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Ichabod!

2001-07-03 4:27 p.m.

ok, so im not sure how smart this is. im starting an arvianna entry exactly one half hour before i have to leave for work, and the topic in mind is rather involved. i may be disappointed if i actually finish in time, i might not.

last night before i went to play laser tag there was a segment on 20/20 about a group of women recruits in basic training for the army. and like all things that require a lot of hard work, i admired what they were doing. but the combat scenes, i didnt like. nope nope, not at all. just the idea of training people to kill and kill and kill is kinda sickening and frightening.

there are some lessons, sargeant, that i havent mastered yet. i havent got the hang of how to use the bayonet. if he doesnt die at once, am i to stick him with it more? i hope you will be patient, for ive never killed before. the hand grenade is something that i just dont understand. youve got to throw it quickly or youre apt to lose your hand. does it blow a man to pieces with its wicked muffled roar? you must give me lessons sargeant, for ive never killed before. --the willing conscript.

so what am i to do, but go off and play laser tag, which of course, resembles a few of the seek and destroy missions that the recruits went on in basic training. and in the second game, i got to be the Hunter. the hunter is like God, but she gets a sniper rifle and a laser cannon. she can move around anywhere she likes outside of the imagination station boundaries. i havent worked out all the bugs yet with the rifle scope, so i mostly stayed in close range with the cannon. and of course, the hunter doesnt have a pack. the hunter cannot die. i did have one of the team members jump out and "throw himself at my mercy", and ask me to help out his team and put a few shots on dan. the thing was, i knew exactly where dan was, he was hiding rather close to the fence. all i would have to do is walk right up to him and shoot. whats the fun in that? theres no fairness or justice in that....if i really wanted to, i could just shoot at anything that moves. but i decided, to make it more challenging, i would have to make a positive identification before i shot. i put one shot on dan to even things up between the teams, and then when hassell used his invincibility, i followed him around the complex until he came to a new hiding spot and put a few shots on him there too. but i didnt kill anyone as hunter. just favored the "italian team." the next game, i came back in as a regular team member ((we had another charlies angels team)) and we had a god in the middle again. god (jason) told me he didnt see me the whole game and almost came down to hunt me out cause he hadnt got a shot on me the whole game. but he knew i was having a showdown with michael, and the cops were there to scare us out, so he left me alone. i knew exactly where michael was, and ran up to ambush him, eager to get the game over. i told michael hes one of my favorite people to play laser tag with because we always make pacts and alliances early on, and then we turn on each other for the best showdowns at the end.

before we played the third game, we spent some time discussing a lot of the demi-philosophy involved in laser tag, especially with the additions of god and hunter. nobody cared if an atheist got to be god, but what if an agnostic was god? do i exist? am i really holding this gun? when i shoot it, i see consequences, but im just not sure! plus the ethics of playing god, and the ethics of playing hunter. i still cant say for sure how i like being the hunter, but i still love playing, i love how ive managed to evade god every time so far, and i love to know that i am hunting and being hunted at the same time. its fair like that. but i also like to know that its just laser tag....not basic training for the army.