a floor area of around a square metre. The top half was made of see-through glass, while the bottom half seemed to be solid steel painted blue. There was a panel with three icons that most people would recognise anywhere. A curled fist, two fingers spread out to form the peace sign, and a spread palm. I smiled, the use of electronics to facilitate the game means I didn't need to worry about the usual bullshit that took place in most Rock Paper Scissors games with invalid plays or someone reacting to your move after the fact, etc. This was going to be a pure contest of skill, well insomuch as metahuman abilities could be considered skill. There was a microphone and speakers, presumably for communication with my opponent. They were in an identical booth (painted red) around 10m across from me. I waved at him, but he just ignored me. Hmpf, spoilsport. He probably thought I was trying to get into his head or something, but there was no need for that. I'd crush him pure and simple — we weren't even in the same league.
"In the Red corner we have the one and only James 'The Whiz' Forrester!"
James waved to the crowd and blew out a few kisses as they erupted in cheers with many chanting "Wizzy!". It wasn't surprising really; in addition to being a high level oracle and a country famous hero, The Whiz was also a typical heartthrob. Blonde sun- kissed hair, square jaw line, perfectly symmetrical features and a perfectly sculpted body. How do I know you ask? Pictures were freely available on the net, and I was merely doing "research" on my probable opponents. Not that I'd turn him down if he offered, but I had it on good authority he didn't swing that way. Guess I'll just have to satisfy myself by humiliating him before his fans.
"And in the Blue corner, the relatively unknown Sinclair 'Serendipity' Sanders."
Sadly no chants of "Serendipity" for me, not that I'd really expected any what with being unknown at all, but surely some would love to root for the underdog? Tough crowd. As for the alliteration I'd say blame my parents, but seeing as this is a fake name and all, that's all me.
I did a little wave, oh someone waved back, and it was a cute girl too, score! I waved back eagerly and flashed my least creepy smile, before the announcer picked up.
"The Whiz is a level 5 Oracle capable of analysing and predicting complex and chaotic systems such as the weather, and various human organisations. As for Serendipity..."
"I'm really lucky!"
My good boy smile this time. I set a save point, and held up my hardware random number generator (HRNG). It looked like a pocket calculator. But given that "QUANTA" was emblazoned on it, I doubted anyone would make that mistake. I set it to generate a random floating-point number between 0 and 1 and then placed it on the desk.
"So who would win? The analyst or Mr. Fortunate, maths or luck?
Here are the rules."
He pointed towards a hanging traffic light that was currently on red.
"From the moment the signal goes to green, you have precisely 5 seconds to make your move. Once your move has been made it cannot be changed.
The first person to reach 3 wins is the victor.
Are you ready?"
We nodded. I turned towards the lamp. Once it switched to green I grabbed my HRNG and had it run. A split second later it gave me its answer: 0.012593827532267232.
That number wasn't really meaningful for anything save a smokescreen. I did not expect that Wizzy was capable of accurately predicting the outcome of truly random processes. I imagined that one would need actual precognition for that and not just mere Superforecasting ability (even dialled up to 11 as it was in Wizzy's case). I didn't really intend to find out, and even if I did, there wasn't really a convenient way to test it.
I turned on my neural implant and accessed the HRNG program. A simple map of 0 for Rock, 1 for Paper and 2 for Scissors would suffice.
I checked the time: 02.234. I waited until there was less than two tenths of a second left before checking my HRNG: 0.
I clicked the icon for Rock. I did not see Wizzy move, so I guess he probably already made his move while I was distracted, at least unless he had been hiding speedster powers all this while.
"Bzzzt!"
Our moves were revealed. He played paper. I wasn't really worried, 1 victory was most likely serendipity. Nevertheless, I had no intention of granting him even a lone victory. I returned to my most recent save point.
"So who would win? The analyst or Mr. Fortunate? Maths or luck?
The physical HRNG spat out a different number this time: 0.7965551029114236.
My mental HRNG spat out 0.
I played rock again, as expected I lost. At least I had evidence (albeit weak) that Wizzy was likely not using randomness as part of his strategy.
Again I returned.
Again I got 0.
Again I played rock.
Again I lost.
Again I returned.
There was a part of me that was tempted to just play scissors, given that I was reasonably confident that he would play paper, but I resisted the temptation. I wasn't exactly how sure his oracle powers worked, and it was possible that once I deviated from my current strategy he could read me like an open book (it wasn't out of the realm of possibility that he had telepathic powers, he certainly woulldn't be the first contestant to hide their abilities). The HRNG was eventually going to grant scissors, and if he was somehow manipulating my HRNG? That was something I also wanted to know. Besides, there was no need to risk revealing what my true abilities where.
On the fifth try, my strings of 0s was broken and my HRNG spat out 2. I played paper for a draw.
On the sixth try, I finally won.
I smiled.
"Guess I got lucky."
"Oooohhhh! Serendipity wins, but can he keep up his string of good fortune?"
I set up my smokescreen and added a new save point.
I looked up just in time to see Wizzy making his move. Curious. Once again, just before time out I consulted my HRNG (1) and made my move.
Wizzy played rock.
"Serendipity wins again. It is now 2 – 1, if he can secure the next match, he'll win it all."
My grin was 100% genuine this time. Lady luck really was smiling upon me. Wizzy had a slight frown on his face.
As the final round approached, I began whistling a tune. This was really, really fun. Wizzy was agitated. The signs were slight, but very clear. The bead of sweat forming on his forehead, slightly shorter breaths. If you weren't looking for it, you likely wouldn't see it.
I cracked my knuckles and did some stretches to ease the tension.
"Let's give it our best this time as well."
I could have taunted him, rubbed in our differing positions, but he would have been on guard for that, and it wouldn't have endeared me to the crowd at all. As this was my debut as a cape, I intended to put on a show, but earning haters on my first performance was no good.
Once the light switched to green, I set the save point and ran the smokescreen. Just before time out, I consulted my mental HRNG.
1.
Wizzy played Scissors.
I returned.
Once again, my HRNG returned 1.
As expected, I lost.
Once again I returned.
This time it was 2 and there was a draw. I could have stopped now, let Wizzy take the draw, give him a little hope before I crushed it, but I quashed the thought. The aim was to establish dominance. Win every single match with 3 straight victories, utterly crushing whatever competition I had before me. That was the kind of performance I desired to give.
Again, I returned.
2.
1.
0.
I grinned.
"And Serendipity wins again!!! In a massive upset, he pulled an unbreakable streak right from the onset!"
I waved to the crowd as several erupted in cheers. The cute girl from earlier was standing as she clapped. I blew her a kiss. Wonder if I could get her number.
I turned to Wizzy and flashed him my best impression of a sheepish smile.
"Sorry, I guess my luck's just too good. Thanks for the game!"
"It was my loss. It seems I've underestimated you, I'll be keeping an eye on you."
Oh you could keep more than an eye on me. I breathed out in relief, seems like I succeeded in making a lasting impression. I wasn't sure that I would appreciate the Order's scrutiny, but it probably went hand in hand with increased notoriety. All in all, this was a successful outing.
Next up, the quarter finals.
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