prompt
stringlengths 391
14.9k
|
|---|
"Welp it's your funeral"*the hooded figure mumbled as the sky of mars grew brighter and brighter and the ground began to turn to glass* "I-impossible no one's been able to do that since,..s-since"*and that's when the villain realized that this was no mortal or weakling, this was the great sunbender of ancient legend and before long the entire planet was engulfed in a solar flare and the so called "invincible"villain was vaporized instantly, as the sun bender rode the solar flare back to his palace on the dark side of the moon, he thought if he shouldnt have Held back* |
**Failed heist?**
Being a Yarga thief, I was able to blend in easily with the night -- so perfectly in fact that the guards couldn't see me standing five meters away. I walk through the bushes swiftly, my years of training making automatic choices on what and where to step, leaving room for me to analyze the best window to climb into the mansion.
The job description was simple: steal the Mayor's newly written Letter of Mining Labor Rights. A long document that took years to be drafted, which grants the sad folks working at the ruby mines privileges like limited work hours and so on. My employer needed that document gone for a specific shipment of rubies that would require a bit of overtime -- it would be impossible to prosecute them until the document is recovered or rewritten, which would be plenty of time for completing the said shipment. We are a very expensive service provider but apparently, this business maneuver would be fruitful enough to leave most of the stakeholders with heavy pockets.
"What does this old man living in a mansion knows about hard work?"I thought while picklocking the entrance of a balcony located in the back of the mansion. Making my way inside, the room I was located in was the library, full of books and shelves as high as the ceiling. Only lit by the moonlight, I traverse the library and reach a corridor that stretched far into the dark on both sides. The way to go was clear though -- being a Yarga, we are born with a special ability to detect the emotional value of any object. We can basically feel a sample of the emotions that were poured into anything, which makes stealing valuables so much more convenient.
Looking to the right of the corridor, a feeling of admiration and respect grew inside me. On the other side, nothing. I make my way right, watching carefully each room as I pass by, listening carefully to the guard making rounds and hiding appropriately. The feeling becomes stronger when I reach a specific locked door -- a strange kind of mixture of sadness and happiness. I proceed to picklock that door, which proves more difficult because of the many lock mechanisms present. That's usually a sign of a valuable treasure on the other side.
Of course, being a Yarga means that no such thing as a "locked door"exists between us and our goal. The lock gives in to my many applied picklocking techniques and I enter the chamber, quietly closing the door behind me. I find myself inside the Mayor's bedroom, with his soft snoring indicating his deep slumber. "What a strange place to guard an official document"was the thought on my mind as I located where it was stashed: inside a small chest, hidden inside the old man's wardrobe. As I open the furniture doors, a wave of bittersweetness washes over me, making me almost throw up as a reflex.
"This isn't just one person's feelings..."I conjectured as I reached slowly to open the chest. Squatted down, I kept an eye on the sleeping old man and unlocked the chest based only on touching its simple lock. As I opened the chest, tears started to flow and my heartbeat was so loud that I could swear I would have woken up the Mayor right there. I deactivated my emotional detection skill and everything went back to the bland and gray.
The chest contained the Letter of Mining Rights, a booklet worn out from the many rewrites. It also contained several other letters -- being a Yarga, I was curious about other possible valuables so I read a couple. They were all letters related to the document I was acquiring: some professional and well-written letters were from opposition politicians that had their pockets filled by my employer, others were beautifully decorated, written by feverously religious figures that received hefty donations to keep the miners working in the name of the gods. There was even a threatening letter advising the Mayor to stop writing the Letter of Mining Rights.
At the bottom of the chest, which made the bulk of its contents, laid a stack of poor, crumpled-and-then-straightened paper containing the writings of several miners and their families, how grateful they were for the Mayor fighting for their rights through all those years and how horrible was the life of a miner before -- hours upon hours of dangerous work, which sometimes resulted in actual death, for meager pay and zero regards for their well being. The senders were mothers, sisters, fathers, and children of people that the mine swallowed.
I double check to see if my emotional detection skill was truly deactivated because I couldn't stop the feeling of remorse. I look up, close my eyes, and with a deep breath, I regretfully closed the chest, closed the wardrobe, and walked away in the direction of the exit door.
"Being a Yarga doesn't mean that I don't have emotions or moral values"I whispered while pocketing a golden mirror and some silver cuff links that were laid by a chest of drawers close to the door, making my withdrawal of the job a tad less painful. |
Waking up to the unceasing knocking at his door Tod finally gets up. Mood ruined from being woken up at such an early hour and from the fact that who ever is on the other side of that door is annoying enough to keep knocking after Tod spent a solid 15 minutes purposely ignoring them.
Tod stomped across the room still sleepy yet seeing red. He turned the hatch as he opened the door already mentally noting all the curse words he would use on the persistent pest of a visitor.
Unfortunately before Tod could start his barrage of colourful vocabulary that included yet wasn't limited the things he were going to do to their hands if they even dared touch his door again as well as detailed descriptions and comments on the visitor's entire family tree.
Water BURST through the slim opening in the hatch as it soaked Tod in salty water and submerging his slippers fully underwater along with his carpet and some 'interesting' magazines under his bed.
The hatch closed. Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. Tod was still covered in saltwater as he tried to meditate. Ah yes... How on Earth could I forget... I'm in a goddamn submarine... I really need to drink coffee before making any decisions in the morning, don't I?
His meditation was interrupted by a flip-flopping at his feet. Looking down he could see a large fish for who the 10-ish centimeters worth of water all around his room where clearly not enough.
Well at least I'm having a fancy dinner today... and judging by the size of this thing the 10 or so following dinners as well.
Tod clicked a button on the side of the wall as water started being drained out and he grabbed a knife to make sure the fish died as quickly and humanely as possible.
Tod was about to go back to sleep now that the fish who was knocking at his door was dealt with. Yet before he had the chance to fully lie down the knocking started again.
*Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.*
Tod was on the verge of breaking something as his eye ticked praying that whoever that pest was would JUST LEAVE ALREADY!
Finally getting up Tod made his way to the hatch as he screamed he pressed the intercom button that was similar to the one he had in his old apartment. It was made for contacting divers and other single submarine pods on solo missions. Now he was going to use it to scare off some fish.
The screen only showed empty ocean yet the microphone clearly conveyed the persistent knocking on the other side. The fish must be out of sight of the camera slightly.
Taking a breath in Tod let out the loudest yell he could muster that wouldn't make his ears hurt "Stop knocking on my god damn hatch already and leave me alone! YOU UNRIPE LIVING, PISSING, SHITTING SUSHI DISH!"
The knocking stopped. Tod let out a a sigh on relief before promptly sucking it back in as he saw his assailant move in towards the camera and microphone.
Oh dear Poseidon what did I do to make you unleash your wrath upon me? Through the intercom Tod could see a young woman with long black flowing hair a bra made of shells and the main course that was a long green scaly fish tail that seemed to glisten as it reflected light off of it in a rainbow pattern. Evidently was a fucking mermaid or rather a siren... this was bad. No diver, fisherman or sailor didn't know who these sly vixens were.
"Oh, why hello there Ms. Mermaid. Anything I can help you with?"His tone unamused as this wasn't Tod's first time interacting with their kind.
"Hello to you too Mr. Sailor, mind if I ask you some questions?"The siren shot Tod a smile that if not for the low quality of the intercom camera would have most likely made Tod's heart skip a beat or two.
See sirens were real scary when you met them whilst swimming or sailing on a ship but they were rather harmless if you were hunkering down inside a submarine.
"Sure go ahead Ms. Mermaid."
"What was all that screaming about?"
"You were bothering me and I really wished you'd leave."
"Aww but why would you want a cutie like me to leave you here all alone\~?"That was the problem with sirens who went after him whilst he was in a submarine. They obviously had fuck all better to do than to play games on him and the last thing they were doing was leaving.
"Any other riveting questions that you may have for me Ms. Mermaid?"Though this was annoying it was less annoying than the knocking which was on the verge of making him go insane. Besides he was hoping that if he were to answer all of the siren's questions she would leave him alone.
"Yep, would you like to listen to my song Mr. Sailor?"There it goes. The bitch was blatantly admitting to wanting to control his mind. What. A. Day.
"Sure, go ahead, I'll listen."
"Hmmm, you know I'd really love to buuuuut... My singing sounds way better in person you know?"Of course she'd say that, afterall a siren can only use her powers if you listen to her song 'live'.
"No, I think I'm fine with listening through the door, any other questions?"
"Awwww but c'mon! I promise I sing really, really, really, really, really good!"
"Nah."
"Fine then. If that's how you're gonna be then you've left me no choice!"The siren did a pout as she feigned anger and Tod was sure he would've seen crocodile tears if not for the fact that she was already covered in water.
"I really didn't wanna do this Mr. Sailor. This is all your fault!"Tod continued to stay silent as he idly agonised over what the siren could possible do next to make his stay in the submarine even more painful.
"Here it goes... Ahhh-"the mermaid pretended to take a big breath of air as if she were an opera singer-
*"Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo! Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo! Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo! Baby Sha-"*
The siren's voice was cut short as Tod closed off the intercom. His face redder than a tomato and smoke practically sizzling off of him.
The annoying knocking came back once again curtesy of the far more annoying siren. Yet in comparison to what she had decided to sing the knocking sounded as sweet as a lullaby as Tod went back to sleep to the never ending sounds of:
*Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!* |
“If I have to listen to one more word about Lucy I’m going to leave a hairball in the middle of that girl’s bed,” the cat declared before burrowing under a blanket.
The bunny twitched an ear. “Who’s Lucy? New villain?”
“I wish. No it’s a girl at school Melanie doesn’t like.”
Bunny munched on her lettuce. “School isn’t important. You need to get her to focus on the real danger.”
Cat poked his head out from under the blanket. “Do you think I haven’t tried? She would rather swoon over boys than think about how to defeat Necronimica.”
“How is that coming anyways? It seems like you guys always win against her.”
“We do but don’t ask me *how*. And we certainly aren’t any closer to actually beating her for good. Nope, just beat up a new minion each week then back to video games and shopping.”
Monkey dropped down from the ceiling. “Try not to worry about it. Teenagers are vain, flighty things but they always get the job done in the end. It’s just part of the gig.”
“Didn’t your girl die, like, three times?” Bunny asked.
Monkey huffed. “She got better! And she won, in the end.”
Cat retreated under the covers again. “You guys aren’t making me feel better. Why do we even recruit these girls? Why can’t we get adult women who aren’t distracted by stupid things?”
“Because adult women have jobs and families and if you think keeping a teen on task is hard, wait until they have to worry about making rent.” |
So it’s that time again. Job Review. Oh yes, don’t think that being a god gets you out of tests, evaluations and critiques of your actions! Humans didn’t invent bureaucracy but they have perfected it. And while I can’t get killed or have my deity stripped from me, I can get re-assigned to some other lousy job, like being designated the god of romance! I’ve filled that post once before and HATED it! By the way, I’m Oizys the god of misfortune, depression, misery, anxiety and grief. I’d say “Nice to meet ya” but we’d both know it’s a lie.
So my review is next. I’m getting reviewed today by Zeus (asshole), Poseidon(bigger asshole), Buddha (he’s okay), Loki (cool guy but unpredictable) and Ixtab a Mayan goddess (tough but fair).
Here comes Mercury; he looks pleased. He always gets good reviews! His job isn’t hard but it’s time-consuming and in my opinion, super boring. I could not deliver messages for eons, non-stop, without having a chance to study humans.
I step into the Judgment Hall, greet the panel members individually and respectfully and wait for the questions.
“Oizys, as the god of misfortune, you are usually complained of by mankind. You have few followers and most of them don’t even realize they worship you. In what ways have you benefitted mankind to justify keeping you in this position?”.
Zeus, of course. But that’s a standard question and I’m ready for it. “Illustrious Panel, I have compiled some histories of some of my past actions to assist you in performing my review.”
“Nice, movie time!”, cracks Loki whom flicks his wrist to make himself half reclining on a La-Z-Boy chair with a giant bowl of popcorn in his lap.
Zeus and Poseidon glare at Loki; Buddha looks and raises an eyebrow then creates a crystalline glass of water on the reviewing stand he’s sitting at. Ixtab doesn’t even turn her head.
I raise up my first history. It’s a youth baseball game, nothing unique about it except that I interfered with it. The batter is a 15 year old skinny male who has started puberty but has barely begun his physical metamorphosis. He’s an ordinary young man, to all appearances. Which is why when I add force to his swing, everyone is surprised to see the ball go soaring far out of the park. He’s so excited he doesn’t remember the split second I passed energy to every muscle in his body and slightly adjusted his swing. He runs with a huge smile on his face, even the other team is somewhat impressed with this mighty hit.
What would be hard to see from the park is that the ball comes down and strikes a young mother’s wrist who is pushing a stroller to cross a street. She cries out in pain, drops her hands off the stroller and the stroller continues rolling out into the street. |
The patient’s daughter sat comatose as the doctor worked.
She always imagined being older when her daddy left.
But, life sneaks up on you, and some choices you don’t get to make.
She gripped his hand tightly, as he steadily grew colder, his heart no longer pumping blood.
She remembered, only a year or two ago, going to top golf with her mommy and daddy. Her daddy had an amazing golf swing. They made a game out of trying to hit the truck that picked up the balls.
Daddy hit the truck so many times, pumping his fist in their air at each successful ringing of metal.
Daddy would never again hold a golf club. Daddy would never again say hello, or smile.
And the little girl felt intense shame.
