Square d meter socket
Piano Tuning Peg Socket Bit
2023.06.03 17:34 TheMarshmallow Piano Tuning Peg Socket Bit
I'm attempting to dispose of an old (1930s) standing piano. It's very heavy (easily over 180kg) and in a place where its now very difficult to get it out of (no idea how they got it in in the first place to be honest). I've started taking it apart to make it easier to move and salvage some of the wood.
Unfortunately I am now faced with unscrewing over 250 tuning pegs to remove the strings. I ordered a tuning wrench (https://amzn.eu/d/5bn5tfK) but it's slow going by hand.
I also have a drill but as far as I'm aware it's not a standard socket and I don't have any that will fit. Any ideas so this doesn't take days?
submitted by TheMarshmallow to DIYUK [link] [comments]
Unfortunately I am now faced with unscrewing over 250 tuning pegs to remove the strings. I ordered a tuning wrench (https://amzn.eu/d/5bn5tfK) but it's slow going by hand.
I also have a drill but as far as I'm aware it's not a standard socket and I don't have any that will fit. Any ideas so this doesn't take days?
2023.06.03 17:34 Lordbingston Hvac guy runninn a gas line for pool heater. Need help with pipe size.
 | Wazzup plumbums, need a bit of help if someone doesn’t mind. submitted by Lordbingston to Plumbing [link] [comments] so I run a gas lines all the time but usually I just put it together - someone else does the sizing. Natural gas. Trying to get gas to a 260k btu pool heater about 100ft run has a 3/4 inch feed for the gas. Gas meter is 425k btu- 10psi Would I run a 1 1/4 inch gas line from the meter for 60ft reduce to 1 inch for 35ft and then do the remaining in 3/4inch? I’d appreciate any help- |
2023.06.03 17:26 DoOwlsExist Tirruk-Ennakum
[claim info at the bottom]
From Chronopædia, the chronicler's encylopædia
The houses of Tirruk I include animal bones, seeds, pottery, copper tools, and human skeletons, a few of which show signs of serious fracturing close before death.[5] Houses are built from stone and usually have one main room and multiple rooms to the side arranged so that the house is overall circular or oval. The secondary rooms are typically small, averaging about 4 to 5 meters across and are usually square or slightly elongated. Inside some of the main rooms archeologists have discovered stelae with inscriptions in the still undeciphered Tirruk script and carvings of figures doing an unclear activity, suggested to be either hunting, dancing, or some kind of ceremonial pose.[6] Some archeologists report finding gold treasures along with these stelae, but these findings have been questioned as possible tax evasion.[7] [8] [9]
Early Ennakum consists of circular dwellings built with mud brick around a bamboo frame. This period is characterized by agriculture and sheep herding, copper working and an apparent cult revolving around figurines of people with congenital malformations, as evidenced by missing limbs, malformed spines and skulls in the figurines. The people of this period seem to not have practiced grave burials, and so we lack any special burials of unique individuals that usually tells us more about their relation to disability. [10] [11] Some experts claim the figurines refer to an extra-dimensional visiting race that simply wasn’t rendered correctly in our plane. [citation needed]
Much information about Tirruk II and III was lost due to improper excavation (dynamite). We know it was contemporaneous with middle Ennakum and that it similarly practiced bronze working. Its houses were similar to the mud brick circular dwellings of Ennakum, though packed closer together and on average smaller. Parts of a city wall have been recovered, though the north and east sections were destroyed by initial excavations. Tirruk II was destroyed by a fire around 3200 BVE. Tirruk III shows clear cultural continuity with its predecessor.
Middle Ennakum has the site’s first examples of monumental architecture. A temple was uncovered in the center of the city on a low terrace of rammed earth. The structure, initially erroneously named ‘the ziggurat of Ennakum’ despite it not being a ziggurat, has a square base with gates on three sides and stairs to the roof on the fourth.[15] There is an offering table in the center of the building.[16]
The first series of Tirruk-Ennakum earthworks date from this period (ca. 2800 BVE) and mark the change from middle to the late period. While first thought to be symbolic geoglyphs, further excavation has shown that they acted as the base for a defensive stone wall. Most of the stone was later reused for construction of temples in cities further down the Khabur river, and only a few of the bricks were left in their original location.[17]
This led to a series of theories about the inhabitants having different relations to privacy or even a lack of personal or family property, but recent field work came to a new discovery: some of the rooms were regularly swept clean, while others were not. The rooms that were swept clean had tiled floors, while the second type of rooms either had no floor or multiple floors, with debris stuffed under the floorboards. Mapping these two types of rooms showed that the second type were connected together in lines waving inbetween the other rooms. From this arose the consensus that the second type of rooms acted as public transitional rooms, which is why they weren’t swept and accumulated debris.[20]
The earthworks were expanded ca. 2600 BVE in both cities and again in ca. 2475 BVE according to the records of the temple of Ennakum, which was also expanded around this time.[21] The fourth and final expansion of the earthworks wrapped around both cities and suggests very wide urban sprawl.[22] [23] Tempes, houses, workshops and markets were built along the roads between the two cities.[24] Incidental discoveries during plowing and construction in the area have unveiled a rich trove of artifacts, a selection of which is on display in the Hypetlia national museum.[25]
The entire Tirruk-Ennakum site was burnt down in 2___ BVE. The cause of this event is still unclear.
Claim map
In-game Tirruk-Ennakum corresponds to the late period, around 2600 BVE. It's a city state on the Khabur river that gained independence from the greater empires around it as they weakened because of the collapse.
Iron age (I think), Key techs: Writing, Spoked Wheel
submitted by DoOwlsExist to HistoricalWorldPowers [link] [comments]
Talk — Languages — Edit — Citations
Tirruk-Ennakum (City)
Tirruk-Ennakum is a dual archeological site, located in the southwest governorate of Hypetlia.[1] It consists of two settlements within view of each other in the upper Khabur valley around a series of springs which are its main source of water. The earliest evidence of settlement in the region dates back to the Neolithic, circa 7000 BVE.[2] The oldest continuously settled city of t he two is Ennakum, which dates back to the proto-Chaerean culture circa 5000 BVE. Tirruk was continuously settled from 4200 BVE during Chaerean A.[3] [4]>Location Debate before Discovery
>Archeological Discovery
V History
Early period and Tirruk I
Tirruk can be clearly divided into four layers, while Ennakum changes more gradually and is thus divided into an early, middle and late period. Tirruk I dates to the chalcolithic and shows signs of participation in Chaerean culture with its characteristic two-floored houses, though most second floors were deliberately collapsed and covered by dirt around 3800 BVE by the people that built Tirruk II on top. Tirruk I practiced cultivation of wheat and barley, as well as sheep herding, evidence of which was well preserved because of the sudden burial of the old site.The houses of Tirruk I include animal bones, seeds, pottery, copper tools, and human skeletons, a few of which show signs of serious fracturing close before death.[5] Houses are built from stone and usually have one main room and multiple rooms to the side arranged so that the house is overall circular or oval. The secondary rooms are typically small, averaging about 4 to 5 meters across and are usually square or slightly elongated. Inside some of the main rooms archeologists have discovered stelae with inscriptions in the still undeciphered Tirruk script and carvings of figures doing an unclear activity, suggested to be either hunting, dancing, or some kind of ceremonial pose.[6] Some archeologists report finding gold treasures along with these stelae, but these findings have been questioned as possible tax evasion.[7] [8] [9]
Early Ennakum consists of circular dwellings built with mud brick around a bamboo frame. This period is characterized by agriculture and sheep herding, copper working and an apparent cult revolving around figurines of people with congenital malformations, as evidenced by missing limbs, malformed spines and skulls in the figurines. The people of this period seem to not have practiced grave burials, and so we lack any special burials of unique individuals that usually tells us more about their relation to disability. [10] [11] Some experts claim the figurines refer to an extra-dimensional visiting race that simply wasn’t rendered correctly in our plane. [citation needed]
Middle period and Tirruk II and III
Early and middle Ennakum are distinguished by the change from copper working to bronze working and the gradual disappearance of Chaerean pottery and the figurine cult, though the site lacks evidence of any sudden change in inhabitants contemporaneously with the end of Tirruk I.[12] Much speculation exists about the relation between the two settlements at this point in time, whether the people of Ennakum were the ones to bury Tirruk I or not, whether it was done by invaders that for an unclear reason left Ennakum alone, or whether the people of Tirruk I ritually destroyed their own city for the sake of spiritual renewal. Proponents of that last option refer to a recent find of a bronze sword inscribed with a script that resembles the Tirruk script, suggesting a stronger continuity between Tirruk I and II than previously thought.[13] [14]Much information about Tirruk II and III was lost due to improper excavation (dynamite). We know it was contemporaneous with middle Ennakum and that it similarly practiced bronze working. Its houses were similar to the mud brick circular dwellings of Ennakum, though packed closer together and on average smaller. Parts of a city wall have been recovered, though the north and east sections were destroyed by initial excavations. Tirruk II was destroyed by a fire around 3200 BVE. Tirruk III shows clear cultural continuity with its predecessor.
Middle Ennakum has the site’s first examples of monumental architecture. A temple was uncovered in the center of the city on a low terrace of rammed earth. The structure, initially erroneously named ‘the ziggurat of Ennakum’ despite it not being a ziggurat, has a square base with gates on three sides and stairs to the roof on the fourth.[15] There is an offering table in the center of the building.[16]
The first series of Tirruk-Ennakum earthworks date from this period (ca. 2800 BVE) and mark the change from middle to the late period. While first thought to be symbolic geoglyphs, further excavation has shown that they acted as the base for a defensive stone wall. Most of the stone was later reused for construction of temples in cities further down the Khabur river, and only a few of the bricks were left in their original location.[17]
Late period and Tirruk IV
Tirruk III experienced a sudden drop in population and many of its houses were dismantled ca. 2700 BVE. Tirruk IV was rebuilt as a mirror to Ennakum, including a central temple and earthworks around the settlement.[18] The city was first described in the historiography as lacking streets or footpaths, similar to Çatalhöyük, but the city also lacks any roof access and instead seems to be one large interconnected house.[19]This led to a series of theories about the inhabitants having different relations to privacy or even a lack of personal or family property, but recent field work came to a new discovery: some of the rooms were regularly swept clean, while others were not. The rooms that were swept clean had tiled floors, while the second type of rooms either had no floor or multiple floors, with debris stuffed under the floorboards. Mapping these two types of rooms showed that the second type were connected together in lines waving inbetween the other rooms. From this arose the consensus that the second type of rooms acted as public transitional rooms, which is why they weren’t swept and accumulated debris.[20]
The earthworks were expanded ca. 2600 BVE in both cities and again in ca. 2475 BVE according to the records of the temple of Ennakum, which was also expanded around this time.[21] The fourth and final expansion of the earthworks wrapped around both cities and suggests very wide urban sprawl.[22] [23] Tempes, houses, workshops and markets were built along the roads between the two cities.[24] Incidental discoveries during plowing and construction in the area have unveiled a rich trove of artifacts, a selection of which is on display in the Hypetlia national museum.[25]
The entire Tirruk-Ennakum site was burnt down in 2___ BVE. The cause of this event is still unclear.
>List of Rulers
>Tirruk-Ennakum in Legend
>Gallery
>Sources
>See Also
In-game Tirruk-Ennakum corresponds to the late period, around 2600 BVE. It's a city state on the Khabur river that gained independence from the greater empires around it as they weakened because of the collapse.
Iron age (I think), Key techs: Writing, Spoked Wheel
2023.06.03 17:06 micktalian The Gardens of Deathworlders: A Blooming Love (Part 18)
Part 18 A Delicate Situation (Part 1) (Part 17)
"Aho, Zim, ni je na?" Msko was the first to notice and greet the relatively short, stout, and furry being that just waddled into The Hammer’s Control Center.
"Ah, Administrator Zimuzari, I am honored you could join us." Atxika's eyes quickly shot up from the holographic display being projected from the table she was leaning on and landed on Kyim'ayik colony leader. "Have you had an opportunity to read through the initial report we sent you?"
"Hello there, Mkso, Admiral Atxika. It's…" The reddish-brown ball of fur paused his adorable squeaking, half covered his mouth with one of his paws, and let out such a tremendous yawn that Atxika could see both the massive front incisors as well as the not quite as large, but still impressive, set of canines behind them. "My apologies, I woke up less than half an hour ago. But it is good to see you both, as well as an honor and privilege to join you in your Command Center, Admiral."
"The honor and privilege are mine." Atxika bowed slightly with her pleasant smile still wide. "And I would like to apologize for waking you. It will still be a few days before we arrive at our destination and this strategy meeting could have waited."
"No, no, no, that's alright." Zim quickly replied with his species' high pitch and chirpy version of galactic common while stretching out and flicking his long, shiny whiskers as he approached the military leaders. "I've already gotten about nine hours of sleep. Skipping the last hour or two has killed me yet! And I’d rather get started on this sooner rather than later.”
Admiral Atxika had to put in real effort to prevent herself start cooing at the delightful manner with which Zim made his way over to the holo-table and climbed the stool-like chair designed for his anatomy. The long, wide, and flat tail distinctive of the Kyim'ayik was lifted just off the ground and stretched far back to balance the rest of the being’s body weight while the relatively short hind legs carried him along in an awkward, though comfortable, bipedal gait. With the limited range of motion in the squat, fuzzy man’s leg-like arms as he stretched, it was clear his species was more intended for quadrupedal locomotion. Despite that fact, the posture of the Kyim'ayik Administrator while he walked was far more similar to her own, or a human’s, than what she had remembered from her previous interactions with the species. However, as Zim stretched out his back to its full length, adding good chunk to his overall height, and began climbing the stool so he could have a proper view of holographic display, Atxika was suddenly reminded of a domesticated species of vermin-hunting musteloid from her species’ homeworld that were quite popular pets. Even though she knew this furry little man was a well respected guest on her ship, and a being from an Ascended species, she couldn’t get over how adorable he was.
“I hope you didn’t wake the misses.” Msko commented with a sarcastic tone while shooting the beaver-otter a cheeky wink.
“Nah, that woman could sleep through an atomic detonation.” Hearing the galactic common word for ‘atomic detonation’ be said with such an endearing squeak was pushing the Admiral to the absolute limits of her self control.
“I can have some food and refreshments brought, if you like.” Atxika interjected while doing her best to keep her smile from growing too wide and showing all of her teeth.
“Oh n-” Zim was about to politely decline before Msko interrupted him with a bit too much energy.
“Yes, please!” The War Chief blurted out. “That restaurant Tens took me to in your Amenities Section was amazing! I knew this ship had a huge manufacturing capability, but I didn’t realize you’d have freshly grown food.”
“I’ll have the private command facilities prepare something.” The Admiral quickly replied to ensure that Zim couldn’t refuse. “How does a zetloxoni platter sound?”
“What are-” Zim began to ask before Atxika realized her mistake and explained.
"Zetloxoni are fish fillets, rolled in a semisweet and highly nutrient-rich grain, and occasionally topped with more fish or other ingredients." The Admiral replied while typing into the display to bring up a holographic representation of the sushi-like dish she was describing. "This is what I was thinking."
"That actually looks amazing!" The Kyim'ayik ears suddenly perked up and eyes grew wide with delight.
"Wonderful! It's settled then." Atxika pressed in a few more commands to place the order then tried to redirect the conversation to reason for the meeting. "I find it is often easier to address delicate situations with a clear mind and full stomach."
"Delicate?" The squeaky reply carried a noticeably sarcastic tone as Zim shifted his attention towards the holographic representation of a planet and saucer shaped ship orbiting it. "That looks like Arnehilians. Ain't nothing delicate about the Grays, except maybe their physical forms."
"Well, they're definitely Arnehilians but…" Msko interjected with a hesitant tone that caught his Kyim'ayik friend off guard. "We don't think they're Grays."
There was a second of confused silence as Zim stared into the War Chief's eyes to see if this was a joke. Before Nishnabe could bring himself to explain, however, Atxika chimed in to give the proper explanation.
"What I am about to say is Level 8 classified information from Military Command and should be treated with the appropriate amount of secrecy. Do you understand?" After an incredibly professional and understanding nod from the Administrator, the Admiral continued. "We have confirmed the existence of a non-aligned, neutral-standing collective of decentralized Arnehilian groups who refer to themselves as, quote, 'the Greens', or the Free People of Sundered Arnehil. According to all reports, they are an ecologically-minded, nomadic, agricultural society who regularly travel in such a way as to avoid any means of tracking or detection by their… less peaceful cousins. However, there are a few who regularly check in with Military Command to avoid potential confrontations. There have been no indications that any of their groups discovered so far are violent, nor even capable of galactic standard levels of self-defense."
"I thought those rumors were just misinformation or propaganda." Zim was now much more earnest as gazed upon the holographic saucer floating above the planet. "And you say they're even ecologically-minded?"
"Our drones haven't detected any significant environmental disruptions." Msko sounded far more nonchalant about this situation than his long-time friend was expecting. There was no aggression or anger in his movements as he indicated towards a highlight portion of the holographic planet floating above the table and prompted the display to project a new hologram. "Their settlement is using solar and wind energy to operate their infrastructure and accumulate power reserves. From what we can tell, they're only a week away from finishing their agricultural harvest and two weeks away from their power reserves being fully recharged. If we had been delayed a month, there's a good chance we would have missed them completely."
“What kind of resource impacts would I have to account for?” The Administrator quickly followed up.
“Maybe a couple hundred tons worth of basic elements and organic matter.” It was clear Msko had already scoured everything and couldn’t find any reason to be concerned. “But the drones' sensors can’t detect any real difference between now and six months ago. Like I said, if we were delayed a month, we might not have even known they were ever there.”
"I see…" There was a moment of pause as Zim stared at the highly detailed holographic representation of a temporary settlement located only a couple dozen kilometers from where he had been planning his own colony.
The two military officers remained silent to give the Kyim'ayik Administrator all the time he needed to think about what he had just been told. Each species, without exception, had some unique form of architectural design and aesthetic, and the variety of buildings Zim was looking at were no different. The extensive use of cheap, easy to produce polymers, the simple, module construction, and rounded, nearly circular, aesthetic to all of the building were all clearly Arnehilian. However, there was something humble, almost intentionally so, about the lack of silver-metal detailing combined with the way the structures simply flowed into the untouched trees around them. Rather than a budding slaver-colony run by beings who thought themselves entitled everyone and everything, this looked like the respectfully maintained dwelling of a temporary guest who wished to remain discreet. Though the Administrator knew his duty to his people would normally demand he evict these uninvited squatters from his land, he couldn’t help but feel something almost kindred in what he was seeing.
"Have you made contact with them yet?" Zim flatly asked, though he could already guess the answer. "Do they know we're coming?"
"No and no." Atxika promptly answered, while letting her smile fall into a more professional expression. "Their ship is inactive, seems to be in a state of disrepair, and is currently in a free-floating, low orbit. According to our scans, their ground-based sensor systems are incapable of detecting our reconnaissance drones. However, they would absolutely notice our fleet entering the system."
"Well, we don't wanna scare them." Zim finally squeaked out with a slightly giggle that sounded more like a chirp. "Reptiles always freak out when you startle them."
It had been nine hours of working in the greenhouse when Mayor Harideth noticed the young dark gray-skinned, olive-drab clad messenger running towards him at full speed. Though he had known this young woman her entire life, she was a member of her community after all, he had never seen her running this fast. It wasn't the speed of her approach that made him stop what he was doing, rather it was the unadulterated fear plastered across her face. As Nalhilum sprinted down the path between the vertical hydroponic racks, a few of the Arnehilians in the greenhouse took notice, though didn't stop their work. When the young woman came to a sliding halt just in front of the Mayor, it looked like she was about to keel over from exhaustion and stress.
"My dear, please." Harideth had a genuinely concerned expression on his scaly face as he quickly moved to brace the young woman and prevent her from falling over. "You are too young to give yourself a heart attack running like that. Whatever is happening, you don't need t-"
"Mayor, we've been detected." The dread that came out of Nalhilum's voice and the tears in her eyes as she looked up at her community leader shattered the man's soul.
"Do not fear, Nalhilum, my dear. Please sit and rest. We will be fine. I promise." Harideth helped the young woman slowly lower herself into a seated position, plucked a just-ripe fruit from a vine he had been tending, and handed it to her before turning towards the closest other people in the greenhouse. "Maricha, please see to Nalhilum and ensure she recovers. I am needed in my mayoral duties immediately."
In the few seconds it took for the worker to be at the young woman's side, she had already begun nibbling on the sweet treat, savoring it as this was her last opportunity, and the Mayor had given her a gentle kiss on the forehead then began running out of the greenhouse. Though Harideth felt he had a personal duty to stay at his messenger's side until she had fully recovered and ensured she wouldn't need further assistance, he had a greater duty to his community as a whole. Despite feeling the same fear that he saw in Nalhilum’s eyes, and wanting to ball up and hide with every fiber of his body, he charged as fast as he could towards the town hall building. Though he knew running this fast was not good for his health, especially in his old age and after working all day, the only thing on the Mayor’s mind was the safety and future of the people who trusted him with their lives.
“Please don’t let it be the Oppressors.” Harideth muttered to himself as he ran as fast as his legs could take him. “By the Gods of Old, please don’t let it be them.”
For nearly a millennium now, his people had been free of those who flew the red and gray flag and, despite the many hurdles and setbacks, they had found their own form of happiness. After the Dynastic family who had kept his working-class ancestors in literal chains had been dealt a devastating blow when their capital ship was overrun by a group of abducted, pre-Ascension beings, it sparked a revival of the Free People’s ideology in the slave population. Stories of people living together in mutual aid, love, and respect once only told in hushed whispers were shouted from the rooftops as most of the surviving members of the Dynasty were thrown from them. Once all of the slaves of the other species were freed and on their way back to their respective homes, the budding groups of Greens scattered into the interstellar winds to avoid reprisal from other Dynasties which were sure to want revenge. There was even a dream that they would find other groups of Free Arnehilians living among the stars.
It was a blessing that their rebellion had initially gone unnoticed by the rest of the Arnehilian Dynasties and the greater community as that gave his ancestors time to disperse beyond the ability to be completely tracked down. Even if a few scattered communities eventually met their death or worse, the end of their freedom, there would be some who were able to survive and thrive. Though Harideth had assumed his nomadic village may eventually run into someone, he put a great deal of effort into minimizing that potential. In fact, he chose this very planet as their temporary stopping grounds specifically because it was far out of the way of most civilizations and people. After spending nearly a full season on this beautiful world, he had even started to grow attached to it and was looking for an excuse to postpone their migration in order to facilitate repairs to their ship. Being detected after so long, and with only a few weeks until they would have been ready to leave on their own, was something the Mayor could have never been prepared for.
“Make a hole!” A person wearing a dull green cap shouted down a rather cramped corridor that Harideth was barreling towards at full speed before quickly pulling back and nodding towards the man as he passed.
“Thank you, Chuzikum.” Harideth faintly mouthed while darting past the person and into the now cleared passageway that led outdoors.
Finally outside, the man only slowed his sprint to turn a few corners and avoid running into the few unwary people who had failed to notice him coming. He was less than a hundred meters away from the town hall building housing his destination, the command and control room, and he couldn’t stop now. Regardless of how hard his heart was beating, how much he felt his body overheating from the strain, and how much he wanted to just collapse, he couldn’t fail his people. As the building got closer and closer, Harideth tried to think through all of the possibilities of who it could be that had detected them. Though none of the options that came to his mind were particularly pleasant, from Bendari pirates to Qui’ztar law enforcement or even the Oppressors themselves, he was already trying to work out contingency plans as he finally approached the already open door and his assistant waiting for him beside it.
“Please close the door behind us, Marlati.” Harideth’s request was just barely audible as he crossed the threshold of the door and was quickly followed by his assistant who did as she was asked. “Who is it and what do they want?”
“The communication signal we are receiving registers as the Qui’ztar Third Matriarchy, Mayor Harideth.” Marlati quickly and quietly replied as she followed the man towards the command and control room.
“Oh, thank the Gods.” The Mayor stopped mid step and placed a hand on the wall next to lean and catch his breath for a moment. “This could still be very bad, but it could have also been so much worse.”
“Um, sir?” The Mayor’s assistant watched him with a hint of concern as she could see how much he was overheating. “Would you like me to get you a cooling pack?”
“Oh, no, that’s alright.” Harideth stood back up straight and continued towards his final destination, though a bit slower than before. As he turned back to his assistant, he gave a compassionate nod of approval. “You are too kind, my dear. This is just a…” The man’s voice trailed off as his thoughts began to concentrate on a plan of action.
“A what, sir?” Marlati nervously in a manner which caused the Mayor to look back at her. “I’m sorry sir, but this is the first time this has ever happened in my entire life.”
“First time for me too, Marlati.” Harideth admitted with a hit of nervous laughter. “But I do know enough about the Qui'ztar to not be issuing an immediate emergency evacuation order.”
“That’s not very reassuring.” Though the whine that just came his assistant would have been grating in any other circumstance, she was right and the Mayor knew it.
“That is the name of the game you help some of the children play, something of the magical planets?” Harideth stopped at the door to the room which separated him from his responsibilities as a Mayor.
“Adventures of the Magical Worlds, sir?”
“Yes! I believe there is a moral alignment chart in the rules somewhere.” Though it was clear that his assistant didn’t quite know what he was getting, it became incredibly obvious as he explained. “If I remember correctly, everything I’ve read about the Qui’ztar would put them roughly in the ‘hierarchical neutral’ category.”
“Ah…” The assistance was quite hesitant as she knew what that actually implied. “That still isn’t very reassuring.”
“They’re here to do a job. And as long as we comply and don’t get in their way, we’ll be fine.” The Mayor was doing his best to hold up his mask of confidence and not let this young feel what he felt.
“And what if their job is to kill us?”
“Then they wouldn’t have made their presence known. They would have simply shown up and sent us all to the next life.” However morbid that statement was, it actually did give the Marlati a small sense of real relief in the fact they weren't already dead as the door to the command and control room opened and the pair slowly walked in.
"Sir! Thank the Gods you're here!" A communications specialist shouted from his seat in front of a terminal towards the Mayor as he quickly approached.
"Of course, Telucima, I wouldn’t make you talk to them all by yourself." Harideth tried to crack a joke to the young woman behind the terminal in a vain attempt to calm her obviously flustered nerves. Though Telucima’s dark gray skin was never as shiny as a royal's, her face was especially dull and pale at the moment and the Mayor couldn’t help but empathize with her. “Now, please, give me your report. What do we know?”
“Well…” Telucima made a gulping sound as she swallowed some of the semi-poisonous saliva that had been building up in her mouth as a fear response. “There is a fairly substantial colony fleet headed our way being escorted by the First Independent Fleet of the Third Qui'ztar Matriarchy. They have stated that we are inhabiting an unregistered settlement on a planet that has already been claimed by the Kyim'ayik. However, they have not yet made any demands, claimed our settlement is in violation of any laws, or even made any threats. I am absolutely sure they know who we are, but they didn’t explicitly identify us in their message. I’m not exactly sure what it is going on, but the signal strength and delay indicate they are still a day or two away.”
“Interesting…” The Mayor commented with a more curious than scared tone while rubbing the top of his head in contemplation. “No demands, threats, or attempts to justify the use of force through galactic law… Is there any way we could get a real-time communications link established?”
“Sir? You want to talk to them?” Marlati could barely contain her fear as she interjected. “I thought every species hated us, and you want to talk to them?”
“They hate the bastard Oppressors, Marlati, though maybe not as much as we do.” Harideth knew this would be his one and only chance to make a good impression on what could otherwise be their impending doom and he was doing everything in his power to muster the inner courage needed for this conversation. “They may not know the difference between us and… them… yet. But something tells me they might.”
“Sir,” Telucima had redirected her attention back to her terminal and was running through the system to facilitate the Mayor’s request, “I can establish a quantum link, though it would require me to activate the relay on the ship. If there are any oppressors nearby, there’s a chance they could detect our presence and attempt to use the trace to track us down.”
“Do it.” The Mayor ordered with a tone that implied he knew the risks. “I want to see if these Qui’ztar would be willing to allow us to stay for the few weeks required to complete our harvest. Worst comes to worst, we’ll have to start packing everything up early and delay the repairs for another season.”
The next few moments were nearly silent aside from the sounds of a tapping keyboard and the occasional digitized ping from the terminal. Telucima had begun the task of awakening the ship, configuring the communications channel, and activating the relay through text-based commands on a simple, monochromatic screen, while the other two people clad in simple olive-drab clothing could do nothing but fester in their thoughts. While Harideth was busy planning out how he was going to grovel and beg for permission to finish his people’s desperately needed harvest of fresh food, Marlati was simply doing everything in her power not to shake in fear. When the final confirmation ping came from the terminal and Telucima began pressing her headset tightly to her ears, the faint whispers of a translated voice could be heard.
“Yes I can understand you…" The communications specialist, though lacking much previous experience in speaking with a member of another species, seemed to be focused solely on her job and not her fear. "Oh no, I'm sorry, this terminal doesn't have that function. It's… Yes, I can absolutely do that. Just give me one moment to set up the connection and I'll be right back with you."
In a flash, Telucima had taken off her headset, stood from her console, and was moving to a nearby bag resting on a table, much to the shock of the other Arnehilians. Before either the Mayor or his assistant could question the young woman, she was triumphantly holding up her personal data-tablet and was returning to her seat.
"What-" Harideth began before the young woman cut him off while pulling her tablet into the terminal.
"Ope, sorry about that, sir." The specialist cut off her mayor and began to explain in a rush. "I was speaking to a communications officer and she wanted an audio-visual feed to link to her commanding officer. This terminal doesn't haven't that functionality, but I can just just patch a link through my tablet. It's got a mic and camera and we can use it as the display."
“Good thinking, Telucima.” The Mayor laid a gentle, compassionate hand on the woman’s shoulder after she had placed the tablet at a good angle and sat back into her chair to type in the commands. “I knew you were the right person for this job.”
“It was the communications officer’s idea, sir.” Telucima couldn’t help herself but to be honest regardless of the praise. “I’m just glad there were instructions for this kind of patch in the training manual. It should just take a moment to load.”
When the relatively small screen came to life in front of the Mayor’s face, he saw three faces looking back at him with expectant eyes, and he froze in shock. Though none of the expressions looked out right hostile, he could tell none of those individuals would tolerate anything less than submission. Despite only ever seen descriptions of the being he was now looking at, all three could easily be identified. Even without his tail being visible, the furry, large-toothed person on the right was clearly a Kyim'ayik. The large, mostly-hairless, blue primate with pronounced tusks in the middle was, without a doubt, a Qui'ztar of particularly high rank. However, the not-as-large, similarly hairless, but copper-brown primate on the left was a species Harideth had a special fear, and particular reverence, for.
“Are… Are you a Nishnabe?” Harideth stammered out before even introducing himself or allowing these beings to introduce themselves, which prompted the Qui’ztar and Kyim'ayik to turn to the now confused human.
“Yes…” Msko replied hesitantly. “I take it you are aware of my people?”
“Aware…” Harideth couldn't stop the heartfelt smile from forming across his scaly face. “You… Your people… the Vanquishers of Tyrants, the Bane of Oppressors, the Unstoppable Rage, and the Saviors of the Oppressed… Your people are the reason my people have been blessed with a thousand years of freedom!”
submitted by micktalian to HFY [link] [comments]
"Aho, Zim, ni je na?" Msko was the first to notice and greet the relatively short, stout, and furry being that just waddled into The Hammer’s Control Center.
"Ah, Administrator Zimuzari, I am honored you could join us." Atxika's eyes quickly shot up from the holographic display being projected from the table she was leaning on and landed on Kyim'ayik colony leader. "Have you had an opportunity to read through the initial report we sent you?"
