Joker & The Thief1
"So... what're *you* in for? Heh."2
"Theft."3
"Ho-ho! A real bad apple you must be. You *stole* something? How terrifying."4
"Access codes."5
"Eh?"6
"They were access codes that I stole. To the Network."7
"...Oh. Well, then. That's quite a different story now, isn't it, pal? Guess you belong here after all."8
"Yes. And yourself?"9
"What's that?"10
"Why were you detained?"11
"Who, me? Heheheh. I'm here 'cause someone didn't get the joke."12
"What joke?"13
"You wouldn't understand. Let's call it... an *'inside joke'*. Ha-ha-HA-ha!"14
"You're him, aren't you?"15
"Him who?"16
"*Him*. The one they've been looking for."17
"Hmm... well, if I am him, looks like they found me, eh?"18
"Why did you do it? Kill all those people?"19
"For laughs."20
"No, really. Why? I'm very curious. I followed your story on the news for quite some time."21
"Yeah, well... what can I say, ya know? I wanted out of it."22
"Out of it?"23
"It was too much. All those rules, those schedules. 'Go here, do this' and 'Go there, do that'. Nah. Not for me. Besides... none of those bastards really *got* it, ya know?"24
"Got what?"25
"See? You don't even know. None of ya do. And *that's* the biggest joke of 'em all."26
"Lots of people feel that way. Come on, we both know there's more to it than that. Few men would go through what we have to end up *here* if there weren't something more."27
"It was... I dunno... the essence of things. The... the worth. They just didn't get it. Well, no... there was one. This... this girl..."28
"Oh?"29
"Yeah. She got it, I think. But..."30
"What?"31
"Heheh. What can I say? I took her away, too."32
"Why?"33
"It's an old beast in me that's searchin', pal."34
"Still... all that nonsense... all that chaos... because people didn't understand something? Sounds silly to me. No reason to get so... excited."35
"Well, what about you, then, eh? Why steal some codes? That doesn't sound goofy to you?"36
"...We're not going home, you know."37
"What's that?"38
"I've seen it. They're not taking us home. We're all being lied to."39
"So what's the real story, then? I mean, there must be someway outta this."40
"No. They're always watching. You really think they couldn't have had you whenever they wanted? Or me?"41
"Why not get us before we did what we did, then?"42
"We weren't a threat yet. You can't arrest a man for a crime he hasn't committed, now can you?"43
"Yeah, well... Wait. Wait."44
"What?"45
"Hey, you hear that?"46
"I don't know, I... Yes. Yes, I hear it now."47
"What do you think that is?"48
"Something outside. They're coming for us, I think."49
"The guards?"50
"No."51
"What?"52
"Listen closer. That isn't coming from outside the cell. It's coming from *Outside*. See? Look, it's shaking the walls."53
"What's going on?"54
"I told you, didn't I? We're not going home."55
"Then... where we goin'?"56
"..."57
"You don't mean... You mean, they're... Heh. Heheheh. HehehehehahahahaHAHAHAHAHA! Now, *that's* a joke!"58
Author notes
Based this off of the eponymous song by Wolfmother, as well as "All Along the Watchtower".
EDIT: To clarify, the dialogue takes place between a serial killer ("Joker") and a computer hacker ("The Thief") in a prison cell on board a generation ship supposedly headed back to Earth (think Battlestar Galactica; Earth is an ancient mythic world). Only, as the hacker says, they "are not going home". As for what lies Outside, that I'll leave for interpretation.
A contest entry
- He Said, She Said by madgirlslovesong.
100 points, ended April 28, 2008, 11 entries
• next story in this contest, remove from contest - Quick Sci-Fi by WritersEffigy.
120 points, ended December 15, 2008, 10 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next story in this contest, remove from contest - Dialogue Only by outtahereall.
130 points, ended January 31, 19 entries
Honorable mention
• next story in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 15 of 15
-
Very good. Your conversation was strong and held a few laughs, so i commend you.
tim -
The dialogue plays wells off itself, but I'd like this a lot more if it wasn't The Joker and it wasn't on a spaceship. Well... nevermind. Keep the spaceship. But lose The Joker.
-
-
Uh... the "Joker" character is sorta pivotal to the idea. I'm hoping you don't think I'm implying this Joker is the same that goes toe-to-toe with the Caped Crusader? 'Cause it's not.
-
-
Well, now I feel bad cuz, yeah, I was implying Batman's Joker. Sorry, dude. Perhaps a character name change would prevent the confusion.
Ps. I'm happy to see you're into libertarianism. I give you a hardcore "Right on!" -
-
Well, it's admittedly not the best name to give the guy, but I got the idea for this short (and its title) in part thanks to the Wolfmother song. So... sorta can't help it.
And, uh, thanks? =P -
-
Sorry again, man.
-
-
-
-
-
I rather like this, good job.
The guy in the -
Me likey
Took me a little while to get it, but I was listening to Joker and the Thief earlier and thought "wait... someone did a story about this..."
Awesome song, awesome story =) the different characters are obvious, but I like how you played more on the unhinged factor of the Joker character rather than make him a comedian. Very nicely done, I look forward to reading more of your stuff.
-
Usually I hate when peope just use dialogue, but I liked it. It was very interesting from the beginning.
Nice write!
-
Unique...
I come across quite a few pieces with nothing but dialogue, and usually tend to lose interest after a while. However, this was a joy to read. I found it amazing how you managed to develop the characters so well by offering so little. Your style is excellent from what i can tell, and your imagination (content-wise) obviously unique.
An enjoyable read, well done.
Yrs.
Azaradelle.
-
I love how some of the comments below mine are longer than the story. So, the two characters were getting busted out in the end? I liked the twinge of futuristic-ness, of dystopia. It was just teh right amount wihtout trying to be a 1984 knockoff story. Bravo, ds.
-
confused
-
Sometimes when people write only or mostly dialogue, it's hard to keep track of who's talking because the voices sound so similar. Here, however, the voices are different enough to distinguish without sacrificing the integrity of the piece in order to have obviously different speech patterns. Not only that, but the story was engaging, and you gave us a wonderful teaser of what happened before this did. Now, if only there was more...
-
I'm not gonna lie, the *...* nonsense was distracting, not additive.
Other than that, fairly good story. I like the killer character; he was a good mix of deadly deranged and comically insane.
Thanks for entering
-
-
Thanks for reading!
The use of the "..." pattern is a fairly common one of mine. Guilty pleasure, maybe? I tend to write how the characters would talk, so whenever I envision them pausing (either because they're searching for words or for dramatic effect), I tend to use those.
And as for the "*" on either end of certain words, those are used in the absence of the ability to italicize, indicating emphasis on that particular word.
--dreamshell--
-
Adding your comment:
1 - 15 of 15
