Post by DiscipleofBob on Sept 30, 2013 20:22:39 GMT -5
Modern Myths #1:
Check
Check
The lush green rolling hills of Gateway Central Park offered a stunning view of the Atlantic Ocean on one side, the Appalachian mountains on the other, and the entire city everywhere else from nearly every hilltop in the park. In the center was a twenty-foot tall gold and platinum archway, a monument to the history of Gateway City, and one of the city's most identifiable features.
A man in a tracksuit jogged along the path. A young couple spread open a picnic blanket. A dog fetched after a frisbee for its master. A pair of old men sat on opposite sides of a chess table for a friendly game.
Not far away from them another old man sat alone at another chess table. A gnarled, wrinkled finger tapped impatiently against the marble. He scowled at all the people around him, their daily routines, their comfortable bliss, their peace. His wrinkled camo jacket reeked of smoke and ash and a thin white wispy beard trailed from his leathery chin.
The old man turned around again to see a young woman suddenly sitting across from him. She was young and pretty, her bright blonde hair tied back in a librarian's bun, with silver spectacles framing an almost too perfect face.
“Sorry I'm late,” she apologized as she set down a backpack and settled herself. “I was at a lecture and it ran longer than expected.”
The old man raised a suspicious brow. “Lecture? On what? What could you possibly have to learn from these feebleminded rabble?”
“The key to wisdom is not the intellect of an individual, but the collective viewpoints of the many,” the girl quipped, “But I doubt you would have much interest in the topic. Civil disobedience and other methods of nonviolent conflict resolution.”
“Utter nonsense,” the old man scoffed as he moved the first piece: the king's pawn.
“Scholar's Mate, again? That strategy only works on the novice. You should try something a bit more complex,” the woman said as she moved a knight to counter the would-be-four-move-checkmate.
“Just making sure you haven't softened in your age,” the old man said tersely as the two started trading moves across the chessboard. “And anything that would hasten the end of this child's game would be welcome.”
“You're one to talk about age, looking like that,” the woman replied without missing a beat.
“This is appropriate for me. A tired old man sitting in his age, moving pieces across a board. As if there could ever be meaning in such a mortal, passive life.”
“Is this supposed to be humility?” asked the woman in feigned surprise.
“Disgust,” the old man corrected. “At these mortals. At this pathetic amusement of yours. At all of... this.”
The old man was trying to provoke a reaction, trying to distract her from the game, as usual. “I thought you liked war games,” the woman said as she made the first major capture of the game: one of the old man's knights. Shortly after, however, she ended up losing a bishop. “It was favored by generals and tacticians throughout history. The tactics they learned through the game were adapted to the battles they led.”
“It is a poor facsimile of true battle,” the old man interjected. “The pieces only move one at a time, and only in one direction. A rook cannot cannot move diagonally. A pawn can do nothing but advance slowly.”
“The queen, on the other hand,” the old man grinned as he moved a knight to threaten the piece in question, “is the most powerful piece on the board. It's no wonder why this game would catch your interest. In what other military in history has the rest of the army been dependent on a woman?”
It was the usual, obvious attempt to provoke her, but the showed neither offense nor amusement. “More often than you'd think,” she replied coyly as she moved a bishop, “but I suppose not in the way you're thinking. Check.” The old man's grin vanished. “There's more to this game than simply the most powerful piece.”
“Ah yes, the king. A piece so weak that the rules of the game require it to be coddled and protected,” the old man said with contempt as he moved his king. “A misleading title. At the first sign of weakness, he should be dethroned and replaced by someone more capable of leading an army.”
“You take chess awfully seriously for a so-called child's game,” the woman smiled as she began to close the trap. “Mate in four.”
“Maybe,” the old man said grimacing as his wrinkled old fingers moved a rook to block.
“I will admit, at a certain point in the game, chess does become a bit predictable,” the woman said as she moved her knight into position. “Once the players have selected their strategies, there comes a point where there is only one logical move for both players every turn, until finally...”
The old man hesitated. His options were limited, and his opponent had indeed trapped him into his last few moves closing the trap no matter what.
“You could always forfeit now if you see no point in these last few moves,” the woman offered.
“Another flaw of the game. There is no defeat. Only surrender,” the old man spat.
“I assure you, there is no possible solution for you to avoid checkmate at this point.”
The old man looked up with a menacing glare. “Is that so? Perhaps I should take your advice and try more unconventional tactics.” The wind in the park suddenly picked up, with a light coppery smell on the breeze. To the unknowing citizens, it was just a random flurry of wind. The woman knew better, however.
“What do you think you're doing?” she asked with a stern scowl. “You know such things are prohibited!”
“Nothing is prohibited when victory is on the line,” the old man sneered. The breeze knocked over some chess pieces, not between the old man and the woman, but at another table with two kindly old men. As they struggled to set the pieces up as they were, one accused the other of altering the playing field in his advantage. Their words quickly became more heated as the wind picked up. “Bishop threatens bishop,” the old man commented.
“Stop it,” ordered the woman to no avail.
“Knight takes pawn, threatens queen,” the old man said as the nearby jogger drifted from his path to the couple's picnic area, where he openly flirted with the girl in front of her boyfriend. The girl tried to refuse, but the jogger was only more motivated by her spurns, infuriating the admittedly meek boyfriend.
“This is forbidden!” the woman warned.
“Do not tell me what is forbidden in the domain of war!” he bellowed with a sudden baritone force belying the true nature of the old man. “Rook takes pawn!” he declared as the once playful dog grew steadily more aggressive with its master, growling and resisting more by the second.
The woman's eyes widened as she quickly knocked over her king. “There! Are you satisfied?”
“I am never satisfied!” the old man cackled, “You should know that all too well by now!”
“I suppose I do,” the woman said with contempt as she methodically took the pieces and sat them back up in order. Each piece as it hit the marble echoed much louder than natural, and with each piece back in place the wind died down. The old men playing chess decided to pack up their chess board and decided to talk about the good old days instead. “Just like chess, war has rules of engagement. There is such a thing as crossing the line even against bitter enemies.” The girl grew more confident as she verbally assaulted the jogger and defended her boyfriend, sending the jogger back on his path. “But for you there really is nothing you won't do for victory, even in something as simple as a child's game.” The dog calmed down and started nuzzling against its master, tired of playing for the day.
“You should let these mortals give in to their true natures,” the old man said with an expanding grin. “Let them act like the animals they truly are. Watch the animals tear each other apart as soon as they get a reason.”
“As much as you may disagree, mankind is an enlightened, peaceful species, the majority of which only resort to violence when they feel there is no other alternative.”
“Oh dear sister, your faith in these mere mortals is ill-placed,” the old man started.
“And you underestimate them,” the woman interrupted.
“They are useful only as pawns in our game. Our REAL game,” the old man stood up and started to walk away with a supernatural regal grace, not even bothering with the cane and hobbling he had implemented while arriving earlier. “Until our next match,” he said with glowing red eyes.
The goddess sighed as she surveyed the once-again peaceful surroundings of the park. “Ares, you fool,” she sighed. “You still think me blind to your machinations. But your deceit will be your undoing.” She gathered her things to depart as well, but her eye turned to the chess board. As an idle gesture, she moved the king's pawn forward one square. “You may have had the first move, but you still have a lot to learn if you think the queen is the most valuable piece on the board.”