Helper for the Murderer:

     I was just doing my job. I was just doing as I was told. When I went to knock on the door where Professor X was, I knew what I had to do. He said, “Prepare the exam for me”. So I did as I was told. So I started preparing the exam for the girls. I made the exam similar to the previous exams they took in class, but made it much harder.

    As I finished preparing for the exam, Professor X said that, “For every questions the girls get wrong, something bad will happen to each of them”. I asked, “What is their punishment?” He then replied, “Let’s just say it’s a punishment that is deadly”. As the girls woke up, I gave them the exam. As Professor X said, their punishment is deadly. I made the exam extremely hard because it was time for revenge. It was time to see these girls suffer for their cruel and unnecessary actions against Professor X. I wanted revenge on them so bad that I wanted to kill them instantly. I said to Professor X, “I want them to suffer and die instantly. They deserve to suffer a deadly death”. Then Professor X replied, “Don’t make them die too quickly. Where’s the fun in that?!” Then I said, “You are right Professor. They deserve to suffer the pain of death rather than die instantly. You girls will feel the pain of your actions and will suffer it”.

   I gave the eight girls tied to the chairs the exam. They all at least got 5 wrong answers. The first punishment for all eight of them was to cut one finger off. I could hear the sound of terror in their voices. The second punishment was to cut off a toe from their feet. The third punishment consisted of putting a deep scar into their face. The fourth punishment brought about cutting of one ear. However, nothing compares to the last punishment. The fifth punishment consisted of cutting of pieces of their arms and cutting into their stomach. All suffered the consequences of terror. As they were screaming with terror, the liar of the group who was in the bathroom woke up. Professor X had to hide so she wouldn’t she him. As she jumped out of the bathroom to hear the noises of terror, Professor X held her against her will.

The innocent Cabin...

Police officer:
The weekly ordinance call came in around 9:45 pm, so I was on the night watch duty and decided to go take a look to quiet down the rowdy bunch. I arrived at the location and walked down the dark quiet trail. As I approached the cabin I heard a noise, but not just the norm of loud music and partying going on, it was a noise of terror.

I heard a young teen girl crying out, “sorry i didn’t mean to, it was all supposed to be a joke.” Another voice saying “Well bitch you cost me my marriage and ended my career.” Then a reply, “didn’t think it would have caused you so much pain and heartache but I had to do it so I could be a part of the sorority. I have been an outcast my whole life and this was my one chance to fit in.”

I drew my gun, pulled the door open while shouting, “police put your hands up” and rushed in and my stomach turned. I saw intestines hanging as if they were streamers, a few girls trapped to the walls with knives sticking out of them like they were used as a dart board, human heads were used as centerpieces for an evening meal, and then there was the young girl that was pleading for her life in the middle of the room strapped to the desk. I radio for backup and the coroner. I know that there is no hope for life in this horror i walked in on. I stroll through the cabin and can’t believe how much blood and gore in one place. I round the corner and see a person standing there with a gun to their head and BANG!

Murderer:

I lost everything.  I lost everything in a span of 24 hours.  A span of one day in my entire life.  My entire life crumbled to the ground that I stand on.  It all happened yesterday.

I was grading papers in my office, carefully looking through each response to give an appropriate grade.  Most of the class did well, but there are a constant stream of low grades from a few people.  There were 8 girls that never seemed to improve no matter how many conferences that have.  I can’t wrap my head around why they don’t show improvement.  Should I assign them a tutor?  It’s not my place, but I’m worried about them.  I’ll set up conferences with each of them one more time, and looking into possible tutoring or withdrawal from the course.  The next day, I told the girls that they should attend a conference with me or they will risk failing the entire course.  A few days went by, and I didn’t hear from any of them.  I can’t force them to meet with me, but I feel like they will never bring up their grades unless they receive help.  

