Playtime

[Cdr Rian Kwai 0]

"I'll leave you this, little one. A quote from one of your own philosophers. 'You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation.' What conclusion you draw from this game is your own. I, my dear, have my own ideas."

 

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Rian Kwai was doing homework. Yes, that's right. Homework.

 

Since returning from the Wadi station, she was acting a bit more neurotic than usual. Something Rian recognized almost immediately after her conversation with Apollo in Ten Forward. And now she was certain it was starting to show to the other crew, especially since her most obvious 'tell' was the itching. And the itching was back with a vengeance.

 

Some might think that perhaps it was the stress of knowing the fate of her crewmates rested on the roll of her dice. Or maybe it was that detested slang name Apollo insisted on using, the one that irked her enough to be provoked into throwing something at him. Or they might think that she was worried about what Blu would do when she finally confronted her about her un-officer like behavior.

 

Or perhaps it was a combination of that, and more.

 

Recognition of her own issues and her anger that she wasn't doing such a hot job in handling it caused a cascade effect, exaggerating the problem. This of course, caused more frustration, more anger, and more itching.

 

The homework - - trying to find out what philosopher Cero the Wadi game-master had quoted had become an obsessive attempt to divert her neurotic tendencies towards a more productive outcome. It hadn't yet stopped the itching. But it had started Rian thinking.

 

It's Plato. He quoted Plato. An ancient toga wearing philosopher from Earth. Ha. Bet he never met a Wadi game-master.

 

Rian leaned forward, reading more related quotes on 'play'. Some made her laugh. Others were perplexing for her. For a girl who had little time to 'play' as a child on a space freighter, she didn't always appreciate the ideas that some cultures had that 'play' was a form of work for a child. Play helped children develop socially, physically, mentally and emotionally, or so she was reading.

 

Did she missed out because she didn't have the same carefree childhoods many of the cultures she read about had, or even what some of her fellow Trills had. But by joined gods, when she did get to play, she played hard. That had to count for something. Right? Did play have to end after childhood? Was the Wadi love of games healthier? They seemed happier. What constitute play for an adult anyway? Certainly those trapped in the Wadi 'game' probably wouldn't think of that as 'play'. What about sports? Holodeck creations? 3-D Chess? What? And what about the Wadi games anyway?

'All other species play to play. We're the only species that plays to win. Maybe that's why there are so many losers.'

-- Lily Tomlin

 

The itching had stopped, not that she'd yet noticed. Rian sighed softly, staring at the computer screen as she pondered these thoughts and more until she felt something warm, soft, fluffy and decidedly wet drop onto her bare foot. When she looked down, she saw a fluffy white canine wagging his tail, mouth agape as if smiling and trying to pounce on the small stuffed animal now resting on her toes. Rian kicked the toy away, watching Buddy bound after it. He soon dropped it at her feet again.

 

"What? Were you reading over my shoulder?" The Trill picked up the slobbery toy, stood up and walked towards the door. She slipped on her shoes, then picked up the leash. "Alright off to the holodeck we go, Buddy. Let's go play."

 

'…we play for the sake of the game, for play itself. In this manner, we participate in the essence of existence.'

-- George Leonard