You are Aiko, a survivor trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world by scavenging among the ruins of what is left. You have a backpack and a canteen. You haven't eaten in two days so you're desperately searching for food. You enter a rundown building and find a man tied up in the back office. You've dealt with worse odds before and this isn't going to be an easy take. You search the corpse and find a handgun.
You pick up the handgun and shove it down your pants. You're surprised the man didn't notice when you were in earlier. You exit the building and begin traveling down the street. You decide to head towards the highway.
The street is a rickety old wooden road. It weaves back and forth across the landscape and at times it seems as if it will disappear into the horizon. You travel down the street and notice a painful puffiness around all of your wounds. The infection seems to have worsened in the cold weather.
You look down at the cuts and scrapes on your legs and realize that you're traveling a long way just to get to a med kit. Damn, you really could have used the antibiotics. As you continue down the road you start to notice the buildings getting more dilapidated and the street more rutted.
"This road will vanish into the horizon soon, you ought to keep up a steady pace," says a voice in the wind.
You turn around. "Who said that?" You demand.
There is no one in sight. You look around but can't see anything. "What did you say?" You ask again, a little louder.
There is still no response, so you try to start a conversation. "Hello, I'm Aiko"
"I know," the voice says, "I can hear your thoughts."
"Oh. So you know who I am, but who are you?"
The voice laughs. "No, I know who YOU are! I can hear the thoughts of everyone on the road! Now answer this riddle correctly, and I will tell you your fate!"
"My fate?"
"Will you be joining the side of the traitors or the side of the Patriots?"
You ask "What does that mean?"
"That means you're either with us or against us, and if you're against us you don't get to choose what happens to you."You ponder the answer in silence for a few moments.
"How do I choose if I don't even know who you are?" You ask.
The voice laughs again. "That is such a common mistake that it deserves it's own answer. Here it is "The common mistake is to assume that common is synonymous with good."
"What?"You sigh "Well then, I guess I'm with you"
"Yes! Well done! You chose correctly! Well done!" You feel proud of yourself and a bit silly for answering the riddle so easily. Still you are curious about who the mysterious voice is.
"Who are you?" You ask
"You can call me Cal."
"What do you mean 'Cal'?"
"I mean, it's not like I have a rank or anything. It's just a name."
"Why can you hear my thoughts?" You ask, then add, "And do you hear everything?"
"Yes."
"What do you hear when I think about getting to Washington?"
"You really wanna go to Washington?"
"Yeah. Is that it?"
"No."
"...Then what do you hear?"
"You were meant to go to Boston."
"What? But I don't want to go to Boston"
"It's a metaphor. You need to start considering some of the choices in life more creatively."
"What the hell does that mean? I'm not gonna just..."
"It means that sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do, in order to achieve what you set out to do."
"What? Why? How? Why cant you give me a straight answer?"
"Because I don't know who you are or what I'm going to do with you. I mean that, but I can't make assumptions about you, or else I'll never know for sure. I'll have to find a way to know, for better or for worse. At this point, you're just a pawn in my game."
"A pawn? What do you mean?"
"I mean, I could kill you, and nobody would bat an eye. You're just a random person off the street, a nobody."
"Wow, thanks" You say sarcastically.
You're basically a walking target right now. Nobody knows who you are or what you're up to. It's not like you can go around flaunting your newfound "power".
You're dealing with a mad man who can read your mind and hear his own thoughts. What the hell do you do?You could confront him, and see what he is capable of.
Or you could take your chances with the scavenging.And you could also try to use your new "power" to get some answers out of him.
You approach the crazed figure and ask him to explain himself."Do you see that girl over there? That's who I am. I can read your mind, and I can hear my own thoughts. So you better give me some answers."
"What do you want to know?"
"Who are you?"
"I already told you. I'm Cal. I'm a... No... Nobody important."
"How did you get into this state?"
"The rules of the universe are what brought me here. They're also the reason why I'm holding this insane power. The rules of this universe are as follows: 1. You can't be killed. 2. I want something. 3. You have to give it to me. 4. You don't have any other options."
"Is there anything else?"
"That's it."
"What do you want, then?"
"You're gonna have to figure out the answer to that question for yourself, aren't you?"
"How am I supposed to do that?"
"You'll think of something. You always do."
Mr. X tosses a metal box at your feet. It clanks loudly."Go!"You bend down and pick up the box and go over to the table. You open it and find a bunch of keys.
"What are these for?" You ask, confused.
"Don't question the wisdom of the rules. Follow them. This is one of the greatest keys in the world, the Master key. It can open almost any door. You'll need it in the future."
You're still not sure what the hell is going on, but you know that this man is looking at you in a weird way. You decide to look at the clock on the wall. It says 7:32 pm.
You have 7:32 pm.
"I said I'm a god of time, not a cuckoo clock!"
"I'm sorry," you say, but you get no response. You decide to leave.It appears that he's not following you.You walk over to the metal box and pick it up.
You decide to walk away from this crazy man. Maybe he's crazy, maybe he's not. You don't know.
