I was tingling with excitement, and couldn’t wait to try out Kiara’s innovative suggestion. But first I instructed my subjects to set up three new farms. One at the village, another at the dome and a third one at my palace. These small farms should be fairly easy to maintain, and had negligible risk of destruction by players. They would generate a steady output of evilese, buying me time to explore other possibilities, like Kiara’s brilliant idea.

My chamber was to be the location of the experiment. I extracted Pook’s stone from my pocket and whispered, “Let’s Meet”.

A white box appeared.

So you want to meet me? Do you want to play one of my quests????????

Pook’s eagerness lowered my initial enthusiasm a tad bit. Kiara’s idea was ingenious in theory, but could it be practically carried out, especially with someone like Pook, who was prone to misunderstanding?

“I just want to meet you,” I said, “First let me… um, inside you.”

I was definitely not suggesting anything even remotely sexual.

Okay!

My chamber dissolved and I found myself in the blackness, where time flowed at a different speed.

Pook came along.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Pook said, “now follow me. Let’s get you to the light!”

“Um, why do I have to come to this dark place every time?” I asked Pook.

“Well, it’s…” Pook halted in his steps. He didn’t seem to know the reason behind.

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“Can you please transport me or anyone that comes directly to the place with light from the next time?” I asked. “Please?”

“Okay!” Pook agreed, rather like a child, “I guess, that can be done. But this time, do follow me.”

I patted Pook in a friendly manner on his shoulder. He turned towards me with a blank face but did not say anything in response. I felt awkward. I understood that he only had a partial grasp of human emotions and behavior. Even the monsters in comparison were very much human, if with a higher level of aggression. Pook was an Oddity. No wonder he was odd.

The portal led to the realm of light. Fono was doing pushups. The last time Bono and Bui had asked him to leave and live with them, but Fono had refused saying he had become way too used to the easy life inside Pook.

“What brings you here?” he greeted, done with his workout and sitting at ease with his legs wide apart.

“I wanted to have a word with Pook,” I said.

“I look forward to whatever you have to say,” the Oddity said, “you are wise. You are the first individual to complete a quest of mine.”

“I wanted to know if you can create more quests.”

“More quests?” Pook said happily. “For yourself?”

“I want you to create quests for players. I want you to create the quests exactly as I tell you to. Can you do that?”

“As long as people play my quests there is no reason for me not to be happy,” Pook said.

“Good,” I said. “But I must be very clear, the quests should be exactly as I tell you. Not the smallest bit of change must be there. You must not use any of your… uh, creativity, all right?”

Pook nodded. I wondered how much of it had really entered his head.

“Look, I must stress this point,” I told him, “no change at all. The last time you complicated things by creating volcanoes and lava and all that.”

“But that was necessary!” Pook protested.

I shook my head.

“From now on you must stick with me word for word, all right?”

Pook looked vacantly at me. Who knew what went inside his odd mind?

“Fine, I will do as you say. But are you sure I should use no imagination at all?” he said. “It will be like… like you are asking a painter to create a portrait exactly as you want him to, but at the end of the day the painter must utilize a sprinkle of his creativity otherwise the painting will never be done.”

“No,” I said, even though I could relate to his analogy. “You will not be a painter. I ask you to draw a line, you will draw a line. I ask you to draw a circle, you will draw a circle.”

Pook shoulders were drooping, but I had to be strict with him or he would mess up everything. Pook crossed his arms.

“Will I get more players for my quests if I do exactly as you say?”

“Most likey.” I couldn’t promise him anything except probability. The players might not find our quests attractive.

“Then I will do it. But how long will the line be? What color will be the circle?”

Pook had some valid doubts. I realized this was not going to be easy at all.

***