Jonas' Tower
A/N : Tetris Grandmaster Jonas Neubauer passed away on January 5 from sudden medical emergency, at the age of 40. I discovered that while writing the following story, so I decided to dedicate it to him, in order to pay tribute to this man, who made such a trivial game magical to me, and to many others worldwide.
Thank you Jonas, see you in heaven.
Music started to play. 6AM. Time to wake up. Jonas turned off the music. He loved this music, it was pulling him out of his bed everyday. It was a traditional Russian song, with typical Russian groove. He would listen to it every time he had to get focused or motivated, because it sounded so lively. Brass bands performing in the streets played this song often as well, to keep everyone in the city focused he guessed.
Jonas moved to his kitchen to have breakfast. He put cereals in a bowl and added milk. Jonas would always gaze at his cereals, floating on surface of a milk ocean. Cereals were similar to small bricks, and Jonas' favorite morning routine was putting them together, by pushing them with his spoon. He was trying to organize cereals to perfection, so there's no gap between them. Jonas was a bricklayer. He was proud of it, bricklayers were heroes in this city. They deserved their fame : it was indeed a hugely demanding job, requiring high skills: strength of course, but also geometry, combinatorial thinking and, above all, practical mind. Bricklayers had built the entire town with their own hands.
After eating his cereals building, Jonas dressed up and moved outside. Time to work. This morning, he had scheduled to visit James, a young colleague. Bricklaying may look like a job for reclusive men, because a bricklayer always builds alone. But in fact, it is definitely collaborative: bricklayers often meet to exchange views on their works and to improve their skills. As an experienced bricklayer, Jonas was advising newcomers. James was one of them. Jonas stopped in front of a gigantic skyscraper. On top of it, a swift juvenile was stacking bricks at an insane rate.
'Hi James, it's me Jonas, please go down', Jonas shouted.
'Good morning Jonas, it's a pleasure to meet you, you're such a legend in the city'
'It's a pleasure to me as well, I've heard you're one of the fastest builders at the moment, aren't you ?'
'I wouldn't pretend to be the fastest, but I can handle high speeds.'
'It's very nice ! However, mind holes, look, there are plenty of them in your building. It looks like a Gruyere, believe me.'
'I'll try to fix it, but first I want to make it higher, I want to max out !'
'As you wish, but remember, a skyscraper full of holes is worth a small but clean building. See you James, and keep focused !'
James went back on top of his enormous work, piling bricks like a machine. Most of Jonas' young colleagues relied on speed, building fast to reach high levels. On the contrary, Jonas used his brain rather than his muscles. His style was all about crazy tucks to fill as much holes as possible. But it was a difficult task, since bricks' shape was unpredictable. Bricks' material was light and solid, more than any beam studied in the Ecole des Ponts. These properties had enabled bricklayers to reach incredible heights. But it was also impossible to shape them, then they were as nature made them: random. Jonas had been struggling all his life to organize these bricks properly: his greatest wish was to make the cleanest building on earth, with no holes at all.
After work, Jonas had planned to have a cup of green tea with his old friend Jeff. Jeff was a bricklayer as well, and one of his most famous rivals. Competition between them was as strong as their friendship. This time, Jonas was looking more meditative than usual.
'Come on Jonas, you're not listening, it's a hilarious joke !', Jeff said.
'I'm sorry, I may be tired, please tell me.'
'Here it is: what's the favorite tune of any bricklayer ?'
'The Russian song that brass bands play ?'
'No, it's Another brick in the wall', Jeff said, laughing out loud.
'Nice one !', Jonas said. 'Jeff, I was wondering...'
'Go ahead !'
'You know the golden rule, don't you ?'
'Of course, like any bricklayer ! It is forbidden to make a building with no holes !'
'But why is it forbidden ?'
'I don't know, Jonas. Like you, I was taught the golden rule at school. As far as I can remember it comes from the Founding Bricklayers, who stacked the first stones of the city long time ago.'
'But what's wrong with buildings with no holes ? I mean everything would be cleaner with no holes, wouldn't it ?'
'Your obsession with filling holes is pretty weird, is everything okay with your wife ?'
'Nice one again Jeff ! You should contemplate writing a one man show', Jonas laughed
'At last you're smiling ! Anyway, no one cares about the golden rule, it's too difficult to prevent holes, and nowadays every single bricklayer only wants to build as high as possible, I think this whole new generation is frustrated about the size of their...'
'Height doesn't matter to me', Jonas interrupted. 'Anyone can max out nowadays ! Avoiding holes is much more challenging. The reason why I'm telling you all this is that last night, I had a dream.'
'Go ahead, Jonas Luther King'
'In my dream, I was building a tower. First, I was stacking bricks on the left. It was very easy to prevent holes this way. And when this stack on the left reached sufficient height, I put a vertical brick on the right to complete the tower, and voilà: a tower with no holes !'
