Dr Joseph was a scientist. His goals in life were to explain the unexplainable; understand when others couldn't. While he had a day job at a laboratory, he conducted his own experiments in his free time, mainly with old "magical" books that contained rituals and rites.
Quite surprisingly, lots of these rituals actually had some science behind them. Summoning a twister required some perfectly placed candles at the perfect time, and creating an illusion entailed some silver and vapour. Of course, on the other hand, a lot of them were bogus. Either way, he had made it his hobby to debunk these curious ceremonies of old. Book after book, rite after rite, the more he could see that these rituals had something behind them after all.
This book, though, was different. He found it on a website, and he was intrigued. He never saw a book that looked so old and peculiar. It was being sold for $1000, which may seem like much, but it would be a bargain if the book was as ancient as he thinks it is.
When he obtained the book, something felt odd. It wasn't just the weird texture of the book, there was also a dark aura behind it. He never felt anything like it. The book was also written in a language he didn't recognise, which is puzzling considering the numerous old books he's gone through.
He took a sample of the book to the lab. All his friends and colleagues knew about his hobby. At this point, they just let him indulge in his curiosities, but even they knew that something was wrong. The book's pages, they weren't paper nor papyrus - they were seemingly animal-based. And the ink didn't seem to be ink; rather, they were a variety of bodily fluids. Joseph didn't look into it further. He was starting to get worried. So were his friends. However, he dismissed these feelings. He must remain objective in his studies, even though it was his personal project. He decided to focus on what was on the book instead of in.
After much research and decryption, he finally obtained the instructions for one ritual. Most of the materials required weren't that hard to come by, but one part did stand out: the need for 100 sacrifices.
This requirement seemed quite extreme. He had never come across a ritual that needed a sacrifice before. He doesn’t even know what it’s for; he can’t seem to figure it out. Although, how bad could it be? The worst he’s done was cause a fire in a summoning circle. Nothing of a large magnitude has ever happened before.
Moreover, the passage wasn't even specific. What sacrifices? Human? Sheep? Oh! What about bacteria? Ha! Maybe that'll work. Who knows! That’s what Joseph’s supposed to find out.
He took some bacterial samples from the lab and safely transported them to his own experimental area, which he rented to meet the ritual’s criteria. He laid out all the objects in the way it’s stated in the book. Everything looked in order. He began the ceremony and heated up a wire to kill the bacteria. As he pressed the wire onto the Petri dish, lights flickered, lightning struck. In all his life, this has never happened before. In his shock, he dropped the Petri dish, the glass shattering and its contents spreading everywhere. What a fool he was to hold the Petri dish up instead of just placing it down on the floor. He’d blame it on the book’s vague instructions, but he’s too busy panicking over his failed ritual.
After a while, everything began to calm down, except for Joseph, who was still pretty shaken. Was this real magic? Joseph didn’t really know. Right then, he was exhausted. He needed some rest.
He was walking to his car when he noticed a red spot on his left hand. He began to scratch it but, to his horror, the red pigment began to spread to his right hand. His heart started to race as the red spots spread more and more. It wasn’t long until Joseph was screaming, his entire body, red, encumbered by some powerful disease. In an instant, Joseph dropped dead. His body liquified, depositing his bodily fluids everywhere.
The ritual didn’t fail at all. He had turned his harmless bacteria samples into a monstrous sickness. This disease would then spread, obliterating most life forms on Earth. It would seem then that the means to lessen the sacrifices lead to a much, much greater death toll.
RC511 t1_ixhvua8 wrote
Reply to [WP] The ritual calls for 100 sacrifices, but after reading it carefully you realize that it never specified they had to be human. Deciding to be the smartass that you are, you got a petri dish full of bacteria and sacrificed them instead. by Prompt_Dude
Dr Joseph was a scientist. His goals in life were to explain the unexplainable; understand when others couldn't. While he had a day job at a laboratory, he conducted his own experiments in his free time, mainly with old "magical" books that contained rituals and rites.
Quite surprisingly, lots of these rituals actually had some science behind them. Summoning a twister required some perfectly placed candles at the perfect time, and creating an illusion entailed some silver and vapour. Of course, on the other hand, a lot of them were bogus. Either way, he had made it his hobby to debunk these curious ceremonies of old. Book after book, rite after rite, the more he could see that these rituals had something behind them after all.
This book, though, was different. He found it on a website, and he was intrigued. He never saw a book that looked so old and peculiar. It was being sold for $1000, which may seem like much, but it would be a bargain if the book was as ancient as he thinks it is.
When he obtained the book, something felt odd. It wasn't just the weird texture of the book, there was also a dark aura behind it. He never felt anything like it. The book was also written in a language he didn't recognise, which is puzzling considering the numerous old books he's gone through.
He took a sample of the book to the lab. All his friends and colleagues knew about his hobby. At this point, they just let him indulge in his curiosities, but even they knew that something was wrong. The book's pages, they weren't paper nor papyrus - they were seemingly animal-based. And the ink didn't seem to be ink; rather, they were a variety of bodily fluids. Joseph didn't look into it further. He was starting to get worried. So were his friends. However, he dismissed these feelings. He must remain objective in his studies, even though it was his personal project. He decided to focus on what was on the book instead of in.
After much research and decryption, he finally obtained the instructions for one ritual. Most of the materials required weren't that hard to come by, but one part did stand out: the need for 100 sacrifices.
This requirement seemed quite extreme. He had never come across a ritual that needed a sacrifice before. He doesn’t even know what it’s for; he can’t seem to figure it out. Although, how bad could it be? The worst he’s done was cause a fire in a summoning circle. Nothing of a large magnitude has ever happened before.
Moreover, the passage wasn't even specific. What sacrifices? Human? Sheep? Oh! What about bacteria? Ha! Maybe that'll work. Who knows! That’s what Joseph’s supposed to find out.
He took some bacterial samples from the lab and safely transported them to his own experimental area, which he rented to meet the ritual’s criteria. He laid out all the objects in the way it’s stated in the book. Everything looked in order. He began the ceremony and heated up a wire to kill the bacteria. As he pressed the wire onto the Petri dish, lights flickered, lightning struck. In all his life, this has never happened before. In his shock, he dropped the Petri dish, the glass shattering and its contents spreading everywhere. What a fool he was to hold the Petri dish up instead of just placing it down on the floor. He’d blame it on the book’s vague instructions, but he’s too busy panicking over his failed ritual.
After a while, everything began to calm down, except for Joseph, who was still pretty shaken. Was this real magic? Joseph didn’t really know. Right then, he was exhausted. He needed some rest.
He was walking to his car when he noticed a red spot on his left hand. He began to scratch it but, to his horror, the red pigment began to spread to his right hand. His heart started to race as the red spots spread more and more. It wasn’t long until Joseph was screaming, his entire body, red, encumbered by some powerful disease. In an instant, Joseph dropped dead. His body liquified, depositing his bodily fluids everywhere.
The ritual didn’t fail at all. He had turned his harmless bacteria samples into a monstrous sickness. This disease would then spread, obliterating most life forms on Earth. It would seem then that the means to lessen the sacrifices lead to a much, much greater death toll.