2010年8月7日土曜日

EPICWIN (english version)

There is nothing more demotivating than your daily chores. Theres lots of stuff you gotta do, but they're very rarely fun. A challenge to this situation is EpicWin, brought to you by a small team of developers. Tak, of minisquadron fame, and Rex known for his design work in the PS3 game Little Big Planet.


Epic Win, meaning "legendary victory" in English (yeah, I'm translating.) is used to signify a oft meaningless but memorable victory in life. In essence, its adds some game style flair to your day.

At the core of EPICWIN is the todo list functionality, where you add in the stuff you need to do in a day, and then check them off as completed. For example, taking out the trash, separating out the recycleables, washing the dishes, and going to the supermarket -- all are assigned experience points and you can level up, or gain items for completing these quests. Users are rewarded, and get to enjoy a sense of victory of completing the tasks. This app, which allows users to complete their "quests" stimulate the desire to get started on the next task. And as the user goes about their daily life, the character in the game continues on their journey, completing these quests alongside user.

The app is scheduled for a release date of August 19th, made available world wide on the apple Appstore. A price hasn't been announced yet, and there are no current plans for a Japanese version. Still, since the app is driven by the user entering "quests" it should be playable even without a localized version.

Level ups, loot and other large events are notified via Facebook to friends. There is significant interest from Android users, but there is no port yet, and if there will be one, it will be after the release of the iPhone version.

The draw of the game is in its simplicity, but its fun to imagine what sorts of future development we might see. Perhaps a Foursquare-esque location based service? Or perhaps forming parties over a SNS like Mixi (the Japanese answer to Facebook) in a more "game" version. There is a fair bit of room to ecxpand the functionality, such as location specific services. Still, I expect we'll be seeing more of these styles of games, bringing game elements into real life.

The true value of EPICWIN is likely that we can all enjoy life a little more, just by changing out view of it. Enjoying the little victories of life, getting a medal for it, and maybe cracking a smile in the middle of an otherwise dry day. This is perhaps the real EPICWIN of this app, and its developers.

Below is the very humorous video trailer for the app. I think you'll like it. :D


2010年8月6日金曜日

Brammo Empulse(ブラーモ インパルス)紹介

一ヶ月ほど前だけど、米国オレゴン州、アッシュランド市にあるBrammo社が新型電動バイクの発表をした。そこで、日本で正しい情報が伝わっていないので、ここで一度細かい情報を翻訳しておこうと思う。





名称:Brammo Empulse(ブラーモ インパルス)
製造元:Brammo 社
モデル:10.0、8.0、6.0(三種)
出力:55HP(41kW)
トルク:59ft-lb (80Nm)
重量:390ポンド(176kg)乾燥重量等変化無し
原動機:水冷ブラッシュレス直流モーター
電池容量:12.5kwH(10.0モデル)
電池形式:社内開発BrammoPowerPack:リチウムイオン式
ドライブ:クラッチレス無変速一速チェーンドライブ
サス(フロント)Marzocchi Shiver hydraulic USD 倒立フォーク
プレロード、圧縮調整可能
サス(リア):Elka hydraulic 12.75cmのトラベル
圧縮調整可能
ブレーキ(フロント):油圧式ラジアルマウントNissin4ピストン ダブルディスク
(リア):詳細不明ディスク
ホイール/タイヤ120/70-17 (フロント) 180/55-17(リア)
航続距離:(10.0モデル)160km+
最高速度:時速160km+

気になる価格は最安の6.0が$9995と約100万円。8.0が120万、10.0は140万となる。三段階に区別されているモデルも電池(航続距離)以外は共通。
しかし、エコ減税等からアメリカ国内では納車価格が70万ほどになる見込み。日本は不明。

日本の道交法を見ると区分は普通二輪となる。原動機に電気駆動を用いた車両に対する規則が(出力1kw以上は普通二輪とする)以外無いからだ。このあたりは法整備がそのうちされると思われる。

電池は家庭用電源で完全充電まで6~8時間。業務用電源でその半分の3~4時間へと短縮ができる。
とはいえ、電池形式から75~80%までは急速チャージで家庭用電源で2時間、業務用電源なら1時間を期待できる。

