We blinked, and we’re standing in the middle of a vast desert corridor. The two stone sphinxes tower over us, silent sentinels of stone. The wind blows, and the coarse sand rushes past us along the desert under our feet. I look over at the charred knight in his armour between the sphinxes, half buried in sand – just as I remembered him.

  “What is this place?”

  “This... is a cult classic. You have to pass between the two sphinxes in a test of confidence. If you doubt yourself, the sphinxes will open their eyes and kill you with laser blasts." I pause before continuing.

  “Our test is a little bit different. Observe.”

  From the dense shadow between the two stone sphinxes, something moved. I watch Chen and Ross turn their heads, eyes widening. The Sphinx, not the silent stone guardians above us, but THE Sphinx, as in Sphinx of old Thebes, steps forward slowly. It’s claws scrape against the ancient stone, as it moves forward with regal grace. Dang – even I’m impressed with how incredible this cast is. Its leonine body flows, it’s wings ruffle, and it settles on it’s haunches. It locks our gaze with a disturbingly attractive, feminine face.

  “This is not a casting test. The best games are not the best games because of visuals, effects, or vice-tourism – fun as those things can be for a while. The best games connect with something real. They challenge how you think, and push your decision making. Truth, emotion, and the search for meaning. That’s what this game is all about. The sphinx is going to riddle us. You answer wrong, you’re out. The sphinx might attempt to eat you. Last person standing wins. Any questions?”

  “Dude. This is gonna be epic. Let’s go.”

  “Chen, you wanna go first?”

  “Yup. Let’s do it.”

  The sphinx fixed its piercing eyes on Chen.

  “I walk beside all men, though few can name me. I fill the mouths of prophets and the silence of the lost. Some seek me through books, others have buried me in the earth.”

  “That’s easy: truth. You said it Peterson – this game is about truth.”

  “Truth?!? No way!” Ross interjected. “Try doubt.”

  The sphinx nodded at Chen and turned it’s eyes to Ross.

  “I whisper in plenty. I’m waiting for joy. I wear love’s shape, but ask for more. I bloom in a glance, but whither at a touch. I promise you everything—and leave you with nothing.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Ohhhh damn. Ahhhhh….” Ross gave a pained expression. “Let me think.”

  He stood for a few moments, palms together, finger tips against his lips.

  “It’s desire – the answer has to be desire. Waiting for joy – you’re wanting something. It’s not love, but maybe it’s where love begins. That ache, that pull toward something just out of reach. Once you get it, the desire disappears. It’s desire. Lock it in."

  The sphinx stared at him a moment. “Your answer is incorrect.” One down. It turned it’s eyes to me.

  “"I leave my home before the light, Always straining with my sight; I ask the road, the stream, the sky, yet never know the reason why. I walk where others fear to tread, with answers always just ahead.”

  The Sphinx’s words roll around my mind. Leaving before the light... not knowing right or wrong. It’s not a traveler exactly—it’s deeper. I’m thinking of shepherds and medieval gaming sims. Asking the road, the stream, the sky. Always looking for something—some answer, some meaning—but never sure what it is. Not lost... but not found either. My heart beats a little faster. It’s not the journey, and it’s not the destination either. I breathe in sharply. Of course.

  “Seeking. The answer is seeking.”

  “You are correct.” It turns its face again to Chen.

  “I cling to hearts though none invite, I whisper most in dead of night. No chain am I, yet weigh you down, I leave no wound, yet make you drown. Silent companion of choices past, I hold you tight, I hold you fast.”

  Chen paused. Looking intently down at the ground. I’m thinking to myself that it’s got to be fear. It creeps in quietly, uninvited, clings to the heart, haunts the night. It weighs me down without chains, leaves no mark but suffocates all the same. Has to be fear.

  “Guilt.”

  “You are correct.”

  Glad that wasn’t my question.

  The beast sets its eyes on me again.

  “I sit at every crossroad, yet take no path. I watch the fire burn, but feel no heat. I am the silence between questions, the stillness that follows the fall. I am the stone that won’t be turned, the weight of choice forever spurned.”

  I’m thinking. This is tough. Crossroads – that’s a choice, right? But this thing doesn’t choose – that’s what the last line says. Maybe that’s the point — it sees the paths, but doesn’t choose sides. Feels no heat – not emotional? Clarity? Silence… has to be thinking. Staying calm when everything’s falling apart… I think I’ve got it.

  “Objectivity. That’s my answer.”

  The sphinx stared at me for a moment.

  “Your answer is incorrect.”

  “Yahh! I win!” Chen did a hop and a dance as we congratulated her.

  “Well, looks like the jury is still out. Come back next time to find out who the best really is” Winsford smiled at us as he strolled up through the sand, the others just behind him.

  “Creativity. Imagination. This is what we’re going to be focusing on for the next couple of weeks. Well done to our game-casters, just watching you is an education! Class dismissed.”