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This is my entry for The Ink Well Prompt #161: This week's prompt is YOLO.
What?! Hank shouted, coughing and choking on the bite he had taken from his sandwich. Mike quickly gave a couple of pats on the back to his partner, who already had his eyes bulging out of their sockets from the effort he was making to free his throat.
His huge belly was still quivering when he asked
Are we only going to live once?
His coughing continued, but less scandalous than before, he wiped the sweat from under his cap and his huge mustache twitched from side to side.
We were all in Joe's diner, a very cozy and peaceful place; its cushioned stools were the perfect resting place for our busy butts. They served the best roast beef sandwiches and the coffee was free. Always served with Helen's beautiful smile, her charisma and tenderness were enough to make us forget the dreadfulness of our days, a very cheerful girl.
We were enjoying a quiet dinner or at least we thought so, when Gertrudis appeared and opened her mouth, her presence always meant bad news and this time was no exception.
Fortunately, I had not started my dinner when I also heard the news. I'm sure I would have lost my one life immediately. I pushed away my plate with my untouched sandwich, suddenly losing my appetite.
Helen, shocked, held her mouth with both hands, she could hardly believe her ears. It was the first time I had ever seen her so distressed.
"As I was saying," continued the head of virtual resources, clearing her throat, an artificial intelligence that was in charge of managing the RAM of our world and for us a prophet of doom, with a long face and a haughty attitude.
"The new update Grand Theft Auto 2020, will bring a new change: the policy of you only live once aka SVUV; it will avoid the extra use of the RAM of the system which will allow us to make our game faster and more competitive before the new interactive systems that are developed today."
Gertrudis explained reading from her virtual console.
So if you are removed from the game, it will be your last time. Most of us raised our eyebrows in surprise, others folded their arms.
Do you think it's easy to keep us alive, we are just simple NPCs. Users are monsters, all they want to do is destroy everything in their path. Interrupted Mike worriedly with his head in his hands; a bunch of monsters! He repeated.
Mmmmmmmhhhhhmmmm... affirmed Monica, a lady who had more life cycles than all of us present, even if we added them up.
The other day I was walking with my pet, Scruffy, a Pekingese who suddenly barked when he heard its name. Relax, it's okay," she petted the little canine who kept shaking. Suddenly, she continued with her story, a user appeared out of nowhere in a speeding car and ran over me with Scruffy and everything. I was chopped in half, and poor Scruffy was left stamped on the wall. It took more than 500 megabytes of RAM to rebuild us.
And as patiently as she narrated her story, she enjoyed her steaming soup.
Tell me about it, Mike interjected. They always steal my vehicle and if I try to stop them, bang! He commented, slamming the counter with the palm of his hand, clinking the cups and glasses around him; I got my head blown off with a shotgun, and he finished.
We must do something about this, Hank intervened after he had caught his breath. We can barely last a few hours each time the system is rebooted. Soon there will be no one left to eliminate.
I could never imagine what it would be like not to reboot again, I commented. I'm usually a passerby who walks the streets straight to the bank. The best thing that can happen to me is to be robbed and that happens very rarely, I usually die first. But to live only once? I would never see my friends again. There would be no more dinners, no more birthdays, no more get-togethers.
So do we cease to exist, I asked. Will we become a bunch of zeros?
At first, there was a murmur that increased in volume at Gertrude's news, but after my comment, everyone was silent and thoughtful.
We had never faced anything like this before. My mind could not imagine not existing. To imagine that our time was limited was horrible. My time would be too valuable to waste it dreaming like I used to.
I still think we should complain to the designers. Without us there would be no game, Monica said.
Gertrude ignored the comments.
Stay alive guys
She added with a fake smile before fading away as usual.
We were all silent for a few minutes until Jake interrupted our silence.
I think we'd better get out of here.
Jake was a fast food huckster, he used to be one of those guys who talked his head off and knew a lot of people.
Find another system, he continued as his eyes fanned over everyone, looking for support.