'Very clever, but wait a minute, are you planning to break the golden rule ?'
'This rule makes no sense, it's an interesting tradition but bricklaying must go forward.'
'Well, you're big Jonas after all. You may be the only bricklayer who is allowed to break the rules.'
'Perhaps I should sleep on it, thank you Jeff.'
Jonas kept thinking about his perfect tower all the week. He was dreaming of the trick he had found every night, sharpening it, getting closer to his goal each time. He was training on cereals in the morning, stacking them on the left, then sliding a I-shaped cereal on the right to finish it. He was replaying his conversation with Jeff. He could remember being taught about the golden rule and the Founding Bricklayers. He was 7, beginning bricklaying. He was a babricklayer, as they said at the time. Jonas was smiling, remembering good old days. The Founding Bricklayers were the chosen ones who first discovered bricks, and their amazing properties. They carried out research and found out they could stack them, and they piled bricks to the sky, erecting the first buildings of the city. Many decades had passed since then, and generations of bricklayers had accumulated knowledge, exploiting the Founding Bricklayers' discovery to build higher and bigger. A wide range of bricklaying styles had appeared: some would move bricks by hitting them several times, others would push them continuously instead. But only one thing had remained the same across bricklayers: the golden rule. No one was allowed to build with no holes. During the graduation ceremony, they had to swear on the first brick of the city that they would fulfill the golden rule. Jonas had to understand that deeper. He went and saw his uncle, who owned the widest collection of books of the city, more than any library.
'Hi Uncle !', Jonas said.
'How are you, babricklayer ?', his uncle answered.
'Stop calling me babricklayer Uncle, I'm not 7 anymore', Jonas laughed.
'But this is what you are, babricklayer. People are praising you out there, but I offered you your first bricks, and I fed you with my own cereals. I mean I was trying to feed you, since you would spend hours playing with them instead of eating them !'
'And I still do so, to be honest. You win, I'm babricklayer.'
'What do you need right now ? Last time you borrowed me cereals, I've never got them back, you thief !'
'I want to learn more about the golden rule.'
'Babricklayer, are you planning to break the golden rule ?'
'My plan is to build a tower. The perfect tower.'
'Perfection makes no sense ! You perfectly know that, then you're lying to me. I have plenty of books about building patterns, help yourself.'
'I've read them all, I know them by heart Uncle.'
'So you're willing to break the golden rule, you fool ! Would you be serious one day babricklayer ? When you were 6 you would always make funny faces, doing some crazy tricks with your eyes.'
'I want to understand why it is forbidden to make a building with no holes. It seems to be some old tradition, some outdated belief, almost religious dogma. I'm not against religion, which I find respectable, but I'm a bricklayer, not a priest !'
'You should pay respect to the Founding Bricklayers, babricklayer. You wouldn't stand here right now without their wisdom. Wisdom is precisely what you're lacking. Well, you want to learn, then I'll try to make you wiser ! I've kept a very old book in my attic, it's covered with dust but I guess you could brush it and read it.'
Jonas went upstairs and entered the attic. His uncle had made his building himself. It wasn't very high, but very clean. There were some holes, of course because of the golden rule, but despite that Jonas enjoyed this style. It had been made cautiously, and cleverly. He found the book at once, it was laying on a wooden table. Sunlight was coming from a hole above the table, so the book was looking like the Holy Bible. The Founding Bricklayers were sort of apostles, Jonas thought, so this was a proper scenery. He brushed the book with his arm, then he read the title: New Era's Story. He opened the book, and started reading. He enjoyed it, it was the kind of story he was told as a child. It was depicting the world before the Founding Bricklayers. It was sadistically funny to read how people struggled to survive without buildings. After hours of reading, Jonas reached the chapter describing how the Founding Bricklayers passed away:
After building the city, the Founding Bricklayers were pretty bored. They had indeed spent their whole life erecting monuments in the same place. They had pioneer minds, always willing to explore the world, and to create something new that no one else could have imagined. So they decided to leave the city, to explore the surroundings. Nobody knew what they were up to, perhaps they didn't know themselves. They said they would come back to relate their trip. But they have never come back. A squad of citizens tried to find them, but they only stumbled on a stone, on which the following words were written :
- 'Building with no holes is pointless, it has no meaning
It makes the whole thing a mess, it leads to nothing' -
This stone wasburied under sand over the years. However, these words have remained, and are known nowadays as the golden rule. As the last lesson of the Founding Bricklayers, no one has ever attempted to make a building with no holes. So far, we don't even know if it's possible, since no research has been carried out on this subject.
Jonas closed the book. He was definitely puzzled. Building with no holes is pointless, it leads to nothing, what does it mean ? Why being so enigmatic, using such metaphors ? The Founding Bricklayers had practical mind, they weren't used to write poetry. It was at this moment Jonas knew he had to build his tower. His knowledge thirst was too strong, and had been made even stronger by this book. He was actually thirsty for real as well: he was feeling like having a cup of green tea. Jonas said goodbye to his uncle and moved to a tea house. Jeff was waiting for him.
