Dislyte story · Esper Stories
Esper Story: Intisar
5 scenes, 228 lines
1. Eager To Win
39 linesUtgard: Larkspur Detective Agency
Damn! Nope, let's try again!
I can beat this level, I know I can!
Gaming again?
Tevor comes over to the sofa and sees Intisar completely absorbed with a Candy Crush-type game.
No lives remaining. Watch an ad to get more lives?
Sure, show me the ad, I'll beat the level on the next try anyway!
......
Several hours have passed and Intisar has still not beaten the level.
Crap, every time I'm missing by a few points.
Seeing Intisar watching yet another ad, Tevor feels like he has to say something.
Come on, knock it off already. As far as I can tell, that game is rigged to trick players into playing over and over...
Early on, the game will give you the sense that you can beat the levels, but the further in you get the more it depends on luck.
The people making these games just want to make you watch ads, that's how they make money.
Have you not realized that already?
Of course I know that... Doesn't mean I can't win though.
The harder a game is, the more I want to win! No game could beat me, the genius hacker!
If you're such a genius hacker, why not just hack the game to beat the level?
Are you stupid? What's the fun of playing a game if you just cheat?
I mean, come on! Gamers don't come more skilled and experienced than me, and I never cheat! Who do you think I am?
... Well, best of luck to you then.
(A few days later...)
Returning to the agency after running some errands, Tevor finds a gloating Intisar looking at her phone and grinning.
On the screen, the word "Victory" in big, cheerful letters.
Haha! I told you! Told you I could do it!
Please don't tell me you just spent several days trying to beat one level of a phone game...
Well, yeah... A few days of intensive research and I figured out what I would have to do to beat the level!
All I had to do was figure out the rate at which the different objects appeared at the end of the level, keep three slots clear...
Hearing Intisar go on like this, Tevor arches an eyebrow knowingly.
A truly earth-shattering discovery... Wow...
I think I read somewhere that the developers of that game of yours were getting complaints, so they dropped the difficulty level a bit.
What?!!
No way!
Not wanting to believe her ears, Intisar opens the game, checks her inbox... finds a notification about the difficulty level reduction.
She'd been so caught up trying to beat the level that she hadn't noticed the notification.
So I only beat the level because they'd dropped the difficult on it...
All my research was wasted!
No! No! I'm going to hack into the back-end and put the difficulty level back up!
*Sighs*...
2. Guessing Games
55 linesUtgard: Larkspur Detective Agency
Tevor and Intisar are sat in front of the TV, watching the live stream of a match at the Utgard Arena.
*Yawns*... This is pretty dull...
Shall we make it into a game?
What kind of game are you thinking?
Each match, we try to guess who will win.
Whoever guesses right the most times wins. The winner can make a single request, the loser will have to do it.
That work for you?
Sure. Well, on one condition.
No looking anything up during the match. The only information we're allowed to access is whatever we can see on the screen.
If either of us cheats, that person loses automatically.
Works for me.
You sure? You know how good I am at stuff like this, deducing what will happen from limited information... You're definitely going to lose.
Don't be too sure.
(An hour later...)
The last match has arrived and Tevor and Intisar are level on points. This final round will be the decider.
Preparations for the final round begin and two competitors take the field, one an old hand and the other a rookie.
Who are you taking this time?
Like you even have to ask, I'll take the rookie.
Oh... You're awfully confident.
Tevor takes a moment, gets a good look at the two competitors and watches them prepare a little.
She doesn't look like she has much in the way of experience, no obvious skills either. She's clearly the weaker of the two.
You don't think the rookie's got it?
Fair enough, guess you've decided you want to lose then.
The battle begins and the older competitor throws a feint at the rookie, tricking her and taking the advantage.
Would you look at that... I guess experience does matter after all.
Experience helps. It's not a guarantee though.
We'll see.
Ach?
Our veteran friend looks to be having a tough time of it, I don't think he's feeling very well.
Well yeah, he's going to be worrying about his wife, she hasn't been well...
How do you know that?
That's a secret.
......
Still, the rookie really doesn't look like she's got the skills for this, she keeps allowing herself to get carried into her opponent's rhythm.
The words are barely out of Tevor's mouth when the rookie pulls out a top-of-the-line weapon, turning the tables.
That's how you do it!
What the...? Where on earth did she get that from?
So there's this owner of an arms manufacturing company, he's convinced she looks like his dead daughter. He channels all sorts of supplies to her.
