Each of the three friends staring at each other, none sure what to say, it was Alyssa who finally broke the silence by saying, “I don’t know if it is weird, but I have noticed something. It’s in regards to my name. I know it is Alyssa, just as I know yours is Elva,” he indicated his friend across the table, “And I know yours is Aurora,” he nodded at his friend closest to him. “Yet, I can’t help but think this is off somehow. Like I am supposed to have a different name, which is ridiculous. Isn’t it?”
Aurora, thinking about this, replied after moment by explaining, “It’s not only the names. I can remember my history, how I was torn from my mother when I was but a newborn and banished here, right about the time you were, Alyssa. I can also recall when you, Elva, turned up two years ago, also ripped from you mother shortly after you were born and sentenced here. But, like the name, something about this feels weird.”
His friend nodding, Alyssa thought about these two titbits of information. Both rung true to his memories, yet felt off somehow. Staring at the note, he eventually speculated aloud, “Perhaps it has something to do with the game this piece of paper has us playing. That and the questions we’ve answered,” to which Aurora merely nodded, but didn’t say anything.
Across the table, Elva kept his peace. There was something he had noticed, but was scared to mention it. It had to do with the way he wrote and how he was now colour-blind. Both his memories assured him were true, that he’d had been unable to discern colour since birth, like all of his race, and that it had been Alyssa who had taught him how to hold a pencil and write with it. Yet, there was something odd about this, like he wasn’t supposed to be colour-blind and that he could hold a pencil some other way, but he was hesitant to say anything, less the note punish him.
From where he sat, Aurora puzzled out all that had been said, taking note that the only one who hadn’t said anything was Elva, but also figuring that when his friend did say something, it would either be a joke or perchance some relevant. Absently rubbing his forehead, which was starting to itch and feel like it was pushed out a little in the exact middle, Aurora eventually asked, “Shall we continue? Or is it perhaps not wise to do so?”
Alyssa, thinking exactly this, continued to peer at the note. After a moment, he said, “I leave it up to you and Elva. Whatever you two decide is fine by me.”
Not liking this answer, Aurora looked to Elva for help, but was disappointed when his friend shrugged and muttered, “I don’t care. If I have to make a choice, I’d say we should continue on and see where this goes.” Glancing at the note, thinking he would see another question forming, he was surprised when he saw something different. Picking up the note, Aurora stared at the words for a minute before reading aloud, ‘Don’t stop now. If you do, you shan’t be happy with what happens, as I will decide the answers to the remaining questions.’
Both Alyssa and Elva looking alarmed, it was eventually Alyssa who stated, “I guess the choice has been made for us,” as Aurora nodded and looking down at the next inquiry, he read, ‘Question 6. If you were a girl, what would your height and weight be? Please feel free to answer this anyway you think is best. But don’t try and trick me or lie.’
Troubled by this, not wanting to trick the piece of paper, or even lie, Aurora thought about his answer for a moment. Looking at his character sheet, but getting no help from that, he let his mind wander. An answer coming to him as he remembered something he learned in math class, he hoped it was acceptable and wouldn’t constitute as a trick. Writing, ‘If I were a girl, I wouldn’t know what my weight would be, as I have never been weighed. So, I guess it would be considered average for my species. My height, if I were a girl, would be about four foot six inches, about 14 hands,’ and sitting back, absently rubbing at middle of his forehead, he waited a moment to see what would happen.
To his surprise, both the question and his answered vanished and a different question appeared. Reading, ‘When you say “Average for your species” would you say more then 230 kilogrammes, but less then three hundred kilogrammes?’
Mentally doing the calculations, and factoring in what he’d learned in his biology class, Aurora eventually wrote, ‘Yes,’ then watched as all the words vanished and then question six reappeared. Thinking his answer must have been acceptable he gave the note one final look and passed it to his right. As Elva took the piece of paper, none of the three friends noticed as Aurora began to shrink down from five foot nine to four foot six whilst his weight increased and the metal kitchen chair he was sitting gave a protesting groan, but held.
