Origfic: The Tournament
Nov. 3rd, 2012 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nanonanoTitle: The Tournament
Word Count: 290 words
Rating: G
Summary: Aliens take their games seriously, too.
Author's Note: Inspired by Fritz Lieber's "Knight to Move" story in his Changewar universe and written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
mini_nanowrimo and spending the day in a puzzle competition. I'm not sure whether to count this as original fic for bingo purposes, considering its source. Maybe if it develops further.
The intergalactic gaming tournament was well under away. Throughout the massive conference center, aliens played games requiring varying degrees of skills, competing against their opponents. Human players were in the distinct minority at this event, usually eliminated in the early rounds by their more bloodthirsty alien counterparts. The elite chess players traded sacrifices and checkmates, while the dice could be heard rattling in the backgammon room.
Upstairs, the word games took precedence. A green Tau Cygnet V player complained loudly that what the Alpha Centauri had laid down was not a legal move, prompting a loud argument between the two contingents. In some galaxies, Scrabble was nicknamed "words between enemies" because it was such a blood sport.
Further down the hall, players sat hunched over desks fighting a clock to finish first. Paper and pencil were outmoded and created too much waste, so the tournament organizers had provided each competitor with a tablet and stylus to fill in the appropriate squares. With a touch, the finished puzzle would be sent automatically to the tournament computers, time and score recorded. Rigel and Talurian crossword puzzle solvers struggled to come up with the same three letter word for a Talaxian river monster, while the elegant Eurasian colony worlders excelled in the numbers of Sudoku.
Other players lounged in the waiting areas, playing pickup games with their friends. Others solved logic puzzles or read dictionaries to pass the time. The avian Xyerax perched in a corner resting between rounds, keeping one eye on the feline Caitian Sudoku master curled up on the low rug, his practice puzzle left forgotten. The Caitian seemed unaware of the attention, enjoying the rare opportunity for a quick cat nap. He wasn’t used to being awake this early.
Word Count: 290 words
Rating: G
Summary: Aliens take their games seriously, too.
Author's Note: Inspired by Fritz Lieber's "Knight to Move" story in his Changewar universe and written for
mini_nanowrimo and spending the day in a puzzle competition. I'm not sure whether to count this as original fic for bingo purposes, considering its source. Maybe if it develops further.The intergalactic gaming tournament was well under away. Throughout the massive conference center, aliens played games requiring varying degrees of skills, competing against their opponents. Human players were in the distinct minority at this event, usually eliminated in the early rounds by their more bloodthirsty alien counterparts. The elite chess players traded sacrifices and checkmates, while the dice could be heard rattling in the backgammon room.
Upstairs, the word games took precedence. A green Tau Cygnet V player complained loudly that what the Alpha Centauri had laid down was not a legal move, prompting a loud argument between the two contingents. In some galaxies, Scrabble was nicknamed "words between enemies" because it was such a blood sport.
Further down the hall, players sat hunched over desks fighting a clock to finish first. Paper and pencil were outmoded and created too much waste, so the tournament organizers had provided each competitor with a tablet and stylus to fill in the appropriate squares. With a touch, the finished puzzle would be sent automatically to the tournament computers, time and score recorded. Rigel and Talurian crossword puzzle solvers struggled to come up with the same three letter word for a Talaxian river monster, while the elegant Eurasian colony worlders excelled in the numbers of Sudoku.
Other players lounged in the waiting areas, playing pickup games with their friends. Others solved logic puzzles or read dictionaries to pass the time. The avian Xyerax perched in a corner resting between rounds, keeping one eye on the feline Caitian Sudoku master curled up on the low rug, his practice puzzle left forgotten. The Caitian seemed unaware of the attention, enjoying the rare opportunity for a quick cat nap. He wasn’t used to being awake this early.
