everyone?”
“That's a fair point,” Leah agreed.
“Why did you write CaseHack? I thought you were a spirit of protection,” Maryann said.
“I'm a spirit of protection and defense,” it said. “I defend against those godless heathen engineers. So I wrote this game they can't stop playing. I even got them off of the Battle.net,” it said with clear pride.
“You're making my brother fail!”
“That's not my problem.”
“We're making it your problem,” Isabella said. “Now, why don't you tell us why you've done this? You've been guarding for decades. Why start being so active?”
“You don't care,” it said sullenly.
“Sure we do. Why are you being so mean?” Maryann asked.
“What do you expect from someone who literally has a heart of stone?” Leah asked.
“Is this really the time for jokes?” Isabella asked severely.
She shrugged. “Always.”
“It's not very original,” the spirit said. “I've heard all those jokes before. They're not funny.”
“Who told you those jokes?” Isabella asked.
“The others up on the tower. They only make fun of me,” the spirit said. “There used to be a bunch of gargoyle spirits on the Rockefeller building and I didn't have to talk to those angel spirits. But then one winter one of the statues fell off the roof and the school took all of them away and now I don't have anyone to talk to. You know, I don't just program the game. I play it too. And the students talk to me. They don't know I'm not a student. I can't leave, you know. I have to protect. It's my job.”
“You're more like a student than you think,” Nora said. “Afraid to make friends and hiding in the computer.”
“I told you, the others just make fun of me,” it snapped.
“Listen, we need you to stop putting the magic in the game that makes people play it all the time. My brother is failing out!” Maryann said.
“What do I get out of it?” it asked sullenly.
“We'll go talk to those stuck-up angel statue spirits and figure out what their deal is,” Nora said.
“I would have said 'mean-spirited spirits,'” Leah said.
Nora rolled her eyes.
The gargoyle spirit chuckled. “Hey, that'd be nice.”
“We'll be right back,” Nora said. “Ladies.”
They exited the building but they noticed the gargoyle spirit following them at what it seemed to consider a safe distance.
“Excuse me; can we talk for a minute?” Isabella asked the angel statue spirits.
They seemed to have a conversation amongst themselves and then sent one down as a representative. “Why are you mortals bothering us?” it asked. It looked very much like the statue, only taller.
“Why are you so mean to that gargoyle who shares the bell tower with you?” Nora demanded.
“It's a gargoyle. We're angels.”
“No, you're all protection spirits. It just looks like a gargoyle, and you look like angels. It's not the same thing at all,” Isabella said.
“We protect. It defends.”
“Listen here spirits,” Nora started.
“Oh, no, here we go,” Leah said.
“That poor creature is stuck on that bell tower just like you three. You were built for the same purpose - protection. And here you are acting like mean girls. Where did you even learn that? There's barely enough girls here to go around. It lost all its friends when those other statues were taken away and you just ignore him. Angels, huh? You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Ashamed!”
The spirit did look taken aback.
“Don't be like us petty mortals. Don't be mean girls. That gargoyle spirit clearly knows a lot about the modern world, and I'll bet you don't even know what a computer is.”
“No, I have no idea. I do know it just keeps going on and on about that sort of thing. We protect. We don't get involved,” it said disdainfully.
Maryann pulled out her phone and loaded up a video. “Oh, so you've never seen this,” she said, and held up the phone.
The spirit looked puzzled. “It is some sort of magic box? Oh, it's a kitten! Oh, it's adorable! What is it doing? It's falling asleep! It's falling asleep standing up. Oh, that is sooo cute. This is a computer?”
“Not really, but the gargoyle here can show you,” Isabella said while Maryann uploaded another adorable kitten video. The other two spirits descended and started to watch the videos.
“Um, I don't want to spend all my time watching kitten videos,” the gargoyle said to Leah.
“Relax. This is just to get them interested. You just wait. Soon enough they'll be ready to try out games and watch other stuff and in no time at all you'll all be together on guild raids.”
“Maybe,” it said doubtfully.
“Listen, you've got to give a little to get a little. It's better than being ignored, right, and you're stuck with them, like it or not, right?”