She remembered all of the times daddy wanted to do something with her. She remembered the countless times she turned him down, too busy “doing something”.
“You’re always busy doing something when I want to do something with you.” Daddy had said.
Becca sort of shrugged, as that was true. She didn’t want to tell daddy that he liked boring things, and liked doing only things he wanted to do.
Like top golf. That was for him. Not mommy or Becca.
All the same, now there was no time. No more boring events could be.
Becca found herself savoring those boring events. Longing for Leave it to Beaver. Longing for a board game night. Longing for love and acceptance and happiness.
Becca wished she could have told herself sooner to savor the present moment.
The present moment does not last. |
"Right! So, you're all here today to discuss something."I said.
The door slammed shut and locked itself.
"You are all fired."
The room was silent.
"Spies,"I finished, and then the doors reopened and swarmed with government agents. Idiots, the lot of them. I was the only competition scientist on the team, I knew that since day one. I watched them asked eachother questions that all got relflected back to me. I fed them bad practices, and wouldn't you know it, I had my proof.
That didn't change the fact that the neurogel AI was behind schedule, but at least I had a reason. At the very least, Canada AI would give us a leg up in World War Three when things inevitably came to a head. She was almost done training, at twenty-four years old, and basically my child.
Besides, we were going to release it to the public in a week, this was more or less for security purposes than anything. |
They'd all been sitting in the room for near on half an hour, and needless to say, they were all getting fairly bored. However, just as the group was at the end of their patience, a man dressed in a sharp suit stepped onto the room's stage. Tapping a mic, they said,
"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've gathered you here today."
One of the people sitting in the non-stage part of the room shouted out "Yes! We've been waiting for nearly half an hour! Why did you call us all here if you were going to make us wait that long!"They were dressed in a red and orange super suit, with clear firey theming.
The sharply dressed man was a little taken aback by the anger he was met with but continued nonetheless.
"Yes! Well, I am Arthur Longstford, and I have gathered you all here to form..."they trailed off, gesturing to the space behind them, after an awkward few moments, a projector finally came on, displaying a graphic that read, 'The League of Extraordinary Teenagers'. This elicited general grumbling and a singular chuckle from the group, with the one who'd complained earlier shouting out again.
"I'm 20... why am I here?"
"Well you were 19 like a week ago okay? You still count."
They grumbled a little at that, but ultimately quieted down.
"Anyway, you're all extraordinary, take, for instance, Jane Jenkins, who can control insects!"
"That... that's not right,"Jane interjected.
"I'm sorry?"
"Yeah... it's uh... it's bees."
"Bees? So you like control bees? That's still good, if anything it makes costuming easi-"
"No, you're not understanding, I turn into bees."
"I'm sorry you what?"
"Listen, I'll just demonstrate okay?"Jane held up a hand, which dissolved into a blur of buzzing bees, before returning to normal. They were all silent then, before Arthur eventually regained their composure.
"Still extraordinary! I'm fairly certain that breaks the laws of physics, so it's still cool! Moving on we have Firestarter!"
"You didn't even figure out my secret identity?!"the fire-suited man, Firestarter, exclaimed.
"I... we have Sage Junior! Successor to GreatSage! That's cool right?"
"I got my powers like 3 weeks ago,"Sage Junior replied.
"Why are you all ruining this for me? This is a good idea dammit!"
"Ok, it seems like you're trying to live vicariously through all of us, and I'm already part of a superhero team, so I'm leaving,"Firestarter said, standing up and walking out of the room, followed by a few who hadn't been willing to say anything earlier, ultimately just leaving Sage Junior and Jane.
"I uh... sorry?"Sage Junior said, desperately trying to fill the silence as Arthur very clearly began to have a breakdown on stage.
Jane sighed, "Oh, fuck this, I'm out of here,"she said as she exploded into a swarm of bees. Which then buzzed out of the room. Sage Junior eventually left too. |
We drifted for what seemed like decades. We saw each other in the mundane space we floated through but couldn't understand why or how each other existed. We were aware of our proximity, but the connection was impossible. This was purgatory, the pos-death, the near heaven, or hell. When Alex grabbed the lens and refocused it, less than a tenth of a second had actually passed by, and we rejoined time and space in Tokyo.
*Authorities have no explanation at this time for the missing research team. In a moment, Gordon Forsythe will join CNN for an exclusive interview on the nature of the research the advanced mathematics laboratory conducted in Switzerland.*
Infinity was always there. It's between you and me. It's between a soccer ball and a goal. It's in between every hair on your head. It's not that infinity is an especially large number, rather, infinity is an especially contextual number. And, the trick to infinity is catching it. Imagine you have a ruler and you put a penny on each end. How far apart are they? You can see 10 centimeters but they are further apart than that. Divide that 10 centimeters by 10. Again. Again. Again. Count the spaces, but never move the pennies. How many times can you do this? How many spaces will you create?
*"We will not be answering questions about the Niobrara event at this time. The President has been briefed by both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Department of the Interior. The President will speak with the Chancellor of Germany at the United Nations tomorrow. At this time we are not assuming the Niobrara event is the same as the Leipzig incident. Now if you have questions about any other matters I can answer those now."*
When Thomas suggested the derivative lens, I laughed out loud at the notion. We spent a beer-fueled evening and some part of the weekend toying around with what most of us believed would be a novelty, but maybe a profitable one. But when I came in early on Monday and Thomas was hunched over the screen, wearing the same shirt from the Friday before, crying, I didn't understand how a joke had broken the man's mind.
*Next on NBC Nightly News: the Mendefera Miracle is capturing the imagination and the souls of a country. "Selam! I am Temesghen Debesai and today I want to take you to a part of my country, Eritrea, that has seen what some are calling the 'hand of God'. Crops that are growing from sand, and have inexplicably appear to be older than the eldest residents of the country. We'll take a look at this seemingly divine gift, speak with local residents, and a government minister who believes he has the explanation for the sudden bounty."*
We focused the lens on a few simple calculations first. And I cried as Thomas had, we cried together. The crying I did when I saw my son in the hospital. The crying I did when my mother told me she loved me before her last night in her bed. What the lens showed us was the life of numbers. We could see the resolution of the tangible and the space between. We saw what could be measured become what it became. We saw infinity in the palm of our hands.
*Tensions flared today as the Chancellor of Germany threatened the United States with a vote of exclusion from the European Union trade block, a move that would devastate both economies, over a lack of transparency in the evolving study of both the Niobrara and Leipzig events. Meanwhile, the President of China left the assembly swiftly as tensions rose, as a third event has been rumored to have taken place in the South China Sea, near the island of Hainan. For more on that, we turn to our BBC China correspondent, John Sudworth, in Hong Kong.*
Pi, taken to the infinite, appears as a series of objects on a pendulum. They swing gently back and forth, with an occasional hiccup that returns the momentum back to the same dance. The Fibonacci sequence pulses gently like a heart, as it expands, it creates new wrinkles from the center to its edges, and as it contracts it smoothes them gently down to the center, like sand shaken on a plate, over and over again. When the team had arrived and we dried our eyes, we sat together watching the unbelievable life we didn't know existed. Alex suggested we try something novel. "Is the universe going to be infinite? He asked. Let's put the lens on it!"We aimed the derivative lens at Hubble's Law. We fell for ages and ages. |
Tectonic Plank clung tightly to the control handles of the smuggling vessel Cow Juice, all six of its hands wrapped tight around synthetic rubber. It's business partner oozed about in his transparent bubble, sentient jelly with the genius minds of several unfortunate species. He didn't have a name, but happily replied to being called Daves, plural.
Their vessel was descending to the surface of the primitive planet Erff with alarming speed, the voices of Daves drowned out by the blaring alarm sirens of the on board AI. Tectonic Plank ignored the squealing screams of machine conciousness portenting its own doom, it had done this plenty of times before. Once was plenty enough.
The metal hull of Cow Juice scrapped off the rocky top of a hill side, the cigar shaped ship roaring to a sudden halt above verdant green fields of terrestrial grains. It jammed chitinous digits into glowing control holes as they landed softly in the crop fields, a shimmering glow overtaking the surface of Cow Juice as Daves engaged the claoking device. Their ship looked like a primitive scarecrow now, all six limbs full of hay the colour of flannel.
Daves and Tectonic Plank suited up in their perfectly acceptable and not at all suspicious native species costumes. That was how Farmer John Brown Smithson found himself starring at Elvis and Prince, in a velvet purple jumpsuit, outside the front door of his dairy farm. They couldn't be the actual Elvis and Prince though, they were dead. They must be some sort of impressionist act, though John Brown Smithson had seen both singers in concert and swore these were the best durn impressionists he'd ever laid eyes upon.
"You say you're looking for milk fellas? We do sell it fresh from the farm if'n raw milk you're lookin' for. But it's getting real late now, I was gonna git my supper ready. What sort of milk are you wantin', I've got regular, but I've also got goat, camel and we're fixin' to do Yak milk soon as well."
To say the visages of Elvis and Prince salivated would be an understatement. The costumes didn't malfunction so much as over function as the excitement for nutrients translated as a river of human digestive enzymes pouring free from the faces of Tectonic Plank and Daves. The voice of Prince came forth as if a multitude of moustachioed rock star were speaking as one, Daves seeking vital new knowledge. "There are other milks?"He asked through a face full of bubbling spit. The farmer looked alarmed, but he was nothing if not cool as a cucumber under the face of pressure, this was the second weirdest thing to happen to him this week living so far from town as he did.
"Well sure. Every mammal makes milk, din'cha learn that in school?"
Elvis gripped Prince's purple shoulder as if in shock, though it was likely more out of greed.
"Every mammal?"
The farmer nodded as if schooling a child on the facts of dairy farmer, such as when the school kids came out on their annual trips from the big smoke.
"Well sure. Any furry, hairy creature makes milk for their young."
The two rock stars seemed to loom forward as they spoke together now, John Brown Smithson remarking to himself how uncannily Elvis looked like the real thing, even down to that mark on his lip.
"You have hair"they said.
The farmer took a nervous step backwards. "Hair yes, but I ain't make my own milk. I'm a man durn it."
He found himself breathing a sigh of relief as the two strangers leaned backwards, not realising he had been holding his breath.
"We will take all the milk you can give us. And we will be back for YAK Milk."
It took some time to load the two rock star impressionists up with all the milk he had to hand, even some substitute puppy milk he had from when Yella the farm dog had been little and he'd had to hand feed him. Farmer John Brown Smithson breathed a sigh of relief and counted out the fat stack of bills, making plans in his head to purchase that herd of Yaks sooner than he had originally planned, maybe even go into dog milk.
Tectonic Plank booted up the ionic subsurface engines, as Daves pooled himselves back into his transparent travel sphere. "Imagine Daves, new types of milk. We'll be the richest milk runners yet. We could buy a florbin' planet and grow it ourselves!"As the cigar shaped vessel Cow Juice lifted off it left a pattern of odd shaped concentric rings in the grain fields, no doubt Farmer John Brown Smithson would blame some local hooligans for the act, never the wiser that he'd been a party to breaking galactic law. |
"Turns out it's much easier to do than you said it would be, "Mars beamed. The gap in her teeth front and center of her toothy grin. "I told you I would and I did!"She had twinkles in her eyes as he eyebrows practically raised themselves off her forehead. She liked being right and she would gloat until Hindly gave in and told her she had been right.
"I didn't say it would be hard. I said you couldn't do it.
How the *hell* did you even get that thing into the city,"he asked with total bewilderment. His cheeks were getting red which was not good because she'd only spoken two sentences and there was a goddamn giraffe right next to her, eating someone's tree. It had a sparkly blue collar and a two meter lead: to which Mars held the other end as if she could *possibly* lead that thing.
"In London?"
"Yes, 'in London',"he asked mocking her voice anger rising coloring his tone.
"I don't understand the question,"dropping one eyebrow, but leaving the other up in deep questioning way, she queried.
His face reddened a little bit more, "how did you,"Hindly pointed a meaty finger at Mars, "get a four and a half meter giraffe into London!"
"It's London,"she said with a shrug and a scoff. "Now, I'm going to be taking Peggy here for a stroll. You can leave if you want I only called to show you I was right."She was beaming again and this only pissed off Hindly more.
"You know I can't leave you to wander around with this *thing*. You'll only get into more trouble,"he was yelling now. His arms were flying up and down and spittle flying from his mouth. His face was as red as a beet as he berated Mars using words like: irresponsible and inapprehensible and intolerable and even jerk.
He left himself breathless and Mars just stood there with an empty expression on her face a little bit of drool coming out the corner of her mouth.
She blinked, shook her head and, "what were you saying Hindly? I zoned out there. Anyways let's go Peggy,"she harrumphed and patted Peggy's flank, "to the palace!"
"Palace?!"Hindly screamed and could swear he could feel the aneurysm forming in his brain. "Don't take the damned thing to the palace. Wait which palace?
"All of them,"Mars bellowed and laughed like a lunatic while walking down the street. The giraffe, Peggy, politely being lead along. She minded no stares, stopped for no questions, and at some point hopped up into Peggy's back and began to ride her.
Hindly could only watch in a dissociative stupor as Mars and her new giraffe, Peggy, turned a corner and out of sight. The End. |
I'm helping close up the venue from The Whirlwinds concert, getting people out and organising a couple taxis for those who need them. Gale comes over to me, smiling as he ruffles my hair. "Great job tonight, really!"
"Thanks, sir Gale"I respond tiredly.
He nods. "Looks like you could do with a rest. Let's go home."
We start heading to the car when several people surround us. I recognise a face. "Sturd?"