Helps her to level the playing field, that's why I've got so much faith in her.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see then.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the rest of the fight goes as Intisar has predicted. The rookie pounces on an ill-judged move from the veteran, and the victory is hers.
That's rough, as soon as she pulled out that weapon, things really fell apart for him.
Hah! What's it feel like getting your ass kicked?
Putting that aside for a second, how about you explain to me how it was you knew so much about those two?
I might not have seen you cheating, but we both know you didn't learn any of that stuff just by watching the match on the TV...
Ahem... No comment. Either way, I won.
Tevor thinks for a second, then a smirk blossoms across his face.
If that's the case...
Are you spending half your time on the internet reading random celebrity gossip?
Intisar realizes she's being teased and flashes Tevor a serious look.
I'll have you know, you can learn a lot from "random gossip"!
The information I pick up that way often makes all the difference. You're a detective, you should know this.
Looks like I underestimated you. Alright, you win, what request do you have for me?
My cleaning duties here at the agency... You'll be handling them for the rest of the month.
3. Gaming Expert
50 linesUtgard: Next to a Shooting Gallery Booth
Tevor and Intisar are on the way back from dealing with some business when a shooting gallery games booth by the side of the road grabs Intisar's attention.
Pff, this is much too hard, I've got no chance of actually winning a prize.
Go on, one more try? That last shot of yours was so close...
I've already used up all of my allowance for this month...
(The prize is a limited edition Sunflower Warrior action figure? Interesting.)
Boss, I'll take a shot at it!
Sure thing, need me to explain how the game works?
Shoot prize, win prize... That's basically it, right? Something like this!
Intisar deftly lifts the toy gun and aims at the action figure.
One shot, one kill!
The gun fires with a loud crack, but the action figure doesn't so much as wobble.
Not to worry, almost no one gets it on the first try.
(Huh? I had the sights lined up perfectly. How could I have missed?)
Pffff, look at you, thinking you're so great then sucking that badly.
Ignoring the boy's words, Intisar focuses on lining up her next shot.
(... Have they screwed around with the sights?)
I'd warn you against underestimating her. She's the Night Envoy, the Deep Dive Star, the Queen of the Darkweb!
!!!
How did you know those names, Tevor?!
They're just some of the names you use when you're posting online, right? You're also...
Uh!
Quick as a flash, Intisar whips her hand over Tevor's mouth. The boy watches the two of them awkwardly.
Call yourself whatever you want, you can either make the shot or you can't.
I was just playing before. Time to get serious!
Alright then, hit me, give me another set of pellets.
Coming up! Show everyone what you can do!
Taking her time to load the pellets into the gun, Intisar quietly uses her divine power to repair the gun sights without anyone noticing.
*Pop*... *Pop*... *Pop*... Each shot knocked down a prize.
Woah!
N-no way!
I've been running this game for years, no one has ever won the action figure before...
No one has ever won so many prizes in one go before...
Intisar spins the gun around on her finger and raises her eyebrow at the shooting gallery owner.
I'll be having those prizes. As to what you'd done to the gun sights, the less said the better.
!!!
And a bit of friendly advice, I'd make sure that news doesn't get to me of you using a trick like that again in the future...
Sure, sure... It won't happen again.
With that, he quickly packs up the shooting gallery and runs off.
Miss, that was so cool! You figured out the gun had been messed with.
Night Envoy, Deep Dive Star, Queen of the Dark Web... We should probably even give you another title!
......
Ten minutes later
Sending the boy on his way, Intisar and Tevor hit the road again, Intisar's arms laden down with a small mountain of prizes.
Nicely done, fearsome Envoy of the Night, Star of the Deepest Dives,...
Shut up.
You enjoyed that... When the kid started throwing all those names around, you straight up gave him that action figure.
What?! No, I... I just thought it wasn't fair that he'd been cheated out of his allowance by that guy messing with the gun sights!
Intisar's face flushes bright red and she rushes to get ahead of Tevor where he can't see her face.
*Sigh*...
4. A Portrait
40 linesUtgard: Larkspur Detective Agency
Hey! Stop!
That voice... Tevor?
Intisar doesn't get much time to wonder before Tevor appears, opening the door to the Detective Agency with a dejected look on his face.
What was that?
Someone keeps dumping their garbage outside our front door, I almost managed to catch them but...
And, of course, we don't have a camera on the door, otherwise it would be easy to deal with this!
If you just saw them, you can presumably remember what they looked like?
He was running pretty fast, I didn't get a good look at his face.