"Hello there, Mkso, Admiral Atxika. It's…" The reddish-brown ball of fur paused his adorable squeaking, half covered his mouth with one of his paws, and let out such a tremendous yawn that Atxika could see both the massive front incisors as well as the not quite as large, but still impressive, set of canines behind them. "My apologies, I woke up less than half an hour ago. But it is good to see you both, as well as an honor and privilege to join you in your Command Center, Admiral."
"The honor and privilege are mine." Atxika bowed slightly with her pleasant smile still wide. "And I would like to apologize for waking you. It will still be a few days before we arrive at our destination and this strategy meeting could have waited."
"No, no, no, that's alright." Zim quickly replied with his species' high pitch and chirpy version of galactic common while stretching out and flicking his long, shiny whiskers as he approached the military leaders. "I've already gotten about nine hours of sleep. Skipping the last hour or two has killed me yet! And I’d rather get started on this sooner rather than later.”
Admiral Atxika had to put in real effort to prevent herself start cooing at the delightful manner with which Zim made his way over to the holo-table and climbed the stool-like chair designed for his anatomy. The long, wide, and flat tail distinctive of the Kyim'ayik was lifted just off the ground and stretched far back to balance the rest of the being’s body weight while the relatively short hind legs carried him along in an awkward, though comfortable, bipedal gait. With the limited range of motion in the squat, fuzzy man’s leg-like arms as he stretched, it was clear his species was more intended for quadrupedal locomotion. Despite that fact, the posture of the Kyim'ayik Administrator while he walked was far more similar to her own, or a human’s, than what she had remembered from her previous interactions with the species. However, as Zim stretched out his back to its full length, adding good chunk to his overall height, and began climbing the stool so he could have a proper view of holographic display, Atxika was suddenly reminded of a domesticated species of vermin-hunting musteloid from her species’ homeworld that were quite popular pets. Even though she knew this furry little man was a well respected guest on her ship, and a being from an Ascended species, she couldn’t get over how adorable he was.
“I hope you didn’t wake the misses.” Msko commented with a sarcastic tone while shooting the beaver-otter a cheeky wink.
“Nah, that woman could sleep through an atomic detonation.” Hearing the galactic common word for ‘atomic detonation’ be said with such an endearing squeak was pushing the Admiral to the absolute limits of her self control.
“I can have some food and refreshments brought, if you like.” Atxika interjected while doing her best to keep her smile from growing too wide and showing all of her teeth.
“Oh n-” Zim was about to politely decline before Msko interrupted him with a bit too much energy.
“Yes, please!” The War Chief blurted out. “That restaurant Tens took me to in your Amenities Section was amazing! I knew this ship had a huge manufacturing capability, but I didn’t realize you’d have freshly grown food.”
“I’ll have the private command facilities prepare something.” The Admiral quickly replied to ensure that Zim couldn’t refuse. “How does a zetloxoni platter sound?”
“What are-” Zim began to ask before Atxika realized her mistake and explained.
"Zetloxoni are fish fillets, rolled in a semisweet and highly nutrient-rich grain, and occasionally topped with more fish or other ingredients." The Admiral replied while typing into the display to bring up a holographic representation of the sushi-like dish she was describing. "This is what I was thinking."
"That actually looks amazing!" The Kyim'ayik ears suddenly perked up and eyes grew wide with delight.
"Wonderful! It's settled then." Atxika pressed in a few more commands to place the order then tried to redirect the conversation to reason for the meeting. "I find it is often easier to address delicate situations with a clear mind and full stomach."
"Delicate?" The squeaky reply carried a noticeably sarcastic tone as Zim shifted his attention towards the holographic representation of a planet and saucer shaped ship orbiting it. "That looks like Arnehilians. Ain't nothing delicate about the Grays, except maybe their physical forms."
"Well, they're definitely Arnehilians but…" Msko interjected with a hesitant tone that caught his Kyim'ayik friend off guard. "We don't think they're Grays."
There was a second of confused silence as Zim stared into the War Chief's eyes to see if this was a joke. Before Nishnabe could bring himself to explain, however, Atxika chimed in to give the proper explanation.
"What I am about to say is Level 8 classified information from Military Command and should be treated with the appropriate amount of secrecy. Do you understand?" After an incredibly professional and understanding nod from the Administrator, the Admiral continued. "We have confirmed the existence of a non-aligned, neutral-standing collective of decentralized Arnehilian groups who refer to themselves as, quote, 'the Greens', or the Free People of Sundered Arnehil. According to all reports, they are an ecologically-minded, nomadic, agricultural society who regularly travel in such a way as to avoid any means of tracking or detection by their… less peaceful cousins. However, there are a few who regularly check in with Military Command to avoid potential confrontations. There have been no indications that any of their groups discovered so far are violent, nor even capable of galactic standard levels of self-defense."
"I thought those rumors were just misinformation or propaganda." Zim was now much more earnest as gazed upon the holographic saucer floating above the planet. "And you say they're even ecologically-minded?"
"Our drones haven't detected any significant environmental disruptions." Msko sounded far more nonchalant about this situation than his long-time friend was expecting. There was no aggression or anger in his movements as he indicated towards a highlight portion of the holographic planet floating above the table and prompted the display to project a new hologram. "Their settlement is using solar and wind energy to operate their infrastructure and accumulate power reserves. From what we can tell, they're only a week away from finishing their agricultural harvest and two weeks away from their power reserves being fully recharged. If we had been delayed a month, there's a good chance we would have missed them completely."
“What kind of resource impacts would I have to account for?” The Administrator quickly followed up.
“Maybe a couple hundred tons worth of basic elements and organic matter.” It was clear Msko had already scoured everything and couldn’t find any reason to be concerned. “But the drones' sensors can’t detect any real difference between now and six months ago. Like I said, if we were delayed a month, we might not have even known they were ever there.”
"I see…" There was a moment of pause as Zim stared at the highly detailed holographic representation of a temporary settlement located only a couple dozen kilometers from where he had been planning his own colony.
The two military officers remained silent to give the Kyim'ayik Administrator all the time he needed to think about what he had just been told. Each species, without exception, had some unique form of architectural design and aesthetic, and the variety of buildings Zim was looking at were no different. The extensive use of cheap, easy to produce polymers, the simple, module construction, and rounded, nearly circular, aesthetic to all of the building were all clearly Arnehilian. However, there was something humble, almost intentionally so, about the lack of silver-metal detailing combined with the way the structures simply flowed into the untouched trees around them. Rather than a budding slaver-colony run by beings who thought themselves entitled everyone and everything, this looked like the respectfully maintained dwelling of a temporary guest who wished to remain discreet. Though the Administrator knew his duty to his people would normally demand he evict these uninvited squatters from his land, he couldn’t help but feel something almost kindred in what he was seeing.
"Have you made contact with them yet?" Zim flatly asked, though he could already guess the answer. "Do they know we're coming?"
"No and no." Atxika promptly answered, while letting her smile fall into a more professional expression. "Their ship is inactive, seems to be in a state of disrepair, and is currently in a free-floating, low orbit. According to our scans, their ground-based sensor systems are incapable of detecting our reconnaissance drones. However, they would absolutely notice our fleet entering the system."
"Well, we don't wanna scare them." Zim finally squeaked out with a slightly giggle that sounded more like a chirp. "Reptiles always freak out when you startle them."
It had been nine hours of working in the greenhouse when Mayor Harideth noticed the young dark gray-skinned, olive-drab clad messenger running towards him at full speed. Though he had known this young woman her entire life, she was a member of her community after all, he had never seen her running this fast. It wasn't the speed of her approach that made him stop what he was doing, rather it was the unadulterated fear plastered across her face. As Nalhilum sprinted down the path between the vertical hydroponic racks, a few of the Arnehilians in the greenhouse took notice, though didn't stop their work. When the young woman came to a sliding halt just in front of the Mayor, it looked like she was about to keel over from exhaustion and stress.
"My dear, please." Harideth had a genuinely concerned expression on his scaly face as he quickly moved to brace the young woman and prevent her from falling over. "You are too young to give yourself a heart attack running like that. Whatever is happening, you don't need t-"
"Mayor, we've been detected." The dread that came out of Nalhilum's voice and the tears in her eyes as she looked up at her community leader shattered the man's soul.
"Do not fear, Nalhilum, my dear. Please sit and rest. We will be fine. I promise." Harideth helped the young woman slowly lower herself into a seated position, plucked a just-ripe fruit from a vine he had been tending, and handed it to her before turning towards the closest other people in the greenhouse. "Maricha, please see to Nalhilum and ensure she recovers. I am needed in my mayoral duties immediately."
In the few seconds it took for the worker to be at the young woman's side, she had already begun nibbling on the sweet treat, savoring it as this was her last opportunity, and the Mayor had given her a gentle kiss on the forehead then began running out of the greenhouse. Though Harideth felt he had a personal duty to stay at his messenger's side until she had fully recovered and ensured she wouldn't need further assistance, he had a greater duty to his community as a whole. Despite feeling the same fear that he saw in Nalhilum’s eyes, and wanting to ball up and hide with every fiber of his body, he charged as fast as he could towards the town hall building. Though he knew running this fast was not good for his health, especially in his old age and after working all day, the only thing on the Mayor’s mind was the safety and future of the people who trusted him with their lives.
“Please don’t let it be the Oppressors.” Harideth muttered to himself as he ran as fast as his legs could take him. “By the Gods of Old, please don’t let it be them.”
For nearly a millennium now, his people had been free of those who flew the red and gray flag and, despite the many hurdles and setbacks, they had found their own form of happiness. After the Dynastic family who had kept his working-class ancestors in literal chains had been dealt a devastating blow when their capital ship was overrun by a group of abducted, pre-Ascension beings, it sparked a revival of the Free People’s ideology in the slave population. Stories of people living together in mutual aid, love, and respect once only told in hushed whispers were shouted from the rooftops as most of the surviving members of the Dynasty were thrown from them. Once all of the slaves of the other species were freed and on their way back to their respective homes, the budding groups of Greens scattered into the interstellar winds to avoid reprisal from other Dynasties which were sure to want revenge. There was even a dream that they would find other groups of Free Arnehilians living among the stars.
It was a blessing that their rebellion had initially gone unnoticed by the rest of the Arnehilian Dynasties and the greater community as that gave his ancestors time to disperse beyond the ability to be completely tracked down. Even if a few scattered communities eventually met their death or worse, the end of their freedom, there would be some who were able to survive and thrive. Though Harideth had assumed his nomadic village may eventually run into someone, he put a great deal of effort into minimizing that potential. In fact, he chose this very planet as their temporary stopping grounds specifically because it was far out of the way of most civilizations and people. After spending nearly a full season on this beautiful world, he had even started to grow attached to it and was looking for an excuse to postpone their migration in order to facilitate repairs to their ship. Being detected after so long, and with only a few weeks until they would have been ready to leave on their own, was something the Mayor could have never been prepared for.
“Make a hole!” A person wearing a dull green cap shouted down a rather cramped corridor that Harideth was barreling towards at full speed before quickly pulling back and nodding towards the man as he passed.
“Thank you, Chuzikum.” Harideth faintly mouthed while darting past the person and into the now cleared passageway that led outdoors.
Finally outside, the man only slowed his sprint to turn a few corners and avoid running into the few unwary people who had failed to notice him coming. He was less than a hundred meters away from the town hall building housing his destination, the command and control room, and he couldn’t stop now. Regardless of how hard his heart was beating, how much he felt his body overheating from the strain, and how much he wanted to just collapse, he couldn’t fail his people. As the building got closer and closer, Harideth tried to think through all of the possibilities of who it could be that had detected them. Though none of the options that came to his mind were particularly pleasant, from Bendari pirates to Qui’ztar law enforcement or even the Oppressors themselves, he was already trying to work out contingency plans as he finally approached the already open door and his assistant waiting for him beside it.
“Please close the door behind us, Marlati.” Harideth’s request was just barely audible as he crossed the threshold of the door and was quickly followed by his assistant who did as she was asked. “Who is it and what do they want?”
“The communication signal we are receiving registers as the Qui’ztar Third Matriarchy, Mayor Harideth.” Marlati quickly and quietly replied as she followed the man towards the command and control room.
“Oh, thank the Gods.” The Mayor stopped mid step and placed a hand on the wall next to lean and catch his breath for a moment. “This could still be very bad, but it could have also been so much worse.”
“Um, sir?” The Mayor’s assistant watched him with a hint of concern as she could see how much he was overheating. “Would you like me to get you a cooling pack?”
“Oh, no, that’s alright.” Harideth stood back up straight and continued towards his final destination, though a bit slower than before. As he turned back to his assistant, he gave a compassionate nod of approval. “You are too kind, my dear. This is just a…” The man’s voice trailed off as his thoughts began to concentrate on a plan of action.
“A what, sir?” Marlati nervously in a manner which caused the Mayor to look back at her. “I’m sorry sir, but this is the first time this has ever happened in my entire life.”
“First time for me too, Marlati.” Harideth admitted with a hit of nervous laughter. “But I do know enough about the Qui'ztar to not be issuing an immediate emergency evacuation order.”
“That’s not very reassuring.” Though the whine that just came his assistant would have been grating in any other circumstance, she was right and the Mayor knew it.
“That is the name of the game you help some of the children play, something of the magical planets?” Harideth stopped at the door to the room which separated him from his responsibilities as a Mayor.
“Adventures of the Magical Worlds, sir?”
“Yes! I believe there is a moral alignment chart in the rules somewhere.” Though it was clear that his assistant didn’t quite know what he was getting, it became incredibly obvious as he explained. “If I remember correctly, everything I’ve read about the Qui’ztar would put them roughly in the ‘hierarchical neutral’ category.”
“Ah…” The assistance was quite hesitant as she knew what that actually implied. “That still isn’t very reassuring.”
“They’re here to do a job. And as long as we comply and don’t get in their way, we’ll be fine.” The Mayor was doing his best to hold up his mask of confidence and not let this young feel what he felt.
“And what if their job is to kill us?”
“Then they wouldn’t have made their presence known. They would have simply shown up and sent us all to the next life.” However morbid that statement was, it actually did give the Marlati a small sense of real relief in the fact they weren't already dead as the door to the command and control room opened and the pair slowly walked in.
"Sir! Thank the Gods you're here!" A communications specialist shouted from his seat in front of a terminal towards the Mayor as he quickly approached.
"Of course, Telucima, I wouldn’t make you talk to them all by yourself." Harideth tried to crack a joke to the young woman behind the terminal in a vain attempt to calm her obviously flustered nerves. Though Telucima’s dark gray skin was never as shiny as a royal's, her face was especially dull and pale at the moment and the Mayor couldn’t help but empathize with her. “Now, please, give me your report. What do we know?”
“Well…” Telucima made a gulping sound as she swallowed some of the semi-poisonous saliva that had been building up in her mouth as a fear response. “There is a fairly substantial colony fleet headed our way being escorted by the First Independent Fleet of the Third Qui'ztar Matriarchy. They have stated that we are inhabiting an unregistered settlement on a planet that has already been claimed by the Kyim'ayik. However, they have not yet made any demands, claimed our settlement is in violation of any laws, or even made any threats. I am absolutely sure they know who we are, but they didn’t explicitly identify us in their message. I’m not exactly sure what it is going on, but the signal strength and delay indicate they are still a day or two away.”
“Interesting…” The Mayor commented with a more curious than scared tone while rubbing the top of his head in contemplation. “No demands, threats, or attempts to justify the use of force through galactic law… Is there any way we could get a real-time communications link established?”
“Sir? You want to talk to them?” Marlati could barely contain her fear as she interjected. “I thought every species hated us, and you want to talk to them?”
“They hate the bastard Oppressors, Marlati, though maybe not as much as we do.” Harideth knew this would be his one and only chance to make a good impression on what could otherwise be their impending doom and he was doing everything in his power to muster the inner courage needed for this conversation. “They may not know the difference between us and… them… yet. But something tells me they might.”
“Sir,” Telucima had redirected her attention back to her terminal and was running through the system to facilitate the Mayor’s request, “I can establish a quantum link, though it would require me to activate the relay on the ship. If there are any oppressors nearby, there’s a chance they could detect our presence and attempt to use the trace to track us down.”
“Do it.” The Mayor ordered with a tone that implied he knew the risks. “I want to see if these Qui’ztar would be willing to allow us to stay for the few weeks required to complete our harvest. Worst comes to worst, we’ll have to start packing everything up early and delay the repairs for another season.”
The next few moments were nearly silent aside from the sounds of a tapping keyboard and the occasional digitized ping from the terminal. Telucima had begun the task of awakening the ship, configuring the communications channel, and activating the relay through text-based commands on a simple, monochromatic screen, while the other two people clad in simple olive-drab clothing could do nothing but fester in their thoughts. While Harideth was busy planning out how he was going to grovel and beg for permission to finish his people’s desperately needed harvest of fresh food, Marlati was simply doing everything in her power not to shake in fear. When the final confirmation ping came from the terminal and Telucima began pressing her headset tightly to her ears, the faint whispers of a translated voice could be heard.
“Yes I can understand you…" The communications specialist, though lacking much previous experience in speaking with a member of another species, seemed to be focused solely on her job and not her fear. "Oh no, I'm sorry, this terminal doesn't have that function. It's… Yes, I can absolutely do that. Just give me one moment to set up the connection and I'll be right back with you."
In a flash, Telucima had taken off her headset, stood from her console, and was moving to a nearby bag resting on a table, much to the shock of the other Arnehilians. Before either the Mayor or his assistant could question the young woman, she was triumphantly holding up her personal data-tablet and was returning to her seat.
"What-" Harideth began before the young woman cut him off while pulling her tablet into the terminal.
"Ope, sorry about that, sir." The specialist cut off her mayor and began to explain in a rush. "I was speaking to a communications officer and she wanted an audio-visual feed to link to her commanding officer. This terminal doesn't haven't that functionality, but I can just just patch a link through my tablet. It's got a mic and camera and we can use it as the display."
“Good thinking, Telucima.” The Mayor laid a gentle, compassionate hand on the woman’s shoulder after she had placed the tablet at a good angle and sat back into her chair to type in the commands. “I knew you were the right person for this job.”
“It was the communications officer’s idea, sir.” Telucima couldn’t help herself but to be honest regardless of the praise. “I’m just glad there were instructions for this kind of patch in the training manual. It should just take a moment to load.”
When the relatively small screen came to life in front of the Mayor’s face, he saw three faces looking back at him with expectant eyes, and he froze in shock. Though none of the expressions looked out right hostile, he could tell none of those individuals would tolerate anything less than submission. Despite only ever seen descriptions of the being he was now looking at, all three could easily be identified. Even without his tail being visible, the furry, large-toothed person on the right was clearly a Kyim'ayik. The large, mostly-hairless, blue primate with pronounced tusks in the middle was, without a doubt, a Qui'ztar of particularly high rank. However, the not-as-large, similarly hairless, but copper-brown primate on the left was a species Harideth had a special fear, and particular reverence, for.
“Are… Are you a Nishnabe?” Harideth stammered out before even introducing himself or allowing these beings to introduce themselves, which prompted the Qui’ztar and Kyim'ayik to turn to the now confused human.
“Yes…” Msko replied hesitantly. “I take it you are aware of my people?”
“Aware…” Harideth couldn't stop the heartfelt smile from forming across his scaly face. “You… Your people… the Vanquishers of Tyrants, the Bane of Oppressors, the Unstoppable Rage, and the Saviors of the Oppressed… Your people are the reason my people have been blessed with a thousand years of freedom!”
2023.06.03 17:05 MitchWasRight Need Advice On Selecting A Japanese Knife
I’m an avid home chef and appreciate quantity knives. My son is currently in Japan and heading to Osaka and Kyoto in a few days. Sorry for the long post.
One of my pet peeves is when finely sliced veggies are strung together because not cut all the way through at the top. My amateur research says that a Nakiri is what I’m looking for.
I’d love a recommendation from the sub on a makeshop to direct my son to. I’m having analysis paralysis. My preferences are as follows:
Style: Nakiri. Would prefer a squared or pointed tip as opposed to rounded. Also, prefer a straight edge as opposed to a “rocker”.
Steel: any
Handle: traditional Japanese. Most important is smooth edges.
Length: minimum 160-maximum 200mm
Main Use: vegetable prep, ramen toppings
Care: I always clean, dry and return my knives to a wooden block immediately after use. Something that rusts with neglect is ok but not looking to being a slave to the knife or worrying that it say on the cutting board for 30 minutes after slicing some tomato.
Finish: some kind of pattern like Damascus or hammered.
Budget: would like to stay under $200
Overall, this is the first time I’m putting a lot of thought/research into purchasing a knife and I would like to support craftsmanship. Currently, my knives are:
Good Quality Vintage Sabatier 10” Chef Miyabi 8” Chef/Gyuto Zwilling 4” Paring
Medium Quality Henkels 8” Santoku Zwilling 6” Boning
Low Quality Imperial (approximately 40 years old) serrated bread knife. Funny thing is that it’s one of the most used and works perfectly.
submitted by MitchWasRight to chefknives [link] [comments]
One of my pet peeves is when finely sliced veggies are strung together because not cut all the way through at the top. My amateur research says that a Nakiri is what I’m looking for.
I’d love a recommendation from the sub on a makeshop to direct my son to. I’m having analysis paralysis. My preferences are as follows:
Style: Nakiri. Would prefer a squared or pointed tip as opposed to rounded. Also, prefer a straight edge as opposed to a “rocker”.
Steel: any
Handle: traditional Japanese. Most important is smooth edges.
Length: minimum 160-maximum 200mm
Main Use: vegetable prep, ramen toppings
Care: I always clean, dry and return my knives to a wooden block immediately after use. Something that rusts with neglect is ok but not looking to being a slave to the knife or worrying that it say on the cutting board for 30 minutes after slicing some tomato.
Finish: some kind of pattern like Damascus or hammered.
Budget: would like to stay under $200
Overall, this is the first time I’m putting a lot of thought/research into purchasing a knife and I would like to support craftsmanship. Currently, my knives are:
Good Quality Vintage Sabatier 10” Chef Miyabi 8” Chef/Gyuto Zwilling 4” Paring
Medium Quality Henkels 8” Santoku Zwilling 6” Boning
Low Quality Imperial (approximately 40 years old) serrated bread knife. Funny thing is that it’s one of the most used and works perfectly.
2023.06.03 17:03 SirTopTech Verification Request: Proof of the Non-Existence of 3x3 Magic Squares of Squares
I have recently completed a proof demonstrating the impossibility of constructing a 3x3 magic square composed of unique positive integers squared. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone could take the time to review my proof and verify its soundness.
A magic square is the same as sudoku. There have been many people who have tried to find a 3x3 square but never have. Here is a website that talks about it for whoever is interested.
Link to the proof.
submitted by SirTopTech to math [link] [comments]
A magic square is the same as sudoku. There have been many people who have tried to find a 3x3 square but never have. Here is a website that talks about it for whoever is interested.
Link to the proof.
2023.06.03 16:48 Proletlariet Thirteenth Doctor
Respect the Doctor
🎵"Bit of adrenaline, dash of outrage, and a hint of panic knitted my brain back together. I know exactly who I am. I'm the Doctor. Sorting out fair play across the universe. Now please. Get off this planet while you still have a choice."
So you've come to see my respect thread? mmmm I love respect threads. In fact, I invented them right after 4 slice toasters. So... where was I? Oh, that's right. Me. Doctor, the Doctor. I was born on this little planet on the Constellation of Kasterborous... or was I? Things get a bit complicated there... where I came from or who I am. I've been lots of people, some of them I don't even remember. The person reading this might be the Doctor too (?)... Anyway, back on point. The person who I am now is an easy-going travelehigh-speed engineebiscuit-lover. Me and my fam explore the universe in muh good old TARDIS, righting wrongs and chilling like there's no tomorrow (which is a possibility wink-wink). I'm happy to be your bezzie mate if you play nicely, but if not --- well, you'll get an idea if you keep reading. (scronch)Source Key
Hover over a feat to view its source.- Doctor Who (2005) series # episode # = S#E#
- Twice Upon A Time = TUAT
- Resolution = R
- Revolution of the Daleks = RotD
- Eve of the Daleks = EotD
- Legend of the Sea Devils = LotSD
- The Power of the Doctor = PotD
Intelligence
Technological AptitudeUnderstanding Technology
- Assures the "safe" crash-landing of a spaceship.
- Identifies the futuristic technology used by Krasko as well as their limitations.
- Identifies the various technology stolen by the Skithra.
- Makes correct conclusions about a spacecraft beyond even her level of technology and puts the techno jargon involved into understable terms.
- Identifies the technology at the Sea Devils' base and how it keeps the place airtight under the sea.
- Works the Tsuranga's touchscreen controls.
- Uses the Thijarians' own transmat locks to keep them out of Umbreen's farm.
- Uses Kerb!am's prototype robot to hack into the system and prevent an act of terrorism.
- Uses an alien space shuttle to distribute the antidote to Praxeus all over Earth.
- Operates a ship's computer using harp controls.
- Pilots a cyberfighter which uses an unothrodox control scheme.
- Uses a 1960's brain scan device to stun some Weeping Angels.
- Pilots a Lupari ship.
- Uses the Master's TARDIS to bring his cyber-conversion planet to 2022 and thwart his plan to erupt all of Earth's volcanos by converting the lava into steel.
- Crafts her own sonic screwdriver out of Stenza technology and spoons.
- Builds a transport pod out of various electronics to send her to the TARDIS, only to end up sending her companions and herself into outer space because the TARDIS had relocated to a planet out of orbit.
- Builds an ionic membrane from scratch and claims she could make a human out of crayons and half a can of spam.
- Rigs up a cloaking bypass in a minute to access to the Orb of Thassor's data.
- Helps Nikola Tesla finish Wardenclyffe Tower so they could use it to banish the Skithra from Earth.
- Rigs up a CCTV out of a 1960's television and some odds and ends found in her pockets.
- Reboots Ryan's phone into a tracking device.
- Reprograms the Master's Kasaarvin-summoning device to shut down when it detects the Kasaarvin.
- Thwarts the Sea Devils by rigging their power core to implode.
- Stuns the Gathering Coil with a loose cable upon first seeing it then stuns it again later by overloading its sockets with a more elaborate setup.
- Deactivates a group of self-rebooting sniperbots using an EMP found inside of the destroyed bots.
- Disables the security system inside Karvanista's ship using the Hopper virus.
- Teaches Victorian soldiers to sabotage the Sontarans' life support systems.
- Deactivates a space train's electromagnets to make a group of CyberMasters float away.
- Tunes up the TARDIS' wiring in her spare time.
- Figures out how to repair a transport pod by mutating a necessary fuel source.
- Fixes Vinder's ship in a hurry.
- Decrypts an obscure alien code from an interdimensional species.
- Hacks the guest list of Daniel Barton's party to get invites.
- Types up a debug script in an alien dialect to neutralize the Hopper virus.
- Recognizes that a tent is holographic upon first glance.
- Recognizes that a building's life support systems have been disabled from the noises heard.
- Can tell what setting Krasko's temporal displacer is on from behind her back.
- Identifies Krasko as a former prisoner of the Stormcage Containment Facility from a wrist tattoo.
- Sees the connection between a series of spider-related incidents occuring all over Sheffield.
- Realizes that the hospital she's being treated at is a spaceship from the vibrations present. Though her wooziness causes her to take a while to figure this out.
- Reaches multiple conclusions about the mud zombies from observing one.
- Notices that something is up with a random house seen from afar.
- Notices that there's another person present with Erik when he claims otherwise.
- Roughly guesses the century she's been transported to while recovering from a daze.
- Points out that a "linen cupboard" is not really a linen cupbard.
- Discovers a secret tunnel that the current homeowner was not aware of.
- Exposes Tzim-Sha as a cheat.
- Figures out why Krasko uses non-hostile means to prevent the Montgomery bus boycott.
- Realizes what the P'ting's intention is by hijacking Tsuranga.
- Figures out that Becka Savage is infected with an alien creature.
- Discovers that a ducking stool is a piece of alien technology.
- Realizes that the dimension she entered is a Solitract by remembering a bedtime story from childhood.
- Realizes that the Recon Dalek mutant is revived by ultraviolet light and recalls this fact when it's used again to send a bunch of them into their casings.
- Forces the Master to give up his ruse when she notices a discrepancy between his words and the information she read about the man he's impersonating.
- Works out the Kasaavin's grand scheme.
- Learns about the Dreg's capabilities from the measures taken against them.
- Discovers the key to destroying the CyberMasters from something uttered by the Lone Cyberman.
- Deduces that they have ended up in the middle of the Crimean War.
- Gets interrogated by the Grand Serpent and manages to learn more about him than he does about her.
- Figures out the Sontaran's strategy against the Daleks and Cybermen.
- Deduces what the Sea Devils' ultimate goal is.
- Gives Ryan some moral support to overcome his dyspraxia.
- Gets information from Rosa Parks by pretending to be a market researcher.
- Negotiates with an untrustworthy alien.
- Encourages her companions to reject the Solitract's allure before convincing the Solitract itself to release her.
- Coaxes Paltraki into trusting her after his mind was disturbed by psychotropic waves.
- Uses Noor Inayat Khan to frame the Master as a double agent to the Nazis.
- Forces the Alpha Dreg to let her and Bella go using its dependency on carbon dioxide.
- Tricks the Skithra Queen into holding a teleportation device.
- Posing as an imperial regulator, she negotiates with a Judoon captain using both real and made-up legal jargon.
- Helps Tahira conquer her fear so she can control her nightmare monster.
- Defeats the Death Squad Daleks by luring them into what appears to be her TARDIS, only to reveal that it's another TARDIS which she has rigged to self-destruct with them inside.
- Persuades an Ood to go against his superior's wishes and help her.
- Uses a Sontaran commander's obsession with human snacks to get two allies onto the Sontaran ship.
- Lures a Sea Devil into a trap.
- Fails to convince King James that she's not a witch, but likely sows enough doubt in his mind to prematurely end her trial.
- Destroys the Remnants by igniting a cigar in a field of acetylene.
- Isolates a giant spider using vinegar and garlic.
- Alleges she used spider web to stop a plane in flight with Amelia Earheart.
- Contains a swarm of giant spiders by luring them into a panic room using the vibrations of loud music.
- Kills two birds with one stone by feeding the P'ting the Tsuranga's bomb, thereby sating its hunger for energy and containing the explosion.
- Puts together a chemistry set on a Punjabi farm in the 1940's to analyze a sample her sonic couldn't.
- Uses peanut butter as a mechanical lubricant.
- Uses a car's rear-view mirror to reflect a deadly laser.
- Forms a circle of fire out of the chemicals in Thomas Edison's factory.
- Diagnoses General Cicero with Pilot's Heart.
- Can identify the exact cause of death of victims of alien attacks through a quick examination.
- Treats Ryan for the Hopper virus the moment he contracts it.
- Leads a team to develop a cure for Praxeus.
- Can't help Graham with his cancer worries because of... um, social awkwardness(?).
- Places instructions onto Barton's plane in the past to help her companions pilot it in the present when it almost crashes. Her prediction of their responses is so accurate it makes the recording she left resemble a live conversation.
- Gets rid of the Defense Drone Daleks by summoning the Death Squad Daleks to wipe them out, knowing they would prioritize eradicating "impure" Daleks over harming humans.
- Quickly devises a formation for the Lupari ships to successfully defend Earth from the Flux.
- Hijacks the Sontarans' plot to eliminate the Daleks and the Cybermen using the Flux to get rid of all three forces at once.
- Comes up with a plan to break a time loop and dispose of the Daleks pursuing them at the same time.
- Uses Venusian Aikido to temporarily paralyze or render humanoids unconscious.
- Translates an alien language without the TARDIS.
