((Rubix cube training continues. Rolls generated
here,
here,
and here. Any numbers generated after the cube is solved are ignored.
Needed DC/Actual DC))
((14/9 failure))
As Tao exited the walls of the academy once more, he'd made it less than two steps before he began to frantically work the cube once more, hoping that in his moments of rest that some manner of strategy had presented itself. He stared at the toy intently, walking in slow and clumbsy steps (bumping into more than one annoyed pedestrian in the process), slowly making his way back toward the Jidouka compound to resume his training in earnest. He'd managed to generate over a hundred new permutations of the cube by the time he'd arrived at the cliff face, and for the first time since he began looked down to see if he'd actually managed to make any progress in the matter.
((12/4 failure))
Tao was mildly annoyed, as he was certain that he was at a greater level of progress before he'd left than he was as he arrived at his training spot. With a dejected sigh he let his massive pack hit the ground by the rock outcrop, and climbed on top of the sandstone formation to get a more comfortable vantage point. He stared out over his home's grounds, and noticed a few dogs barking at the outer paremeter. He continued to twist the cube as he wondered if his dad had finally managed to erect that electric fence he'd been bragging about for the past few months. What was the point of generating an electric field that was strong enough to scare away animals but nowhere near enough to stave off a ninja attack.
Tao sighed, focusing away from such trivial matters and returned his concentration on the cube, carefully watching this time to see if any new patterns might present themselves.
((10/18 success))
The cube was still becoming more randomized, but much to Tao's surprise and relief he wasn't feeling the frustrations that had vexed and confused him during his previous attempt. At the same time, he wasn't feeling the emotionless disinterest that eventually dominated his feelings toward the puzzle, and certainly wasn't feeling the paranoid notion that there was some kind of evil, demonic force dwelling in the bowels of the cube. Tao was by no means privvy to the cube's secrets at this point, but he was more open to the idea this time that there was something to learn from all of this.
((12/16 success))
For a moment, Tao noticed that a certain sequence of movements managed to bring order to a few of the sides, though it had yet to reveal a unified process for solving the entire cube. He tried to focus on that, opperating under the principle that the strategy that yielded limited results may be applied in another way that might provide even better results. While he continued to work on the cube, he kicked a seemingly random spot on the pack, starting up the music that he'd been listening to during his previous attempts. Tao cocked his head side to side, staring at the cube and focusing on whatever it took to get it right.
((14/6 failure))
The cube was now about halfway complete. It occurred to Tao that he really didn't have a way of gaging the exact amount to which the cube was actually "complete", but the look and feel of a completely random cube to a more ordered one was hard to describe. It didn't make sense to try and solve one side at a time, because those sides would be disorganized in the attempt to solve the other sides. You had to consider the entire cube if you wanted to solve it, so the actual appearance of a nearly-solved cube compared to a completely random cube actually wasn't all that significant. Still, Tao could just sense when he was getting close, and when he was slipping away.
((12/10 failure))
The progress slipped back again, which was certainly annoying but not devastating, and Tao did not show any more than the most momentary discomfort before continuing onward with his attempt. Time seemed to pass differently in this stage, seeming to speed up in some ways and slow down in others. The village was continuing with activity of varying degrees of productivity, and in that way a lot happened while Tao was occupied, making it feel like a great deal of time had passed. On the other hand, Tao's focus was so complete that he was conscious of every second, and in that regard as Tao continued to work the cube time seemed to stand almost still.
((10/14 success))
The cube seemed to once again fall into the pattern of order and disorder, without much headway being made in either direction. It was almost as though Tao was in a mental tug-of-war with the cube. The cube desired sublime randomness, struggling to prevent any two colors from being adjacent to one another, let alone allow a full side to be coated in a single hue. Tao, on the other hand, desired complete order, and the sight of dissimilar colors together was borderline offensive. He gritted his teeth a bit, desiring nothing more than to make his orderly view dominate the cube's chromatic anarchy.