The next exam came and went, and as I expected, those girls failed again.  Once again, I attempted to get conferences with them, but they never show up.  A few days after passing out the graded exams, I got called to the principal's office.  He sat me down and said a student reported inappropriate behavior originating from my part.  I asked for the student’s name, but he said it was anonymous.  The school removed me from my position immediately.  They wanted no association with this type of conviction.

I did hear a conversation as I was leaving campus.  It was a sorority initiation, and I tried to pay no mind to it.  My name suddenly comes up, and I hide close enough to listen.  From bits that I could hear, the sorority initiation was to frame me because of how “harshly” I treated some of the girls.  One girl talks about an initiation party at the cabin in the woods near campus tonight.  I feel an evil grin morph onto my face as I come up with the perfect revenge.  An eye for an eye as they say.

When darkness engulfs the campus, I make my move.  I peek inside one of the windows to scope the inside.  The party was already set up, but no one is there yet.  I creep over towards the door to test the lock.  To my surprise, the door was left open.  They probably left not too long ago, and will be returning soon.  I decide to put my first plan into action.  My hand reaches into my pockets, and pulls out fast acting sleeping pills.  I rush inside, and quickly put in a few pills.  Just enough not to kill them.  I need them alive or this planning will go to waste.

Heading back outside, I sit on my perch watching the girls fill the room through one of the open windows.  I watch as the girls each pick up the drink and the Sorority president starts a speech.  I cringe at the squeaky voices that started when the speech ended.  They saluted and took gulps of their drinks.  I smirk as I watch each girl fall into a vulnerable sleep.  The pills weren't supposed to work that quickly, but there was probably alcohol in the punch which would've increased the pills’ effects.

I walk inside, organize and separate the girls for my plans.  Those eight students of mine will not be killed yet.  I keep aside the liar of the group.  She’ll be having the most fun.  I’ll make sure of it.  The rest of the girls got their necks snapped since I can’t say I really hate them.  I can show some mercy.  It won’t hurt.  I tie my eight students to chairs and make sure they are properly restrained.  I got some rags out of my bag to use as makeshift gags.  The liar is put into one of the bathrooms.  A syringe is taken out of my bag and filled with propofol.  I meticulously injected the drugs into her veins to make sure she was out a little longer.  Time is still needed to decorate.

Back out in the main room, I take my hunting knife and disembowel each girl I killed earlier.  I scan over my students to make sure they were still unconscious.  I hang up the intestines around the room like they were streamers.  Blood drips down my face and drenches my hands.  I hum a tune to myself and continue my decorating.  The bodies were then decapitated, and the heads were put on the tables as centerpieces.  A rustle is heard in the direction of my students direction, but I don’t turn to them.  The sound of knocking is created from someone hitting the front door.  I smile to myself, and jog to the door.  Opening it, I see my partner.

Liar

It was initiation night, and man, I was excited.  Growing up with only one brother made me more than ready to gain 20 new sisters.  I never planned on rushing a sorority, but Delta Gamma seemed perfect for me and I have heard nothing but great things about it.  I was more than happy with my decision to join, until last night...when my whole life changed forever.

My new sisters were so nice and welcoming to me...until they mentioned that all the new pledges have to do something risky.  Some girls had to go spray paint the giant rock outside of the student union, while others had to egg the Mountain Cat statue.  My risky job seemed a lot worse, however, because of the possible consequences.  I was told to anonymously write to the President that Professor X had been treating me very harshly and threatened me after I didn’t do very well on his past few exams.  I originally didn’t want to do it and wasn’t going to, but I was told that if I really want to be a part of this sorority, I have to do anything they say.

I got out a piece of paper and a pen and started writing away.  When I was done writing this note, I took it to the principal’s office and slid it under his door.  The next day, I heard rumors that Professor X was suspended from campus until further notice.  I did feel really bad, honestly.  I thought that maybe this anonymous note would get him yelled at by the principal but I never thought that it would go as far as getting him suspended, or maybe even fired in the long run.  Nobody other than my few sorority “sisters” knew that it was me who wrote the note, so I went along with all the rumors when other students were talking about it in class.  I continued to feel bad, but after a few more days I realized that it happened, it’s over, and I should just forget about it because there’s nothing I or anyone else could do about it…...so I thought.

