|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…
|
Episode 3: Melly
I’ve been having a lot of fun on the tables since I started but there’s certain things I can’t do that others are able to and it really bugs me.
Winning is definitely one of the things I can’t do yet. I don’t know if I just haven’t had as much practice as other players or if I just suck. But I’m determined to get better. Especially when I find a platinum weapon. I will pick up any platinum weapon and try my best to use it.
Yesterday I landed at Antipasto Alley and I managed to find a green olive shocker. The black olive shockers are good too, but they don’t have as much power. With the green olive shocker you are supposed to be able to shock other players half way across the map or use it to shock yourself out of range of a player who is trying to attack you.
After the first time I saw the Administrator and went back to my room to heal, there was a TV and video machine in there and I was able to watch replays of games from other players’ perspectives. I could even watch my own games and see what I was having a hard time with. I watched a few videos of players who were using the green olive shockers and I was impressed at how they used them.
So, when I practiced with the black olive shockers as much as I could but yesterday was the first chance I had to use the green olive shocker. And let me tell you, I am still not good at using them.
In fact, I’m so bad at it that I tried to get away from the dish cloth and totally messed it up.
See, as the game progresses, there’s this dish cloth that wipes up the table. It starts at one end and works its way across the table in random patterns. The game gives you a warning about where it is going to wipe next so you can get out of the way but if you’re not fast enough, it will wipe you right off the table and it is game over for you.
I could see that the dish cloth was coming up right behind me and I’m not great at moving fast yet so I knew I was going to be a goner if I didn’t do something fast. I threw down one of the green olive shockers with the intention of making it propel me forward but I threw it down too far in front of me. Instead of blasting me forward and away from the dish cloth, it sent me flying backwards. Right on top of the dish cloth.
I screamed and went flying off the table.
I guess my landing was pretty rough because when I went to see the Administrator, he said I’d be resting for a few days at least. He suggested I spend some time rewatching my last game on the table to see where I could do better.
He was about to end our session and send me back to my room for a few days of rest when I asked, “Could I ask a question?”
“You may,” he replied curtly. He didn’t really seem to want to deal with my questions (I had a lot of them) but it was literally his job so he could just chill out and give me another minute. Plus, I didn’t really want to go back to that boring, white room. When I was there, all I could do was think and come up with more questions and it was very frustrating for me.
I didn’t know what I was going to ask. Not until it blurted out of my mouth.
“I thought the first time I was here you said gushing was not for me,” I said.
“That’s not a question,” he stated.
I knew it wasn’t a question. He didn’t let me get to the point. My administrator was very annoying and I wondered if they were all like that or if there was someone I could complain to and get a new one.
I continued. “So, I haven’t been able to gush with any of the other players, like you said. Until today. And I was wondering why?”
He looked startled. “What do you mean? You can’t gush.”
“Well, apparently, I can. Because I did today,” I said.
He flipped through the massive book on his desk. “No. No. That’s not possible. You must be mistaken somehow.”
I shook my head. “I did.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“I was running back and forth on the sideboard, just trying to entertain myself until we loaded the gravy boat. Practicing my sliding. Jumping. You know…” I said.
“Get to the point, Fork76823,” he said.
It bugged me that he still wouldn’t call me Melly or even Miss Helly. Anything would be better than Fork76823.
With a sigh, I said, “Yes. Anyway, another player jumped in front of me and started gushing. Of course, I just stood there. He stopped and then he threw out this little symbol. A box. And I was able to kind of walk into it and suddenly I was gushing with him. He was gushing and I could do the same movements as him and there was this beautiful song playing. It only lasted for a few seconds before the gravy boat came and we all loaded in and the next thing I knew I was in the game. I didn’t…”
The Administrator looked terrified.
“That can’t happen again. I must look into it. I will figure out why it happened and get it fixed right away,” he said, ruffling through the pages of the book.
“Do you have to?” I asked. “I kind of liked it. It was fun. And as far as I can see, it didn’t hurt anyone. It obviously didn’t give me any kind of advantage in the game.”
“That’s not the point,” he snapped. “You are part of the Fork/Knife corporation. You belong to the corporation and there’s absolutely no need for you to be able to gush with other players who are not.”
“Aren’t we all part of the Fork/Knife game though?” I asked.
I was confused. Was there a difference between me and other players? Did some players have different rules? I didn’t understand but it gave me a very icky feeling in the pit of my stomach. Something was off. I just didn’t know what.
“That’s enough questions for today. Go to your room and rest now. You might need a little longer than a few days. I think you need more repairing than I originally thought.
I knew he was getting angry so I decided not to push it any further. As I walked back to my room – slowly because I was not looking forward to being there – I went over what he said. And what he didn’t say.
The Administrator was always rather cold and blunt but today he was not himself. He was actually showing some emotion. Maybe that was better than nothing. He slipped and suggested some information that I was not aware of before.
Back in the room, I sat on the bed. I put on the TV with a replay of the game because I knew that there were cameras everywhere and they could see what I was doing. Once, I just sat on the bed thinking and a voice came over the intercom and told me to either go to sleep or watch game play. They didn’t seem to like it when I was just thinking.
So, I put the TV on but I wasn’t watching it. I was thinking about what he said about “other players who are not.” Did he mean other players who were not part of the Fork/Knife corporation? Not like me? Players who were not born and raised to play the game?
How could that be?
If there were players who were not born and raised specifically to play the game – who were they? Where did they live? Did they do other things when they were not playing the game? Were they able to…make decisions for themselves?
And if there were players like that…how could I be one of those players?
Leave a Reply