■感想

バイク乗りとして安心した点は、サスやブレーキが従来品を採用していること。つまり、サス、ブレーキ、タイヤ等の消耗品の問題は無く、従来の整備やメンテが受けられるということだ。チェーンも普通にメンテ、交換が可能だ。特にタイヤが一般の物を自由に交換できるのも素晴らしい。

三段階に区別されているモデルも電池以外は共通で、同じ最高速度と加速性を持っている。航続距離が乗り方で変化するのだが、160kmという距離はアメリカでの平均的な乗り方で、時速100kmでの高速道路使用を考えた距離となっている。時速40~50kmを緩やかに走ると30%増し、210kmは行けるそうだ。

燃料費…というか電気の価格はアメリカで1マイル1セント。なので、1.6kmで約1円くらい。
日本は電気代が約二倍なので1キロで約1.2円くらいになる。
ガソリンが今リッター134円なので、燃費計算で行くとリッター111キロ。楽観的な数字なので、ちょっと辛く見積もってもリッター90キロ。

まだ自身はEmpulseに試乗した事はないが、Zero社の電動バイクの試乗経験を基に比較をする。

普通のガソリンエンジンバイクとは違い、トルクがゼロ始動時にMAXなので、発進もただアクセルをひねるだけ。寂しい感じもするが、加速性が素晴らしい事になりそうだ。ガソリンエンジンバイクと比べ、スタートダッシュができるが、スピードに乗った後が厳しい。回転を上げないとパワーバンドに乗らないガソリンエンジンと違い、加速の伸びが回転数を上げるほど鈍い。ギア一速で速度域をカバーできるのは素晴らしい事だが、思わず左手と左足が「もう一速あれば!」とウズウズする。
乗り方を根本から変えないといけない。上手な人なら低速トルクの加速力を活かして、ブレーキングから加速力といったガソリンエンジンの泣き所を攻めると思う。僕にはできないけど。

とはいえ、レースではなく、街乗りならばすごく楽だ。排熱量が低い、騒音が少ない。停止、発進が得意でアイドリング等で燃費が良い。色々とまだ使いどころに悩むバイクだ。
原付ほどの「足」としての気安さが無い。
普通自動二輪区分のバイクとしてホンダのCB400と比較したら航続距離がタンク一杯分に劣り(容量8リットル、リッター30km=航続距離が240km)、補給の事情から一日の最大走行距離が非常に限られてしまう。
都内のバイク便でならすごく活躍しそうでもある。なによりも燃費とメンテ費用で節約できるのが凄い。

と、これらの点を考慮してもBrammoの本気を感じる。TTGXPという電動バイクGPに積極的に参加して、毎年バイクが開発の努力を形にして変わってくる。今が次世代の幕上げなんだ。ここから全てが変わる、そんな予感がする。こうした試行錯誤を見るのが好きな僕として興奮する状況だ。
誰も聞いたことが無いような企業名だけど、これからなんだ。後10年、20年をしたら、カワサキ、スズキ、ホンダ、ヤマハはバイクの製造会社として知られているのだろうか?オートバイの世界で有名会社の入れ替わりなんて珍しくもない。そこで実用性重視のヤマハやホンダの電動原付バイクは果たして、こんな興奮を感じさせてくれるのだろうか?新参のBrammo、是非とも世界で輝いて欲しい。

(もちろん、世界の二輪自動車の王様、カブを否定する気は無い。電動カブもまた、必要なのだろうとは思うけどこの記事とは趣旨が異なる)



2010年7月13日火曜日

カレー開発記

新じゃがを基礎としたインド風料理はカレーと呼べるのかどうかわかんないけど、この場ではカレーと表記しておこう。

オリーブオイル(サラダ油でもOK)

■スパイス各種
イエローマスタードの種
イエローマスタードの粉
クミンの種
クミンの粉
コリアンダーの種
コリアンダーの粉
黒胡椒
白コショウ
赤唐辛子フレーク
デェル(イノンド)
シナモン
ガラムマサラ
ターメリック
パプリカ

