Chapter 7 – The Cuboid Cup
727 Words
Julianna scans the surroundings to make sure there is no one within sight before she lays her hands on John and Skylah's shoulders to return them to their original sizes.
John :
"We're here. The Village of Anfang. The tavern is just a 2 minutes' walk from the entrance. I suppose you don't speak German. Here, Skylah, we have an Instalator for you."
John hands over an Instalator to Skylah, a small earpiece device that translates every single language to the preferred language of the wearer, both heard and spoken. Skylah stuffs it into his ear canal where it no longer becomes visibly detectable.
The trio proceeds with a short walk towards the tavern while Skylah's jaw remains open in awe of all the surroundings, and slowly comes to terms with the reality of how he is in the middle of a German village in the 1500s filled with people dressed in traditional costumes that he has only seen in old classic movies.
As they reach the tavern, John opens a wooden door and a huge cheerful commotion rushes out of what seems like a calm yet chaotic drunk environment.
Inn Keeper Gast :
"It's you, Father John!"
John :
"How's your daughter, Brother Gast?"
Inn Keeper Gast :
"She is feeling much better! Thank you so much for your help the other day. What can I get you and your two companions? On the house!"
John :
"You're welcome, and I'll take you up on that offer. We could use 3 beers."
Inn Keeper Gast :
"Coming right up!"
As John, Julianna, and Skylah take a seat at a corner table of the tavern, Inn Keeper Gast waltzes in jovially with 3 huge beer mugs and slams them on the table, spilling over some beer froth.
Skylah :
"1500s German beer, and most importantly, in a cylinder-shaped mug! Who would've thought? I would've missed these if I was still stuck inside that device."
Skylah gulps down the German beer and lets out a sigh of satisfaction.
John :
"There are a lot more things to live for, you know, apart from beer. I know you were suffering from depression and were suicidal prior to this mission, but please see us as your family."
Skylah :
"Family? John, do you know why, from where we were, all of our cups are cuboid-shaped?"
Julianna :
"What does this have to do with…?"
John :
"Cuboid-shaped cups have more volume than their cylinder-shaped counterparts. Cylinder-shaped cups were banned in our era due to the misleading visual representation of how much volume they contain."
Skylah :
"That's right. Look at this cylinder-shaped mug. It's so nostalgic. We also used to have all kinds of different glasses for alcohol, like wine and whiskey glasses.
Cuboid-shaped cups are like the ugly alternatives that exist only because there was a problem – people were misled by creative designs of cups for visual deception. They are purely there for functional purposes. No one really enjoys them.
To you, I am this cuboid cup. I am not your family, nay, I am not even your friend. I barely know you two. The 'other me' was like a family member to you. He was the cylinder-shaped cup that you all cherish.
If what you two are about to do – whatever mission you have in mind-- could be done without me, you wouldn't have woken me up. That's why I was not woken up from my device until things went south.
Having said all that, I am in. Just, you know, forgo all the sentimental sales pitches and go straight into the mission briefing."
Julianna :
"Why would you agree to proceed if that is how you think of us?"
Skylah :
"I guess you truly do not understand depression. I'm basically done with this world. Indeed, everything, since I've woken up, is all new to me – time travel, and these transcendental powers; but at the end of the day, they don't really change anything.
I suppose if I went all out and died as a martyr, perhaps I could live with myself a little better."
Julianna :
"You don't mean that....."
John :
"It's OK, Julianna. I don't think there's anything we can say now that will change his perception. Nonetheless, as you wish, about the mission briefing, I'll start from the very beginning….."
- Writer
