The first thing Sheki Go Possible became aware of, upon awakening, was the fact that she had a headache. Not a figurative headache, such as the fact that her beloved twin sister was a bisexual attention and adrenaline junkie, but a literal, pounding, it-feels-like-someone-with-a-sledge-hammer-is-trying-to-break-out-of-my-skull headache. The second thing she was aware of was the fact that, wherever she was, she was not lying in her bed.
Some people might have sat up, shocked, at this realization. They may have said something inane like “Owww! Where are we? Where’s the Tylenol?”. Those people would obviously not have trained their whole lives to be become special agents, and had never given thought of what to do in that situation.
Sheki kept her breathing slow and calm, feining sleep. The surface she was laying on appeared to be some sort of inflatable mattress. There were no sheets laying on top of her, but fortunately the surrounding air was warm. The air smelled of fresh, green plants; a pleasant scent, but unlike the floral potpourri or the smell of plasma-created ozone that were the distinguishing scents of Sheki’s home. Instead of either pajamas or her regular outfit, Sheki seemed to be dressed in a pair of pants and a shirt; a leather belt, holding what seemed to be a holstered pistol and either a coil of thin leather rope or a whip was around Sheki’s waist.
Sheki cracked her eyes slightly. The room she was in appeared to be some sort of tent; judging by the light showing though the canvas, the tent was outside and it was morning. There were two inflatable mattresses; the one Sheki was laying on also held the slumbering form of Rina Molerat. On the other mattress was…
Kasy sat up, cradling her head. “Owww! Where are we? Where’s the Tylenol?”
Sheki sighed to herself and also sat up, not quite as hastily as Kasy. There was no sign of any spy cameras or other people inside the tent, and hopefully no one was listening.
Kasy glanced around, rubbing her head. “Sheki… that party last night. We agreed… no alcahol, no smoking, no drugs… right?”
“Right.” said Sheki, standing up and inspecting the clothing she was dressed in. The leather rope turned out to be a leather bullwhip, in good shape. At the foot of the bed was some leather boots, in exactly Sheki’s size.
“Then why do I have a hangover?” groaned Kasy, sitting up. Kasy glanced down at herself. “And why am I dressed like this?”
Sheki glanced over at her sister. Kasy was dressed in a pair of tight fitting black shorts, a pair of heavy-caliber handguns holstered at her thighs. A black leather belt helped hold up the shorts, with a shiny metal buckle with a skull emblazoned on the front. A tight fitting white t-shirt and bra covered Kasy’s chest. At the foot of her mattress was another pair of leather boots, these with a bit higher heel then the ones provided for Sheki.
“At the end of the party… that woman, remember?” said Sheki, concentrating. “She came in as the last guests were leaving…. Said she had an invitation for us. Then there was a hissing sound…”
“You think she gassed us?” said Kasy. She considered. The woman had been several years older then Kasy and Sheki, mid twenties, and extremely attractive. “Kinky.”
Sheki rolled her eyes. “Come on… Let’s find out where we are and what’s going on.”
Sheki picked up Rina, who stayed asleep. “Looks like the gas hit Rina harder then it did us.”
“Is she ok?” said Kasy, her voice suddenly full of concern.
“Yeah, I think so.” said Sheki. “She’s just still sleeping.”
A quick, but thorough, inspection of the tent revealed nothing usable. The tent was pitched on top of some hard rocky material; too flat and smooth to be completely natural, but not rough like concrete. The inflated mattresses and tent seemed to be imbedded into the stone, so they could not be moved; in addition, the tent lacked poles; instead, inflated ‘vanes’ stiffened the material. Except for what the girls wore, there was nothing usable in the tend for weapons or tools. Sheki’s wrist comp and Kasy’s cell-phone were both conspicuously absent.
Their search might have continued, except for a chiming sound outside the tent.
Sheki and Kasy glanced at each other, then Sheki pulled the pistol from her holster. It was an old fashioned six shooter, firing slower but larger bullets then the ones Kasy’s guns used. There were currently five bullets in the gun, with additional reloads in the belt around Sheki’s waist. Sheki adjusted the gun, turning the cylinder so a loaded chamber was in place and then cocking the hammer.
Seeing her sister’s actions, Kasy took the pistol from her right thigh holster, cocking it. Her left hand remained empty, ready to plasma blast.
