Ω → five [video; open to action]

[oforder]

The villain enters stage left.

[ Wilhelm comments quietly, from what appears to be the third floor library. In front of him is his chessboard from before, but this time, there are only five pieces on the black side; two close together, the other three spread out over the far end of the board. The black pieces contain one of every special piece: a knight, a rook, a queen, a bishop, and the king. On the white side are all pawns, with one king. The ever-rotating Compass was perfectly visible behind him, however, one of its arms was rotating far more wildly than the other. In the background, coming from an off-screen phonograph, was a fairly appropriate musical piece, as Wilhelm carefully moved the black rook behind several of the white pawns, rendering them useless. The white king was now in check, but with the mess of pawns, had very few effective places to move. ]

The heroes are confused. Disoriented, impatient, and irrational. It is only to be expected, given the setting.

[ He doesn't move the white king. Instead, he turns to one of the other white pawns, which had managed to be only a few moves away from the far end of the board, where it could be exchanged for a superior piece. He doesn't move it; rather, he simply stares at it. ]

I wonder who will step up this time?

[ And with that, the feed ends. ]

Comments

text / anonymous

[kingofthetoybox]

[Chess wasn't a favorite of Porky's, but he appreciated it for what it was worth. He was enamored with the concept of the necessity behind sacrificing pieces to wipe out the enemy. In practice, that's what made a game truly exciting. The greater one's sacrifices are, the higher the stakes become while victory becomes swifter. It's all in good fun and it gave Porky pleasure to know that somebody considered what was happening in the Tower akin to a game of chess.

Porky sends a message response while deciding not yet to reveal himself.]

the pawns can only win if they decide to sacrifice themselves. and they will.

heroes are

adorably

stupid that way.

but that's if we concede that the world is just like the world on the chessboard. a chessboard doesn't have room for infinite surprises. not like the world.

text

[oforder]

Surprise is a sensation I have not felt in quite some time. It is a refreshing change of pace.

[kingofthetoybox]

i'm not impressed just y e t

what happened just now was on the level of a few angry monkeys throwing around their fecal matter only to get shot at.

[oforder]

When under stress and facing despair, violence and irrationality are, tragically, the first resort. It is an incredibly human reaction, and the very reason for existence.

[kingofthetoybox]

i get you on that

if humans can get together in thousands or millions, that's when all their rage can amount to something on a collective level

if alone, just like now, their emotions amount to less than nothing, inept by all definitions of the word

they'll never learn

[oforder]

You are describing the 'mob mentality.' It is impossible to achieve such a goal while in a panicked frenzy.