# March 2016 - LM - Reason 343



## kilroy214 (Feb 29, 2016)

*LITERARY MANEUVERS*​Reason 343​



The winner will receive a badge pinned to their  profile and given a month’s access to FoWF where you’ll have access to  hidden forums and use of the chat room.


 This is a Fiction writing competition, and the prompt is 'Reason 343.' Pick your own title, write about whatever you want, as long as it's related in some way to the prompt. 



*The judges for this round are:*

*Joshybo, midnightpoet, kilroy214, and a Judge TBA*


*Rules*




*All forum rules apply.* The LM competition is considered a creative area of the forum. If your story contains inappropriate language or content, do _not_ forget add a disclaimer or it could result in disciplinary actions taken. Click *here* for the full list of rules and guidelines of the forum.
*No Poetry!*  Nothing against you poets out there, but this isn’t a place for your  poems. Head on over to the poetry challenges for good competition over  there. Some of us fiction people wouldn’t be able to understand your  work! Click *here* for the poetry challenges.
*No posts that are not entries into the competition are allowed.* If you have any questions, concerns, or wish to take part in discussion please head over to the *LM Coffee Shop. *We’ll be glad to take care of your needs over there.
*Editing your entry after posting isn’t allowed.* You’ll be given a ten minute grace period, but after that your story may not be scored.
*Only one entry per member.*
*No liking entries until the scores go up.*
*The word limit is 650 words not including the title.*  If you go over - Your story will not be counted. Microsoft Word and  Google Drive are the standard for checking this. If you feel it’s  incorrect, send it to the host of the competition and we’ll check it for  you and add our approval upon acceptance.






*There are a few ways to post your entry:*




If you aren't too concerned about your first rights, then you can simply post your entry here in this thread.
You can opt to have your entry posted in the [URL="http://www.writingforums.com/threads/163916-March-2016-LM-Reason-343-Secure-Entries?p=1972127#post1972127"]*LM Workshop Thread*[/URL] which is a special thread just for LM entries. You would put your story  there if you wish to protect your first rights, in case you wish to  have the story published one day. Note: If you do post it  in the workshop thread, you must post a link to it here in this thread  otherwise your story may not be counted.
You may  post your story anonymously. To do so, send your story to the host of  the competition. If you wish to have us post it in the workshop thread  then say so. Your name will be revealed upon the release of the score.



Everyone is welcome to participate. A judge's  entry will receive a review by their fellow judges, but it will not  receive a score.

*This competition will close on:*
 Tuesday, March 15th, at 11;59 GMT
Click here for the current time.

*Good luck, everyone.*​


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## bdcharles (Mar 1, 2016)

Reason 343


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## rcallaci (Mar 3, 2016)

*Rule and Reason 343 (A Covenant Broken) (650 words)*

Rule and Reason 343 (A Covenant Broken)

Preface​The bodies kept piling up. The smell of decaying flesh was suffocating to those that were still able to breathe. The battle was an unending nightmare that refused to fade away. Death was more a friend than enemy. Those few who still hung on to life, dreamed for an end to their suffering and pain. They longed for the welcome embrace of oblivion. Any hope of victory or impending rescue, turned to hopelessness upon hearing the news that the invasion force that they were a part of, was totally destroyed. Only misery and despair thrived and prospered amongst the ruins of Armageddon. 

......

i​
Jesus wept, as he viewed the battlefield. Millions upon millions of the faithful were either dead or deserted to the enemy. The few million that remained were barely hanging on. He was beside himself. He waited thousands of years for this moment, only to see it come to this crushing and humiliating end. He was so sure of victory. It was preordained that the light would defeat the darkness, and a new golden age would begin. Was his sacrifice on the cross for nothing? Was he not the favorite son? Did his Father lie to him? Where was his Father! 

He was swept out of his reverie by the Archangel Michael, Lord Commander of his armies. He came before him, gave a overly exaggerated bow and said,

“My brother Lucifer is at the gates. He demands our unconditional surrender. He’ll give your followers’ quarter if you accede to his demand, if not, all will be put to the sword.”

Jesus was alarmed at Michael’s tone and curious manner. He stated,

“Are we not all Sons of our Father? Since when are they now my followers, and not ours?" 

Michael smiled and replied,

“I, and my angelic brothers and sisters that sided with our Father rather than Lucifer in the rebellion, felt the same way about Man as he did. They are petty creatures with few redeeming qualities. Our Father chose to favor Man over us, when He and Mother Spirit sired you. You are a Son of Man, as well as our younger brother and favored Son. We have followed you, as Father commanded. But we never considered Man as part of the natural order; they belong to you, not us.”  