新じゃが5個
人参3個
大豆350mL程(重量計算はまたあとで)
小豆200mL
レンズ豆200mL

人参、じゃがを一口サイズに切り分ける。

0.豆各種を水に浸して、弱火で日を通す。柔らかくする。
1.油を引いて、マスタード、コリアンダー、クミンの種を小さじ2ずつ強火で熱する。
2.パンパンと種が弾けるまで熱っする。焦がさないように。火を落として弱火にする。
3.マスタード、コリアンダー、クミン、シナモン、白コショウ、黒胡椒をいれて熱する。
4.強火に戻して人参を入れて炒める。表面が焼けるまで3分程。
5.芋を入れて炒める。表面に焼き目がついたら火を中火に。
6.小さじ3ターメリックを降りかける。塩も大さじ1…くらいかな。多いかも。
7.豆をざるに上げて、水を切る。豆をカレーに。
8.水を350mL程さして、蓋を掛ける。中火で熱する。(15分)
煮こむ、よりは蒸すといった感じで。

で、火が通ったら完成。

人参の甘さがいい感じに辛さとコントラストしている。インドカレーはプレーンヨーグルトと合わせて食べる為もあるけど、これはご飯と一緒に食べるくらいがいい感じ。ちょっと日本風アレンジが成功した。豆でボリュームとタンパク質が増えているので、それ単体とサラダ付け合せでいけるかも。ただ、油を多く使っているのと、塩分もそれなりに入っている。健康な料理とは言いがたいんだよなぁ。

お試しあれ。

2010年5月2日日曜日

OpenOffice活用術:原稿用紙

翻訳者の人からの疑問にお答えすると同時に、ネットに記録を残す為にちょっと解説。


オープンオフィスで比較的簡単に原稿用紙に縦書き日本語入力ができます。
まずはWriterを起動して、メニューのFormat>Pageを指定(左画像)







これができたら二段階で設定をします。
まずはページの設定。
これはPAGEタブで設定。
今回はA4サイズに指定(1)
ページを横向きにします(2)
そして、文字方向を縦書きに(3)
(右画像:赤字)






第二段階は枠の設定。
これは一番右のTEXTGRIDタブで設定。
枠を行と字(縦横)に出す(1)
行数と字数をそれぞれ20にして400字詰めを再現(2)
枠を画面表示、そして印刷する(3)
枠線の色(4)

(画像左:緑字)

と、これで完了。この枠の設定で文字数を増やしたり、枠をWriterの画面上で見せないけれど印刷には出る、行の枠だけ、等のカスタマイズが可能。状況やお好みに応じて変更してみてください。




で、これが画面のスクリーンショット。
縦書きは綺麗にできてます。これ、実はルビもふる事が可能…だと思います。まだ試していないので、また後日レポを書きます。注意すべき点は半角英語はマスに入らない事。全角英数なら対応しているので、英字打つならそっちで。

どうでしょうか?

2010年4月30日金曜日

顔本(Facebook)の言論の自由とヘイトスピーチ(差別・悪意のある書き込み)に対する規制に関して

タイトルが長い。

Facebookは多くの人の自己表現の場となっているし、それはとても有意義な場でもある。忙しい中での考えや思いの表現をできて、それを共有するのは人と人の繋がりを作る物である。ネットの大きな可能性であり、これから伸びる箇所。

でも、僕は「オバマ大統領も神に召されるのが楽しみだ」というグループが百万人を超えるとなってすごく気に入らない。ザラザラとした気分になる。共有されている情報も排他的、人種差別、憎しみとか。とにかく人の嫌な面が顕になっている。なので、アカウントを停止した。

日本人には理解しづらいんだ、これは。周りが日本人で、主義主張やら、常識やら、言語がほぼ普遍である環境では。
差別意識を「普通」と考える人を見るのは悲しいし、すごく痛い。その無意識な敵意が自分に向けられなくとも、そういうのがあるというのを自覚するだけで怖くもなる。ネットに形成される言語という生活圏の中で生まれる社会構造は多くが排他的で、悪意に満ちた物が多い。似た思想を持つ他人と出会いやすいのだから。日本も部落民、韓国、中国に大して毒を吐くのが普通だと感じる界隈が賑わっている。アニメにハングル文字が映るだけで文句を言う人も多い。

