It was an ordinary night. You were assigned guard duty for the base. Peacetime, but peacetime is always relative. It had been quiet for the past few days. Supplies had been delivered but it was the usual stuff. You sigh to yourself since you'll know it'll be a long night.
And then, you see it. Something utterly ridiculous yet familiar to you from your childhood. Something that violated all matter of common sense in conventional military training.
A cardboard box from the supply truck spouts legs and starts moving.
You must be seeing things. You shake your head, you must be delusional. No one would be stupid enough to do that. You look again.
The cardboard box has no legs now. But it's moved further, nearer to cover.
"Oh my God." you mutter to yourself.
Obviously you have to alert the entire base. Obviously you have to report this. But the question is, who's going to believe you?
You realize that unironically your entire career and credibility as a soldier is in this idiot's hands now.
What's the use of reporting it if no one's going to believe you?
But protocol is protocol.
Keeping your eye on the box at all times, not even affording to blink, you reach for your radio.
"Investigating possible disturbance, stand by."
"Copy that."
You start walking towards the box. The box notices your advance and runs swiftly out of your field of vision, towards a nearby unlocked storehouse. By the time you rear the corner, you see it pushing inside the door.
And to your horror, you get a clear view of what gear and uniform the legs of this idiot was wearing.
It's an actual, honest to God carbon copy of THAT legendary soldier from your childhood.
The one that doesn't exist.
The one from the flippin' video game series.
Thoughts and feelings race through your head, including ridiculous ones such as admiration for going this far. You even briefly consider leaving this idiot be, just from the sheer audacity of the attempt. It might not even be an actual infiltration, just a crazy cosplayer who went a bit too far off the deep end and wanted the "real life" experience.
Even so, you have to do your job. You have to consider that this is an intentional sabotage attempt. You have to assume the worst.
"Disturbance confirmed, threat not fully ascertained. Subject is in a cardboard box sneaking around base."
"Please repeat. Did not fully copy that."
Oh, boy. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. You can hear the laughter tomorrow even now.
"Repeat: Subject is....attempting stealth poorly in a cardboard box. Uncertain if civilian, ally or enemy. Uncertain if prank or actual attempt."
"....Please report to medical tomorrow for vision tests. Over and out."
Oh, booooyyyyyy......
Well, they think you're crazy now.
And you know what that means.
Everyone else is asleep.
You're the one on duty.
This is officially YOUR problem and no one else's.
You let out another sigh and start walking to the storeroom.
As you walk there, gun drawn, you flash back to the good old days, playing this.....enthusiast's games. You always wanted to be this guy when you grew up. You tried to be, till you got a dose of reality in basic training. Saying that any delusions got beaten out of you would have been a understatement.
.....What the hell are you thinking? "This guy"?
....Heh, I guess romanticism and nostalgia never die.
You open the door and find the light already on.
The box is in the middle of the room, unmoving.
You realize to your continued horror that this isn't a civilian.
This is bait. This is bait of the highest caliber.
This is bait done by a true believer or bait done by a genius in infiltration, literally memeing you into the ground.
The box is in the middle of a lit room. There is no sign of the enemy. There is no guarantee the enemy is in the box. If you shoot the box and it bleeds, there is no guarantee that the blood is or isn't fake blood. Since you have no sight of the enemy, you cannot not assume he's not behind the door or above you. But taking your eyes off the box to look up renders you vulnerable, a perfect time for them to swiftly come out of the box and kill you instantly. You can't even identify if they're female, male, in between, what nationality they are, what regiment they are, the box literally conceals all, including intention till it's too late. The box may be over a grate that they could have snuck through, but going over to it and lifting it would be a lethally stupid move that would force confrontation. And you're sure there's at least two more options you hadn't even thought of that this "snake" in the grass has already.
Your only choice is walking quietly backwards and pretending you saw nothing.
But you literally CANNOT do that.
Swallowing your apprehension, you clearly and carefully do what you fear is the worst choice.
"Kept us waiting, huh?"
Silence. The box doesn't move.
"I'm going to pretend I saw nothing. Command thinks I'm crazy already. I already know I'm going to get disciplined for this. But you're either the bravest idiot I've ever seen or the greatest soldier I'll ever encounter."
Silence. The box doesn't move.
"I'm going to try to start to hard push for each soldier to be given their own cardboard box no matter what anyone tells me. I see the application for it now. There's no winning outcome besides tossing a grenade and retreating. But you know I can't do that, don't you? If I toss a grenade, our supplies go up in smoke and I'll have explaining to do that I won't be able to explain."
Silence. The box doesn't move.
"You know, I always admired you. But that's the world of fantasy, isn't it? Unless I really am facing the real-"
"You're pretty good."
Out cold. He taps you hard on the head, perfectly where he needs to. Even what he said was pre-recorded, so you have no idea if it actually was a guy or a girl. The line sounded exactly as if it had come from the game and the voice actor.
You wake up near daybreak. Everyone is still asleep. No one, absolutely no one would believe this.
You get ready for breakfast and decide to explain the bump on your head as tripping and falling when you go to medical today.
