Inkreis Solves the Puzzle of Neopia

     igh-frequency clinking. Probably the clinking of glassware.

     Mixed-frequency tones, identifiable as a Meepit carol.

     In the background, medium-frequency vocalisations, consistent with a party atmosphere.

     Increasing in volume, a low-frequency rolling noise, consistent with the approach of a Neopet. Inkreis turned to see the party host, approaching, carrying a steaming mug.

     “Inkreis! There you are!” exclaimed the host with his left head while smiling broadly with the right one. “I’m so glad you could make it. Here, have some fresh-made borovan.” The Mutant Hissi pressed the mug into Inkreis’ scaled hands.

     Inkreis blinked. “Thank you, Pystry.” Inkreis tasted the air tentatively, his metal tongue confirming the scents of chocolate and asparagus before tasting the 81.3° C beverage.

     Pystry’s heads glanced at each other. “Is it okay? I thought Borovan was your favourite.”

     Inkreis paused. “It is. It was. I’m not sure. Ever since the Lab Ray zapped me into a Robot Hissi, everything feels different. Not unpleasant, just unfamiliar. Like riding a bicycle someplace you’ve only ever walked before, and seeing the world in terms of ramps and kerbs.” He stared briefly at the wall. “I can’t remember much from before the zapping. I’m worried that I’ve become someone completely different, and I don’t know who that is.”

     Both of Pystry’s heads smiled. “Well, whoever you become, you’re welcome here, among friends, at a party. Do you still like jigsaw puzzles?”

     Inkreis smiled grimly. “Yes! The interplay of shapes, pretty much anything geometrical, I love that… but most of the puzzles available are just too easy. The hardest one I could find is the Altador Cup Jigsaw Puzzle, and even at 500 pieces, I finished in practically no time.”

     “Perfect!” Pystry beamed. “Because I brought you a gift. A special, one-of-a-kind puzzle. I hope circles are still your favourite shape - “

     “They are!” Inkreis interrupted, grateful to have a friend who also appreciated geometry. He had found, both before and after being zapped, that it wasn’t the most popular topic of conversation. And Fyora forfend he should bring up trigonometry.

     “So it’s a map of Neopia. Two circles, actually, one for each hemisphere, with Kreludor and the Virtupets station included. One thousand pieces. That should be a challenge, even with your new robotic brain, yes?” Pystry retrieved an inconspicuous box from a nearby shelf and placed it in Inkreis’ metallic hands. “Come here; there’s a Lovely Coffee Table in the guest room that should be perfect for it.”

     Inkreis couldn’t help but be impressed by the table; it was the perfect size and shape for a large jigsaw puzzle. His claws sliced through the seals with ease, and he poured the pieces out. His eyes glittered as he scanned the spilt pieces, although whether from some internal electronics or simply rapid eye movement, Pystry couldn’t say. Pystry held his tongues, waiting for Inkreis’ judgement.

     Inkreis smiled slowly. “Yes, this is good. One thousand is enough pieces that I can’t just see the solution. If anything, this may be a real challenge.”

     Pystry was unable to hide a certain smugness at his cleverness, clearly pleased that he had found a perfect present. “So what’s your strategy? Start with the edges?”

     Inkreis furrowed his brow. “Normally, yes, but here they’re mostly the same colour, which makes it harder. Say, why don’t you invite the others to help? These puzzles are always more fun with friends.”

     Pystry blinked, opting not to share that he personally rather enjoyed showing off how quickly he could solve a puzzle by himself. Two heads were famously better than one, after all. “Sounds good! I’ll spread the word and let you get started.” Inkreis nodded as he began methodically spreading out the pieces and turning them all right-side-up.

     Minutes later, Inkreis had made only a little progress on the mostly-black edge pieces. Fortunately, the puzzle cut had been well done, so that each piece was unique and thus no false fits, where a piece might seem to fit but didn’t. Still, he was beginning to feel slightly frustrated at his slow start when two partygoers entered, one scooting gracefully on her Hissi tail, the other hovering slightly, her Buzz wings hovering. “Ah, here he is!” said the Buzz.

     Inkreis’ eyes lit up. “Phidianne! Apshai! Come in! I could use some help here.” Apshai, alighted by the table and began poring over the map image on the puzzle box lid appraisingly, then nodded in approval.

     “First things first,” said Phidianne, rummaging inside her Tribal Print Purse that set off her Island Hissi colouration. She withdrew a Claw Necklace, one of a noticeably finer quality than the Claw Necklaces sold at the Tiki Tack. “I made this myself. You probably don’t need much protection from clawed beasts with your new armour, but I thought you’d look good in it.” She deftly adjusted the necklace around Inkreis’ neck.

     Inkreis smiled. “I feel bad. I didn’t realize we were exchanging gifts at this party.”

     Apshai and Phidianne looked at him in puzzlement. Apshai narrowed her compound eyes. “Inkreis, you do realize that today is your birthday, don’t you?”