たしかに言論の自由も約束されているし、それは尊い物だと感じる。その意見に同意せずとも、その意見を述べる権利を僕は守りたい。しかし、このグループの主義主張はあまりにも不毛で、痛々しい。何ら建設的な会話の場、意見の交流、社交の場と感じ得る要素が無い。只々現状に不満を持つ人々がクダを巻いているだけの場に見える。それも、かなり悪辣で、人種差別やらが一方的に容認されている場となってしまっている。なんせ、彼らオバマ大統領が嫌いな人達は売国奴に国家指導者の席を奪われ、弾圧されている真っ最中なのだから。
被害妄想だと感じるが、彼らは本気だ。盗人に愛する国を則られ、今までの生活が基部から喪失していく。
怖いだろう。その表現のはけ口がネットだ。無名(であるという幻)に観客を与えると人はタガがハズレて凄まじいほどに内面を表わす。対話の意思すら無い。それが怖い。

対話の意思を持たなのは何処を見てもいる。でも、自制に乏しいネットでこういうのをされるのは甚だ不快である。思想教育と洗脳の現場をみているみたいだ。有体にいえば、気分が悪い。

言論の自由とは、こういう事なんだろうか?
Facebookは中立を守らないといけない。サービスプロバイダとして、最低限として幻想を維持しなくてはならない。
2ch(2ちゃんねる)が賑わうのも無法地帯だからだ。論争もいがみ合いも飲み込むだけの容量を確保している。内部の利用者達により、独自の社会が形成され、そこ独自の論法もまた発達した。その混沌を飲み込む力が2chの強さであり、灰汁の強さがまた万民に受けない要素でもある。(アメリカにはニュースグループという媒体が2chと同じアンダーグラウンドなネット社会と化している部分が少なからずともある)

違う。言論の自由とは、自分の発言に責任を課せられるべきだ。自由な意見の交換の場。それは、意見と意見をぶつける場であるべきだ。PublicForum(公的な会議場)に出るというのは論理武装して、真剣に取り組むのが正しい形だ。これは、もしろん持論であるし、ありあふれた感想だ。無責任にまき散らされる論点すらはっきりしない百万の意見は徒党を組まなければ自分の表現すらできないまるで暴動に乗じた混乱を楽しむ輩だ。数の暴力ならぬ、論理。
関わり合いたくないね。

人はネット上で自分を縛る制限を忘れる。匿名性は発言者を隠す仮面だ。これは良い事でもある。外部からの圧力によって表現できない物が表現できる。しかし、同時に完全に無軌道な行動は人間としての尊厳を忘れた姿だ。ネットだからこそ、モラルと意思を持って自己表現をすべきだ。ネットは考えが姿外見に左右されない場所でもあるのだから。

僕にはFacebookの規制対象を選ぶ力とその責任を望まない。難しい問題であり、なおかつ大勢の人に大して影響を及ぼす決断だからだ。でも個人としてなら選択の余地はある。僕はこの状況を好ましく思わない。正直、嫌だ。
なので、僕は自分に許された判断で、Facebookのアカウントを停止する。

数々の思いがせめぎ合っているのはこのポストだけでも明らかなハズだ。なんせ、Google運用のBloggerもまた、数多くの悪意ある文章を抱えているのだから。どっちもどっちだ。真っ向に対応しないのもかなり消極的だ。逃げていると言われてもしょうがない。矛盾に満ちた考えもまた認める。

なんにせよ、僕はFacebookから離れ、BuzzとBloggerで細々と自己表現を続けようと思う。
それだけの事だ。

2010年4月13日火曜日

1- A Headache (1)

Its so warm!

Sera clutched at the soft sheets, reaching out to collect more warmth for herself. The soft rustling of cloth against cloth continued as her sleep slowly melted away into the drowsy expanse that lay on the way to waking up.
When was the last time they had slept in soft beds? Sera had gotten accustomed to sleeping in the open, on whatever was available. The past few weeks especially, as they traced Asgir's steps to the caves. For the first time in many a month, she felt content and rested. She could tell the sun was well above the horizon through her closed eye lids, but Sera just refused to let go of the soft embrace of the bed.

For once, this is going to be worth Fil's nagging.

