Paddle Bounce

Ch 13 - Paddle Bounce

Order watched the ball come off Chaos’ paddle. Order moved its paddle. The ball would hit it; both knew and waited for the eventual rebound together.

“You know you can’t win this game, Chaos,” said Order with a small sniff. It looked down at its long, transparent wings and buzzed them a bit.

Chaos, with its wild mouth of fangs, looked up angrily, “What? I see there’s a random number generator in this thing.” It jumped up and its pointed tail smacked the side of the game’s yellow case.

“You can’t cheat!” declared Chaos.

Order said, “Why would I need to cheat? The ball moves, its path is clear. Look ahead. Put paddle at the right spot. I cannot lose and, in fact, I will not.”

Chaos was still confused and snarled, “What are you talking about? This is a game of skill!”

Order sighed, “As soon as the ball leaves your paddle? I know where it will be leaving the board. I have all the time in the world to move to the right spot. No matter how fast or ‘diagonal’ your shot? It’s just perfectly clear what to do next.”

Order’s paddle was correctly positioned. They both knew it.

Chaos erupted, “You KNEW THIS ALL ALONG. YOU PICKED A GAME I CAN’T WIN!”

Order smiled and said, “You wanted to play. Try this return.”

Order moved its paddle so that the ball hit the very corner pixel and the random number generator pushed the angle even harder. The ball started a wild path across the screen. The speed was its fastest, the angle its steepest, and the exit could be anywhere on Chaos’ side.

Chaos’ paddle was moving back and forth as the ball careened towards its side again. The ball, and the world, was in new territory.