((12/12 success))
Progress moved a bit further, though by this point Tao had long since abandoned the folly of getting excited over it. Excitement was a tease that would only lead to further disappointment if he'd made a mistake, and mistakes were now a considerable and important component of the rubix cube challenge. Instead, Tao just whistled softly to the tune of the music that now echoed through the air. It brought him to a state of peace, allowing him to remain focused on the task at hand without being distracted by feelings of either hope nor despair. The ups and downs of the process were inevitable, but at some point he would be able to solve the cube's puzzle.
((14/14 success))
Tao continued along, still climbing the slippery slope of success along the cube as he struggled to remain control over his emotions. It wasn't a matter of shutting the emotions out completely, as the sheer roboticism with which he'd approached his last attempt had resulted in little more than Tao losing all focus entirely. Tao had a sneaking feeling that if he had paid more attention to the cube the first time he'd made his attempt, he may have been able to learn something from his experiences rather than waste such a monumental amount of time. No, Tao retained his passion for the task at hand, he just didn't allow it to slip too far toward the positive or negative side of things.
((16/4 failure))
Tao paused to tap yet another corner of his pack, activating an unseen device that caused the bag to shake and puff with what appeared to be steam. As tao continued along with the cube, which had now achieved a level of order that he hadn't reached since he started his second attempt on solving the cube. A few moments later, a loud "DING" was heard, and a compartment opened in the side of his pack. Within, a small mug of jet black coffee was presented, which Tao took with some excitement. He had been feeling a bit sluggish for the past thousand or so permutations of the cube, and nothing made him happier to drink coffee so black it could be mistaken for motor oil. And to those with less-robust stomachs, it probably tasted the same as well and had the same effect on the innards. For Tao, however, it simply offered him a second wind as he continued with the cube.
((14/6 failure))
Now in retrospect, a caffeine rush probably wasn't the best way to focus one's creativity. Sure you stopped blinking every few moments, but when sitting still becomes an act that requires superhuman focus, you've gone a bit too far in the opposite direction. And now, as the last few moments of progress were now seeing a step in the anarchist-cube's favor, Tao tossed the remaining mug of coffee off the cliff. The mug shattered violently as it hit the rock, only for the beverage itself to quickly corrode the minerals and sink deep into the ground. Meanwhile, Tao's stomach rumbled a bit as he continued with the cube.
((12/18 success))
Tao made a loud and rather painful coffee burp as he continued on with the cube, that now had degenerated a bit further into chaos. He squirmed a bit, trying to get over the shakes, and continued to twist the cube to no avail. He reached into his pack and retrieved a canteen, which was somehow still cold despite no apparent use of ice or other insulation. Regardless, Tao took a long swig of water, hoping to dillute the nearly pure caffeine that even now was travelling throughout his system. This was probably why the special Jidouka brand of coffee wasn't sold to kids, and Tao had to sneak it out of his house. Perhaps in the future Tao would stick to something a little less strong, such as paint thinner.
In a few moments, Tao's head cleared a bit, and he finally managed to twist the cube without his hands shaking.
((14/19 success))
Tao took a deep, long breath, and learned the important lesson that if he wanted to increase his various capacities in a pinch, to consult a medical ninja first. There was probably something along the lines of a mind-pill or focus-pill he could take that would have worked far better than the coffee idea. Still, the damage wasn't catastrophic. Tao was already thinking clearly again, and was seeing and feeling the cube take a turn for greater order than it had been only a few minutes previously. He wiped a bit of sweat off his brow and nose, and began to hum along with the music once more, dutifully continuing on with his challenge.
((16/13 failure))
The cube was now just about as ordered as it ever was, or at least as much as it had been during this attempt. It was actually kind of hard to remember the details of his first attempt. For Tao, that long sequence of success and failure was all a long and rather blurry memory, one marked by frustration and anger, and one where any progress made with the cube seemed to be more of a cruel joke than any indication of actual improvement. This time, Tao was feeling different. Along with his improved attitude, the air itself had a more positive feel to it, and with each twist of the cube Tao did feel like he was progressing toward his goal on the long term, even if in the short term he was dipping wildly between success and failure.
