Faun & Games
Page 41
“Of course it can be done,” Tristan said. “I didn’t realize that that is what you were trying to do.”
“You can play one through to victory yourself?” Breanna asked, amazed. “I thought your lack of originality prevented you.”
“It might prevent Pewter, but I have an intellect capable of original thought.” The troll smiled, and the expression no longer seemed as horrible as it might have. “In fact it used to get me into serious trouble.”
“I know how that is,” Breanna said ruefully. “I get in trouble all the time.”
Tristan dealt out the cards for Free Cell on his own, and played quickly and accurately, making it look easy, and soon had won the game.
“You really are smart!” Breanna said. “I could never do that.”
“I am not that smart,” Tristan said. “But my creativity, buttressed by Pewter’s logic, makes this feasible. This is a straightforward exercise of alignment.”
This was a great break. “Okay. Now I am here at the behest of Com Passion, who needs a partner to play these games through to victory.”
WHO? the screen asked.
“She’s a computer, like you, only female,” Breanna explained. “And she’s bored and lonely.”
“I know how that feels,” Tristan said.
She was actually developing some sympathy for the ugly male creature. “Nothing wrong with you that a girlfriend couldn’t cure.”
“No female of my kind will associate with me. That is one reason I accepted this position.”
I CAN MAKE THIS FEMALE ASSOCIATE WITH YOU, Com Pewter Offered.
“No!” Breanna cried, suddenly really truly awfully alarmed. “I’m only fifteen! I’m only fifteen!”
I CAN STORE HER IN THE BACK OF THE CAVE FOR THREE YEARS UNTIL SHE COMES OF AGE. THERE IS PLENTY OF GRUEL AND WATER TO FEED HER.
“No!” Breanna screamed. “You can’t—”
FEMALE IS SILENT.
She was unable to speak. What an awful turn this had taken! She was escaping the zombie only to be caught by a troll.
“Let her go,” Tristan said. “If I believed in abusing children, I would never have gotten in trouble with my kind. She has come on legitimate business, and should be allowed to complete it.”
The screen made a flicker of resignation, FEMALE RESUMES DIALOG.
Breanna was free to talk again. She wanted to protest that she was no child, but thought the better of it. She really appreciated the troll’s decency. “So Com Passion needs a partner to play cards with. I thought you might like to do that.” She hoped.
“This is interesting,” Tristan said. “We did not know of this entity. Perhaps we can set up a data link.”
“I guess. I’m not exactly sure how you do that.”
“By changing reality,” the troll said. “I can work it out in theory, and Pewter can implement it.”
GET THE GUI, Pewter’s screen printed.
Tristan went to the back of the cave, and came back with a double handful of goo. He lifted it high, letting it stretch down in a gooey sheet along the wall. “This is a graphical user interface,” he explained. “It helps show what you are dealing with.”
“Uh, sure,” Breanna agreed faintly as the goo covered the entire stone surface, making it glisten.
Tristan stepped back, wiping his hands. “The GUI is in place,” he reported.
Suddenly the wall of the cave became a huge window. There were Com Passion and Mouse Terian, glancing across in surprise.
“I have found you a solitaire partner who can play to victory,” Breanna said, not letting the moment escape. “This is Com Pewter, and his troll-mouse Tristan.”
Way how nice, Passion’s screen printed.
“Tristan, if you would demonstrate a Free Cell win for Com Passion …”
The cards appeared, and the troll swiftly dealt and played and won.
Terian assumed girl form and clapped her hands. “How thrilling!” she exclaimed. “Now we can do it too.”
Tristan gazed at her, his eyes traveling down in an hourglass pattern. It was true: Passion’s mouse did have that type of figure, in her nymphly aspect. The germ of a notion wiggled into Breanna’s mind.
Soon Terian was dealing and playing, buttressed by Passion, and won.
“That’s very nice,” Tristan said, still gazing at Terian.
Terian smiled at him. “Thank you.”
Breanna realized two things: one was that there might be a future in the interaction of the two mice, because though they were of different origin species, they had similar positions and would surely understand each other. If the one was lonely, surely the other was lonely too. The other realization was that the two computers would have no further reason to associate, once both knew how to win all the types of card games. So they would separate, that being the logical unimaginative course, and Com Passion would be lonely again. Her nice mouse would be lonely too. Breanna decided that she ought to do something about that. She had a romantic nature. After all, Tristan was smart and decent, and Terian was lovely in her human image; what more was required?
“Solitaire can be interactive,” Breanna said, remembering. “For example, Klondike: deal two decks opposite each other, and either player can play on the other’s ace piles. Whoever finishes first wins, and you can’t be sure who that will be.”
The two tables merged at the interface, with Tristan at one, and Terian at the other, facing each other. Terian’s decolletage seemed to be lower than before, especially when she leaned forward, and Tristan seemed to be standing taller. They dealt out their hands of Klondike and played rapidly. Soon they were playing on each other’s aces. The cards had no trouble crossing the barrier of the screen, as they were mere images themselves.
Both games blocked up. That was the thing about Klondike: much of it was the luck of the draw, so that no amount of skill or strategy could prevail. But Breanna seemed to remember that Double Klondike was more winnable than Single Klondike.
They played again, and this time it was evident that there was going to be a victory. Tristan was leading.
Breanna thought of something. She squatted down by Pewter’s screen. “It might be more interesting if you arrange to lose,” she murmured.
A question mark appeared on the screen.
“Trust me,” she said.
Tristan had surged ahead, and was about to place his final card on a pile. But he hesitated, and Terian was able to place her last card first.
“Oh, you let me win,” Terian said, blushing. “How romantic!” She threw a kiss at him. The kiss passed right through the interface and landed on his mouth.
Tristan stepped back, looking stunned. Pewter’s screen became a series of exploding spirals intermixed with hearts, spades, diamonds, and clubs.
“Of course you know that was really Com Passion kissing you,” Breanna murmured to the machine. “In her fashion. She’s very romantic. If you want more of that sort of thing, you have a notion how to behave.”
The screen slowly coalesced into a single large heart. Pewter was definitely interested. Meanwhile the two mice were staring at each other in wild surmise. His mouth was open in awe, and her bosom was gently heaving. They might have wildly different origins, but they were indeed well matched in the context. If the machines wanted to find out what love was like, they had only to give their helpers leeway.
Breanna looked across to Com Passion. “I think I’ll go now. I think I have fulfilled my commitment.”
More than fulfilled it, dear girl, Passion’s screen scripted. If you ever need a favor, come to me.
“Thank you,” Breanna said, gratified. She caught Terian’s glance and winked, and was pleased to see the lady mouse blush. Yes, this was definitely working out.
She walked out of the cave. She didn’t care if there were zombies in the vicinity, because she knew she was now much closer to the Good Magician’s castle than she had been, and could reach it before dawn, and the zombies wouldn’t even know she was there.
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Yes, taken as a whole, this night was well worthwhile. Breanna set her face east and began to walk.
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About the Author
Piers Anthony has written dozens of bestselling science fiction and fantasy novels. Perhaps best known for his long-running Magic of Xanth series, many of which are New York Times bestsellers, he has also had great success with the Incarnations of Immortality series and the Cluster series, as well as Bio of a Space Tyrant and others. Much more information about Piers Anthony can be found at www.HiPiers.com.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1997 by Piers Anthony
Cover design and illustration by Amanda Shaffer
ISBN: 978-1-5040-5880-3
This edition published in 2019 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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