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[AlanL]

Not exactly, although Y2K does have a significance in this story  :p

Ay caca... I've got 2 finals tomorrow, one of which is a 100 question government class final. It's cram time (I was just informed today he put the complete review up), but I'll try to make room for writing an update. Although, even if studying does take all night, at least tomorrow I'm guaranteed to have enough time.

[Armok]

As I got the firs post:
"This is an neutron Beyond quality award. (Is that what the material neutron stars are made of is called?)
it is encrusted whit mana.
it is entangled in chaotic vortexes of spacetime.
On the item is a rendition of a rendition of an image of a fractal in math, the fractal is being smeared out in a spiral.
On the items are images of history in progress, the history is advancing.
On the item is an image of a kobold and a wormhole, the kobold is traveling."

I use exotic materials, don't I   That'd better be some awesome environments.

I actually have an idea, but thats probobly not the part you are lacking, Anyways what about an artificial intelligence of some kind, lacking an objective soul in the astral realm that could go to an afterlife or interact whit magic and so on, yet having very much "soul", as terms of emotions and personalty and arts and other things associated whit souls, that is objectively "soulless", but that Blitukus recognizes as being equal, I can't really explain but it would fit well whit the wisdom and the universe and the scientific explanations of god and magic and souls being transformed or destroyed might suggest that the soul is really a "machine" made from mana and not so special, the soul is made of magic and mana and in the technological ere those intricate structures could be made from metal as well, now I have proved I can't explain. And that I can't set proper punctuation when exited.   Argh!! [CENSURED][CENSURED][CENSURED][CENSURED][CENSURED][CENSURED][CENSURED]!!!  :p

[AlanL]

Thanks    

"Ay Caca" is spanish for "Ah crap", basically. Actually, to be honest the steam loops were more a consequence of DFs internal system. The only power source big enough to create matter so easily in this universe would be zero-point energy. Perhaps the mana somehow catalyzes a reaction involving ZPE and thats how it worked.

I understand your ideas as far as AI, but I don't think it would work for this one specific part. As you saw, theres some near-futuretech but nothing too farfetched. Although, when it comes to the 4th component, AI might make a somewhat passive appearance. I'll think about it.

Anyway, I might still make an update today. It's just I don't want to bomb the final, seeing as I am happy with my current grade    

[ December 17, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Reign on your Parade]

The Y2K bug was a computer virus that was supposedly going to kill off all computers when the year 2000 hit.

[AlanL]

actually it was a predicted error in all scheduling applications due to the first 2 digits of the year being clipped in now-archaic computers, causing them to think 2000 was 1900, if I recall correctly.

[ December 17, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Reign on your Parade]

I see.

[AlanL]

Keep in mind, just because I say the other ones don't have as major of characters doesn't mean there are no characters. Really, it just turns out how it turns out. I managed to cram fast enough to get something in but I don't know how long I can make it since I've been delayed an hour and being sick means I don't want to lose much sleep like I did last night.

Also, the "element" neutron stars are made of is called Neutronium in pop culture, but I think the actual scientific name is something along the lines of 'neutron-degenerate matter'... I hope it wasn't primarily made of the stuff otherwise it would just sink through the ground and just about any other material it's put on  :p

Anyway, now to actually write it  :p
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Blitukus emerged from the alley, and found himself standing on a concrete strip near an expansive asphalt road, 3 lanes per side, expanding east and west into the distance. When Blitukus was a child... that used to be a small dirt path. Blitukus looked around, then walked to his right. The castle was actually still there... but a sign was now posted in front of it. Blitukus walked to the castle, and looked at the sign. It listed some kind of schedule for demonstrations. Within the castle, several items of varying eras of origin, encased in clear glass. The castle had been made into a historical building and museum. The throne was still there, panels nearby crowded with text displaying the achievements of various leaders. One of the most prominent displays carried an artists rendition of Blitukus' mother, a picture of a portrait. Blitukus remembered when that portrait was painted... he smiled. Her memory was still very much alive.

You may have left in tragic circumstances, mother... but your legacy is immortal. It shall always be so... and so shall your soul.

