The dirt path twisted and merged into a road paved with graham crackers as the trees thinned out. Emerging from the forest, I spotted Naomi perched on a laddered pedestal, her gaze fixed upon two towering structures crafted from graham crackers. They flanked a squared-off arena at the center, its surface a mosaic of golden-brown squares that reflected the light with a warm glow.
Naomi beckoned me up with a curled finger, and I climbed the ladder.
“So, did you enjoy today’s lesson, Tiger?” Naomi asked, her eyes still focused in front of her.
“Yes, actually, it was very insightful. Thank you.” I replied. “But what’s going on here?”
Reina and Chase were on both sides of the graham-cracker towers surrounding the arena. Below the towering walls were two cities with several wide castles made of licorice. Most of the towns on Chase’s side were broken down or smoldering heaps; In contrast to Reina’s, who had a walled defense and an army of gingerbread men launching jawbreakers at the other side’s last remaining castle.
“I honestly didn’t expect it to be this one-sided after the first few, especially since the scenarios and land changed every new game,” Naomi said, holding her bear up to her mouth in ponder.
Reina, shifting through several holo-screens, flicked one over to Chase with a grin.
“I control several of your diplomats, lords, and have incited rebellion in your high-earning cities. If you want to cut your losses, I suggest you comply with my demands,” Reina said, whipping her hair back with confident flair.
Chase’s usually composed demeanor was shattered, with his white dress shirt drenched in sweat, a delirious expression, and glasses crooked on his face. Just based on physical appearances, I could tell who was on the winning side.
“The game is called Diplomacy. Two players start with a town of six gingerbread people and must build to either topple the overall economy or win through diplomatic strategy.” Naomi explained. “The only rule is you can’t win through brute force, and both sides must come to an agreed delegation that satisfies both parties to end the game.”
Chase slapped the screen away, slamming his fist onto his balcony. “No! Just let me think for a second, dammit!”
Naomi smiled while tilting her body back and forth. “What do you think is the greatest weapon in conversation, Tiger?”
“If I had to guess, it would be information. The resource is unlimited and invaluable in several factors, like negotiation and persuasion.”
“Good answer. The general who makes many calculations will succeed, the general with fewer calculations will suffer many losses. That much is true. But what if you have little information to go off of? What’s the next best attribute?”
I would’ve argued that any information is priceless, but I don’t think that was what she was getting at. Even with several pools of information coming in, or in this case far little, what would be the next best thing to focus on?
Morality? Sure, but some of history's greatest generals and leaders won great victories and governed through propaganda. Discipline? Not likely, since militaristic states like Sparta and Nazi Germany ultimately faced downfall. Eventually, you’d crumble when multiple people with eminent authority saw you as a threat.
“I see you’re struggling, so let me give you a hint,” Naomi said. She flicked two fingers and swiped a holo screen over to me.
It had a relay of all the events that happened in a social timeline in their game. Chase had the upper hand at the start of all seven games. Through setting up resource camps across his border, he had a substantial economy and a fast-growing civilization. But then he started losing morale in his cities when diplomatic relations began.
I tried to find if Reina made any big moves, but it was mostly Chase. It made little sense. But then my eyes widened as I started looking closely at several of Chase’s major actions.
`E3 (Reina) sends diplomatic envoys to neighboring cities, fostering alliances and trade agreements that appear beneficial to both parties.`
`2D (Chase) focuses on expanding his territory and building resource camps.`
`E3 manipulates market prices and trade routes, causing economic disruptions in 2D’s territory.`
`2D, confident in their economic prowess, invests heavily in infrastructure and military defenses, overlooking the subtle shifts in diplomatic relations.`
`E3 leaks false information to 2D, leading him to make costly military deployments and resource allocations based on misinformation.`
`2D under pressure from the perceived threat of E3’s military buildup diverts resources away from economic development, weakening his economy.`
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`E3 employs covert agents to infiltrate 2D’s cities, spreading dissent and inciting unrest among the population, further destabilizing 2D’s civilization.`
`2D, unaware of E3’s clandestine activities, struggles to maintain order and stability in his cities as morale plummets and civil unrest escalates.`
`E3 orchestrates a series of diplomatic crises and political scandals, tarnishing 2D’s reputation and undermining his leadership among neighboring civilizations.`
`2D’s civilization teeters on the brink of collapse, E3 reveals their true intentions and launches a coordinated offensive, exploiting 2D’s weakened state.`
The last line came in real time as I watched Chase’s last castle collapse into heaps of graham cracker crust and debris.
“The answer is manipulation, by the way. You can have all the information in the world, but through cunning and deliberate action, information can also be used against you,” Naomi said.
She then hummed with an innocent smile, her entire demeanor contradicting her unscrupulous statement made prior. I didn’t know whether to be impressed or terrified of this little girl’s, or rather my instructor’s, way of thinking.
