Those Who Live in Grass Houses

Decision Point

Decision Point

“Oh, come on, Hal, join in the game.”

Halibut Reeker looked morosely at his friend, Ewanrigg. “Not my scene, old buddy. You carry on, I’ll just watch.”

“You’re such a wet blanket. We need four to have a viable team and you’re the only possibility. Give it a try - you might enjoy it.”

Hal closed his eyes in thought. He really did not like himself when he became involved in games or sports. They seemed to bring out the worst in him, making him ultra competitive and desperate to win at all costs. But Ewan had been on at him for days now and he was beginning to think the only way he’d get any peace was to give in.

Which would have been easier if he just knew something about the game. But, when he asked about it, Ewan would get all vague and say even he wasn’t sure of the details. It was something to do with quick thinking and ingenuity, that was all he knew.

Ewan was shaking him by the shoulder. “Don’t go to sleep on me! What do you say, Hal? Will you do it?”

Something in Hal broke. “Alright, Ewan, for pete’s sake. You can count me in. As long as you stop hassling me about it. Just tell me when it starts and I’ll be there.”

“Great,” said Ewan. “I’ll email you when it’s time. Be ready.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Hal went back to his book and Ewan wandered off.

A week later, Hal got the email. It was a link and brief instructions on logging in. That was all. Hal typed in the address and the screen cleared to show an impressive entry portal. He read the menu and clicked on Introduction. It led to a long spiel with lots of quasi-mediaeval names and complicated explanations of each section of the challenge. Hal scanned it quickly until he had a vague idea of what he was getting into, then hit the Enter button.

And so it began. Ewan was there and a couple of his friends and they were all soon engaged in complex battles, sometimes with other teams, more often in competition with a single combatant. After losing a few, Hal was getting the hang of it and began to make progress. He couldn’t understand the scoring system but figured the points would come in, if he did his best and won most of the battles.

On the second day, he asked Ewan how the team was doing as regards points. Ewan shook his head. “It’s complicated but the ref has put up the latest calculations and you can see them here.” He typed out an address. Hal clicked through to the board.

It was not good news. The leading teams were way ahead and theirs was lagging in third last place. It did not make sense. His impression was that they’d been doing pretty well. The usual competitive instincts were in full flow now and he resolved to spend time in learning where they were going wrong.

He started watching other fights. And, very quickly, it became obvious what was going on. For a start, they were picking their fights carefully, only choosing the ones that offered high scores. They were also loading their chances of winning by introducing new team members at moments when the action slackened. ‘That’s gotta be illegal,’ thought Hal. He checked the complex rule book that accompanied each type of fight. Nowhere could he find a rule that outlawed in-game substitutions and additions.

Then he discovered that other teams were counting their fights more than once, finding other sections where their completed fights could be claimed as well. Again, not a word about it in the rules.

The further Hal investigated, the more little tricks and cheats he found. It explained how the ones in the know were able to race ahead so easily. He began to wonder whether he could do as they did. Well, there was no doubt that he could, but was he prepared to?

It didn’t feel right.

Hal went to Ewan with his new knowledge. “What do we do, Ewan? The field’s tilted and we’ve no chance if we don’t adopt the same tactics as the other teams. But I don’t feel right about it.”

“Well, if it’s gonna work, what’s the big deal?” asked Ewan.

Hal looked at him, hardly able to believe that he was serious. “Don’t you see? The games corrupt. The whole idea is that the team with the fewest moral objections to cheating are in with the best chance of winning. The game’s designed that way.”

Ewan shrugged. “Okay, so we play by the game’s rules then. Just like all the rest. It’s not cheating if everyone’s doing it.”

“It’s immoral.”

“And what’s moral? Why should it matter? It’s just a game.”

Hal turned away. “Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe the game is reflective of what’s inside each one of us.”

There was silence for a while and then Ewan asked, “So what’re you gonna do, Hal?”

Hal shook his head. “Oh, I know the answer to that. The question is, what’re you gonna do?”


House Martell

Word count: 861
For Share Your Faith April Contest Entry - Decision Point
Prompt: Open.