>My hundredth!>
"Your hundredth what?" Rruyshah said in exasperation as she set up the board again, knowing perfectly well what it was.
>Win. Duh.> Her opponent attempted to make a motion with itslimb that resulted in it crashing onto the floor.
"What was that?"
>I was pumping my fist. Except…I don't have a fist.>
Rruyshah felt relieved these terms were not in the text she had learned the language from. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what it meant.
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"Two-fifty-six to one-eighty-two."
>So what?>
"Just proclaiming my superiority."
>You're not superior than I am…that does mean more super, right? Not like, posterior?>
"What is a posterior?"
>Um…you're…never mind. You're still not better than me.>
"I am an-"
>Exalted of the Kelbrid and don't I forget it? I never would have guessed.>
"The numbers are there. Two-fifty-six is greater than one-eighty-two."
>A hundred of those were forfeits. I'm gaining. And you just mess up. You do the "castling", too, so you can't say I'm cheating.>
"And you do the "passing". And the "queening"."
>So, we're even.>
"No, we're not! You have significantly fewer wins than I do."
>Only because I gave them to you.>
"You can have them back."
>What?>
"I'll deny credit for a hundred wins. One-eighty-two to one-fifty-six…I'm losing!"
>Only if you take them back, which you're too Exalted to do.>
"Am not. There you go. You're ahead by…uh…"
>Um…thirty? Four?>
"No…how about…twenty-eight." She paused. "No, I have this. I do! Really!"
>So it's…>
"You're too unintelligent to figure it out?"
>Of course not.>
"So, what is it?"
>Uh…twenty…six?>
"Sounds good."
>No it doesn't.>
"Does so! I certainly have a more refined aesthetic sense than you do."
>It doesn't sound like anything. I'm no longer capable of speaking.>
"I'm not going to feel sorry for you." Rruyshah moved her first piece.
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>Two hundred to one-eighty.>
"I know."
>Only three more hundred to go.>
"Eight."
>I thought we were playing best out of a thousand? So I need five hundred before you do?>
"First to a thousand."
>Why so many?>
"I like this game."
>Really, I couldn't tell.>
"Why did you think I gave you a hundred games back?"
>To pretend to prove you weren't all stuck-up.>
"How could I be stuck up? There's no reversed gravity in here."
>You're changing the subject. So hold on. You only gave me a hundred games so you'd have a hundred more to play?>
"Yes."
>Are they all nerds on planet Kelbrid?>
"We've long moved off our home planet into the entire system."
>Did that have anything to do with what we were doing?>
"No."
>Well, as long as we're clear.> He advanced a pawn.