((14/9 failure))
Once again, the progress of the cube began to slip out of Tao's favor. Tao just concentrated on keeping his breathing steady. Over the past few days, he'd mellowed out a bit. Usually, Tao was prone to overreacting whenever faced with a challenge that brought him any difficulty whatsoever, and even despite this behavior had managed to succeed through his challenges very quickly, or at least quickly enough that he could throw it in the face of the rest of his classmates. Now, all alone and at the face of a rather intimidating cliff, that kind of bravado wasn't necessary, and perhaps, one might hope, Tao would realize it wasn't needed in general. It was fairly unlikely, but for at least this day, there was peace.
((12/16 success))
Tao began to twist his head a bit in rhythm with the rotation of the cube between his fingers. He kicked his heels against the rock and continued to work with the cube, alternating his approach between twisting one column at a time, and then one row, and then two columns at once, and so forth. There wasn't much of a pattern to it, which may not have made sense to a true strategist, but for Tao it was just as educational to expand his mind and try different techniques as it was to simply come to the single correct technique right away. Tao was pleased, thus far, that this technique had not resulted in a single catastrophic collapse of his order, and he could feel that the solution was just around the corner.
((14/14 success))
Tao smiled, not out of hope, but simply out of enjoyment for his task. It was a pretty odd feeling for the boy, who had so dispassionately completed physics tests at home and even in the academy only enjoyed his education after the lessons were over and he could flaunt his new skills easily. That kind of ease wasn't coming this time, and though Tao was getting better there really wasn't any shortcuts here. And really, Tao was becomming less and less interested in finding those shortcuts. He might have been able to find a scroll in the library or maybe even at home that would tell him the secret to solving this cube more quickly, but by this point Tao didn't want someone else's help. He wanted to solve this thing on his own.
((16/11 failure))
Tao kicked the bag again, and the still-unseen music player churned a bit before playing an entirely different track of music. And indeed, Tao ended up kicking the bag several more times until he found a "playlist" that he found acceptable, all the while keeping the majority of his focus upon the cube itself. Soon, he came to a collection of tracks consisting mostly of subdued woodwinds and the occassional string instruments, which had the effect of focusing and calming Tao all at once. He whistled along to the tune, continuing his work on the cube as more and more it seemed to be approaching a state of order.
((14/15 success))
There was the cry of a bird off in the distance, that for some weird reason had the effect of snapping Tao out of his focus. He dropped the cube, which cruelly caused a few of the columns to rotate without Tao's guidance, and undid a bit of the progress he'd made in the previous several moves. Tao sighed a bit, climbing off of the rock and picking up the cube once more, twisting the cube back into position as best as he could remember as he began to circle around the rock and pack, paying only enough attention to his surroundings as was needed to keep from falling straight off the cliff. At this point, Tao could practically tell where he was while keeping his eyes closed, though he didn't dare take his eyes off the cube at this point.
((16/13 failure))
Tao turned to lean on the rock a bit, finding that sitting down on sandstone for such an extended period did not treat one's posterior well. He grimmaced in a bit of pain as he continued to twist his way through the cube, frowning every now and then as he noticed a permutation that he'd arrived to earlier. In fact, to claim that, because there were 43 quintillion possible permutations on the cube, that your chance of solving it randomly was only 1 and 43 quintillion, was in fact an
optimistic assessment. After all, it assumed that you would never repeat yourself, that somehow you managed to keep every one of those trillions upon trillions upon trillions of combinations clear in your head. For all the repeats Tao noticed, there were certainly more that he'd forgotten about. Random chance was not going to work. Tao
had to find the strategy.
((14/15 success))
Tao began to think about the cube more logically. It wasn't about twisting the cube in a proper arrangement. Given the nearly infinite initial configurations possible with the cube, you couldn't just count on coming up with a random collection of permutations that could reliably lead you toward the final goal of the cube. However, perhaps there was a way of grouping a number of similar arrangements into a more unified strategies. He struggled to think about how to do it, as he still continued to twist the cube. He licked along the roof of his mouth, working to commit the full mechanics of the cube's movement to memory.
((16/8 failure))
Tao attempted a number of strategies. He had managed to collect a number of colors to corners of the cube, which had a feeling of returning to a greater state of uniform order. However, he wasn't quite sure how to go about it from there, and as he tried to consider the solution he found that his teeth were clenched unhealthily tightly together. He let his jaw go slack, and chastised himself for letting the frustration get to him again, even if it was temporarily and mostly unconsciously. However, he had to admit that developing a rubix cube strategy was much more difficult than achieving a state of peace through randomly twisting the toy.