Elva stared at the note and thought about how best to answer. He had an idea of where to go with his character creation, but after something that had happened with a previous question, of which he could quite remember, he was leery about what to put down. “Yet, I have to answer,” he told himself. “If I don’t, the questions will be answered for me,” and shifting, he leaned forward and pressed the tip of his pencil to the paper, but didn’t write anything.
Mind working over his answer, wanting to make sure it was accurate and didn’t constitute whatever the paper meant by a deceiving it or tricking it, “Or whatever,” he thought, he eventually began writing, ‘If I were a girl, I’d be 21 and ½ inches and my weight would be about 47 inches. I would be fully grown.’
Certain he was providing information that wouldn’t offend the note in any possible way, Elva stared at his answer and waited for the piece of paper to complain. Shifting in his seat, he placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. Ignorant that his height and weight were shifting to match what he’d written, Elva eventually breathed a sigh of relief when his answer vanished and the note didn’t say anything, except the question. Passing the note across the table to Alyssa, he found that he had to actually stretch and almost ended up lying on the table.
A slight smile playing on his lips, Alyssa took the note and looked at the question. Reading it, thinking about the difficulty his friend was having, as he was the smallest of the three, Alyssa casually suggested, “Why don’t we move to somewhere were we are all within arms reach of each other?”
“I’ve been considering asking that for a bit now,” Elva replied whilst Aurora agreed and then the question was posed of where. After a bit, it was decided that they take the game into Alyssa’s room and clearing off the table, taking only what they thought was necessary, the three friends headed for Alyssa’s bedroom.
Inside the room, they each took a seat on the floor, matching close to how they’d been sitting at the table. His back resting against the foot of his bed, Alyssa placed the note flat on the hardbound book he’d taken with him. Unaware that anything was off, and that Elva was now only wearing a really, really baggy shirt, the rest of his clothes having been left in the kitchen, puddled under the table, Alyssa re-read the question.
Mentally going back over his character, he found that he didn’t know how to answer the question. He had no idea what the normal height and weight of girl age eleven was. Thinking of his foster sister Penny, he tried to figure out if how tall she was, plus how much she weighed, was normal for a ten-year-old girl. Deciding that if Penny’s height and weight were normal for someone her age he should likely base his answer close to that, he tried to guess how much she weighed and how tall she was, but immediately found a problem.
He could guess what her height was and add an inch or two or three to it. But her weight was a complete mystery. Having never been around her when she was near a scale, Alyssa found himself stumped. Tapping the eraser against the book, he tried to recall anything he might have heard in passing or picked up in school. Growing frustrated, he looked at the note, re-read the question and found he had no way to answer the weight part of it. Sighing, he thought a bit longer before making a decision. Hoping it would be accepted, he wrote, ‘If I were a girl, my height would be about four foot seven inches,’ figuring that if Penny was about four foot four inches at ten, he would be a couple inches taller. Thinking about the weight issue, Alyssa eventually wrote, ‘If I were a girl, my weight would be normal for an eleven-year-girl, which would be a bit heavier than whatever my foster sister Penny weights.’
Instantly, the question and his answer vanished and the words, ‘Your foster sister penny weighs about sixty-eight point seven pounds. So, would you say you weight would be about seventy-six point two pounds if you were a girl?’ formed. Thinking about this, unsure if it was accurate, Alyssa eventually mentally shrugged and figuring it seemed right he simply answered, ‘Yes,’ and watched as the words faded.
Not even waiting to see if the note would say anything, oblivious to the fact that he to was shrinking in height and weight, Alyssa passed the note to Aurora, who took the piece of paper. Placing it on a hardbound gaming book, he glanced around at his friends, tried to figure out if anything felt off. When it didn’t seem like anything was, he read the next question.