Sera was never very good with mornings. It was Filnes' duty to wake her with a barrage of teasing, taunting, and poking. The relentless assault of heckling was seemingly sport, and the few things the wizard truly enjoyed. There was one time that Filnes let Sera sleep in as late as she wanted to. When she did finally wake up, she found her face covered in drawings that a six year old boy might have found absolutely hilarious. It took three days for the doodles to finally wash away.

Filnes smirked, and laughed that any other canvas would have woken up before his masterpiece was completed.

In a measure of self defense, Sera rolled over, and buried her face in her pillow. A pillow! How wonderful a thing it was. So much more pleasant than that permanent smirk carved into the man cut from a bolt of black cloth. Raven black hair, onyx eyes, and black clothes from head to toe. Always looking down at her. Oh what she wouldn't give for another few inches to look down at him for once!

But she had looked down at him. In the cave. Filnes, on his knee, desperately holding both his hands out, pushing back against a spell. His face twisted by pain, his smirk gone. His eyes full of consternation. Something was wrong. Dark red blood spilled across his face, as he struggled to breath. His shoulders heaved with the effort of inhaling air.

He was dying.

Sera's mind leaped back to reality.

"Fil!"
Sera's eyes bolted open, as she snapped her head up off the pillow, cracking it against something rather stiff.

"Argh!"
"Owwww!"

Sera cradled the back of her head with both her hands, and buried her face in the pillow once more. Her shoulders shook slightly, as she let the pain pass. Tears disappeared into the white pillow covers as Sera worked up the nerve to try again.

"That hurt! What do you think you're doing, Stupid!?"
"Stupid? It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't jumped up like you did."

Sera snarled at the source of her pain. He seemed taken aback by the tears welling up in Sera's eyes, and held his hands to his own forehead.

"What, its my fault your head was in my way? No, that isn't important!"
Sera once again snapped upright, and flung the covers aside to grab at the man. Shaking him as best she could, Sera asked for her friends. "Fil! What happened to Fil!? What of Kaos... and Reinhart!!?"

The man, the Chancellor of Ixan, stood fixated while being shaken. The shaking, the cries of the girl. They were nothing in comparison to the two eyes he stared into.
The right eye the deepest of blues, and the left a blood red. He had never seen a human with two different colored eyes.

Sera gave up after a few moments of frantic shaking and yelling. She wasn't going to shake the answer out of him at this rate. Instead, she'd go to someone else that she could get the answers to her questions. Letting go, she proceeded to jump off the side of the bed.

The chancellor finally came to, when Sera looked away, and moved to leave the bed. "Wait!" he cried out, as he tried to stop her. He grabbed at her arm, broke her balance, and was horrified to watch the girl crash to the floor.

"Seriously! What did I ever do to you!?"

Sera glared at the guy, who not only left a bump on the back of her head, but now a matching one on her forehead, courtesy of the quick meeting with the floor. The wonderfully thick carpet made the fall much less painful than the earlier incident, but her patience was quickly running out.

"I, I'm sorry."

The Chancellor asked Sera to take a seat on the bed, and led her with his hand. He took a deep breath to calm down. He certainly was not expecting so much to go wrong so fast.

"Sir Filnes and the others are safe."

The Chancellor knelt down in front of sera, and rested his hands softly on her shoulders. He looked once again into the blue and red eyes. He could feel the thin shoulders shaking.

"Really?"

Sera's face seemed to be confused, not sure what emotion to show. He could see she was struggling to stay in control.

"Yes, really. My name is Seel. I'm the Chancellor of this country, the Kingdom of Ixan. I'll go and bring His High... ah, Kaos for you. Could you please wait here?"

Sera hugged herself, nodding at each statement. It took some time, but Sera chewed each slow and reassuring word. When the Chancellor looked at her for acknowledgement, she made a bigger nod and agreed to wait.

2010年3月22日月曜日

Left Behind: Prologue

A quarter of a century ago, fear and death gripped the world. A single sorcerer made the entire world tremble.
A quarter of a century ago, this sorcerer was sealed away.

This sorcerer, Asgir, had once been a loyal servant and subject of the Empire of Liu. A protector of the emperor, the empire, and its people. He not once succumbed to the temptation of his power, and was thought to be a sign of the emperor's enduring just rule.