- Claims she is a doctor of many things.
- Thanks to Harry Houdini, she single-handedly escapes when chained to a ducking stool and submerged in cold water.
- Impractically summons her sonic screwdriver from her coat pocket into her hand with both arms tied.
- Tails a Sontaran without being spotted.
- Thinks at such a fast rate her surroundings appear slowed while inner-monologuing.
- Sword-fights handedly with a Sea Devil.
Mental Abilities
Mental Resistance & Willpower- Quickly overcomes of the nightmare-inducing power of Zellin.
- Identifies a perception filter and instructs a group of humans to move past it.
- Breaks out of the Matrix by overloading it with the memories (stock footage) of her past lives.
- Communicates with the Master over a long distance.
- Looks into a Dreg's mind to learn their origin.
- Shows Commander Gatt the future of Gallifrey.
- Looks into Percy Shelley's mind so she can learn something his mental state prevents him from telling her.
- Attempts to locate the Master by linking with his mind, however he senses this and misleads her in response.
- Enters Claire's mental space to communicate with the Weeping Angel inhabiting her mind.
- After being split thrice, the three Doctors network with each other.
- Wipes Noor Inayat Khan's and Ada Lovelace's memories of her.
- Performs an "Old Time Lord Trick" on Percy Shelley to extract the Cyberium from him; mentally simulating his death to trick the Cyberium into leaving its host.
- Receives the Thijarians' telepathic message, though it is painful for her.
- Senses the Kasaavin approaching even though the sonic can't detect them.
- Gets a vibe of unrelenting evil in Villa Diodati.
- Sees and feels the universe breaking down from the Flux.
- Finds her biomodule from hearing it reach out to her - a noise that an Ood (a telepathic being) could not hear.
- Feels that the time loop they're trapped in is shortening with each loop.
- Like all Time Lords, the secret of the Timeless Child hides deep in her memories.
- When made to relive a past event as the Fugitive Doctor, she converses with her past self after seeing the physical difference in the mirror.
- After the Master hijacks her regenerations, the Doctor's mind enters a subconscious plane where she is met by manifestations of her past incarnations. They inform her that even though her body has changed, the forced regeneration has not yet passed its threshold and can still be reversed.
Physical Attributes
Strength- Frees an elderly woman chained to a ducking stool then drags her out of the water.
- Pushes one end of a ducking stool from a lake.
- Keeps a Skithran from busting through a door.
- Keeps both her companions from drifting away in space.
- Leaps from one crane to another.
- Strategically avoids being shot by robot drones as she flees the area.
- Avoids Dalek blasts at point-blank range and rolls into cover.
- Draws that same Dalek's fire so her companions can close in on it.
- Ducks under a close-range laser blast.
- Sidesteps a shot from a Silurian blaster.
- Ducks under a trio of swarming Cyberdrones.
- Flips herself upside-down to right-side up onto a gravity bar, utilizing tricks she learnt at a high-gravity workshop.
- Moves fast enough to pull her companions and herself into the center of the Time Force before Swarm could vaporize Yaz.
- Dodges lasers from behind the moment she enters the area.
- Ducks under sudden Dalek blasts from behind.
- Does a front-flip while avoiding a Sea Devil's sword swipes.
- Steps away from the energy blast of a CyberMaster that just transmatted in.
- Avoids blasts from multiple CyberMasters as she flees into the TARDIS.
- Dodges a close-range Dalek blast.
- Remains in good spirits when an electric shock violently shoves her backwards (thought this likely due to her post-regeneration rush).
- Recovers from the vacuum of space faster than her human companions.
- Tries to hold back an explosion big enough to take out an airplane's cockpit with only its door to shield her.
- Travels in warp drive without adverse effects.
- Her biology can withstand the Time Force that would be overwhelming for humans, allowing her to briefly jump into Dan and Yaz's timestreams. However, the pressure would eventually kill her.
- Feels the DNA bombs in her collarbone that none of her companions notice.
- Determines that they've landed in Norway by tasting the grass.
- Discovers an alpaca farm 25 miles away by tasting the soil.
- Determines the century a skeleton originates from by tasting its boney powder.
- Tastes the residue of a stun cube used by the Lupari.
- Incorrectly deduces the decade from sniffing a man's coat, noting he must have owned it for a while.
Time Lords can survive fatal injuries through the process of regeneration whereupon every cell in their body is rewritten, radically transforming their appearance and personality. This regeneration produced some interesting changes...
- This ability is restricted to 12 regenerations across 13 incarnations. Due to the Doctor gaining a second regeneration cycle and the whole Timeless Children revelation, this limit might no longer be in play.
- Excess regeneration energy affords a Time Lord a degree of invulnerability within the first few hours of their regeneration. The newly-regenerated Thirteenth Doctor fell from her airbourne TARDIS in the stratosphere down to a nearby train, crashing through its roof and getting up completely fine.
- Side-effects following regeneraiton include memory loss, fainting and slowed movement.
- The Master uses a machine to force her to regenerate into him so he could go around the universe causing destruction in the Doctor's name. This process was reversed shortly after using the regeneration energy from his CyberMasters.
- Regeneration can be temporarily delayed without suffering negative effects, which the Thirteenth Doctor did for a little while to eat ice cream.
- The Thirteenth Doctor's regeneration into the Fourteenth Doctor was unique from past regenerations in two respects; firstly being that this form strongely resembled her Tenth incarnation instead of a totally new body and secondly in that it also changed the Doctor's clothing (the only other time this happened was the First Doctor's regeneration into the Second).
- Has two hearts and therefore two pulses.
- Has a much longer lifespan than humans. In this body, she spent several decades imprisoned without visibly aging.
- The Cyberium chooses her as a host over the Lone Cyberman.
Equipment
Get the full rundown of the TARDIS and Sonic Screwdriver in the comments
Psychic PaperThe psychic paper is a blank piece of paper that telepathically projects the Doctor's thoughts into the eyes of whom she presents it to.
- Poses as a crisis investigator to get answers from Jack Robertson.
- Gains employment at Kerb!am by presenting fake references.
- Seizes control of a witch hunt by posing as a Witchfinder General.
- Gain access to Tranquility Spa's command centre by posing as a Pan-Galactic Standards and Practices officer with several areas of expertise under her belt.
- Claims to be part of the Institute of Psychic Investigation to intervene in Professor Jericho's psychic experiments.
- Claims to be members of the local council when investigating a storage facility.
- Gives Ryan and Graham their own psychic papers so they can continue investigating strange goings-ons without her.
- Fails to pass her off as the Witchfinder General to King James due to his sexism so she is instead designated the Witchfinder's Assistant.
- Doesn't work when wet.
- Makes her companions scour a junk planet for spare part using modified metal detectors.
- Gains a comm dot at Tsuranga which she and her companions use on another occasion.
- Uses neural balancers so she and her companions can enter the planet Ranskoor Av Kolos without succumbing to its psychotrophic waves. She later uses them to block the Ux's psychic signal.
- Prepares communicators, codebreakers, trackers, grenades and a remote-detonated bomb during their visit of Ranskoor Av Kolos.
- Gives a woman some medicine to help her recover from Dalek possession.
- Wears an O2 cannister when forced to brave Orphan 55's hostile environment.
- Uses a Braxium Bouncer Mk III to teleport herself, Yaz and Nikola Tesla out of the Skithra's spaceship and then later to send the Skithra Queen back inside the ship.
- Uses a device to take an instant blood sample from a Praxeus patient.
- Carries a flip phone (presumably boosted by the sonic) to contact her companions across time and space.
- In their fight against the Cyberman, she equips her companions with technology that unsuppress the Cybermen's emotions, project gold particles which Cybermen are allergic to and generate forcefields.
- Attacks the Lone Cyberman with a grenade.
- Owns a pair of voice-activated handcuffs, but they aren't very responsive as they were likely set up by a past incarnation.
- Hands Vinder a communicator with a direct line to the TARDIS.
- Owns at few copies of the orange spacesuit she acquired in her Tenth incarnation.
- Places a small device on a Dalek traitor's casing to extract the information about its race's plans.
- Leaves Yaz a device which projects a recorded adaptive hologram of the Doctor to give her guidance after two weeks of no contact. The hologram was later upgraded into a fully-interactive AI made from the Doctor's data collected over thousands of years which only activates during the gravest of emergencies. The Doctor imprinted this AI onto Yaz, Tegan and Ace via sonically-triggered nano-implants resembling static electricity.
- This hologram can perceive its surroundings through the ocular nerves of the Doctor's companions.
- The hologram is predictably intangible so lasers harmlessly pass through it. The CyberMasters were also unable to recognize it as a hologram.
- The hologram's interface will inadvertently change according to the emotional memory of who it's addressing in the moment, causing it to resemble past Doctors to past companions like the Fifth to Tegan Jovanka and the Seventh to Ace. It also willingly assumed the form of the Fugitive Doctor to fool the Master even though her history is shrouded in mystery.
- Lends Graham a pair of sunglasses she got from either Audrey Hepburn or Pythagoras.
- Writes with a special marker pen that can be concealed by the sonic.
- Uses a stethoscope to auscultate people and places.
- Uses chalk to write up a message for her companions without letting a blind girl know.
- Unravels some string so they don't get lost in the Anti-zone.
- Gives Ryan a ginger humbug to help him recover from motion sickness.
- Hits a Sontaran's probic vent with a slingshot.
Miscellaneous
- Opposes the use of firearms, even against robots and mutant spiders, but is fine with using explosives to take out structures.
- Has Elvis' phone number.
- Strongly implied that she's the mysterious street artist Banksy.
- Featured in a whole chapter or volume in the Book of Celebrants.
- Officiated Albert Einstein's wedding and Yaz's grandmother's first wedding.
- Claims to have invented wellies.
- Keeps companions around to show off.
- Lord Byron fancied her.
- Was arrested and imprisoned by the Judoon for at least seven thousand offenses. In that time, she recited Harry Potter to entertain herself which really shows how out of the loop she was with human affairs.
- The very notion of meeting the Doctor is enough to convince a stubborn Sontaran to agree to her terms.
- Bit narcissistic.
"She was the universe."
2023.06.03 16:44 autotldr 'F-ck Ron DeSantis': Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost Shouts at Paramore Concert The first Gen Z member of Congress joined the band Friday night to deliver a special message to the Florida governor
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 40%. (I'm a bot)
Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: Frost#1 sing#2 Williams#3 Gen-Z#4 want#5
Post found in /politics and /VoteDEM.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.
submitted by autotldr to autotldr [link] [comments]
Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first Gen-Z Democratic Congressman, joined Paramore on stage at a show in Washington, D.C. on Friday night.
After introducing him to the crowd, lead singer Hayley Williams asked the Florida lawmaker if he had a message he wanted to share, to which he promptly shouted: "Fuck Ron DeSantis! Fuck fascism!".
Williams then addressed the cheering crowd: "Do you see this? Do you see the future right here?" Last weekend, at the Adjacent Music Festival in Atlantic City, the lead singer declared: "If you vote for Ron DeSantis, you're f-king dead to me. Is that comfortable enough for anyone?".
The congressman then rocked out with Williams for a performance of "Misery Business" - a tradition where the band plucks select fans to join them for the hit song.
Yesterday, Lil Uzi Vert, a longtime Paramore stan, surprised fans during the band's second night at Madison Square Garden to sing the track.
In an interview with Rolling Stone last November, Frost spoke about his belief in Gen-Z as a constituency.
Post found in /politics and /VoteDEM.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.
2023.06.03 16:14 Vesondor This sub in a nutshell. (I am new)
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2023.06.03 16:10 Recent-Development10 [A Terran Space Story: Lieutenant Saga] - Chapter 118
John asks for permission, for a change, to do something unorthodox. Does he get permission? Does it work? I hope you enjoy!
The next chapter will be out on Tuesday.
Terran Space Story: The Lieutenant Saga
Academy Days First Previous Next
Chapter 118: Master Escalator
1 Day Later. March 13th, 2267. 08:00 Slip Space – Captain’s Ready Room
John was sitting in his chair pleading his case to Admirals Dufresne and Dickinson. He had a hard time reading the men as they both had steeled themselves to reactions. Neither man appeared happy with the situation they were in. John wasn’t responsible for the situation, but it was undoubtedly clear- he was the one that lit the match.
“Sirs, now more than ever the Icarus needs to die. We kill her and this bullshit pirate alliance ends,” John said.
“How would you presume to do this,” Admiral Dickinson said, “The Icarus isn’t going to attack you if you have battlecruiser or battleship support.”
“Give me two more cruisers and four frigates. We ought to be able to make do with that,” John said.
Admiral Dufresne was the first to show a bit of emotion, “How are you going to pull that off?”
“There’s a large pirate base in the Altair system. If Naval Intelligence data is to be believed, and frankly I have no reason to suspect otherwise, it’s their primary staging point in this sector. It’s also lightly guarded at the moment because the pirate fleet is elsewhere.”
“So, you mean to toss gasoline onto the fire,” Admiral Dickinson nodded, “That could work. It does carry a fair amount of risk though. What if the pirates attack a colony.”
“Civilian sentiment leans strongly on us but it’s a simple majority at this point,” John said, “If they attack civilians then that sentiment is pegged against them.”
“He’s not wrong. The sentiment against them will grow slowly over time if they stick to attacking military assets. And frankly, we have far more of them than we do ships to guard them,” Admiral Dufresne said, “The problem is the request for ships. We don’t have any ships to give you.”
“There are six ships in the Altair system already,” John said pointedly.
“Which are there defending the military installation located there,” Admiral Dickinson said, “What would you have us do? Shut it down and transfer the crew?”
“Yes. For an inner-core system, it’s a shithole. The pirates built this base years ago but abandoned it. They came back recently, and we’ve tolerated their presence instead of snuffing it out,” John said, “I’m also going to need several prison transports rerouted. I see four empty ones within a day and another six that could be used for the same purpose that is two days out.”
“Can you work with Lieutenant Cohen again? You came down hard on him before,” Admiral Dufresne.
“It is unexpected, but I need his help more than I dislike him as a poor captain. It seems my critique of his actions has at the very least improved his ability to captain his ship though.”
“You have a go,” Admiral Dickinson said, “If this doesn’t work out in your favor this could end very poorly for us all.”
“Then I’ll have to ensure that it doesn’t, sirs,” John saluted then before ending the communication.
He had the green light and acquired more ships. Would it be enough? Time would tell. Even with their reinforcements, there was no guarantee that it’d work. But John knew his abrasive personality would get under his enemy’s skin. At a bare minimum, this action would draw out some of the pirates.
March 15th, 2267. 01:00 Altair System – In Orbit around the moon of the second planet
The pirates had not expected a fleet of Confederate ships to attack their base. In the past several months the Altair system served as a fuel stop for passing ships. Warships, of which dozens upon dozens came through the system, were there briefly and then left. The pirates were confident their reactivated base would be safe.
How wrong they were. Then again, how could the pirates predict the Confederacy to go on the attack so quickly? Their typical response was to pull back and guard, then push out. There was always time following an attack to breathe and generate momentum. This time though, that was not the case, this was not John’s way of responding to an attack.
Their base had been brutalized by orbital bombardment. All defensive weaponry, down to the last missile battery, had been utterly destroyed. There was nothing but wishful thinking preventing an assault on the base from happening. The pirate’s morale was low, but they were already prepared for an assault and had dug themselves in.
They were going to make the Confederates pay for each foot of the base they took. Heavy weapon platforms had been erected in the base’s hangars. They knew about the super-heavy power armor and were prepared for it. Or so they thought.
Leading the charge was a brash lieutenant with a somewhat bloodthirsty mood toward pirates. Even more scary, for the pirates that is, is that he was leading the charge on the base. John’s armor had been repainted pitch black. One knee pad was checkerboarded with white and red squares. His helmet was painted bronze, and its face shield had that distinctive white skull he always bore.
The Confederate attack on the enemy base didn’t go according to how the pirates presumed it would occur. Sure, they stormed the docking bays, but they did so after a team of Confederate scouts gained access to the base from a secret entrance on the surface of the moon. Those very same scouts’ mission was to disable the docking bays’ atmospheric shields. An inelegant manner of attack, but none of the pirates were wearing void suits.
Why fight a dug-in enemy when you can simply space the lot of them? Facing heavy weapons deep inside the base was unlikely. In the docking bays though? There was plenty of space to fire them without worrying about the structural integrity of the base. John’s plan was as cunning as it was ruthless.
The transport ships came in quickly and disgorged their armored cargo. Seven hundred and fifty power-armored foes began to fan out into the base. Fifty stayed behind to dismantle, or destroy, the heavy weapons and ensure the pirates don’t do anything to their rides home.
John led the charge down one corridor, “With me, we’re going to rush their central command.”
A squadron of marines, all wearing the older and diminutive suits of power armor, fell in behind John. They charged down the corridor. Unlike John, they did clear the intersections just in case. Some small arms fire came from in front of John, but the moment the pirates saw the hulking mass run towards them they bugged out quickly.
John arrived at the door to the central command of the station. It didn’t open when he pressed the console button in the frame. It also didn’t open when he smashed the button with a closed fist. That gave time for the Marines that were with him to catch up to him.
With his fingers extended John’s right hand shot forward at the point the two doors met in the middle. Both doors bent slightly inward because of the force imparted onto them. John followed that up with his left arm and forced the doors open.
No matter the number of protestations the door’s locking mechanisms gave, the Broadsword’s power was overwhelming them. The locks then succumbed to the imparted force, and the broken doors were wedged into the door frame.
John stepped inside and drew his battle rifle deftly, “Hands up, compliance or death, your choice.”
The guards on either side of the door jumped backward in shock. They immediately dropped their guns and held their hands up. Virtually everyone in the room did that save for the two men sitting at the central console.
“Last chance assholes, hands up,” one of the Marines barked.
“This is a…” the presumed leader said from his seat.
John wasted no time and fired a single round from his rifle. It was a through and through, though thankfully there wasn’t anyone else behind the man taken out as collateral damage. The man that was standing to the side of his boss looked at John, then at the console, and back at John.
“Flinch and you're dead,” John growled.
“Everyone back the fuck away from your stations,” another Marine said as he walked along the outer edge of the room to John’s left.
The second in command tensed up. John reacted almost instantaneously to the man’s action. Whether he was or wasn’t going to do something didn’t matter. In that moment the presumption was he was going to do something bad. John fired off another round. He fell backward, gasping on the ground for a few moments before his life gave out.
John walked over to the console. The self-destruction screen had been pulled up but had not yet been activated. He hovered his hand near an input port. Eve then directed the suit to connect its external cable from John’s wrist to the port.
“Eve, lock out the pirates from their systems and share with our friendlies the locations of all hostiles,” John said calmly.
“Understood,” Eve said as she was already well underway in taking control of the station.
“This Falchion Leader to all teams, the central command is ours. Tactical readouts are to be shared momentarily. Continue with mop-up operations.”
“Sir, the room is secured. All weapons have been taken from the prisoners,” the sergeant of the squad of marines said.
“Excellent,” John said as he carefully removed his helmet, “Now then, who’s going to spill the beans on what y’all are planning and doing?”
“Why should we talk to you?” one of the guards answered.
“Your choice is talking to me instead of Naval Intelligence. I’m a whole lot friendlier to deal with.”
“I doubt that you just merced both our bosses,” another pirate said.
“True, but I ain’t going to make you suffer. I at least have the decency to put you down in one shot.”
“Some comfort that is,” an older-looking man from the rear of the group said, “I’ll take my chances.”
“What can you offer me?” the youngest-looking member of the gaggle of pirates said.
“Don’t you dare tell them anything Tiffany!” huffed another one.
John made a couple of gestures to the Marines. All of the pirates were ushered into a conference room. Two of the Marines watched over them. Tiffany, the traitor pirate, looked confident standing in front of John. Perhaps too confident for John’s taste.
Her corroboration of events wasn’t actually needed. John looked at his wrist and noticed that Eve already pulled highly detailed information on the pirates’ activities. But if there was an opportunity, she really was looking for leniency, John wouldn’t overlook free intel.
“Speak, now,” John said as he loomed large over the young girl.
“This is merely a waystation. We acquire goods and ammunition for pirate vessels. We aren’t…”
“Spare me that bullshit. This isn’t just a waystation. This is home to three different pirate factions,” John hissed, “That’s your first strike. You won’t get another one.”
The young girl took a small step back. Her confidence had left her. In place of that was pure terror. She didn’t know what to do or say anymore. Her eyes darted around the room, in fact the room felt considerably smaller than it had just moments before.
“What do you want to know?” she said as she looked at the floor in shame.
“The truth,” John said before leaning down to get closer to her, “The whole truth.”
“The Alpha and Omega, Pirate Brothers, and the Void Sovereign groups used this as their base. There was an uneasy alliance between the three. None were big enough to take out all their rivals, so an odd partnership formed here.”
John turned and walked near a console, “All of this is known to me.”
“They also made this a port of call of sorts for other pirates. They were charged an arm and a leg, but it brought a steady stream of money and recruits in. When the Confederacy announced their anti-pirate actions, they shut the station down cold and we all left to parts unknown,” the girl continued to stare at the floor, “That was until the hunting appeared to have ceased. We returned and reclaimed our base. At that point, a decision was made to be less boisterous about our base.”
The girl took a deep breath before speaking again, “The Icarus came to visit. She was in rough shape. They called in favors from all three groups and began retrofitting the ship here. My group had to deal with them in the past, and some sizable debts incurred to the Icarus.”
“This is the base that retrofitted the Icarus?”
“It is, yes,” the girl said, “We acquired a retrofitting dock several years ago. We’ve done a fair amount of business using it.”
“Where are the records of this retrofit?” John asked sternly, “I presume you kept detailed records of their upgrade.”
“It should be on our mainframe, or it could be partitioned off into some secret storage. They clearly didn’t want any records of what was being done to the ship kept anywhere.”
John grinned as he turned to face the young girl, “A request your leaders clearly and flagrantly disobeyed.”
She nodded.
“Who knows where that information is?” John said as he looked at his wrist’s holographic outputs.
Eve was listening to the conversation and was already searching for the hidden data. If this story was true and a copy of it was saved it could be an amazing coup of data intelligence. That is if it were true. But the dejected look of the young girl suggested to John that she was telling the truth.
“Jamis. He’s the tall black guy with the grey beard.”
“Corporal, take her to a more secure place away from the rest of her ilk. I’ll decide what to do with her later.”
“You said…”
John raised a finger to shush her, “I promised nothing. You tried to offer me false intelligence. You and I are far from done speaking.”
“Private, bring Jamis from that room, we need to have a conversation.”
The corporal saluted John and walked over to the room. The door on the room’s right side opened. In walked another squad of marines. Their sergeant was leading the way.
“Sergeant Decker, how goes containment?”
“Fighting is contained to a single sector. The pirates there have chosen death over life. We should be completed with the operation within the hour.”
“Excellent. Begin transporting the prisoners to the ships immediately. None of the adults, irrespective of their age, are to be included with the women and children.”
“Sir, even the eighteen-year-olds? There’s a number of them…”
“Include them with the rest of the men. The courts can settle the matter of their punishment or guilt.”
“Understood,” Sergeant Decker saluted John and turned around.
“Jamis, I hear y’all had an interesting guest a while back,” John said to the tall man being held firmly in place by two marines in power armor.
“What do I get out of helping you? And what assurances do I have that you’ll hold your end of the bargain?”
“Clever strategy,” John grinned as he had Eve activate the communication systems, “Hey Mark, how’s life?”
Mark Wilhelm, John’s one-time boss at Naval Intelligence’s Miami Base appeared on screen, “What can I do for you?”
“What criminal history does a Jamis Miles, one-time Alpha Centauri citizen and current pirate affiliated with the Void Sovereign group, have?”
Mark looked down at his console. He then split the communication screen in two. Jamis’ profile appeared on the right side of the screen. A litany of crimes he had committed began to be displayed on the screen. About a third of them he had served his time successfully for but there were some pretty serious charges on the list that had not been adjudicated yet.
“Seems your bargaining position is a bit dubious. There are at least five charges that we can put you away for life,” John said.
“Thirteen actually given his age,” Mark added in his normal monotone way.
“I need a deal and assurances that you will follow through with it,” Jamis hissed back.
“What kind of deal would NI offer?” John asked.
“What are we getting in return?” Mark quipped, “You kind of brought me in mid-conversation as you normally do.”
“Ahh, that’s my bad. Supposedly detailed information on the Icarus’ most recent refit.”
Mark nodded and looked deep in thought. Jamis looked at both men’s emotionless exteriors and didn’t know what to expect. As the silence continued, the more worried and agitated, he grew. He didn’t feel comfortable in his bargaining position. More than that, he trusted none of these men at all. Especially the man in the large suit of armor. There was a callous viciousness underlying his actions that rubbed Jamis the wrong way.
“It’ll depend on…” Mark began to speak but was quickly interrupted.
“No, I get assurances on a deal before I say one goddamned thing.”
“The clock is ticking Jamis. My VI is searching for all known servers and data feeds. If I find it before you do there won’t be a deal,” John said as he turned to face a pair of Marines in the room, “On that note. Corporal, go to this man’s quarters on the station. Flip the place apart, I want every square millimeter scanned and checked for any hidden compartments.”
“Yes sir,” the corporal quickly saluted John.
He and another Marine quickly left the room. John turned to look at Jamis. He loomed large over the man.
“Tick-tock, Jamis.”
“I won’t quite be the antagonistic asshole my former associate is, but ultimately the deal we make with you is going to depend on what you have. What we glean from it is ultimately going to determine the degree of leniency you receive.”
“I want the deal in writing.”
“Which you’ll get, but you are going to have to give me something to work with so I can propose a deal. I won’t be offering any deals, and my superiors certainly won’t sign off on anything, without you telling me what intel you have. Once we receive it and it checks out to what you tell me now, then we can affirm the proposal.”
Jamis shook his head. He wanted more. So much more in fact. But he was not in a position of power. He had some leverage but not much. The concern he had was what could he bargain.
“I want to walk.”
“Not happening,” Mark replied instantly, “That’s not realistic given your checkered past. Were it not for these serious charges I could consider it. But your history warrants a prison sentence.”
“Minimum security, no hard labor. Ideally on the frontier,” Jamis said.
“If you provide us sufficiently detailed information on the Icarus, I’ll remove hard labor from your location. And super-max facilities. We will not offer more than that.”
“Five-year sentence. I want a chance to get out before I’m old and crippled,” Jamis said.
“Minimum fifteen-year sentence, with a parole hearing guaranteed after year five. NI will recommend parole at that time provided the data checks out and you have received appropriate good credit during your stay with us.”
“Three years till the hearing.”
“Five. But I’m going to defer the charging of several of the more egregious ones. If you get out and fall back into your pirate ways we’ll throw the book at you,” Mark stared down the pirate, “No matter how old you may be.”
“Make it five years on parole with a caveat that the remaining charges are expunged permanently, and I’ll agree.”
John smiled. This attack would provoke a response from the pirates. Instead of waiting, like they presumed they’d do, the Navy attacked immediately. Worse, the pirates lost an important staging ground for their attacks. And thousands of prisoners and family members were taken. This would no doubt anger the pirates, but it would also attack the morale of their fleet too.
By the end of the day, everyone would be transferred off the station. A substantial amount of stolen goods was reacquired by the Navy and shipped away to a nearby station. Farther eroding the pirates’ capabilities to wage war.
The last thing John did before they left the system, they detonated several warheads they brought over from the transports within the station. One more station was forever taken from the pirates. If they were lucky, they’d find out exactly what systems the Icarus was upgraded with. With that knowledge, they could develop an attack plan to precisely defeat the Icarus. Now they needed a bit of luck to draw that accursed ship out and engage it in a proper battle.
submitted by Recent-Development10 to HFY [link] [comments]
The next chapter will be out on Tuesday.
Terran Space Story: The Lieutenant Saga
Academy Days First Previous Next
Chapter 118: Master Escalator
1 Day Later. March 13th, 2267. 08:00 Slip Space – Captain’s Ready Room
John was sitting in his chair pleading his case to Admirals Dufresne and Dickinson. He had a hard time reading the men as they both had steeled themselves to reactions. Neither man appeared happy with the situation they were in. John wasn’t responsible for the situation, but it was undoubtedly clear- he was the one that lit the match.
“Sirs, now more than ever the Icarus needs to die. We kill her and this bullshit pirate alliance ends,” John said.
“How would you presume to do this,” Admiral Dickinson said, “The Icarus isn’t going to attack you if you have battlecruiser or battleship support.”
“Give me two more cruisers and four frigates. We ought to be able to make do with that,” John said.
Admiral Dufresne was the first to show a bit of emotion, “How are you going to pull that off?”
“There’s a large pirate base in the Altair system. If Naval Intelligence data is to be believed, and frankly I have no reason to suspect otherwise, it’s their primary staging point in this sector. It’s also lightly guarded at the moment because the pirate fleet is elsewhere.”
“So, you mean to toss gasoline onto the fire,” Admiral Dickinson nodded, “That could work. It does carry a fair amount of risk though. What if the pirates attack a colony.”
“Civilian sentiment leans strongly on us but it’s a simple majority at this point,” John said, “If they attack civilians then that sentiment is pegged against them.”
“He’s not wrong. The sentiment against them will grow slowly over time if they stick to attacking military assets. And frankly, we have far more of them than we do ships to guard them,” Admiral Dufresne said, “The problem is the request for ships. We don’t have any ships to give you.”
“There are six ships in the Altair system already,” John said pointedly.
“Which are there defending the military installation located there,” Admiral Dickinson said, “What would you have us do? Shut it down and transfer the crew?”
“Yes. For an inner-core system, it’s a shithole. The pirates built this base years ago but abandoned it. They came back recently, and we’ve tolerated their presence instead of snuffing it out,” John said, “I’m also going to need several prison transports rerouted. I see four empty ones within a day and another six that could be used for the same purpose that is two days out.”
“Can you work with Lieutenant Cohen again? You came down hard on him before,” Admiral Dufresne.
“It is unexpected, but I need his help more than I dislike him as a poor captain. It seems my critique of his actions has at the very least improved his ability to captain his ship though.”
“You have a go,” Admiral Dickinson said, “If this doesn’t work out in your favor this could end very poorly for us all.”
“Then I’ll have to ensure that it doesn’t, sirs,” John saluted then before ending the communication.
He had the green light and acquired more ships. Would it be enough? Time would tell. Even with their reinforcements, there was no guarantee that it’d work. But John knew his abrasive personality would get under his enemy’s skin. At a bare minimum, this action would draw out some of the pirates.
March 15th, 2267. 01:00 Altair System – In Orbit around the moon of the second planet
The pirates had not expected a fleet of Confederate ships to attack their base. In the past several months the Altair system served as a fuel stop for passing ships. Warships, of which dozens upon dozens came through the system, were there briefly and then left. The pirates were confident their reactivated base would be safe.
How wrong they were. Then again, how could the pirates predict the Confederacy to go on the attack so quickly? Their typical response was to pull back and guard, then push out. There was always time following an attack to breathe and generate momentum. This time though, that was not the case, this was not John’s way of responding to an attack.
Their base had been brutalized by orbital bombardment. All defensive weaponry, down to the last missile battery, had been utterly destroyed. There was nothing but wishful thinking preventing an assault on the base from happening. The pirate’s morale was low, but they were already prepared for an assault and had dug themselves in.
They were going to make the Confederates pay for each foot of the base they took. Heavy weapon platforms had been erected in the base’s hangars. They knew about the super-heavy power armor and were prepared for it. Or so they thought.
Leading the charge was a brash lieutenant with a somewhat bloodthirsty mood toward pirates. Even more scary, for the pirates that is, is that he was leading the charge on the base. John’s armor had been repainted pitch black. One knee pad was checkerboarded with white and red squares. His helmet was painted bronze, and its face shield had that distinctive white skull he always bore.
