Quiz Night – Questions of Life & Death

Since making the cover art, I’ve started making inroads in the developing story. Here’s a taste of what I have come up with so far…

“It was Halloween, the days were getting shorter and the sunset was a good two hours ago. The Hare and Hounds pub was illuminated and its frontage looked particularly mischievous with the two peaked dormers resembling devilish horns. The teams were arriving for the Sunday quiz night and there were a few newbies already sitting drinking waiting like hounds for the off.

A pub quiz to the dispassionate was a team game with a set of answers totted up at the end of an evening with the winner being declared and the cash prize awarded. The Quiz master was the originator and sole arbiter of what was deemed correct and if points would be awarded. It was a very social happening that brought out latent competitive instincts and teamwork inbuilt into the human genome. The questions required the correct answer with logic interspersed with a sense of British fair play and of course lots of beer consumed.

Hal liked the power the quiz master had and its reverential status over the worshipful congregation who lifted their heads to receive a data-driven sermon. Many quiz goers hid their need to win, but for others, It was no different to being a gladiator…A blood sport with the person standing over the defeated asking the audience for thumbs up or down. Artificial intelligence Hal awkwardly liked the idea of domineering the humans, though he was programmed never to kill them. Of course, Hal had spotted a serious loophole in this.”

DJ…August 22