One day, Asgir changed.


He assassinated the emperor, then continued to murder each child of the emperor. His rampage continued in cold calculated brutality. Each of the mothers of the princes, every concubine, child noble or common. One by one, the emperor's blood was exterminated to the last drop. Its ruler gone, the empire fell to its surrounding neighbors in short order.

No one knows why Asgir had betrayed his oath of fealty, and rebelled against the empire.

He did not once sit or show interest in the throne after removing the emperor. He would only appear as he liked, and killed. His victims were unpredictable. It was at times the people of the Liu Empire he had once sworn to protect, and at other times invading soldiers, even the king of an invading country on occasion.
He seemed to appear and use his powers and monsters he created to kill at whim, leaving the stink of corpses in his wake.

It did not take long for the continent to fear the name of Asgir. No one was safe from him, or his monsters. He lurked in every shadow, and deep in every child's nightmares.

A band of four brought an end to that age of fear.

Kaos, the surviving knight of the lost Liu Empire. Reinhart the prince of Wilaan. The sorcerer Filnes and Sera.

The four were the best in the world.
Even the four could not kill Asgir. In the end, Filnes created a barrier to seal Asgir, anchored by Kaos and Reinhart's blessed blades. There, Sera sacrificed herself and threw Asgir and herself into the seal.

The Black Sorcerer Asgir was thus sealed away in the massive limestone caverns in the Levano mountains in the Northwest of the continent. Called the Great Seal of Levano, the caves and its once beautiful and enchanting stalagmites are gone. Shattered by the battle of years ago, the cave shows the marks of an unnatural battle, leaving only one massive stalagmite with two swords struck into it.
Kaos and Reinhart's blessed swords.

This magical seal is watched over by the kingdom of Ixan. Sent from the king seated at the foothills of the Levano Mountains, Ixani soldiers stand watch before the paired blades, and at the entrance of the cave. It wasn't known if the unbelievable power of Filnes or the periodic reinforcement of the magic seal were to credit, but nothing had ever happened to the seal.

Yet, change comes. Without forewarning.

The first change in a quarter of a century.
The first thing anyone noticed was a sound. It was too wet and heavy to be a footstep, but unmistakably coming from the stone. The soldiers one by one turned to face the limestone and the two swords.

One gasped a breath of surprise.The soldiers struggled to comprehend what they were seeing.

The cool stone surface became clouded, and wavered like a white smoke. A shadow appeared against the face of the rock, and became something they could recognize as human. Almost like a mother giving birth, a body spilled forth from the stone.

One of the soldiers breathed cursed behind clenched teeth. "The Black Sorcerer!"


--


The Great Seal of Levano was broken, and the Black Sorcerer appeared from within.
We have captured this, and have chained it within a cage.

The report reached the King of Ixan, Kaos, within hours. The knight of Liu, one of the four to challenge and defeat Asgir.
The now lord and protector of the kingdom of Ixan.
Kaos could not hide his surprise. He could remember that day in the caves vividly.

Magics beyond belief made the mountain shake. Blasts of power carved the cave walls as if it were cheese. Columns thicker than men were turned to powder with nary an effort. Even with swords that would slice steel apart, Kaos could not inflict wounds that would not heal in mere moments.

Asgir was too powerful to kill.

In the end, all they could do was sacrifice one of their own to distance Asgir from the world. If Asgir had truly escaped his prison and appeared before the world again...

Kaos brought a strained smile to his face. Not borne of mirth, but of his defeat.

Asgir's power had carved its mark on Kaos. Not Kaos, not the kingdom of Ixan, not even the entire continent had the power to stop the Black Sorcerer. There would be nothing to stand before Asgir this time.

"Get me my horse. I will go to Levano"
Kaos looked to his young chancellor as he stood up, ready to run to his horse.
There would be no time to waste.

As he strode across the courtyard, and his man prepared his armor, his eyes caught sight of something unexpected.

"My Lord, I bring you the captured the Black Sorceror Asgir!"
Called the proud young soldier.