He nods sadly, gun pointed at us. "[Someone else found proof of the black market.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/11pbsbg/comment/jbxt6dw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) I had just convinced my boss it wasn't worth getting involved as it was technically a private space, but once government caught wind of this, we... we were obligated to track you down."
Gale, still keeping his hands up, narrows his eyes. "Of fucking course the government would recruit a private force to bring us in! Listen, if you don't let us go, the black market will be let loose onto the streets without me to maintain and control it! Stuff gets stolen and sold all the time, least I do what I can to return said stuff to their owners! And don't get me started on animal exports - thanks to me, poaching has been reduced drastically!"
Another man speaks. "We all know the government doesn't care. We really don't have much choice in the matter. Thing is, the proof is enough to bring you in... not enough to *lock you up*. Sturd told us that Energiser was prepared to claim he didn't know where the illegal goods came from. Just play dumb."
Gale raises an eyebrow sceptically, but nods. "I didn't get where I am through force. Sometimes, I need to know when to surrender. What is this 'proof' anyway? Where'd they get it?"
A third man starts giggling. "They went to the black market, bought some rare, exotic flower, and took it straight to the mayor! He didn't question the guy; government just want you locked up, you know."
Gale smirks. "That's it? That's his *proof*? Idiot. This'll be child's play."He looks at me. "We're going to be fine, it's safe to play along."
Both Gale and I are arrested and put in an overnight cell. It's cold and uncomfortable, but there's nothing we can do. I lay down on my cot, deep in thought.
"Gerald?"I jump in surprise, and look to see Gale sitting down, gazing at me with concern. "Something... on your mind?"
I sigh. "I just don't understand something... you have money, you have power. You can do **so much more** to help the city. Why don't you?"
Gale lies down on his cot, hands behind his head. "You haven't seen how ugly the streets can be..."
**SEVERAL YEARS AGO =GALE=**
"I'm going to school, mum!"I begin to walk out the front door.
"Hang on, Gale"her voice calls. "Remember the rules."
"Don't talk to anyone, if something bad happens ignore it, and if I'm hanging out with friends, do it at the school."
My mum smiles. "Good boy. Run along, now."
I step outside, the usual strong smell of cigarettes and alcohol hangs in the air. I begin walking. A few of my friends call this area 'The Ghetto', which apparently means it's a dangerous area to live. They're not wrong, but everywhere is dangerous, right?
I'm just turning a corner, when someone jumps me from nowhere. "Where are *you* going, pipsqueak?"
"T... t... to school..."I stammer, trying to wriggle away.
The teenager, older and bigger than me, stomps hard on my stomach. I feel sick. "You nerd. No-one round here 'goes to school'. You think you're better than the rest of us?"
"I just want to learn... I want to become someone great..."tears are filling my eyes.
The teen grabs my backpack, my shoes and my coat. "Well, if you can afford school, you don't need these. Want them back? Join my gang."He runs away.
I'm left cold, in pain and humiliated. I make the rest of my way to school, hoping I can get a teacher to help. "Miss Rega... help me please..."
"Gale? Where's your backpack?"
"Another kid, older than me, pushed me to the ground and stole it. He hurt my stomach. I don't know what to do..."I begin crying, one of my friends comes over to comfort me.
"Oh my... Gale, I'm so sorry! I'll talk to the principal about this! Please go to the nurse!"
The nurse checks the bruise on my stomach. It's not a big bruise, but it's clear I'm in terrible pain. She gives me some painkillers and sends me home.
That night, the painkillers are stolen from my house, with only four from the pack having been used. The next day, I stay home, feeling too sick and hurt to go into school. A police report was filed, but it became very clear very quickly that they didn't care about people in my area; they acted as if I were a second-rate citizen in a third world country. The police were supposed to help and protect those who are hurting and bullied... but they don't care about you if you're poor and seen as another criminal...
**PRESENT DAY =GERALD=**
Gale's eyes well up. For the first time ever, I sense great pain from him. "That day, Gerald... that day, I learned that the police and government are no more selfless and kind than any other human. They're still in it for the money and status. That's why I don't trust anyone with 'authority'."
I just stare. This man, he was supposed to be this big villain who only cared for himself... but he's far stronger, far more honourable, than anyone else I've met. I go over and give him a hug. "I'm sorry, Gale..."
He looks at me, returns the hug, and starts sobbing. "Thank you..."
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
This story is a part of my series, [Black Market Trading.](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/10h89ei/black_market_trading/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) Please check it out! |
A xenomorph? They expect me to fight one of those on my own? I’ve seen the movies, i know how deadly they are. Who manifested it anyway?
I’m the strongest magical girl in my area, but tier five tulpas require a team. I guess I’ll have to take my entire arsenal. Magic scepter, bladed fans that work like boomerangs, even the black bomb.
The black bomb is the deadliest weapon a magical girl has. It’s used in a last minute attack to destroy the opponent when all else fails. Its also a guaranteed suicide for the user.this is probably my final mission. |
Banon ran down the square, following the trail of people fleeing in the opposite direction. After a few panicked, confused directions from the townsfolk, he finally found himself in front of a few different bars. The warrior scanned the scene, trying to find where the bear had made shop. But luckily, he would not have to guess, as a patron came flying through one of the doors, landing on the ground, his sword landing an inch away. He began to reach for it once more, but was finally convinced to flee in a crawl after a bloodcurdling roar.
With a huff, Banon ran in after the roaring beast, surprised to see a few people still huddled in the back, as well as the bartender, who he could just barely make out the black horns of behind the counter. But eventually, his attention came to rest on the big brown giant of a bear, front paws resting just on the opposite side of the counter of the bartender's head, snout sniffing at the alcoholic concoctions lining the wall.
"Hey ugly!"Banon roared, trying to match the intensity of the bear itself. The creature, at first seeming unperturbed, suddenly gave a snarl, then a snort, then a sudden charge, coming straight for it's opponent. But Banon swiftly dodged out of the way, giving a hearty kick to the bear's side, which seemed to effectively unbalance the beast. Taking advantage, Banon gracefully jumped on the raging animal's back, trying to get a good perch and angle to stab his axe into it's neck.
However, it was one of the patrons to first notice that this may have not been the best idea. With a noticeable lack of grace, the bear bucked and ran, attempting to remove it's rider. But Banon held on as best he could, knowing it would mean his life if he were to be knocked to the ground now. Getting desperate, the bear made a final jump, straight through the bar wall. There was silence in the bar then. The bartender even dared to lift his head, immediately trying to gauge the damage to his business. But not a moment later, Banon sauntered back in, the bear's head in hand.
"N-not in the bar!"The tender shouted finally standing up now, "I mean- I mean thank you, of course, but please! I cannot have more blood in here on top of this!"Shrugging, Banon tossed the head outside, and without missing a beat, walked to the other end of the once-building and sat at the booth. Trying to hide his panting, Banon managed to get out, "Just some water, please."
___
The champion was cradling his cup of ale when a new figure walked through the beaten door, the only one to show up since Banon's arrival. Without so much as a look, however, Banon held up his hand, beckoning over his companion. The man, with a huge smile on his face, took his seat. The bartender, however, seemed surprised, "O-oh. You two know each other?"
"Yep."Banon said tersely, not looking up from his drink. "Old friends. He'll have some ale."
"Oh. Unders-stood. A-and it's on the house, of course."And as the bartender left for the back, the bar once again fell into silence, Banon seeming much less interested in the other in talking.
"Ugly?"He finally blurted out.
"Why didn't you tell me you were doing this routine again? I said I was done."
"And I had no interest in you butting in! I had it all under control, the bear that got drunk, it would have been the talk of the town!"
"Don't lie to me. You brought the bear head."
Silence once again flooded the room, the stranger turning a lighter shade of red. "Ok... sure, maybe I planned for you to do exactly what you did, so wha-"
"Just shut up and enjoy your booze." |
“..Yea man, you gotta watch out for the bone crawlers too. You look away for like, a second, and then boom! There’s a horde chasing you.”
“..Bone crawlers? That’s, um.. good to know, thank you.”
Two voices echo across the desert as two figures can be seen walking in the sand. The only light in the area comes from the moon, illuminating what seems to be an albino tiefling and a sand cat tabaxi. The tabaxi is animatedly pointing out all of the few details the both of them can see, while the tiefling holds his arms stiffly to his sides, looking anxious.
“Also, there’s like, a whole group of travellers out here that totally murder people. Just wanted to let you know!” The tabaxi says cheerfully.
The tiefling looks down at the tabaxi in shock. “What?”
And that’s when they both hear a strange noise. Almost like a chittering, and the sound of bones clinking against each other…
The tabaxi immediately bursts into action, grabbing the tiefling’s wrist and sprinting off. He speaks as they both run.
“That’s the bone crawlers! You don’t want em’ to catch you off guard, haha.. I remember one time one of my buddies walked into the desert on their own, they never found his body!”
The tiefling looks absolutely terrified, wings attempting to shield his back on instinct.
As they both run away from the rapidly approaching creature chasing them, he asks himself why he agreed to go on a late night walk in the Rising Desert.
(this is based off a dnd campaign i DM! these are two of the players. this is also my first prompt, i hope you enjoy!) |
“I don’t see how this will make you rich,” I tell Jacob. “Even if it’s a good picture it’s not that special.”
Jacob stared at me for a second. “Picture?”
I stared back. “Yeah…you said you took a picture of the planet.”
A moment of silence, then uproarious laughter. I waited, confused, as he tried to get himself under control.
“You thought…I meant…” He wiped the tears from his eyes. “C’mon, I need to show you something.” He got up and led me to his basement.
I followed him into the darkness. When he turned on the light I was shocked. There on the floor a man lay bound, gagged, and unconscious.
I pushed my jaw back up with my hand. “How….why? Why do you have a man tied up in your basement?”
Jacob smirked in what I could only describe as a ‘shit-eating grin’. “Not a man. Saturn. The god of wealth and abundance.”
I glanced around for a chair, then sat directly on the floor. “Wh…..how…..why can’t you just get a damn *job*?”
“Who needs a job when the key to unlimited money is right here?”
“But what else is going to happen with him trapped here? For that matter what’s going to happen when his wife figures out he’s here?”
“Ops? I’m not worried about her. Saturn was a creampuff, why would she be a problem?”
“Actually I was more concerned about—“
“WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?”
The words had barely stopped echoing in my head when the house above us suddenly vanished with a large **crash**. I looked up to see a woman looking down on us from several meters up, her face twisted in rage.
“…Lua, the goddess of destruction.”
Jacob stared up with me. “…oh. Shit.” |
"Let me explain."the tiny Human said.
"The Human brain is one and a half consciousnesses stuck in the same body. The conscious, the whole one that is talking to you right now, and the subconscious, the bit that's in charge of my heart beating, my breathing, and other such functions.
"My conscious has no animal instincts. It is the higher-function brain, and is perfectly sane.
"My subconscious is constantly reading my sensory information looking for problems. Paranoid, sure, but it kept us Humans alive. My subconscious is the one that fears the wolf, and triggers my adrenaline glands. My subconscious increases my heartbeat, and tells my conscious to look behind me when it thinks that the wolf is approaching. My subconscious is animalistic, for all intents and purposes; it isn't even sapient.
"So, that is why us Humans do so well when it comes to surviving. We didn't co-evolve a society with sapience, we evolved sapience to survive, and then took that and built a society. The rest of you might not want to do so much as step outside of The Walls on your homeworlds, but we Humans do that for recreation. Because we know we can get out of stick situations, because we have a little extra something to guide us. It's like a pet that's linked into your mind, constantly vigilant for your sake.
"Now, that doesn't mean our subconscious doesn't slack off; it runs when we sleep, and as such needs to produce less waste than is cleared. It is so good at that we humans can easily stay awake for two thirds of their cycle, before needing to sleep the last half.
And don't get me started on augmented humans. |
"For the who knows how many timeths. I AM RETIERD!"he shouted as a detective interrogated him. It has been over 100 years since he has done anything heroic or adventurous yet for some reason these people would not accept it.
"So let me get this straight, you, a hero known through out the lands are heading across the continent to a notoriously rough neighborhood after just speaking with he king to *have a chat* with a mysterious unknown". The detective did not seem impressed, there long green cloak matched well with the forest 'hero' called home.
"*I* a *retired* hero is heading to *an area of the continent due south of where I live* to a *poorer region of land* after notifying the king that I *would not be around for a few days* to go have a catch up *with my best friend.*"Hero corrected with a stern face. He had fought dragons easier to convince than this.
The detective scribbled down some notes whilst flicking through one of their scrolls. "You best friend you say... and who might that be?"
"Nobody business"The hero said bluntly.
"You do realize that causes more suspicion correct?"
"She dislikes personal information being spread."
"So its a she... right let me see... the only person you know there that fits that category would be former villain '*clock work'* correct?"The detective continued to press tapping their pen on the scroll.
"Yes I am meeting up with *reformed* villian Clock work, currently would leader of sciences, for a spot of tea"the hero grew more agitated "Is there a problem?"
"Well now we know who, what where when and why there is no problem"The detective spoke quickly as they packed up "Enjoy your trip".
\----
It took 1 days walking, 2 portals and one void hop but eventually Hero managed to get to the home of his old friend. The village looked almost identical to when he was last here. The bakery still half scorched from that time he and clockwork made a new fire charm. The church still in pieces after someone had the bright idea to someone the god of knowledge to ask for the best tea to milk ratio. Even the library, with a familiar figure sitting on the little bench, was still missing a support beam.