Chase and Reina exited their towers and stood in front of the arena with interlocking eyes. I took a step forward, thinking a fight or argument was going to ensue, but Naomi put her arm up in front of me.
“Watch.” She said.
Reina took a blue handkerchief from her coat pocket and handed it to Chase while exchanging some words. Chase nodded, took the handkerchief, and dabbed his face with a smirk. He then said something that made Reina’s eyes widen. They then shook hands and walked toward us while continuing to converse.
“Students think a teacher’s main prerogative is to deliver instruction based on their expertise and experience. That’s a very narrow way of thinking if you ask me. Our job is to produce knowledge that can be challenged and used in the real world. If it’s information that can’t assist you in your day-to-day, what’s the point of lecturing aimlessly about it?” Naomi said.
She then turned to me, holding her bear close to her chest. “You excel at mathematical query, but over-think situations and cannot look at the bigger picture. Even with knowledge of the Koch snowflake, you failed to look at it from a practical perspective, which led to you needing help in figuring out what the model was.”
So she was watching the entire time? That fact aside, there was some truth to her observation. I wanted to convene with the others to find a solution rather than focus on figuring out an answer based on my knowledge. But was bringing the group into the discussion such a bad thing? Three heads were better than one, as the saying goes; Or maybe that wasn’t what she meant.
“You’re thinking hard again,” Naomi said with a sigh. “Okay, remember first to observe situations from an unbiased point of view. That will allow you to raise the questions that have the highest probability of needing answers. In some exercises, like the first you encountered, you over thought, leading to a standstill. But in the second exercise, you thought too little and allowed your classmates to do the bulk of the work for you. Sure, you can rely on each other's strengths, but remember that overvaluing or undervaluing critical analysis can lead to bigger headaches.”
That was some profound insight, and she made me learn through actively engaging with my studies. I think we could learn a lot from her, and the possibility of Chase and the others being allowed to stay in the program became a lot clearer.
“Ah, hello, you two! Had fun collecting samples atop the waterfall?” Naomi asked while performing a ditsy twirl.
Paige nodded and walked over to share some tubed samples with Naomi while Kimberly stood next to me with a groan.
“You would not believe the amount of pain my ankles and arms are in! It was so much work, but I was having fun, so I guess it paid off—”
She stopped talking abruptly, and I looked into her widening eyes and gaping mouth. Following her sight line, Chase was laughing with a wide smile while talking to Reina. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this excited before, not even when he was joking around with Kimberly, who he seemed close with.
“He hasn’t smiled like that in a long time. They seem… to be getting along nicely all a sudden.” Kimberly said, her tone without its usual pep and colder.
It felt as if her entire aura had changed, and she crossed her arms with a pouting face. And though I’m not good at reading girls, I thought she was glaring directly at Reina.
“Alrighty, class! We’ll finish today with some stretches. Then you’ll give me a brief review of what you’ve learned today.” Naomi said while clapping her hands.
A pair of gingerbread men supplied with white shorts and shirts us, then walked back to the playground, where we got into rows of two. I thought sitting in the last row was dangerous because there was a surplus of girls, so I found a spot in the front.
The exercises were simple yet effective, as my back and neck felt refreshed after the yoga session. We then stood in a single line side-by-side. Naomi walked in front of Reina at the head of the line and smiled.
“I’ve learned that ideological one-party states are plagued by personal rule, leading them to fail. You can circumvent this by enforcing checks and balances and public international laws, but the law of war is just as important.”
Did she learn all that just from playing that makeshift strategy game? I wondered how far they actually got into deliberations. Though I came in abruptly, it would’ve been interesting to see them go head-to-head.
Naomi tapped her chin, then shrugged. “Well, sure. But remember that ideologies, similar to religion, can be concerned with biased ideas and goals. Mussolini’s fascist rule fell due to militaristic and economic problems, and Hitler’s Nazi regime collapsed after invading the Soviet Union and declaring war on the United States. Though powerful through propaganda and deliberate action, these two rulers failed due to extreme worldviews and leadership failures. You can’t circumvent the authoritarianism, racism, and aggressive nationalism that ensued.
“It’s good that you’re looking to correct these systems with law. But the weakness of the legal tree is it looks better on paper rather than in practice.”
Reina nodded and walked out of line. Her head lowered as if she was contemplating Naomi’s rebuttal with introspection.
Then, one after the other, we each gave brief statements about today’s lesson, and it was apparent that we all learned various things in just two hours. I was even surprised by Chase’s remarks, reflecting on how he got flustered easily. That probably wasn’t an easy thing for him to admit.
Class was dismissed, and we left the Mindspace and walked down the hall to the elevator. Despite being day one, I think everyone was ready to put their new knowledge to the test.
It was finally time to venture back into Callixtus.