The Confederate attack on the enemy base didn’t go according to how the pirates presumed it would occur. Sure, they stormed the docking bays, but they did so after a team of Confederate scouts gained access to the base from a secret entrance on the surface of the moon. Those very same scouts’ mission was to disable the docking bays’ atmospheric shields. An inelegant manner of attack, but none of the pirates were wearing void suits.
Why fight a dug-in enemy when you can simply space the lot of them? Facing heavy weapons deep inside the base was unlikely. In the docking bays though? There was plenty of space to fire them without worrying about the structural integrity of the base. John’s plan was as cunning as it was ruthless.
The transport ships came in quickly and disgorged their armored cargo. Seven hundred and fifty power-armored foes began to fan out into the base. Fifty stayed behind to dismantle, or destroy, the heavy weapons and ensure the pirates don’t do anything to their rides home.
John led the charge down one corridor, “With me, we’re going to rush their central command.”
A squadron of marines, all wearing the older and diminutive suits of power armor, fell in behind John. They charged down the corridor. Unlike John, they did clear the intersections just in case. Some small arms fire came from in front of John, but the moment the pirates saw the hulking mass run towards them they bugged out quickly.
John arrived at the door to the central command of the station. It didn’t open when he pressed the console button in the frame. It also didn’t open when he smashed the button with a closed fist. That gave time for the Marines that were with him to catch up to him.
With his fingers extended John’s right hand shot forward at the point the two doors met in the middle. Both doors bent slightly inward because of the force imparted onto them. John followed that up with his left arm and forced the doors open.
No matter the number of protestations the door’s locking mechanisms gave, the Broadsword’s power was overwhelming them. The locks then succumbed to the imparted force, and the broken doors were wedged into the door frame.
John stepped inside and drew his battle rifle deftly, “Hands up, compliance or death, your choice.”
The guards on either side of the door jumped backward in shock. They immediately dropped their guns and held their hands up. Virtually everyone in the room did that save for the two men sitting at the central console.
“Last chance assholes, hands up,” one of the Marines barked.
“This is a…” the presumed leader said from his seat.
John wasted no time and fired a single round from his rifle. It was a through and through, though thankfully there wasn’t anyone else behind the man taken out as collateral damage. The man that was standing to the side of his boss looked at John, then at the console, and back at John.
“Flinch and you're dead,” John growled.
“Everyone back the fuck away from your stations,” another Marine said as he walked along the outer edge of the room to John’s left.
The second in command tensed up. John reacted almost instantaneously to the man’s action. Whether he was or wasn’t going to do something didn’t matter. In that moment the presumption was he was going to do something bad. John fired off another round. He fell backward, gasping on the ground for a few moments before his life gave out.
John walked over to the console. The self-destruction screen had been pulled up but had not yet been activated. He hovered his hand near an input port. Eve then directed the suit to connect its external cable from John’s wrist to the port.
“Eve, lock out the pirates from their systems and share with our friendlies the locations of all hostiles,” John said calmly.
“Understood,” Eve said as she was already well underway in taking control of the station.
“This Falchion Leader to all teams, the central command is ours. Tactical readouts are to be shared momentarily. Continue with mop-up operations.”
“Sir, the room is secured. All weapons have been taken from the prisoners,” the sergeant of the squad of marines said.
“Excellent,” John said as he carefully removed his helmet, “Now then, who’s going to spill the beans on what y’all are planning and doing?”
“Why should we talk to you?” one of the guards answered.
“Your choice is talking to me instead of Naval Intelligence. I’m a whole lot friendlier to deal with.”
“I doubt that you just merced both our bosses,” another pirate said.
“True, but I ain’t going to make you suffer. I at least have the decency to put you down in one shot.”
“Some comfort that is,” an older-looking man from the rear of the group said, “I’ll take my chances.”
“What can you offer me?” the youngest-looking member of the gaggle of pirates said.
“Don’t you dare tell them anything Tiffany!” huffed another one.
John made a couple of gestures to the Marines. All of the pirates were ushered into a conference room. Two of the Marines watched over them. Tiffany, the traitor pirate, looked confident standing in front of John. Perhaps too confident for John’s taste.
Her corroboration of events wasn’t actually needed. John looked at his wrist and noticed that Eve already pulled highly detailed information on the pirates’ activities. But if there was an opportunity, she really was looking for leniency, John wouldn’t overlook free intel.
“Speak, now,” John said as he loomed large over the young girl.
“This is merely a waystation. We acquire goods and ammunition for pirate vessels. We aren’t…”
“Spare me that bullshit. This isn’t just a waystation. This is home to three different pirate factions,” John hissed, “That’s your first strike. You won’t get another one.”
The young girl took a small step back. Her confidence had left her. In place of that was pure terror. She didn’t know what to do or say anymore. Her eyes darted around the room, in fact the room felt considerably smaller than it had just moments before.
“What do you want to know?” she said as she looked at the floor in shame.
“The truth,” John said before leaning down to get closer to her, “The whole truth.”
“The Alpha and Omega, Pirate Brothers, and the Void Sovereign groups used this as their base. There was an uneasy alliance between the three. None were big enough to take out all their rivals, so an odd partnership formed here.”
John turned and walked near a console, “All of this is known to me.”
“They also made this a port of call of sorts for other pirates. They were charged an arm and a leg, but it brought a steady stream of money and recruits in. When the Confederacy announced their anti-pirate actions, they shut the station down cold and we all left to parts unknown,” the girl continued to stare at the floor, “That was until the hunting appeared to have ceased. We returned and reclaimed our base. At that point, a decision was made to be less boisterous about our base.”
The girl took a deep breath before speaking again, “The Icarus came to visit. She was in rough shape. They called in favors from all three groups and began retrofitting the ship here. My group had to deal with them in the past, and some sizable debts incurred to the Icarus.”
“This is the base that retrofitted the Icarus?”
“It is, yes,” the girl said, “We acquired a retrofitting dock several years ago. We’ve done a fair amount of business using it.”
“Where are the records of this retrofit?” John asked sternly, “I presume you kept detailed records of their upgrade.”
“It should be on our mainframe, or it could be partitioned off into some secret storage. They clearly didn’t want any records of what was being done to the ship kept anywhere.”
John grinned as he turned to face the young girl, “A request your leaders clearly and flagrantly disobeyed.”
She nodded.
“Who knows where that information is?” John said as he looked at his wrist’s holographic outputs.
Eve was listening to the conversation and was already searching for the hidden data. If this story was true and a copy of it was saved it could be an amazing coup of data intelligence. That is if it were true. But the dejected look of the young girl suggested to John that she was telling the truth.
“Jamis. He’s the tall black guy with the grey beard.”
“Corporal, take her to a more secure place away from the rest of her ilk. I’ll decide what to do with her later.”
“You said…”
John raised a finger to shush her, “I promised nothing. You tried to offer me false intelligence. You and I are far from done speaking.”
“Private, bring Jamis from that room, we need to have a conversation.”
The corporal saluted John and walked over to the room. The door on the room’s right side opened. In walked another squad of marines. Their sergeant was leading the way.
“Sergeant Decker, how goes containment?”
“Fighting is contained to a single sector. The pirates there have chosen death over life. We should be completed with the operation within the hour.”
“Excellent. Begin transporting the prisoners to the ships immediately. None of the adults, irrespective of their age, are to be included with the women and children.”
“Sir, even the eighteen-year-olds? There’s a number of them…”
“Include them with the rest of the men. The courts can settle the matter of their punishment or guilt.”
“Understood,” Sergeant Decker saluted John and turned around.
“Jamis, I hear y’all had an interesting guest a while back,” John said to the tall man being held firmly in place by two marines in power armor.
“What do I get out of helping you? And what assurances do I have that you’ll hold your end of the bargain?”
“Clever strategy,” John grinned as he had Eve activate the communication systems, “Hey Mark, how’s life?”
Mark Wilhelm, John’s one-time boss at Naval Intelligence’s Miami Base appeared on screen, “What can I do for you?”
“What criminal history does a Jamis Miles, one-time Alpha Centauri citizen and current pirate affiliated with the Void Sovereign group, have?”
Mark looked down at his console. He then split the communication screen in two. Jamis’ profile appeared on the right side of the screen. A litany of crimes he had committed began to be displayed on the screen. About a third of them he had served his time successfully for but there were some pretty serious charges on the list that had not been adjudicated yet.
“Seems your bargaining position is a bit dubious. There are at least five charges that we can put you away for life,” John said.
“Thirteen actually given his age,” Mark added in his normal monotone way.
“I need a deal and assurances that you will follow through with it,” Jamis hissed back.
“What kind of deal would NI offer?” John asked.
“What are we getting in return?” Mark quipped, “You kind of brought me in mid-conversation as you normally do.”
“Ahh, that’s my bad. Supposedly detailed information on the Icarus’ most recent refit.”
Mark nodded and looked deep in thought. Jamis looked at both men’s emotionless exteriors and didn’t know what to expect. As the silence continued, the more worried and agitated, he grew. He didn’t feel comfortable in his bargaining position. More than that, he trusted none of these men at all. Especially the man in the large suit of armor. There was a callous viciousness underlying his actions that rubbed Jamis the wrong way.
“It’ll depend on…” Mark began to speak but was quickly interrupted.
“No, I get assurances on a deal before I say one goddamned thing.”
“The clock is ticking Jamis. My VI is searching for all known servers and data feeds. If I find it before you do there won’t be a deal,” John said as he turned to face a pair of Marines in the room, “On that note. Corporal, go to this man’s quarters on the station. Flip the place apart, I want every square millimeter scanned and checked for any hidden compartments.”
“Yes sir,” the corporal quickly saluted John.
He and another Marine quickly left the room. John turned to look at Jamis. He loomed large over the man.
“Tick-tock, Jamis.”
“I won’t quite be the antagonistic asshole my former associate is, but ultimately the deal we make with you is going to depend on what you have. What we glean from it is ultimately going to determine the degree of leniency you receive.”
“I want the deal in writing.”
“Which you’ll get, but you are going to have to give me something to work with so I can propose a deal. I won’t be offering any deals, and my superiors certainly won’t sign off on anything, without you telling me what intel you have. Once we receive it and it checks out to what you tell me now, then we can affirm the proposal.”
Jamis shook his head. He wanted more. So much more in fact. But he was not in a position of power. He had some leverage but not much. The concern he had was what could he bargain.
“I want to walk.”
“Not happening,” Mark replied instantly, “That’s not realistic given your checkered past. Were it not for these serious charges I could consider it. But your history warrants a prison sentence.”
“Minimum security, no hard labor. Ideally on the frontier,” Jamis said.
“If you provide us sufficiently detailed information on the Icarus, I’ll remove hard labor from your location. And super-max facilities. We will not offer more than that.”
“Five-year sentence. I want a chance to get out before I’m old and crippled,” Jamis said.
“Minimum fifteen-year sentence, with a parole hearing guaranteed after year five. NI will recommend parole at that time provided the data checks out and you have received appropriate good credit during your stay with us.”
“Three years till the hearing.”
“Five. But I’m going to defer the charging of several of the more egregious ones. If you get out and fall back into your pirate ways we’ll throw the book at you,” Mark stared down the pirate, “No matter how old you may be.”
“Make it five years on parole with a caveat that the remaining charges are expunged permanently, and I’ll agree.”
John smiled. This attack would provoke a response from the pirates. Instead of waiting, like they presumed they’d do, the Navy attacked immediately. Worse, the pirates lost an important staging ground for their attacks. And thousands of prisoners and family members were taken. This would no doubt anger the pirates, but it would also attack the morale of their fleet too.
By the end of the day, everyone would be transferred off the station. A substantial amount of stolen goods was reacquired by the Navy and shipped away to a nearby station. Farther eroding the pirates’ capabilities to wage war.
The last thing John did before they left the system, they detonated several warheads they brought over from the transports within the station. One more station was forever taken from the pirates. If they were lucky, they’d find out exactly what systems the Icarus was upgraded with. With that knowledge, they could develop an attack plan to precisely defeat the Icarus. Now they needed a bit of luck to draw that accursed ship out and engage it in a proper battle.
2023.06.03 16:09 gweleif Thirteen game concepts
Today's games repulse me with their copycat, timid and shallow character. Though it seems like there is a variety of concepts flashing around, in practice games revolve around the same half-dozen tropes. Their hallmark sign is that it is nothing that is not seen on TV. If the game's idea is not a reflection of the modern world from someone who, by all appearances, has never read a real book or has experience to share, then it's Pirates in Some Carribean, or the Victorian Age When Jack the Ripper Roamed in a Black Cab, or the Middle Ages with Standard Treachery, or Abstract Space Exploration. I was sick and tired of this a few years ago, now I have all but given up on this art form. Even when the concept is interesting, it is rarely taken far or with force. Neutered developers are afraid to give offense and as a result make bland, short-breathing stuff, but I think the sharp edges are never there to begin with anymore. I don't know anybody who sets out to defy the world, stand apart from its simulations and blandishments and spit a good gob in its ugly square face.
I have never had an opportunity to make a game of my own (it takes a team besides everything else), but I have made mods for a very old RPG for years - new mechanics, plots, magic, quests, effects, scripts, writing and so on. I have more or less put that old engine on its head, though I know hardly anyone will ever find out about my efforts. This is to say that I am not a pure theorist. Some time in the winter, bored and exasperated, I decided to do a quick marathon of game ideas - for RPG, quests, simulations, something in-between - and see how many I can whip out on the run. I would like something from here picked up by a company, but I am not advertising. I realize that is probably not something that might happen. It was a good exercise for me, however. Here are the results for all to see. I did ten first, then three more occurred to me.
1 ) Circa Caotica
You play the role of Jabsh, a clown of a traveling circus, who suddenly discovers that he is no orphan but the son (Raka, daughter for female players) of the director, Maestro Leotardi. Minutes later after making the sobbing confession the boss is swallowed by the Crocodile Man in a suspicious accident. You have to own up to the unexpected legacy and step into the tight and tall boots of the director. Your responsibility is to keep the circus going by fine-tuning and inventing acts based on ideas solicited over regular all-troupe brainstorming sessions despite little starting respect from the others, who have decided to unionize as well (the mentalist takes notes). You must keep drawing in crowds to avert the bankruptcy, earn respect and manipulation points and find the truth behind Leotardi's death and the disappearance of the Big Green cashbox with everyone's last year salary and the medallion that supposedly bears the face of your mother the same evening. All the while you still have to perform in regular clown acts with your partner. You can play as a red clown or a white clown, and the other type will be your foil.
2) Nachtwaffe
"Ah, count. Decided to join me for a walk?" Vampires steal planes from the Nazi airforce to zoom through the dark skies over the Balkans and turn humans to make more of their own. You start out as a single nosferatu, converted from an arrogant German, and must find and raid small airports and landing strips across the forests and mountains of Roumania, impersonate a living officer to get supplies and fuel, avoid communist guerillas, find and build places to hide during the day and choose which humans to turn to expand your force. Naturally, it is all quite a dead end, as the war is bound to finish sooner or later, which radio broadcasts confirm, and what then will happen to the vampiric empire? But this is something that the gameplay begins to convey to the player gradually. Hopefully the fate of someone who has no future but still does his all will touch some dormant strings in players' hearts.
3) Yuck!
The sleepy Tibetan village of Dongtso is unaware of what lurks in the bushes and the mountains: you, the desperately lonely yak-man. Born with a big head and two horns, you have only one connection to civilization: the gold ring in your nose. Squinting cross-eyed, you can just make out some kind of symbols on it, and a banner over the village shrine features ones like them. This must be the key. You have to lurk about the supersititious hamlet, helping the folk at night and out of sight with small chores and evesdropping on their reactions and conversations until you can pick up a few words, including, at some point, "Hello." Since this is a game about Tibet and shaping up something rebellious, let the tongue be one of Tibet's many and accompanied by Tibetan script. You can train to pronounce the words when you dare show yourself to children, old people and widows, to improve from mooing to legible speech, but until then you have to dodge men's hunting parties and survive. With enough good deeds and a few friends, you might win the folk's confidence and stand before the village council so that someone might teach you to read. The quest becomes complicated, however, by the appearance of the army of People's Republic of China that establishes a base in the village in its push to subdue Tibet. The year is 1952. One of the newcomers is a local - a renegade llama who, the villagers say, has been on many supernatural journeys in the mountains, even to Shangri-La, but is now wearing the uniform of Tibet's conquerors. The writing on the ring, deciphered, identifies him as your father. What will happen next?
4) Footlocker
This is a soccer-themed RPG, but you view the sport from the point of view of a bookie besieged on all sides by mafia. To pay back his debt he resolves on a colossal set-up: first get control of an underdog team, then bring them at least to the regional semi-finals and, with the bets in their favor, make them lose in a big way. The thugs are ready to provide cash handouts, leg-breaking, knuckle sandwiches, addictive opioids and more to get the right people on the team and stubborn elements out, but at the cost of increased control and cut of the profits. You must balance their appetities with placating sports authorities, the press, sponsors and police. In the final match a dilemma presents itself: go through with the plan and ruin the team or defy the gangsters and take your chances on the right side of the tracks?
5) And See It Again For the First Time
Starting out from your homeland on three caravels, you unfurl the sails and set out to circumnavigate the world. The globe is randomly generated every time and rolls away at the horizon, with the map, continents and straits unknown beforehand, in the manner of River Raid. Your characters are the three ships and their crews, condition and supplies are their stats. Dropping anchor at strange shores and dealing with natives will be necessary but dangerous as they fight with each other, shuffle and migrate like microbes. Loss of crew can't be repaired. At least one of the ships must find the passages and make it to the fabulous Gate of Makhamedi, enter it from the far side and begin the journey home.
6) The Person and the Essence
In the beginning chapter you play Sauqin, second-in-command to general Varziranga, head of the army of the Arcolan Empire sent to quash the rebellion of Panlaa, who has tried to bring his province to secede. The imperial army has crushed Panlaa'a troops a fortnight ago and has got him shut in the Ravine of the Gold Specks. Complete victory is near, but the commander has been acting strangely since the battle. On this decisive night his behavior spins out of control just as Panlaa makes a sudden sally from his trap, causing great confusion. As his lieutenant, it falls to you to maintain order in dealing with the various officers as well as the clerics of the One, who insist that Panlaa, a lapsed pagan, be given to them for execution once he is captured. The ending of the chapter will determine whether Panlaa ends in the emperor's prison in the capital, Hotharsoom, alive or dead at the clerics' hands, whether Varziranga will be simply demoted or disgraced.
Chapter two will take place in the capital city. You will have been promoted to a top military command for your performance, only to become embroiled in an intrigue involving the emperor's controlling mother, a consequential schism in the church of the One over whether the head of state is eternally the same person reincarnated or a series of persons, demagogues in the public and lurking pagans with unclear motives. Other chapters will follow, and the endings will determine who sits on the throne and who stands behind it, whether state policy is in principle subject to revision and criticism or not and whether the pagan faiths are crushed without mercy or adopted into the church of the One. The material here is Byzantium, Egypt with the notion of the pharaoh as incarnate Horus and the empires of southeast Asia. Some early Christian heresies also deserve to be revivified.
7) Of Rats and Men
You are a rat trapped in the gears of the Trumpet of Doom, the hugest, heaviest and most advanced steam ship ever to paddle the Grumuous Sea. This basin is famously salty enough to let even an iron float for a time, which, the public money finally gathered, made it the perfect road to carry the 25-inch-gunned ("24 + 1 for Paterland!") Trumpet to the shores of Festaly and at last give those Festalians what for! The citizenry is cheering with patriotic joy, the brass bands are blowing. The ship rats are less happy, especially you, who were captain Reissenpouf's pet before you managed to scramble through a porthole and below the desk as he was buttering a toast. You are nearly panicky with fright. Unlike the locals there, you have spent time locked with the diagrams in the captain's safe and know that the battleship is very weakly armored below the waterline. Someone must have made a good bit of business during the construction selling the metal. When the Trumpet comes up against the Festalians with their triton suicides or their rumored counterpart ship, the Rough Musician, not even the Grumuous Sea will keep it from ending up as a gigantic, barnacled wreck on the ocean floor.
To avoid this fate you only have so much time to organize the other rats for systematic sabotage. The game's world is the enormous ship below and above the deck. The humans of the crew are, of course, adamant in their resolve to get themselves killed, so they will repair the servos, the cables turning the massive gears, the ball bearings, the hydraulics and the rest almost as quickly as those are destroyed. This effort will be headed by the near-transparent, monochrome spindle of a man, Admiral Hel, the leader of the expedition, always of his private high deck, sipping his black milk and staring through his spectacles ahead to where TOD's fate awaits it. If all of you ratfolk together gnaw through and spoil enough of the ship's devices, however, the captain might just have the authority to radio Kaiser Walzer of the decision to turn back... though you personally may also have to sneak back into his cabin to sit on his pillow and intone suggestions as he sleeps. The fact that you are an albino rat and at first come across as a crazy visionary doesn't help, and neither does being a female rat and having to give birth to a litter every so often. The current mate can be deputied on tasks while lactating. Other ships may sometimes be encountered in the sea, with different results, and you may improve your reputation in the murine community by predicting these encounters, if you check the looking glass often enough. The length of the game, and hence the difficulty, depends on the distance to Festalian waters - from two weeks' journey to three months.
8) Cosmic Choir
You play as one of the planets of the solar system. The other actors and your partners are the thieving and scurrilous Mercury, the lusty and sly Venus, the militant braggart Mars and so on. And you are the meh-in-the-middle Earth, and in this group of strong personalities stand out with your unique ability of Rational Decision (it would be nice to get Woody Allen for the voice acting, were he younger). Other planets have other powers, and all of them certain characteristics and appetites (for tasty meteorites, for more intimate or more standoffish orbits and so on). The plot revolves around the announcement of the Sun that it has had enough of burning hydrogen and wants to retire, going immediately into the red giant phase, which would, of course, burn up all of the inner planets and kick the outer planets way out. For this the star has recruited a planet-sized asteroid, large enough to pull most of the star fuel away so that the moribund transformation may be set in motion. The euthanatic dark planet is whirring ever closer. Before it gets on a near enough orbit to disrupt the Sun the other planets must find out what caused this sudden depression and persuade their ruler and source of life otherwise. (The answer is that the Sun has always dreamt of going nova but lacks substance.) Playing as the only inhabited planet, you must also keep the life forms on you alive through all of the maneuvering. If you can get Mars to cooperate, however, you may shorten the distance enough for humanity and some of the ecosystems to make the leap and found Musk City there, and then you won't have to care about your surface anymore.
9) Paris, 1245 A.D.
A meticulously researched simulation of the criminal underworld of medieval Paris and the worlds that abutted on it: those of the church, guilds, city watch, the university, lepers, the court and so on. No shortcuts and simplifications for babies who can't tell a Benedictine from a Cistercian. A dynamically filled encyclopedia may be included, though, and remain permanently unlocked for later replays. The main character is a vagrant and a thief. This may be a persistent sandbox, possibly a multiplayer RPG, or it may have a plot, but strictly within historical realities.
10) The Last Supper
You play the role of Jesus, son of God, in the company of the twelve disciples. The game should probably be in first person. (The Sermon of the Mount and such may be shown in cutscenes, or they may be challenges in quiz form.) The time period is your wanderings in Judea after the baptism and until the last night before the arrest. The background is the Judaic society at the time and its Roman controllers, somewhat historically accurate. This is a detective story, a wholldoit where you need to figure out who is best suited to betray you in due time so that you may prep him for the job and finally give him the impetus to "do it quicker" at the Last Supper. For Christ certainly needed someone to betray him. It's not always Judas: the identity of the potential traitor, along with his motives, will vary randomly between playthroughs. Incidents and encounters along the road, both recorded in the Bible and invented, will liven up the experience and better inform you about the personalities of the disciples, building on but going beyond what is known (Peter with his short temper, the lofty John an so on).
11) Cuadrophobia
Ships and the sea again. This time you are a typical sailor with an atypically strong survival instinct on one of the vessels in a colossal game of Battleship between Our Guy and the Other Player. Accordingly, there are two grids firing at each other: your side's and the enemy's, though you only get to travel across your own. The ship you begin on is chosen at random: it may be anything in size from a single-squarer to a five-squarer. Smaller ships are less likely to be hit, of course, but when a ship is finished, it sinks, and you with it. The purpose of the game is to survive until Our Guy's victory, which programmatically is likely but not guaranteed and happens about 70% of the time. To do this you must desert on a regular basis, setting out in a dinghy to a ship more favored in the current situation. However, the dinghy only travels three squares per turn, and you can only spend two turns in the open sea before dying. You also need time on board ships to access their radio broadcasts, which, besides playing some inspirational propaganda, update the picture of the grid as the battle rages. Without it you are limited to paddling to vessels that you can directly see. The role-playing element comes from dealing with ship commanders, who all take their duties and titles - captain of Cruiser! captain of Battleship! - very seriously, from picking up supplies in floating debris and from acquiring special abilities that let you, for example, paddle an extra square farther. Is war evil? Is it to be hated, or is our side to be cheered on? After all, if Our Guy loses, this will all have been in vain.
12) Standardom
In this game of life, dedicated to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), you must pass through all of the Gates of Conformity to win your ultimate prize - death from old age, as opposed to suicide. The option to kill yourself is always available in the menu. Being the hero and chickenshit that you are, though, you are determined to submit to every humiliation just so you can press forward. The world of the game is a vertical platform that moves with you along the Y axis, which represents time from some random year forwards: you may begin at 100 B.C., 1824 A.D., 12749 j-Spec and so on. It is really all the same where on the timeline you are dropped off. As with other platformers, once the screen has moved, there is no going back. You can walk freely to the left and right, however, pick up bonuses, disarm threats and converse with characters. Going up, every so often the screen is intersected by a wall with a gate in it. Your character's silhouette must either match the cut of the gate or be smaller to pass through. You start out small as a baby, a little circle, but very soon handicaps such as Discovery of Talent, Unusual Upbringing, Independent Spirit or Love of Sex will begin to rush at you to complicate your silhouette with Г, & and other such protrusions. You will also grow in size until your late 20s. Luckily, opportunities will also present themselves to prune some of this exotica: Family, Steady Job, Political Engagement, Puppy, Human Interest and other bonuses can be found or obtained from conversations to simplify your puzzle to a manageable cut until such time as the years pile on and the worst is behind you. You will become smaller and smaller and able to rush through the checkpoints one after the other to the finish line.
13) Six Handshakes to Liberty
The country is suffering under a cruel dictatorship. Ar-Parason, the president-for-life, has wrung the last of resources from the nation and has now thrown it into a disastrous war. In his palace he is surrounded by guards armed to the teeth and without a shred of conscience to shoot the bastard. What can you, a humble microbiologist living in the suburbs, do about this? Nothing, it seems, until you discover a strain of bacteria that is absolutely deadly within weeks and immune to all known antibiotics except one, still not fully developed. The microbe is passed along by touch. Alas, you discover it when you become infected with it. You still have the resources to finish the research on the antibiotic and save yourself, but now you realize that you possess the perfect secret weapon to rid the country of the tyrant. Although you can't get so close to Ar-Parason in person, someone must enjoy that intimacy...
Every day you do your research at the computer, look through the press, then put on gloves and go out in search of people in contact with other people who will, you hope, ultimately carry the strain to its target. You have to follow news to figure out whose hands to shake and who to sleep with - secretaries, daughters of generals, corrupt officials - and many times the scheme will fall short of success. The chain of handshakes will terminate early somewhere, and these intermediaries will just die. But all those sacrifices are worth it, aren't they? You keep several intrigues going at once, determined to see one of them to the end. Meanwhile an epidemic is beginning in the country, Ar-Parason is starting to take precautions, and your own remaining time that could be spent on finishing the antibiotic is also running short. What is more important: life, revenge, justice, survival, honor? Your actions will be your decisions.
submitted by gweleif to gamedev [link] [comments]
I have never had an opportunity to make a game of my own (it takes a team besides everything else), but I have made mods for a very old RPG for years - new mechanics, plots, magic, quests, effects, scripts, writing and so on. I have more or less put that old engine on its head, though I know hardly anyone will ever find out about my efforts. This is to say that I am not a pure theorist. Some time in the winter, bored and exasperated, I decided to do a quick marathon of game ideas - for RPG, quests, simulations, something in-between - and see how many I can whip out on the run. I would like something from here picked up by a company, but I am not advertising. I realize that is probably not something that might happen. It was a good exercise for me, however. Here are the results for all to see. I did ten first, then three more occurred to me.
1 ) Circa Caotica
You play the role of Jabsh, a clown of a traveling circus, who suddenly discovers that he is no orphan but the son (Raka, daughter for female players) of the director, Maestro Leotardi. Minutes later after making the sobbing confession the boss is swallowed by the Crocodile Man in a suspicious accident. You have to own up to the unexpected legacy and step into the tight and tall boots of the director. Your responsibility is to keep the circus going by fine-tuning and inventing acts based on ideas solicited over regular all-troupe brainstorming sessions despite little starting respect from the others, who have decided to unionize as well (the mentalist takes notes). You must keep drawing in crowds to avert the bankruptcy, earn respect and manipulation points and find the truth behind Leotardi's death and the disappearance of the Big Green cashbox with everyone's last year salary and the medallion that supposedly bears the face of your mother the same evening. All the while you still have to perform in regular clown acts with your partner. You can play as a red clown or a white clown, and the other type will be your foil.
2) Nachtwaffe
"Ah, count. Decided to join me for a walk?" Vampires steal planes from the Nazi airforce to zoom through the dark skies over the Balkans and turn humans to make more of their own. You start out as a single nosferatu, converted from an arrogant German, and must find and raid small airports and landing strips across the forests and mountains of Roumania, impersonate a living officer to get supplies and fuel, avoid communist guerillas, find and build places to hide during the day and choose which humans to turn to expand your force. Naturally, it is all quite a dead end, as the war is bound to finish sooner or later, which radio broadcasts confirm, and what then will happen to the vampiric empire? But this is something that the gameplay begins to convey to the player gradually. Hopefully the fate of someone who has no future but still does his all will touch some dormant strings in players' hearts.
3) Yuck!
The sleepy Tibetan village of Dongtso is unaware of what lurks in the bushes and the mountains: you, the desperately lonely yak-man. Born with a big head and two horns, you have only one connection to civilization: the gold ring in your nose. Squinting cross-eyed, you can just make out some kind of symbols on it, and a banner over the village shrine features ones like them. This must be the key. You have to lurk about the supersititious hamlet, helping the folk at night and out of sight with small chores and evesdropping on their reactions and conversations until you can pick up a few words, including, at some point, "Hello." Since this is a game about Tibet and shaping up something rebellious, let the tongue be one of Tibet's many and accompanied by Tibetan script. You can train to pronounce the words when you dare show yourself to children, old people and widows, to improve from mooing to legible speech, but until then you have to dodge men's hunting parties and survive. With enough good deeds and a few friends, you might win the folk's confidence and stand before the village council so that someone might teach you to read. The quest becomes complicated, however, by the appearance of the army of People's Republic of China that establishes a base in the village in its push to subdue Tibet. The year is 1952. One of the newcomers is a local - a renegade llama who, the villagers say, has been on many supernatural journeys in the mountains, even to Shangri-La, but is now wearing the uniform of Tibet's conquerors. The writing on the ring, deciphered, identifies him as your father. What will happen next?