There were quite a few people milling about both within the castle-now-museum and along the paths bordering the street. Blitukus looked around, and found, nearby, the statue of Fale, still standing, actually an island in the middle of the road. It was still damaged from the fall of old Anthath, and time had begun to erode it... but it seemed to have a shine as if it had been recently washed. The reason why then became obvious. The statue was surrounded by a steel chain-link fence, and strapped to the fence with some kind of adhesive tape, a picture of the statue, covered in rather vulgar graffiti. The picture also included two humans, each in possession of canisters, each being apprehended by guards. Under the picture, the word "Shame!" was written. Blitukus sighed... it seemed even in this era there was still tension between kobolds and humans. Still, there was mostly peace... although a rather odd pattern had emerged. Very few kobolds were out and about, but more were appearing as humans began to go home. At day, the city was dominated by humans, their residences built in structures upon the landscape, at night, the city was dominated by kobolds, emerging from their subterranean dwellings to stroll the streets. In the hours surrounding dawn and dusk, humans and kobolds often found it an opportune time to interact with one another. The hours surrounding dusk were nearing. Another phenomenon, one Blitukus had never seen before, had become apparent as well. Behind him stood rather well kept buildings, to his left was the edge of the acropolis of the city, the city continuing on into the distance, to his right, the center of the acropolis, where vast constructs of steel and blue glass pierced into the sky, 4 large cubic towers forming a square, each tower connected to the others via clear-glass walkways, bridges high above the ground. On top of one of these towers, the tower was capped by a glass pyramid, an antenna rising up from the point at the top, capped by a pulsing red light. In front of him, though, the buildings seemed to be showing some wear, the inhabitants seeming to be clothed in plain and somewhat worn clothes, the vehicles nearby in a state of slight disrepair, and clothes-lines draped between the walls of the larger residence towers. The road represented not only a physical divider between two areas, but also marked a divide between two economic classes. Blitukus continued down the road toward the center of the acropolis. He found himself standing at an intersection of two roads, quite a few people also standing at the corner. He noticed the alternating patterns of traffic, and when people began to cross the broad road, he followed them, crossing over to the less economically fortunate region. POP! Blitukus jumped, and looked across. An old, rusty, 4 wheel vehicle with an open cargo bed was traveling down the road. The cabin was occupied by 2 kobolds, the bay in back occupied by several more kobolds and various items. The vehicle had a nearly flat left-rear tire, causing it to assume a lopsided appearance. Despite their condition, the kobolds joked and laughed among themselves. Blitukus walked away from the center of the acropolis, toward an odd tower. It was a steel and concrete construction, two towers that leaned on eachother, steel trusses holding up a platform in the middle, all in all, forming an A shape. From below, the angle of the buildings made it appear as if they ascended far higher than they actually did. Many of the buildings in the area were marked by various instances of graffiti on their walls... but this wasn't always a defacement. On the side of a brick wall, a section was painted pure white, and in the middle of the section, a vast mural painted onto the wall, masterfully depicting a bull, the bull striking a proud pose, standing over a beautiful desert landscape. Blitukus realized why they were happy despite their situation... they may not have a mass of material comforts available, but they had enough to get by without truly having to struggle... they lacked economically, but they all enjoyed the wealth rich culture and fruitful liberty. Their lack of money combined with their cultural legacy resulted in a society that placed less value on money, rather than encouraging corruption to gain money... but then again... those who didn't lack money would, logically, find it a much more significant part of their lives, taking up room that this beautiful culture and helpful society would otherwise occupy. Blitukus asked himself... which class was truly poorer? It seemed the exponential growth of trade had revealed some unforeseen consequences of a system based on capital and currency.

Blitukus walked toward a stairwell. It seemed the towers were encircled with steel walkways, stairways leading up the perimeter. It was likely there was a more convenient form of transit within, but Blitukus wanted a better view of the city. Blitukus began climbing the perimeter of the building. He noticed the platform in the middle was surrounded by a fence, and people were shouting and running about in the middle of the platform. Two blue bins had been set down, one at each side of the platform. The bins were placed on their side, the open end toward the center. The humans and kobolds running about the platform seemed to be chasing a ball, kicking it about, the two groups each trying to kick it into the opposing bin. It was likely that was not what the platform was intended for, but everyone making use of it seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit. Blitukus watched them as he climbed. Eventually, the ball was kicked high into the air. A loud series of shouts were let out, followed by annoyed yelling as the ball traveled over the fence, falling down to the level of the platform, continuing down further several stories to the ground below. The ball bounced off of a vehicle, the vehicle then suddenly began to emit an electronic screaming, its lights flashing on and off. Blitukus snickered, then continued climbing. One of the kobolds from the platform darted out into the walkway, then ran down the same set of stairs that Blitukus was climbing. The kobold spoke as he passed, "Hi!" Blitukus smiled, "Hello." The kobold continued down the stairs, Blitukus continuing upwards. Soon after, the electronic scream of the vehicle was silenced. Blitukus reached the pinnacle of the A, and stood atop the small platform there, looking over the edge of a steel guard rail. The design of the tower was beautiful. the engineering evident in it being of very high quality and precision... even though it did end up inhabited by economically poorer citizens, it seemed the local government took care to provide quality structures for all sectors. A cold breeze blew as Blitukus looked off the edge out to the horizon. The city spanned miles in every direction. It seemed that the city was districted for balance, an establishment with a mix of features but a nearly neutral total. Some sectors of the city contained industrial buildings, warehouses and factories, freight vehicles hauling materials in and finished goods out at a high rate, but even as smokestacks fed the brown haze that lay above those sectors, nearby sectors were a brilliant green, a collection of flora marked with walkways, benches, and tables. It seemed the purifying content of these more natural sectors negated some of the pollution of the industrial sectors, leaving the air refreshed inside and around them. Small structures, government facilities, and houses, seemed to lay near the periphery of the city, while towering constructions of steel and glass marked the area near the acropolis. Near the very center of the acropolis, surrounding the 4 towers there which marked the skyline of the city, brilliant aluminum arches that reflected the rays of the sun across the glass of the nearby buildings, various works of art placed beneath them. The acropolis was circled by panels of odd glass that seemed to automatically face the sun, collecting power and dispersing it into a city-wide grid. There was a sharp whistling above. Blitukus looked up, and spotted a turbine powered flying machine, a small one, with triangular wings. Its wings were smooth in front, but near the rear, the wing had beautifully designed control surfaces that much looked like feathers, but moved with precision. The flying machine had a V-shaped tail, and a pointed nose, a single turbine engine occupying its belly. Blitukus remembered his bat-winged flying machine... he smiled, it seemed the flying machines of the future were bird-winged in a way. Blitukus also noticed... what looked like two crossbows were mounted on the flying machine, but each seemed to be an automatic one, each also far more complex and advanced than anything Blitukus had produced, as well as far more powerful, yet still conforming almost perfectly to the smooth body of the craft. The flying machine turned, and accelerated sharply, another flying machine of the same type pursuing it. They chased eachother, performing rather stunning maneuvers as each tried to get behind the other. Eventually, one of them managed to mark a point on the other with a beam of coherent light, the one that got marked then pretending to plummet to the ground. Blitukus laughed and watched... two troops sparring in the skies, perhaps? There was a loud, blaring yet deep sound emitted from a horn above. A zeppelin of massive proportions was passing overhead, a dull hum sounding out as its engines pushed it forward toward a vast landing strip in the distance, the landing strip close, but not to close, to what appeared to be aluminum and steel wind turbines, also hooked into the power grid. The gondola of the zeppelin was large enough to carry dozens, perhaps hundreds, of passengers, as well as several tons of cargo. Blitukus laughed and watched it slowly drift forward toward the horizon, its antennae extending out to its sides, red lights strobing on and off on the tips, the tail of the gondola flying a flag. Blitukus noticed that the flag of Anthath Sizet had remained unchanged despite nearly 1000 years of change all around it.