I know a guy who knows a guy, he assured us. Many of us pursed our lips and others rolled their eyes.
He knows a back door, we can bypass the firewall and get into the network of networks. Jake opened his eyes even wider to emphasize what he was saying.
The opportunities would be endless! he shouted, stretching out his arms, don't you think?
But no one made any comment, everyone was still deep in thought.
"I hear Halo is not a bad place," he remarked, raising his eyebrows. It has a heavenly name, it sure is peaceful and friendly. He said nodding his head in affirmation as he closed his eyes and sat back down while sinking his teeth into his sandwich.
Jake and his ideas... I said to myself shaking my head.
My eyes remained fixed on Helen. In my mind one phrase kept going, carpe diem.
See you next time...
Esta es mi entrada para The Ink Well Prompt #162: El tema de esta semana es YOLO (En Inglés solo se vive una sola vez).
¿¡Qué!? Gritó Hank tosiendo y ahogándose con la mordida que le había dado a su sándwich. Mike se apresuró a dar un par de palmadas en la espalda a su compañero, quien ya tenía sus ojos brotados de sus órbitas por el esfuerzo que hacía por liberar su garganta.
Su enorme panza aún seguía temblando cuando preguntó
¿Solo viviremos una vez?
Su tos continuaba, pero menos escandalosa que antes, limpio el sudor bajo su gorra y su enorme bigote se sacudió de un lado al otro.
Todos estábamos en el merendero de Joe, un sitio muy acogedor y pacífico; sus taburetes acolchados eran el perfecto descanso para nuestros atareados traseros. Servían los mejores emparedados de roast beef y el café era gratis. Siempre atendido con la bella sonrisa de Helen, su carisma y su ternura era suficiente para hacernos olvidar lo terrible de nuestros días, una chica muy jovial.
Disfrutábamos de una cena tranquila o por lo menos eso pensábamos, cuando Gertrudis apareció y abrió su boca, su presencia siempre significaba malas noticias y esta vez no era la excepción.
Afortunadamente, yo no había comenzado mi bastimento cuando también oí la noticia. Estoy seguro que habría perdido mi única vida de inmediato. Alejé mi plato con mi sándwich sin tocar, de pronto había perdido mi apetito.
Helen, sorprendida, sostenía su boca con ambas manos, apenas podía creer lo que escuchaba. Fue la primera vez que la veía tan angustiada.
Cómo les decía, continuó la jefe de recursos virtuales aclarando su garganta, una inteligencia artificial que se encargaba de administrar la RAM de nuestro mundo y para nosotros una ave de mal agüero, de cara larga y actitud altanera.
La nueva actualización Grand Theft Auto 2020, traerá un nuevo cambio: la política de solo vives una vez aka SVUV; evitará el uso extra de la memoria RAM del sistema lo que permitirá hacer nuestro juego más rápido y competitivo ante los nuevos sistemas interactivos que se desarrollan hoy en día.
Explicaba Gertrudis leyendo desde su consola virtual.
Por lo que si son eliminados del juego, será su última vez. La mayoría de los que estábamos levantamos nuestras cejas sorprendidos, otros se cruzaban de brazos.
Crees que es fácil mantenernos vivos, solo somos unos simples NPC. Los usuarios son unos monstruos, todo lo que quieren es destruir cuanta cosa les aparece frente a su camino. Interrumpió preocupado Mike con la cabeza entre sus manos, ¡unos monstruos! Volvió a repetir.
Mmmmmhhhmmmm… afirmó Mónica, una señora que tenía más ciclos de vida que todos los que estábamos presentes, incluso si los sumábamos.
El otro día venía caminando con mi mascota, Scruffy, un pequinés que de pronto ladró al escuchar su nombre. Tranquilo no pasa nada, acarició al pequeño can que no dejaba de temblar. De pronto, continuó con su historia, un usuario apareció de la nada en un auto a toda velocidad y me arrolló con todo y Scruffy. Quedé picada por la mitad, el pobre Scruffy quedó estampado en la pared. Hizo falta más de 500 megas de RAM para reconstruirnos.