Shadow's Wrath
It was an ordinary night. You were assigned guard duty for the base. Peacetime, but peacetime is always relative. It had been quiet for the past few days. Supplies had been delivered but it was the usual stuff. You sigh to yourself since you'll know it'll be a long night.
And then, you see it. Something utterly ridiculous yet familiar to you from your childhood. Something that violated all matter of common sense in conventional military training.
A cardboard box from the supply truck spouts legs and starts moving.
You must be seeing things. You shake your head, you must be delusional. No one would be stupid enough to do that. You look again.
The cardboard box has no legs now. But it's moved further, nearer to cover.
"Oh my God." you mutter to yourself.
Obviously you have to alert the entire base. Obviously you have to report this. But the question is, who's going to believe you?
You realize that unironically your entire career and credibility as a soldier is in this idiot's hands now.
What's the use of reporting it if no one's going to believe you?
But protocol is protocol.
Keeping your eye on the box at all times, not even affording to blink, you reach for your radio.
"Investigating possible disturbance, stand by."
"Copy that."
You start walking towards the box. The box notices your advance and runs swiftly out of your field of vision, towards a nearby unlocked storehouse. By the time you rear the corner, you see it pushing inside the door.
And to your horror, you get a clear view of what gear and uniform the legs of this idiot was wearing.
It's an actual, honest to God carbon copy of THAT legendary soldier from your childhood.
The one that doesn't exist.
The one from the flippin' video game series.
Thoughts and feelings race through your head, including ridiculous ones such as admiration for going this far. You even briefly consider leaving this idiot be, just from the sheer audacity of the attempt. It might not even be an actual infiltration, just a crazy cosplayer who went a bit too far off the deep end and wanted the "real life" experience.
Even so, you have to do your job. You have to consider that this is an intentional sabotage attempt. You have to assume the worst.
"Disturbance confirmed, threat not fully ascertained. Subject is in a cardboard box sneaking around base."
"Please repeat. Did not fully copy that."
Oh, boy. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. You can hear the laughter tomorrow even now.
"Repeat: Subject is....attempting stealth poorly in a cardboard box. Uncertain if civilian, ally or enemy. Uncertain if prank or actual attempt."
"....Please report to medical tomorrow for vision tests. Over and out."
Oh, booooyyyyyy......
Well, they think you're crazy now.
And you know what that means.
Everyone else is asleep.
You're the one on duty.
This is officially YOUR problem and no one else's.
You let out another sigh and start walking to the storeroom.
As you walk there, gun drawn, you flash back to the good old days, playing this.....enthusiast's games. You always wanted to be this guy when you grew up. You tried to be, till you got a dose of reality in basic training. Saying that any delusions got beaten out of you would have been a understatement.
.....What the hell are you thinking? "This guy"?
....Heh, I guess romanticism and nostalgia never die.
You open the door and find the light already on.
The box is in the middle of the room, unmoving.
You realize to your continued horror that this isn't a civilian.
This is bait. This is bait of the highest caliber.
This is bait done by a true believer or bait done by a genius in infiltration, literally memeing you into the ground.
The box is in the middle of a lit room. There is no sign of the enemy. There is no guarantee the enemy is in the box. If you shoot the box and it bleeds, there is no guarantee that the blood is or isn't fake blood. Since you have no sight of the enemy, you cannot not assume he's not behind the door or above you. But taking your eyes off the box to look up renders you vulnerable, a perfect time for them to swiftly come out of the box and kill you instantly. You can't even identify if they're female, male, in between, what nationality they are, what regiment they are, the box literally conceals all, including intention till it's too late. The box may be over a grate that they could have snuck through, but going over to it and lifting it would be a lethally stupid move that would force confrontation. And you're sure there's at least two more options you hadn't even thought of that this "snake" in the grass has already.
Your only choice is walking quietly backwards and pretending you saw nothing.
But you literally CANNOT do that.
Swallowing your apprehension, you clearly and carefully do what you fear is the worst choice.
"Kept us waiting, huh?"
Silence. The box doesn't move.
"I'm going to pretend I saw nothing. Command thinks I'm crazy already. I already know I'm going to get disciplined for this. But you're either the bravest idiot I've ever seen or the greatest soldier I'll ever encounter."
Silence. The box doesn't move.
"I'm going to try to start to hard push for each soldier to be given their own cardboard box no matter what anyone tells me. I see the application for it now. There's no winning outcome besides tossing a grenade and retreating. But you know I can't do that, don't you? If I toss a grenade, our supplies go up in smoke and I'll have explaining to do that I won't be able to explain."
Silence. The box doesn't move.
"You know, I always admired you. But that's the world of fantasy, isn't it? Unless I really am facing the real-"
"You're pretty good."
Out cold. He taps you hard on the head, perfectly where he needs to. Even what he said was pre-recorded, so you have no idea if it actually was a guy or a girl. The line sounded exactly as if it had come from the game and the voice actor.
You wake up near daybreak. Everyone is still asleep. No one, absolutely no one would believe this.
You get ready for breakfast and decide to explain the bump on your head as tripping and falling when you go to medical today.
Pretty good, indeed.
1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 24