deus ex machina

It seemed like a fitting subject for blog 2. For, coincidentally, 2 reasons. First, when I was younger I always confused deus and deuce, and maybe subconsciously I still have that wrongly encoded ditributed neural network in my brain, refusing to fade. So when I sat down to select a subject for blog 2, deus ex machina was one of the first phrases to pop into my head. Second, I always hear that phrase about writing, but I don't know what it is. And I find myself attempting to write a story, so now is a good time to find out.

My research says deus ex machina (pronounced DAY-oos eks MAH-ki-nuh) tranlates from latin as "god from the machine." And it's from ancient Greek plays where they would drop god characters onto stage with a machine, and because they were gods they tended to be used to wrap up the story of the show. And now in the modern day it is a plot device, where a problem in a story is solved with some unlikely happening.

Maybe it'll mean something different in the future. Maybe one day people will have sophisticated medical machines that save lives, and they'll collapse before them in gratitude when terminal cancer is removed from a loved one's body in seconds. Maybe they'll weigh the benefits machines have brought them against religion and ask themselves? Has a god ever done anything like that for you?

But for the purposes of this story, I find it likely there will be many deus ex machina. I am an amateur after all. I intend to put Antehero and Mojave through the wringer. I spent my whole life torturing myself in my own head with lofty expectations of perfection, so we might as well torture Antehero and Mojave on paper, and likely put them in impossible situations. Then we can go to uncomfortable places, and hopefully find some new ideas and new humor.

I had a lot of fun writing level 1 and blog 1. And writing level 2 is taking longer than I ever expected, but it is also more rewarding than I ever expected. As I continue editing and creating games, chapters, and blogs, I am excited to imagine that one day more of you might be here. It is exciting to dream that one day people might cheer for Antehero and Mojave when it's appropriate, be angry at them when they make mistakes, and ridicule them when it is deserved. And when we get interactive, I hope you'll help me shape this story along the way.

I'm not sure if anyone has solved a puzzle yet, so in the interest of fairness I want to make an easier one, isolated from all others, as a fun game we can play. Can you help me send Antehero and Mojave a message? You'll have to go to the transmitter at:
www.naziorcsmustdie.com/transmitter.html (I have only tested this in Chrome.)

And you'll have to send the following message:
Good Luck! I support you!

If you can figure it out from there, good job. If you want a little boost, there are some hints below.