     Inkreis’ eyes widened. Apshai could swear she heard Inkreis’ brain kick into overdrive, then subside. “I had totally forgotten. Occupational hazard of having a birthday so close to the holidays. This… this isn’t a birthday party for me, is it?”

     Phidianne shook her head. “No, Pystry planned this party a while back, and only found out about your birthday recently. He was very proud he was able to commission this puzzle in time for you. Although,” her eyes twinkled, “there might be a Starry Yellow Birthday Cupcake for you waiting in the kitchen. “This party was just meant to celebrate a new year with good friends.”

     Inkreis relaxed. “That’s a relief. Phidianne, thank you for the necklace. I love it. Apshai, any suggestions on the best way to tackle this puzzle? The edges are slow going.”

     Apshai rested her chin on her hands. “I’d recommend starting on the coastline. The Lost Desert’s river delta is very distinctive, for example.”

     Phidianne chuckled. “Of course, the Desert Buzz recommends starting with the Lost Desert. Well, this Island girl thinks you should start with the islands. Once you get Mystery Island, Krawk and Scurvy Island, and the Isle of Fay, they’ll go together in a big triangle and finish a big chunk of the map.”

     Apshai nodded. “That would work. Or focus on different lands that will have different textures, like the Haunted Woods or Tyrannia.” She moved several pieces with denuded forest together, to facilitate assembling the Haunted Woods. “This takes me back. The Tale of Woe, the Spooky Foods Eating Contest, the Ghoul Catchers…”

     Inkreis nodded, following her lead and separating out pieces that were obviously Tyrannia. “The Monoceraptor, the Obelisk and the skirmishes. The wonderful thing about jigsaw puzzles is the way you really see each detail and how they fit together.”

     Apshai gave the Robot Hissi a sideways glance. “Much like Neopia itself, isn’t it? There’s no one single way to solve a jigsaw, just like there’s no one single way to experience this big, complicated world we live in. You can create a gallery of jigsaw puzzles, or boost your fighting skills, create poetry and art, save up for rare items, or just play games for the fun of it. There’s no best way to be a Neopian.”

     Inkreis raised an eyebrow. “Why does this suddenly sound like a therapy session?” he asked, but not without humour.

     The Buzz blushed slightly, her adobe complexion deepening briefly to ochre. “Pystry mentioned you were feeling a little disconnected. I spend a lot of my time running role-playing games. I think a lot about how different types of people with different types of skills work together and need each other. If a player told me they weren’t sure who their character was, there are some basic questions I could have them consider…”

     “Like what?”

     Apshai’s wings hummed. “A few basic things. What are your strengths? What are your flaws? What is it you want that you can’t have, and what’s keeping you from getting it? Just for starters. But most of all I’d reassure them that they don’t have to get their character ‘right’ from the start. You find out who you are by meeting people, and doing things, and making decisions in the moment.”

     Phidianne nodded, absent-mindedly stroking the tiki idol she always wore. “We all change over time. I’ve never gone near the Lab Ray. That mad scientist, there’s something not right about him. But I have gone through big changes in my life, and I’m stronger for it.”

     “Well, what I want to do right now is finish this puzzle,” mused Inkreis, “and what’s keeping me from that goal is more pieces jumbled together than I can process at once. But what I’m very good at, especially as a Robot, is being methodical. Ladies, how about I sort and you start piecing together individual lands and islands?” He leaned down, the better to distinguish subtle gradients of colour.

     An hour later, Pystry returned with all the other partygoers in tow, carrying a Painted Pottery Platter with a Starry Yellow Birthday Cupcake topped with a single lit candle. To his surprise, Inkreis, Apshai, and Phidianne were all frantically scouring the room.

     “We’ve got a piece missing,” explained Inkreis. Indeed, the 1,000-piece puzzle was nearly complete, with one single hole in the Moltaran ocean.

     “Oh no no no,” fretted Pystry. “There is no way that piece isn’t hiding somewhere. That box has never been opened before. Everybody look!”

     Inkreis laughed. “What do you say, Apshai? Is this a sign that our Neopian journey is never finished?”

     “Don’t torture my metaphors,” smirked the Buzz. “Every story needs an ending.”

     Phidianne clutched her tiki totem, silently asking her ancestors for inspiration. Inkreis looked sceptical. “Do you really think that’s going to help more than a methodical search?”

     Phidianne smiled serenely, her eyes still shut. “You work your way, and I’ll work mine.”

     Inkreis frowned, slightly chastened, but still not convinced. “I just don’t see how this is going to help - “ he wrapped his hand around his Claw Necklace, only to feel something shift in his grasp. A dark blue puzzle piece dislodged from behind the claws and fell to the table. Sheepishly, he looked at the Island Hissi, who was doing her very best not to gloat. “Phidianne, do you want to do the honours?”

     With a satisfying click, the last piece fell into place.

     The End.