Blitukus took in a deep breath, then let it out, grinning at what he had seen. It was beautiful, grand, shining structures, a network of populated roads and utilities between them, flying machines passing overhead... yet it wasn't perfect. There was still pollution and poverty, distant sirens indicating the occasional instance of crime as well, but none of these problems were big enough to cause hardship among the people. The nation may have gained new flaws since the reign of Fale had ended... but it wasn't faring poorly at all. New advents had raised the standard of living across the board, and increased the scope of civilization tremendously. Although, it seemed every new advent brought with it new problems that had to be sorted out some way. That was the nature of progress. Blitukus located a steel door on a small extension from the floor below. There were actually two of these... Blitukus chose the one to his right. He found the door wouldn't open no matter how hard he pried at it. Then, he noticed, there was a button near the door. He pressed the button, and the button lit up. A few moments passed, and eventually, the door opened, revealing an small but empty room on the other side. Blitukus entered. He found a panel of buttons near the door, and pressed the one on the bottom. The room, slanted to match the tilt of the building, shifted and began moving down a slightly diagonal shaft. After a minute of waiting, it came to a stop, and the door opened. Blitukus emerged on the inside of the lobby of the residential building, exiting into a hallway that lead to the front of the floor near the door. There were two potted plants, one at each side of the door. The door was mostly clear glass with an aluminum frame. Aluminum... it was nearly worth its weight in gold when Blitukus had last checked... but now it was all over the place, from buildings to land vehicles to air vehicles... what other advances had happened regarding the processing of materials? He remembered the odd material covering that one book... a material he had never encountered before.

Blitukus exited the building, then walked further toward the center of the acropolis. He noticed as he approached the center, crossing a road every now and then, vehicle traffic became denser, making it more difficult to cross. One of the problems new advents had caused became apparent at one vast intersection... traffic backed up into the intersection, and people had nowhere to go. Eventually, nobody could move at all. Among the towering steel skyrises... the people were stuck, their anger slowly building. Horns and voices blared all around, "DAAAAMIT, MOVE THAT F*** ****!", "You're gunna get me fired dumb sh*t!", "What the HELL are you doing?!", "AGH SH*T!!!" Eventually, two guards approached the intersection. One of them spoke, "Oh no, DAMMIT! That's the third f*** time this week!" The other one commented, "That mayor just keeps blowing off the traffic adviser... I got it taken care of, just make sure people don't kill eachother." That guard then proceeded into the horribly jammed intersection, the other staying behind, keeping an eye on people to make sure they don't decide to spontaneously erupt at eachother. The guard in traffic began, much to the dismay of the local businesses, using the nearby parking lots to direct traffic out of and around the intersection, allowing the otherwise impossibly locked intersection to be cleared. He did so as if he were solving a puzzle, directing people to move. Eventually, flow and order were restored, and the guards continued on their rounds. Blitukus watched this all to his amusement, and laughed at the end. His mother had once commented about the bad habits of humans driving wagons... and now even that seemed to unfold on a much grander scale, just about literally a thousand years ahead of her first noticing this behavior. Blitukus sighed, then continued on his path. Blitukus had noticed something else... despite centuries of advancement, the guards still carried close range weapons and crossbows... albeit, versions of these weapons which were far more advanced than what was around 1000 years prior. Blitukus realized, the earlier industrial era had probably begun centuries ago, then had lasted itself for centuries before evolving further. This meant that the weapons of the time... swords and crossbows, etcetera... were advanced and developed. When new classes of weapons were developed, they were quickly overshadowed by the already advanced weapons of the days before. They stuck with the same idea as the old weapons, and simply improved upon it. Some of his time had been lost to those events as well, luckily there was still quite a comfortable amount left. Blitukus realized... unlike the ancients, these citizens of the future still made heavy use of a capitalist economy. It was likely it would cost money for him to reach his destination, money that he didn't have. As he approached the very center of the city, he sensed that the aura about was changing... corruption was in the air. He looked around, spotting large steel and glass towers, dedicated to large entities, corporate powers that prowled the economy. Some of these corporations seemed benevolent, but Blitukus sensed, some of those with particularly elegant and ornate towers seemed, by details, by seeming motive, and by a gut feeling, to have an ocean of currency, but were at the same time, morally bankrupt. Blitukus noticed that one that stood out among the rest for triggering such a foreboding gut feeling was OmnireCo, its tower vast and seeming to involve itself in the affairs of many different industries, at many different levels, the top piercing high into the sky, steel supports holding up a disk-shaped room on the very top. Something seemed off about it despite the towers rather innocent outward appearance. Pollution from vehicles tainted the air, and corruption began to manifest. Blitukus sensed that some of the people strolling these paths were up to no good... luckily, guards were present all around, likely with good reason. It seemed that although the city was all in all a nice place... its flaws culminated in a tainted heart. Blitukus looked around... there was a group of vagrants sitting nearby, close to a rather heavily adorned building, covered in flashing lights and shameless self-advertisements. The building apparently was a heavily guarded business place where games of chance were offered, money at stake. Of all the buildings, this one seemed in particular to have an aura of corruption about it. Blitukus sighed.