Jesus was stunned; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He now knew why the barbarians were at the gate. A half-hearted effort or outright treachery from his Father’s angels assured Lucifer’s victory. 

Jesus looked his brother eye to eye and shouted,

“Where’s Father? What have you done with Him? How could you turn your back on the light?  Our Father, who is the Lord God and creator of the Universe, stated in rule and reason 343, that God’s Angels shall be caretaker and subordinate to Man, for Man’s soul is sacrosanct."   

“343 should never have been and will never again be,” said the Archangel Michael as he grabbed Jesus and knocked him unconscious. 

.......

ii​
The Age of Darkness for Man was at hand. Those few that remained were now the slaves and playthings of demons and angels. Lucifer took over the throne of Heaven with great fanfare; Michael was at his right hand and Uriel at his left. All those souls who resided in heaven were cast into hell. Birth, death and reincarnation still continued on earth, but those born of human stock were raised as chattel slaves and sex toys. The golden Age of Angels had begun...

......

Prologue​“How could you have let this happen?” Jesus said to God.

“Do not question my judgment, my Son. Rule and Reason 343 needs to be adjusted. Man needs a little angelic fire up his ass. In a few millennia we’ll make our move and free Man from his bondage. In the meantime let’s relax and enjoy a good game of chess..."


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## kilroy214 (Mar 5, 2016)

Unit 343
by anonymous


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## Kyle R (Mar 7, 2016)

Sparrow June Falls in Love
(Language Warning; 648 words)


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## Terry D (Mar 7, 2016)

Between Reason 342 and Reason 343


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## kilroy214 (Mar 12, 2016)

Rearguard
by anonymous
http://www.writingforums.com/thread...ason-343-Secure-Entries?p=1972127#post1972127


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## aj47 (Mar 12, 2016)

*By Any Other Name*


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## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord (Mar 13, 2016)

*Desert Renegade (645 words)*

_The dry, coppery ground stretches to the horizon. I need fuel. For fuel, there first must be a town. And for a town, there first must be water. So, like everyone else on this planet, I need water. _

_*     *     *_​
_Reason. And emotions. And the body, and the inner being. These are the elements of a human—the elements that we are trying to replicate._

“Sir, a report—Model 343 from Project Reason has gone renegade.”

“WHAT?”
*     *     *​
Shani was sitting up on top of the counter of her bar, smoking. It was coming on mid-morning, and no one wanted to be about when the sun was high in the sky, so she could pretty much count on no one coming in for the next few hours or so. That was why she was surprised when a gravelly voice addressed her.

“Ma’am?”

She squinted at the figure in the doorway. “‘Ma’am?’ That’s a new one,” she said. “Or an old one, more like.”

The man was wearing a broad-brimmed hat, long leather gloves, laughably cowboyish boots, and an e-revolver at his side. He wore a half-mask designed to filter out dust, which was common to the desert planet of Gran Sol. What was odd as that he also wore a reflective visor over his eyes.

“What’s the visor for?” asked Shani.

“Not important, ma’am. Do you know anyone who sells fuel?”

“The visor’s not important?” She took a draw from her cigarette. “You hiding your identity?”

He didn’t answer.

She gestured to the tables. “If you’re tired, you can rest here a while.”

He turned back, and sat down at one of the tables. He remained there a while, perfectly still, not looking in her direction.

After about a minute, she asked, “What’s your name?”

“Ransom.”

“That’s an odd name.”

“From a book.”

“I see.”

She stretched out her legs. “Now, here’s my question. Why do you answer everything I ask with the least words possible?”

His voice changed, becoming clipped. “Reason demands that I—” He stopped, and sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Someday, I’m going to take a whole year to say just one thing. . .something very important, of course.”

“You’re an intellectual.”

“It isn’t just about reason. It’s about the emotions, too. And the inner being.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Inner being?”

He ignored her, lost in thought. “I found my inner being in a book.”

She sat up on the counter. “You what?”

“Well, it was given me while I was reading the book. That’s what they say, you know. ‘The inner being is a gift.’ But it must’ve come through the book, somehow, because I felt, somehow, that there was something in the book, calling me. And that was the strangest thing. I _felt._”

“Maybe,” he said. “It wasn’t the specific book. Maybe it was simply the fact that it was a book. Maybe writers put a piece of their inner being inside of books, like a letter in an envelope.”