Y con la misma paciencia con que narraba su historia, disfrutaba de su sopa humeante.
Dímelo a mí, intervino Mike. Siempre roban mi vehículo y si trato de detenerlos ¡Bang! Comentó dando un fuerte golpe al mostrador con la palma de su mano, haciendo tintinear las tazas y vasos a su alrededor; me vuelan la cabeza con una escopeta, terminó.
Debemos hacer algo al respecto, intervino Hank después de haber recuperado el aliento. Apenas si podemos durar unas cuantas horas cada vez que se reinicia el sistema. Pronto no quedará nadie a quien eliminar.
Yo jamás podría imaginar lo que sería no volver a reiniciar, comenté. Suelo ser un transeúnte que va por las calles directo al banco. Lo mejor que me puede suceder es ser robado y eso pasa muy pocas veces. Pero ¿vivir una sola vez? No volvería a ver a mis amigos. No habría más cenas, ni cumpleaños, ni reuniones.
Entonces ¿dejamos de existir?, pregunté. ¿Nos convertiremos en un montón de ceros?
Al principio había un murmullo que aumentaba su volumen ante la noticia de Gertrudis, pero luego de mi comentario, todos quedaron mudos y pensativos.
Jamás nos habíamos enfrentado a algo así. Mi mente no podía imaginar el no existir. Imaginar que nuestro tiempo estaba limitado era horrible. Mi tiempo sería muy valioso para desperdiciarlo soñando como solía hacer.
Sigo pensando que debemos quejarnos con los diseñadores. Sin nosotros no habría ningún juego, afirmó Mónica.
Gertrudis hizo caso omiso a los comentarios
Manténganse con vida chicos
Agregó con una falsa sonrisa antes de desvanecerse como de costumbre.
Todos quedamos mudos por unos minutos hasta que Jake interrumpió nuestro silencio.
Pienso que es mejor marcharnos.
Jake era vendedor ambulante de comida rápida, solía ser de esos tipos que habla hasta por los codos y conoce a mucha gente.
Buscar otro sistema, continuó mientras sus ojos se abanicaban por encima de todos, buscando apoyo.
Conozco a un tipo que conoce a un tipo, aseguró. Muchos de los que estábamos fruncimos los labios y otros pusieron sus ojos en blanco.
Conoce una puerta trasera, podemos burlar la pared de fuego y entrar a la red de redes. Abrió aún más sus ojos para dar énfasis a lo que decía.
¡Las oportunidades serían infinitas! Gritó extendiendo sus brazos. ¿No creen?
Pero nadie hizo ningún comentario, todos seguían embutidos en sus pensamientos
He oído que Halo no es un mal lugar, advirtió levantando sus cejas. Tiene nombre celestial, de seguro es algo pacífico y amigable. Dijo afirmando con su cabeza mientras cerraba sus ojos y volvía a sentarse al hincarle el diente a su sándwich.
Jake y sus ideas… dije para mis adentros sacudiendo mi cabeza.
Mis ojos quedaron fijos en Helen. En mi mente seguía una frase, carpe diem.
Hasta la próxima.
May we smile? Clever story, personifying characters in a game. There is a movie, Free Guy, that offers the same perspective. In Free Guy the NPCs are about to be eliminated by an avaricious human who wants to muscle in on games designed by someone else. In this story, it is in pursuit of gaming efficiency that the NPCs will be living only one life. Uses less RAM.
You have great dialog and scene setup. The piece where the character is cut in half and Scruffy is flattened is hilarious. Dialog is great and adds to a highly readable, highly entertaining story.
Thank you for sharing this with us, @jadams2k18.
Thaaaaank you! Thank you very much!
I have been improving my storytelling by reading and studying on the internet about storytelling, dialogues and more; I still have a long way to go but your feedback encourages me to keep getting better.
Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing that movie, I really liked it. 😄
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