Thursday, April 18, 2013

VII. Help

Oracle: Help?

Oracle turns to his left, turns to his right, and then spins suddenly and looks behind him. He turns back to MJ.

Voice: Yes. You must help me.

Suddenly the world fades to white. Joey has vanished. MJ stands up and looks at Oracle, confused. She then looks up.

MJ: You aren't being very helpful. How can we help you if you don't tell us how?
Oracle: I don't think he means "we".  I think he means "me".

MJ looks at Oracle, and Oracle maintains eye contact with her.

Oracle: Why did you talk through the boy?
MJ: Thy boy?
Oracle: I told you. Sometime worlds are people, sometimes people are worlds, sometime the titles are arbitrary. The boy was the world's attempt to interact with us.
Voice: He was always my favorite. I had such hope for him.

Oracle reaches into his coat and removes what looks like a high-tech screwdriver. He looks at it for a second.

Oracle [muttering to himself]: Useless.

Oracle tosses the object behind him. 

Oracle: So something happened, and everything stopped. Was it a virus? Were you incompatible with an upgrade? Perhaps a corruption of some sort?
Voice: I was taken over. Everything was deleted. No one came to save me.
Oracle: But you're the Motherworld!
Voice: Only one of many Oracle. I was only able to save the last few moments of my existence, and I  have simulated those moments for eternities looking for the answer.
Oracle: And how can I help?
Voice: You must find the answer, Oracle.
Oracle: But surely, the answer isn't here. I'm not even sure what the question is!

Suddenly, the world blinks. A moment later, it blinks again. It begins blinking rapidly and asynchronously. Suddenly, Oracle and MJ are on a sunny countryside, high on a hill. Oracle looks around. He pulls his phone out from his pocket, stretches it, and suspends it in the air.

Oracle: Now where could we be now?

Oracle looks at the screen of the phone.

Oracle: Well then, that's quite the development.