Challenge #02295-F105: A Morbid Fascination
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Huo3CtZaYMY is a Good example.
Humans are (at least in comparison to other species) obsessed with End-of-the-World-Scenarios.
Aliens find this strange/bizarre and question a human. -- Anon Guest
Human Raz was taking personal time to de-stress themselves. In this case, the relaxing activity involved yelling at a screen whilst their hands spasmed along the surface of a small, plastic interface. The Human's dialogue was not coherent or relaxed. It mostly consisted of things like, "Come on," or, "Arse," or, "Eat it!"
Ryx was confused. "I was told you were in relax mode." Ze kept hir distance, just in case. "What is this activity?"
"Playin' a game." Flashes of light illuminated Human Raz's face. "Yes! Die! Die! Die ya bastards!" And then they cackled. "Yes! Made it. This damned level. Shit..." They stretched and let go of their interface. "Zombies and post-apocalyptic survival noise. You wouldn't like it."
"I do not understand," said Ryx. "You play at survival?"
"Well. Most of it is shootin', lootin', and scootin', but yeah. It's something my people have had a fascination with since - I dunno. Probably before organised entertainment." Human Raz shrugged as they rearranged themselves on their rest platform. "We've had stories about the dead coming back since forever. Zombies are just... a little bit of that. The latest incarnation, if you will."
"And the other thing. The post-apocalypse?"
That earned laughter. "Civilisations rise and fall with the control and abuse of power, my little lizard friend. Humans have had a fascination with civilisation falling in an unrecoverable way since we realised that they could." They aimed their control and the screen showed what had once been a magnificent edifice. Now fallen into disrepair and ruin. "Look upon my works, oh ye mighty, and despair..."
Ryx was concerned. "This should be something to be cautious of, yes? The ruin has come and your kind learned?"
Sigh. "Yeah, you'd think that... Nothing as big as a thermonuclear war, but... lots of people being idiots about everything just so they could make a buck. Rebuilding from their mess was a lot more trouble than this game is."
"And there were no zombies?" Ryx guessed.
"No, zombies are made up." Human Raz didn't say anything about apocalypses. "You can watch if you like. I'll turn off the gibs and the jumpscares."
Ryx felt that ze had gained enough of an education on Humans. "No. Thank you. I just wish to ask..."
"Go on."
"You play this to relax?"
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / stokkete]
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