Quest 142

[primrosella]

"The chance of a lifetime", is it

Comments

[misterblackbird]

It's close enough to a curse, I think.

I've a box myself, actually.

[primrosella]

They really are getting more and more subtle these days, aren't they? Now they're letting us decide whether or not a curse will occur--for someone, anyway.

Do you suppose everyone got one?

[misterblackbird]

They are. And it's all the worse, because now we have to think about it, which makes us still more miserable, even if we're not cursed.

I'm not sure. I haven't heard.

[primrosella]

That's why the reward is so generous, of course. It wouldn't be nearly so difficult to decide if it weren't offering something we all wanted, in one way or another.

It seems as though quite a few people have, anyway. I wonder if there might be a pattern to who got them and who didn't. If there is, it's likely that they went to the people that would be most tempted to press it.

[horrible_penny]

This is like one giant, ugly psychology experiment.

[primrosella]

To see who will or won't press the button, you mean?

[horrible_penny]

Kind of. It's like they're seeing how desperate we are, you know? I don't think most people here would hurt someone ordinarily, but with a magic box that can give us what we want more than anything else...

[primrosella]

And perhaps more importantly, we don't necessarily have to face the person we're harming. There's no way of knowing who will be cursed by it, which means we don't have to take responsibility for whatever might happen from it.

[worksmart]

You're overthinking.

[primrosella]

I do have a tendency to do that, I'm afraid.

What do you think of all these boxes, Dr. Chase?

[worksmart]

I think they're a level playing field. You've got the same opportunity I have, I'm not going to blame you for taking it.

[primrosella]

Even if someone else taking it meant that you would end up cursed?

[denyinurgod]

If you decide to press the button and inflict a curse on someone else, then you will be no better than the deities.

[primrosella]

That's really what it is, isn't it? Giving us the powers of the deities for a day. We can send ourselves home if we want, but it comes at someone else's expense.

[denyinurgod]

Yes. However, we must also learn not to inflict potential pain and suffering to someone else.

[primrosella]

It's a shame more people haven't taken that lesson to heart. The world would be a much better place for it, if they did.

[ourdenouement]

These boxes suck.

[primrosella]

You think so, Kaoru? I take it you're not planning to use one of them, then?

[ourdenouement]

Nope~ I don't want any of these things.

[primrosella]

Really? I'm glad to hear that.