'Hi Jonas ! Why did you call me ? Still wishing to fill holes ? If you weren't married, I would introduce you to very cute friends of mine !'
'Time for a big announcement Jeff.'
'At last, your coming out !'
'Not at all Jeff, I'm going to build a tower. A very special one. Like no one has ever made.'
'My dear Jonas, what are you talking about ? Are you planning to...'
'break the golden rule, yes I am', Jonas interrupted.
'Are you going to put the technique you explained last time into practice, stacking on the left first and concluding with a vertical brick ?'
'Yes I will, I've been thinking for a week about potential moves, finding the right pattern for every single set of bricks.'
'When will you begin ?'
'I'm starting at the end of next week.'
'Jonas, you're crazy. I like you, partly because of that, but you're the craziest guy I ever met. I do believe that you would be able to make your no holes tower, but don't you feel any fear about breaking the golden rule ?'
'I've just finished the book explaining the golden rule's origins. Its root is a couple of words engraved onto a rock lost in desert ! The Founding Bricklayers may have written that, but there's no evidence, and above all there's no reason why the golden rule should be relevant ! I have to figure out, I can't help myself.'
'Alright Jonas. To be honest, I would have preferred a coming out from you right now. But as a friend, I believe in you, and I will support you till the end. I think all bricklayers should come and see your work, so I will gather them to provide you an enthusiastic audience. Most people fear committing something illegal, but most people enjoy watching somebody commit something illegal. There will be commentators, we'll play music, and of course we'll bring green tea !'
'As you wish Jeff, I think this is kind of a party after all. And all bricklayers coming to the same place to watch their colleague build, it would be an amazing and unprecedented event !'
'Then see you next week Jonas, we both have lot of things to get done.'
Jonas was certainly living one of the happiest periods of his life. He was about to make his sweetest dream come true. All the week, Jonas filled dozens of bowls with cereals. He filled his bathtub with milk and cereals as well, in order to practice his technique. Jonas wasn't even fearing failure. Holes in his tower wouldn't really matter. It would be slightly unpleasant, but he would try harder to succeed next time.
Finally, it was D-Day. Time to shine, time to bring the whole bricklayers community together. When Jonas arrived, Jeff was waiting for him with green tea. But this time, a crowd was waiting as well behind him. There was James, his uncle, and many more. There were even commentators ! One of them gave him a microphone, the crowd was asking for a speech. Jonas, a bit surprised at first, started to speak, a bit awkwardly because of emotion:
'This year is being very special, this is being such a positive influence in my life, it's just… …you guys are great !'
After these words, simple words but full of meaning, Jonas started to build. He wasn't the fastest builder anymore, in fact he had never been. But his abilities were staggering anyway. He was flipping bricks, tucking them, flipping them again. He was always foreseeing the next brick, thinking about the patterns he could make. Jonas' building was intelligence made stone. As he had planned, he started to stack bricks on the left. People were making funny faces, frowning with both mouth and eyes wide opened, because this technique was unknown but very well performed. Jonas was smiling while building, watching the faces of the audience and listening to the jokes of commentators. He was having a really good time. He was succeeding. He had finished his stack on the left, his tower was already good looking.
There was a I-shaped brick remaining. As he had predicted, he picked up this vertical brick, took a step back from his tower, and threw the brick on the right. And it happened.
For less than a second, Jonas could see his tower with no holes. But suddenly, the whole building blinked: there were a couple of blinding flashes of light, and then, nothing. The tower had vanished. Everybody was looking at each other, wondering what had just happened. Jonas had thrown the I-shaped brick, then the building had emitted light, then no more tower. The audience remained silent, only a commentator let a word out:
'BOOM', he said.
Jonas was devastated. The Founding Bricklayers were right. His dream would never come true, since a building with no holes is not meant to exist for longer than a second. His uncle was right as well, he should be wiser. For the last time, Jonas took a look at the flatland on which his tower had almost stood, and moved away. Time to go back home. The crowd was moving away as well, since the show was over. At this moment, Jonas heard some conversations emanating from the crowd, who had broken the silence.
'It was amazing.'
'What a show, what a skills display ! And what an ending !'
'This is quite unprecedented, but very pleasant to watch'
'Next time, I'll bring my children !'
'Green tea was excellent'
Everybody was smiling and laughing. Bricklayers were contemplating conducting the same experiment, especially for its spectacular ending. Jonas realized something wonderful was happening : the whole bricklayers community was interconnecting for the very first time. They were planning to set up other big events such as this one, where builders would make buildings blink and disappear. And it was happening because of him. He had brought entertainment to a whole generation, bringing bricklaying a huge step forward.
He had become kind of a Founding Bricklayer himself now: it was the beginning of a New Era's Story.
To Jonas Neubauer