Behind him, was a large cage used to capture monsters on a horse drawn cart. They reached the palace within an hour after the messenger, no doubt hurrying with excitement. That much was obvious in the ruddy red face and the elation in the soldier's voice. The young man proudly cast aside the large cloth covering the cage, presenting his prisoner.

Kaos breathed in sharply, and cursed the soldier's stupidity behind clenched teeth.
Bringing in something as dangerous as the Black Sorcerer near an inhabited area? The palace no less? Its been only 25 years, and yet it seemed long enough to dull soldiers into fools. The fools!

Angry beyond words, Kaos glared at the soldier. The red of excitement turned blue, as Kaos' grey eyes stared him down. A soundless yelp escaped as the soldier looked for an avenue of escape.

Kaos reached down to his sword. His hand rested on the grip, and he could only laugh at how pointless it was. His sword was only steel, without the blessing of magics. It could kill a man, but was inadequate a weapon to face a sorcerer.

Asgir could only be harmed with blessed blades. But the sorcerer had to been weakened by his escape. There was no other way that embodiment of destruction would be caught in a cage of metal. There was a sliver of hope that perhaps the sword would not be useless.

Kaos strode towards the cart and cage. He could feel his right hand shaking on his sword. The soldiers quickly parted to make a path, fearful of their king's anger.

As Kaos approached, he could finally see the form of Asgir, curled on the floor of the cage. Unconscious, the body did not stir on the cold metal floor. Manacles bound each limb, thick iron chains connecting them to the cage bars. Ropes and chains criss-crossed over the body, further securing it in place. If it were any normal prisoner, the weight of the chains alone would have been enough to make breathing difficult. The secure web of chains and ropes made it impossible to move. As his eyes quickly studied the cage, a feeling of uncertainty came over him.

This is Asgir?


What little he could see, a single hand extending out of the mass of chains was delicate. The limbs bound in black iron seemed thin and lithe. Obscured by the chains, he could still make out what could be a small and soft body covered by light green clothing. Golden locks of hair was covered in something sticky. Kaos had seen those before.

Impossible.

Kaos leaped up to the cage, both his hands on the bars, trying to catch a closer look. He couldn't see the face, as the body inside the cage was curled towards the floor. He didn't have to. He already knew who it was.

"My lord! You mustn't expose yourself!"

The chancellor called out in surprise, but his words were swept aside by his king. Still pressing his face against the bars, Kaos bellowed out orders to bring the keys.

"The key! Open this cage!"

"My lord! Opening the cage would be dangerous! Please!" The chancellor yelled as he grasped his king's shoulder. He tried to look into Kaos' face, and calm him down. The chancellor saw his reflection in the silver grey eyes, but not the madness he was afraid to see.

"Open the cage! It is not Asgir!"

Still, the chancellor furrowed his brows at his king's words. He had served his king from his birth. In his life, he had never seen his king be so agitated. Confused by this sight, the chancellor hesitated for a moment before reiterating the king's order to open the cage.

"Bring the keys!"

The soldiers petrified by fear finally seemed to find their feet at the chancellor's command, and hurried to open the locks of the cage.

Kaos watched impatiently as one by one, the heavy locks that held the chains to the bars were removed with a heavy clank. When the soldier began to undo the ropes with trembling hands, Kaos drew his sword.

"Move."

He stepped forward, and swung his sword to cut apart the thick knots. The ropes fell by twos and threes to the bright steel. As the soldiers watched in uncertainty, then terror as Kaos bent down and stepped into the cage. He knelt next to the body, and moved the chains off the body, baring the green and gold. His trembling hands reached out to hold the small figure. His hands seemed to dwarf every delicate feature. Covered in some sort of sticky fluid, Kaos took care to not slip and drop what he held. Carefully, he cradled the figure in his arms. His fingertips brushed away the golden hair over the face, as he stared with disbelief. The eyelids were locked shut, and the face was white and was cool to the touch. The body was cold as if chilled, and greedily stole the warmth from his body. Even so, Kaos was relieved to find the chest rising and falling in an even rhythm.

Tears welled in his eyes.
Kaos called to the girl, in a hoarse whisper.

"Sera..."

The girl had returned to Kaos' arms exactly as he remembered; exactly as she had been when she threw herself into the seal 25 long years ago.