The timeline paradox
1338 Words
While Aaron and Zach were busy in conversation, the others in that tiny bone shack stared at them confused. What these two were discussing made very little sense to them, having no idea about any modern technology. These were tribal hunter gatherers who had just evolved from cavemen and were just learning how to build crude settlements.
The leader of the tribe—a tall bronze skinned man with a muscular upper body and thick brown beard entered the shack just as night settled down on the island of Solaris. In the dim glow of the wooden torch he carried, his gruff looking face was partially visible. As soon as he entered the shack, all except the elder thumped their chests as a mark of respect and swiftly took leave.
The elder who had just performed his healing magic greeted the leader with a click of his tongue and the rough-looking man reciprocated. Aaron concluded that these two were most probably at the top of the social ladder in this tribe. Both the leader and the elder had the same tattoos on their arms and wore elephant tusk pendants around their necks. All the others in the tribe either had small monkey paws or tiger claws hanging from theirs.
“Who are these two young ones?” the chief enquired. He had only just returned from a hunt, along with his men.
The elder tapped the ground with his painted walking stick and answered, “These two are travelers who came here seeking refuge.”
“And that beast outside the village is their mount?”
“Indeed, it is. I found it hard to believe as well, but these boys must be gifted spirit tamers.”
“Spirit tamers? Huh. They are yet to grow beards. These younglings don’t strike me as gifted individuals. They look just ordinary to me,” the chief responded, unimpressed. He took a good look at the two strangers before furrowing his eyebrows and giving his verdict. “They came here to seek shelter for the night. But, they aren’t our people. We don’t even know which tribe they belong to. We have done our duty as humans. They cannot stay here.”
“Yes, my chief. They will leave come next morning. That will give them plenty of time to rest.”
Aaron didn’t want to leave and neither did Zach. The world outside was full of dangers. They were too low levelled to even deal with a bunch of normal goblins. Zach still had the notion in his head that this was probably a skill check which they could pass by selecting the correct dialogue. He thought if they could respond favorably, the chief would change his mind. It was just like making a simple dialogue choice in an RPG.
“We are good people. We will help your tribe. Let us stay and we will lend a hand, chief,” Zach spoke up.
The chief cast a disdainful glance at him and replied firmly, “You are not from our tribe. We don’t need your help. My word is law here and you will leave come morn.”
Before Zach or Aaron could say anything else, the chief stormed out of the shack without a second thought.
“What the hell is wrong with these NPCs! They are acting so damn weird,” Zach cried out in annoyance. He then quickly turned to the elder. “You there, good man, please help us convince your chief to let us stay here. We will prove to be valuable allies. You see we are powerful beings called Predators. It would be in your best interest to keep us around.”
“What nonsense are you spewing, little one? I’m not in the mood for laughter. You two can stay for the night, but as soon as the sun comes up, you must leave.”
“f**k, it must be some other type of dialogue. Maybe intimidation will work,” Zach whispered to himself. He was preparing to say something hostile, when Aaron stopped him.
“Don’t say a single word.” Aaron put his arms around Zach and pulled him close. He then whispered in his ear. “These people aren’t just pre-programmed bots. They have been interacting with us, just like actual humans!”
“They are just NPCs!”
“They may be NPCs, but they seem to possess some advanced artificial form of intelligence. I don’t think our dialogue choices will matter here. They are all behaving according to the situation, not because they were programmed to respond in a specific way.”
“That’s damn impossible. That would mean—”
“That they are self aware.” Aaron pulled himself away from Zach and forced a fake smile. “This isn’t a game anymore. All these people here actually believe they have a purpose. We can’t just finesse our way out of trouble with dialogue. This isn’t an RPG anymore. All this is as real as it gets.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the elder loudly knocking on the ground with his stick. “You two are the strangest kids I’ve ever met. But it’s none of my business. Go get some rest. It’s going to be a long night,” he thundered, before walking out of the shack and joining the others outside around a large bonfire.
Left to themselves, the two friends could finally discuss freely about their plans. In the distance they could hear the growling of lions and the chaotic cries of hobgoblins. Breaking through the din, a low throaty scream sent shivers down their spines. They hastily stepped outside to catch a glimpse of two enormous pterosaurs flying over the settlement.
“This whole island is f****d up, bro. What the hell are these creatures doing here?” Zach exclaimed in shock. “That bastard must have changed the whole time period of this island.” He continued gazing upward, following the pterosaurs to where they disappeared behind a mountain. “Pterosaurs lived during the Mesozoic era. That’s like 65 million years in the past.”
“But you’re forgetting one thing, bro,” Aaron remarked. “Pterosaurs and humans never co-existed together. The first cavemen appeared many centuries after the mass extinction. It’s likely that this rogue dev has merged several past time periods together to create a dangerous environment for starting players.”
“You’re not thinking what I’m thinking, right?”
“I’m thinking the exact same thing. If the pterosaurs are here, then there’s a good chance he’s added dinosaurs as well!”
Zach turned around and looked at Aaron, fearing that their worst nightmares were about to come true. Still at the fledgling rank, they were gonna be killed in one hit if they encountered even the smallest dinosaur. This was however, a problem for the future. At the present their attention was suddenly attracted by the loud blaring of animal horns. The tribesmen all started running in panic and it was chaos all around.
Aaron caught hold of a warrior who was trying to rush past them. “What’s going on? Why is everyone running?”
“Our scouts have spotted an orc raiding party in the distance. They are headed towards our settlement!”
“But it’s night time! The beasts are gonna rip them to pieces.”
“These are Dark Orcs born of black magic. They fear neither beasts nor men. An ancient evil flows through their veins. Not even the most fearsome animal would try to feast on their flesh. Now, get out of my way!” Saying this, the warrior pushed aside the friends and headed towards the large thatched hut where the weapons were kept.
Zach looked at Aaron and asked, “Reckon we can handle that?”
“It’s not like we have a choice. I still have a skill point left over.” Aaron opened the skills menu and prepared to unlock his first offensive skill.
- Writer
