DAY 7 of FLASH AUGUST FICTION. More, OVALS, already. I know. I know. It’s OK because it’s about baseball. They really like to mess with us from low earth orbit sometimes. Just blending in, looking like stars. Such jerks. Here is some background on OVALS, if you’re not familiar:
Death Fiction: What we know about the species that created the OVALS
A story about shenanigans around Lake Superior
There are AI OVALS that discover Planets and examine them: Here is a concave planet with two life forms.
They like to mess with our heads sometimes: Deltas in the Sky
They go on all sorts of missions, like Claiming Scrap on Planets.
There are important protocol that must be followed during linear time Reentry. The OVALnaut’s consciousness is uploaded into the OVALS.
OVALS will be its own separate podcast, with sound effects.
Ángel Hernández, is a former MLB Umpire.
Instant Replay is a Lesson in Time: OVALS
Take Me Out to the Spheregame
696 WORDS, WRITTEN IN ABOUT AN HOUR
This episode features OVALS Hao, Madrigal, Corcoran and Simpson.
Hao, Madrigal, and Corcoran are out of juice. Simpson is on a juice run, rummaging around a nuclear power plant, picking up some errant energy. Everyone is taking their time. The three are hanging out in low earth orbit, watching the humans play the game with the little sphere they throw really hard and hit with the wood cylinder. It's called 'baseball'.
"They seem to like this," Madrigal says.
"Oh yeah," says Corcoran. "They'll be out here all night."
Hao explains: "The game doesn't have a time limit, like most of their other games." It's played based on periods that don't have a timer but instead conditions that must be met."
"Really?" Says Madrigal, "Are we sure they invented it?"
"They actually did," says Corcoran.
"Wow!" exclaims Madrigal. "All by themselves?" No influence from out here?"
"Nope, really." Hao answers.
"I would not believe it if you didn't tell me." Madrigal says.
Corcoran describes one of the processes for Madrigal. "If it goes through the area without being hit, it's called a strike, and they only get three of those. They have to get that little sphere into the area where the other one must hit it with the cylindrical wood. If the man throwing can't get it into the area four times, the one with the wood goes down to the pad. That pad is called a base. The sequence of three into the area is called a strikeout, and the sequence of four outside the area is called a walk."
"That man behind the one receiving the sphere into his tool, called a glove, is the umpire. He defines whether the sphere is in or out of the crucial area”. Corcoran continues. "He's a lot of fun."
There is a pitch, and the ump calls a strike. "See that?"
Madrigal responds. "Yep."
The pitcher throws another, and the ball goes outside the strike zone. Simultaneously, Corcoran projects the word "strike" into the umpire's head. "Strike." The umpire calls it a strike. The batter shakes his head.
"You're bad," Madrigal says. "You're a devil."
"Guess what?" Hao says. "That umpire man? His name is Angel."
All three of them laugh.
Corcoran continues his terrible behavior toward the humans.
The next pitch also misses the strike zone. "Strike," Corcoran projects. The umpire calls a strike.
This time, the batter turns and says something to the umpire. The umpire points at the batter and responds.
On the next pitch, Corcoran leaves them alone, and the batter swings and misses the ball and is screaming as he walks away from the plate.
Simpson screams into the scene. "Hey hey! I got the juice! We ready to go?"
"No way." Says Madrigal, "We're watching the funny sphere game these humans actually made up on their own."
The next man comes to the plate, and he hits the ball into the corner of the outfield. He runs to third base. "That's called a triple." Hao says.
Now another man comes up. Corcoran continues. "See the man receiving the sphere? He sends signals into a device so that the man throwing the sphere knows where to throw the sphere."
As the catcher sends the sign to the pitcher, Corcoran changes it by interfering with the signal. On the next pitch, the ball gets past the catcher, and the runner on third is coming to the plate, trying to score.
The catcher runs back to get the ball, which careens off the back wall and comes back to him. He turns and throws to the pitcher, who tags the runner before he touches the plate.
"SAFE! SAFE!' Corcoran projects into Angel's head. Angel calls him safe.
"Hey, the men on the field aren't all screaming, fighting, and running around, all confused, like they usually do." Hao says.
"Nope," Simpson says, "they figured it out, and now they can record moments and then watch the past on a screen. Now they can avoid conflict, they don't have to be confounded, and they can find out what's real."
“Well, good for them.” Says Madrigal.
"It's still fun." Corcoran says.
The End.
That was a fun one. I hope you liked it. I’m glad we are learning some things about time with the replay system, aren’t you? Subscribe to me. I need the money. Buy me a coffee. Donate some Bitcoin. Thank you. I’m Commercial Herschel, and I’m here to help.
Instant Replay is a Lesson in Time: OVALS