Sample: CONNOR: You mean, he'll remember who I am?

AMANDA: Exactly! Tricks, where you feed him, the smell of your old socks, the works! I can't guarantee every single memory - some loss is inevitable due to decay - but he'll be at least 95% as good as new.

Amanda glances at her watch.

AMANDA: Maybe 94%.

Amanda looks back up at Connor with a serious expression.

AMANDA: Moment of truth, Connor. If you want me to go through with this, I need to start now. What's your decision?

Connor thinks about it for a long moment before finally nodding.

CONNOR: Do it.

Sample: The necromancer sputtered with rage, unable to respond coherently. Finally controlling himself, he held up a finger angrily. "One month, Alexi! I’ll give you one month to finish making your abomination! If you are not done with it then, I will throw you to the tender mercy of our leaders!" With that, he turned and stormed out of the lab, leaving Alexi alone once again.

Alexi chuckled and went back to his work. "Poor Edvard," he said quietly, "your temper will be the death of you one day." He patted the stitched monstrosity on the table, feeling the cold, leathery texture of the creature’s skin. "You will be a masterpiece," he whispered, "no matter what anyone else says."

Sample: "At least tell me where you are," Ness implored.

"I can’t do that, Ness. I won’t." Paula paused for a moment, then hardened her voice. "You need help, Ness. If only you’d go to counseling, or church—"

"I am NOT going to church," Ness stated crossly.

"How can you not have faith, after everything that’s happened to us?" asked Paula accusingly.

"We don’t KNOW that it happened," Ness argued. "Memories aren’t good enough for me. I NEED to know it’s real!"

Sample: The family had not recovered the next morning; if anything, they were worse. Moreover, the farmer’s youngest son was missing, though no one had noticed his disappearance. I treated them as best I could, but since I was not a doctor I could do little. I searched the farmstead for the lost child, but of him there was no sign. The blight had expanded again, and I could not bring myself to approach the stone. In all likelihood, the fear and loathing I saw as irrational was all that saved me from suffering the same fate as the farmer.

Sample: "I’m so sorry, child," he said wearily, "but one of your Sisterhood has fallen in battle, and...it is your turn to—"

"—to do my duty," she replied despondently. "I know, Father. I will do my duty, like those before me and those who will follow after." She looked back at the small room where she had spent so much of her time. Her favorite books, the plants she lovingly cared for, everything that made her unique and special. She would miss that – the knowing that she was different.

"With that kind of money," Frank answered excitedly, "we can go down to the village and buy some food!"

"But the Boss said we had to find some food," stated Roger matter-of-factly.

Frank gestured impatiently at the hamlet to the south. "You mean, like at the store?"

Roger shook his head unhappily. "There aren't any stores in town that sell food."

"Are you kidding me?" replied Frank incredulously. "Come on, let's go. This I gotta see."

The creature made a nervous-sounding buzzing noise. "You seem to be taking all this surprisingly well."

"Well," Roger explained with a lackadaisical grin, "you're a talking bee that came out of a meteorite. So either I'm really high, or you're telling the truth, and I don't remember getting high tonight. I remember getting high last night!"

Sample: "Hey man, spare some gems?" it begged with a low, dreamy tone. "I gotta get my lapis lazuli on!"

Taken aback by the request and the weirdness of the situation, Zidane searched his brain for an appropriate response. "I don't know, pal," he said after a moment's hesitation. "I think you've had one too many already."

"Is it high?" Vivi whispered to the others.

Garnet looked confused. "High? It's not floating that far off the ground."

Sample: "Enter, hero," she declared grandly, "and listen to my tale of woe." Noticing the adventurer's lack of attention, she stopped. "What?"

Frank gestured at her skimpy garb. "Aren't you cold in that getup?"

The chained woman rolled her eyes. "Very," she replied tersely. "Can I get on with the tale of woe?"

"Huh?" The adventurer tore his gaze away from the blonde's shapely form. "Oh, right. Yeah, I'm listening."

Sample: "That's the fifth town you've torched this week!" he exclaimed. "Where the hell are you getting the components for such powerful magic?!"

Demetrios just laughed sinisterly. "It's really quite simple," he explained with a mocking tone. "I buy them from the auction house. In fact, just this morning I bought a blood ruby for a mere five thousand gold."

The adventurers looked at each other, confused. "We sold a blood ruby for five grand this morning," said Patricia, putting the pieces together.

Sample: Alerted by an alarm spell to someone's presence in his tower, Waldo closed his book and waddled out of his study. Seeing Frank standing in the foyer, the portly wizard breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah, back from your last quest?" he inquired. "I have a new task for you."

Frank stormed up the stairs and followed Waldo back into his chambers. "That wasn't a quest," he stated irritably, crossing his arms. "You just told me to go to a meadow and kill anything that showed up. You don't have any real quests, do you?"

Sample: Luckily for Frank, who could barely lift his sword, Demetrios seemed more interested in talking than fighting. Resting his back against the sarcophagus, the adventurer gestured about the room. "Why the hell do you have TWELVE liches guarding this tiny crypt?" he asked angrily. "There isn't even anything in here! And why do they only cast THREE spells?!"

Chuckling, Demetrios leaned against a nearby wall. "Well, it was like this..."

Sample: "But I need those pills to live!" stammered the man impotently, struggling to keep up with the invader.

"Yeah, well, Vinnie at the item shop gives me 25 bucks a bottle for them," said Frank as he stomped into the kitchen and began searching the cupboards.

The homeowner stared at Frank with shock. "Vinnie doesn’t run an item shop – he’s the local fence!"

Sample: Although the citizens wished to reward their noble elven savior with a great victory feast, he had mysteriously vanished once again. No doubt he was simply too modest to accept the praise and gratitude of the people he saved. Time passed and the city eventually returned to its former glory. However, the citizens never forgot that they owed their lives to the mysterious elven swordsman who single-handedly defeated the monstrous horde that once threatened them. He became an integral part of the city's legends, and even now they have not forgotten the name Sergei von Zarovich.

"Dad, are you still writing that cheap adventure novel?"

Sample: A group of professors at the University of Natal designed an adventure game that focused on the material covered in the Environmental Biology 1 class, and had students taking the class play the game. They tested the students on their knowledge of the material before and after playing, and asked them what their motivation was to play the game. Overall, students performed better on the test after playing the game, and 80% felt intrinsically motivated to play the game; in other words, they wanted to play the game because it was fun and they were interested in the topic, not just because it was a course requirement.