4) Footlocker
This is a soccer-themed RPG, but you view the sport from the point of view of a bookie besieged on all sides by mafia. To pay back his debt he resolves on a colossal set-up: first get control of an underdog team, then bring them at least to the regional semi-finals and, with the bets in their favor, make them lose in a big way. The thugs are ready to provide cash handouts, leg-breaking, knuckle sandwiches, addictive opioids and more to get the right people on the team and stubborn elements out, but at the cost of increased control and cut of the profits. You must balance their appetities with placating sports authorities, the press, sponsors and police. In the final match a dilemma presents itself: go through with the plan and ruin the team or defy the gangsters and take your chances on the right side of the tracks?
5) And See It Again For the First Time
Starting out from your homeland on three caravels, you unfurl the sails and set out to circumnavigate the world. The globe is randomly generated every time and rolls away at the horizon, with the map, continents and straits unknown beforehand, in the manner of River Raid. Your characters are the three ships and their crews, condition and supplies are their stats. Dropping anchor at strange shores and dealing with natives will be necessary but dangerous as they fight with each other, shuffle and migrate like microbes. Loss of crew can't be repaired. At least one of the ships must find the passages and make it to the fabulous Gate of Makhamedi, enter it from the far side and begin the journey home.
6) The Person and the Essence
In the beginning chapter you play Sauqin, second-in-command to general Varziranga, head of the army of the Arcolan Empire sent to quash the rebellion of Panlaa, who has tried to bring his province to secede. The imperial army has crushed Panlaa'a troops a fortnight ago and has got him shut in the Ravine of the Gold Specks. Complete victory is near, but the commander has been acting strangely since the battle. On this decisive night his behavior spins out of control just as Panlaa makes a sudden sally from his trap, causing great confusion. As his lieutenant, it falls to you to maintain order in dealing with the various officers as well as the clerics of the One, who insist that Panlaa, a lapsed pagan, be given to them for execution once he is captured. The ending of the chapter will determine whether Panlaa ends in the emperor's prison in the capital, Hotharsoom, alive or dead at the clerics' hands, whether Varziranga will be simply demoted or disgraced.
Chapter two will take place in the capital city. You will have been promoted to a top military command for your performance, only to become embroiled in an intrigue involving the emperor's controlling mother, a consequential schism in the church of the One over whether the head of state is eternally the same person reincarnated or a series of persons, demagogues in the public and lurking pagans with unclear motives. Other chapters will follow, and the endings will determine who sits on the throne and who stands behind it, whether state policy is in principle subject to revision and criticism or not and whether the pagan faiths are crushed without mercy or adopted into the church of the One. The material here is Byzantium, Egypt with the notion of the pharaoh as incarnate Horus and the empires of southeast Asia. Some early Christian heresies also deserve to be revivified.
7) Of Rats and Men
You are a rat trapped in the gears of the Trumpet of Doom, the hugest, heaviest and most advanced steam ship ever to paddle the Grumuous Sea. This basin is famously salty enough to let even an iron float for a time, which, the public money finally gathered, made it the perfect road to carry the 25-inch-gunned ("24 + 1 for Paterland!") Trumpet to the shores of Festaly and at last give those Festalians what for! The citizenry is cheering with patriotic joy, the brass bands are blowing. The ship rats are less happy, especially you, who were captain Reissenpouf's pet before you managed to scramble through a porthole and below the desk as he was buttering a toast. You are nearly panicky with fright. Unlike the locals there, you have spent time locked with the diagrams in the captain's safe and know that the battleship is very weakly armored below the waterline. Someone must have made a good bit of business during the construction selling the metal. When the Trumpet comes up against the Festalians with their triton suicides or their rumored counterpart ship, the Rough Musician, not even the Grumuous Sea will keep it from ending up as a gigantic, barnacled wreck on the ocean floor.
To avoid this fate you only have so much time to organize the other rats for systematic sabotage. The game's world is the enormous ship below and above the deck. The humans of the crew are, of course, adamant in their resolve to get themselves killed, so they will repair the servos, the cables turning the massive gears, the ball bearings, the hydraulics and the rest almost as quickly as those are destroyed. This effort will be headed by the near-transparent, monochrome spindle of a man, Admiral Hel, the leader of the expedition, always of his private high deck, sipping his black milk and staring through his spectacles ahead to where TOD's fate awaits it. If all of you ratfolk together gnaw through and spoil enough of the ship's devices, however, the captain might just have the authority to radio Kaiser Walzer of the decision to turn back... though you personally may also have to sneak back into his cabin to sit on his pillow and intone suggestions as he sleeps. The fact that you are an albino rat and at first come across as a crazy visionary doesn't help, and neither does being a female rat and having to give birth to a litter every so often. The current mate can be deputied on tasks while lactating. Other ships may sometimes be encountered in the sea, with different results, and you may improve your reputation in the murine community by predicting these encounters, if you check the looking glass often enough. The length of the game, and hence the difficulty, depends on the distance to Festalian waters - from two weeks' journey to three months.
8) Cosmic Choir
You play as one of the planets of the solar system. The other actors and your partners are the thieving and scurrilous Mercury, the lusty and sly Venus, the militant braggart Mars and so on. And you are the meh-in-the-middle Earth, and in this group of strong personalities stand out with your unique ability of Rational Decision (it would be nice to get Woody Allen for the voice acting, were he younger). Other planets have other powers, and all of them certain characteristics and appetites (for tasty meteorites, for more intimate or more standoffish orbits and so on). The plot revolves around the announcement of the Sun that it has had enough of burning hydrogen and wants to retire, going immediately into the red giant phase, which would, of course, burn up all of the inner planets and kick the outer planets way out. For this the star has recruited a planet-sized asteroid, large enough to pull most of the star fuel away so that the moribund transformation may be set in motion. The euthanatic dark planet is whirring ever closer. Before it gets on a near enough orbit to disrupt the Sun the other planets must find out what caused this sudden depression and persuade their ruler and source of life otherwise. (The answer is that the Sun has always dreamt of going nova but lacks substance.) Playing as the only inhabited planet, you must also keep the life forms on you alive through all of the maneuvering. If you can get Mars to cooperate, however, you may shorten the distance enough for humanity and some of the ecosystems to make the leap and found Musk City there, and then you won't have to care about your surface anymore.
9) Paris, 1245 A.D.
A meticulously researched simulation of the criminal underworld of medieval Paris and the worlds that abutted on it: those of the church, guilds, city watch, the university, lepers, the court and so on. No shortcuts and simplifications for babies who can't tell a Benedictine from a Cistercian. A dynamically filled encyclopedia may be included, though, and remain permanently unlocked for later replays. The main character is a vagrant and a thief. This may be a persistent sandbox, possibly a multiplayer RPG, or it may have a plot, but strictly within historical realities.
10) The Last Supper
You play the role of Jesus, son of God, in the company of the twelve disciples. The game should probably be in first person. (The Sermon of the Mount and such may be shown in cutscenes, or they may be challenges in quiz form.) The time period is your wanderings in Judea after the baptism and until the last night before the arrest. The background is the Judaic society at the time and its Roman controllers, somewhat historically accurate. This is a detective story, a wholldoit where you need to figure out who is best suited to betray you in due time so that you may prep him for the job and finally give him the impetus to "do it quicker" at the Last Supper. For Christ certainly needed someone to betray him. It's not always Judas: the identity of the potential traitor, along with his motives, will vary randomly between playthroughs. Incidents and encounters along the road, both recorded in the Bible and invented, will liven up the experience and better inform you about the personalities of the disciples, building on but going beyond what is known (Peter with his short temper, the lofty John an so on).
11) Cuadrophobia
Ships and the sea again. This time you are a typical sailor with an atypically strong survival instinct on one of the vessels in a colossal game of Battleship between Our Guy and the Other Player. Accordingly, there are two grids firing at each other: your side's and the enemy's, though you only get to travel across your own. The ship you begin on is chosen at random: it may be anything in size from a single-squarer to a five-squarer. Smaller ships are less likely to be hit, of course, but when a ship is finished, it sinks, and you with it. The purpose of the game is to survive until Our Guy's victory, which programmatically is likely but not guaranteed and happens about 70% of the time. To do this you must desert on a regular basis, setting out in a dinghy to a ship more favored in the current situation. However, the dinghy only travels three squares per turn, and you can only spend two turns in the open sea before dying. You also need time on board ships to access their radio broadcasts, which, besides playing some inspirational propaganda, update the picture of the grid as the battle rages. Without it you are limited to paddling to vessels that you can directly see. The role-playing element comes from dealing with ship commanders, who all take their duties and titles - captain of Cruiser! captain of Battleship! - very seriously, from picking up supplies in floating debris and from acquiring special abilities that let you, for example, paddle an extra square farther. Is war evil? Is it to be hated, or is our side to be cheered on? After all, if Our Guy loses, this will all have been in vain.
12) Standardom
In this game of life, dedicated to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), you must pass through all of the Gates of Conformity to win your ultimate prize - death from old age, as opposed to suicide. The option to kill yourself is always available in the menu. Being the hero and chickenshit that you are, though, you are determined to submit to every humiliation just so you can press forward. The world of the game is a vertical platform that moves with you along the Y axis, which represents time from some random year forwards: you may begin at 100 B.C., 1824 A.D., 12749 j-Spec and so on. It is really all the same where on the timeline you are dropped off. As with other platformers, once the screen has moved, there is no going back. You can walk freely to the left and right, however, pick up bonuses, disarm threats and converse with characters. Going up, every so often the screen is intersected by a wall with a gate in it. Your character's silhouette must either match the cut of the gate or be smaller to pass through. You start out small as a baby, a little circle, but very soon handicaps such as Discovery of Talent, Unusual Upbringing, Independent Spirit or Love of Sex will begin to rush at you to complicate your silhouette with Г, & and other such protrusions. You will also grow in size until your late 20s. Luckily, opportunities will also present themselves to prune some of this exotica: Family, Steady Job, Political Engagement, Puppy, Human Interest and other bonuses can be found or obtained from conversations to simplify your puzzle to a manageable cut until such time as the years pile on and the worst is behind you. You will become smaller and smaller and able to rush through the checkpoints one after the other to the finish line.
13) Six Handshakes to Liberty
The country is suffering under a cruel dictatorship. Ar-Parason, the president-for-life, has wrung the last of resources from the nation and has now thrown it into a disastrous war. In his palace he is surrounded by guards armed to the teeth and without a shred of conscience to shoot the bastard. What can you, a humble microbiologist living in the suburbs, do about this? Nothing, it seems, until you discover a strain of bacteria that is absolutely deadly within weeks and immune to all known antibiotics except one, still not fully developed. The microbe is passed along by touch. Alas, you discover it when you become infected with it. You still have the resources to finish the research on the antibiotic and save yourself, but now you realize that you possess the perfect secret weapon to rid the country of the tyrant. Although you can't get so close to Ar-Parason in person, someone must enjoy that intimacy...
Every day you do your research at the computer, look through the press, then put on gloves and go out in search of people in contact with other people who will, you hope, ultimately carry the strain to its target. You have to follow news to figure out whose hands to shake and who to sleep with - secretaries, daughters of generals, corrupt officials - and many times the scheme will fall short of success. The chain of handshakes will terminate early somewhere, and these intermediaries will just die. But all those sacrifices are worth it, aren't they? You keep several intrigues going at once, determined to see one of them to the end. Meanwhile an epidemic is beginning in the country, Ar-Parason is starting to take precautions, and your own remaining time that could be spent on finishing the antibiotic is also running short. What is more important: life, revenge, justice, survival, honor? Your actions will be your decisions.
2023.06.03 16:05 SpacePaladin15 The Nature of Predators 121
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Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, United Nations Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: January 15, 2137
It wasn’t my imagination; our triangular shuttle was sinking like a stone. Water bobbed up against the cockpit windows, entombing us beneath the waves. Hull integrity would eventually give out and allow water to flood the compartment. The predators were just watching it happen, with not nearly enough panic showing in their binocular eyes. They made no attempt to inflate a life raft and escape, while we could still get the doors open.
The craft had tipped forward at a slight angle, and the airborne vehicle began to sink nose-first toward a watery grave. A feeling of immense claustrophobia gripped me, as the nightmare scenario came to fruition. My claws wrapped around Samantha’s arm before I could stop myself; the human looked at me with sheer disbelief, and pushed me away. Her nose was scrunched in an obvious sign of distaste. Carlos would’ve definitely been more amenable to my desperate outreach for support.
Samantha heaved a sigh. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just fucking do that, but it better not ever happen again.”
“Please! We’re sinking!” I croaked.
Onso snickered. “Sinking? You don’t feel the engines running? It’s a submersible aircraft.”
Upon closer listening, I could feel the quiet hum of the engines. Somehow, the combustion drive was still running underwater, and pushing us in a controlled manner further into the ocean. There were no signs of leaks seeping through the walls, despite being encased in the depths. I’d never heard of a plane that could fly underwater, but I should’ve gleaned our safety from the predators’ calmness.
If a human is running or terrified, that’s when it’s time to assume our deaths are imminent.
Sam wasn’t the least bit amused by me latching onto her arm, but Tyler and Carlos were both masking smirks. I dipped my head in shame. How had the Yotul known of technology which was unfathomable to the wider galaxy? Until today, I wouldn’t have thought such devices would ever have a use. It was embarrassing that the primitive kept his head better than me around novel technology, though I tried to push that egoistic thought out of my mind.
“Do the Yotul have this kind of technology, Onso?” I prompted the reddish-furred marsupial to answer, though I knew the reply would be in the negative. “I’ve never heard of such things, so I’m surprised it’s old news to you.”
“Well, I took it upon myself to read up on the specs; they were included with our briefing notes. Never know when shit’s gonna break, and someone’s gotta fix it. The Yotul have a saying, ‘Everything can break, so assume it will do so today.’”
“That’s valid. Every spacecraft crash is due to a ‘one-in-a-billion’ mechanical failure; unlikelihood upon unlikelihood. Uh, anyhow, I’m a little out of my element here, clearly nothing like you.”
“I don’t mind the water, Sovlin. Mama had a sailboat, which she’d take around the harbor. It was a little disappointing to hear human water activities involve hunting. There’s so many beautiful things to see; it’s the last untamed frontier. Even after space is explored, the oceans still hold so many mysteries and unique lifeforms!”
“Plenty of humans agree with you, even ones who enjoy fishing like Tyler. We’ll go snorkeling or scuba diving just to explore reefs and view marine life,” Carlos chimed in. “No boat, nothing but a basic breathing apparatus.”
“There’s water sports too. Surfing, where you try to ride massive waves on a board.” Samantha made odd gestures with her hands, as though conveying a series of hills. “Parasailing, up in the sky tied to a boat. White water rafting, where you go down turbulent, rocky rapids in an inflatable.”
I groaned. “Why…are any of those not mortally dangerous?! What is wrong with you predators? I thought you evolved from the fucking trees!”
“It’s all in the spirit of fun, a memorable experience. Don’t tell me none of it sounds like something you want to try once.”
“No, those stunts sound horrible. This is horrible. I can see the depth meter going up…it’s double digits! I can’t see the sky!”
“Quit being a baby.”
“Quit being a predator! I hate humans; I can’t stand you! Onso, back me up.”
“The surfing sounds totally badass. I can imagine riding a wave up to its crest, and trying not to fall,” the Yotul answered. “We should try it together, old man. Conquer your fears, do things you think you can’t.”
“I am not doing that. No way on the cradle.”
Tyler sported a devilish grin. “Hey, it could be worse, Sovlin. You could be doing shark cage diving.”
I offered the blond human a blank stare. Through the cockpit behind him, I noticed orange-striped fish swimming clear of the aerosub. There was a dark shadow in the murky depths below, which filled me with palpable unease. What if it was some sort of massive predator which hid in this oceanic range? Chewing at my claws with anxiety, I tried to parse through what he said.
Cage diving? That can’t be what it sounds like; locking yourself in a cage and jumping into the water…not trying to escape. What’s a shark?
We moved closer to the ambiguous shadow within the turquoise ocean, which I tried to ignore. The humans would freak out if there was reason for alarm; I couldn’t make a fool of myself again. Plastering a look of confusion on my face, I flicked a claw at Tyler for an explanation. His blue eyes twinkled with amusement, and my former guards watched with interest.
“Ah, you’re wondering what that is.” Officer Cardona tapped his fingers against his holopad, and noticed that his Yotul exchange partner was intrigued too. He showed a picture to Onso first. “I’d say it’s self-explanatory. Oh, and, yes, they have side-facing eyes, but sharks are predators. Humans have movies about them eating us, even though that’s uncommon in reality.”
Tyler turned the device toward me, and I flinched away with disbelief. Sure enough, a pack of Terrans were suspended in a metal cage below the water. “Sharks” circled them with predatory intent, serrated teeth visible. From what I’d learned about Gojids being omnivores, I’d trust the primates on binocular eyes not being necessary to eat living food. However, deciphering human behavior was a maddening endeavor. Was this some twisted way of reasserting their dominance as apex predators, against animals that dared to prey on them?
“You just said it was in fucked-up human movies…it’s CGI! That’s not a real fucking thing!” I screamed. “I thought we were keeping it professional, huh? You all are definitely saying, and making up, predator nonsense on purpose, at this point!”
Tyler flashed his teeth. “It’s real. We don’t need to make anything up; humans will go to great lengths for thrills.”
“That seems to be tempting fate. I’ve always believed in respecting nature, though it would be cool to see these animals up close,” Onso said.
“Good news: you can see them in aquariums too.”
I thought humans would think water decorations were stupid…wait, what did he just say?!
My spines were bristling. “You have aquariums, like the Kolshians on Aafa?”
“Yep,” Tyler affirmed.
“And instead of sea plants, you keep dangerous predators in them?”
“Yeah? They’re cool to look at, man.”
“Protector, I don’t care if we’re in the middle of the ocean. I want off this sinking boat!”
Carlos stifled a laugh. “Well, your wish is about to be granted. This puppy isn’t meant to dive deeper than 100 meters. The UNS Deep Core is up ahead.”
The foreboding shadow had grown larger in my periphery, and my eyes swiveled back to the viewport. It was a submersed ship, but one that was so large, its breadth faded into the murky distance. There was no way this wasn’t in the triple digits of meters long; the all-black, undecorated exterior would cause an observer to mistake it for a shadowy patch of water. There was a tower affixed to its spine, which perhaps housed an equivalent to a bridge.
“The humans must’ve snuck this ship here days ago. How long has it been lurking?” I murmured to myself. “They couldn’t have airdropped it from too high up either…I don’t think.”
Samantha rubbed her hands together. “If you think this is the only one sent, think again. We’re told as much as we need to know, Sovlin, but it’s a blast to fill in the blanks.”
Our aerosub glided down to the bottom of the Deep Core, before flipping over and latching onto to a watertight door. It was similar to how a spacecraft would dock for boarding; my concerns were assuaged a little, noticing some familiarity. Packing such a large crew into a metal tube must be stressful for any land-dwelling species, but the humans were insane enough to tuck their senses aside. There could be enough predators aboard to compose a small village.
I disliked the fact that I was hanging at a ninety-degree angle, though I didn’t voice my complaints. The humans awkwardly dismounted, with Tyler helping Onso down. Carlos hoisted me to my own two feet, and I took a steadying breath. Our own watertight hatch, which I mistook for an emergency exit when I thought it was a sane vehicle, was on the right exit. There was a click, as human personnel opened the circular door from the other side.
The five of us were helped up through the threshold into the submarine, and we admired the metal inner workings of our surroundings. The tunnels were narrow, with small doorways leading between compartments; many required a slight step up to clear. One Terran greeted us at our docking point, though he wore a different uniform than the getup I was used to. I wasn’t sure what to expect from land predators who operated underwater, but the ample facial hair checked out with my mental image.
“Welcome aboard the Deep Core. I’m Commander Fournier; your presence is requested on the bridge,” a gruff voice greeted us.
I blinked in confusion. “May I ask why…sir?”
“First aliens to step foot on a submarine. You’re VIPs; it’s a good photo-op, you could say. Follow me.”
Of course, the humans are worried about optics as we’re descending to an outlandish location. Sometimes, they’re awfully predictable.
Claustrophobia threatened to flare up, with the cramped passages and lack of direction. Onso showed no such uneasiness, forcing Tyler to ensure that the Yotul studied objects with his eyes, not his paws. The primitive seemed enamored with any machinery or design quirks, even basic things such as hinges. I was really trying not to look down on him, but when he was gawking at simplistic nails, it was difficult. At least his dimwitted curiosity was a distraction from our present environment.
The bearded commander led us to a steep stairway, and communicated for us to follow his lead. There was a thunderous bark of “up ladder!” before the human-in-charge popped open a hatch. Tyler waved a hand at me and Onso, signaling for us to climb after Fournier first. I ensured that my balance was steady, hustling up the rungs. There was a railing surrounding the hatch, along with a safety chain that our guide was unclipping.
“Sir, may I ask how much air we have left?” I couldn’t resist asking, despite being out of breath from the short ascent. “I presume you’ve been submerged a few days. Even spaceships can only carry a few weeks of oxygen, and I don’t see any tanks, um…”
Fournier issued a throaty laugh. “Scared of submarines, Gojid?”
“A little, uh, yes…sir.”
“Don’t be. We have as much air as there is water in the ocean.”
Onso bounded after us. “The Terrans use electrolysis to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in seawater they collect, then use that O2 to ventilate the ship.”
“Why, I like this one!” the commander bellowed. “Read up on subs, haven’t ya?”
“It drew me in…like a vortex of knowledge. I always liked machines.”
“Then I take it you’re an engineer? I can see that kid-like glee in your eyes.”
“A rocket engineer. The unchanging rules, the complex order, the concreteness and the planning: it speaks to me. Having a new class of machines to study really lit that fire, for the first time since the Federation killed my passion. Not even studying your weaponry truly scratched that itch. It’s just, I never dreamed I’d discover a new alien boat!”
“Well, well! I’m no engineer, but I’ll be happy to share what I know. Feel free to ask any questions; we love talking about what we do, to someone who really wants to hear it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Commander Fournier led us into a stout compartment, where a vast array of gadgetry and screens covered a wall. Humans were examining a green circle on display, with a rotating line and labeled angles. Data feeds were also listed there, which led me to conclude it was a sensors equivalent. Navigations was at the front, at least from the appearance of several control columns. Some predators appeared to be acting as officers or supervisors, peering over others’ shoulders and issuing commands.
This isn’t that dissimilar to a starship, but where is the viewport? How can they see?
I cleared my throat. “Sir, where is the viewport? There’s no windows!”
“We don’t need windows,” Fournier explained. “We use sonar, because sound travels further in water than light. Glass or transparent materials are just a weak point in the hull, and a potential source of leaks if we take a hit.”
“Okay. Then why did the submersible craft we took here have windows?”
“Because it needs to be a spacecraft too, and you need to see when you’re flying. It’s useful enough to outweigh any concerns,” Carlos chimed in.
“This is so cool!” Onso bounced on his digitigrade hindlegs, and the commander fortunately didn’t take offense to his excess excitement. “The sonar doesn’t need to see at all. It just…listens.”
Fournier nodded. “Precisely. I saw you examining the bearings on our machinery, and I’ll impress upon you the importance of noise reduction down here. We keep everything detached from the hull frame to avoid vibrations…even dropping a wrench can give you up to an enemy. Sonar receptors pick up the slightest vibration, and then, they know you’re there.”
“That explains why your engines have to be so quiet. I was reading about how you try to avoid cavitation…you know, where the vacuum pressure caused by the propeller makes water boil. The bubbles pop and give off noise.”
“You don’t need a rundown at all, Yotul; you already know everything. We have a speed range where we can operate silently.”
I was growing bored of the technical explanations, and Onso, a primitive, was outshining my knowledge to the humans. Perhaps the Yotul was desperate to prove himself as an academic equal, but he didn’t need to prattle on about science like he was reading a textbook. While there were impressive feats of engineering on display here, I agreed with Samantha’s assertion of naval obsolescence. What good was fighting in the water, except in this extraordinary circumstance?
The predators can hide far away from any targets or locations of value forever. How ingenious. They’d be unseen altogether if the other human tribes realized this theater was irrelevant in a war.
I suppressed an irritated huff. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Granted,” Fournier replied, a curious twinkle in his eyes.
“Respectfully, sir, I do not see the purpose of putting all this time into submarine development, at least for military aims. You’re a spacefaring species, and you’re incredible at ground assaults. What use is it to hide so far away from civilization…from the action? Maybe you sink a few ships that are using an outdated method of moving resources, but I don’t get it. You have better weapons.”
“You really don’t know? To use your word, these ships are masterful predators; nearly undetectable, capable of hearing the slightest sound, and able to surface anywhere in the world. But it goes far beyond that. The destructive power housed here is a hell of a deterrent. That’s why we’d never actually trade nukes like ya Feddies thought we did.”
“Nukes? I’m not following.”
“There’s tens of nukes stuffed onto just one of these things. We can hang off the shore anywhere, and fire missiles while underwater. Not that we have to be close to our target; we can shoot ICBMs halfway around the world. You never know where we are, if it’s right down your neck or prowling distant shores. We’re waiting to strike, anywhere and everywhere, with the technology to end civilization itself, even after command is destroyed on land. Obsolete, my ass.”
I gulped with discomfort, wishing I could recede into the ship walls. That declaration was so calm yet predatorily destructive; there were chilling implications for the extent of human aggression. It suddenly made sense why Earth tribes were intent on sniffing these predators out of the ocean’s recesses, and why the subs tried to remain undetectable at all costs. Should the current battle go awry, Talsk could be devastated by an unseen arsenal of epic proportions.
As Commander Fournier took his post, I tried to understand why humans would devise such machinations, for use against their own civilization. The Federation’s “irradiated Earth” could’ve been a reality; these capabilities shouldn’t exist in any culture. I didn’t understand why my kind-hearted friends would even think of such predatory weaponry. Surely, understanding the apocalyptic consequences of these vehicles should’ve convinced them not to build them.
My therapist could’ve elaborated further on the full heights of Terran aggression. Humans didn’t enjoy killing, yet they brainstormed and actualized the optimal ways to kill every human in existence? It was a paradox. Perhaps their predator nature factored into their decision-making in a manner they didn’t understand. Orders were issued to begin our descent, and for all sailors to report to battle stations. I felt the submersible tilt down, so I tried to clear my head of what the primates were capable of.
I have to believe that they will never actually do something like that…that their goodness will prevail. They didn’t snap after Earth, right? I trust their better judgment.
“W-well, if there’s really a base at the bottom of the ocean, the Farsul are fucked,” I murmured to my posse.
Samantha’s fist tightened, as her smirk returned. “I’d say they are.”
The numbers on the depth meter continued to escalate, as the submarine navigated the ocean which spanned below us. Locked inside a steel tube with predators, and knowing the potential of its onboard weaponry, my nerves were anything but quelled. The submarines somehow eclipsed even the worst starships in its dastardly capabilities. The Farsul wouldn’t be prepared for this predatory contraption, should we stumble across any of their flotilla.
I was glad that the humans were on the same team as me; there was no telling where their capacity for annihilation ended.
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Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, United Nations Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: January 15, 2137
It wasn’t my imagination; our triangular shuttle was sinking like a stone. Water bobbed up against the cockpit windows, entombing us beneath the waves. Hull integrity would eventually give out and allow water to flood the compartment. The predators were just watching it happen, with not nearly enough panic showing in their binocular eyes. They made no attempt to inflate a life raft and escape, while we could still get the doors open.
The craft had tipped forward at a slight angle, and the airborne vehicle began to sink nose-first toward a watery grave. A feeling of immense claustrophobia gripped me, as the nightmare scenario came to fruition. My claws wrapped around Samantha’s arm before I could stop myself; the human looked at me with sheer disbelief, and pushed me away. Her nose was scrunched in an obvious sign of distaste. Carlos would’ve definitely been more amenable to my desperate outreach for support.
Samantha heaved a sigh. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just fucking do that, but it better not ever happen again.”
“Please! We’re sinking!” I croaked.
Onso snickered. “Sinking? You don’t feel the engines running? It’s a submersible aircraft.”
Upon closer listening, I could feel the quiet hum of the engines. Somehow, the combustion drive was still running underwater, and pushing us in a controlled manner further into the ocean. There were no signs of leaks seeping through the walls, despite being encased in the depths. I’d never heard of a plane that could fly underwater, but I should’ve gleaned our safety from the predators’ calmness.
If a human is running or terrified, that’s when it’s time to assume our deaths are imminent.
Sam wasn’t the least bit amused by me latching onto her arm, but Tyler and Carlos were both masking smirks. I dipped my head in shame. How had the Yotul known of technology which was unfathomable to the wider galaxy? Until today, I wouldn’t have thought such devices would ever have a use. It was embarrassing that the primitive kept his head better than me around novel technology, though I tried to push that egoistic thought out of my mind.
“Do the Yotul have this kind of technology, Onso?” I prompted the reddish-furred marsupial to answer, though I knew the reply would be in the negative. “I’ve never heard of such things, so I’m surprised it’s old news to you.”
“Well, I took it upon myself to read up on the specs; they were included with our briefing notes. Never know when shit’s gonna break, and someone’s gotta fix it. The Yotul have a saying, ‘Everything can break, so assume it will do so today.’”
“That’s valid. Every spacecraft crash is due to a ‘one-in-a-billion’ mechanical failure; unlikelihood upon unlikelihood. Uh, anyhow, I’m a little out of my element here, clearly nothing like you.”
“I don’t mind the water, Sovlin. Mama had a sailboat, which she’d take around the harbor. It was a little disappointing to hear human water activities involve hunting. There’s so many beautiful things to see; it’s the last untamed frontier. Even after space is explored, the oceans still hold so many mysteries and unique lifeforms!”
“Plenty of humans agree with you, even ones who enjoy fishing like Tyler. We’ll go snorkeling or scuba diving just to explore reefs and view marine life,” Carlos chimed in. “No boat, nothing but a basic breathing apparatus.”
“There’s water sports too. Surfing, where you try to ride massive waves on a board.” Samantha made odd gestures with her hands, as though conveying a series of hills. “Parasailing, up in the sky tied to a boat. White water rafting, where you go down turbulent, rocky rapids in an inflatable.”
I groaned. “Why…are any of those not mortally dangerous?! What is wrong with you predators? I thought you evolved from the fucking trees!”
“It’s all in the spirit of fun, a memorable experience. Don’t tell me none of it sounds like something you want to try once.”
“No, those stunts sound horrible. This is horrible. I can see the depth meter going up…it’s double digits! I can’t see the sky!”
“Quit being a baby.”
“Quit being a predator! I hate humans; I can’t stand you! Onso, back me up.”
“The surfing sounds totally badass. I can imagine riding a wave up to its crest, and trying not to fall,” the Yotul answered. “We should try it together, old man. Conquer your fears, do things you think you can’t.”
“I am not doing that. No way on the cradle.”
Tyler sported a devilish grin. “Hey, it could be worse, Sovlin. You could be doing shark cage diving.”
I offered the blond human a blank stare. Through the cockpit behind him, I noticed orange-striped fish swimming clear of the aerosub. There was a dark shadow in the murky depths below, which filled me with palpable unease. What if it was some sort of massive predator which hid in this oceanic range? Chewing at my claws with anxiety, I tried to parse through what he said.
Cage diving? That can’t be what it sounds like; locking yourself in a cage and jumping into the water…not trying to escape. What’s a shark?
We moved closer to the ambiguous shadow within the turquoise ocean, which I tried to ignore. The humans would freak out if there was reason for alarm; I couldn’t make a fool of myself again. Plastering a look of confusion on my face, I flicked a claw at Tyler for an explanation. His blue eyes twinkled with amusement, and my former guards watched with interest.
“Ah, you’re wondering what that is.” Officer Cardona tapped his fingers against his holopad, and noticed that his Yotul exchange partner was intrigued too. He showed a picture to Onso first. “I’d say it’s self-explanatory. Oh, and, yes, they have side-facing eyes, but sharks are predators. Humans have movies about them eating us, even though that’s uncommon in reality.”
