Tip of the iceberg
More transformations seem to be imminent. If only there was a way you could remain like this at least for a while!
"Is there no way I can..." You check yourself just in time. Yes/no questions rarely produce much useful information except for telling you whether information is available! Information you then can't have because you wasted the question finding out if you could have had it... The voice is obviously the kind of person who would answer "yes" if you asked if they know the time.
"How can I remain as I am now?"
"Good, good," the voice remarks, and it almost sounds as if the speaker is smiling. "The answer is yes."
"What?!"
"Just pulling your leg. That was the answer to the question you almost asked, which would be implicit from the answer you will get now. You can remain as you are by staying in place and not making any choices. However, your ability to do so may be... limited."
And with that the darkness yields to bright daylight, and you find yourself staring into a grotesquely swollen yet strangely familiar human face. Choking back a scream you step back and realize that you are looking at your own reflection in a floating crystal ball. There is a shapeless light inside it that flickers slightly.
"Watch your step!" the voice warns, and you notice the light flashing as the voice rises and falls. Apparently you did not do quite well enough to get to see your guide's face. Well, you can live with that... for now.
Following the guide's advice you look down and find that you are standing on a slippery, slightly convex surface that slopes away in all directions. A few steps from this point you won't be able to stay put. Well, that explains the bit about limited ability...
Looking around you realize that you are in fact standing on the top of a vast iceberg, surrounded by... seven pillars. Behind each pillar there is a ridge leading down the slope, effectively dividing the sides of the iceberg into seven 'zones'. Which you apparently have to choose one of and slide down. You guess that the choice you make will determine where you end up and what you get transformed into, and you will never come back or see the other areas unless you turn into something that can fly.
Hang on. You're outdoors...?
The guide seems to have read your mind or at least made an educated guess, for the crystal ball speaks again. "You are not out of the mansion yet. This miniature world and the ones adjacent to it all exist within its walls. And as you also appear to have guessed, the direction you choose will decide your next transformation. However, since you just passed the test of the three questions, clues will be given."
With that, the voice goes silent, and the crystal ball starts moving away. You start looking for clues but find nothing but ice. Unless...
The land beyond the ice slopes is too distant to make out any details, but you realize that you are looking at seven different skies with different clouds. And the clouds don't look like they did a moment ago. You remember how you used to lie on your back and try to see images in the clouds. this is similar, only the images are more distinctive. They don't look like animals, but once you figure them out they will probably suggest different animals...
The crystal ball stops and circles back. "You have spotted the clues," it says. "That earns you another piece of information: You and the others here are being trained for a special task. And occasionally, when the last waitress came this way she received her first bonus of getting to play Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"
You frown. "What? You mean she got to choose between eliminating bad choices, asking a friend or the audience..." You trail off.
"There's an audience??"
Written by Won-Tolla on 24 October 2007
The end (for now)