Backing up files

"Eris... all I want is for you to tell me the truth."

"Thank you. Course, you did finally come up the solution with oblivion breathing down your neck... but yes, that IS the right way to ask me." Eris laughed loudly, her hands balling into fists. "Yes, I can tell you the truth if that's what you really desire. Better than nothing, and sorry I couldn't just tell you. Stupid rules for a stupid game that used to be fun, but now..."

"Nothing. Is that all that's going to be left?" I asked, watching the clouds as they roiled around into dark swirls.

"Well, what happens to a game when you turn it off, Brent? Unless people were watching and recording it... the event no longer exists." Eris shrugged, reaching behind the rock once again and pulling out a pair of classic comfortable combat boots. "Comfortable clothes... damn, I really got lucky on the random source material rolls... who woulda thought Church of England fanfic would have the best idea on late game clothing?"

"I feel like I'm listening to a teenager talk about anime." I looked at where the apple still sat in the sand, completely ignored by Eris, who was still in the process of adjusting herself. "It just... ends?"

"Well, good artists don't destroy work. Unfortunately, good old step-dad is a perfectionist. Anything he doesn't think fits into one of his perfect little gem games... he pretends didn't happen. Anytime he starts losing, he flips the board, and calls the other players cheaters. Deletes the file and starts over with players he think will play his way. Even has his own pet team he cheats for."

"That is the most pathetic way to run a game ever. That's like those esports morons with perfect profiles because they disconnect every time they lose a point."

Eris just inclined her head at me and took a bite of a small piece of chocolate cake which had been hidden behind the rock as well. She lifted it up with a smile, before placing the dark piece in her mouth and chewing contentedly.

"What?" Eris asked in response to my staring at the cake. "I wanted cake, and thought of it while I was getting the wet wipes and clothes."

"Chocolate cake."

"With fudge frosting. Love it. The good ones, that you can't get any more. Not unless you know where to look." She smiled, licking the small fork before again using the edge to slice off another small morsel of the confection.

"You're just... saving things." I remarked, noting how she enjoyed each forkful with relish.

"That's what it really means, Brent. Being saved. Doesn't mean that you are going to heaven, that's just for the rubes. You get to play again. Shitty players get to be insects until they learn to think for themselves occasionally. If you can't bother playing the game as a human, you don't get to be a human."

"And this world just... ends?" I mumbled, looking out at the roiling morass.

"Well, goes back on the shelf. It's a popular game, not your fault you got stuck playing in one run by a very dysfunctional family, but you'd know all about those. Lotta other games out there, and every player has their own favorite pieces to use."

An old memory of sitting around the Monopoly board, and constantly being frustrated by my aunt "borrowing" money from the bank whenever she made a bad die roll. It was ok, of course, she was family, and everybody agreed she could do it.

"I like the ones with overly complicated rules, of course. Those are the ones that are the most fun to fuck with." Eris laughed. "Simple games... it's really clear when somebody's cheating. But the more complex it gets the easier it is to hide a few underhanded moves. These days though we have a blatant cheater, editing the rule books in the middle of the game and then calling anybody who complains a bad sport."

"So, what are you, an art critic?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around the idea.

"Oh no, those guys already had their run through about thirty years before you were born. Sparky decided to go whole hog for sweeps and throw every empire in the game against each other for the crowd. Just really grossed out the critics, honestly. Way too much random destruction of good art just for attention. It gets views, but I've never been a fan of destruction tests. He's spent the last eighty years congratulating himself for it and replaying it in miniature all over the world."

I glanced at the apple once more and as I did I heard what sounded like a soft rumble from a long distance off.

"So the apple... it's one of your favorite pieces." I guessed, trying to get a handle on it.

"People go crazy for gold and contests of worth. It's a hack, but step-dad uses it so much it... think of it like... rocket jumping. Something that should not work, but by the rules of the game, works. So much so that it's become a core mechanic." Eris shrugged at the thought. "Everybody just got used to it and moved on to the game now all being about the new golden rule. Pay to win."

Eris finished taking a final bite of her cake, and placed the plate onto the rock, spinning it, so that it rotated around a small protruding section of stone. The sound of ceramic on stone was an interesting tone, sounding almost like a tuning fork.