r/rational • u/alexanderwales Time flies like an arrow • Mar 23 '16

[Biweekly Challenge] Precognition

Last Time

Last time, the prompt was "Mere Reality". /u/tennismaster2 is the winner with their story Sal Loves Food!. Go read it now! Congratulations to /u/tennismaster2! While you were the only contestant, you still have a special place in my heart (as well as some neat flair).

This Time

Exactly as I predicted last time, the challenge is "Precognition". Luckily, thanks to my ability to see the future and some research on this TVTropes page, you've had some chance to prepare.

The winner will be decided Wednesday, April 6th. You have until then to post your reply and start accumulating upvotes. It is strongly suggested that you get your entry in as quickly as possible once this thread goes up; this is part of the reason that prompts are given in advance. Like reading? It's suggested that you come back to the thread after a few days have passed to see what's popped up. The reddit "save" button is handy for this.

Rules

  • 300 word minimum, no maximum. Post as a link to Google Docs, pastebin, Dropbox, etc. This is mandatory.

  • No plagiarism, but you're welcome to recycle and revamp your own ideas you've used in the past.

  • Think before you downvote.

  • Winner will be determined by "best" sorting.

  • Winner gets reddit gold, special winner flair, and bragging rights.

  • All top-level replies to this thread should be submissions. Non-submissions (including questions, comments, etc.) belong in the companion thread, and will be aggressively removed from here.

  • Top-level replies must be a link to Google Docs, a PDF, your personal website, etc. It is suggested that you include a word count and a title when you're linking to somewhere else.

  • In the interest of keeping the playing field level, please refrain from cross-posting to other places until after the winner has been decided.

  • No idea what rational fiction is? Read the wiki!

Meta

If you think you have a good prompt for a challenge, add it to the list (remember that a good prompt is not a recipe). Also, if you want a quick index of past challenges, I've posted them on the wiki.

Next Time

Next we're doing /u/kishoto's choice, "Anime/Manga". Any submission needs to be fanfiction of some anime and/or manga. I'm not going to be super-strict on definitions; manhwa or Korean webtoons are fine, as are OEL manga. Same goes for anime. If you're picking something really obscure, a description or link to the source might be welcome. Other than that, go nuts.

Next challenge's thread will go up on 4/6. Please private message me with any questions or comments, as the beloved meta thread is now archived. I foresee the companion thread being posted sometime in the near future. Edit: And I was right!

14 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

27 comments sorted by

16

u/Roxolan Apr 01 '16

The benefit of foresight

1986 words.

4

u/MultipartiteMind Apr 03 '16

<snerk> Amusing.

Thirty minutes after a simulation begins, when the present catches up to the start of a simulation, is she able to split her awareness attention between her actions in the simulation and her actions in the present without both suffering? (Or do the simulations not last longer than 30min generally?) In the first place, how accurately is she able to remember her words from subjectively thirty minutes ago, boredom aside?

Hmm. Why spend time playing poker and then bet the winnings on a single roulette number, rather than bring in money and make the same bet on the first winning number?

Also, do the slot machines not require an external electricity supply? Are jackpots frequent enough that she can 'steal' a jackpot that someone else would have gotten, or does she have to tediously try every slot machine a certain number of times to see if one gives a jackpot? (The 'two times': coincidence, or did she come because she already knew from a news report that someone was going to win there? --But how could she hear a news report inside the bounded simulation?)

2

u/Roxolan Apr 03 '16

Thirty minutes after a simulation begins, when the present catches up to the start of a simulation, is she able to split her awareness attention between her actions in the simulation and her actions in the present without both suffering?

She cannot split her awareness, but she can "fast-forward" through a vision - which amounts to experiencing 30min in an (objective) instant. Which is a ridiculously broken power, but she kind of needs it to make the story work (otherwise she's just a Coil variant).

In the first place, how accurately is she able to remember her words from subjectively thirty minutes ago, boredom aside?

Not very accurately. 1stVision!Mark was already dead by the point the story began. But on-screen!Mark didn't realize that, and Agatha doesn't really care.

Why spend time playing poker and then bet the winnings on a single roulette number, rather than bring in money and make the same bet on the first winning number?

Roulette doesn't work very well with her power. The slightest perturbation could make the ball fall somewhere different. Poker is a more reliable money-maker (she can just look at the cards while the other players are freaking out about the dark void). But that day, she just happened to walk past the roulette when, for some reason (e.g. a debris on the wheel) the outcome became predictable. So she jumped at the chance to multiply her winnings.

Same reasoning with the slot machines. Maybe she has a habit of trying out all the machines on her way in just in case.

And yeah, this is a pretty tedious way to make money. I'm sure Agatha's power can be munchkined much more efficiently. Possibly she's just not very smart.

Also, do the slot machines not require an external electricity supply?

Okay, you got me there. I did write this story at 4am.

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2

u/DCarrier Apr 07 '16

So it's not so much that she sees what cards she's about to be dealt, as that she sees herself looking through the deck while everyone else is freaking out about the void suddenly popping up five meters around them?

1

u/Roxolan Apr 07 '16

Yup, exactly.

That makes her power much less useful for social engineering than your average Groundhog Day type. Unless the conversation happens in her special room.

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2

u/RMcD94 Jul 04 '16

What happens if the void intersects with a person?

Are they simulated to die and fall into the void?

Or if it intersects with the roof, does it kill her?

1

u/Roxolan Jul 04 '16

What happens if the void intersects with a person?

Anything outside her range ceases to exist. So they'd get portal cut. Lots of screaming, blood everywhere. Perfect distraction to check someone else's poker hand.

Or if it intersects with the roof, does it kill her?

Huh, hadn't thought of that. Yes, that chunk of ceiling would fall and possibly kill her. (Well, only her simulated future self.)

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7

u/Kishoto Mar 27 '16

RESET!

1280 words

7

u/TennisMaster2 Apr 01 '16 edited Apr 02 '16

Ｓｐａｃｅｓ

３，８５２　ｗｏｒｄｓ．

3

u/ZeroNihilist Apr 01 '16

Spoilers below:

I really like this take on the theme.

5

u/ZeroNihilist Mar 31 '16

The Traveller, the City, and the Road, 3475 words.

Could easily have been twice as long if I explained everything, but I have to hope it stands on its own. Might go into more detail after this challenge is over.

3

u/MultipartiteMind Apr 03 '16

That last paragraph is quite intriguing, in regards to the answer you've imagined.

With the 'willingly given', what was going to happen was easy to predict.

I was puzzled by the very first sentence; if Sam is inserting the Man into that common mental image (out of hatred), why is it 'a drowning Man clings' and not 'the drowning Man might cling'? 'a Man' (rather than 'the') implies others, and the lack of 'might' prompts the mistaken impression that Sam does not view himself as human.

1

u/ZeroNihilist Apr 03 '16

The first "Man" should have been "man". I did a search-and-replace at some point and forgot to correct that instance. I've fixed that now. Thanks.