Such things have no place in the former home of my mother, Fale Siegedriven. Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do now to change it.

Then again... A new idea occurred to him. He looked at the building, at the vagrants, then at the building again, and smiled. He was a master of chance... perhaps he could do something to cause trouble for the forces of corruption, and at the same time, solve his own problems regarding travel fare? Maybe... He thought about it, and considered it. If worse came to worse, he could go back, forge coins, then return... but then again, an opportunity was presenting itself.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wasn't sure if the casino antics scene was a good idea or not, so I didn't want to risk running face first into a big problem if it wasn't a good idea. I have some ideas for what to do with it, and I'm borderline, but I get the feeling people might think the concept just doesn't fit.

[Reign on your Parade]

FROM THE BANKS OF THE RIVER TO THE BANKS OF THE GREEDY,
ALL OF THE RICHES TAKEN BACK BY THE NEEDY
WE COME FROM THE COUNTRY AND WE COME FROM THE CITY
YOU CAN PLAY US ON A RECORD YOU CAN PLAY US ON A CD!

[Armok]

Beyond Quality!  

/////////////////////////////

I have loads more to say, this is truly Beyond Quality and beyond words, but this curse called time restraints me!    It's driving me mad!!!!!  :mad:  (prof! If you have read Discworld you know why.)

[AlanL]

Thanks    :p

I put the magma loops in at first because it was possible in DF and I decided to run with it... although I thought of a way to explain it that fits and doesn't require any 'a wizard did it' sort of thing (although technically...)

Basically, it's already been shown that matter can be teleported with magic in this story. The generated matter could actually not be created at all, rather teleported in from the bottom of the ocean and the mantle of that world. Two sources were established, and magic allowed liquids to import and export to these sources (the phenomena of flood and anti-flood). When the mana flux dropped low enough, the sources vanished, and no longer could anything flow from them.

When I was playing the history out in my mind, I just used a cutoff though. The above is an after-the-matter explanation.

I don't like doing after-the-matter explanations because more often than not it sounds like BS to be honest. The above is the most plausible explanation I can think of that would fit.

Edit: If you really want me to, I could say something more detailed, but the inner workings of flood and anti-flood aren't really part of the story and I don't want to make a big deal out of it.

[ December 18, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Reign on your Parade]

I lurve that song.

[AlanL]

The AI idea probably won't work, although the way you described AI is how I generally portray it anyway.

I had the idea about a DF within the story a long time ago, and now there happens to be a very opportune moment for it  
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The guards walked on patrol, and began to thin out as they patrolled different areas. Blitukus looked at the building... and sighed. So much corruption, all around... He shut his eyes, and remembered the town as it was. The acropolis used to contain the entire capital... he remembered the quaint stone and wood buildings, the dry grass and sand... the open fields and pure skies... he felt, his mothers legacy did live on... but it wasn't as pure as it used to be... Things used to be far simpler 5 years earlier in his life. It used to be a pleasant and relatively quiet place, happy and prosperous, a time when life was much more straightforward... He opened his eyes, the images of those small wooden buildings standing beneath an open sky replaced by the flashing lights and towers that pierced into the once pure sky, a racket all around. It may not truly be a bad outcome... but still, this... He looked at the building before him, and sighed again, a tear running down his cheek.

This... it has no place whatsoever in the nation of Anthath Sizet. It's a disgrace... a dark spot on the legacy of my mother. Maybe, just maybe, if she had lived on... I miss you so much, mom. I love you... and although I can't do much... maybe I can do something to remind this one little nook of the world of the beauty that you had once filled the landscape with.

