I propose to have an official intercity symposium between SFØ and CGØ concerning the history, growth, and social impact of our beloved game.

As this is of great social and political import, it should be done over coffee.

In order to bridge the gap between the two cities, I propose meet in a neutral location, perhaps Tokyo. There is a nice café there called Drole.

Since it would be a silly use of resources to fly to Tokyo. I propose that the two parties use some map of Tokyo to find Drole in their own locality.

Once we both arrive at Drole, we can commence the meeting.

Ess-Eff-Zero Coalition:

A clandestine meeting between elements of various city Ø's was planned. To avoid the possible danger of potential sneak attacks and minimize hostility between all parties, a neutral location was decided upon. CGØ recommended Drôle Cafe in Tokyo, between Shibuya and Harajuku. After Spidere attempted and failed to find Drole using several different maps of Tokyo, he turned to a linguist for assistance. As it turned out, Strum and Drain was already familiar with the Tokyo location! Clearly, he was destined to lead the representatives from SFØ proper, DCØ, STØ, LAØ, and the nascent SDØ.

http://sf0.org/iwsfutcmd/currentTask/#files
The Architect was chosen to lead the the CGØ contingent.

Maps were prepared.



The parties chose to embark from a central location: the Grand Hyatt (marked (A) on the map). Drôle Cafe was marked (B). Google Maps recommended the use of public transportation, but the short distance made a brisk walk on a nice Tokyo day seem quite a bit more invigorating.

The Coalition quickly noticed that the maps provided by Google were clearly quite inaccurate. For one, the top side of the map was clearly East, not North, as it usually would be. Perhaps this reflects Japan's eastern focus. Secondly, the large street on the map near the Hyatt was clearly a much smaller street. This street seemed to be a popular tourist destination, so perhaps the size of the street reflected popularity, not width.

Strum and Drain recommended working off of landmarks, due to the possible map-world discrepancies. The first central location the Coalition used was Hasedera Temple (marked 長谷寺 on the map). This was not difficult to find; it was right off the street.


From this point, however, the lack of knowledge of Tokyo (psycho)geography was beginning to take its toll on the party.


Thankfully, a friendly local was able to point the group in the correct direction.




A few more blocks north and the Drôle Cafe was found. Unfortunately, it appeared to be mislabeled as well (as Cafe Zoetrope).



Clearly, the Japanese stereotype of efficiency and order was misapplied.

---

CGØ party:

I assembled our map of Tokyo from googlemaps (large on the left, detailed on the right).  The location where Google centers Tokyo is marked by a blue pin, which is approximately 3 miles from the yellow pin, which is where Drole is located.



The blue pin would correspond to the address coordinates "0 North, 0 West" (State and Madison) in Chicago, but where the yellow pin would lie... who knows?



Just when we thought we would be walking through Chicago, we happened across this building, which looked decidedly stereotypically Japanese (maybe - I've never been to Tokyo...).  The sign on the front said "AKIRA," so we knew we were in fact traveling in Tokyo, not Chicago.



We couldn't read a cotton picking thing on our map, but were still able to identify choice
symbols, like roads, train tracks, parks, and (later) traffic lights.

... We got lost pretty quickly.



We faced detours.



But we still seemed to be in Tokyo, so we did not give up hope.  (That's Tokyo in the background, yes?)



Things like this train station, which did not appear on our map, threw us off.



We decided that we had somehow warped ahead, and we relocated ourselves at one of the map's train stations.  We continued to find excuses to warp ahead, reducing our actual walking distance by a third to a half.  This "highway" confused us for a bit, and got us all turned around...



But we somehow ended up in Chinatown, and to this sign:



Next to this sign, we found Sushi.  Aha, we were here.



Our used map, with our warping route highlighted:



This restaurant had a staff of one, and a patronage of us.  Suspicious, we ordered...



and were presented with questionable sushi.



And so the meeting commenced... us in our perfectly quiet sushi restaurant, SFØ in their riotous Italian pastahouse.



The meeting:

There were delays, and a host of technical audio difficulties. In the end, we conversed through the magic of text messaging.

Dax: So how do you feel about SF0 as a superhero training program?
Spidere: We support the creation of superheroes by SF0 and encourage the development of such skills. But not as the sole purpose of SF0. It must also encourage, like basic research, making the world more interesting.

Dax: (to pm): Is it possible to finish the trainig program and move on from SF0?
Spidere: (intercepting): Yes. Reality is richer than SF0 captures, and we can use its lessons to change reality in even more significant ways.
piratey: well, for me, No. I tried to move on. It turned out my training was incomplete.

Dax: Does CG0's aggressive stance challenge other cities to task, or put them off?
piratey: Not at all! Anything to challenge us to do better is only a good thing.

Terpsichore: So, since you have started playing, what notable changes have you noticed? Which ones really made a difference to you?
Terpsichore: Dax says that I'm a sugary banana.
piratey: I've become more boring since stopping playing
Tiny Dancer: I notice the world around me more, and find more interesting.
Strum and Drain: I talk to people more.

Terpsichore: To the group! What is your favorite thing to climb (on over into etc.)?
Group: Cardboard box. Into bed. Buildings. Trees. Statues. Steam tunnel access points. People. Fences. SF0 levels.

SF: Do you consider yourself introverted or extroverted? Has playing SF0 changed that?
Dax: introverted, yes.
Terpsichore: extroverted, enhanced

JBryce: What is the color of your deepest, darkest secret?

piratey: vote for me tomorrow!


We concluded by promising to continue discussion on the praxis!