Chapter Ten – 'So repetitive'

"Loud booms, stable wooden bridges, and red holograms that can freeze time. I thought this would be a normal game." Luann said nervously as she pressed the roll icon. "Please not twelve again." She paused before continuing. "The dog moving on its own is strange. How do I know where it will go, or even if it knows where to go?"

The booms were as loud as they had been, but Luann stood next to the silver dog and stared up at the dam. "I just hope none of those loud noises break the dam. I just bought it." She looked at the dog and then the MyPad.

"I don't know if looking at what I rolled makes any difference." She looked anyways. "Nine. At least it is not another double."

Luann climbed on top of the dog and took one last look at the dam, before her view was obstructed by the forest the dog started to enter.

The forest was dark as it was covered by a thick canopy of trees. The dog stayed on a dirt path that looked like it had been worn in over time. "This seems like a creepy forest. Why did the dog go this way, couldn't we have gone around the trees and stayed in the daylight?" She said with her usual attitude and slapped the back of the dog, as if she expected something to happen. The dog continued along the path for another few seconds before Luann came up with an idea.

"What if I jumped off the dog now?" She pondered this a second before leaping off and landing on the grass beside the trail. She stood still for a second and saw trees in every direction. "I guess there is no where else to go in here." Another couple of steps into the trees revealed the same. "Maybe the dog does know where he is going and if he does, that was my ride out of the forest. I should go back to him."

She turned around and walked the same way she had just came from. Beyond the trees and on the path, the dog sat a few feet ahead of where she jumped. "I guess it knows." She commented before noticing a blue holographic Burns standing in front of the dog. "That's weird. I thought the holograms were green and red. Blue is new."

She slowly approached the dog. "The red one froze time, somehow. Maybe the blue one can speed it up. I don't know. Why can't this just be a normal game?" She screamed hoping that would help. "I should have declined when I was picked as a substitute. Too late for that now, I'm still here to win." She confidently said and walked closer to the dog. "Maybe if I walk around them, I can continue."

Luann strode past the dog and the blue Burns, and continued on the path through the forest. She continued for a second until it felt like something was watching her. "Rule violation." A voice said behind her.

"Who said that? Is someone there?" She nervously asked before turning around. The blue holographic Burns was now facing her instead of the dog.

"You are being informed of a rule violation. Rule 17a states: You must stay on your assigned token until you reach the destination as rolled. In which you will be informed you have arrived." The voice came from the blue Burns as a shocked Luann tried to figure out how it knew. "Please return to your token so the game can continue."

"This game is getting too weird. I should just play along to finish." She thought as she walked toward the dog. The blue Burns vanished when she climbed on her dog. "I just want out of the forest."

As she made her wish, the dog started to move again and glided along the path. A few short seconds later, there was daylight coming from between the trees as the exit appeared.

The dog emerged from the forest. "I made it. I'm out of the forest, but where am I?" She questioned as a few warehouse buildings came into view. She rode past two of them before the dog started to slow down and stopped in front of a run-down building.

It was a three-story building with all glass windows with metal bars along each side. It looked like it was still in use, but really needed to be torn down. She looked around and wondered if this was truly the right place, then her thought was answered. "You have arrived at Kentucky Avenue." The voice said from her MyPad as it showed her the nine spaces she had traveled.

"I guess this is what the blue Burns meant when he said I would be informed when I had arrived." She got a confused look after the animation. "How was that nine spaces when I traveled through the woods, and ended up here." She shrugged it off and jumped off the dog.

She approached the warehouse and saw a red-painted wood sign out front that said 'Box Factory'. She walked past this and peered around the corner of the warehouse, and saw a couple of empty lots with signs that read: 'Coming soon'. She turned back around and walked toward the front door as it seemed to move slightly and a click could be heard. "Is someone there?" She asked as she noticed the red-painted sign now read 'Kentucky Avenue' and a new sign beside it read: 'For Sale. Inquire Within.'

"That sign wasn't there a minute ago. Did someone just add it and run inside?" She checked out the sign and decided to walk inside. "If this property is for sale also, it should be easy to buy, since I already know the process. I just need to find the blue Burns. Or was it the red one? There was a green one too. Oh, I don't remember. I'll just go ask someone." She argued with herself as she grabbed the door handle and opened the door.