Initiation night for Delta Gamma was tonight!  I couldn’t wait to dress up, head down to the log cabin in the woods, and hang out with my soon to be “sisters.”  The cabin was so cool and the party was a blast so far.  After finding out who our “big’s” were and participating in all of the other cool rituals, the party was almost over so we danced for the remainder of it.

I heard a high pitched scream, followed by an echo of all the girls in the room screaming. Five of my new sisters were passed out on the ground.  They looked as if they had fallen asleep in the middle of the dance floor.  The music was blasting though, so there’s no way they were sleeping, right? Were they dead?  I didn’t even have time to do anything to help my five sisters on the ground because when I turned around I saw a few other sisters of mine hanging limp on the ceiling rafters like rag dolls. What was happening?!  Who was doing this? Was I next?  The rest of my night was a complete blur.

eXistenZ

eXistenZ

eXistenZ is a movie that is set in a future where gaming has advanced to the point where people can be truly detached from reality.  This follows the story of two characters named Allegra Geller and Ted Pikul.  Allegra Geller is one of the most well known game designers in the world, and creates the new game, eXistenZ.  Ted Pikul is a security guard given the task to protect Allegra from the people out to destroy her and her game.  

Technology in this movie has advanced to where game consoles are made of flesh and are called pods.  Even a gun was made of bone and the bullets were teeth.  Many forms of technology in this movie were alive and made out of flesh.  An umbi cord, which looked much like a human umbilical cord, attached the fleshy pod to the player via the spinal column.  The pods were living, breathing creatures that intimately connect to the player.  Each player is given a bioport which is connected to the base of a person’s spinal cord.

After going through the game eXistenZ, it was implied that the characters were still inside the game.  Allegra ends up murdering Ted, which causes a new game to end.  This new reality is called tranCendenZ.  Allegra and Ted were people in the game tranCendenZ, not existing outside of that universe.  Many of the characters found in eXistenZ were really people playing tranCendenZ.  The end of the movie did hint that they never left the game.  There could be multiple realities compounded on top of each other to create this never ending loop.  It makes us question what is real and if we are apart of a different reality that could be a game to another universe.  Is this all just a game?  Or are we in the outermost reality?

Do Video Games Count?

Video games have been gaining mass wide popularity in the past few decades.  Many video games get a bad rep for being destructive to a person’s attitude and personality.  A lot of people think that they are just a violent pastime for kids, however many of them can actually be very educational. It has been added to a lot more recent games the dilemma of morals and making choices that affect the stories.  Video games are coming more in touch with reality than they have before.  Many early video games were based off of fantasy, and while that still is very prominent, many games today run off of reality.  There are some games that are story driven, meaning that the core part of the game is the plot.  Until Dawn is a prime example of this, and contains the atmosphere of a horror movie.  The most action done in this game is walking around and decision making, not much else.  There are multiple endings to this story depending on the choices the player chooses.  The answer to the simple question, “do video games count in the field of digital humanities?” is yes.

One video game we looked at in class this week is Galatea by Emily Short.  This is an entirely text-based interactive game where you, the player, are completely in control of the outcome.  The situation in this game is that you are in a room with a statue that comes to life.  You are to type in commands and each time you do, the story continues.  With seventy known outcomes, you are most likely to reach a different outcome each time Galatea is played.  When playing this game, a person can spend a few hours just trying to get one ending.  There are only certain words that will trigger the story to progress, and it can be a struggle to figure out those words.  This game itself can become frustrating if people can’t figure out what words will make the story progress thus making the game take a very long time.  To make a complete walk through of the game could take a few days to accomplish and a lot of repetition.