Challenge #02953-H030: Critical Devaluation Error
What if I told you I can see everything labeled with a numerical value? Like I can see the value of hardness when comparing granite and diamond. That’s obvious but what if I told you I know how much your left kidney sell in the black market, and how much power this ship have left to the billionth of a decimal. Everything in this universe have value, but even as we speak the value have been going down. Everywhere I go the value is decreasing. Once the value of an item hit zero it transforms into a black cube. This cube used to be a blue jay. I don’t know if something is draining everyone value or removing it altogether, I just don’t know, I’m scared. -- Anon Guest
Close examination of the cube in the right light revealed a lengthy serial number and an engraved representation of a bird in mid-flight. Specifically, a blue jay. It was a two-inch, or five centimeter cube. Beyond 'black', it was impossible to determine what the material was. Touching it revealed only what it was not. It was not glass. It was not plastic. It was not metal, nor mineral, nor any kind of fabric.
What it was, was: there, black, and a cube. No entity in the universe could want it. It could not be sold. It could not be traded. It was... a thing. It was valueless. Instantly, Valerie knew that she was out of her depth. She was a psychiatrist, not... whatever this needed. "How long has this been going on?"
"I noticed the cubes when I was cleaning out my wardrobe, about six months ago. There were lots of them, maybe this size," finger and thumb sketched a much smaller object. "I didn't even think about it until I saw a mouse dip to zero and... pop... one of these. I've always been able to see the value of stuff. It's been why I've been great at trades. This? This is alarming in more ways than one."
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