Tyler turned the device toward me, and I flinched away with disbelief. Sure enough, a pack of Terrans were suspended in a metal cage below the water. “Sharks” circled them with predatory intent, serrated teeth visible. From what I’d learned about Gojids being omnivores, I’d trust the primates on binocular eyes not being necessary to eat living food. However, deciphering human behavior was a maddening endeavor. Was this some twisted way of reasserting their dominance as apex predators, against animals that dared to prey on them?
“You just said it was in fucked-up human movies…it’s CGI! That’s not a real fucking thing!” I screamed. “I thought we were keeping it professional, huh? You all are definitely saying, and making up, predator nonsense on purpose, at this point!”
Tyler flashed his teeth. “It’s real. We don’t need to make anything up; humans will go to great lengths for thrills.”
“That seems to be tempting fate. I’ve always believed in respecting nature, though it would be cool to see these animals up close,” Onso said.
“Good news: you can see them in aquariums too.”
I thought humans would think water decorations were stupid…wait, what did he just say?!
My spines were bristling. “You have aquariums, like the Kolshians on Aafa?”
“Yep,” Tyler affirmed.
“And instead of sea plants, you keep dangerous predators in them?”
“Yeah? They’re cool to look at, man.”
“Protector, I don’t care if we’re in the middle of the ocean. I want off this sinking boat!”
Carlos stifled a laugh. “Well, your wish is about to be granted. This puppy isn’t meant to dive deeper than 100 meters. The UNS Deep Core is up ahead.”
The foreboding shadow had grown larger in my periphery, and my eyes swiveled back to the viewport. It was a submersed ship, but one that was so large, its breadth faded into the murky distance. There was no way this wasn’t in the triple digits of meters long; the all-black, undecorated exterior would cause an observer to mistake it for a shadowy patch of water. There was a tower affixed to its spine, which perhaps housed an equivalent to a bridge.
“The humans must’ve snuck this ship here days ago. How long has it been lurking?” I murmured to myself. “They couldn’t have airdropped it from too high up either…I don’t think.”
Samantha rubbed her hands together. “If you think this is the only one sent, think again. We’re told as much as we need to know, Sovlin, but it’s a blast to fill in the blanks.”
Our aerosub glided down to the bottom of the Deep Core, before flipping over and latching onto to a watertight door. It was similar to how a spacecraft would dock for boarding; my concerns were assuaged a little, noticing some familiarity. Packing such a large crew into a metal tube must be stressful for any land-dwelling species, but the humans were insane enough to tuck their senses aside. There could be enough predators aboard to compose a small village.
I disliked the fact that I was hanging at a ninety-degree angle, though I didn’t voice my complaints. The humans awkwardly dismounted, with Tyler helping Onso down. Carlos hoisted me to my own two feet, and I took a steadying breath. Our own watertight hatch, which I mistook for an emergency exit when I thought it was a sane vehicle, was on the right exit. There was a click, as human personnel opened the circular door from the other side.
The five of us were helped up through the threshold into the submarine, and we admired the metal inner workings of our surroundings. The tunnels were narrow, with small doorways leading between compartments; many required a slight step up to clear. One Terran greeted us at our docking point, though he wore a different uniform than the getup I was used to. I wasn’t sure what to expect from land predators who operated underwater, but the ample facial hair checked out with my mental image.
“Welcome aboard the Deep Core. I’m Commander Fournier; your presence is requested on the bridge,” a gruff voice greeted us.
I blinked in confusion. “May I ask why…sir?”
“First aliens to step foot on a submarine. You’re VIPs; it’s a good photo-op, you could say. Follow me.”
Of course, the humans are worried about optics as we’re descending to an outlandish location. Sometimes, they’re awfully predictable.
Claustrophobia threatened to flare up, with the cramped passages and lack of direction. Onso showed no such uneasiness, forcing Tyler to ensure that the Yotul studied objects with his eyes, not his paws. The primitive seemed enamored with any machinery or design quirks, even basic things such as hinges. I was really trying not to look down on him, but when he was gawking at simplistic nails, it was difficult. At least his dimwitted curiosity was a distraction from our present environment.
The bearded commander led us to a steep stairway, and communicated for us to follow his lead. There was a thunderous bark of “up ladder!” before the human-in-charge popped open a hatch. Tyler waved a hand at me and Onso, signaling for us to climb after Fournier first. I ensured that my balance was steady, hustling up the rungs. There was a railing surrounding the hatch, along with a safety chain that our guide was unclipping.
“Sir, may I ask how much air we have left?” I couldn’t resist asking, despite being out of breath from the short ascent. “I presume you’ve been submerged a few days. Even spaceships can only carry a few weeks of oxygen, and I don’t see any tanks, um…”
Fournier issued a throaty laugh. “Scared of submarines, Gojid?”
“A little, uh, yes…sir.”
“Don’t be. We have as much air as there is water in the ocean.”
Onso bounded after us. “The Terrans use electrolysis to separate the hydrogen from the oxygen in seawater they collect, then use that O2 to ventilate the ship.”
“Why, I like this one!” the commander bellowed. “Read up on subs, haven’t ya?”
“It drew me in…like a vortex of knowledge. I always liked machines.”
“Then I take it you’re an engineer? I can see that kid-like glee in your eyes.”
“A rocket engineer. The unchanging rules, the complex order, the concreteness and the planning: it speaks to me. Having a new class of machines to study really lit that fire, for the first time since the Federation killed my passion. Not even studying your weaponry truly scratched that itch. It’s just, I never dreamed I’d discover a new alien boat!”
“Well, well! I’m no engineer, but I’ll be happy to share what I know. Feel free to ask any questions; we love talking about what we do, to someone who really wants to hear it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Commander Fournier led us into a stout compartment, where a vast array of gadgetry and screens covered a wall. Humans were examining a green circle on display, with a rotating line and labeled angles. Data feeds were also listed there, which led me to conclude it was a sensors equivalent. Navigations was at the front, at least from the appearance of several control columns. Some predators appeared to be acting as officers or supervisors, peering over others’ shoulders and issuing commands.
This isn’t that dissimilar to a starship, but where is the viewport? How can they see?
I cleared my throat. “Sir, where is the viewport? There’s no windows!”
“We don’t need windows,” Fournier explained. “We use sonar, because sound travels further in water than light. Glass or transparent materials are just a weak point in the hull, and a potential source of leaks if we take a hit.”
“Okay. Then why did the submersible craft we took here have windows?”
“Because it needs to be a spacecraft too, and you need to see when you’re flying. It’s useful enough to outweigh any concerns,” Carlos chimed in.
“This is so cool!” Onso bounced on his digitigrade hindlegs, and the commander fortunately didn’t take offense to his excess excitement. “The sonar doesn’t need to see at all. It just…listens.”
Fournier nodded. “Precisely. I saw you examining the bearings on our machinery, and I’ll impress upon you the importance of noise reduction down here. We keep everything detached from the hull frame to avoid vibrations…even dropping a wrench can give you up to an enemy. Sonar receptors pick up the slightest vibration, and then, they know you’re there.”
“That explains why your engines have to be so quiet. I was reading about how you try to avoid cavitation…you know, where the vacuum pressure caused by the propeller makes water boil. The bubbles pop and give off noise.”
“You don’t need a rundown at all, Yotul; you already know everything. We have a speed range where we can operate silently.”
I was growing bored of the technical explanations, and Onso, a primitive, was outshining my knowledge to the humans. Perhaps the Yotul was desperate to prove himself as an academic equal, but he didn’t need to prattle on about science like he was reading a textbook. While there were impressive feats of engineering on display here, I agreed with Samantha’s assertion of naval obsolescence. What good was fighting in the water, except in this extraordinary circumstance?
The predators can hide far away from any targets or locations of value forever. How ingenious. They’d be unseen altogether if the other human tribes realized this theater was irrelevant in a war.
I suppressed an irritated huff. “Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Granted,” Fournier replied, a curious twinkle in his eyes.
“Respectfully, sir, I do not see the purpose of putting all this time into submarine development, at least for military aims. You’re a spacefaring species, and you’re incredible at ground assaults. What use is it to hide so far away from civilization…from the action? Maybe you sink a few ships that are using an outdated method of moving resources, but I don’t get it. You have better weapons.”
“You really don’t know? To use your word, these ships are masterful predators; nearly undetectable, capable of hearing the slightest sound, and able to surface anywhere in the world. But it goes far beyond that. The destructive power housed here is a hell of a deterrent. That’s why we’d never actually trade nukes like ya Feddies thought we did.”
“Nukes? I’m not following.”
“There’s tens of nukes stuffed onto just one of these things. We can hang off the shore anywhere, and fire missiles while underwater. Not that we have to be close to our target; we can shoot ICBMs halfway around the world. You never know where we are, if it’s right down your neck or prowling distant shores. We’re waiting to strike, anywhere and everywhere, with the technology to end civilization itself, even after command is destroyed on land. Obsolete, my ass.”
I gulped with discomfort, wishing I could recede into the ship walls. That declaration was so calm yet predatorily destructive; there were chilling implications for the extent of human aggression. It suddenly made sense why Earth tribes were intent on sniffing these predators out of the ocean’s recesses, and why the subs tried to remain undetectable at all costs. Should the current battle go awry, Talsk could be devastated by an unseen arsenal of epic proportions.
As Commander Fournier took his post, I tried to understand why humans would devise such machinations, for use against their own civilization. The Federation’s “irradiated Earth” could’ve been a reality; these capabilities shouldn’t exist in any culture. I didn’t understand why my kind-hearted friends would even think of such predatory weaponry. Surely, understanding the apocalyptic consequences of these vehicles should’ve convinced them not to build them.
My therapist could’ve elaborated further on the full heights of Terran aggression. Humans didn’t enjoy killing, yet they brainstormed and actualized the optimal ways to kill every human in existence? It was a paradox. Perhaps their predator nature factored into their decision-making in a manner they didn’t understand. Orders were issued to begin our descent, and for all sailors to report to battle stations. I felt the submersible tilt down, so I tried to clear my head of what the primates were capable of.
I have to believe that they will never actually do something like that…that their goodness will prevail. They didn’t snap after Earth, right? I trust their better judgment.
“W-well, if there’s really a base at the bottom of the ocean, the Farsul are fucked,” I murmured to my posse.
Samantha’s fist tightened, as her smirk returned. “I’d say they are.”
The numbers on the depth meter continued to escalate, as the submarine navigated the ocean which spanned below us. Locked inside a steel tube with predators, and knowing the potential of its onboard weaponry, my nerves were anything but quelled. The submarines somehow eclipsed even the worst starships in its dastardly capabilities. The Farsul wouldn’t be prepared for this predatory contraption, should we stumble across any of their flotilla.
I was glad that the humans were on the same team as me; there was no telling where their capacity for annihilation ended.
---
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2023.06.03 15:59 Inorai [Remnants of Magic] Legion - 54.2
![[Remnants of Magic] Legion - 54.2](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/D_Xlxkr1jN-NzYda-ao9HbETpEA775ZELB1O8zgRMXU.jpg "[Remnants of Magic] Legion - 54.2") | https://preview.redd.it/qkzhnj5w5t3b1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2a7b00199d8772edb39bbddb334f63f41907888 submitted by Inorai to redditserials [link] [comments] Once inside, I blinked, looking around. I…don’t really know what I expected, truth be told. Most of my experience with the immortals’ home bases thus far were based off Aedan, who mostly had a tent, and Anke, who had…everything. What greeted me was a shockingly normal entryway that looked plucked straight out of an average suburban home, its crisp white walls hung with cheerful paintings and crimson drapes covering a window off to one side. I stood in the entrance for a long moment, decidedly unsure. This house definitely did not belong behind a downtown doorway. A hand nudged me forward. “Keep going,” Mason mumbled. “Oh,” I said, and stepped to the side. The others filed in behind me—and they too stopped, equally dumbfounded. That confusion was tempered, though. It was something tingling in the air, a shiver of energy beneath my feet. I might not be Keira, but I could sense the magic all around us. “Come on,” Recluse said. I looked up again, in time to see him and Aedan round the corner at the end of the hallway. “Don’t dawdle. And don’t touch anything.” “Cheerful guy,” Mason mumbled. I heard Amber whap him in the side. “Shut it.” A mound of shoes sat off to one side, with Aedan’s sneakers in the mix. I shuffled over, yanking my feet out of my shoes. Tromping all over the guy’s house with dirty shoes seemed like a good way to piss him off, and pissing him off seemed like a really bad idea. And then, socks scuffing against the white carpet, I hurried after them. Or I tried to, anyway. As soon as I turned the corner into an expansive living room, I froze again, eyes going wide. A wide, languid window sat in the wall next to me, opening out onto a picturesque farm field that was nowhere near Denver, filled with trees bearing fruits I couldn’t name. That much…well, it caught me by surprise, but it was within the realm of possibilities I’d considered once magic was in the mix. But there was another set of windows on the far side of the room too—and whatever was going on outside them, it didn’t even look like anywhere on Earth. Black stretched from edge to edge, with twisting, twining waves of blue and green swirling across the darkness. “Is that magic?” I whispered, taking an uncertain step forward. “What’s-” “Don’t trouble yourself with it,” Recluse said. I glanced up. He’d dropped into an overstuffed couch, square beneath the windows. He gave us a cursory glance, then turned his sights back on Aedan. “Sit, sit.” “Okay,” Aedan mumbled. He shot an uncertain look my way, then eased down onto one of the surprisingly comfortable-looking chairs scattered around the room. Seeing Aedan so out of his depth left me even more shaken than I already was. I glanced to Amber, who shrugged back at me, her expression carefully flat. “I guess we sit,” she whispered. So we crept forward, taking up seats of our own. Recluse didn’t spare us so much as a look. “So,” he said, leaning back. His arm stretched across the back of the couch—and he smiled, eyes glued to Aedan. “You’re the damn Wanderer.” “That’s me,” Aedan said, raising a hand. “I, uh…I just go by Aedan. Usually.” He ran a hand through his hair, shifting in his seat. “Doesn’t really matter, I guess.” “Names matter,” Recluse said, though, nodding approvingly. “No shame in wanting the right one used.” “And you?” Aedan said, raising an eyebrow. I could see him settling second by second, coming back into himself as he eyed our host. “I heard you go be Tafari, but-” “Nah,” Recluse said, chuckling as he waved a hand. “That name’s dead now. Used it too much. Who gave it to you, anyhow?” He shifted, his head falling to one side, but his eyes stayed fixed on Aedan. “How’d you find me, anyway?” “We work for the Legion,” Cailyn said. I jumped, startled by the new voice. She sat with hands clasped demurely in her lap, watching the unfamiliar man. “Anke. She-” “Ah,” Recluse said. He grimaced, shaking his head. “Figures that the nosy bitch herself had a hand in this.” His gaze darted back to Aedan. “Heard you got mixed up with her. Shame.” “Hey,” Cailyn mumbled. “Now and then,” Aedan said, folding his arms. His expression steadily turned stony. “She’s got nothing to do with this, though.” “Yeah, I s’ppose,” Recluse said. His dark hair was pulled back into a rough ponytail, and as I watched, he smoothed a hand across it, making a face. “Still, that explains it. That lot have never had respect for a damn soul in their lives. ‘Course they still haven’t picked up on me leaving that name behind.” “Then-” “You?” Recluse said, turning a look on Aedan. Just when my heart started to beat a little faster, he nodded—and the gesture looked approving enough to leave me feeling a bit baffled. “You can call me Dejan. It’s got another few decades of life in it before it’s used up, I think. But you lot?” I flinched as he sat forward, twisting back around to face us. His finger came up. “It’s Master Recluse from you.” “Yes, sir,” Cailyn said meekly. He sniffed, wrinkling his nose, and shook his head. “Shouldn’t let you inside the place at all,” he muttered. “Brings nothing but trouble.” “About that,” Aedan said. I looked up, as did Master Recluse. Aedan grinned nervously, rocking his shoulders. “Ah…I should probably apologize. I know we’re here at the ass crack of dawn. I, uh. I just thought-” “Really?” Recluse said, fixing a dead-eyed stare on him. “I hadn’t noticed.” Aedan ducked his head low, ruffling his unkempt mane of hair. “...Sorry.” Recluse heaved a sigh, sitting back on his couch again. “Would you look at that? The Wanderer even has some manners to his name.” Amber let out a snort. I kicked her, not taking my eyes off the pair in front of us. Settling himself, Recluse shook his head just once. “It’s rude as hell,” he said, his gaze sharpening. When Aedan flinched, he seemed to sit a little taller, shoulders squaring. “If anyone else had tried it, I’d have cast their atoms straight into the void the moment their shoes touched my carpet,” he said. “A man’s got a right to enjoy the peace in his own home, you know.” My pulse quickened. What the hell did that mean? What exactly could this guy do? Aedan sat up, wetting his lips. “Look, I-” “But, I suppose it’s fair enough, coming from you.” Recluse chuckled, one eyebrow raising as he watched Aedan’s reaction. “Been hiding from you a bit, have to admit. At first I wasn’t sure what sort of mess you’d drag with you, and then…” He shrugged. “It was just easier to stay to the shadows, once I’d started. Sorry.” “What?” Aedan said. “I…I don’t-” “I suppose this is about what I can expect, in the end,” Recluse said, not even seeming to hear him. “Bit surprised it’s taken you this long to track me down, truth be told.” Aedan’s expression grew more confused by the second. I almost felt bad for him. Almost. “I’m sorry, I don’t-” “Long story short, I probably owe you this one,” Recluse said. He grinned, the corners of his eyes crinkling. A few minutes ago I wasn’t sure we’d make it through the encounter without the immortal killing us. I still wasn’t entirely convinced of that, actually. But looking at him now, with genuine pleasure on his face, I felt myself starting to relax. “So, you can be a little rude tonight. I’ll let it slide.” Aedan hesitated again. His eyes flicked to me, then back to the man. “I don’t understand a word you’re saying,” he said, arching an eyebrow. “You get that, right? You’re just over there spouting off whatever you want and no one understands a goddamn thing.” My gaze turned to daggers. Horrified, terrified daggers. “Aedan.” “Oh, no,” Recluse said. “I didn’t confuse you, did I? I feel horrible.” His intonation changed not one bit, his expression as amused as ever. “Just another asshole, aren’t you?” Aedan said. The corner of his lips twitched, a grin starting to take shape—one I saw mirrored on Recluse’s face, to my utter, abject relief. Aedan leaned forward, still fixated on Recluse. “I’m gonna have some questions. But we came here for a reason, and I…I need your help. Can we ask you some questions?” “No one ever comes for pleasure,” Recluse said, spreading his hands helplessly. His gaze drifted over to me, and he shook his head, as if we were commiserating about it all. “Can you believe him, barging in here and making demands?” “He’s a handful,” I said, my mouth dry. Recluse’s eyes were a dark, bottomless sort of brown, sucking me in deeper. It felt like I might drown, like I might- “Ah, well,” Recluse said, looking back to Aedan. I sagged, the strings holding me up shorn through. “You’d best be careful, Wanderer. With a mouth like that, I might cast you into the void yet tonight.” “I’d get better,” Aedan said, still wearing that deathgrin of his. That got a chuckle from Recluse—who nodded, sitting back again. “Looks like I was right,” he said. “You’re trouble and a half. But tonight is your night. Promised that already, and I don’t take back promises.” His chin lifted. “Ask your questions, Wanderer.” I saw Aedan’s eyes widen, their green glinting in the dim light of the living room. He glanced to me, triumphant. I gave the slightest of nods, slipping a hand to Amber’s knee. There it was—our opening. Our chance to get some answers. Aedan nodded back—and looked to Recluse, sitting back to cradle his hands in his lap. “Then…let me explain why we’ve come.” |
2023.06.03 15:57 Dps793 A long shot… but ISO of a radio Walkman from The Gap?
My aunt worked for the GAP for a very long time, starting in high school in the early 90s, and all the way through the mid 2000s as a side job until she had her first child. When I’d go visit her at work, the vibe was definitely way too cool for me to understand (Also probably didnt help that I was under the age of 10), but I benefitted greatly from her employee discount and some random giveaways :) They had some very cool CD compilations that engaged me with music I otherwise would not have heard of growing up.
Which brings me to why I posted here.. I remember at some point she was given 2-3 Walkman style radios (it was only radio, no option for a cassette), that were almost perfectly square - and came in bright colors. I had the orange one, but remember there was also a green one among a few others. The control buttons I believe were all along the front, and protruded outward, almost like the re-poppable bubble wrap fidget toys we see today. I think mine ended up breaking, so had to toss it away.
Does anyone else know what I’m talking about? I was perusing the internet hoping to find one on the cheap for nostalgic purposes, and couldn’t find any photos of one… wonder if it was just a promo for employees?
submitted by Dps793 to 90s [link] [comments]
Which brings me to why I posted here.. I remember at some point she was given 2-3 Walkman style radios (it was only radio, no option for a cassette), that were almost perfectly square - and came in bright colors. I had the orange one, but remember there was also a green one among a few others. The control buttons I believe were all along the front, and protruded outward, almost like the re-poppable bubble wrap fidget toys we see today. I think mine ended up breaking, so had to toss it away.
Does anyone else know what I’m talking about? I was perusing the internet hoping to find one on the cheap for nostalgic purposes, and couldn’t find any photos of one… wonder if it was just a promo for employees?
2023.06.03 15:25 Arceroth Tower of Worlds 15
“We found three more towns, just like this one, every fifteen to twenty miles,” the man reported, his eyes wandering past the leader of their little group to where another man seemed to be waving his fingers in the air, “and what in the world is the doctor doing?”
“Haven’t a clue,” the leader replied, not looking up, “and that squares with what Robert found, seems like there are towns all the way around this forest.”
“I did manage to get close enough to one of the villages to listen in on the locals,” the first man continued, “they spoke of a Count staying in the tavern.”
“A count?”
“Some kind of nobility,” he shrugged.
“Might be a good place to start,” the leader nodded, “from what we’ve been able to gather there’s an extensive, surprisingly advanced civilization in this new land.”
“Not the kind of thing we can clear out on our own, even if we had our guns.”
“Second team should be arriving in a week, not much to do until then. Steve and Rob are out hunting, so go ahead and relax for now,” the leader gestured behind him to where the rest of their squad was resing.
“So,” the newly returned man said, walking over to the man still waving his fingers in the air like he was writing with them, “what are you doing?”
“You haven’t been messing with this whole Nature thing?” the doctor asked excitedly.
“No, been too busy trying to save our people,” he replied dryly.
“Well you should,” the doctor continued, either ignoring or completely missing the tone of the reply, “in a few days I’ve figured out more about the Erlham field than I have in the last year of testing!”
“You mean the… energy stuff that transported us here?”
“It can do so much more than transport people! I mean, all I did was wonder if I could use it to write, and assist my research, and- and,” he gestured to the empty air he’d been waving his finger about, “apparently only I can see it like this, but still, just this indicates so much more!”
“Oh no, you got him going there Akleson,” another of the soldiers chuckled, “in a few minutes he’ll be going on about field interactions and the nature of the soul.”
“Bah,” the doctor dismissed with a wave of his hand, “you’ll see when I manage to stabilize a rift so goods can be sent through, not just people.”
“Can you do that?”
“I don’t know, but I might.”
*****
The ascender known as Lord Flameblade stretched and let out a loud yawn, the open air of the western fields, normally fresh and crisp, was tainted by whisps of smoke. Still, he didn’t mind, it was good to get out of the mansion now and again.
“Lord Flameblade,” a deep man’s voice said from behind him, “we finished on this side.”
“Oh good,” Flameblade replied, turning to face a mountain of a man who couldn’t have been more at contrast to the ascender if he’d tried. His hair was dark with streaks of white as age slowly caught up, compared to Flameblade’s light blonde. The ascender had a muscled, but agile build and wore simple trousers and a plain tunic while his counterpart wore blood splattered plate armor covered in recently made dents and scratches. Even his face was covered in various scars that spoke of years of combat and experience where Flameblade’s skin was smooth and unblemished like a noble. In all regards the casual observer would think the ascender the weaker of the two.
No one else would make that mistake.
Despite his size, the hard glare in his eyes and perpetual expression of disdain, he acted with deference towards Flameblade. And not just the politeness a military veteran might show a naïve politician, this was true respect that one would imagine only other warriors could earn.
“Why are they so far away,” flameblade asked, nodding past the armored man to where a group of others in similar armor, all showing signs of recent battle, stood, watching him nervously.
“You scare them, Lord,” the larger man replied, glancing past Flameblade to the field of smoldering bodies that were the man’s handywork.
“Your boys did well,” Flameblade countered, gesturing to the smaller pile of bodies the Knights had stacked up.
“Right,” the knight said carefully, “I was in their place once, you know, decades back.”
“And look where you are now,” Flameblade said cheerfully.
“Few of my fellow Slayer Knights survive from that period, and fewer still remember all that happened… When King Robert took the throne.”
“Oh,” the ascenders expression fell.
“I haven’t said anything-.”
“Then don’t,” Flameblade interrupted, “your memory of that time might not be as good as you think. Hard passage of years can muddle ones recollection.”
“Of course, Lord,” the man bowed his head, the most he could do easily with his armor on, “I meant no disrespect.”
Flameblade sighed as the large knight retreated, turning to look at the field of monster bodies. After a moment he decided that he needed to fight more and vanished, as if he’d been little more than a mirage.
*****
“Welcome to the church of Dalvos,” Lex said cheerfully as she led Gregory into a large chapel atop the great stone of Templeholm. Dozens of people scurried around on various tasks, some replacing candles that had burned down over the night, others sweeping the floor and still others spoke in hushed tones with other priests.
“Sister,” an older man approached them, speaking to Lex, before Gregory could respond, “are you here to assist with the Vier-Mutts?”
“Are they acting up already?” Lex asked, “I thought we had another couple years.”
“So you aren’t here following a Sign?”
“I am, but I thought it was for this man,” she nodded towards Gregory, “newly arrived Ascender who met up with the convoy I was guarding. Thought the sign was so I could bring him here.”
“The gods often accomplish many things with one sign,” the older man smiled, turning towards Gregory, “greetings Master Ascender. Are you here to try and earn the blessing of the Protector?”
“Thinking about it,” Gregory shrugged, “I found out recently just how… little power I have. And how much I need.”
“He jumped in to save the convoy from Arch-Wolves,” Lex explained, “wasn’t even a part of it at the time. I think he’d make an excellent Herald of Dalvos.”
“I see,” the older priest said, “are you familiar with how blessings work?”
“Only what I was told at the Church of Guidance.”
“They are good at covering the general information, but every god’s blessing is different. If you like I can explain the details of it to you this evening. With the Mutts coming we need all the help we can get.”
“Mutts?”
“A recurring monster hoard that descends on the kingdoms from the north every decade or so,” the priest explained.
“If the Slayer Knights are pulling north it would explain the Arch-Wolves that attacked the caravan,” Lex nodded.
“Indeed, there are always too few protectors and too many who need our protection. Such is our charge.”
“Well, I’m happy to help out, blessing or not,” Gregory said, “but I’m unsure how much help I can be.”
“Ascenders are known to grow fast, especially in the crucible of combat. If you are willing to help I’m sure the Sister here will be willing to train you, even if you don’t ultimately join our order.”
“I also promised him a new spear, his broke defending the convoy I was charged with,” Lex added.
“Easily done,” the priest nodded, “if the spear-tip is still intact finding a new haft is a simple matter. Sister, if you’ll show him to the guest quarters I’ll see what I can arrange.”
“Of course,” Lex replied as Gregory handed over his peace bound spear point. Despite not being a full weapon, it still needed to be bound, apparently.
“This your God Gifted weapon?” the older priest asked, inspecting the weapon, “I don’t recognize the style.”
“It was the one given to me by the fairy when I first arrived, if that’s what you mean,” Gregory replied, “are those weapons special?”
“Hardly,” the priest smiled, “the messengers of the gods steal them from craftsmen all over the world.”
“Many will leave out ‘good enough’ weapons for the fae to steal, so they don’t take their better works,” Lex added with a smirk.
“Indeed,” the priest nodded, “I should have a replacement haft by morning. We can discuss the Blessing of Dalvos then.”
“How much will it cost?” Gregory asked.
“Nonsense,” the priest waved off his offer of payment, “any who are willing to risk themselves to protect the people of this realm may stay here without charge.”
“How long do we have until the Vier-Mutts make their move?” Lex asked as the priest pocketed the spear tip.
“The Slayer knights are preparing a scouting force to go out, end of next week. I expect we won’t have more than a month past that, but only the gods know for certain. Your brothers and sisters have been arriving constantly.”
“Sounds like the horde will appear soon then.”
“Indeed, only a fool would go north in these conditions.”
*****
“Extra sword, check,” Nathen said, looking over his pack, “a week of rations, incase I can’t find anything to hunt, check… Water, flint and steel, rope… all check. All I’m missing is a ten-foot pole,” he chuckled to himself, before tossing the pack over his shoulder.
“So now, to find some mountains,” he continued, looking over the plains that surrounded Templeholm, “ah, there they are. Time to find this legendary blade!”
With that he began walking North.
***** Discord - Patreon *****
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“Haven’t a clue,” the leader replied, not looking up, “and that squares with what Robert found, seems like there are towns all the way around this forest.”
“I did manage to get close enough to one of the villages to listen in on the locals,” the first man continued, “they spoke of a Count staying in the tavern.”
“A count?”
“Some kind of nobility,” he shrugged.
“Might be a good place to start,” the leader nodded, “from what we’ve been able to gather there’s an extensive, surprisingly advanced civilization in this new land.”
“Not the kind of thing we can clear out on our own, even if we had our guns.”
“Second team should be arriving in a week, not much to do until then. Steve and Rob are out hunting, so go ahead and relax for now,” the leader gestured behind him to where the rest of their squad was resing.
“So,” the newly returned man said, walking over to the man still waving his fingers in the air like he was writing with them, “what are you doing?”
“You haven’t been messing with this whole Nature thing?” the doctor asked excitedly.
“No, been too busy trying to save our people,” he replied dryly.
“Well you should,” the doctor continued, either ignoring or completely missing the tone of the reply, “in a few days I’ve figured out more about the Erlham field than I have in the last year of testing!”
“You mean the… energy stuff that transported us here?”
“It can do so much more than transport people! I mean, all I did was wonder if I could use it to write, and assist my research, and- and,” he gestured to the empty air he’d been waving his finger about, “apparently only I can see it like this, but still, just this indicates so much more!”
“Oh no, you got him going there Akleson,” another of the soldiers chuckled, “in a few minutes he’ll be going on about field interactions and the nature of the soul.”
“Bah,” the doctor dismissed with a wave of his hand, “you’ll see when I manage to stabilize a rift so goods can be sent through, not just people.”
“Can you do that?”
“I don’t know, but I might.”
*****
The ascender known as Lord Flameblade stretched and let out a loud yawn, the open air of the western fields, normally fresh and crisp, was tainted by whisps of smoke. Still, he didn’t mind, it was good to get out of the mansion now and again.
“Lord Flameblade,” a deep man’s voice said from behind him, “we finished on this side.”
“Oh good,” Flameblade replied, turning to face a mountain of a man who couldn’t have been more at contrast to the ascender if he’d tried. His hair was dark with streaks of white as age slowly caught up, compared to Flameblade’s light blonde. The ascender had a muscled, but agile build and wore simple trousers and a plain tunic while his counterpart wore blood splattered plate armor covered in recently made dents and scratches. Even his face was covered in various scars that spoke of years of combat and experience where Flameblade’s skin was smooth and unblemished like a noble. In all regards the casual observer would think the ascender the weaker of the two.
No one else would make that mistake.
