Post by Peregrine on Dec 15, 2023 1:43:58 GMT -6
DDD Day 15 - Part 4 of the Spirit Series
Previously, on the Spirit Series...
"Do... do any of you remember who gave me this injury?"
The atmosphere surrounding the spirits had thickened to a tense, sickening slurry. None of them had an answer.
They had all been there, yes.
Their memories of Beach Cave were all returning, yes.
That incident had precipitated the chaos that led to their deaths, clearly visible to all, yes.
And yet, not a single spirit could say with certainty whose Iron Spike was responsible for Bidoof's grievous injury, the one which marked his body in every life. After a long while, someone had the courage to speak.
"Um, er... well, who had an Iron Spike in their pack?"
"We all did... it was a standard part of our kit on missions..."
"There's no chance another Pokémon snuck in and attacked...?"
"No. Chatot kept a lookout the whole time."
(...could it have fallen from...)
(...accidentally gotten kicked...)
(...no way it was self-inflicted...)
(...a delayed psychic attack...)
(...tripped on something...)
(...some kinda Mandela effect...)
(...maybe a trap square...)
For every second this hushed speculation continued, Bidoof felt himself curling inward, a knot in his stomach tightening until he could barely suppress the cry of anguish bubbling up inside him. The other spirits, so engrossed in their worried, hurried debate, didn't notice him walk off towards a small crop of flat stones a ways away. The other spirits, save for one.
Bidoof sat himself down on one of the stones, far enough away that he could convince himself that his companions' hissing was just wind rustling through the taller grasses. He nearly leapt out of his skin when a voice croaked right next to his ear.
"Not what you hoped for, eh?"
"WAUGH!!!"
"Cool it, kid. I just wanted to check in."
"Holy moly, Croagunk! If I had a heart, it would've just burst, yup yup!"
"But uh, as far as check-ins go, this is kind of a... not-so-good time. If I'm honest, you know."
"Yep."
"..."
"...Um. Is this the part where you tell me a puzzle to try to take my mind off things?"
"Yep."
I'm gonna tell you a little story I heard a long time ago.
In a faraway place, the Pokémon there don't have quite the same physiology as we do. Specifically, the way their bodies interact with Poisons is strange.
For one, no one there is immune to poisons of any kind. What's more, anyone who ingests a poison is guaranteed to die within an hour.
But, if that Pokémon ingests a stronger poison before they die, it nullifies the weaker poison. Makes 'em totally healthy again. Even weirder, that's the only antidote they know of.
All the poisons there exist on a strict, linear order of strength. And, no two poisons have the same strength. These facts are all common knowledge there, you see?
Now here's the good part. There's this crime boss, a real nasty piece of work, and he wants the strongest poison. It's a good idea, of course. No one can cure themselves of it, and it acts as an antidote to any other poison.
There are two Pokémon he gets kidnapped and brought to him: the Master of Elixirs and the Master of Concoctions, both of whom are known for the potency of their poisons. And he tells them this:
"I want each of you to come back to my base at noon, one week from now. Bring a vial of your strongest poison. To give you incentive to bring your strongest poison, you must do the following: each of you must drink from the other's vial first and then drink from your own vial. I will have trained observers present to make sure that you cannot cheat. Then you will be watched for one hour, during which you may not ingest any substances. The Pokémon who has the stronger poison will, of course, survive, and the other will die. If I find any attempt to circumvent these rules, I'll have you both killed. You can go for now, but you must return at the specified time."
Pretty harsh, right? Meh-heh-heh.
So the Masters of Elixirs and Concoctions run off, and they're freaking out, seeing as neither wants to die. They know about each other, and they each know the other's got some pretty strong poisons kicking around, so neither's sure they've got the strongest one. Neither has any way of getting access to the other's poisons, either. So they spend the next week racking their brains over this.
The fateful day comes and the Masters return, as promised. They follow the crime boss' protocol exactly as it was laid out to them, and they're carefully watched for the next hour. So imagine everyone's surprise when by the end of that hour, both the Master of Elixirs and the Master of Concoctions are dead on the ground. A caretaker confirms both died from poisoning.
So? How do you reckon that coulda happened?
Answer Below — Click Spoiler to See!
Previously, on the Spirit Series...
"Do... do any of you remember who gave me this injury?"
The atmosphere surrounding the spirits had thickened to a tense, sickening slurry. None of them had an answer.
They had all been there, yes.
Their memories of Beach Cave were all returning, yes.
That incident had precipitated the chaos that led to their deaths, clearly visible to all, yes.
And yet, not a single spirit could say with certainty whose Iron Spike was responsible for Bidoof's grievous injury, the one which marked his body in every life. After a long while, someone had the courage to speak.
"Um, er... well, who had an Iron Spike in their pack?"
"We all did... it was a standard part of our kit on missions..."
"There's no chance another Pokémon snuck in and attacked...?"
"No. Chatot kept a lookout the whole time."
(...could it have fallen from...)
(...accidentally gotten kicked...)