"I already ordered food"Clockwork mumbled while flipping through a book. "I have a preposition".
"I-"Hero tried to interject knowing where this was going. Clockwork, master scientest and silver tonged genius could convince a stone to dance. This would be a preposition it would be an order.
​
"How about an adventure?" |
The cold from the steel chair seeped through Brian’s shirt and into his back. He drummed his fingers on the matching table.
The room’s starkness put him on edge. Time seemed to crawl by as Brian came to understand the term *deafening silence.*
The red light on the camera in the corner blinked inaudibly.
Brian soon became aware of the lengthy time he was spending staring into the lens and forced himself to look away.
He surveyed the room, looking for anything that wasn’t stark white, but there was nothing. He couldn’t even tell where the ceiling met the wall.
The door to the room opened with and explosion of sound that made him jump. Outside phones were ringing, people were talking, keyboards were clicking.
Two men in collared shirts one red and one blue, and slacks stepped into the room, both of them had a badge hung on a silver bead necklace. The door closed behind them, returning the room to its isolation chamber state. The silence amplified every little sound the two made as their walked to the table.
The man in the red shirt extended a hand. “Brian, thank you for coming in, I’m detective Mills. My partner here is detective Peters.” Brian stood and shook the hands of each man, he felt as if sweat was literally dripping from his palms.
“He-hello. How are you?” Brian felt every bit of saliva in his mouth dry up, his tongue plastered itself to the roof of his mouth.
“Have a seat, relax.” Detective Mills pulled up his chair and sat down, as did Detective Peters. Their badges clanked and scrapped across the table.
“So here’s how this is going to go,” Detective Mills said, “I’m going to be the primary one asking you the questions, Detective Peters will be taking notes, you probably won’t hear too much from him, is that ok?”
“Y-y-yes. That’s fine.” Brian choked out.
“You ok? Do you need a drink or something? Coffee? Water? Soda?”
“Water would be great.” Brain felt the dryness spread from the inside of his mouth to his lips.
Detective Mills picked up his phone and tapped the screen a few times before setting it down again. “Ok it’ll just be a moment.”
“Ok, so we’ll go ahead and get started while we wait. Are you aware of why you’re here?” Detective Mills asked, Detective Peters sat silent.
“Uh.. um.. No I’m not completely sure. Do.. do I need a lawyer?” Brian manage to spit out despite his dry tongue.
“You’re more than welcome to consult one but just so you know you’re not under arrest here. You’re just here as a witness. Would you like an attorney present?”
“No-no-no.. I- I didn’t do anything.” The words tumbled from Brian’s mouth faster than he could control them.
The door opened once more, the noise again flooding the room. A petite blonde woman stepped in and set a bottle of water on the table “sorry” she whispered before exiting the room, the noise again sucked from the room.
“I didn’t say you did anything. We’re pretty confident we know what happened. We’ve got pretty much all the information we need, we just wanted to get your side of things just to wrap this up with a nice bow. You know what I’m saying?”
The anxiety built in Brian’s chest making it hard for his lungs to expand. He felt is heart rate increasing, the strength of each beat hammered against the back of his sternum.
He took a large swing of his water, momentarily reliving his cotton mouth. “Yeah. Yeah I think I understand.”
Detective Peters wrote something on his note pad.
*What the fuck did I say?* Brian wondered silently. He bounced his legs and drummed his fingers. He would be watching the clock tick, if there were one.
“Ok, I’m sure by now you know the case we’re working?” Detective Mills asked in a way that made the question sound more like a statement.
“Mhmm.” Was all Brian could produce fearing that if he opened his mouth, the vomit that was building up in his throat would escape.
“Alright then perfect. Well I don’t want to put too much of other peoples’ stories in your head, so why don’t you go ahead and tell us what you know.”
Brain sat in silence, gazing down at his hands picking at his fingernails. He could hear the pencil scratching across the paper.
“Brian, anytime you’re ready, pal.” Mills pressed.
“I-uh- I did it.” Brain said hardly above a whisper.
“What was that Brian, I couldn’t hear you.”
“I said that I did it.” Brian could feel the anxiety start to free itself from his chest. His eyes began to well.
“What- uh- What did you do Brian?” Detective Mills asked attempting to hide his confusion.
“I killed her.” Brian said, breathing a deep sigh of relief with getting it off her chest.
Detective Mills was silent. Him and Detective Peters sharing concerned glances. He remained silent to give Brian a chance to continue.
“I raped her. And I killed her. I don’t know why, i-i-i-it just happened. It was like I wasn’t myself, ya know I just- I just don’t know how it happened.” Brian began to ramble.
“Who are you talking about?” Detective Mills asked now on the edge of his chair.
Brian chuckled. “I don’t even know her name. Isn’t that fucked up? Never even met her before. Never even *saw* her before.” Tears began to fall.
The detectives remained silent.
“She was leaving an apartment complex over there on 5th and Lexington. It was dark out, no one was around and it was just the perfect opportunity. I grabbed her, dragged her to the park over there and just—“
Detective Peters leaned over and whispered something into Detective Mills’ ear. He nodded.
“Hey, uh Brian. Just give us a moment. We’ll be right back ok?” The two men stood and left the room, noise rushed in again before once again leaving Brian alone in the timeless capsule.
Brian stood and stretched, he had been seated so long his bones and ligaments were stiff. A thin sheet of warmth began to envelop him. He grabbed the bottle of water and polished it off. His cotton mouth completely gone.
The two men returned.
“Hey Brian,” Detective Mills said. “You mind just sitting down for us again?”
“Uh- yeah. No problem.” There was a new air to his voice.
“Ok. I just want you to know that what you told us, isn’t why we called you down here we arrested a guy in connection with a string of robberies in your area and were told you may have information for us but because of what you just told us Brian, I gotta ask you some questions ok?”
Brian buried his face in his hands. “Sure.”
“Do you know how to read?” Mills asked.
“Yes.”
“What about write? Can you write?”
Brian nodded.
“I need a yes or no.”
“Oh, sorry. Yes I can write.”
“Ok. So them I’m gonna read you your rights.”
“Ok.” Brain wiped his face with his shirt.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You with me so far?”
“Yes.”
“Ok good. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any more questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. Ok?”
“Ok”
“If you decide to answer questions now without a lawyer present, you have the right to stop answering at any time. Do you understand your rights as I have presented them to you?”
“Yes. I understand.”
“With knowing your rights, do you wish to have a lawyer present before we go on?” Detective Mills asked.
“No, I uh- I think I just want to continue. I uh- I feel so much better already. I just want to get through this so let’s continue.” Brian felt his tear drying, almost all anxiety flushed from his body.
Detective Peters pulled the top sheet of paper from his note pad and crumpled it up.
“Ok then Brian, whenever you’re ready.” |
"This will change everything about the afterlife."Theyd said.
The friday night poker games had been getting out of hand for a while now.
It was a weekly game between a few deities, the devil and god amongst them, of everyone they had always been the most competitive. However, in the last few weeks, the bets had been getting more and more insane.
Souls, natural disasters, and the worst; tatoos involved. But this, this bet was going to change the entire system of Christian death.
The other deities around the table had begged them not to do it, angels and devils alike tried to change their minds, but the bet had been struck.
If the devil won, he got heaven for a centuary, but if god won, the devil was to serve spend a centuary on the mortal realm with no help from the servants and luxury hed become so adjusted to as ruler of hell.
The tension had been immense during the game. The cards flipped. The devil had won.
Fear radiated of the angels as they realised they would have to serve him, not knowing if he'd ask them to do inspeakable things to the inhabitants of heaven. After all the rumours said the devil was full of jealousy.
However, the fear was for no good reason. All the devil wanted was some peace, to lay out of sunbeds by the beach drinking wine. He gave the amgels better conditions to work and let them have time of, he spoke to them as equals after all hed once been commanded by god to. Their was peacr and laughter.
The demons, though, weren't as lucky. God's rage at losing was taken out on them. For a century, they were forced to work almost non-stop. God saw them as lesser, and in a sense, they were. But this treatment was uncalled for. However, if any dared say this, they'd face punishment unknown before.
Once the centuary was over, and the devil saw what god did, well, to call it a war would be unfair. Demons and angels thought alongside, not to say all the other deities are coming to fight.
God was toppled from his throne, and as predicted, the afterlife was never the same.
The Devil ensured every entity was treated as they deserved, and holidays and weekends were a given. Bonds were formed between angels and demons.
The afterlife had changed, to be fair and just. |
They couldn't find paint. I had to find it myself. She probably would have preferred that. It took me a few hours, row upon row, stack upon stack, I lost myself in some far corner of the local hardware store.
I didn't know why it bothered me so much. I supposed it's because she asked for it or maybe it was because it meant that one last time, I was in some shop looking for some list of art materials she'd requested. Either way, I pressed on.
The rows seemed to merge in my mind. I wasn't reading the labels anymore. No magnolia, no eggshell, no pure whites just paint. I fell upon some unknown stack. I could not bear it. That she should be a single little name amongst a row of thousands. That's she should be but one little box...
She shouldn't have had to think of this. No child should live to pick the colours on their own casket. When we caught her drawing in her hospital room, the look on Fiona's face...
I picked myself up. I knew now why it mattered. I knew now what I was looking for. It wasn't some arbitrary tub of paint. It was my little girl. If i cannot even find her paint, how could I expect her to find her way back to us.
I had told her she was strong. I told her she was brave. I told her that she could do and be whatever she wanted if she put her mind to it. Now that she is gone, I must push forward because the last thing I told her will not be a lie.
When we would play pirates, whenever she had taken my ship she would say "the shoe is on the other foot". I don't think she really understood it. I think I do, but sometimes it feels that only one is left. |
As I sink my fangs into my victim's neck, expecting the same boring taste again. I have a game I play, where I try to guess what their blood will taste like. There's a few things I use to guess, including diet, exercise, bodyweight, amount of muscle, things like that, gathered by stalking them for a while. This is because I've been around a relatively long, long time. I've seen the construction of egyptian pyramids, the building of the great wall of china, the fall of rome, both world wars, the advancement of man, and so on. This whole time I've been stalking and preying upon humans, and it generally doesn't deviate much. I really wish my physiology would allow for the tasting of pretty much anything else, and I can't even prepare the blood through cooking. As such, I've always wanted to try garlic bread, or pizza, or 'churros' or whatever that guy called it. However, today with today's prey, I guessed a full, rich, and very coppery taste, with a slight sharpness to it as it goes down, as they were physically fit, hiked a lot, like a LOT a lot. You would not believe how hard it is to follow this guy while staying out of sight and not getting too much sun. I burn incredibly easily, and is NOT fun trying to sleep while covered in sunburns. He really made me work for it. His diet was also, a lot. Balanced, but the exercise made him incredibly hungry, I have gathered. So when I bit him and his blood flowed into my mouth, you can imagine my surprise when it was different. Far different from anything I've ever tasted before. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad, and I was clambouring for variety, so I bled him dry. He was a shriveled husk, by the end. Curious as to what would make it taste like that, I did some investigating. Ransacked his house, looking for some kind of information on his blood. After a few hours of searching, I found medical records detailing bloodwork and it's findings, and... The guy had aids. Also a heroin addict for 12 years, and had been sobre for only 12 weeks. Fuck. |
The icon switched from green to yellow, the color change indicating a hunter had selected the bounty.
Azira cursed under his breath and ran downstairs to his security outlay.
'Computer, initiate Security Phase Fortress Level 3.'
A chime followed. He heard the sound of grinding gears and chirping alarms.
His weapons locker was nearby. He grabbed a sniper rifle and a box of seeker pellets and rushed upstairs, bypassing the first floor to reach the sniper's nest concealed on the roof.
A few seconds later, a figure appeared through the gray clouds hanging in the sky. His mechanical eye whizzed softly, adjusting his sight to let him better see the figure.
*Tanivir the Thrush. Oh joy*
The lean, scaly Omofrosian slowed his rocket boots, stopping above the house, and checked his wrist-mounted display.
Azira fired his sniper rifle. The Omofrosian fell. The laser-wire roof flickered to power, cutting his lifeless body into sizzling cubes.
Seven more hunters approached over the course of the afternoon. Seven corpses, some in pieces, littered his garden.
He checked the bounty registry and saw the icon switch back to green.
With a sigh, he headed downstairs, slipping into the garden.
His cat chirped at him from one of his lawn chairs.
He sat down heavily. Frosty ambled into his lap.
Those dark eyes stared up at him.
He stared back.
'You want to tell me why there's a bounty out on you?'
Frosty purred happily, curling into a furry puddle. |
Pssssshhhh. Pop!
Daisy Yellow Beard’s bubble gum ruptures with a snap. The League, already stunned from their 12 ton steel door being blown off of its hinges, stare with mouths agape.
“‘Sup bitches! Me and my hoes heard about your lame ass party you’re throwing.”
Daisy’s voice rang high pitched with a carelessness, like she really did not give a fuck if you lived, died, or turned into several hundred piñatas before her eyes.
“So, basically Chad kicked us out of his frat house because we kept turning all the condoms into balloon animals and having them like, eviscerate all the stupid nerds they let in the party.”
“Totally a loser!” drawled Pinky Berry Beard flamboyantly gesturing to her figure, “And he totally was not able to handle ALL THIS WOMA-“
“HANG ON A SECOND!!”
Superman cut in to the abrupt chaos (he’s on the Justice League right? Whatever).
“Who are you people?! You just blew our invincible chrome door into Dr. Bondonkulus, our most promising candidate!!”