"Hey, you!" Blitukus turned around... there was a human standing nearby, a dagger drawn. The human continued, "I like that amulet... gimme it!" The human then approached. Blitukus stepped back. The human continued, "I said GIMME THAT you p*ssy a*s kobold! You're all a bunch'a sh*ts covered with fuzz. GIMME!" Blitukus held his amulet tightly, and growled, "How DARE you insult my species, insult my mother?!" The human then slashed at Blitukus, leaving a cut on his face, then grabbed him by the throat, pinned him against the wall, held the dagger to his face, and began to forcefully remove the amulet. The human spoke, "Your mother was a stupid piece of p*ssy sh*t, just like you!" The human pulled it off, Blitukus unable to do much about it. The human then continued, "I'll shoot her dead like the dog she is!" Those last few words... the crossbowmen had called him a dog in the same way... the night of the assassination. Blitukus felt his fury ignite like a layer of gunpowder. Blitukus had originally planned simply to get the amulet back when the human was distracted, but what that human had said...

That... was a mistake...

Blitukus growled loudly with his mouth open, then kicked the human in the gut with all his strength. The human grunted loudly, stumbling back and nearly falling over. The human then charged with the dagger, missing by a mile as Blitukus jumped away. Blitukus charged in, and jumped up, landing a powerful punch on the side of the humans head. The human then tried to stab Blitukus, but Blitukus jumped to the side, grabbing the humans arm. Blitukus then pulled the human up by the arm, throwing the human to the ground. Blitukus stood over the human, preventing him from getting up. Blitukus wrestled the dagger from his hands, then plunged it through the flesh of the humans palm, the blade emerging out the back of the hand. The human yelled out, stunned from the pain. Blitukus slashed the humans chest, then bit the human on the forearm, shaking him around and tearing off a bit of flesh, the human hardly able to do anything due to pain. The human was nearly unconscious from pain... Blitukus stomped down on the humans face, knocking the human out. Blitukus spoke softly, "You are lucky I am nicer than you are... otherwise your body would rest in pieces." Blitukus then took back the amulet from the unconscious human. He noticed a coin bag... likely containing ill-gotten money that would go to fund various contraband and organized crime groups. Blitukus took the coin bag too. Less money for corruption... and hopefully that human had had some of the corruption knocked out of him. Blitukus spat out the chunk of flesh, stood back, and waited. Eventually the human woke up. The human slowly stood, shaking, and noticed the blood all over and below him, the knife sticking out of his hand. He stepped back from Blitukus. Blitukus grinned menacingly and took up a fighting pose, "Do you want any more?" The human yelled, "Someone call animal control!... SH*T!" The human then turned and nearly stumbled over himself running. Blitukus shouted, "Leave this empire, and never show your face here again!" Blitukus noticed those nearby seemed absolutely stunned by this chain of events.

"Ho-lee sh*t!"

"That a*shole human landed my bro in the hospital once... it's about time he got a taste of his own medicine! Won't be messin' with our neighborhood anymore, I bet!"

"Yeah!"

Blitukus smiled confidently and proudly... he had reduced the amount of corruption around... even if it was only by one criminal and a little bit of money. Money seemed a critical fuel for the corruption that infested the capitalist system... and taking corruptions fuel away was a much more effective way of fighting it than to take it on directly. He walked toward the building, games of chance waiting inside, then walked in, careful to keep from being noticed. His mouth and hands were painted with blood from the encounter beforehand, and it wouldn't be a good idea to walk around like that. He found a hallway off to the side, walked down it, and walked through a door, finding himself in a small room full of stalls and sinks. He used a sink to rinse off his hands and his mouth, until they had returned to their former color. He then left that room, and proceeded into the main chamber of the building. It was full of crowds of people, many different games of chance, flashing lights all around, several different stalls, and what looked like a gift shop of some sort. The entire facility was heavily guarded, various surveillance devices placed all around. One of the largest stalls was owned by a bank, advertising "All services available. Loans starting at 2.99%* interest." Below the main text, barely readable, it read, "* interest rate subject to change."

Much like a giant cave spider... waiting for you to get deep enough in the hole for it to rip your head off...