“Yes, you're right.”
“Okay, now we've introduced you to the modern world, we should get back to our hotel and get some sleep,” Nora said.
“Will you show us this computer?” an angel spirit asked the gargoyle as Maryann put away her phone.
“Sure! It's the best thing ever. There's a lot more videos of a lot more than kittens and there are also games.”
“If you go to our website, you can see a broadcast of our show,” Maryann said. “We're Nevermore and the Ravens.”
“Oh, I don't like that modern rock stuff,” the gargoyle spirit said. “But thanks for your help.” The four spirits headed back to the computer lab.
“Well, there's no accounting for taste,” Leah sighed.
“I hope they become fans anyway,” Maryann said.
“Now, can we please get some sleep?” Nora asked.
“Yes. Let's go. And don't forget to give your brother his ID back,” Isabella said.
“I won't. It's nice when we get a happy ending.”
“I'm not sure all the students will agree when their magic game goes away.”
“They'll be grateful during finals week,” Leah said.
“That's true,” Isabella agreed.
The Lyrics:
Pizza boxes on the floor
Mail pilin' up at the door
Beer bottles line my hall,
Ain’t got no time for nothin’ at all
Refrain: Angels on three sides, gargoyles on one
The light burns my eyes,
Tripped over my shoes
Haven’t bathed for a week
Ain't up on the news
Refrain
My sweatpants are matted,
So is my hair,
My mascara has run,
I don’t even care
Refrain
The sound of the NPCs ring in my ears,
I'm in the middle of a battle
The pizza guy’s coming
But I can’t hear
Refrain
I scrounge for food by the side of the road
And in the depths the fridge find a pop
My answering machine is blinking
Just one more level; then I'll stop
Refrain
Haven't seen the sun
Haven't been to work
Haven't talked to a real person
But I've found my true love!
Refrain
(Lee, spoken word): My character’s a half-elf shadow-blade; I’m in the assassins' guild; there are no gargoyles here!
Refrain: Angels on three sides, oblivion on the other.
Track 2: Quantum Butterfly
The Interview:
Brad: The next song, “Quantum Butterfly,” shows a definite influence from progressive rock and glam rock. The tempo starts slow and speeds up. The guitar solo at the bridge is a nice touch. Which came first, the lyrics or the music?
Lenore: Actually, the inspiration came first,
and the lyrics and music sort of came together.
Brad: What was the inspiration for this? A day everything went wrong?
Lee: Yes.
Brad: No, seriously, what was it?
Belle: She was being serious. We had an event where pretty much everything that could go wrong, did go wrong, from the weather to the equipment to even the audience.
Brad: Well, I guess everyone's had a day like that. But why a butterfly?
Anna: Chaos theory.
Brad: Yeah, you know, I didn't study up on that for my interview with you.
Lee: You've heard of this. It's the idea that the world is so unpredictable that the flap of a butterfly's wings on one side of the world causes hurricanes on the other side of the world.
Brad: Right, I think I have heard of that. Why quantum?
Anna: Because “Quantum butterfly” sounds cool.
Lee: We also thought about “chaos butterfly” but figured that was too direct.
Brad: Well, either would have been lost on me. Why not call the song “Murphy's Law?”
Belle: It didn't really fit our concept. There was a lot more to the inspiration than just things going wrong, although a lot of things went really wrong.
Brad: So what day was it that went so wrong?
Lenore: Just one of those gigs you do trying to make it big. If we told you the gig, you'd know exactly what it was.
Brad: So why not just tell me?
Lee: Because it's more fun not to.
Brad: Is it really a good idea to tweak the journalist for “Forever Rock” magazine?
Lenore: Sure. We may not get another chance.
Brad: [Laughs] Alright, that's a fair point.
The Flashback:
“Where did Mr. Rafel book us this time?” Nora asked as Isabella drove them down a lonely desert highway. The setting sun turned the empty landscape deep red.
“The Pandemonium Festival,” Maryann answered from her usual spot behind Nora, even though they were not in the van.
“Never heard of it.”
“It’s the first annual.”
“You can't have a first annual anything. You have a