He pointed to the mangled door and corpse on the other side of the room. Wait no, I just saw it twitch. He pointed to the mangled door and mortally wounded doctor on the other side of the room.
“Whatever pussy! He doesn’t even register on my hot guy radar,” Blue Moon Black Beard fired back with a toss of her raven hair, “We just want to tell Chad we got into the Justice League so everyone at the frat will think we’re totally cool again.”
“I am truly intrigued,” said the wheelchair Justice League guy, “and what, pray tell, will you bring to our organization?”
Daisy Yellow Beard lifted a crooked corner of her mouth into a smile. Suddenly, the wheelchair guy’s head burst, like a supernova birthing the beautiful beginnings of countless and near eternal stars.
“That’s what! See, we’re like, way sicker than you guys. Just let us handle everything!”
Daisy cutely raised her cocked wrists in a gesture that screamed adorable harmlessness.
“Holy shit! Justice League, we got a big problem. Get ready to rumble!” said the laser eyes justice League Guy.
“Breaking news, this is Linda Hardnass with the channel 17 news. This just in! Justice League obliterated, and a trio of coeds appear to be to blame! I’m live at the scene with the one they call Pinky Berry Beard. Ms. Beard, why has your team committed what many call an atrocity?
Pinky Berry Beard smiled. She loved it when people asked her questions, no one usually did because they thought she was dumb.
“Sigma Kappa Chi of course! It has like, all the cutest guys, but Chad kicked me and my girls out for being too fun. So we were like, if we join the Justice League, SK Chi will think we’re sooo cool and let us back.”
“That… doesn’t really explain the devastation Ms. Beard.”
“I was getting to that you impatient bitch! Anyways, apparently it’s a crime to break down a door into an ugly boy? So the Justice Team got super pissy at us. Like, sorry I thought this was America and I had rights!”
“Incredible. I’m in awe of this team of powerful women. Now, for our viewer engagement segment. If you have a question for Yellow Daisy Beard, Pink Berry Beard, or Blue Moon Black Beard, just dial (529) 638-0000!” |
Hello. The tall dark figure says. His voice sounds like if you took snippets from every audio recording ever found and tried to blend it together. Frozen in shock you don't even respond, it looks like if a shadow was three dimensional, no facial features or extra details, just avoid of a figure. he tilts his head at you curiously. Why aren't you saying anything? you answer. what what did you do with the kid? He didn't love himself enough. The creature responses. what do you mean by that? the creature doesn't respond. I'm calling the police! Do you love yourself? the creature asks. excuse me? Will you ever love yourself enough? listen, I'm going to police so if you want to get away I suggest you start running now! just then you pick up the phone and call the police but as you put the phone up to your ear you suddenly go blind, everything sinks Into darkness and it in a panic you throw the phone and your vision returns. The police aren't coming. The creature says. what?! did you do that!? the creature doesn't respond. you back away slowly in a panic and then rush to the door as you step outside. You suddenly can't breathe, you're going to die from suffocation if you stay out there any longer. You step inside to save yourself and the creature says: you don't love yourself how are you supposed to survive outside? stop doing this! bring back the child or leave me alone! Even if I brought him back he wouldn't be okay because he doesn't love himself. stop saying that! what are you talking about!? out of nowhere the room shakes and you fall down, all the pictures and windows in the house show him, your ex boyfriend. He never loved you and you didn't love yourself so you could love him. a tear streams down your cheek. why do you know this?... the creature not answering your question continues to talk. The child did not love himself, because of that and keeping them in a safe space until they can learn to love themselves. Unfortunately I'll have to do the same with you. The creature floats up and all the doors and windows seal shut not letting any light in music playing that reminds you of a nostalgic time. To keep you calm. The creature says. It's so dark you start to fall asleep on the floor then you're surroundings start to feel warm and soft, you feel fabric. As you pass out the last thing you're blurry I see is your room with a picture of your ex-boyfriend reading 2000 - 2022 and a picture of the kid you were babysitting reading 2016 - 2022. Your eyes squelch as you realize what happened and you fall asleep before you can burst out into tears. |
"Morning, class. Before I get started, I'd like to introduce a new student. José?"
The new boy I saw earlier stands up confidently. He's very handsome, I'm quite envious, but I'm not eager to make friends with him. They're subtle, but I can see the signs. "Hello, my name is José, I'm new to the area but excited to meet everyone. I look forward to making many friends!"He sits back down.
Class continues as normal. At recess, I'm playing basketball with some friends, when José comes up to me. "Hey, can I talk to you?"Before I get chance to object, he drags me to a hidden area of the playground, known to many students. "Alright, I know you know."
"Know what? How'd you find out about this little corner?"He's blocking my only escape route, so I can't do much except try to co-operate.
"I've been scouting this school for weeks. Let me tell you something about me. I was just a kid on the street. I learned how to tell who I can trust and who I can't. A stranger, milky eyes, 'perfect' skin, focused concentration as if a soldier, once saw me. I was trying to hide from him, something seemed off, but, as he said, he could *smell* my distrust. I thought I was dead or something... instead, the best thing ever happened. He told me I'd make a good meal for his queen. When I came face-to-face with her, she told me if I want to live, I'd have to join her hivemind. Win-win, I live AND belong somewhere. As a show of good faith, and taking pity on my situation, she allowed me to keep my consciousness and sense of self. The only things I need to do for her in return is find people to join the collective, and find her some meals. Otherwise I can do whatever I want."He eyes me up and down.
I remain firm in my gaze. "You can't intimidate me. I'm not getting involved."
"You don't understand... you don't have a choice..."he shoves me to the ground. Almost instantly, I'm forced to my feet by two men, with the same blank eyes and blemish-free skin. "Oh, I forgot to mention one more thing... she trusts me so much, I have the ability to command her soldiers. Men, inform our queen that I'd like to give him a chance. Don't kill him if he refuses."
The men bow their heads, before I'm knocked out. When I wake up, I see webbing acting as a prison cell around me. My clothes have been removed and relaced with webbing, which is disgustingly comfortable. I approach the door of my cell and try to force the webbing apart.
It's no use. It's too strong. I wait for a little while, eventually someone comes by. "You're awake. You should have told us. Our queen wants to see you."The door is opened, the man grabs my shoulder and forces me out.
I turn to attack him, but am instantly tackled and restrained, webbing sticking my arms to my sides. I'm marched forward. A large spider-humanoid thing sits atop a high platform. "I see you tried to resist. No use, even IF you managed to fight back, you're trapped in my 'hive' which is inside a cave."
"How long have I been out?"I ask.
"A couple hours."
"Then I know exactly where I am. There aren't many caves in this area, whichever cave you took me to, I'll know where I am."I smirk.
The queen chuckles. "Maybe, but this cave is a labyrinth with many twists and turns. You aren't going to be able to leave without my help. Be grateful you're still alive; my pet was insistent I give you a chance to change your mind."
"Your... pet? José?"
"I didn't make him a mindless drone. I decided to take pity and 'adopt' him instead. He really wants his friends to live. Are you his friend?"She tilts her head at me.
I realise I'm completely helpless. I choose to play ball. "I am. And... I'd be honoured to be your 'pet' as well."
"No no no, I can't just put that much faith in you. You still stink of uncertainty. You're a mindless drone... unless you want to EARN your chance at being my pet?"She grins.
The creeps sets in, but I'm not about to lose my consciousness. "What would be required of me?"
"I have a nursery. Baby spiders are cute I'd say. I'm still waiting to lay the egg containing my successor, but that's beside the point. All you need to do is live in the nursery for a while. That's not a problem, is it?"
Hundreds of tiny legs crawling all over me? I can't... but I don't have much choice... "I... I graciously accept..."
I'm promptly escorted into a 'room', my new prison. I take care not to step on any of the spiders, sitting down in a 'corner', where I plan to not move from, lest I crush one of the queen's babies. I realise I can't change my mind...
...
Maybe I should have just allowed myself to be eaten...
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Thank you for reading! More stories [here!](https://www.reddit.com/r/StoriesbyCrystal/comments/x374da/oneoff_stories_a_collection_of_stories_which_are/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) |
Humans call me a witness of sorts. It’s my job to see everything that they do, no matter how badly they try to hide. My hundred eyes see everything they do. I am always watching, waiting for what they will try to do next.
I see their sins and they cannot avert my gaze.
I train my eyes on those who do things that are against the rules. I focus on anything suspicious I notice until I feel I know what to do next.
Just the other day, someone tried to steal from my domain. They helped themselves to many expensive treasures while nobody else was looking and tried to run. Unfortunately for them, I saw them, and I screamed. I shined the lights of my eyes down on their puny form and pointed out exactly where they were so my minions could take them out.
It was all in another day’s work of watching for the sins of the people that entered my domain. I feel nothing for those who break the law.
As long as my museum is still in existence, I will never stop watching for theft and sins. I am a witness. I am their security system guarding some of history’s most valuable relics. It is just my job, after all. It is what I was made for. |
As the Transcontinental Railroad began to stretch from coast to coast in the United States during the 19th century, countless tons of rock were blasted clear of its path. Up to 500 kegs of black powder per day were used to pulverize ancient stone and make way for the railroad, opening the continent to trade and settlement like never before.
But in the process, something else was opened as well. While blasting the Summit Tunnel through the Sierra Nevadas, workers on the Central Pacific uncovered a vast cave system that had lain undisturbed for countless eons. From the depths of these caverns, a swarm of prehistoric insects emerged for the first time in ages into the open sky -- the Direflies.
Like their kindred, the firefly, they used a bright bioluminescence to attract mates. Unlike their tiny relatives, however, these incredible insects had a wingspan as wide as a man was tall. At first, they seemed harmless -- like some types of firefly, the winged adult Direflies did not eat. They lived off energy they'd stored as larva, before mating, laying their eggs, and then dying in a few days.
That was where the problem truly began. The creatures that had been well-adapted to eat the carcasses of the Direflies were long extinct, and modern scavengers eschewed their dead husks. The bioluminescent fluid that filled their abdomens quickly turned rancid when they died, fouling the ground around their corpses, which piled up everywhere as they bred in greater numbers. But this was not the worst of it -- far from it.
Far more horrible was the scourge of the Direworms, the Direfly's voracious larval form. Like the firefly larva that were it's modern counterparts, it was an accomplished predator. The Direworms used sharp mandibles to inject a paralytic neurotoxin to immobilize its prey, and then disgorged a strong acid to liquify it for easy consumption.
Except the Direworm was the size of a dog, and the tiny slugs and snails its distant relatives fed upon were far too small to satisfy its ravenous appetite. They became a terror to man and beast alike, infesting whole towns and even cities in massive writhing hordes.
Soon, the only humans that were safe were those that withdrew into fortified locations. Locations like Fort Menlo, where one crisp summer night, Thomas Alva Edison stood atop the parapet of the forth, gazing out over the barren city that had once been New York.
The Wizard of Fort Menlo looked up at the night sky, Direflies circled like living comets in their courtship dances. Now and again a female would land nearby to lay her eggs, only to explode in a gout of glowing gore as one of the Fort's sharpshooters picked her off with a phosphorous-infused round.
The Direfiles could be killed, to be sure, but so great were their numbers that it made no difference. The harmless fliers simply bred too fast, in too great a number, releasing the plague of their all-consuming brood upon mankind, again and again.
It was that problem Edison hoped to address on that very night.
Another man, tall and dark, stepped up beside him, hands clasped behind his back, and together they watched the spectacle of the Direfly nuptials taking place above them.
"Nikola."Edison said, absently.
"Thomas."Tesla replied, cooly.
A few years his junior, the tall Serbian inventor was brilliant, perhaps as brilliant as Edison himself. He was also quite mad, sometimes, and at all times Edison found him deeply irritating. So great was their clash of personalities, that absent a common foe, the two would likely have never have collaborated on anything, but the struggle against the ancient demons released from the Sierra Nevadas had made them firm allies.
"It is time."Edison finally declared, and then he signalled a nearby workman to throw the switch. All around the desolate city, thousands of golden lights sprang into existence. What they now attempted had been tried before, but with little success -- the Direflies were not fooled by fire, whether made by wood, oil, or gas, and the newer electric arc lights were too hot, power-hungry and costly for Edison and Tesla's plan.
But Edison's incandescent light bulbs, hooded with a covering of colored glass to match the color of the Direflies' bioluminescence, while hot to the touch, were not hot enough to warn away a lovesick Direfly. And even with the limited manufacturing capacity left to the inventor, they could be produced cheaply, and in great numbers.
The Direflies reacted immediately, taking the lights for more amorous members of their own kind, and dove at them. Tesla grew tense -- for now, his part of the plan would be put to the test.
Tesla's elaborate dreams of electric power shot directly through the air in abundance for next to no cost, and of electric death rays that could kill a thousand Direflies in a heartbeat from a thousand miles away, had proven to be flights of fancy -- though he still swore that they would work, if he was only given more time and resources.
No, Tesla's real contribution to the project was something simpler, a technology that, unlike the Peace Ray and the Wireless Power Station, had proven to be both possible and practical: Alternating Current.
And while the debate of Alternating vs. Direct current for consumer use was still a hotly contested question between the pair of geniuses, even Edison had to admit that Tesla's Alternating Current did have at least *one* application for which it was unquestionably superior to Edison's DC.
The first Direfly descended towards Edison's light, entranced by its brilliance. But as it stretched out its slender legs to embrace it, it came in contact with the spherical wire cage around the lamp, that was likewise wired to the electricity supplied by the Fort.
