Tag: request

The Earth shook for days. The fires burned for weeks. And when the ash had settled, less than ten thousand of your kind still lived…and far fewer of ours. But we carried on, together. To rebuild. To renew.

Listen. You must go there. To the place where we labored…labored and lost. Take my words. Pass them from your head into your hands. That is how you will open the way.

But be warned: much still remains in flux. And I do not know how things will end–either in my time or yours.

– Jupiter

I see you still have many questions. Who were we? What became of us? What do we desire of you? You will have your answers. Only listen and I will tell you how.

Both before the end and after, we sought to save the world. We built vaults within which to work, each dedicated to a different method of salvation. They were placed underground to avoid the war which raged above, and also as a precaution, should we fail in our efforts.

Each vault’s knowledge was transmitted to a single place. It was our duty–mine, Minerva’s, and Juno’s–to sort and sample all that was collected.

We chose those solutions which held the most promise, and devoted ourselves to testing their merits. Six we tried in succession, each more encouraging than the last. But none worked. And then the world ended…

– Jupiter

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Ahmet: That’s not a legal move.

Suleiman: It is a European variation. Arrocco (Castling).

Ahmet: It’s interesting, but not exactly fair when you play by different rules than your opponent.

Suleiman: You may think differently when you are Sultan. Shall I take it back?

Ahmet: Suleiman, I know it has been hard on you, watching your father and me quarrel over Bayezid’s throne.

Suleiman: Grandfather has chosen you, and his word is kanun (law). What is there to argue about?

Ahmet: Your father and I were close once, but his cruelty and ambition have made–

Suleiman: I have heard the rumors, uncle.

Diane: Hello, Comstatic customer support, Diane speaking.

Mr. Jameson: I’m calling in reference to your HD Cable service. There seems to be some kind of picture between the channels.

Diane: Well, that’s funny. Are you sure it isn’t just one of those premium movie channels? I didn’t used to have a premium package at home either and sometimes little snippets of the channel would come through when my son Jimmy pressed the clicker too much.

Mr. Jameson: How old’s your Jimmy?

Diane: Ten and cute as a button, thanks for asking!

Mr. Jameson: My Paul’s twelve. But no, this isn’t a clicker problem. I go to change the channel from 172 to 173 and, instead, there’s this other channel in-between. I’m looking at it right now, it’s some kind of menu.

Diane: Sounds like our guide channel. Why, just the other day Jimmy—

Mr. Jameson: It’s not the Guide channel. It has my name on it, my son’s name and a list of things we like, my credit card purchases, loans, travel. And then, after that, there’s this gibberish about biometric patterns and optimal screen refresh frequencies. There’s some kind of heart monitor thing that says EEG wireless next to it and ARAS. I don’t know what the particulars of this are, but it looks like you cable is programmed to have some kind of effect on our bodies.

Diane: Well, Sir, I don’t even know how to respond to that. I—one, second, my supervisor has just come over. She says I should transfer your call. Have an ecstatic day with Comstatic!

[phone ringing]

Supervisor: Hello, I have been briefed on your problem. A technician is on his way.

Mr. Jameson: Thank you, but the more I think about this, the more I think something bad’s going on here.

Supervisor: Our technician should be there any minute, Mr. Jameson.

Mr. Jameson: Don’t bother I—

[pounding at the door]

Paul: Daddy there’s someone strange at the door. He’s hitting the door real hard.

Supervisor: Have a good day, Mr. Jameson.

Possibly the creepiest phone call of all.