I'm not going to be able to describe him... If only I was good at drawing.
Why do you need to be good at drawing? You just want a portrait picture of the guy?
You can draw?
I can use AI to do it!
There are AI routines trained on libraries of portraits. You can just type in a prompt, it'll generate a picture for us.
And this stuff actually works?
No harm in trying, at least.
Intisar prepares the software and then Tevor does his best to type a prompt describing the man he saw.
A younger man, arching eyebrows, brown coat... Let's say coffee-colored... Alright, let's see what this looks like.
Ta-da!
Why is it all grayed out like that?
It takes time for the AI to finish drawing it. Same as with a person really.
As the words are leaving Intisar's mouth, the image begins slowly filling itself in.
So far, so good.
Well, of course... You think a suggestion from me would turn out to be a bad idea?
Let's just wait until it's finished. I'm going to play a game for a bit.
Ten minutes pass before an alert notification sound is triggered. The portrait is finally ready.
How did it do? Looks a lot like you description, right?
What can I say... I guess you've got me using AI software with artistic skills as strong as your own...
Did you train this on a library of Cubist paintings?
Are you really suggesting my AI wasn't up to scratch?
Unwilling to hear what Tevor is telling her, Intisar turns the monitor around so she can take a look... She falls silent.
It's a picture of a man, but he's all bent out of shape. You can see that he's supposed to have a face, but it doesn't look much like a face.
(How did that happen...?)
Oh, ah... Definitely some room for improvement... Let me try adjusting the parameters a bit.
......
No matter how Intisar adjusts the settings, the AI software just keeps drawing weird-looking faces.
Give me a bit more time, I can definitely get this to work!
Intisar rushes off into her own room, the door banging shut behind her.
Crap, why didn't that just work?
*Sigh* Guess I'll be getting a camera fitted over the front door then...
5. Birds of a Feather
44 linesUtgard: Larkspur Detective Agency
Tevor steps into the detective agency, only to see Intisar running towards the door.
You're heading out? What's got you in such a hurry?
They're releasing a new set of Sunflower Warrior action figures today, limited edition ones... I need to get to the ShrimpWay Department Store! I'd forgotten what day it was!
People are saying there's already a queue around the block... I need to run!
Shopping Street: ShrimpWay Department Store
An out-of-breath Intisar arrives at the store and sees immediately that there are only a few of the action figures left. She hurries over to the counter.
One of the Sunflower Warrior action figures, please!
I'm sorry, there's only one left... Which of you young ladies will be taking it?...
The salesperson looks at the action figure, obviously feeling fairly uncomfortable.
First come, first served. I was here first.
Huh? What are you talking about? I clearly got here first!
I'm a really hardcore Sunflower Warrior fan, can you please just let me have it?
If you think you're more into Sunflower Warrior than I am, you need to get your head checked!
Oh, really? Go on then, how many times has the Sunflower Warrior saved the world?
Seven! What kind of baby-level, easy question is that? What is the Sunflower Warrior's weapon made out of?
Uniquely powerful metal brought back from the B8 star!
In Season Three, Episode Sixteen, what did the Sunflower Warrior say to the little girl?
For justice...
Earn it!
I'm impressed that you know all of that!
Of course I know that stuff! You seem to know what you're talking about too.
Look, I've got a complete set of the limited edition action figures at home, if there's one missing it's really going to suck... Can you...
Hold on, in the picture... You're "sunflwr4evr"?
... Wait, you're not "fyreflowerphoenix", are you?
!!!
So it's you I've been talking with on the forum all this time!
Recovering from the shock of the realization, Intisar notices the backpack Li Guang is carrying.
Wait, is that...
A plushie backpack based on the last crossover event?
It is indeed.
Weird, I never saw that one in the store. I guess I was just too slow?
Nope, I just have a friend who knows how much I like Sunflower Warrior and made it for me!
That's so cool. That means it's the only one in the world!
Your collection is amazing too though, you've got that online-only one... Only ten of those in the world. How did you manage to get that one?
I'm a top-notch hacker, pulling off that kind of thing online is pretty much my specialty!
The two of the chatter away, completely forgetting about the now rather embarrassed salesperson.
Ummm... Excuse me, I hate to interrupt. Will one of you be buying this?
Of course!
We'll buy it and share it. We can deal with the buying it part first and then figure out the sharing it part afterwards!
How about you have it Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I have it Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
And on Sundays?
You come by my place and we watch the show together!
Perfect!