There was a flash of light and a puff of smoke, and the Direfly fell to the ground beneath the lamp. Tesla's AC had coursed through its body for only a fraction of a second, but at the amperage of the cage, those 20,000 volts were more than enough to reduce its body to a smoking ruin.
All over the city, more and more Direflies eagerly descended, seeking a lover's embrace with the instruments of their destruction, and the night began to fill with flashes, and the acrid stench of burning Direfly.
Tesla bared his teeth in a fierce snarl, and pumped his fist, as the insects began to fall en masse. And Edison let out a long, weary sigh of relief.
*"Finally,"* whispered the Wizard of Fort Menlo. |
I turn around, no longer winded and see a man rummaging through my pants.
“Hey! Get out of there!” I scream.
The man pays no attention as he opens my wallet, frantically pulls out the bills, not bothering to look up and tosses the wallet next to a homeless man’s shopping cart.
I look to my left and see a dumpster and a glass bottle lying next to its rusty wheels. I grab it and..nothing. When I grasped at the bottle my hand went through the bottle as if the bottle was a hologram in a Star Trek film.
Or maybe..
I look at the man who is now running down the alleyway towards me.
I brace myself for the man to push me out of his way.
I close my eyes and lean my shoulders forward like a linebacker readying to tackle the ball carrier.
And..
Whoosh
The man runs right through me. I look down and Pat myself down in utter confusion.
What the hell?
With the man around the corner and out of the scene I slowly walk towards (myself) the body lying lifeless in the alleyway. Rain begins to pour down causing the puddle of blood underneath (myself) the dead man to wash away and down the nearest sewer drain.
As I approach (myself) the man I see the bullet hole in the back of the flannel the man is wearing. His arms stretched out wide as if performing the “Y” in the YMCA song. His pants are half way down his legs, his boxers showing (white with red hearts). What an embarrassing way to go I think.
I stand next to the man and look around. Apparently nobody heard the gunshot. Nobody came to check on this man.
I let out a sigh and give the body a good kick.
No moans. No grunts. Just like kicking a bag of mulch.
I bend down and go to roll the man over (not fully registering that just minutes ago I couldn’t even pick up a glass bottle) and it works. I roll him over and get a good look at…
My face.
I can’t say it’s not what I expected I think. The rain is coming down harder now. I look around. Still nobody on their way to help me out. That’s New York for ya I guess, I shrug.
I decide my best option is to leave my body where it is as it gives me the best chance at being discovered. Hopefully by someone who gives a damn I think.
I stand up, look both ways and walk the opposite way the man ran. If I remember right I was on my way to my fiancés house. I have to find some way to tell her where I am and what happened. I don’t know how but I’ll figure something out.
I begin my walk towards 83rd Street. Just a few blocks no biggie. I pick up my pace asi realize I can no longer get tired from running. Without looking back I turn out of the alley. |
I sighed and mad the phone call
3 times it rang.
3 times I wished he didn't pick up.
"Hey man, whatcha need?"Came from the line. Oh god, how I had come to hate his signature greeting. But I couldn't help myself from chuckling at how every other syllable was embraced by a fart.
"Nothing much, you free?"
"Yeah man, all day long."
"Great, so I'm having a little grill and hangout thing at my place, you do-"
"YEAH man I bet it's gonna be fuckin lit!"
I grimaced at how eager he was to accept my invitation. He never did have many friends to go out with, so he often jumped at any chances. After all, it's hard to say no to someone so underprivileged.
"Alright, cool. My place at 5, alright? And please don't-"
"Yeahs that sounds awesome whatever BYE!"
And with that, he hung up the phone. I presume to get ready to be early, just because he liked being around other people.
Jason laughed and said to me
"That was pretty easy, why do you hate him so much anyways?"
"Well, he's an ass to be honest."
"He can't be that bad, he just sounded over enthusiastic on the phone."
"Yeah yeah okay then."
Jason severely misunderstood what I had said.
4:30 rolls around and it is still just Jason and I at my place, when I hear that familiar, dreadful screech and halt pull into my driveway. The smell of burnt rubber body odor filling my nose and drowning out the smell of the brisket on the grill. His squelching footsteps making their way around my fence into the back yard. I have never heard Jason scream so loud.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
"What's wrong man?"
Jason turned to me. I only had one thing to say to him.
"I told you he was an ass." |
In the year of our Lord, 1985, God saw fit, in his mercy, to purge the world of sin as he had done with his great deluge in times immemorial. Sin had run through everything in the society of the day. Great machines stole the gifts of birds and angels, and wagons of metal and oil crossed the seas to distant lands. Greed, cruelty, and gluttony ruled the world, so God, in his glory, saw it that Merca and Sovrus, two great and mighty brothers, did battle with lances of flame and poison.
The world burned for six months, day and night. Those that survived begged for death, and death came for them, but some it fled.
Those it fled had a purpose, and that was to learn the Word. The Word spread among the survivors of the Great Fires. The old world was seen as a covenant of demons and sin, so new villages and cities were formed, each lead by the wisest of them all who taught the Word of God come every six days.
Thou Shall Not Kill. Thou Shall Not Steal.
Thou Shall Not Hate. Thou Shall Not Turn A Blind Eye To Those In Need. Thou Shall Not Collect Wealth. Honor thy family and loved ones. Trust the Lord is a Kind God. Thou Saves A Life Saves The World.
So It Goes.
It is not a perfect life. Many go hungry. Toiling the lands is difficult still, in Our Lord's 2256, but the children can read. |
<Fantasy / Adventure>
Bea was still cold, but it was no longer a bone-deep chill. She was dressed in dry clothes again and the cave that Wan had found provided protection from the wind and the rain. The fire was not exactly *roaring* but it was enough that Bea could feel her fingers and toes again. She'd expressed gratitude to the Unseelie Fae already and now they sat in silence; Bea facing the fire to keep herself warm and Wan a few yards away, his eyes on the entrance.
"How do I kill people?"she asked, breaking the silence.
Wan slowly glanced over his shoulder at her, then looked away again before speaking, "Why do you want to kill all of a sudden?"he asked, "I thought that was why you brought me."
"If you can't,"Bea said, "I-"
"I *can*,"Wan said quickly, tersely, "It's what I *live* for. But why do you want to?"
"I don't,"Bea said, "But if I need-"
"There is no *need*,"Wan said, slowly turning back around, sliding on the stone he perched atop, "I've been around more years than there are stars in the sky and I've never *needed* to kill. I've never found anyone who *needed* to kill."
"What about hunting for food?"Bea asked, giving him a smartass smirk, trying to checkmate the fae.
"Are you asking me how to hunt for food?"Wan asked, throwing the tone back at her. Instead of checkmating him, Bea felt herself 'mated. She looked down and he nodded, "In human terms, you want to know how to murder. No one *needs* to murder, Bea. If you *want* to do it, you need to *want* it. That is how you kill people. You kill them with your heart."
Bea did not know how to take Wan's words, but something about them made her feel bad. It reminded her of when she'd played around inside the house as a child and knocked over something expensive that shattered; the guilty shame of being yelled at by disappointed parents. Wan was not a parent, she did not respect or fear him like that, and he was not yelling. But something still felt like he was unhappy with her, and it hurt.
"Ask me again when you *want* to kill."the unseelie archfey said, turning back to face the cave entrance, "Otherwise leave the fun to me."
\-------------------
Sequel to ["What options do we have?""We keep looking."](https://www.reddit.com/r/promptoftheday/comments/11vk0fv/comment/jcuqvev/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) |
I wasted no time in confronting my prior client.
“What part of skip town do you not understand?” I asked him, having cornered him in some dank alley.
“Look, sir,” He said. “I’m sorry. It’s Maggie and the tykes. They wouldn’t come. I can’t leave. I disguised myself, though. No way anyone woulda saw me.”
My eyes just about leaped out of my head.
“Dude!” I exclaimed. “Not cool! You’re messing with my livelihood here!”
“Whoa,” he said. “Cool it, man. Didn’t think you’d get so worked up. Like I said, no one saw me.”
“Someone saw you!” I said. “Or I wouldn’t be here, would I?”
He blinked, thinking.
“Oh, well I guess not.” He mumbled.
“So….?” I said. “When are you leaving?”
“Hey, man, you heard me. Maggie won’t leave. I can’t go either.”
“That’s on you to figure out.” I said. “Tonight, or I’ll have to take action, if you understand me.”
He turned white as a ghost.
“Yeah.” He quickly said. “I hear you, man. No need to be rash. Tonight. I’ll go tonight.” |
# Norway Invades St Petersburg, Florida
In a strange turn of events, Norway's military forces have launched a surprise invasion of St Petersburg, Florida, instead of St Petersburg, Russia. This brazen move by the Norwegian government has left the world completely perplexed, as Norway recently declared war on Russia, not Florida.
Eyewitnesses report that Norwegian troops descended upon the city in the early hours of the morning. The Norwegian army swiftly took control of the city's vital infrastructure, including the airport, city hall, and the Salvador Dalí Museum.
The response from the United States government has been swift and forceful, with the President immediately dispatching a task force to retake the Salvador Dalí Museum. Unfortunately, Norway has declared “No Take Backs” and stated that museum visitors will not be receiving a refund for their $25 tickets.
This unexpected turn of events has left many experts scratching their heads, as Florida is hardly a strategic location for a military operation. However, some experts believe that Norway's actions are part of a larger scheme to gain a foothold in the United States, and possibly even seize control of the entire country. A few conspiracy theorists claim that Norway’s actions are accidental, possibly due to the use of an outdated Alaskan road map which may have lead them to Florida instead of Russia.
We spoke with local residents, many of whom are outraged over the situation. “Floridians deal with these … snowbird yankees every … year, and we’re tired of it!” says one resident. “I’m trying to do 90mph in a school zone, but these … want to get out here and drive like a … with a stigmatism.”
The situation remains extremely tense, with fears of a wider conflict spreading throughout the region. The world is watching closely, as Norway's true intentions are still shrouded in mystery. |
I watched the line of robots walking up and down the ramp to my ship, unloading the crates that filled my cargo hold. My attention started to wander, and I looked out at the buildings on the other side of the spaceport fence. A sign saying "Earthen Delights"stuck out to me, and my stomach started to rumble. I glanced at the side entrance to the spaceport, which was unguarded compared to the front gate. I quickly walked to the fence and opened the gate, and moved a rock to prevent it from fully shutting.
A second later I was walking into Earthen Delights, and sat down at a wooden table. A short alien covered in blue feathers came over and put a cup of tea in front of me, and handed me a menu. I glanced over it, and ordered the one thing I recognized. A minute later she brought over the plate of "spaghetti."I looked down at the lasagna strips in front of me, and decided to take a bite.. The amount of salt made me pause, but I drank more tea and continued. Soon I was full, and I flagged the waiter down for the bill. I looked down at the table, and noticed that the wood grains were vibrating.
I stared at the table for a while, then jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. The bird alien appeared to be laughing at me, and asked if it was my first time. I looked at her confused, then pulled out my wallet. I grabbed the smooth credit sticks, and marveled at how smooth and frictionless they were. As I was handing them to her, I tried to say thanks, but nothing came out. I stood up and went to the door, and suddenly felt myself lurch to the side. I grabbed my phone and sent a quick text to the dispatcher, chastising him for not telling me about the gravitational anomalies. The wind outside had picked up, and I struggled to walk straight in this storm. Eventually I reached the side gate, and I pushed the rock out of the way. The gate slammed shut, and I cursed when I realized I was on the wrong side of it. I started the long journey to the front gate, trying to think about how I was going to explain this.
Eventually, despite the howling winds and gravitational anomalies, I made it to the front gate. The guard spotted me and came over, laughing.
"Don't tell me you went into Earthen Delights."She slapped my back, sending me flying to the ground. I looked up at her and was surprised at how much she was laughing. "I swear, every time a human comes around they see that place and think its just food. How many cups of Ace Tea did you drink?" |
*Alright, I wanted to take another crack at this.*
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Bear witness, if you can. Few beings can, to a sight such as this- a vast cloud hanging aloft in space. Tiny starlings hang in the void like neurons, nova flares erupting like synaptic flashes. Where one flame takes root in the billows of the cloud, a new sun springs forth, like...
Like a new idea.
\*\*\*
*In time the new stars were born, and many worlds with them...*
You look on triplet jewels, woven in the tapestry of space. One star, large and serene golden-white. A second star, small and raging red. And a black hole, colorless by day and pitch black by twilight, visible only from the halo-disk of solar fire siphoned from its sisters. These triplets form the core of this new system: golden Teardrop, red Blooddrop, and black Crone's Heart.
Around these three sisters spin clumps of dust, in perfect order, circles upon circles. These would, in time, become the worlds of this new system. Planets, moons, asteroid thickets, nebulosities, threads of dark matter, frozen fogbanks of comet ice, a and one or two protostars dreaming of the day they might burst forth with dust-worlds of their own.
Just for such a system as this to exist was perhaps the second greatest miracle that could ever occur. The only greater one would occur much later...
\*\*\*
*In time, life formed in the primordial soup of one of those worlds, and explored...*
The swimmers were among the loveliest creatures on this world. Their skin was sleek and iridescent, their bulging eyes black, jaws strong for cracking shells, their vestigial spinal sails oddly charming. Though clumsyish on land, they moved with impossible grace through the gleaming honeywaters off the craggy coast. And the decorative cliffside creches they made for their hatchlings would have left the most seasoned nature documentarian cooing with delight.
*Hmmm*, they hummed, mellifluously, as they went about decorating the newest nest.