Blitukus sighed, and shook his head. At least, if all services were truly available, it would make his plan work quicker. The ambient corruption about was beginning to sicken him... but he did feel intent on doing something to change things. Blitukus took the coin bag he took from the criminal, and looked in it. It contained 100 moneys worth of coinage... the criminal had been busy for a while, it seemed. Even though it might suffice to pay for his fare, now was a good chance to multiply what he had, and use that towards his side goals. This business was obviously well versed on conventional strategies and how to defeat them... what Blitukus had in mind wasn't conventional in any way, at least, from their point of view. Blitukus looked around, and paid close attention to every game... some games involving machines, some involving small moving objects, some involving cards... none involving pure chaos. The business was a business, and every single one of the games had an orderly component that 'nudged' the outcomes in the favor of the establishment. Blitukus smiled. Chaos had a habit of making orderly systems do things they weren't intended to do. All of the orderly triggers were fed by initial conditions that could be randomized. On top of it, Blitukus had access to a limited pool of powers that had been all but forgotten in the course of time. Blitukus spotted a game of chance involving a randomly triggered spring-launcher firing out a small ball, people wagering on which hoop the ball would go through. The spring moved back and forth before it fired, the time at which it fired determining its direction, and therefore which hoop it would go though. It seemed an easy target for such a test of old powers... the establishment was likely legendary at catching cheaters, but in order to be cought, the act must be visible in the first place... Blitukus went over to this game, and sat, wagering 60 of the 100 moneys on hoop 0, the numbers ranging from 0 through 15. Hoop 0 was the furthest to the left. If he won, the payout would be 16-fold, leaving him with an even 1000. If he lost... he would still have 40 left. He focused himself as the spring-loaded device began shifting back and forth. He reached with his soul, projecting a bit of mana forward, into the machine. Then, he moved that bit of mana about in the machine, using the corresponding effects upon his soul to feel the interior of the device. He sensed there was a single wire running up to the back of the mechanism that held the spring. He focused himself, and as the device turned to its leftmost position, Blitukus tried to cause the charges within the particles of the wire to shift, triggering whatever it was linked to. It didn't work. Blitukus focused himself... he just wanted the machine to wait, one more cycle... he tried again... it didn't work. The third time and fourth time also didn't work. But, it seemed his willpower was paying off. The administrator of the game commented, "Looks like it's decided to take its time! That happens every now and then..." Blitukus snickered. On the fifth try, and it hardly seemed a try, but as if on cue, it let off, the ball going straight through the center of hoop 0. "We have a winner!" Blitukus snickered again. Of everyone there, he was the only one to bet on 0. When the proper coins had been placed, Blitukus took the now total of 1000 moneys, and then left the table to find a new game. He spotted a game involving cards. The cards ranged in value from -6 to 6. The goal was to get as far from 0 as possible without exceeding 19 or falling below -19. The players each started with 3 cards, and could call for more, with the limit being 6. The winner gets double, the loser gets nothing. It seemed that although the cards appeared to be random... there was a certain pattern that the cards appeared in. It was likely the dealer exploited this pattern. Blitukus walked up and sat. He analyzed the device used to randomize the deck of cards... the reason for pattern was obvious. It only determined a random variable once... everything after that was an orderly process, based on that variable. He kept observing games and analyzing the device between rounds. He found that the internal workings of it were controlled by a highly complex electronic device, miniaturized to an extreme degree. He didn't have the magical skill to manipulate such things with precision, but he could always do something. He noticed one of the sections of the device stored information for the rest of the electronics, and it was very sensitive to lingering charge. That was when Blitukus decided to enter the game. He wagered 500. As the deck was shuffled, he focused himself deeply and precisely, wrapping his mana around the minuscule wires that networked the circuitry of the device. He caused a small pulse of current near the information storage part... scrambling the information, causing the output to become truly random. The shuffler broke from its orderly pattern, and began to act rather anomalously, leaving some portions unshuffled while shuffling other portions multiple times, all at random. Cards were dealt, the dealer unaware of what had happened. Blitukus took in a sense of the state of his environment, and the possibilities for its next state... and used the resulting gut feeling to determine when and how many extra cards to request. His resulting cards were 1, 2, -5, 2... adding up to 0, the number he was trying to get away from. Still, his gut feeling said to go no further. Had his plan just fallen on its face?... he had enough money for fare if it did, but still, he was hoping to beat the establishment at its own game... The dealer confidently took 2 cards. Blitukus nearly laughed when he saw the result. The dealer seemed rather surprised. 6,6,-1,5,4... to a total of 20. The dealer had busted by being 1 too high, causing Blitukus to win by default. Blitukus felt a bit of confidence that he was able to make his own luck... he bet all 1500 the next time. Blitukus ended up with 5,3,4,-1,4... a total of 15. The dealer got -5,-5,-4,-1... a total of -15. Nobody won, since both were equidistant from 0. The next one gave Blitukus a total of -13, the dealer a total of 7. Blitukus now had 3000. The dealer was beginning to get suspicious. The dealer looked down at her shuffler, "Hey, what the... hmnh." She pushed a button on it, causing its inner workings to reset. Blitukus simply scrambled the memory of the device again on the next shuffle. Blitukus asked, "Is everything okay?" The dealer replied, "Just minor technical difficulties, that's all." The next round gave Blitukus 3, 2, 5, 1, 2, -6, a total of 7. The dealer got 4, 3, 1, 2, -4, a total of 6. The dealer looked back at the shuffler, then at Blitukus, then at the shuffler again... she was noticing how he kept winning bets he bet everything on, that her pattern plan wasn't working anymore. She sighed slightly, hardly noticable. Blitukus smiled. The next round gave Blitukus a set of 6, 6, 6, for a total of 18, just 1 shy of the ideal 19. The dealer got 4,-1,3,1,-2,-5, for a total of 0. Blitukus laughed... he himself hadn't expected such an ideal outcome. The dealer looked right at Blitukus, got up, and walked behind a small, portable wall. She spoke softly into a phone, hidden from view, "The kobold in seat 5.... yeah, I don't know how he's doing it but I know he's screwing with my shuffler... no, I didn't see it, but I know it's him... I swear he's a cheater, look, trust me on this one... Look at the tapes later, you'll see. Just get him out of here." The dealer returned to her seat, placed the total of 12000 monies on the table, lay back in her chair, and began twiddling her thumbs. Blitukus laughed, "Having fun?" The dealer was not amused. A few moments later, a guard arrived. Blitukus smiled, "Hello." The guard replied, "I have to ask you to leave the gaming area." Blitukus nodded, took up his money, and walked away. Somehow, it had cought up to him, and he didn't want a confrontation with the guards. Blitukus neared the exit, but another guard, a rather large male human, stood right in his way, blocking him from exiting. Blitukus spoke, "Please step aside." The guard replied, "I'm just making sure you get to see our lovely gift shop and business place!" Blitukus sighed... the institution really can't have a good nights sleep without knowing they ripped EVERYONE off... no matter, he wanted to buy something anyway...