((14/11 failure))
A number of other configurations were attempted, with limited if any success. Tao was still only guessing, still only experimenting with different ways of manipulating the cube, and was not getting much farther than he was with the random twists and turns he'd been attempting previously. He had to pause for a few seconds, just taking his eyes away away from the myriad of colors for a few moments, and through additional concentration managed to stop himself from twisting the cube further, knowing that nothing good would come of it. After a few moments, Tao's heartbeat returned to normal, and he returned to the cube, calmer but no more certain of how to go about his task.
((12/5 failure))
Tao looked up at the sky, and pondered a few paths mentally. He wasn't quite sure what he was hoping to accomplish through this, except that his family had always raved over the benefits of "thought experiments." After dwelling on these thoughts and permutations for several moments, Tao came to the conclusion that thought experiments were about as useful as the tangible results they produced. Which was to say, they were potentially useful, but if you couldn't actually replicate it in reality, it didn't really do you all that much good. Tao sighed, looking back at the cube, and decided that thought experiments were better suited toward those who didn't like to deal with failure, and continued to work on the cube.
((10/13 success))
Tao stood up straight for a few moments before letting his legs have a rest, falling to the ground and resting on his back. Though his head was dangerously close to cantilevering itself over the side of the cliff, Tao had now become comfortable enough with the area that, barring a freak earthquake or attack by a hostile village, he was safe. He looked down along his belly, where the cube now rested. For several moments, Tao twisted only the rows, studying its movement even as he continued to ride the wave of progress and setback, not making much headway one way or the other. He was just learning how the cube acted, not quite concentrated on the end goal as it seemed folly to do one before the other at this point.
((12/16 success))
Tao rolled over on his belly, extending his arms to very nearly hold the cube off the face of the cliff. He didn't dare let himself get as close as he'd been before, however. He had an odd fear that he might actually learn the cube's secret, only to accidently lose his grip and lose the cube forever to be destroyed against the rocks below. And then he'd bring it back to Gig-Sensei, who would likely be convinced that Tao had intentionally broke the cube out of frustration, rendering the entire experience pointless. Tao had no intention of letting such a shameful fate befall his efforts. He woudl solve this thing, even if it was the last thing he ever did.
((14/3 failure))
The cube became a bit more ordered, and for a second Tao had thought he'd seen a pattern. It was brief satori moment that hinted to the enlightenment that was to come. It was a sublime and enjoyable moment, and was very close to showing Tao exactly what he needed to do in order to solve the puzzle in its entirety. However, the cruelty of it all was that the moment was rather fleeting, and now that Tao was actually aware of it, he could not for the life of him recapture that same level fo clarity that had seen only a few moments previously. Still, this DID mean it was possible, if still out of reach.
((12/10 failure))
Even though Tao had seen the solution for a moment, the cube still lapsed into a state further disarray and disorder. Tao struggled, somewhat in vain, to recapture that image. He could remember the grouping somewhat, and for some reason the term "bounds" kept sticking out in his mind. Still, the images running through his mind were fuzzy at best, and all the while the cube was still being twisted, and still to no avail. Tao exhaled an unnecessarily loud breath, squeezing the cube a bit more tightly than was needed as he struggled to recapture that image. No matter how much he'd been preparing himself for much of the time he'd spent on this attempt, he couldn't help but to be frustrated once more.
((10/17 success))
"I'm not letting you beat me," he spat at the cube even as the cube slipped to an even more randomized state. Tao sighed and narrowed his eyes slightly, staring with the sharpness of a knife even through his sunglasses. It was probably as close as any object had ever come to seeing the real color of Tao's eyes, which was quite a feat even for an inanimate object. Tao kicked at the dirt beneath his feet, racking his brain almost in desperation for that moment of enlightenment that had slipped away in such a depraved and evil manner. He didn't mind the dirt on his outfit or even the sharp sand between his toes. All he wanted was the cube's secret.