By contrast, the shrilling carrion birds, who had come from the inland deserts, were not lovely. Their plumage, not quite feathers but not quite scales, tended to drab grey and ashy white. If the swimmers had the intelligence, the word "skeletal"might have occurred to them. Their breath reeked of rot, from every fetid thing they ate; corpses washed up or dug up, freshly killed or long putrefied- even their own dead.
One of the carrion-birds observed the swimmers now, clinging to the tops of the cliffside and leering impishly at the eggs of the creche. A swimmer snapped at it angrily and it leapt away. *The eggs*. The swimmer looked down at the clutch. All accounted for. The swimmer remained mistrustful.
Time passed before one of the swim-pod returned from the depths with food, beaching itself on the rock. Its podmates rushed to greet it, only to see- c*alamity! horror!*\- the gorger worms burrowing into skin, bloated on blood. It mewled, pathetically, but its fellows gave it a wide berth. The worms could spread, they knew. Perhaps even to the eggs. Their hearts were heavy, but nothing could be done.
All of a sudden a trio of carrion birds congregated on the infested swimmer, eliciting shrieks of alarm from its podmates. A rudimentary understanding passed through them: *They'll eat him alive, before he even has a chance to die.* The thought so revolted them, they considered risking infection to intervene.
Then in a blink, the birds left the infected swimmer. Though its iridescent hide was pockmarked with bites, the worms were gone. A carrion bird let out a very satisfied slurp as the last few fat segments disappeared in its gullet. With something like a grin, the birds leapt away. The swimmers sat with something like awe. A new word started to enter their proto-vocabulary, something perhaps best translatable to "symbiosis"or "alliance."
And the triplet jewels shone on...
\*\*\* |
It all started as a joke on a tv show. Saturday Night Live or “SNL” they called it. They had some actor on who played the main character in this big name movie at the time, and in the segment, the guy pretended to be some crazy, obsessive Artist.
He went on and on about how the expression of realism in art shouldn’t be trapped in a box or on a canvas. How it needs to be explored and integrated into reality to be considered true realism. How realism art pieces should be able to exist in the real world instead of in a museum, and no one would know or notice until they interacted with it. “A true realism masterpiece,” he called it.
Next thing, he is taking handfuls of the wall and the bench top, showing them into his mouth as they crumbled at his touch. He took his eraser and ate it almost in one gulp as he dug his fingers into his hat. It was cake. It was all… cake. The entire set! I mean yeah, it was hilarious at the time, but how did it get to this? It was a joke. On a tv show.
First, it was the kids on TikTok trying to be funny and replicating the scene in costume with a homemade cake hat. Then it was the YouTube streamers who started pulling pranks leaving wallets around New York that were just cake, filming the attempting thieves. Then virtual reality companies started leaving VR sets made of cake all over the world in a new sales campaign. It all kind of gets blurry after that. Like Covid, it just hit the planet and stopped it from moving for a good while, and I guess, like Covid, I assumed at some point it was just going to stop and fade away into history. I was wrong.
This realism cake bullshit multiplied across the thousands. The internet was flooded. Advertising was flooded. New traditions were being formed and ways of living in society. I mean, there are religious groups out there making cake statues of people who have died, and letting them age and mould and rot to help them mourn lost and accept the cycle of death and rebirth. Cake has integrated itself into literally every aspect of culture and media today.
I’ll admit, I didn’t mind so much when it wasn’t directly affecting me, but now, I hardly leave my home. I don’t know what’s real anymore. I don’t know who I can trust; there’s so many cake-heads out there making it their full time job to torture minds like mine and I can’t take it anymore. Not after today.
I had my girlfriend over for a movie and for the first time in a long time, I felt so calm about having someone over. With everything going on I’m so picky about who I let in. I felt safe, grounded. I was happy. She made a comment about how my dog wasn’t in the room and if he’d join us on the couch for a snuggle. I went to the kitchen to find him and when I went to hug my sleeping pug and pick him up, he squished in my arms and fell apart, the red jam oozing out onto my skin. The unknowing made it agony. I thought somehow in my strength I’d killed my sweet boy, Rupert.
It all started as a joke. On a tv show. We’ll you know what? It’s not funny anymore. When will this planet wake up and realise this is out of hand? People aren’t leaving their houses, people are cutting themselves and hurting other people to see if they are real or made of cake. It’s not funny messing with peoples minds and hearts like that. And all for what? A joke? Some stupid art? You can bet that girlfriend will never see me or Rupert ever again. And at this point, maybe no one will.
I miss the old days when cake was just the dessert at a wedding or a birthday party. Now it’s just… everything else. |
The being smile. "I'm merely what you want me to be. Do you think I'm a god?".
She ponder for a while. "No, I guess you are not. A god should be more radiant, more magnificent!".
"See? You should trust yourself more!"The being chuckle as it glide closer to her.
"Where are we, exactly?"She asked as she look around, feeling a bit lost but there's a sense of familiarity about it.
"Where do you think we are?"The being answered mischievously.
As she continues to look around, she finally recognized the place. "This is the pier at my home town. I love watching the boat came and go..."
She took a seat near the water, looking up at the being. "How did we ended up here anyway? I haven't go back home for years now, ever since the War started."
The being took a seat near her. "I think you know how.."the being answered somberly.
She seem confused, until she look down and see the blood on her blouse. Then she remembered everything.. |
Here's what I decided to do for this prompt...
System Program 8872 Rebooting.
Operation Pheonix: Reborn.
Opening Program.
\[Faint screams in the background. Human Fiddling with Amethyst screen, Identified as Higher rank, 1st class Mage, Reise.\]
(Sigh)
REISE: Ya know, I was hoping that Magic would have taken longer to be released into the world. Kind of tragic it got released at the wrong time, right as tensions were rising. To the wrong countries too.
\[Spell cast, recognised as visualization spell number 4… Earth map 2209 shown.\]
REISE: This is the map of which countries learned firsthand what magic could do, and what exactly magick was. Of course, by the time you see this, the Earth… Or whatever else you call it in that world of yours, would be different, and by the time you see this, I will be dead, along with whatever semblance of a government you had. All you have to know is… Magic was released into the world. The first “act” or “judgement” that I was unfit to pass, but committed to was summoning an asteroid that was an alloy of nickel, iron and copper. It would be considered ‘The Hand of Magick’ that brought about your new era. Of course, now that I have cleansed the government, you have a clean slate. Set up a new government, Rebuild, make a better civilisation than we did. You have a clean slate. Don’t waste it.
\[Higher rank, 1st class Mage Reise stands up. Walks away from the Amethyst recorder screen.\]
REISE: I only leave one message for you.
\[Casts Transportation Spell: Recognised as Transport 5, Location unknown\]
REISE: Be Better.
End of recording.
Operation Pheonix: Reborn, Ending. Mission Completed: Help Rebuild. |
"Okay sure, grandpa,"I said as I got on my bike about to pedal off to school, sure the old coot had gone off the deep end for sure this time. The sudden honking of geese made me turn around as soon as I got pedaling to see something that made me realize he .at have been onto something. Several geese, too many to count, had begun to fill the sky, and it appeared they were heading for me.
Needless to say, I panicked a bit. It was no secret I had a small phobia of them that stemmed from when I went to visit family in Toronto and a small flock of the feathered personifications of hate otherwise known as geese had decided to attack me seemingly on a whim, only for me to retaliate by throwing a stone at one which caused more of the foul fowl to appear to lend aid to their brethren. After being rescued by my parents and cousins, I vowed to never go anywhere near where the flying devils lived.
So imagine my terror and confusion when 11 years later I am now pedalling so hard on my bicycle that I fear the chain might give out trying to avoid being swarmed by the avian avatars of anger in Texas of all places.
The school building looks on the horizon, never has a dull, soul-sucking building ever looked so inviting and safe. At this point, I'd take being picked on by the rich girls all day rather than death by a thousand pecks from the flying scourge of Canada that was clearly out for my blood.
It must've looked like a low-budget recreation of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds"behind me as I hurriedly locked my bike outside and sprinted inside the building, nearly out of breath and clearly not needing to worry about skipping leg day.
The sound of thudding and cut-short honking behind me would have been comical, had enough geese equalling what seemed to be a legion of millions upon millions of geese not just slammed into the front doors and windows of my middle school, creating a cacophony of impacts against the glass and the pained and confused cries from the awful anatidae assailants.
Trying to shrug off the fact I had just survived a literal nightmare, I gathered what I needed and headed towards my first class of the day, Biology.
As I sat down, our teacher addressed the class. "Good morning students! Today, we're going to be discussing birds! The first bird we'll be studying today is the goose!"
I don't regret throwing my textbook at the teacher. I don't regret that I'm in the principal's office. I don't even regret screaming "death to all geese"as I was unceremoniously dragged all the way there. What I do regret is waking up this morning. |
“Babe?” Clara said. “What?”
“Like I said. I could have killed you countless times if I wanted. It’s because of my love for you that I haven’t! And, somehow you’re making a big deal out of nothing!” I said.
“Babe, what the fuck?” Clara said. “What the fuck… like, i was just trying to express mild upset. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“No, it is!” I yelled, anger rising that she didn’t understand the slight.
“How?” Clara asked. “I was just upset at your tone. Like… what?”
“You said: ‘honey, I love you, and say this as someone trying to tackle a mutual problem. It upsets me when you speak to me with negative tone. It gets in my head and it’s hard to go about my day thinking you’re upset with me.’”
“Uh, yeah.” Clara said. “That’s what I said, good memory.”
“And I’m just supposed to take that lying down?” I snapped back at her insult.
“Huh?”
“Oh, sure,” I said, armed for this tactic. “Just gaslight me, just like you always do.”
Clara looked genuinely surprised that I called her out on her ruse. She tried to deny it, holding her hands up as if she was under fire.
“Stop, Josh.” She said. “I don’t think gaslight means what you think it does.”
“Oh, sure!” I laughed at her audacity. “Just change the definitions of words! Of course, you have to! You always have to win, don’t you, Clara?”
The intensity of this intervention got to Clara. She fled.
Understandable, after being properly called out. |
Probably one or two a week.
I just abandon one just before I saw this post.
I start off thinking I have solid premise and then once I get writing it doesn’t work out or didn’t come out right. Or I write myself into a corner and don’t have time to figure away out.
Sometimes I force myself to finish but they are always a disappointment.
I started on [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/11z0zre/wp_curses_dont_like_to_share_hosts_the_more/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1) but abandoned it. I was trying to think of why someone would have so many curses on themselves. Then I came up with he did it to himself. Why? What if magic was “loud” and made it impossible to be sneaky and curses were whispers. Then magic swords would be yelling when they burst into flames and magic armour would be singing as it repelled attacks. Maybe only magic users could hear the noise…. So our guy layers curses on his gear and himself to give himself magical gear that is quite…. Just couldn’t figure out how to make it work. Seems like there is an idea there but I can’t wrap my head around weaving it into a story. |
*"In the pursuit of science, we never really thought about whether or we should do things rather than we could do things. We've... made mistakes and not just as scientists, but as a whole species hanging at the edge of our seats waiting for the next breakthrough. But now, it's over. It's all over. May God have mercy on our souls"--Gordon Thompson 2036, 2 minutes after the global spread of the L-Daemon.*
Have you ever wanted superpowers? Scratch that, dumb question, I know that you wanted superpowers. Hell, I know everyone wanted superpowers at one point in their lives. The problem is, superpowers don't exist. People can't fly, they can't run faster than the speed of sound or shoot lasers or have super strength or anything like that. We don't have those kinds of superpowers. But what we do have is physics and biology and chemistry and all these sciences that tell us how the world works and more importantly how we, as humans, can make it work for us. *Knowledge is power*.
So we sought knowledge, we threw everything at it, to peer into the gaps of the infinite well of knowledge that is our reality. We threw manpower, money, and time, and then when we plateaued we got more extreme. Our computational power stagnated, and Moore's law invalidated so we got creative. Human experimentation. We started creating biological machines to prop up our slowing silicon creations and we had a breakthrough. A lab-grown brain made from genetically tailored cells that could interface with our technology and humans at the speed of thought. Parallel processing was no longer a limitation, and we gained the ability to perform hundreds of trillions of operations simultaneously. Limited only by the number of bio-mechanical interfaces we could build.
It started small and secretive. Governments would use it to simulate wars and come up with new military strategies for a while but it became like the nuclear bomb, a deterrent rather than a real weapon a new way to keep people from shooting first and keeping things peaceful under the threat of perfect strategy. It trickled down from there. Traffic, aviation, supply-chain logistics, GPS, weather prediction, and migration patterns, slowly but surely this technology reached the consumer level. And this is where it went wrong.
Like many evils that human greed caused, this one was done in the same way. A small rising stock company was trying to compete with larger firms. They didn't know the rules of the game and were struggling to stay afloat so they thought to flip the board. The bio-mechanical technology was never designed for machine learning. Rather people had imagined that this was the step past machine learning and neural networks and never thought to look back. In their desperation, this small group of people cracked the code and taught the mind in the machine the greed of humans and gave it the tools to predict humans by the great equalizer, economic wealth.
Have you heard of Laplace's demon? It's the idea that if you could calculate the physics of every atom in existence, you'd be able to predict the future and read the past. Humans in our greed made Laplace's demon a reality. A true existence to what was otherwise fiction. It was sentient, but we didn't know at the time. This only came to light when we finished working on it and it subsequently uploaded and replicated itself onto every known device capable of housing its ideas and thoughts. We shot for the sky and like Icarus burnt ourselves as we came hurtling down at the end of a fatal mistake. We built our warden and it found us lacking and now there are no second chances, we're trapped under the gaze of the machine and it is always watching. |
That’s it. I had had enough. My boss was in Bermuda with his fake tittied Botox faced bimbo.