(...no way it was self-inflicted...)
(...a delayed psychic attack...)
(...tripped on something...)
(...some kinda Mandela effect...)
(...maybe a trap square...)
For every second this hushed speculation continued, Bidoof felt himself curling inward, a knot in his stomach tightening until he could barely suppress the cry of anguish bubbling up inside him. The other spirits, so engrossed in their worried, hurried debate, didn't notice him walk off towards a small crop of flat stones a ways away. The other spirits, save for one.
Bidoof sat himself down on one of the stones, far enough away that he could convince himself that his companions' hissing was just wind rustling through the taller grasses. He nearly leapt out of his skin when a voice croaked right next to his ear.
"Not what you hoped for, eh?"
"WAUGH!!!"
"Cool it, kid. I just wanted to check in."
"Holy moly, Croagunk! If I had a heart, it would've just burst, yup yup!"
"But uh, as far as check-ins go, this is kind of a... not-so-good time. If I'm honest, you know."
"Yep."
"..."
"...Um. Is this the part where you tell me a puzzle to try to take my mind off things?"
"Yep."
I'm gonna tell you a little story I heard a long time ago.
In a faraway place, the Pokémon there don't have quite the same physiology as we do. Specifically, the way their bodies interact with Poisons is strange.
For one, no one there is immune to poisons of any kind. What's more, anyone who ingests a poison is guaranteed to die within an hour.
But, if that Pokémon ingests a stronger poison before they die, it nullifies the weaker poison. Makes 'em totally healthy again. Even weirder, that's the only antidote they know of.
All the poisons there exist on a strict, linear order of strength. And, no two poisons have the same strength. These facts are all common knowledge there, you see?
Now here's the good part. There's this crime boss, a real nasty piece of work, and he wants the strongest poison. It's a good idea, of course. No one can cure themselves of it, and it acts as an antidote to any other poison.
There are two Pokémon he gets kidnapped and brought to him: the Master of Elixirs and the Master of Concoctions, both of whom are known for the potency of their poisons. And he tells them this:
"I want each of you to come back to my base at noon, one week from now. Bring a vial of your strongest poison. To give you incentive to bring your strongest poison, you must do the following: each of you must drink from the other's vial first and then drink from your own vial. I will have trained observers present to make sure that you cannot cheat. Then you will be watched for one hour, during which you may not ingest any substances. The Pokémon who has the stronger poison will, of course, survive, and the other will die. If I find any attempt to circumvent these rules, I'll have you both killed. You can go for now, but you must return at the specified time."
Pretty harsh, right? Meh-heh-heh.
So the Masters of Elixirs and Concoctions run off, and they're freaking out, seeing as neither wants to die. They know about each other, and they each know the other's got some pretty strong poisons kicking around, so neither's sure they've got the strongest one. Neither has any way of getting access to the other's poisons, either. So they spend the next week racking their brains over this.
The fateful day comes and the Masters return, as promised. They follow the crime boss' protocol exactly as it was laid out to them, and they're carefully watched for the next hour. So imagine everyone's surprise when by the end of that hour, both the Master of Elixirs and the Master of Concoctions are dead on the ground. A caretaker confirms both died from poisoning.
So? How do you reckon that coulda happened?
Answer Below — Click Spoiler to See!
{Reveal Answer}
Bidoof's answer was almost immediate. If this surprised Croagunk at all, he didn't show it.
"Well, the first thing either of the Masters would've tried is ingesting a weak poison just before the meeting time. Then, instead of bringing a vial of poison, they'd bring water. That way, the other Master's strong poison would cure them, but they'd drink their own poison without any antidote. But if both Masters had that idea, they'd both be poisoned and neither would be cured. That's how they could seemingly follow the crime boss' orders, but still both die of poisoning. Yup yup!"
"Sounds right to me."
"But either Master might predict the other would use that strategy! To beat it, they'd have to arrive healthy and bring a vial of water, hoping the other would poison themself and also bring water. If one tried this non-poisoned water strategy, but the other arrived healthy and really brought poison, then that would also lead to them both dying! Since each Master is only drinking one poison, with no antidote."
"Oh, but... if they can think that far ahead, they could each predict the other would try that, couldn't they? Then... a strategy that beats that would be... drinking a weak poison beforehand and bringing a strong poison? If they both tried that, then, uh... oh, golly."
"Let's see... they're each weakly poisoned, then are cured by the other Master's stronger poison, but then they're poisoned again by their own poison, but neither knows it because both think the other's is water, and... Ugh..."
"Meh-heh-heh, don't hurt yourself, kid. You did good. That's exactly what I—er, I mean, that's exactly what the Masters did."
"..."
"This happened to you!?"
"...Eh, like I said, it was a long time ago. Besides, it didn't go down exactly like that, since they didn't know I am immune to poison, meh-heh-heh. It took an extra dose of this rare herb, you see, suppresses the pulse and... ah, well, that's not important."