((12/11 failure))
But then, it wasn't a secret, was it? That was the key to the frustration, really. This wasn't a matter of misery, or some manufactured difficulty created for the express purpose of making someone want to spiral out in rage. This was a logic problem, pure and simple. Sure, the manner in which it presented itself was one that could frustrate and doom even the sharpest of minds, but at its core the cube wasn't malevolent or evil. It was just an incredibly complex problem wrapped up in a very small and colorful package. Tao slowly begain to breathe in and out, even as the cube became more randomized. He had to see this as a math problem, not as an insult.
((10/15 success))
A math problem... the Jidouka were trained in the knowledge of mathematics at such a young age that their first words were usually "Integer", "Coefficient", and "Mama", in that order. They were taught algebra before they'd moved on to solid foods, taught calculus before they were able to walk and learned how to crack complex differential equations before they were even able to read the letters that made up most of those wall-sized equations. Tao, to put it simply, knew his math. Just because he was used to chalkboards and notepads didn't mean that this situation was any different, and that knowledge began to put Tao's mind at ease, and allow him greater focus.
((12/11 failure))
Tao began to consider the inputs. There were six different colors, three of which would be exchaged for colors on an adjacent side with each permutation of the cube. They could be arranged in almost infinite different ways, but the goal was to cover each side in a single color. However, there must also be nearly uncountable numbers of other arrangements you could set up. And... and... Tao still wasn't quite sure where he was going with all of this, but it seemed to be a step in the right mental direction. Tao was still twisting the cube in a relatively random pattern, yielding spotty results at best, but he still felt like he was getting closer.
((10/17 success))
So if you could arrange the cube in different patterns, what patterns would be the best to then manipulate into a unified whole? Maybe concentrate on the corner of each face, or perhaps you needed to get the same color along a full row and then twist it into the proper position later on. Tao pondered this point for several moments, and began to, still relatively at random, form different shapes with the colors in the cube. He continued this behavior again and again, just taking note of how the cube acted. He was learning... something, but he still wasn't quite sure what that something was.
((12/13 success))
Tao scratched the side of his head, and paused for a moment. On the top face of the cube, he had formed five of the blue squares into a cross. He just stared at the cube, lost in thought even though he wasn't quite sure what this meant. He tentatively began to twist again, but moved back, staring at the configuration once more. He then continued to twist onward. Tao had certainly had some kind of moment back there as he stared at the shape, but he still wasn't quite sure of what that moment had meant. He licked his lips, continuing to twist the cube, still trying to think of exactly what he should do from here on.
((14/5 failure))
Tao closed his eyes, and just thought intensely. He may not have developed the most positive view of thought experients, but right now Tao had the distinct impression that he was just on the edge of something good, and he needed to slow down. Granted, he continued to twist the cube, almost as a source of personal security. He kept his eyes closed, and twisted the cube, and just remained in that position for what seemed like an eternity, while in reality only a few minutes had actually passed. This was just about as close to meditation as Tao had ever been, and for a moment he really was focused.
((12/18 success))
For some reason, Tao kept pondering on the idea of cleansing. It seemed a strange and unnecessarily deep thought considering that, despite his concentration and near epiphanies, Tao was still just playing a game here. This wasn't a life-changing event, it was just another challenge that had to be solved. But the term "cleanse" kept comping up again and again. What did that mean? Was he supposed to cleanse himself of frustration and excitement? He'd done that already, or so he'd thought. Maybe he needed to dust himself off after accumulating so much grime? No, that didn't make sense. What did it mean? He pondered as he continued to twist the cube.
((14/12 failure))
Tao's eyes opened very, very slowly. "Cleanse". It was such a strange term, and if Tao wasn't going crazy (distinct as though this possibility may have been), there was really only way of applying it to this situation. He looked down at the cube, which was at this felt as though it was in a state of half-order, half chaos. Throughout this entire time that Tao had been working on the cube, he'd never let it achieve complete randomness. And yet, it was time to cleanse... so Tao began to rapidly twist the cube, this time without any rhyme or reason. He had to cleanse the cube itself of any progress, if he was going to solve it.