Sheki moved silently to the tent flap, holding up three fingers. Kasy nodded, to indicate she understood, and braced herself. After a silent count of three, Sheki pulled back the tent flap. Kasy leapt through, her gun going toward the direction the clinking noise had come from. Sheki followed, moving to stand behind her sister, her gun pointing the other way.
“Ah. Miss Possible and Miss Possible. Won’t you be seated?”
Not seeing any sign of danger in front of her, Sheki turned cautiously to peek around her sister’s head. An elaborate table had been set up, complete with a white table cloth, china plates, and polished silver utensils. There would four place settings, and four wood seats. The two seats opposite of Kasy and Sheki were occupied by a young woman, in her mid twenties, and a gentleman despite his prematurely silvering hair looked to be in his later thirties or early forties. The man was dressed in a formal black tuxedo, a black hat sat on the table beside him and a cane leaning against his chair. The woman was dressed in a formal white dress, the long sleeves draping down from her athletic arms. Despite the change of outfit, but Kasy and Sheki easily recognized her as the woman who had gassed the two of them. Both the couple and the table seamed out of place. The table and tent were both in the middle of a clearing, in the middle of what appeared to be a heavily forested tropical island. The mid-morning sun was warm but not too hot, a constant breeze keeping the clearing from being uncomfortable.
“Where are we?” snapped Kasy.
“Why, you’re on my private island.” said the man, picking up a glass of what appeared to be champagne. “Forgive me, I have not introduced myself. I am Deven Chee, and this is my lovely traveling companion Lee O’Nardo.”
“Why did you bring us here?” said Kasy angrily. She pointed the gun at the man’s forehead, her finger taking up some of the slack off the trigger. Sheki, in the meantime, was studying Lee’s dress closely; specifically, the long sleeves that hung down from Lee’s arms, only moving when Lee moved her arms to pick up a glass of orange juice. There was a faint, mocking smile on Lee’s lips, as if she knew something Kasy and Sheki didn’t and was greatly enjoying herself at the twin’s expense.
“Why, to play a game of course.” said Deven, before taking a sip of champagne.
Kasy growled, then felt her sister’s hand on her shoulders. Much to Kasy’s surprise, Sheki had holstered her pistol and was moving to take the seat opposite of Deven. Her eyes had moved to stare at Deven’s. He smiled blandly, matching her gaze.
“Sheki, what are you doing?” asked Kasy. “What if I have to shoot him?”
“It wouldn’t help…” said Sheki.
Kasy gasped. Sheki ignored her sister, picking up one of the rolls from a basket in the middle of the table, and then threw it straight at Deven.
Deven didn’t even flinch or blink as the roll reached his forehead… and passed straight through, coming out to hit a tree behind him.
Kasy blinked, then activated the safety on her gun. “Holograms?”
“Very good, Miss Possible!” said Deven, smiling at Sheki. “What gave us away?”
“A few details.” said Sheki. “Mainly, the way Lee’s sleeves didn’t move in the wind.”
Kasy sat down at the table, glancing suspiciously at the food. “So, where are you two, really, and what’s this game?”
Lee smiled. “Don’t be so impatient, kitten.” she told Kasy. “We’re at an identical table, watching holograms of you two, at the pyramid.”
“Pyramid.” repeated Sheki.
“The game consists of three challenges, and begins after we finish breaking fast together.” said Deven. “The first two challenges you two may work together, and the third challenge will have Leigh facing off with Kasy, and myself against the lovely Sheki.”
“What are the challenges?” said Sheki, ignoring the flattery.
“Ah, so eager to begin.” said Deven, smiling. “The first challenge is to find the pyramid, the second to work your way through it. To find the pyramid… there is a path behind me, or at least behind my holographic projection.”
Sheki nodded, her face in the intense expression she wore when busy trying to memorize a teacher’s lecture or studying a new form of martial art.
“The path leads to the tallest tree on the island, where it then forks. One path leads to the pyramid, the other to a set of booby traps. Under the tree is a Logician… electronically simulated, of course.”
“What’s a Logician?” asked Kasy.
“A standard participant in logic puzzles.” said Deven. “They are divided into three tribes. North Logicians always tell the truth, South Logicians always lie. The Mid-Logicians, being the result of breeding between the two main tribes, alternate in strict order, between lying and telling the truth.”
“And you’re not going to tell us which tribe he’s from.” said Sheki.
“Of course not.” said Deven, smiling. “But enough talk of the game for now. Let’s eat.”
Kasy frowned. “How do we know this food hasn’t been poisoned, or drugged?”
