No. 002 - Lost and Found

[reminded]

[Action?]

[Somewhere, a puzzle sits. Abandoned.

Why? How? Nobody knows. But it looks innocent enough. Little blocks in playful colors, purposefully arranged inside a handcrafted house of wood. The blocks slide easily with a nudge, almost as if they were born to do so. It looks like the big red block would fit perfectly into the space on the right. In fact, it looks like it would be a pretty easy task. Might as well give it a try, right?

But this cheerful little puzzle has a dark secret. To the savvy, it's worth 99 picarats and requires a series of 81 moves at minimum to complete. To the not-as-savvy, that means it's a lot harder than it looks. This is not a puzzle for the weak.]


[Voice, evening]

Good evening, Luceti. I’ll only be a moment. I seem to have lost a puzzle of mine -- a sliding block puzzle, to be precise. Has anyone seen it? I would appreciate any word.

(( OOC: I don’t count on him actually getting the puzzle back, but it can be spotted anywhere and everywhere. And if you'd like to play out puzzle frustrations with someone other than Layton, go right ahead! Puzzle destruction is also a thing that is acceptable. Just sayin'.

P.S.: a video of the puzzle if you want to see it in action. ))

Comments

[immamartillo]

...That's a trick. That's not fair.

[reminded]

Tricky, to be sure, but not a trick. You would ask yourself the same question in a real world situation -- "Whom should I shoot?" -- and you would have the same options available to you.

[immamartillo]

Tricky, trick--they're the same thing! And anyway, in a real situation I could just use a knife instead and take both of 'em out.

[reminded]

[That's not very gentlemanly. But then again, gentlemen wouldn't be shooting each other dead.]

A knife? That would put you at an even greater disadvantage, surely?

[immamartillo]

Not if you're good enough. You don't hafta reload a knife, either, and it's easier to control it than a bullet.

[reminded]

Intriguing. I would love to see that in action, but I'm not sure if my heart would be able to handle it.

[Also violence is bad, mmkay.]

[immamartillo]

[He wonders if that's a joke.]

Seriously? You'd keel over and die just from seein' somethin' like that?

[reminded]

A figure of speech, good fellow. I'd rather not see anyone have to dodge bullets unless they were figurative.

[immamartillo]

Right. You know, that was pretty violent for a puzzle. They all like that?

[Puzzle people are weirder than he thought.]

[reminded]

Only if you want them to be. [He could probably put a macabre spin on a sliding block puzzle if he had the mind to.] What if I said our guns were actually water pistols?

[immamartillo]

Water pistols..? But then who cares who gets shot or not? No point in solvin' it then.

[reminded]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree there. Even so, I thank you for humoring me up to this point. Hershel Layton is my name. With whom am I speaking?

[immamartillo]

No problem.

[It actually was more interesting than he would have though, and if he were more polite he'd thank Layton for having patience with him.]

Firo Prochainezo. So you are that professor Luke's always talkin' about?

[reminded]

Ah, it seems my reputation precedes me. Are you friends with Luke? I hope he hasn't been troubling you.

[immamartillo]

...Um, sorta.

[He and Luke don't get along the best, but Firo's had people who hate him more.]

He's no trouble at all. He's pretty good friends with Czes, another friend a' mine.

[reminded]

[Ahhh.]

And would you happen to know Maiza too, by any chance?

[immamartillo]

Maiza? Of course I do! I've known him for years, almost since I was a kid.

[reminded]

[You mean you aren't still a kid, Firo?]

Well now, that's a happy link. I've been living with Maiza and Czeslaw since I arrived. It's a wonder we didn't meet earlier.

[immamartillo]

Yeah, I need to stop by more often. Luke's there, too, isn't he?

[Please don't just invite yourself over, Firo...]

[reminded]

Yes, of course. He was insistent that I stay, as crowded as the flat has gotten because of me. It seems he's grown quite fond of his living arrangements.

[immamartillo]

That's good. He seems like the kinda kid--

["...who needs friends."]

...I mean, um, it's good for him and Czes. To have people around and all that.

[reminded]

[Layton couldn't refuse for that very reason.]

They do seem to get on fabulously, which I couldn't be more pleased to see. I sometimes wonder if Luke's time with me has distanced him too much from his peers.

[immamartillo]

Yeah? Czes doesn't know too many kids his age either...

[Well, his apparent age, but Firo doesn't know how much Layton knows about that so he'll try to avoid that topic.]

What do you guys do, anyway? He always calls you the professor, are you his teacher?

[reminded]

Ha ha ha. That's a good question. He sometimes assists me at the university or on investigations, but I would say that we are simply very good friends. Though he calls me Professor, I don't believe I've ever taught him anything he didn't already know -- his growth has been all his own.

[immamartillo]

Wait, you're sayin' that little kid works at a university?

[Much of the rest of that is lost on him. Firo knows few people who have gone to college, or even high school, so he's both skeptical and impressed.]