End of Week 17 03/16/25

Another week of (you guessed it!) Unity. As I work through the tutorial for the 3rd person shooter, I am realizing things about Unity you could only figure out through experience. Certain common bugs are becoming more obvious and quickly fixable. A bug I ran into a couple of times was one caused by descrepancies between my prefabs and my objects. The prefabs are set assets in Unity that can be edited and used, but will remain permanent in your toolbelt across scenes and projects. The problem I ran into was editing the prefab after it had been moved into the project for use. This changed code for the prefab in the project, but left the code for the universal prefab unchanged. It was the universal prefab, however, that was being referenced and called upon in my code. So the prefab and its copies needed uniformity. Figuring this out (took me hours the first time) allowed for quicker fixes later on. As for C#, well, I couldn’t write you a working line of code if you paid me. But, I feel I can get by for now with just typing alongside reference material. Eventually I will learn all of these necessary languages. I am taking broad strokes at the moment, dipping my toes in all pools.

The Man of Broken Mirrors

Archibald made his way up the mountain, each step more painful than the last. He wore a flimsy cloth and his feet were barren. The snowstorm pained him to the bone and laughed at him as the wind whistled past his eardrums. He winced over his shoulder, only absently concerned of his pursuers. He would freeze to death, but freeze to death he must. To pay for his deed at the hands of Stokley Hirth would be an undesirable fate. It was not time yet, though, for either outcome. With his ice pick and a wavering will, Archie was almost at the summit. He could hear the voices of the mob below. Fiery, strong. They had been given the gift of preparation. Stokley’s voice was audible over the others. He was encouraging a hastening of pace. Archie reached a new height and could see the edge of the frozen lake. The wind, now unblocked by the mountainside, sliced his eyes. He hurriedly covered them. The only sense he still needed. The sense which had failed him before, but would not do so now. Lord willing. Archie was a man of god, a priest. He had to be. The demons were there, always. No one could, would help. His mother feared him, his father gone. When he begged for mercy, God stood his only listener. HE was no killer, no sir. Luck was where he was lacking. Lucifer spun his blasted wheel and the ticker stopped on poor Archie. He collapsed on the edge of the lake in such a manner that he knew he wouldn’t stand again. He lifted the ice pick with all the strength he had and brought it down. The ice was rock solid, but it teased at eventually cracking through. Archie picked it again. God, how his toes hurt. He wouldn’t be here if Stokely was true, if Stokely only understood. Mrs. Stokely Hirth was true. She understood Archie and she felt bad for him. She stood beside him as a ray of sunshine, a second ray beside the Lord Himself. Those cold days, those cold days in The House. Prayer left a deafening silence in its wake, and echoed the demons Archie still felt inside. Jane Hirth could hear it, too. The memory of her face brought him pain. A shame. A blasted shame. He brought the pick down again and could see a tangible crack. The voices of the mob rounded the farside of the mountain. Archibald was a handsome man. He thought so and so did his mother. She told him so, told him it was a shame he was such a monster otherwise. He felt his was a reflection of his true self, his Godly self. He would stand hours before a mirror. When he showed Jane his mirror reflection, she would laugh and say “what a lad.” A mirror his safety, he would only talk when he could see his real self. Sermons, prayer, confession, and a shiny reflection which kept Lucifer at bay. A window into God’s world, everywhere, always. When finally he saw a trickle of water, he knew the mob was near by the rumble of the snow covered ground. He licked his lips hungrily and chipped with ferocity. He was certain the image would be true. The last time he was so certain was when he knew Jane wanted to be with him. Just for the night, she did. The man in the mirror gave him the confidence to voice this knowledge. Too late, she said no and Mr. Hirth said she was not to see Archie anymore. Bad luck, always bad luck. Mr. Hirth and Lucifer had taken Jane from him and furthermore they polluted the true Jane and made him feel lust. He would have to do something, she was done for. Her death was a stab at Lucifer and his persistant curses upon Archibald. He caved in her face with the very ice pick he held now. “There he is! Burn him!” Archie heaved and hoed, the ice breaking up now. The eerie laughter of the storm had been replaced with screams of rage. Good riddance. He was close now, close to the truth. He had been lied to ever since his luck had run out. Lucifer spread through him like a disease. A glance in his mirror showed only a monster. A spawn of satan. Lucifer had clouded his mirrors, his poor mirrors! All of them, Archie had looked into every mirror in Crustend. He broke them all, all cursed. His true self was taken. They found Jane when he was looking in Old Allen’s mantelpiece mirror. Archie’s last sight before he fled for the daunting hills was a false, overgrown, blood covered wretch with red eyes and a wide grin. A gap wide enough to look into had formed. The water rippled, the image unclear. He felt God in the pool below, he knew the image would be true once again. At last! He waited, panicked, for the water to still. Each second a maddening eternity. Finally, when the water had settled, he noticed the toll the storm had taken on his vision. Through blurred eyes he could see the shining man he always knew he was reflected back at him. He rubbed his eyes excitedly. The mob grabbed his arms and overtook him. Craning, he could not see the hole in the icy lake he had made as they pulled him away to his doom. He looked up at a strained Stokely Hirth and laughed, for his vision was now crystal clear.