Despite his size, the hard glare in his eyes and perpetual expression of disdain, he acted with deference towards Flameblade. And not just the politeness a military veteran might show a naïve politician, this was true respect that one would imagine only other warriors could earn.
“Why are they so far away,” flameblade asked, nodding past the armored man to where a group of others in similar armor, all showing signs of recent battle, stood, watching him nervously.
“You scare them, Lord,” the larger man replied, glancing past Flameblade to the field of smoldering bodies that were the man’s handywork.
“Your boys did well,” Flameblade countered, gesturing to the smaller pile of bodies the Knights had stacked up.
“Right,” the knight said carefully, “I was in their place once, you know, decades back.”
“And look where you are now,” Flameblade said cheerfully.
“Few of my fellow Slayer Knights survive from that period, and fewer still remember all that happened… When King Robert took the throne.”
“Oh,” the ascenders expression fell.
“I haven’t said anything-.”
“Then don’t,” Flameblade interrupted, “your memory of that time might not be as good as you think. Hard passage of years can muddle ones recollection.”
“Of course, Lord,” the man bowed his head, the most he could do easily with his armor on, “I meant no disrespect.”
Flameblade sighed as the large knight retreated, turning to look at the field of monster bodies. After a moment he decided that he needed to fight more and vanished, as if he’d been little more than a mirage.
*****
“Welcome to the church of Dalvos,” Lex said cheerfully as she led Gregory into a large chapel atop the great stone of Templeholm. Dozens of people scurried around on various tasks, some replacing candles that had burned down over the night, others sweeping the floor and still others spoke in hushed tones with other priests.
“Sister,” an older man approached them, speaking to Lex, before Gregory could respond, “are you here to assist with the Vier-Mutts?”
“Are they acting up already?” Lex asked, “I thought we had another couple years.”
“So you aren’t here following a Sign?”
“I am, but I thought it was for this man,” she nodded towards Gregory, “newly arrived Ascender who met up with the convoy I was guarding. Thought the sign was so I could bring him here.”
“The gods often accomplish many things with one sign,” the older man smiled, turning towards Gregory, “greetings Master Ascender. Are you here to try and earn the blessing of the Protector?”
“Thinking about it,” Gregory shrugged, “I found out recently just how… little power I have. And how much I need.”
“He jumped in to save the convoy from Arch-Wolves,” Lex explained, “wasn’t even a part of it at the time. I think he’d make an excellent Herald of Dalvos.”
“I see,” the older priest said, “are you familiar with how blessings work?”
“Only what I was told at the Church of Guidance.”
“They are good at covering the general information, but every god’s blessing is different. If you like I can explain the details of it to you this evening. With the Mutts coming we need all the help we can get.”
“Mutts?”
“A recurring monster hoard that descends on the kingdoms from the north every decade or so,” the priest explained.
“If the Slayer Knights are pulling north it would explain the Arch-Wolves that attacked the caravan,” Lex nodded.
“Indeed, there are always too few protectors and too many who need our protection. Such is our charge.”
“Well, I’m happy to help out, blessing or not,” Gregory said, “but I’m unsure how much help I can be.”
“Ascenders are known to grow fast, especially in the crucible of combat. If you are willing to help I’m sure the Sister here will be willing to train you, even if you don’t ultimately join our order.”
“I also promised him a new spear, his broke defending the convoy I was charged with,” Lex added.
“Easily done,” the priest nodded, “if the spear-tip is still intact finding a new haft is a simple matter. Sister, if you’ll show him to the guest quarters I’ll see what I can arrange.”
“Of course,” Lex replied as Gregory handed over his peace bound spear point. Despite not being a full weapon, it still needed to be bound, apparently.
“This your God Gifted weapon?” the older priest asked, inspecting the weapon, “I don’t recognize the style.”
“It was the one given to me by the fairy when I first arrived, if that’s what you mean,” Gregory replied, “are those weapons special?”
“Hardly,” the priest smiled, “the messengers of the gods steal them from craftsmen all over the world.”
“Many will leave out ‘good enough’ weapons for the fae to steal, so they don’t take their better works,” Lex added with a smirk.
“Indeed,” the priest nodded, “I should have a replacement haft by morning. We can discuss the Blessing of Dalvos then.”
“How much will it cost?” Gregory asked.
“Nonsense,” the priest waved off his offer of payment, “any who are willing to risk themselves to protect the people of this realm may stay here without charge.”
“How long do we have until the Vier-Mutts make their move?” Lex asked as the priest pocketed the spear tip.
“The Slayer knights are preparing a scouting force to go out, end of next week. I expect we won’t have more than a month past that, but only the gods know for certain. Your brothers and sisters have been arriving constantly.”
“Sounds like the horde will appear soon then.”
“Indeed, only a fool would go north in these conditions.”
*****
“Extra sword, check,” Nathen said, looking over his pack, “a week of rations, incase I can’t find anything to hunt, check… Water, flint and steel, rope… all check. All I’m missing is a ten-foot pole,” he chuckled to himself, before tossing the pack over his shoulder.
“So now, to find some mountains,” he continued, looking over the plains that surrounded Templeholm, “ah, there they are. Time to find this legendary blade!”
With that he began walking North.
***** Discord - Patreon *****
2023.06.03 15:22 Bragior Transient Discussion: Kirito
Discussion Schedule and Navigation
- 05/26 - Takeminakata
- 05/29 - Ose (Christmas)
- 06/03 - Kirito
- 06/05 - Kagutsuchi (Jamboree)
- 06/09 - Gurangatch
Character Discussion: Kirito
Character Info
Relationships
- Liked by: Arc
- Disliked by: Inaba
- Likes: Oniwaka
- Dislikes: Protagonist
3☆ Kirito
Stats
- Title: Stranded Young Boy
- Element: Zero
- Attack Type: Slash
- Rarity: 3☆
- Party Cost: 8
- Max Base Stats:
- HP: 6667.117
- ATK: 3204.32
- Max Seeded Stats:
- HP: 10282.062
- ATK: 5946.52
Skills
| Obtain | Skill Name | Trigger | Effect | Proc Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default | Nebulous | After Moving | Apply Dazzle to enemies in Thrust range | 30%-60% |
| On Miss | Remove 500 HP from self and allies in Slash range | 100% | ||
| LB1 | Craving Solitude | When Hit | Apply Skill Lock to attacking units | 35%-70% |
| Before Hitting | Apply Darkness to hit units | 40%-80% | ||
| Status Resistance | Remove Nourishment, Unction, Blessing, and Regeneration | 100% | ||
| Before Being Attacked | Steal 250-500 HP from allies in front of self | 40%-80% | ||
| LB2 | Hierodulia Denier | After Moving | Apply Weakness to enemies in front of self | 50%-100% |
| Attack Modifier | Deal 100× damage against enemies with Evasion | 100% | ||
| Attack Modifier | Deal 1.5× damage against various statuses | 100% | ||
| LB3 | The Unrevealed | On Miss | Apply Dazzle to all enemies | 15%-30% |
| After Moving | Apply Nullify Debuff to self | 45%-90% |
- Hierodulia Denier:
- Deal 1.5× damage against enemies with the following statuses:
- Poison, Fatal Poison (including stackable versions), Burn (including stackable versions), Oppression, Paralysis, Fear, Curse, Dazzle, Charm, Freeze (including stackable versions), Countdown, Skill Lock, CS Lock, Bind, Stigma, Double Lock, Break, Nullify Buff, Possession, Weakness, Obstruct, Drain, Darkness, Buff Reversal, Conflagration, Doubt, Madness, Dirt, Weapon Change (Long Slash), CS Weapon Change (Long Slash)
- Deal 1.5× damage against enemies with the following statuses:
Charge Skill
| Name | Range | Extra Effect |
|---|---|---|
| [Whitechapel Murderer] Unending Castle of Fog | Slash | Restore 300-600 HP + Apply Crit to self |
5☆ Kirito
Stats
- Title: Urban Alibi
- Element: Zero
- Attack Type: Slash
- Rarity: 5☆
- Party Cost: 24
- Max Base Stats:
- HP: 8463.829
- ATK: 4215.791
- Max Seeded Stats:
- HP: 12039.444
- ATK: 6874.876
Skills
| Obtain | Skill Name | Trigger | Effect | Proc Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Default | Vanished in the Crowd | After Moving | Apply Dazzle to enemies in Shot range | 45%-90% |
| On Miss | Apply Evasion to self | 45%-90% | ||
| On Miss | Remove 500 HP from self and allies in Slash range | 100% | ||
| LB1 | Destitute and Unbound | When Hit | Apply Skill Lock to attacking units | 40%-80% |
| Before Hitting | Apply Darkness to hit units | 40%-80% | ||
| Before Hitting | Boost 4-8 CP to self | 45%-90% | ||
| Status Resistance | Remove Bind, Skill Lock, and Double Lock | 50%-100% | ||
| Status Resistance | Remove Nourishment, Unction, Blessing, and Regeneration | 100% | ||
| Before Being Attacked | Steal 250-500 HP from allies in front of self | 40%-80% | ||
| LB2 | Hierodulia Denier | After Moving | Apply Weakness to enemies in front of self | 50%-100% |
| Attack Modifier | Deal 100× damage against enemies with Evasion | 100% | ||
| Attack Modifier | Deal 1.5× damage against various statuses (see 3☆ for more info) | 100% | ||
| LB3 | Gone in the Twilight | On Miss | Apply Dazzle to all enemies | 25%-50% |
| After Moving | Apply Nullify Debuff to self | 50%-100% | ||
| Before Being Hit | Apply Evasion to self | 15%-30% | ||
| Phase Start | Apply Limit to self | 45%-90% |
Skill Evolutions
| Replaces | Skill Name | Trigger | Effect | Proc Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hierodulia Denier | Hierodulia-Denying Ripper | After Moving | Apply Weakness to enemies in Long Slash range | 50%-100% |
| Attack Modifier | Deal 100× damage against enemies with Evasion | 100% | ||
| Attack Modifier | Deal 1.5× damage against various statuses (see 3☆ for more info) | 100% | ||
| Phase Start | Apply Dazzle + Dazzle Weakening to all enemies | |||
| Apply CS Lock to enemies within a 2-square diamond radius | 50%-100% |
Charge Skill
| Name | Range | Extra Effect |
|---|---|---|
| [Whitechapel Murderer] Unending Castle of Fog | Long Slash | Restore 300-600 HP to self + Apply Crit++ and Evasion to self + Apply Double Lock to hit units and vertically-adjacent enemies |
Resources
- What do you like or dislike about this character, design-wise, story-wise and gameplay-wise?
- What role does this character have, gameplay-wise?
- What other characters work well with them?
- What map types do they excel in?
- How do they compare to other characters with a similar role?
- Are they worth investing ATK, HP, level and skill seeds for?
- How does the character differ between their base 3☆ variant and their higher rarity?
- How do they compare to other limited characters?
- How have they improved with their skill evolutions?
2023.06.03 15:20 Jakimcikas First time japan travel report 04.25-05.17
Alrighty, I'll describe my first time travel in japan, what went well, what didn't go well, my overall impression of Japan. We travelled trough quite a few cities, but I'll try to keep it as short as possible as I'm not much of writer. And we've visited quite a few places, so if you'd like more details, comment and I'll go more in-depth :).
A bit about the travelling party. Me(25M) and a work colleague(26M), Lithuanians(Europe) software engineers, reasonably fit and somewhat fluent in english, Omnivores(my colleague is allergic to cheese), our height is around ±185cm.
Total amount spent: slightly more than 3k euros in japan + 1.1k euros flights back and forth.
Daily food expenses: 30-40 eur or 5k-7k yen.
Average hotel stay: ~60euro
Food: - Breakfast - usually something from a convenience store. Chicken, power gels, chocolate, melon bread(my favourite), - Lunch - something from a convenience store or a restaurant - Dinner - restaurant usually a ramen place
Alright that's a brief summary, now for the more in-depth write up.
So we booked the following hotels: - Tokyo - Apa Hotel Higashi Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower(04.25-04.26) - Osaka - APA Hotel Namba Kita Shinsaibashi Ekimae(04.26-04.30) - Onomichi island - TOMARIGI Hostel(04.30-05.01) - Matsuyama - Hotel Patio Dogo(05.01-05.02) - Hiroshima - Wholeearth Ryokan Hiroshima(05.02-05.04) - Kumamoto - Hotel Wing International Select Kumamoto(05.04-05.08) - Nagoya - Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagoya Shinkansenguchi(05.08-05.10) - Magoame - Magomechaya(05.10-05.11) - Matsumoto - Hotel M Matsumoto(05.11-05.12) - Tokyo - APA Hotel Ginza Kyobashi Tokyo Station Yaesu South Gate(05.14-05.17)
Extra things we bought in advance: - Water proof bags - Hiking boots and socks - Bigger backpacks - JP Rail pass, we booked the trains in advance, but honestly that wasn't necessary even during golden week - Bandages for foot blisters, medicine(for headaches, motion sickness, diarrhoea). - Ubigi eSim internet(10GB was plenty for me throughout the trip) - Sun screen(did not use and got sunburned to a point where I was shinning red) - Portable battery
I'm very happy I had the opportunity to go on such a trip, I enjoyed it a lot even though, I'm quite the couch potato so 3 weeks is a bit much for me, but nonetheless, wouldn't change a thing.
submitted by Jakimcikas to JapanTravel [link] [comments]
A bit about the travelling party. Me(25M) and a work colleague(26M), Lithuanians(Europe) software engineers, reasonably fit and somewhat fluent in english, Omnivores(my colleague is allergic to cheese), our height is around ±185cm.
TL;DR
Cities/islands visited
Tokyo(Shinjuku) -> Osaka -> Nara -> Kyoto -> Onomichi Islands -> Matsuyama -> Hiroshima -> Miyajima -> Kumamoto -> Aso(region) -> Fukuoka -> Nagasaki -> Nagoya -> Takayama -> Magome -> Matsumoto - > Tokyo(Chuo) -> Tokyo(Shibuya) -> Tokyo(Teito) -> Hakone.Expenses
I was slightly more conservative with my spending so my expenses are on the cheaper side, my colleague spent quite a bit more, especially on food and booze.Total amount spent: slightly more than 3k euros in japan + 1.1k euros flights back and forth.
Daily food expenses: 30-40 eur or 5k-7k yen.
Average hotel stay: ~60euro
Food: - Breakfast - usually something from a convenience store. Chicken, power gels, chocolate, melon bread(my favourite), - Lunch - something from a convenience store or a restaurant - Dinner - restaurant usually a ramen place
Activities
Museums, castles, shrines, forests, mountains, walks around the city. We did a lot of walking, total around 400km of walking(at leasts that's what google fit shows)Alright that's a brief summary, now for the more in-depth write up.
My key takeaways
- Japan is a very safe country, I felt safe everywhere, even in the shady parts of Tokyo.
- People are very polite, they'll go out of their way to help you, even if they don't speak english.
- People are very quiet, you won't hear people talking on the phone, or talking loudly in public transport.
- Be polite, if you don't understand or thing that this is not how it should be, don't be rude, just accept it and move on. You are an alien in their country, not the other way around. So please don't ever raise your voice, japanese people are not malicious, they'll try to help you, but they might not understand you.
- If you want to feel appreciated, learn at least the basics on japanese, it's not that hard, and it'll make your life easier. I did it through doulingo, reached unit 14 in a month and that was sufficient to have very simple conversation.
Planning for the trip
We started planning the trip, where we'll go, where we'll stay, what we'll do, expenses, trains, all that you can plan was started to be planned around a month prior to the trip. We created a word doc as our itinerary, that was around 60 pages long. From what I've read on this page about you can't plan everything. Well I believe we did, we might've even over planned :D.So we booked the following hotels: - Tokyo - Apa Hotel Higashi Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower(04.25-04.26) - Osaka - APA Hotel Namba Kita Shinsaibashi Ekimae(04.26-04.30) - Onomichi island - TOMARIGI Hostel(04.30-05.01) - Matsuyama - Hotel Patio Dogo(05.01-05.02) - Hiroshima - Wholeearth Ryokan Hiroshima(05.02-05.04) - Kumamoto - Hotel Wing International Select Kumamoto(05.04-05.08) - Nagoya - Sotetsu Fresa Inn Nagoya Shinkansenguchi(05.08-05.10) - Magoame - Magomechaya(05.10-05.11) - Matsumoto - Hotel M Matsumoto(05.11-05.12) - Tokyo - APA Hotel Ginza Kyobashi Tokyo Station Yaesu South Gate(05.14-05.17)
Extra things we bought in advance: - Water proof bags - Hiking boots and socks - Bigger backpacks - JP Rail pass, we booked the trains in advance, but honestly that wasn't necessary even during golden week - Bandages for foot blisters, medicine(for headaches, motion sickness, diarrhoea). - Ubigi eSim internet(10GB was plenty for me throughout the trip) - Sun screen(did not use and got sunburned to a point where I was shinning red) - Portable battery
The trip
Day 1(04.25)
We arrived at the Haneda aiport, exchanged some cash to yen(was at a better course than locally), printed out our JR passes(IMPORTANT TO DO SO HERE, only major stations let you print it out) and went to the metro. We took the train to Shinjuku, and walked to our hotel to check-in. We were quite tired, bought some chicken from lawson and went to explore a few places, a few drinks in golden gai district and ramen in a nearby place. Eventually we ended up at rock bar mother. Really cool place, for each drink you can request 2 songs to be played. After that back to hotel, visit the top floor onsen and sleepDay 2(04.26)
Got up early, travelled to osaka. Left our luggage in the hotel, we were too early for a check in. We went to see Osaka castle(quite beautiful), tried takoyaki there. More city exploring, then we went check-in. After that we went to see the Umeda Sky Building in the evening(we bought the ticket in advance) very beautiful, it was very clear and beautiful. Got back to the city, got some ramen, went to the hotel and sleep.Day 3(04.27)
Went to USJ, bought tickets(basic, no express stuff) in advance. We went there 30minutes before opening, and there was already a huge line. We went to Nintendo first, the zone looked very nice, but ride it'd say was okay'ish for me. After that the dinosaur rides, minion land, grabbed chinese food for lunch, went to the harry potter zone, at this point the lines got quite long around 1h to 1h 30min of wait time. After that we went to see Water world where they were doing a play, was really awesome, I'd say a must see even if you don't understand Japanese, the acting is very good. After that we went to Osaka aquarium(no lines, thank god), it was beautiful, cute chonks and other sea creatures.Day 4(04.28)
Trip to Kyoto from Osaka. We went early by metro, to see the bamboo forest(7:40'ish), beautiful, few people. Walked around the park then climbed the mount a fed the monkeys(50 yen for a bag of fruits or nuts), very cute, tried petting the hand of one, didn't go well got an aggressive show of teeth. After that we visited Ryoanji temple, went to nishi market, we we're running a bit late so we took a taxi to Kiyomizudera, we saw the geish district on our way to there, looked interesting. After the temple we went to a bar and got back to Osaka and then after a bowl of ramen to our hotel.Day 5(04.29)
We went to Nara, took this hiking track saw the deer, bought some food, did the whole bow thing then fed them. One thing to keep in mind is to crumble the cookie and give it in small pieces, otherwise you'll run out of food to give quickly. They might be very "assertive" and try to take it from you, don't be afraid, just stick your empty arm out to get some distance and that's it . They're not gonna bite you. After that we went to see the Todaiji temple, it was beautiful, the buddha statue was huge. Got back to Osaka, got some ramen, went to the hotel, scheduled to send our luggage to our next hotel and went to sleep.Day 6(04.30)
Got up early, went to Onomichi, rented some bikes and began our cycling journey through the islands. A lot of cool bridges, very beautiful nature. We cycled to north Omishima port, where we transfered to rabbit island pet and fed the rabbits, got back and cycled to our ryokan and straight to sleeping.Day 7(05.01)
More cycling, more cool bridges, more beautiful nature. We arrived at Imabari, returned our bikes and took the train to Matsuyama. We ate some stree food, relaxed in the open hot springs for feet. Walked around and went to sleep. To be honest I'd say this was the favorite city of the whole trip for me. I liked the vibe, the people, the food, the nature, the onsen, the layout, the architecture. In general, beautiful city.Day 8(05.02)
Early in the morning visited a public onsen nearby, then went to see the Matsuyama castle, it was beautiful, tried the orange juice there, it was really good, got back to our hotels, got some dango. Packed our stuff, got a taxi and went to the port and took the ferry to Hiroshima. Checked in the ryokan. Took a train to Hiroshima city center, visited the castle and then the nuclear museum. Get the english audio for best experience. It took me around 2hours to walk through everything, read it and take it in. It was very nerve racking, but I'd say a must see. After that we went out to eat some Okonomiyaki, it was delicious, then back to the ryokan and sleep.Day 9(05.03)
Went to Miyajima island first by train then transfer by ferry. It was very beautiful, the mountain hike was also fun, the view on top was amazing. When we came down from the mountain there was a low tide, so we could go near the Itsukushima shrine. Got back to Hiroshima, went to the city center for a couple of beers, got back to Ryokan and went to sleep.Day 10(05.04)
First day of the Golden week, wouldn't say that I've noticed anything different, maybe because we were travelling to the far south of Japan - Kumamoto. This is one of those cities that I also enjoyed more than the big common ones, it looked very nice, had a beautiful castle, was not crowded as Hiroshima, Osaka or Tokyo. We rented out bikes, cycled to Honmoji park(the place near Honmoji park is god damn maze, keep you google maps always open or you will get lost) found a place to eat, visited Lafcadio Hearn House and went to our hotel and then to sleep.Day 11(05.05)
We rentend a car and went to Aso, highly recommend renting a car here, since the public transport is not that good. The drive was very nice, we went to see active volcano crater, luckily it was not erupting, so we were allowed to get close. Then we went around and climbed the other inactive mountain caps. Climbing that was one of the most fun hikes I've had. It was very windy, you could barely see past 5 meters anywhere, because of the fog. There was no smell of sulfur, so it was safe. We visited Mt. Nakadake, Mt. Takadake, overall the place looked like Mordor, the vibes, the weather everything. After that we visited Ayugaeno Falls, the ravines and everything was just majectic. After that we got back to Kumamoto, gave back the car and went somewhere to eat. Car rental cost around ~7k yen in total. So I'd say a good price. After eating, we went to our hotel and then to sleep.Day 12(05.06)
We went to Fukuoka, by train, walked around the city, visited Tochoji temple, Fukuoka castle ruins, Ohori park and explored the huge ravine type shopping mall. Went to the science museum(big mistake, it's for kids...). After that we tried Ichiran ramen(originated in Fukuoka so we thought it be better). Was the same as everywhere else. It was rainy so we got back pretty early to our hotel and went to sleep.Day 13(05.07)
We went to Nagasaki, by train, visited the atomic bomb museum, it was very interesting, just as good as the one in Hiroshima. We took a boat ride to see Gunkanjima, though we couldn't get on the island, because of the weather, it was still very interesting to see and hear the history of the island. Explored the Dutch district, walked around the shops, tried some whale meat. It was raining the whole day, so we also got back quite early and went to sleep.Day 14(05.08)
We got up early and went got straight to the train station, and caught the train to Nagoya. The longest train ride by far. We arrived at Nagoya, checked in our hotel, went to the city center, visited the castle, it was very beautiful, then we wanted to explore the abandoned tunnel near Aichi. Apparently it was closed, we decided we're going to enter through the exit, like rascals, but apparently after we circled around there was a police officer that was guarding traffic through the bridge and wouldn't let us through. So our trip ended there. After comming back to Nagoya we visited the sky scrapper, it had interesting installations on the windows. We had our stay got back to hotel and went to sleep.Day 15(05.09)
We went to Takayama, by train, one of the most scenic train rides so far. We strolled around the city center, visited the early morning market, bought some souvenirs, tried some white strawberries, mushroom tee and other local cuisine. Visited Takayama Showa Museum, which was 10/10. You could touch almost everything, the museum gave a great vibe, it was like you were in a house of a family that lived there. There was also an old nintendo with mario kart that you could play, put on a old yukata and take photos. Play pachinko(no money needed), watch an old-school movie. We visited a few sake tasting places, I've found a few flavours that I liked. After that back to Nagoya, eat ramen and sleep.Day 16(05.10)
We sent out our luggage to Matsumoto, caught a train to Nagiso and then hiked the Nakasendo trail to Tsumago and then Magome where we checked in and stayed at the local ryokan. The hike was very nice and relaxing one of the easier hikes I've had, the places we saw we're quite old and beautiful. At ryokan we met people one American and one from Germany, they had a guitar so we chatted a bit, played the guitar and had a few beers. The dinner at ryokan was amazing, looked very traditional Japanese dinner. Was also very tasty, would definitely recommend this place. After that we went to sleep.Day 17-19(05.11)
Got up early and took a bus to Nakatsugawa Eki-mae station where we travelled to Matsumoto. We left our bags and went to the RubyKaigi conference. Overall good conference, I've learned somethings, but most importantly I've had bit of time to rest and catch up on some sleep, since we weren't exploring new cities. So overall the following 3 days were wake up -> breakfast -> conference -> lunch -> conference -> drinks -> dinner -> sleep.Day 20(05.14)
Slept in, had breakfast and travelled to Tokyo by train. Left our luggage at the hotel and moved on to explore the Chou region. Walked around the Ginza, Imperial palace, Yasukuni shrine and went to check in. After that it was getting dark, so travelled to Akihabara to experience the anime night life, was quite bright and interesting. Though the amount of requests to visit a maid cafe was too damn high. If your planning to buy a PS5, a new GPU or Nintendo switch, this could be the place, I saw PS5 with two controllers for 60k yen, with a 10% tax refund that is around 370 euros. After some exploration, got back to our hotel and went to sleep.Day 21(05.15)
This was our Hakone day trip, we bought the 3 day pass for it, so we could use the train, bus, ropeway and boat. Was worth it, even for one day. We climbed Mt. Kintoki, thankfully the weather was great and we could see Fuji. The climb was very nice, the view was amazing, the weather was great, no bears to be seen. After climbing down, we played some golf that was near there. Travelled back to the station were we used the rope-way to get around the mountains, the view was just majestic, we saw the sulfur pits, the stench was, well strong to say the least, but overall enjoyed the experience. We didn't make it time to the boat, so we had to travel back by bus, which wasn't so bad, since the scenery was amazing.Day 22(05.16)
Explored more Tokyo, so we went to Teito district, went to the Ueno zoo, National science museum. After that we went to Kaminarimon gate, Asakusa shrine and moved to Shibuya next. There we went to the Yoyogi park, Meiji Jingu shrine, paid our respects to Hachiko statue. The last activity was to visit TeamLabs Planets, which were amazing, one most interesting experiences, not gonna spoil any details, overall great experience, would do it again. As it was getting late we got back to Shibuya, walked around more, had a drink and went back to our hotel.Day 23(05.17)
Last day in Japan was spent buying souvenirs, snacks and other stuff to bring back home. Packing our luggage, to accommodate for the extras, getting to Haneda airport and back to Lithuania.I'm very happy I had the opportunity to go on such a trip, I enjoyed it a lot even though, I'm quite the couch potato so 3 weeks is a bit much for me, but nonetheless, wouldn't change a thing.
2023.06.03 15:07 Constant-Mood-1601 Underexposed
 | I was looking at some negs I underexposed 2 stops, and told thedarkroom to push 2 stops. Idk what pushed negs are supposed to look like but I thought maybe they’d look different. Maybe my light meter needle is misaligned? Or would you expect negatives to be really thin even when pushed? submitted by Constant-Mood-1601 to AnalogCommunity [link] [comments] |
2023.06.03 15:06 Zendaya-Papaya Mightve prevented myself from getting robbed.
So I was at Velankanni Beach clicking pictures with my camera and there was this gang of boys next to me, 2 were playing and 3 were sitting. This one guy saw me with a camera and just stared at me. like stared and that's when I realised something was wrong
He then ran... more like sprinted to his friends sitting and drew a camera on the beach sand and this guys eyes was blood red. it was bad
His friends kept annoying him and throwing sand on his drawing so I'm assuming they didn't understand he then moves a little qnd writes "DSLR" before his friends threw sand on it again
thats when I realised yeah something is not right, i packed everything and got the fuck out. I walked couple of meters and turned back and thst dude was still looking at me.
close call? xD
submitted by Zendaya-Papaya to TamilNadu [link] [comments]
He then ran... more like sprinted to his friends sitting and drew a camera on the beach sand and this guys eyes was blood red. it was bad
His friends kept annoying him and throwing sand on his drawing so I'm assuming they didn't understand he then moves a little qnd writes "DSLR" before his friends threw sand on it again
thats when I realised yeah something is not right, i packed everything and got the fuck out. I walked couple of meters and turned back and thst dude was still looking at me.
close call? xD
2023.06.03 15:06 Constant-Mood-1601 Underexposed
 | I was looking at some negs I underexposed 2 stops, and told thedarkroom to push 2 stops. Idk what pushed negs are supposed to look like but I thought maybe they’d look different. Maybe my light meter needle is misaligned? Or would you expect negatives to be really thin even when pushed? submitted by Constant-Mood-1601 to AnalogCommunity [link] [comments] |
2023.06.03 15:00 Acceptable_Egg5560 Persistence Journalism [15]
Thanks again to u/TheManwithaNoPlan in all their help in co-writing this story! They are a fountain of inspiration!
[First-[Prev]-[Next]
Memory transcript: Sharnet, Venlil Journalist. Date: [Standardized human time] September 19th, 2136
I had been correct. When Tagleb had described Unzekep’s behavior, I had thought she couldn’t possibly be one of the Overseers. Too descriptive. Too many features that stood out to be remembered. But I had to see. I needed to see what she was like.
I didn’t want to treat her like a monster. Like everyone else.
Unzekep was curled up in a ball on the ground, her sobs echoing off the enclosing walls. They clashed with the constant hum of the pumps, each dampening the other slightly. Her colors kept shifting between the gray of the walls and her natural green, as if she was barely trying to hide.
She just continued to sob. “I don’t want to go. P-please… I don’t… please…”
My legs started walking. On their own. Closer. I’m kneeling next to her. She’s hurting. I…
I gently placed my paw on her back. She shrinks back at the touch, but I keep my paw in place as she cries. “It’s okay,” I say, trying to be heard over the pumps, “we mean you no harm. We wish to h…” The facility said they helped. “We wish to keep you away from the monsters of the facility.”
Her chest shuttered as one eye peered out at me. “Y-you… you hate me. Fear me. Everyone… everyone does…”
“I am not everyone,” I reply. “Come, please, let’s get out of this room so we can hear each other. We only wish to talk.”
Unzekep began rising to her feet, but it still felt off. Her movements brought to mind the Venlil I had seen in the Arxur fear videos. The movement of someone who believed that they were being sent to their death and had given up all hope of its avoidance. Vekna stood by as I led her out of the room, unsure of how to act in the face of this situation.
The scaffolding outside the room groaned from the stresses put upon it by those far above as we walked out. The distant sounds of reactors whirring and people talking replaced the constant hum of the turbines as the backdrop to our situation. I saw Vekna take a small sigh of relief as she closed the door behind us. I saw how she had started to tense up the longer we were in there, this was more for her than Unzekep. Speaking of, the Harchen was still curled up in a defensive stance. “So…why do you bring me out? Are you…going to throw things at me?” She looked down, staring at a small discarded wrench set against the wall. “Please… don’t do hard.”
“We are not going to do that.” She was so scared of us. Like she was standing before an Arxur. “You were in Dawn Creek. The correctional facility there.”
Her colors shifted in fear again. “They-they tossed out! I didn’t- it wasn’t an escape! I’m not- not bad. I’m good! I promise! I-I…” I could see her eyes start to wet again. “Please…I’m sorry…”
Vekna, who had been behind me, knelt forward, keeping her paws to herself. “We know, we know. We’re not going to send you back there, or anywhere else. It’s okay, we’re friends.” I could hear something in her voice I couldn’t quite discern. Sadness? Anger? Both?