“My dear girl!” said Deven, sounding offended. “What in the world would make you think I would do something so… so uncivilized?”
“You did have me gas them.” pointed out Lee. “I suppose a little… suspision… is in order.”
“Very well.” said Deven. He stood, or at least his hologram did. He placed a hand over his chest, covering where his heart was. “I, Deven Chee, as your host, hereby pledge that while you are my guests, however willingly or unwillingly, that I will neither poison nor drug your though any food or drink I have provided for you.”
Sheki and Kasy glanced at each other… Sheki considered what she had seen of Deven and Lee so far, then shrugged slightly. Kasy’s eyes widened slightly, then Kasy nodded faintly, accepting her sister’s judgment.
“Very well.” said Kasy, reaching down for a glass of orange juice. Sheki reached out, picking out a crescent roll and a butter serving dish.
Deven smiled. “Fascinating… Telepathic twins?”
“Perhaps.” said Sheki, not wanting to abandon any edge…even though it was just a combination of shared experience and an ability to very minutely read each other’s body language.
The breakfast was… interesting. The holograms were so convincing that Kasy asked Deven to pass a carafe of orange juice… and was surprised when her hands passed through the pitcher he held out.
After eating, Deven picked up a linen napkin and primly wiped off the corners of his mouth. “Ah, an excellent repast. Now, the game is afoot.” . He picked up a fork and tapped it against the side of his water glass, reproducing the chiming noise that had drawn the two girls out of the tent.
Lee smiled and her image faded out; some change in the hologram projector made her smile visible an instant longer then the rest of her body. Deven began to fade, but then stopped when his image was only half faded. “Two other things about Logicians, my dear Sheki. They will only answer one question a day… and while they understand English, they will only respond in Logician.”
With a smirk, Deven’s image faded completely.
Kasy stood up, looking around. The path Deven had meant was obvious, it was the only path from the clearing. She set off it, quickly. Sheki frowned, her mind working on the logic puzzle. One question… Logician will either lie or tell the truth…. She followed Kasy, trusting Kasy to not lead her astray while Sheki’s mind worked on the problem.
TEAM POSSIBLE VERSION 2.0
Kasy leaned against the tree. On the other side was a humanoid robot, looking like the spitting image of Deven. Sheki was crouched by the path, drawing in the dirt. She had sketched out a grid of boxes and was making marks in them with a stick, muttering under her breath. Rina Molerat had finally woken up and was staring at the marks Sheki was making, trying to decipher them.
Sheki sighed, standing up. “It’s no good… if we’re going to find where the pyramid is, we need to ask him at least two questions. I can’t reduce it any further.”
Kasy grinned. “Awwww…. And here I thought you were the brains of the team.”
Sheki glared at her sister. “Kasy…. It’s elemental binary logic. The best I got is ‘Are you a mid-logician’ and ‘Is that the path to the pyramid’. If he answers the same to both questions, then we don’t want that path. Otherwise, we do.”
“Sheki, Sheki, Sheki.” said Kasy. “I can find the answer in a single day.”
“Ok, hot shot.” said Sheki. “What would YOU ask him?”
“If this is really the tallest tree on the island.” said Kasy. She turned, beginning to scramble up the tree.
Sheki blinked, then slapped herself on the forehead. “Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees…” she muttered to herself.
“You kay?” squeaked Rina.
Sheki flopped down to Rina. “I’m fine… but the next time I brag about outscoring Kasy on a test, remind me of this.”
From the top of the tree, Kasy looked around the island. From up here, the path to the pyramid was easy to spot. It was a four sided pyramid, with the top point flattened off. Perched on the top of the pyramid was a helicopter. “Woo-hoo!” called Kasy, down to the ground where Sheki and Kasy were. “I see our ride home!”
TEAM POSSIBLE VERSION 2.0
“And score one for the red head.” observed Lee. She was wearing a jet black leotard that clung to her athletic body, caressing every curve. She moved from the wall of monitors that showed Kasy climbing down from the tree, Sheki moving to be ready in case her sister feel.
“Ah, yes.” said Deven. “Still, remember, there are two more challenges.”
“I can’t wait.” purred Lee. She began to stretch, limbering up. Her eyes focused intently on a close up image of Kasy’s smiling, cheerful face. Her pale green skin was delightfully framed by her short, bright red hair.
“Come into our parlor, said the spiders to the flies.” said Deven. The screen he was looking at showed the complex chart of symbols, arrows, and lines Sheki had drawn on the ground. “This should prove a most amusing game.”