《Binary Progression》Volume 3 - Chapter 6: Goals
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The trio sat by the fire as the sky above started going dark.
"It's been a day already...huh?" JohnWillStab thought looking up at the sky through the leaves above.
"Hm?" Jordan was holding a box out in JohnWillStab's direction.
"What's up?"
"You want one?" Jordan asked.
JohnWillStab looked down to the box, it was filled with cigarettes.
"Ehh, no thanks, I don't want to waste your supply." he laughed.
"Don't worry about it, every time I open the packet there are always twenty cigarettes inside." he shrugged.
"Alright, guess I can give it a shot since I'm immor- imm- impervious to addiction... I've never really smoked cigarettes before." JohnWillStab took one of the cigarettes from the packet and lit it with the fireplace.
"How about you, Alex?"
"I'll pass, someone like me can't tarnish their skin and stain their teeth with smoke." he flicked his hair with grace that wouldn't make you think he tackled a piece of bread earlier.
JohnWillStab put the cigarette to his lip.
"JohnWillStab felt the smoke enter his lungs and leave them, but nothing happened, no feeling, except for the unpleasant taste."
"Is... is something supposed to happen?" Asked JohnWillStab.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... I feel normal... my vision is normal..."
"John, it's a cigarette, not heroin."
"You don't smoke heroin."
"Yeah, you do! With a spoon and lighter!"
"..."
"..."
JohnWillStab and Alexander came from two different backgrounds, JohnWillStab lived in the ghetto part of the ghetto and Alexander lived in the rich part of the rich neighbourhood... but they both looked at Jordan like he was an alien pretending to be a human.
Both of them asked a question at the same time.
"You don't go outside much?"
"You don't watch TV much?"
Jordan got defensive.
"Look, what you people do in your spare time is your business, don't shame me for my lack of drug trivia!" Jordan demanded.
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JohnWillStab took another bite of the bread, "Pft! It tastes like shit now..."
"Welcome to smoking one-o-one."
JohnWillStab tossed the cigarette into the fireplace and let out a sigh.
"I'll stick with alcoholism" he sighed taking one of the bottles he stole from the inn out.
"You guys want some?"
"I only drink fine wine, I'll pass." Alex laughed.
"You ate bread off the fucking ground a second ago..."
"Sure," Jordan replied holding his hand out.
He had a sip of it and his face contorted into a pained expression.
"Did you piss in that bottle!?"
"No, the booze just tastes like shit." he shrugged.
Jordan handed him the bottle.
"JohnWillStab drank from it."
"Mmm, yeah... terrible..." he coughed.
"Alexander, did you see any other people in the last week?" asked John.
"No, it was just me versus the world, not to brag but I think I did a fine job surviving!" Alex flicked his hair once more.
"How is he not embarrassed talking like that after telling us he was eating cacti!?" Jordan thought.
"Whatever cactus eater," JohnWillStab said smugly.
Alex recoiled slightly, a dumb smile plastered on his face as he avoided eye-contact.
"So, where are you heading?" Asked JohnWillStab.
"...No clue... I've been so preoccupied surviving that I never thought about it."
"Whatever it will be, try and not take the world over." JohnWillStab taunted.
"S-sorry about that..."
"Well, Jordan you can have some sleep, I'll keep watch, when you rest up we can keep going."
"Aren't you going to sleep?" he asked.
"I slept in the barn remember!" JohnWillStab explained.
"I see..."
He laid down on the cold grass a good bit from the fire and tried to get some sleep.
JohnWillStab sat next to the fire.
"What about you? What are you going to do?" Asked Alex.
"For now I'm helping Jordan, he wants to get out of this world."
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"I... I doubt that's possible."
"Yeah... but I promised to try until I run into my friends."
"By the way, I didn't want to say it in front of your friend here, but it's quite bold of you to call me out for taking the world over." he grinned smugly.
"So you know?!"
"Of course I do! I didn't interfere with your plan because it would have been a bit awkward for me to lecture you about messing with the freedoms of other players." he shrugged.
"You'll be in some trouble when others find out who you really are, JaneWillStab." Alex chuckled.
JohnWillStab glared at him.
"What?"
"I'm not going to tell anyone!"
"..."
"I'm actually looking for some friends too," Alex admitted, JohnWillStab's expression softened a bit.
"You have friends?" John asked.
"Weird, right?" Alex laughed.
"A harpy and a wolf-guy, I don't know about the wolf guy - but if the harpy deals with stress in real life as well as in-game, she's in trouble." he laughed.
"Yeah, I'm looking for my friends too... honestly I'm not sure what to do... is it even fair to assume they'll still want to go on adventures when their life's on the line?" JohnWillStab wondered.
"Who knows, I bet a lot of people will be afraid of the pain and whatnot," Alex said.
"Hmmm...." John sighed.
"But more than that, people will be tempted to live here, even in a fantasy world, people aren't all heroes," Alex added crossing his arms behind his head.
"What will I do then?" John asked.
"Huh... you really are weird." Alex laughed.
"How so?"
"You have no goal, do you?"
"...I mean, I want to go find my friends." he shrugged.
"That's more of a task than a goal, if you want to adventure, you can go out and live for adventures, if you want to become the best chef, start a kitchen, if you want to be a great doctor, go do doctor stuff on people."
"...but ...I don't really want to do any of that..." JohnWillStab replied.
"..."
"...what about you?"
"Hm? my goal? That's simple, I want to have fun." he shrugged.
"Have fun? That's so vague..."
"Because it's not a specific task, it's a goal, dumbass." he laughed.
"Hmmm...."
"Anyway, do you think I could tag along with you guys?" Alex asked.
"I don't mind, but... ultimately I doubt we'll find anything...."
"I know, but it sounds fun." he shrugged.
JohnWillStab thought about what Alex just told him.
"I guess you might not be a complete idiot after all..." JohnWillStab said smiling.
"Right? Feel free to praise me more." He replied smugly.
"I'll have to give my goal some thought..." he said scratching his head.
"You should decide on that yourself, though if you don't mind me saying - you do have a strange interest in adventuring."
"Adventuring you say?"
JohnWillStab scratched his chin.
"Fair enough! My goal from this point forwards will be to have the greatest adventure in this world, and to maintain the title of best adventure as long as I'm alive!" he exclaimed.
"And in order to achieve that you must...?" Alex asked smugly.
"I must... get my dick back... and meet up with the others, see if they're still in the mood for adventures..." JohnWillStab's eyes widened.
"See, you have a goal, and the goal creates tasks." Alex laughed.
JohnWillStab relaxed, he didn't even realise how tense he was until now.
"Shit, I feel so much better now."
"Alright, we're looking for your friend and my friends, while looking for a way to get my dick back and trying to figure out if you can leave this world," JohnWillStab exclaimed.
"Good, now that I solved your mid-life crisis, I'm going to get some sleep."
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