Inside was a large room with a conveyor belt that stretched around the room, with workers positioned on the outside. The center of the room had an elevator that went up into the ceiling.

"Hello everyone." Luann announced to the room. "Does anyone know where I can find a statue? A Burns statue, it looks like an old man." As soon as she said this, most of the workers stopped and turned towards her, but no one responded.

The conveyor started to pile up with cardboard as the worker who folded the boxes had stopped working, and the worker who put the glue on the cardboard had also stopped working. "Hey, boxes aren't getting made." Yelled another worker who seemed to have some authority.

"But sir, the lady is asking about the statue." The box folder replied.

"I heard what she said. It's not up to us to tell her about it." The leader answered.

"If it wasn't for that statue they delivered yesterday, she wouldn't even be here." The box gluer stated.

"Be quiet about the statue. We aren't supposed to tell anyone about it. They must find that out on their own, and any questions are to be directed to the manager." The leader of the manufacturer floor tried to keep the workers quiet, but the more they talked, the more information Luann gained.

She just stood and listened, but no one said anything further, as they cleaned up the boxes that were missed during the previous conversation.

"What if I can tell you all what the statue does?" Luann announced to gain the attention of the workers. "I know what it does and I can show you. I just need someone to take me to it."

The workers tried to ignore her, but curiosity got the better of them. "I saw them bring in the statue, but they took it right on the elevator." A box stacker explained.

"I need to know where that statue is. I must buy this property." Luann started getting excited knowing her trip into the box factory could be short. "The statue will allow me to buy this place. It will show me a red, or was it green, hologram that I can continue to play my game. Does anyone know about the game?" She paused as everyone continued to work this time. No one seemed interested in listening to her. "This is all a game!" She yelled at the workers.

"This is our job, making boxes and shipping boxes. That's all we do." The leader replied. "There is no game."

"It is a game. I came from a place and was transported here by..." Luann started.

"Come with me, and I'll take you upstairs to meet the manager." The leader suggested as he walked to the elevator and pressed the up arrow.

"Can you explain to me what I need to know?" Luann asked as she also took a few steps to stand next to the central elevator.

"I can help you, but the workers down here don't need to know." The leader said as the elevator door opened and the two of them entered.

The elevator slowly rose up to the second floor where a bell indicated they were there. The doors opened to reveal a hallway with several rooms that could be seen behind glass walls. "Please wait inside while I go get the manager." The manufacturing floor leader said he exited the room.

Luann patiently waited for the manager and decided to see what information she could gain from this property. "I should think of what questions I need to ask the manager." She stood up and walked around the long table as she had seen some papers on the other end of the table. "Maybe I can find something."

She started shuffling through the loose papers and only found a few random notes that didn't amount to anything. "Nothing here. This isn't like Cecil's trailer where secrets were just laying about. I need to try to get back there, somehow, and see what else I can find. Hopefully no one else figures out that property has many answers."

A knock on the door disrupted her thinking, as a man could be seen through the glass. "Can I come in? I hear you are looking for me. I am the manager."

"Yes, please come in. I have lots to ask you about this game I'm playing and about the statue you received." Luann said as she had a seat at the table, and invited the manager to sit with her.

"First, allow me to introduce myself. I am the manager of the box factory. Everyone calls me The Manager. My floor leader sometimes calls me the Mayor of Kentucky Avenue." The Manager explained.

"Don't you have a name. Mine is Luann van Houten." Luann added.

"I do. It is The Manager." He answered again. "I prefer the name Manager over Mayor. Now what it is you want to know."

"I have so much to ask. Let me think where to start..." Luann was interrupted before starting her questions.

"I am a busy man, as I am in charge of this factory, and the buildings that are being prepared behind this warehouse. I have time now to answer three questions, so make them count."

"Only three questions. I already learned some information from Cecil at the Hydro and Electric Dam, so I'll ask questions that add to that information." She hoped by suggesting she knew more than she did would get The Manager to give her some information.