Unzekep looked up at her, at us, and she finally started to uncurl. “You’re…friends? Why?” The very fact she asked that at all sent a pang of sympathy through my heart. Is she really so isolated out here that she has to ask why someone wants to be friends with her?
I shook my head to focus. “Because the people who ran that place were evil. They tortured people, and we want to make sure that they don’t do such things to anyone else.”
Unzekep looked at me in confusion, her complexion only slightly changing to a bluish tint. “People don’t call it torture. It’s treatments. Bad treatments. They didn’t help change color. That’s how you spot me, right? The dots.” She ran a hand over her temple, right where the splotches were.
I nodded. “Yes, we did. You did a good job hiding otherwise, though.”
“Thanks. I learned how to ca…cam…hide very well. Sometimes I could make the guards miss me, but then I got in trouble for my next treatment.” I saw her shudder at the memories of that. Why did we ever think this was a good idea? “They had me take stuff. Said… it would make me hide better. Didn’t. It- it made me worse.”
So she was drugged. I guess my theory about the Harchen drug was somewhat correct. “Yes. The people there lied. They lied a lot…” I leaned forward, trying to keep my voice comforting, “do you remember a giant Venlil?”
Her tail flicked in worry as Vekna looked over to me in confusion. “They said.. it was dangerous. That it was going to destroy everything. But… they said they were throwing us out because of it.”
“They were lying again,” I told her, “they were throwing you out to hide themselves. The overseers feared we would find out that they were torturing people, so they ran.” I gestured to me and Vekna. “We are looking for them. We want to make sure they never hurt anyone again. Please, can you help us?”
A new flash of fear flows across her body as she shrinks back. “I- I can’t! They- they’ll know. They will hurt me. Find me and hurt me.” She shivers to herself despite the warmer air down here. Is this the kind of pain Tarlim was hiding all along? By the stars…
Vekna stepped in, her voice similarly soothing. “Why do you think that? You’re a long ways away from Dawn Creek. Do you think that someone from there is here?” She looked between us for a moment before she took on a yellow underhue in confirmation. I had to stop myself from celebrating then and there. After three misses, I was starting to think that this was nothing more than another ruse. At least we’re not doing this for nothing! I leaned in a little closer, causing the Harchen to focus on me. “Do you know who they are? What they look like? Where they might be?” Unzekep whined at my inquiries and covered her ear holes. “Please, not so loud. You’re hurting my ears.” I immediately retracted, doing my best to lower my volume. I flicked my ears in the affirmative, but she didn’t stop. Confused, I flicked them again, but she just continued to look at me as if I was going to restart my questions as soon as she took her hands away. Vekna stepped in and spoke. “She won’t be as loud anymore.” At that, Unzekep finally took her hands away. Difficulty with nonverbal cues. Of course they’d lock her up for that. “Okay. I…saw their back. I don’t know where they are. I know that they did something bad in the caves. They left when I came. Someone else was there, a Venlil. Shocked. It looked like what they did to me, but worse. More sloppy.”
That piqued my interest. Perhaps that’s the reason she spends most of her time down here? I had to ask. “Is that why you stay down here in the bowels of the reactors? In the tunnels under the city?”
She tapped her fingers together. “They… are safe. No eyes. No people who…less people who hurt me. I can hide. I have a house on the top, but… they are top, too. I can hide better down here.”
She looked to be getting scared again at the memory, so I took a soothing tone again. “Thank you. Please, can you tell me where you saw them? What caves?”
She fidgeted with her tail, which had curled around to her front. “Up in the mountains. Old iron mines that ran out a long time ago. Nobody but me ever went up there…and them now.” She clenched her tail. “I don’t go up there anymore.”
Iron mines. We had a location. A place that our target likely frequented. “Thank you. You have helped us so much by telling us that.” I bowed to her, “I promise, we will take them away from this place. You won’t have to hide anymore.”
She didn’t seem to calm down much at that, though. Instead, she looked…sad. “I do have to, I always have to….” She sighed. “People see me. Hate me. They… they will try to send me to another… they will hurt me again. Zap me… here.” She pointed to the spots on her head. The ones that never change their color.
I wanted to say she was wrong. I wanted to reassure her that things would be fine once the heads were captured. But so many would fear her. So many would… wait… “How did you get here?”
Unzekep looked at me in confusion, her color shifting bluish.
“When you were tossed out,” I explain, “you moved here. You had a house. You must have had people who helped you. Who don’t fear you.”
“My… my mom.” Her tail curled around her legs as she sat on the ground. “She found me. She’s in the gov…gover…she has power, covered for me all she could. She…she put me in at first, but when these showed up,” she pointed to her dead spots, “she tried to get me out. Didn’t work, but then they threw us out. It was…a long, long walk.”
Vekna gasped at that. “Wait, you mean to say you walked here? All the way from Dawn Creek? Why didn’t you take a…oh. No money, right?”
Unzekep shifted her underhue in confirmation. “No, no money. When I got here, I was so tired. But…now I have a job. And people usually don’t bother me. Not unless its-”
“Oy!” A voice echoed in the tunnels, “what are you lazy brahkasses doing?”
I looked over my shoulder at the source of the noise. A lanky off-white Venlil woman, most certainly past her prime, walked out of the cargo elevator and approached us. Upon seeing her, Unzekep tried her best to camouflage against the surface, but it wasn’t working all too well. “And quit with the color changing, you speh-licking lizard! I can still see your spots a [mile] away! What are you doing off the job, your shift isn’t over yet!”
I heard Unzekep whimper and shrink away towards the door. “Please, I’m sorry, they came! I was just-”
“You were just not working! Herd, you must love giving me excuses, huh?” To my horror, she picked up the unattended wrench in her paw and held it menacingly. Wait…Unzekep thought that…no. No no no, please let me be wrong.
Vekna stood to try and stop her, most likely coming to the same conclusion I had. “Ma’am, please, we only wanted-”
“Wanted to be rid of this useless Freak!” The woman interrupted, waving the wrench like a pointer, “about time someone got sent to deal with her!”
I flick my ears up in surprise. “Deal with her?” No, please no.
Unzekep was desperately trying to get back into the room but the door was jammed shut. She pulled on the handle as the other worker drew nearer. “Yeah. Chief engineers deal with problems, but this one’s my favorite!” Then, before either of us could react, she pulled her arm back and chucked the heavy metal wrench at Unzekep. It hit her squarely between her shoulders, and she flashed a myriad of different colors in an instant as she cried out in agony.
Wrong! No!
What followed was unrestrained chaos. I was next to the Harchen, seeing if her injury was severe. Before the same second was up, Vekna stepped up to the “chief engineer” and punched her squarely in the jaw. The poor imitation of a Venlil staggered to the side, stopping herself on the balcony as orange blood dripped from her, no, its mouth. “Wha-”
Vekna didn’t hesitate, grabbing it by the collar of its uniform and landing another square hit against its jaw, baring her teeth at the enemy. “What the sprak is wrong with you? Throwing a wrench at her like that? What did she ever do to you!?”
I barely heard her words. The world was orange. It wasn’t nearly orange enough. I got up, and moved over to where Vekna was holding it. I placed a paw on her shoulder as I glared at it. She looked back at me, and soon let it go, leaving it to me. I wasted no time, slamming an open paw against its snout and knocking it over the ledge of the catwalk. I heard gasps behind me, I didn’t care. I grabbed it by its scruff over the chasm. I heard it try to cry out like a Venlil. Not convincing.
I shook. Shook hard. I heard a clunk. Less resistance. The railing had decoupled. The thing was now hanging over the steep drop with nothing to hold it back from falling. Nothing but my grip on its scruff. It was screaming. Pleading. Sobbing. Orange. Now it’s real.
I shook its scruff, feeling one of its feet slip and scramble to find purchase again on the scaffold floor. “Do you feel powerful?” I am shouting. “Do you feel Safe?? Beating people with tools? Forcing them to work alone?! Look down there! Look!!” I used my other hand to grab its head and force it to turn one eye to the drain pit and the small layer of water far beneath. “If someone were to fall down there, how long would it take for them to be rescued? Huh? How Long?? HOW SPEHKING LONG?!”
It was crying. It wasn’t enough. “ANSWER ME!!!”
My vocal chords hurt. I didn’t care. So much orange. All around me orange. I felt something on my shoulder. A voice spoke from behind me. “Sharnet! That’s enou-”
My paw moved before I could think, releasing from its head and smacking the source of the voice away. Now I could focus, I could make it feel what Unzekep felt, what Tarlim felt, what Vekna…
A whine.
I looked back. Vekna was on the ground, an eye shut and orange on the ground.
Wrong orange. Her orange. Oh… oh Stars…
I was hanging a woman over the edge of a meltwater drain pit. She was bleeding. She was crying and shaking. My paw was all that stood between her and death. I quickly pulled her back to safety, tossing her to the ground as I rushed over to Vekna. “Vekna! Are you-” She shrunk away from me, a terrified look in her one open eye. No, no no no no. Please, no! I lowered my paws to the ground to show that I wasn’t a threat. She calmed down a little, rubbing at the side of her snout. “Sharnet, what was that? What happened?”
I had been about to kill somebody. That’s what happened. I had promised to be better, but I just took everything out in someone again. I… I… “I’m sorry…”
“You…” it was the woman again, “you were- you were going to…”
I had been. I wanted to. Stars, I STILL wanted to! How long had Unzekep been tormented by her? How many wrenches had been thrown?? What injuries did she have that this creature caused?? I- I- I Can’t!!! I can’t let them get away with it! I can’t let them take this out on Unzekep! I am a monster, but I will NOT let another monster hurt someone innocent! Not…Not like they did to Tarlim!!
“Do you even know who we are?” I am panting from the adrenaline, “Why we’re here?”
The woman just stuttered, crawling backwards as I stomped towards her. “I- I don’t - I-”
“We were sent here to look at the safety of this place,” I interrupted, “And you know what we found? A worker all alone on a job that requires more! Insufficient lighting!” I pointed to the broken scaffolding that I had hung her off, “railing that falls apart when leaned on! Deep pits with their emergency ladders missing! And You!” I pointed a claw right at her snout. A threat to the herd being signaled. “A-A puddle of Speh who beats their coworkers with metal wrenches!!” I leaned over her cowering form, teeth bared, claws braced. “Unless you leave the Harchen alone, and grovel before the safety board, I will make you WISH. I. Had. Let. Go.”
“Yes! Yes!” She sobbed, “By Solgalick, I promise! Don’t hurt me!”
I am a monster. So I play the part. “Then Leave!!”
I watch the white form scramble down the path out of sight, the scaffolding rattling as she runs practically on all fours. I don’t regret seeing her disappear. I turned back to Unzekep. She looked at me fearfully. As she should. “They shouldn’t bother you again,” I panted, “we will… find the overseer. You… you will be able to go up top soon. I promise.”
She looked up at me, her tail curled beneath her legs in fear. “Th… thank you. N-nobody ever p-protected me before.”
She is thankful. How can she be thankful? I am a monster. The only thing that made me different was I was attacking another monster. How can she do more than just fear me? “Is… is where she hit you… okay?”
“It… it hurts,” she whined, “but… less than last time.”
So she would be okay. I wanted to stay and help her. Get her somewhere to treat the bruises but… but I would just hurt her. I was still so angry, so upset. I would just take it out on her. I-I have to leave. They aren’t safe around me. Go!
I stood, eyeing the still open cargo elevator. “Good. I’m sorry, I must leave.” I began walking towards the elevator, my legs wobbling as the adrenaline began to fade. My paw found the buttons on their own, and I pressed the one to take us to the top. Faster. Please. I need to get away from them. I don’t want to hurt them. I-
“Sharnet!”
I jolted. My fur flared out. It was Vekna. She was in here with me. She was panting. One of her eyes was partially closed. My doing. “Hey, wait up! I need to get back up to the surface, too!”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to say anything. I don’t deserve to speak. I pressed myself into the wall, slumping against it as we ascended. Vekna panted, occasionally putting a paw over her eye and wincing. My doing. She looked at me and tried to put on a smile. “Well, that was a close shear, huh? I-I mean, when I…and then you…and then we…hah, I’m tired.”
I moved so I stood in the corner opposite of her. “You could sit as this takes us to the surface.” My voice felt monotone. I couldn’t gain the energy to emote. “It… a wrench… threw a wrench…”
I saw Vekna’s expression darken. “Yeah, she…she did. I don’t get why. It just seems so… unnecessary. So… cruel.”
“It is,” I stated. “They have to do it. They have to hurt others.”
I saw a veil of sadness fall over her body. “But why? Why do people… have to?”
The cargo elevator came to a stop. The door opened to the bare concrete floor of a power plant. I sighed as I exited. “Because we are monsters.”
[First-[Prev]-[Next]
submitted by Acceptable_Egg5560 to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
[First-[Prev]-[Next]
Memory transcript: Sharnet, Venlil Journalist. Date: [Standardized human time] September 19th, 2136
I had been correct. When Tagleb had described Unzekep’s behavior, I had thought she couldn’t possibly be one of the Overseers. Too descriptive. Too many features that stood out to be remembered. But I had to see. I needed to see what she was like.
I didn’t want to treat her like a monster. Like everyone else.
Unzekep was curled up in a ball on the ground, her sobs echoing off the enclosing walls. They clashed with the constant hum of the pumps, each dampening the other slightly. Her colors kept shifting between the gray of the walls and her natural green, as if she was barely trying to hide.
She just continued to sob. “I don’t want to go. P-please… I don’t… please…”
My legs started walking. On their own. Closer. I’m kneeling next to her. She’s hurting. I…
I gently placed my paw on her back. She shrinks back at the touch, but I keep my paw in place as she cries. “It’s okay,” I say, trying to be heard over the pumps, “we mean you no harm. We wish to h…” The facility said they helped. “We wish to keep you away from the monsters of the facility.”
Her chest shuttered as one eye peered out at me. “Y-you… you hate me. Fear me. Everyone… everyone does…”
“I am not everyone,” I reply. “Come, please, let’s get out of this room so we can hear each other. We only wish to talk.”
Unzekep began rising to her feet, but it still felt off. Her movements brought to mind the Venlil I had seen in the Arxur fear videos. The movement of someone who believed that they were being sent to their death and had given up all hope of its avoidance. Vekna stood by as I led her out of the room, unsure of how to act in the face of this situation.
The scaffolding outside the room groaned from the stresses put upon it by those far above as we walked out. The distant sounds of reactors whirring and people talking replaced the constant hum of the turbines as the backdrop to our situation. I saw Vekna take a small sigh of relief as she closed the door behind us. I saw how she had started to tense up the longer we were in there, this was more for her than Unzekep. Speaking of, the Harchen was still curled up in a defensive stance. “So…why do you bring me out? Are you…going to throw things at me?” She looked down, staring at a small discarded wrench set against the wall. “Please… don’t do hard.”
“We are not going to do that.” She was so scared of us. Like she was standing before an Arxur. “You were in Dawn Creek. The correctional facility there.”
Her colors shifted in fear again. “They-they tossed out! I didn’t- it wasn’t an escape! I’m not- not bad. I’m good! I promise! I-I…” I could see her eyes start to wet again. “Please…I’m sorry…”
Vekna, who had been behind me, knelt forward, keeping her paws to herself. “We know, we know. We’re not going to send you back there, or anywhere else. It’s okay, we’re friends.” I could hear something in her voice I couldn’t quite discern. Sadness? Anger? Both?
Unzekep looked up at her, at us, and she finally started to uncurl. “You’re…friends? Why?” The very fact she asked that at all sent a pang of sympathy through my heart. Is she really so isolated out here that she has to ask why someone wants to be friends with her?
I shook my head to focus. “Because the people who ran that place were evil. They tortured people, and we want to make sure that they don’t do such things to anyone else.”
Unzekep looked at me in confusion, her complexion only slightly changing to a bluish tint. “People don’t call it torture. It’s treatments. Bad treatments. They didn’t help change color. That’s how you spot me, right? The dots.” She ran a hand over her temple, right where the splotches were.
I nodded. “Yes, we did. You did a good job hiding otherwise, though.”
“Thanks. I learned how to ca…cam…hide very well. Sometimes I could make the guards miss me, but then I got in trouble for my next treatment.” I saw her shudder at the memories of that. Why did we ever think this was a good idea? “They had me take stuff. Said… it would make me hide better. Didn’t. It- it made me worse.”
So she was drugged. I guess my theory about the Harchen drug was somewhat correct. “Yes. The people there lied. They lied a lot…” I leaned forward, trying to keep my voice comforting, “do you remember a giant Venlil?”
Her tail flicked in worry as Vekna looked over to me in confusion. “They said.. it was dangerous. That it was going to destroy everything. But… they said they were throwing us out because of it.”
“They were lying again,” I told her, “they were throwing you out to hide themselves. The overseers feared we would find out that they were torturing people, so they ran.” I gestured to me and Vekna. “We are looking for them. We want to make sure they never hurt anyone again. Please, can you help us?”
A new flash of fear flows across her body as she shrinks back. “I- I can’t! They- they’ll know. They will hurt me. Find me and hurt me.” She shivers to herself despite the warmer air down here. Is this the kind of pain Tarlim was hiding all along? By the stars…
Vekna stepped in, her voice similarly soothing. “Why do you think that? You’re a long ways away from Dawn Creek. Do you think that someone from there is here?” She looked between us for a moment before she took on a yellow underhue in confirmation. I had to stop myself from celebrating then and there. After three misses, I was starting to think that this was nothing more than another ruse. At least we’re not doing this for nothing! I leaned in a little closer, causing the Harchen to focus on me. “Do you know who they are? What they look like? Where they might be?” Unzekep whined at my inquiries and covered her ear holes. “Please, not so loud. You’re hurting my ears.” I immediately retracted, doing my best to lower my volume. I flicked my ears in the affirmative, but she didn’t stop. Confused, I flicked them again, but she just continued to look at me as if I was going to restart my questions as soon as she took her hands away. Vekna stepped in and spoke. “She won’t be as loud anymore.” At that, Unzekep finally took her hands away. Difficulty with nonverbal cues. Of course they’d lock her up for that. “Okay. I…saw their back. I don’t know where they are. I know that they did something bad in the caves. They left when I came. Someone else was there, a Venlil. Shocked. It looked like what they did to me, but worse. More sloppy.”
That piqued my interest. Perhaps that’s the reason she spends most of her time down here? I had to ask. “Is that why you stay down here in the bowels of the reactors? In the tunnels under the city?”
She tapped her fingers together. “They… are safe. No eyes. No people who…less people who hurt me. I can hide. I have a house on the top, but… they are top, too. I can hide better down here.”
She looked to be getting scared again at the memory, so I took a soothing tone again. “Thank you. Please, can you tell me where you saw them? What caves?”
She fidgeted with her tail, which had curled around to her front. “Up in the mountains. Old iron mines that ran out a long time ago. Nobody but me ever went up there…and them now.” She clenched her tail. “I don’t go up there anymore.”
Iron mines. We had a location. A place that our target likely frequented. “Thank you. You have helped us so much by telling us that.” I bowed to her, “I promise, we will take them away from this place. You won’t have to hide anymore.”
She didn’t seem to calm down much at that, though. Instead, she looked…sad. “I do have to, I always have to….” She sighed. “People see me. Hate me. They… they will try to send me to another… they will hurt me again. Zap me… here.” She pointed to the spots on her head. The ones that never change their color.
I wanted to say she was wrong. I wanted to reassure her that things would be fine once the heads were captured. But so many would fear her. So many would… wait… “How did you get here?”
Unzekep looked at me in confusion, her color shifting bluish.
“When you were tossed out,” I explain, “you moved here. You had a house. You must have had people who helped you. Who don’t fear you.”
“My… my mom.” Her tail curled around her legs as she sat on the ground. “She found me. She’s in the gov…gover…she has power, covered for me all she could. She…she put me in at first, but when these showed up,” she pointed to her dead spots, “she tried to get me out. Didn’t work, but then they threw us out. It was…a long, long walk.”
Vekna gasped at that. “Wait, you mean to say you walked here? All the way from Dawn Creek? Why didn’t you take a…oh. No money, right?”
Unzekep shifted her underhue in confirmation. “No, no money. When I got here, I was so tired. But…now I have a job. And people usually don’t bother me. Not unless its-”
“Oy!” A voice echoed in the tunnels, “what are you lazy brahkasses doing?”
I looked over my shoulder at the source of the noise. A lanky off-white Venlil woman, most certainly past her prime, walked out of the cargo elevator and approached us. Upon seeing her, Unzekep tried her best to camouflage against the surface, but it wasn’t working all too well. “And quit with the color changing, you speh-licking lizard! I can still see your spots a [mile] away! What are you doing off the job, your shift isn’t over yet!”
I heard Unzekep whimper and shrink away towards the door. “Please, I’m sorry, they came! I was just-”
“You were just not working! Herd, you must love giving me excuses, huh?” To my horror, she picked up the unattended wrench in her paw and held it menacingly. Wait…Unzekep thought that…no. No no no, please let me be wrong.
Vekna stood to try and stop her, most likely coming to the same conclusion I had. “Ma’am, please, we only wanted-”
“Wanted to be rid of this useless Freak!” The woman interrupted, waving the wrench like a pointer, “about time someone got sent to deal with her!”
I flick my ears up in surprise. “Deal with her?” No, please no.
Unzekep was desperately trying to get back into the room but the door was jammed shut. She pulled on the handle as the other worker drew nearer. “Yeah. Chief engineers deal with problems, but this one’s my favorite!” Then, before either of us could react, she pulled her arm back and chucked the heavy metal wrench at Unzekep. It hit her squarely between her shoulders, and she flashed a myriad of different colors in an instant as she cried out in agony.
Wrong! No!
What followed was unrestrained chaos. I was next to the Harchen, seeing if her injury was severe. Before the same second was up, Vekna stepped up to the “chief engineer” and punched her squarely in the jaw. The poor imitation of a Venlil staggered to the side, stopping herself on the balcony as orange blood dripped from her, no, its mouth. “Wha-”
Vekna didn’t hesitate, grabbing it by the collar of its uniform and landing another square hit against its jaw, baring her teeth at the enemy. “What the sprak is wrong with you? Throwing a wrench at her like that? What did she ever do to you!?”
I barely heard her words. The world was orange. It wasn’t nearly orange enough. I got up, and moved over to where Vekna was holding it. I placed a paw on her shoulder as I glared at it. She looked back at me, and soon let it go, leaving it to me. I wasted no time, slamming an open paw against its snout and knocking it over the ledge of the catwalk. I heard gasps behind me, I didn’t care. I grabbed it by its scruff over the chasm. I heard it try to cry out like a Venlil. Not convincing.
I shook. Shook hard. I heard a clunk. Less resistance. The railing had decoupled. The thing was now hanging over the steep drop with nothing to hold it back from falling. Nothing but my grip on its scruff. It was screaming. Pleading. Sobbing. Orange. Now it’s real.
I shook its scruff, feeling one of its feet slip and scramble to find purchase again on the scaffold floor. “Do you feel powerful?” I am shouting. “Do you feel Safe?? Beating people with tools? Forcing them to work alone?! Look down there! Look!!” I used my other hand to grab its head and force it to turn one eye to the drain pit and the small layer of water far beneath. “If someone were to fall down there, how long would it take for them to be rescued? Huh? How Long?? HOW SPEHKING LONG?!”
It was crying. It wasn’t enough. “ANSWER ME!!!”
My vocal chords hurt. I didn’t care. So much orange. All around me orange. I felt something on my shoulder. A voice spoke from behind me. “Sharnet! That’s enou-”
My paw moved before I could think, releasing from its head and smacking the source of the voice away. Now I could focus, I could make it feel what Unzekep felt, what Tarlim felt, what Vekna…
A whine.
I looked back. Vekna was on the ground, an eye shut and orange on the ground.
Wrong orange. Her orange. Oh… oh Stars…
I was hanging a woman over the edge of a meltwater drain pit. She was bleeding. She was crying and shaking. My paw was all that stood between her and death. I quickly pulled her back to safety, tossing her to the ground as I rushed over to Vekna. “Vekna! Are you-” She shrunk away from me, a terrified look in her one open eye. No, no no no no. Please, no! I lowered my paws to the ground to show that I wasn’t a threat. She calmed down a little, rubbing at the side of her snout. “Sharnet, what was that? What happened?”
I had been about to kill somebody. That’s what happened. I had promised to be better, but I just took everything out in someone again. I… I… “I’m sorry…”
“You…” it was the woman again, “you were- you were going to…”
I had been. I wanted to. Stars, I STILL wanted to! How long had Unzekep been tormented by her? How many wrenches had been thrown?? What injuries did she have that this creature caused?? I- I- I Can’t!!! I can’t let them get away with it! I can’t let them take this out on Unzekep! I am a monster, but I will NOT let another monster hurt someone innocent! Not…Not like they did to Tarlim!!
“Do you even know who we are?” I am panting from the adrenaline, “Why we’re here?”
The woman just stuttered, crawling backwards as I stomped towards her. “I- I don’t - I-”
“We were sent here to look at the safety of this place,” I interrupted, “And you know what we found? A worker all alone on a job that requires more! Insufficient lighting!” I pointed to the broken scaffolding that I had hung her off, “railing that falls apart when leaned on! Deep pits with their emergency ladders missing! And You!” I pointed a claw right at her snout. A threat to the herd being signaled. “A-A puddle of Speh who beats their coworkers with metal wrenches!!” I leaned over her cowering form, teeth bared, claws braced. “Unless you leave the Harchen alone, and grovel before the safety board, I will make you WISH. I. Had. Let. Go.”
“Yes! Yes!” She sobbed, “By Solgalick, I promise! Don’t hurt me!”
I am a monster. So I play the part. “Then Leave!!”
I watch the white form scramble down the path out of sight, the scaffolding rattling as she runs practically on all fours. I don’t regret seeing her disappear. I turned back to Unzekep. She looked at me fearfully. As she should. “They shouldn’t bother you again,” I panted, “we will… find the overseer. You… you will be able to go up top soon. I promise.”
She looked up at me, her tail curled beneath her legs in fear. “Th… thank you. N-nobody ever p-protected me before.”
She is thankful. How can she be thankful? I am a monster. The only thing that made me different was I was attacking another monster. How can she do more than just fear me? “Is… is where she hit you… okay?”
“It… it hurts,” she whined, “but… less than last time.”
So she would be okay. I wanted to stay and help her. Get her somewhere to treat the bruises but… but I would just hurt her. I was still so angry, so upset. I would just take it out on her. I-I have to leave. They aren’t safe around me. Go!
I stood, eyeing the still open cargo elevator. “Good. I’m sorry, I must leave.” I began walking towards the elevator, my legs wobbling as the adrenaline began to fade. My paw found the buttons on their own, and I pressed the one to take us to the top. Faster. Please. I need to get away from them. I don’t want to hurt them. I-
“Sharnet!”
I jolted. My fur flared out. It was Vekna. She was in here with me. She was panting. One of her eyes was partially closed. My doing. “Hey, wait up! I need to get back up to the surface, too!”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to say anything. I don’t deserve to speak. I pressed myself into the wall, slumping against it as we ascended. Vekna panted, occasionally putting a paw over her eye and wincing. My doing. She looked at me and tried to put on a smile. “Well, that was a close shear, huh? I-I mean, when I…and then you…and then we…hah, I’m tired.”
I moved so I stood in the corner opposite of her. “You could sit as this takes us to the surface.” My voice felt monotone. I couldn’t gain the energy to emote. “It… a wrench… threw a wrench…”
I saw Vekna’s expression darken. “Yeah, she…she did. I don’t get why. It just seems so… unnecessary. So… cruel.”
“It is,” I stated. “They have to do it. They have to hurt others.”
I saw a veil of sadness fall over her body. “But why? Why do people… have to?”
The cargo elevator came to a stop. The door opened to the bare concrete floor of a power plant. I sighed as I exited. “Because we are monsters.”
[First-[Prev]-[Next]
2023.06.03 14:51 Logikal_approach First Microdose, felt great, but woke up drenched in sweat hours later
Hey all,
My buddy and I recently ordered some Mr Mushies bars to try out microdosing. Yes, I ordered from correct place, and verified the QR code. For those unfamiliar the bar is 4 grams, sectioned into 10 squares. Assuming that makes each square .4 I tried two yesterday for the first time. First, correct me if I’m wrong but is that is more of a macro than a micro dose no?
Either way, I took it around 12pm, around 45 minute mark it started to kick in. I made sure I took it on my day off, after all my adult duties were done, just in case lol. Once it did kick in, the first hour was a bit more intense than I expected. Not bad by any means, I was functional, but not something I’d want to be at work during. After that initial rush, things got great. Weather was perfect, Took my dog for a two mile walk, everything just felt good. Afterwards ran a few more errands and it was also great. At this point anything from work, gym, conversations, etc would be a non issue, and probably improved.
** Here’s where this was possibly my fault -my wife had made us dinner plans at 7. I knew this might be iffy that I’d even want to eat. But by then I did have an appetite, and ate probably more than I should have - also had a mixed drink with dinner. **
Got home around 9:30 and I was uncomfortable full, and dead tired. Played a few games of chess and passed out. At around 3am I woke up and my forehead was pretty damn sweaty. The ac was on, room was a good temp. I noticed something was off so I got up, went down stairs and grabbed a bottle of water. Didn’t drink much of it, but by the time I got back upstairs it was starting to subside a little. It took me about 30 minutes to fall back asleep. The sweating was still there, would come and go a bit, with the covers off it helped. After I fell back asleep I woke up this morning fine.**
So, did I cause this with my dinnedrink plans even though it was 7 hours later, did I take too much to be a macro dose? Any input is appreciated, as this is a new thing for me.
For reference I’m 5’11, 220 work out, and run 4-5x per week. I’m in pretty good health overall in case anyone was wondering.
submitted by Logikal_approach to microdosing [link] [comments]
My buddy and I recently ordered some Mr Mushies bars to try out microdosing. Yes, I ordered from correct place, and verified the QR code. For those unfamiliar the bar is 4 grams, sectioned into 10 squares. Assuming that makes each square .4 I tried two yesterday for the first time. First, correct me if I’m wrong but is that is more of a macro than a micro dose no?
Either way, I took it around 12pm, around 45 minute mark it started to kick in. I made sure I took it on my day off, after all my adult duties were done, just in case lol. Once it did kick in, the first hour was a bit more intense than I expected. Not bad by any means, I was functional, but not something I’d want to be at work during. After that initial rush, things got great. Weather was perfect, Took my dog for a two mile walk, everything just felt good. Afterwards ran a few more errands and it was also great. At this point anything from work, gym, conversations, etc would be a non issue, and probably improved.
** Here’s where this was possibly my fault -my wife had made us dinner plans at 7. I knew this might be iffy that I’d even want to eat. But by then I did have an appetite, and ate probably more than I should have - also had a mixed drink with dinner. **
Got home around 9:30 and I was uncomfortable full, and dead tired. Played a few games of chess and passed out. At around 3am I woke up and my forehead was pretty damn sweaty. The ac was on, room was a good temp. I noticed something was off so I got up, went down stairs and grabbed a bottle of water. Didn’t drink much of it, but by the time I got back upstairs it was starting to subside a little. It took me about 30 minutes to fall back asleep. The sweating was still there, would come and go a bit, with the covers off it helped. After I fell back asleep I woke up this morning fine.**
So, did I cause this with my dinnedrink plans even though it was 7 hours later, did I take too much to be a macro dose? Any input is appreciated, as this is a new thing for me.
For reference I’m 5’11, 220 work out, and run 4-5x per week. I’m in pretty good health overall in case anyone was wondering.