The Metagame

Their school project, however, was a little more interesting. They had to pick a moment in recent History and revisit it using any source they could find: encyclopedias, interviews with experts on the subject, even videogames, as long as their depiction of the historical event was accurate. 

 

Angela’s childhood friend knew just the thing to get them by: a virtual reality game called Civilizations, where the player could explore periods of history in the company of other players and other non-player characters animated by artificial intelligence. Using the web, players all over the world could use a plethora of technologies to connect to that massive online world and roleplay their favorite moment in human history. This was interesting to say the least, as it not only allowed the player to learn about historical events, it allowed them to live the events as they happened.

 

And so everyday after school, Josh and Angela visited that particular event that interested her to learn more about Dessalines and his entourage. What they found surprised her, but it was a tactic other people used in conflicts throughout time: using language unknown to the enemy to convey battle plans.

 

As Josh didn’t know a single word of Haitian creole, they made the controversial decision of starting on opposing sides in the conflict, convinced their friendship would ultimately allow them to understand each other’s point of view, even if they roleplayed as enemies.