"It appears you have already taken a turn. If this is your first turn, you must have rolled doubles. Hydro and Electric Dam is twelve spaces from the start. You must have rolled 'boxcars'. That's my favorite roll since I manage a box factory." He laughed to himself, but Luann didn't think it was as funny.

"How did you know I rolled a twelve?" She asked amazed that he knew that.

"We were all shown the board layout at the emergency mayor meeting right before you all started playing." He answered her first question. "That's one question."

"I didn't intend for that to be a question. Let's see..." She was disappointed at her mistake.

"A question is still a question whether or not it was intended." He replied.

"The emergency mayor meeting seemed like it was important. All the mayors from all the properties meeting before the game to discuss how we would play this game." She stated as she stared at The Manager trying to gain more information.

"That was not a question." He glanced at his watch. "I only have time for two more questions."

"I need more information about why we are all here!" She got excited. "How was that not a question asking about the meeting?"

"A question usually involves someone asking something they don't know. You merely stated that we all had a meeting. It is true. There was a meeting." He replied again. "That's two questions."

"I better watch myself. I only have one question left." She said more depressed than her plan of information gathering is falling apart.

"The game started and I wasn't ready for anyone to move twenty-one spaces on their first turn. So I had to hurry and change the sign once I saw you pull up on your silver dog." The Manager continued.

"I thought it changed. How could you tell I was here?" Luann inadvertently asked her third question.

"I watched from my office on the third floor, while I tried to figure out what exactly the Burns statue does." He explained right before disappointing her. "That's three questions. I have to get down to the construction site." He stood up from the table and walked towards the door.

"Wait!" She yelled. "At least tell me how to get to your office."

"Take the elevator to the third floor. Find the office that is different. It has a Burns statue in it." He explained but Luann thought it was a very dumb explanation.

The Manager took the elevator down to the first floor, and when it returned, Luann took it to the third floor. "I could have figured this out by myself. So much for getting any information from him. I'll just do the next best thing, search his office."

The elevator stopped at the third floor and she exited. The Manager was correct in all the offices looking the same. Luann started down the hallway and glanced into every office. After three of the exact same office, she reached a corner, and turned right down another hallway. The offices along this wing were all the same too. She rounded another corner and saw an office with a single desk and a Burns statue inside.

The sign on the door showed it was The Manager's office. "This must be it. It says 'The Manager', but it also has a statue. Hopefully this one just lets me buy the property so I can get out of here." She seemed hesitant and cautious as she entered the room.

"Here is my destination, but first I wonder..." She thought as she looked closely at the desk and could see nothing of interest. "Maybe the file cabinets." She tried three sets of file cabinets as in Cecil's trailer, and just as before they were all locked. "Everyone seems to be guarding information about this game. What are they all hiding from us."

The Burns statue lurked in the room, as Luann could not focus her attention on anything else. "I guess I just need to finish my turn, then I can search the office." She stood in front of the Burns statue and placed her MyPad into its hands as she had done before. Only a green holographic Burns appeared this time. "Only green. No red, and definitely no blue." She said relieved.

"Greetings and welcome to the box factory on Kentucky Avenue, where square boxes are made. You can own this property for the price of two hundred twenty dollars as it is unowned. The fee for a factory tour will be eighteen dollars. There are three red properties in this group. Make your decision." The holographic Burns stated as Luann imagined this speech, as it gave a similar one at the dam.

"I still think it is a good idea to buy everything. It may help me later on." She pressed the buy button as she said this, and the holographic Burns disappeared. She waited as it printed her receipts. Even when she knew what was supposed to happen, it still didn't happen fast enough for her. "Come on." She impatiently said as she kicked the shins of the statue. "And give me my title-deed." She grabbed the receipts out of the statue. "Here is the title-deed. This is what I need." She tried to read the other piece of paper, but she had ripped it in half. "I can't read this. I know I have money. I'll figure it out later." The money didn't seem as important as the title-deed.

She waited for a second as the booms were heard outside the building.

"Now I can search the office, as long as The Manager doesn't come back. Where should I start? I just need to pay attention to when my next turn is." She said as she sat down at the desk and looked through the top drawer.