Writing Explorations: Week 60, Unexpected

[The Mood is Write]

My Writing Explorations series of exercises are a chance for users to explore new concepts and practice the art of raising two fingers to Writer's Block while screaming obscenities to fickle muses: to rebel against the idea that a person requires a mythical force inside them to make new and amazing things.

No. Listen well, users: there is no being inside you waiting to be let out. You are the writer, and in this exercise, you are given a place to push not only against Writer's Block, but also against the forces of stagnation. Feel trapped in your genre? Explore a new one! Stuck with a singular archetype? Do something else! In this thread, you will not be critiqued unless you request it. Should you wish it, I will happily offer my thoughts on how it might be improved, but I will not comb looking for fixes: this isn't the place: this place is for safely trying new things and indulging a love of writing.

Shake the bars of your cell block and roar, writers!

[fieldbox=How do I take part?]Curious about how this works? Good! Look over the offered themes and prompts and the bonus rounds, then think about them. Then, take your thoughts and get writing. You can write to one or more (or none) of the prompts, the theme in the thread title, the bonuses: hell, you can even cast aside all of what I offer if you get a different idea.

The whole point is "get writing!"[/fieldbox]

Prompts:

1. Every local criminal gang is terrified of the protagonist's best friend.
2. The antagonist read the sign that said not to push the button. They did. They've made worse mistakes.
3. Someone makes an AI that can tell if something said to it is true or false. As a test, a person tells it that they are human. "False."

Bonus Rounds:

• Write in a random genre.
• Write a story with a large, illogical plothole, then have the main character discover it.
• "A great solder. A better friend.
• The first sentence of the story is: The bomb exploded.
• "You're a weapon, and weapons don't weep."

 

[Xorcist's Reaper]

"Don't press the button..... Why?" ,And with those words his fingers slowly lifted to the small red button on the giant white wall. It took very almost no pressure at all to make the button sink flat into the wall, and nothing happened. The wall took now new shape, the floor and ceiling stayed the same, and nothing in the air stirred. All was the same except for the button had been pressed.

Gath looked at the small red dot that was now flush in the white brick wall. "What a waste he said as he turned to walk away. With his head hung in disappointment he turned and drug his feet away from the wall toward the busy street. Several steps later he bumped into something that seemed to just appear in front of him.

While rubbing his head and stepping back he looked up. It was a white brick wall with a little red button inside it. The button was already pressed and flush with the wall. The words on the button said," DO NOT PRESS.".

"Whaaaa....," The words leaked from his mouth as his right hand pointed weakly at the wall while the other hung limp at his side. With a quick step backward he once again tried to turn from the wall but was stopped by a rough cool surface. His left palm slid slowly up the bumpy surface before he turned around. "DO NOT PRESS," The words greeted him one last time before the white wall became a speckled and runny red.

 

[noodle]

Her body crumpled in the corner of her cell as the door slammed shut, tears and blood streaking her paper- white skin. She curled up into a tiny ball, the hospital gown she wore offering little protection against the cold that permeated the hellish room's interior.

It had happened again- she had beaten her for the third time, and now her cellmate would never be seen again. What would happen to her, X didn't know, and she could only imagine the terrors of it. They said it was supposed to be a cause for rejoicing. A celebration, that she was the strongest here.

A cannon trapped in a child's body.

But why did it hurt so much to watch the other girl's broken body be dragged away?

Her handler smacked the bars of her cage with his baton, sending a painfully loud metal crash through her sensitive ears. X hiccuped and flinched, but her tears didn't stop coming.

"Shut up."

The words were hard and cold, the only thing X had ever known. She didn't even have a real name, did she? All she remembered was this....place. The doctors, the training exercises, opponent after opponent beaten and dragged off. She opened her eyes and dared to look up at the man, green orbs shimmering with tears.

"You're a weapon, and weapons don't weep," he snarled, before stalking off and leaving her to her misery.

But she wasn't a weapon. Was she?

She was just a girl.

Right?

 

[PoetLore]

The bomb exploded.

Nothing unusual in the lab, they were testing things all the time. Mostly weapons and high-tech spy gadgets, but they did have a few 'pet' projects that were closely guarded secrets. Luckily the military hadn't discovered their underground lair, or their latest work would most assuredly be stolen right out from under than and used for who knew what purpose, probably interrogating people.

They had worked far too hard on her to allow anyone to steal her though. Airy as they called her was an artificial intelligence robot lie detector. So far they had only used verifiable fact on her, like known historical date or the birthday of a person in the room. Today however, they were moving on to a more random series of questions to see if she could detect when someone was actually lying about something arbitrary.

Vernon Hughes was to be the one making random statements and Ken Jones was to record the results. Both men readied themselves and Ken hit the power button for Airy, "Good morning Airy. We have a few questions to ask you today, another test of your systems."

"Good morning Ken," Airy replied in an amazingly human sounding voice. "I will be pleased to comply."

Vernon moved over to stand near her and smiled, "Good morning Airy. I will be your test subject today. I will say one statement at a time and you must determine if I speak the truth or if I am lying. Please answer True or False."

"Good morning Vernon. As you wish. I am ready to begin."

Vernon nodded and folded his hands in front of him so that his body movements would not give ehr any clues. "I have black hair."

"True."

"I had cheerios for breakfast."

"True."

"My car had a flat tire last night that I had to change before going home."

"False."

"My favorite color is red."

"True."

This continued for thirty minutes until Vernon decided to ask a trick question, that he was sure even Ken did not know the TRUE answer to, "I am human."

"False."

Ken frowned, "Wait..something must have glitched..."

"No Ken," Airy said calmly, "Vernon is not human."

Ken sighed, "Just when i thought we were finally done..."

Vernon stood then, "No Ken. She's right."

Ken blinked and looked at Vernon, "What?"

Vernon smiled, "Yeah...that was my final test. No one knows, and if I didn't think I could trust you neither would you. I was found by my parents near a crash. They said there was a little metal thing not far away. I was very young, and they raised me at their own."

"So you are what? Like superman or something?"

"I wish" he laughed, "No super strength or anything, but I do have this..awareness of machines that I cannot explain."

"But..you look...normal."

"Yeah well...apparently I didn't when they found me. My parents said that I began to change to look like them as time passed. I've never been tested, for obvious reasons but I think that means I have adaptive genes."

Ken was reeling, "Forgive me Vern..but I'm struggling to absorb all this..."

"Understandable...but now...we have two secrets to keep. Mine and Airy."

"Yeah...I can do that."

"False."