"See, I actually did have a point with all this. I'm not gonna try to tell you what happened to your eye doesn't matter, alright? But I can see you're starting to overthink it. Just like you can keep thinking about those Masters as long as you like, wondering who's poisoned, or who's got water, or who's sneaking extra poison into the hors d'oeuvres, you're trying to figure out if anyone really does know about your eye, but they're just keeping quiet for whatever reason. Thinking like that's just gonna exhaust you. I would know."
"Well, like I said, it's hard to ignore. Someone must remember. I just feel like if I had a better idea of how it happened, I'd—"
"No, see, that's not how it works. Look—we all know how we died, who killed us, what made it all happen, but none of that's brought any kind of closure. We walk and talk and do puzzles together because the alternative is admitting how weird and scary our existence really is."
"You're looking for answers, when what you need is meaning. I don't know who took your eye. I don't know why you never got it back as a spirit, either. But I know this: the answer isn't the meaning. Even if you knew who and how and why, it doesn't change what it means to you now. How you feel about it, how you choose to live with it—that's all up to you."
Suddenly, a booming voice echoed across the field.
"There you are! Phew, we thought we'd lost you!"
"Listen, Bidoof. We just wanted to say we're really sorry—"
"No, It's okay."
"A-are you sure? Because I'd totally understand if you're—"
"Maybe I'm a little disappointed. But it's not your fault. I have some... thinking to do, and I'd rather do that alongside friends, yup yup."
With that, the spirits regrouped to start back on their long journey. Croagunk resumed his placid indifference, as though his long talk had just been a figment of Bidoof's imagination. Memories of Beach Cave continued to percolate, but their bitter edge seemed to have softened by a degree, giving way to a new kind of contemplation.
Halfway there.
Bidoof's answer was almost immediate. If this surprised Croagunk at all, he didn't show it.
"Well, the first thing either of the Masters would've tried is ingesting a weak poison just before the meeting time. Then, instead of bringing a vial of poison, they'd bring water. That way, the other Master's strong poison would cure them, but they'd drink their own poison without any antidote. But if both Masters had that idea, they'd both be poisoned and neither would be cured. That's how they could seemingly follow the crime boss' orders, but still both die of poisoning. Yup yup!"
"Sounds right to me."
"But either Master might predict the other would use that strategy! To beat it, they'd have to arrive healthy and bring a vial of water, hoping the other would poison themself and also bring water. If one tried this non-poisoned water strategy, but the other arrived healthy and really brought poison, then that would also lead to them both dying! Since each Master is only drinking one poison, with no antidote."
"Oh, but... if they can think that far ahead, they could each predict the other would try that, couldn't they? Then... a strategy that beats that would be... drinking a weak poison beforehand and bringing a strong poison? If they both tried that, then, uh... oh, golly."
"Let's see... they're each weakly poisoned, then are cured by the other Master's stronger poison, but then they're poisoned again by their own poison, but neither knows it because both think the other's is water, and... Ugh..."
"Meh-heh-heh, don't hurt yourself, kid. You did good. That's exactly what I—er, I mean, that's exactly what the Masters did."
"..."
"This happened to you!?"
"...Eh, like I said, it was a long time ago. Besides, it didn't go down exactly like that, since they didn't know I am immune to poison, meh-heh-heh. It took an extra dose of this rare herb, you see, suppresses the pulse and... ah, well, that's not important."
"See, I actually did have a point with all this. I'm not gonna try to tell you what happened to your eye doesn't matter, alright? But I can see you're starting to overthink it. Just like you can keep thinking about those Masters as long as you like, wondering who's poisoned, or who's got water, or who's sneaking extra poison into the hors d'oeuvres, you're trying to figure out if anyone really does know about your eye, but they're just keeping quiet for whatever reason. Thinking like that's just gonna exhaust you. I would know."
"Well, like I said, it's hard to ignore. Someone must remember. I just feel like if I had a better idea of how it happened, I'd—"
"No, see, that's not how it works. Look—we all know how we died, who killed us, what made it all happen, but none of that's brought any kind of closure. We walk and talk and do puzzles together because the alternative is admitting how weird and scary our existence really is."
"You're looking for answers, when what you need is meaning. I don't know who took your eye. I don't know why you never got it back as a spirit, either. But I know this: the answer isn't the meaning. Even if you knew who and how and why, it doesn't change what it means to you now. How you feel about it, how you choose to live with it—that's all up to you."
Suddenly, a booming voice echoed across the field.
"There you are! Phew, we thought we'd lost you!"
"Listen, Bidoof. We just wanted to say we're really sorry—"
"No, It's okay."
"A-are you sure? Because I'd totally understand if you're—"
"Maybe I'm a little disappointed. But it's not your fault. I have some... thinking to do, and I'd rather do that alongside friends, yup yup."
With that, the spirits regrouped to start back on their long journey. Croagunk resumed his placid indifference, as though his long talk had just been a figment of Bidoof's imagination. Memories of Beach Cave continued to percolate, but their bitter edge seemed to have softened by a degree, giving way to a new kind of contemplation.
Halfway there.