((12/9 failure))
It was kind of funny, when you thought about it. There was optimistically a 1:43,000,000,000,000,000,000 chance of solving the cube at random. But then again, the chance of getting the solved puzzle was more or less the same as obtaining any other specific arrangement of colors on the cube. Right now, all Tao wanted was to undo any sense of order or pattern in the cube whatsover. He wanted it to give the cube what it seemed to desire, he wanted to give it anarchy and chaos. He wanted the cube to appear as though the colors had been arranged at random, as though no human hand had anything to do with the appearance of the cube.
((10/5 failure))
Even though the word "cleanse" had presented itself, Tao still wasn't sure why. Why did he have to clear the cube? Surely he could build on some of his previous progress to try and capitalize on any of the order he'd managed to establish. It didn't make any sense, he was actively working backwards now on little more than a whim. Maybe the word had just randomly appeared in his head, or maybe he was subconsciously trying to sabatoge himself. It could have been anything, really, but still Tao didn't stop. He continued onward, toward what appeared to be the exact opposite of what he'd started off to accomplish.
((8/16 success))
And at that moment, the moment where he'd achieved a state of total randomness, a point in which Tao could not sense even the slightest sense of order... only then, did he mentally put all the pieces into place. Tao began to twist, faster than before, earnestly, but unlike his previous attempts, he had a focus. He was twisting them with intelligence and with an idea of how he wanted the colors to be laid out in advance. He once again formed a cross of like colors along the top face of the cube, pausing to check the layout of the other colors, and then made sure that at each corner of the cross, two other like colors coincided with each other. He paused, and noted his
progress before continuing.
((10/11 success))
Tao paused for a moment, and looked at the rubix cube at multiple angles to get a feel for how the colors were relating to one another. He then carefully arranged the next few turns, once again with a focused purpose. By the time he was completed, he was able to survey his latest accomplishment. The top face was now solid in color. Meanwhile, three of the top four corner rows were also solid colors. Tao had initially intended to address the fourth corner as well, but at the last second, his intuition stopped him. As though that had been some manner of trap he would have otherwise set for himself. Instead, he
proceeded along a different path.
((12/15 success))
Tao thought carefully for a few moments, pondering his next course of action. Eventually, he settled on the option that seemed to make the most sense. He carefully twisted the cube and arranged the remaining colors to be constant along the middle row of the three faces he had addressed previously. And now, Tao's mind was working in a way in which he wasn't quite conscious, but wasn't pure instinct either. It was a mixture of both. Tao was solving some equations in the back of his mind, but also twisting, and soon had a managed to come to the
latest arrangement.
((14/14 success))
From here, Tao would be lying if he said he knew what to do. It was only obvious that he had to arrange the final row on all of the remaining edges, and this would require a relatively complex sequence of rotations. Previously, Tao would have certainly stumbled at this point, but for reasons he still couldn't understand he began to rotate the cube in a very precise fashion. And before he'd known what had happened, he looked at the cube and had found that
three full sides were each filled with a single color, leaving only three remaining uncompleted sides. He smiled, and for the first time in a long time felt a sense of confidence.
((16/19 sucess))
The movement of the cube at this point became somewhat more abstract. It wasn't quite possible to solve the remaining faces side-by-side, not without cheating at least, so it required a more subtle approach to the completion of the puzzle. This time, Tao focused upon trying to position the corner pieces in such a way as to set himself up for a win. He imagined that there was a term for how he was
positioning the corner pieces at this point, though he didn't have the first clue as to what the actual name would be. Tao licked the inside of his cheek, noticing the unique, yet very nearly ordered appearance of the cube. He was feeling very, very close to finishing the cube.
((18/18 HOLY s**t WIN))
Tao's hands trembled at this point. The solution was almost certainly mere moments away, but the entire cube could be compromised if he messed it up at this point as well. Tao grabbed the cube, noting a couple of out-of-place corner squares. He rotated once clockwise, and the other counter-clockwise. He repeated it once, feeling as though he was getting closer. A second time, and Tao felt even closer to an ordered sequence.
He repeated one more time.
It is said that from upwards of a mile outside of the outer walls of Iwagakure, Tao's cry of jubilation could be heard clearly. He held up the six solid-colored cube as though it were a battle trophy, before quickly grabbing his pack and racing back toward the academy.
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