She slipped off the counter. “Who _are _you?” she said, her voice guarded.

Her tone pulled him out of his thoughts. “You suspect something,” he said flatly.

Shani fixed him with a hard, suspicious stare.

“Do you. . .want me to take the mask off?”

“Please do,” she said.

He did. As the pieces came off silently, she saw his face.

It was not a face. It was a mass of wires and gears and whirring mechanical parts. His eyes were not eyes; they were two yellow LEDs that were disproportionately large and never blinked.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Do not despise me. I am Reason 343. I have found my inner being, and I’m not going back.”

*     *     *​
_The desert stretches to the horizon. I’m not wearing the visor anymore, but I’ve still got the old hat and the boots. And, of course, this paperback book. The inner being is a gift—I’ll have to remember that._


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## Flint (Mar 13, 2016)

Reason 343


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## Sleepwriter (Mar 15, 2016)

Your Choice  642 words, language


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## Bishop (Mar 15, 2016)

*Eye-Dee-Ten-Tee*
By Patrick Bishop


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## Glyax (Mar 15, 2016)

*The Final Reason Empowers Man (620 Words)

*_The world, the universe, existence…all is governed by rules, reasons.  Three-hundred and forty-three reasons exist, and the final reason empowers man._

Blaine read the text, eyes searching for answers, for an explanation why he had been sent here.  The Library of Alexandria, lost to mankind for millennia.  The only treasure which existed here was a forgotten tome which gave half answers.  His master told him wealth and power greater than he could image would be his once he entered the Library’s stone archways; intricate, elegant work which survived the test of time.

_The Library was not created by mortal hands_.  A memory of a myth entered his mind as he looked about, the room filled with unnatural lighting.  Humans could not understand the intricacy of the world around them.  Blaine was different, he was the last of an ancient bloodline, a group said to be descended from the very first humans.  His people held secrets, knowledge, and powers which made the Illuminati and the Free Masons seem like mere children.   It was by this power, and his master’s final guidance, that Blaine had been able to access the Library of Alexandria. It existed not in the normal plane of existence, the world inhabited solely by the meek, and the mortal.  Instead, it existed on the plane of transcendence, only accessible by one who had opened his mind, who had viewed the world with an eye which didn’t see, an eye that _knew_. 

_Three-hundred and forty-three reasons…_ Blaine’s eye _knew_, even as his mortal eyes closed, and he scoured the text again.  The room around him seemed to glow, shadows danced, and he felt a stirring, a presence:  fear.

“Why are you here, mortal?”  A voice reverberated through the chamber, composed of all possible pitches, yet none at the same time.  It came from everywhere and nowhere.  

“I wish to know the reason for mankind’s power. What is reason 343?”  Blaine’s clan had chronicled 342 reasons, both scientific and mystical.  Yet the final reason, reason 343, eluded them.  What was it which empowered man?  

“Do you not have enough, do you not have all the knowledge and power you need?”  The voice was closer, yet further away.  Even with his eye which _knew, _Blaine did not know from where the voice originated.  

“We seek all knowledge, seek to know all.  My clan has adhered to the old covenants, we have continued to seek, and we will not rest till we know!”  That was his task, to unravel the final mystery, the final reason for all.  He needed this final piece, this last key, to unlock true power.

“And what will you do, once you know?”  A question that echoed the uncertainty in Blaine, for he himself did not know.  What would happen once he had all the knowledge, what would become of the world, when all the reasons were understood?

“I will know once I know reason 343,” a logical response.  Once he understood and could comprehend what the final reason was, he would best be able to handle the information, and the power such enlightenment would bring him.

The voice chuckled, and Blaine could feel the reverberation of the sound within his very being.  “At the pinnacle of knowledge, with power greater than any before you, you still seek more.”  The air shimmered, eyes, countless eyes, appeared all around him.  “Reason 343, the final reason which empowers man…”  Blaine was overcome by all the eyes, overwhelmed, yet he fought to listen.  “Man has power, because he always seeks more” Blaine’s eye was ripped away, his body disappeared, he was no longer Blaine, he was all, he was none.  At that moment reason 343 was made clear, and yet it wasn’t.


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## Smith (Mar 15, 2016)

*The Purple Pill (650 words)*

http://www.writingforums.com/thread...cure-Entries?p=1977604&viewfull=1#post1977604


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