Welcome to Symbol - Lauren Ipsum: A Story About Computer Science and Other Improbable Things - page 20

Chapter 5. Welcome to Symbol
The town of Symbol was surrounded by high, perfectly smooth walls. A large stream split in-
to two and flowed around either side of the town.
“Do you know anything about this place?” Laurie asked.
“The people are kind of strange,” said Xor.
“What does that mean?”
“You'll see.”
The path led to a gateway with a turnstile. It looked like this: ╞
Two boys about Laurie's age were guarding the gateway. One wore a bright white suit and a
black shirt. The other had a bright black suit and a white shirt.
Maybe they'll ask me a riddle , Laurie thought. Or I'll need to figure out which one is a liar
and which one tells the truth! Laurie had read a lot of fairy tales, you see. She believed she
was figuring out how this place worked.
“Name?” asked one.
“Laurie Ipsum.”
“Password?” asked the other.
“Why, I don't know the password,” Laurie said.
“Then you may not enter!” the boys said in unison.
“That's not much of a riddle.”
“A riddle? Ha ha, no, begging your pardon, miss. That's not how it works. There are no
riddles, no bets, no liars, and no truth-tellers. We've read those topics too, haven't we, Tol-
lens?”