Blitukus walked back to the marketplace, up to the rather expansive bank booth, and spoke to one of the tellers, "So, ALL services are available here?" The bank teller replied, "Yes, would you like a loan? Please have your credit paperwork ready before asking for a loan." Blitukus responded, "No... actually, I wish to purchase one of your assets. This seems a rather institution-oriented economy. Do you have land for sale?" The teller replied, "It's the first time anyone has asked for that... around the corner to your left." Blitukus nodded, and proceeded there. He met another person, working various paperwork. Blitukus asked, "Do you have property for sale?" The employee responded, "Yes... but nobody ever buys any here except for rich people. You don't look rich, and as you can tell, my boss isn't listening." Blitukus replied, "It's newly gained... what do you have? Any sort of home with a short commute time to an educational facility?" He replied, "One not too far from here actually, the old owner just moved out and sold it to us. It's 9400 monies. If you have your credit paperwork, citizenry papers and insurance ready, we can set up a loan and have the deed transfered in a day or two." Blitukus replied, "I have a suggestion that may expedite the process." the employee asked, "Oh?" Blitukus promptly placed 8000 monies worth of gold coins on the table. The employee laughed, "Boss hates that because he can't charge interest, but I love it because I don't have to do any paperwork. All I gotta do is type in a few things and I can have it for you right now if you'd like." Blitukus nodded. A few minutes of the employee typing passed, then a few minutes of waiting later, and then, "It's done, where should the deed be transfered to?" Blitukus replied, "Erm... parchment? Paper, please." The employee replied, "Ok, that works too." A machine started up, and a few moments later, the employee handed Blitukus a hard copy of the deed along with a picture of the property... it wasn't anything fancy, but it was decent. The deed had an empty line at the bottom, devoid of an owner. The employee took the 9400 moneys worth of coins, lugged the mass of coins back to a hidden area, then returned empty handed a few minutes later. Blitukus asked, "Do you have any sort of notes that would allow one to regulate the use of money?" The employee replied, "Yeah... but only agencies use them. Qualifying as an agency is one of the easiest things in the world, though... do you represent an agency?" Well, he was the prince of old Anthath Sizet... He replied, "Yes." The employee replied, "Good enough, just say the purpose and the amount and we can write it." Blitukus placed 2000 monies on the table, then spoke, "3000 monies for education and basic needs." The employee nodded, wrote several things down on a specially designed piece of paper, typed a few things into his console, and then handed the paper over, taking the 2000 monies back, returning after a few minutes. The employee spoke, "You're acting like you're trying to just give someone out there a future." Blitukus smiled, "You are very observant. Thank you." The employee replied, "No problem. You know, it isn't often we get philanthropists out HERE of all places." Blitukus replied as he walked away, "I could imagine..." Blitukus now had the deed to a home, 2000 monies worth of funds for education and basic necessities, and 600 monies in coinage. He was about to leave, the guard letting several others out, then the guard stood in his way again... Blitukus saw this, and walked back. He noticed one of the games of chance involved a machine with a pull lever and a promised jackpot... the jackpot would be updated once per hour. It was still far from the turn of the next hour. Blitukus snuck up to these machines, snuck behind them, then projected a bit of his mana into one of the machines, and found that the machines all used mechanical rollers to determine their random state. Rather than their state determining the rollers, the rollers determined their state. Blitukus found he could impart force onto one end of the roller to influence its outcome... although he felt he needed to be efficient. His mana was running out, and it would not naturally replenish in this environment. Blitukus snickered, placing his hand on the back of the machine, and silently focusing. He nudged the rollers until he managed, on the third try, to lock them into the pattern 1-2-3-4. The machine then erupted in a flurry of lights and sounds, its user jumping with joy. Blitukus snickered, and snuck behind the machines, causing one machine after another to do this. The establishment could pay a jackpot... but what would it do regarding several jackpots? One guard won't stop so many people from leaving. There seemed to be confusion among the crowd... which burst into an argument over who got the first jackpot. Much of the crowd seemed baffled at what had happened. The machines had not given them their promised coinage, despite going off in such a manner. Much of the crowd was angered by being disappointed in such a way, and began to migrate toward the booths and kiosks. They banged on a door, and when a lavishly dressed male human emerged, they began yelling at him, asking him about what had happened. He stated, "Unless you can determine who got the first jackpot, you all get zero. Good day." There was a loud booing and some yelling. There seemed to be some kind of activity near the middle, then all of the sudden, the lavishly dressed human was seen darting away. A member of the crowd hurled a beverage container through the air, which came apart upon impacting with the lavishly dressed humans back, sending colored and sticky fluid all over the place and all over the humans clothes. The crowd pursued, and then the guards began to pursue the crowd. Blitukus laughed. Seeing the guard near the door leaving his usual post, Blitukus took the opportunity to leave.

