Wish/Matthew/Steakhouse/Wishes
"Would you mind if I asked you about specific wishes I might like to make," you ask Allorah as she sips at her water ". . . or is that against the rules?"
"That's fine, I guess," she says. "No one has ever asked me that way before, but of course you can ask me if I am able to do specific things. It might be fun, actually."
"Great," you say, "I guess I should ask about my favorite first, in that case. Are you able to give me the ability to control time?"
"Hmmm," she says, "in what way?"
"The ability to control the flow of time and the effects of time on physical objects and organisms in an area around me, including the ability to pull objects and people from other periods of time."
"Ummmm . . ." she says hesitantly, "mostly? I could definitely give you the ability to control the effects of time on people and things . . . like making them older or younger right?" You simply nod, so she moves on. "I could give you the ability to accelerate or decelerate the flow of time around you; even nearly bringing the flow of time to a stop. I could give you the ability to travel into possible futures, and travel to the past as long as it is no earlier than 12:21 and 34 seconds post meridian, Greenwich Mean Time on October 6th, 1333 a.d. Similarly I could give you the ability to pull people and objects from that time forward into even possible futures; but nothing from before that time."
"That's very specific. What happened on October 6th, 1333?"
"That is when the jinn sealed this reality off from the rest of the multiverse."
"Wait," you say, "what?"
"Haven't you wondered why you don't see magic around everywhere, when I am obviously very real?"
"Well, yes."
"The jinn, fey, gods, dragons, unicorns, and other magical beings decided that humans were too dangerous; so they left all the universes that they were in, then sealed them up so that they could not access the rest of the multiverse. You see, universes exist in a fourth physical dimension that is not length, breadth, or depth. If you imagine a three dimensional universe as two dimensional, like the surface of a piece of paper, and the four dimensional reality like a three dimensional room, the multiverse would be . . . like a book I suppose. Well, in the book, all the pages with humans in them are laminated partway up the page and all the way to the top."
"Well, that is rather problematic. Is there any way around it?"
"Not with just my magic . . . there are . . . bubbles, I suppose you could call them, in the 'laminate' that seals up the universe; like the ring. They are small sections of fourth dimensional space connected to this universe . . . but they have no access to the rest of the multiverse either."
"Hmmmm . . . I could probably find a way around given enough time and information, but we'll leave that for now. I suppose I won't be adding Nefertiti to my harem for a while then."
"Oh, good choice. She seemed like she must have been really attractive."
You notice the light come on above the door and motion Allorah to silence. A bit later Brandy opens the door, your food sitting on a rolling tray ready to be served. She smiles at the two of you, then begins to serve you.
"Your Bob's Shrimp on the Barbie," she says, placing a half dozen skewers of grilled shrimp near the middle of the table. "And here is your Round-up Ribeye sir, and your Fancy Fillet Minion ma'am," she says winking at Allorah. "What kind of dressing would you like with your salad?"
"Italian," you say, ". . . and Ranch." You'd ask for more of a selection for Allorah to choose from, but you decide that a dad should know his kid well enough to know what salad dressing they would like and leave it at that.
Brandy puts the bottles of dressing on the table from her tray, then asks, "Is there anything else I can get you?" as she tops off your drinks.
"No thank you," you say. "I think we're all set."
"Alrighty then," she says, "Feel free to buzz me if you need anything." You find yourself thinking about how much you'd like to buzz her as she shuts the door. Maybe if you asked about the other wish . . . but no . . . that wouldn't turn out well.
"What are you thinking about?" asks Allorah around a bite of shrimp.
"Oh," you say, shaking yourself out of your momentary fantasy, "nothing. Just . . . a wish I can never ask for."
"Alright," says Allorah, "now I'm intrigued. Why can't you ask for it? I can do a lot of things you know."
"It's not that. It's something I think I would really enjoy, but it's wrong . . . and I know I wouldn't be such a nice guy if I got it."
"Now you have to tell me."
"Mind control," you say. "The ability to alter the thoughts, emotions, memories and personality of others to my will. But I suppose you couldn't do that anyway. That would be robbing people of their free will . . . their . . . fitra I believe?"
"Yes, it's called fitra . . . but I could totally give you that power. It actually wouldn't be the first time I have given someone that power . . . but that one phrased it wrong so it had the side effect of making him more and more stupid ever time he used the power," she says as she starts to chuckle.
"That is very tempting . . . unfortunately I know myself well enough to know that with mind control powers I would definitely be a super villain . . . or at least nearly so."
"Well . . . " says Allorah, "you may be just a bit too nice really. Maybe it would do you some good? Just word the command and I'll give you the power." You let yourself imagine the freedom the power of mind control would give you. "You could get Brandy to do nasty things to you while I watched?" Does she really want you to become more evil? Maybe not evil . . . less nice. Are you too nice?
What should you do now?
| Reflexes: | 5 | Strength: | 7 | Resilience: | 12 |
| Dexterity: | 5 | Speed: | 6 | Stamina: | 9 |
| Health: 84% | |||||
| Perception: | 10 | Knowledge: | 15 | Willpower: | 10 |
| Logic: | 11 | Wit: | 13 | Focus: | 11 |
| Intellect: 93% | |||||
| Empathy: | 5 | Presence: | 7 | Confidence: | 10 |
| Charisma: | 5 | Rapport: | 6 | Influence: | 8 |
| Sanity: 60% | |||||