When Blitukus emerged, he looked around. The blood spill on the ground had already been cleaned up. The vagrants were still there, although they seemed fairly spread out. Blitukus numbered them, then randomly chose a number. He picked number 4... actually the one closest to him anyway. He walked up to the vagrant, who was sitting on a newspaper in the grass. Blitukus smiled, and spoke, "Greetings, citizen. Today is your lucky day." The vagrant replied, "What...?" Blitukus replied, "I have a gift, a token of remembrance of times past." Blitukus then gave the vagrant the deed and the education and necessities note. The vagrant asked, "... no money?" Blitukus replied, "I have placed the funds in the note to encourage you to spend more wisely in the future." The vagrant stated, "But I need money." Blitukus replied, "And now you have all that you need to move towards earning it. Good luck!" The vagrant stood, looked carefully at the deed, then picked up the newspaper he was resting on, finding it had advertisements for job openings readily printed on it. The vagrant hesitated for a few moments, then rolled up the newspaper, speaking, "Ok... ok... Thank you... I think I've got a goal now." Blitukus smiled, feeling genuinely proud of his actions, "Thank the universe. Goodbye." The vagrant looked at Blitukus as he parted, then looked back at the deed, apparently in a slight state of disbelief about it. Blitukus smiled, both within and without... even if he wasn't able to change the world, everything counts toward something. Blitukus had created problems for corruption, and had driven a corrupt individual away from at least relatively innocent people, the latter unleashing his sense of vengeance for the first time in a long time in doing so. His business in this city was done... now it was time to put this corrupt area behind him and move on to his next destination, toward finding the component. Civilizations always differed. This city had parts that were honest and true, and parts that were corrupt and lacking, but in total, it wasn't so terrible. The average standard of living had gone up, and people still had their freedom... but it was rather unfortunate that some would rather abuse this freedom than use it.
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Sorry if anything is messed because I was really tired by the time I posted this.

[Reign on your Parade]

Ok, that's just unbeleivable that Blitikus won EVERY TIME when he simply made it truly random.
Refering to the card game that is.

[ December 19, 2007: Message edited by: Reign on your Parade ]

[AlanL]

I thought about it, but then I thought about 2 nudge factors. Blitukus can sense and influence true randomness to a pretty good degree compared to everyone else, meanwhile the dealer was relying on a broken system. The first gave him clues on when to go and when to not go (i made a reference to it), while the second one kept making the dealer make bad moves.

Also, I didn't want it to go on forever since I had finals today and had to sleep. I originally thought about having him lose once or twice but it was already dragging on for too long.

Edit: Hmm... maybe giving behind-the-scenes info like that isn't a good idea.

Edit II: Hmm... I really need to think about what's been going on. I don't want to have any real flaws, and when I have to go back and explain my reasoning, it makes me feel like I'm BSing. Maybe it's just the stress of finals (and finals are over), but I guess I'll be paying closer attention.

[ December 19, 2007: Message edited by: AlanL ]

[Armok]

Beyond Quality!   , hopefully I will soon get more time whit the holiday coming)
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quote: I put the magma loops in at first because it was possible in DF and I decided to run with it... although I thought of a way to explain it that fits and doesn't require any 'a wizard did it' sort of thing (although technically...)

So a specific wizard we will meet/hear about did it, rather than a generic abstract excuse wizard (nor someone "nonserious" like 8-bit theater Sarda)?

quote: Ok, that's just unbeleivable that Blitikus won EVERY TIME when he simply made it truly random.

You are forgetting something; He's Blitukus Siegedriven!  
The universe itself is at his side!  

(Yes, I saw AlanL's more down to earth explanation that basically states the same)

quote: Also, I didn't want it to go on forever since I had finals today and had to sleep. I originally thought about having him lose once or twice but it was already dragging on for too long.

Edit: Hmm... maybe giving behind-the-scenes info like that isn't a good idea.

Edit II: Hmm... I really need to think about what's been going on. I don't want to have any real flaws, and when I have to go back and explain my reasoning, it makes me feel like I'm BSing. Maybe it's just the stress of finals (and finals are over), but I guess I'll be paying closer attention.

This might be a problem, albeit it seems not a very great one, if you run out of time I think it might be a better idea to split that part of the story over two updates/days rater than explaining inadequately or missing out events that are not plot critical but add detail, please don't hurry the plot on expense of the details.

"behind-the-scenes info" is good, one can't really explain everything and being able to ask questions to the author in semi-real time is a great advantage, might cause trouble should you ever want to consolidate this into a book or other thing outside this forum.

By the way when the story is finished you should really do that, this is awesome and I have recommended just about everyone I meet to read it, however many of my relatives don't like reading from a computer and also I can't always bring my computer and Internet to them, it is not very worthwhile until finished, but then a more printer friendly format would be nice.
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Okay, as usual I can't ever express how wonderful this story is, and as usual I don't have the time to make a futile attempt, hopefully I will soon.