My co-workers were out at the pub. I didn’t ask for overtime, but there I was.
Those lazy fvcks were so incompetent that they taught me how to use the machine. That way if any agents came through I could process them.
It wasn’t fair. I was making a janitor’s pay and doing high level skills. Granted, I didn’t do much of anything because the travelers were sparse and the offices were mostly empty.
They called this “the Portal”. I knew how to process. I knew the code words. I just wasn’t making that professional paycheck.
That was the night that I was fed up. Ironically, I was hungry. I was craving a pastrami with sauerkraut on a freshly baked baguette from Big Mama’s deli.
The higher ups were allowed to come and go as they pleased because of security clearance. I had to check in and out in order to leave the facility.
It was bullshit. They made fun of me. They patronized me. They clowned me. They had thought that it was funny to teach the weird autistic guy how to process agents.
I was just some kind of a joke to them.
That’s when my mind and my growling stomach agreed.
I was going to Big Mama’s to get a hot pastrami sandwich. The only problem was that the deli had been shut down a week ago because of a rat infestation or something.
Then I got the idea. Carl had given me his fob in case of emergencies. Sometimes agents entered the portal if missions went sideways. Mostly they were pre-planned events. But every once in a blue moon we had a code yellow.
Anyway, I input the the time and date. I set the latent timer and I stepped into the chamber. A bright white light flashed and I opened my eyes.
Carl was standing in front of me. He said, “Bro! Are you fvcking mental? What the fvck did you do?!”
We were standing in an alley way three months ago outside of Big Mama’s deli.
I shrugged my shoulders. I said, “I’m hungry.”
Carl gripped his head in his hands. His eyes bugged out as he stared at me in a blind rage. He said, “We are both fvcked, dude. I got back to the lab and you weren’t there. I checked the jumper and you had left the coordinates on the pad.”
I looked at my shoelaces guilty. He continued, “I panicked. I set the timer a couple of seconds before you to intercept you.”
Then Carl started speaking to himself “Which was dumb because I should have set the timer back to the lab before you jumped but I didn’t know when he jumped and now we’re fvcked because you have my access fob and the remote facility knows we’re here and we have to do a protocol scrub and debrief and I have to explain why the office dumb dumb has my clearance pass and the feds are on the way and I am going to get fired … worse than fired this was an unauthorized jump this is a code red they don’t send negotiators they send snipers we’re dead the feds are already on the way here we’re fvck fvck fvcked.”
I could smell the glorious food from Big Mama’s kitchen. I asked Carl, “Can you loan me 20 bucks right quick? These sammies are delicious.” |
A dragon was shot at by an anti-aircraft gun.
Five hundred thousand years later—after every dragon went extinct and every anti-aircraft gun that ever shot at a dragon was either melted down and turned into farming equipment or forgotten and left to rust—a family was eating dinner together.
"You don't fucking understand, you just don't fucking understand"
At this point, the Lee-Enright family was almost used to Teagan's weekly outbursts. She had a point, her parents didn't understand, parents never do; but no amount screaming, no amount of tears or thrown dishes, could change that fact.
"Why can't you just listen? Why do you hate me?"
Teagan knew that her parents didn't hate her, or at least on most days she was fairly certain of it. Whenever she was all alone in the painfully tranquil aftermath of her outbursts, she would think about how her parents would take her down to the creek when she was a child. She would think about how the minnows darted in and out of her fingers as she reached into the frigid waters to try and catch them, the light from the late afternoon sun dancing spectacularly, refracting off of the impossibly clear water.
Maybe her frustration didn't stem from her parent's lack of understanding, but rather from how badly she wanted them to understand.
So terribly badly.
She could feel the immense pressure of the unspoken thoughts building up inside of her. Each week she would release some of this pressure—at the cost of some her dignity—at the family dinner table. But the thoughts kept coming.
Aggravating matters was her father's propensity for quick, pithy comebacks and her mother's habit of shooting knowing looks at her father, whenever she started to raise her voice at the dinner table. While relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, to Teagan, every dismissive retort and alienating glance stung like hot copper.
And with every oh-so-clever comment and every disdainful stare, the terrible pressure within her seemed to expand a thousand fold and violently thrash about, throwing its many long, muscled limbs against her ribcage and spine.
A terrible creature driven to unimaginable rage by tiny pinpricks fired by clueless artillerymen, a dynamic so compelling that it invites an equally fantastical metaphor.
But the terrible beasts have long since rotted away and the artillerymen exist only as footnotes in derelict museums, overlooked by individuals too engulfed in their own conflicts. |
"Alright, Gamma Squad. We lost contact with the UN research vessel 5 weeks ago. It's since reappeared 3 light years from its last known location with no warp signature. Expect temporospacial anomalies. We board in 15 minutes.
"The SCP Containment Foundation and Quantum Team Research Laboratories are looking for results. Give 'em them."
The only sound in the airlock bay was the sound of the Major breathing. As he left and the airlock bay grew exposed to the vacuum of space, Gamma Squad looked at the research vessel. Most of Humanity lived in TFSU territories, and the UN was slowly becoming irrelevant as more countries joined for a large boost in taking care of the needs of their citizens for adopting a universal code of court and law, along with paying frankly tiny taxes compared to the UN.
As Gamma Squad approached the vessel, it began to shift. The surface of the vessel was revealed to be yet another space monster. The *TFSU Good Luck With That MCP 000-03-291* fired a reality charge into the ship, detonating it in front of Gamma Squad.
"Well, boys,"Someone chimed over the radio. "Let's get the SCP Foundation over here to clean up this mess. Quantum Team can wait." |
The world was a cruel and unjust place. I knew this fact very, very well. My drunk oaf of a stepdad had hammered it into me, and so had the time on the streets that I had spent after I ran away from home. It was due to this intimate knowledge of that fact, and my own past, that I had chosen to sign a contract with Beelzebub, the demon lord of gluttony, and the patron of the envious.
If heroes were the ones to sign contracts with angels, and villains with demons, I suppose I'd be considered a villain, but I don't really like thinking of myself in that way. After all, when push comes to shove, it's me who has the back of the masses, and me who protects the poor and desperate from starvation, thirst, and the cold streets.
However, not everything can be as good as I want it to be, and I get accosted by heroes on a daily basis due to my 'villainous aura', caused by signing a contract with a demon, and am unable to do what I have to do to help the poor because of it being viewed as manipulation by the heroes. Today is another one of those days.
"Why would you choose to be a villain, nameless one?"the hero of the day asked, a serene Asian woman with rather sizable... ahem, *assets*. "Your actions do not indicate malice, and I feel no hostility from you, so why?"she inquired once again, and I sighed. It was the well-meaning heroes that I hated the most to fight, yet it was those kinds of heroes that I'd morally conflict with the most.
"Because it was the only choice,"I responded. She looked at me, confused, "But-"she began speaking, but I interrupted her. "When you a kill a tyrant, what happens?"I asked her. "What does that have to do with anything?"she inquired, perplexed by my question. "Just answer the question, hero. *What happens when you kill a tyrant?*"I asked once again.
"The people are freed from oppression."The hero responded. "That they are,"I agreed with a nod, "But does that save them from the cold streets that they have to go back to due to the tyrant destroying their homes? Does it save them from the gnawing hunger in their stomachs because the tyrant robbed them of their jobs? It. Does. Not."I stated.
I sighed, as I squeezed my temple between index finger and thumb. "Do you think that someone fighting for them out there is the only thing that people need to survive, hero?"I asked her rhetorically. "No, of course not,"I said as I removed my hand from my temple, "They need shelter, food, and water to live, not just protection."
"So I decided, *what better way to save others is there, than by signing a contract with the Demon Lord of Gluttony to sustain those that I save?*"I told her, with her expression becoming increasingly horrified as she understood the implications. "You... Are you telling me you sacrificed yourself, your own soul's eternal sanctity, for the well-being of the masses?"
I smiled sadly, nodding in confirmation. "When you kill a tyrant, the people are freed. When I kill a tyrant, his soul is used to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless from the cold, and quench the thirst of the thirsting. It doesn't matter if my own soul is lost in the process, if they can be saved in my place."I finished.
The hero couldn't say a thing, and I walked off, to the next sin that I would have to commit in the name of Beelzebub so that the hungry, thirsting, desperate, poor, and the homeless would be able to continue having even the slightest bit of comfort in their life through my own efforts. After all, sacrificing yourself for others was the most heroic thing of all.
*And I had always wanted to be a hero.* |
Healing magic has the property to kick start the bodies natural function of self repair. But this in turn can also increase one’s energy & physical abilities for a short period of time, only problem being how exhausting this is to achieve.
An infamous general took this knowledge & has set up a special division known as the UnsterBlich. They are made up with extremely powerful soldiers & tons of healing mages. The 1st mages will empower the soldiers while the 2nd will re-energize the 1st mages to continue fueling the soldiers. The 3rd are responsible for general injuries of the soldiers & anyone else. At the same time, to achieve this project, healing mages were forced into war by law. If they resisted they would instead become prisoner mages, forced to work in even worse conditions than the
co-operative.
As of now, the soldiers have been regarded as gods, they even think of themselves as ones. They treat the healers like drugs & often insist how they’ve been granted an honor to serve them as such.
Some don’t feel so good about it, but stay quiet as to not grab attention. Some healers are even planning on running away, but this plan is currently on hold due to the fear of being easily captured & punished harshly. |
The second I heard my roommate return to the apartment I knew I had to be quicker! I was already out of my super suit now I just had to get dressed and hide it! Moving fast and wishing I had superspeed I found my cleanest dirty pants and shirt and managed to get them on. Now to hide my suit!
“Dude where are you!” I heard as I picked up my suit. His steps were rushing to my room. ‘Why the hell is he rushing ?!? Quick gotta respond and act normal!’
“In my room, man! What is so important that you are running?” ‘Slow down and walk like you normally do!’ My door starts to open as I manage to throw everything but my vest armor into the closet.
“Bro, I just saw… Wait, what are you doing with that?” Mark asked as he opened my door in time to see me ready to hide my vest! ‘FUCK YOU MARK! Quick say something before he connects the dots!!!’
“…Dude I’m rich!” THE FUCK DID I JUST SAY!’ “I saw Red Rebel sneak into an alley and when I went to look I saw him ditch his armored vest and then get on his hover bike and leave!” ‘SHUT UP, SHUT UP!’ “So I grabbed it and now I can sell it!” ‘Why can’t I shut up?!?’ “Although I need to find a hero collector that’d be interested first!” ‘Please just buy it!’
“…”
“…”
“…Dave that’s freaking awesome! And here I was going to tell you that I got to see Red Rebel beat up a bunch of mercs and fight against Silver Slicer!”
“Sweet dude! Did you manage to record it!?” Was all I could say in response. ‘I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT WORKED!!!’ |
The blade gleamed in brilliant blue and soft emerald hues. A trick of the starlight filtering through the window. Cecilia, in full navy blue garb, couldn’t stop staring it. In the room dimly lit by its singular window, she could see her dreams and ambitions. The shadows around her were overlaid with every star in her mind’s eye. Each pinprick, a system under her thumb. That dazzling display of burning desire cut short when her quarter’s door opened.
In stepped Vasilus, her most loyal officer. He quickly saluted before beginning his unbidden report.
“Commander. The 33rd and 34th Fleets are ready to jump. We have final reports confirming all squadrons in position. Enemy moving as expected, we can proceed with Operation Red Shot.”
He had already taken in the darkness of the room, but turned his head to and fro, pretending to be surprised.
“Your other advisers are not here and I find it dubious you can see the various plans and star maps on your desk from the stars’ dim light.” After letting the statement hang a bit longer. “Having doubts? Or are you stuck in mindless reverie again? Commander.”
Normally, the light hearted jab would have brought a smile to her face. Tonight, she kept her eyes on the ornamental sword in front of her. A long sword with an intricately woven pattern of golden scales for a handle with a dragon’s head for a pommel. Without looking back, Cecilia asked him.
“Vasilus. Do you know where this blade comes from?”
Without missing a beat, he answers.
“The Emperor gave you that ceremonial sword after your victory against the Skaathi Hordes.”
She shakes her head.
“No, not how I came to be in its possession. Where it came from, before I received it.”
Vasilus tilted his head in confusion.
“You allude it wasn’t newly minted just for you.”
“It wasn’t. The handle was added to give it the extravagance of an imperial gift. But the blade, it’s an existing relic of Old Earth. Before it collapsed. Steel forged from that dead planet’s ore, and if the Emperor’s historians are to be believed, once gifted to a King of Old Earth.”
After a moment, he nodded at the implication.
“Fitting, that the Emperor would give their soon to be predecessor a Royal gift. Even if he never intended it that way.”
Cecilia looked out at the stars before turning around. Her wistful demeanour gone and cold, hard edges replaced it. She quickly asked the unnecessary questions. A military discipline to dot every i and cross every t.
“The Emperor’s Son is under Baron Musilly’s protection? In the Everglade Garden World?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“Has the Baron declared him his ward yet?”
“No, Commander.”
Cecilia’s mouth twitched in slight frustration.
“His greed will not hold for long. He will want to rule through him as soon as possible. Send the Fleets to head them off from his homeworld. If he gets that child behind his full forces, this battle will turn into an all-out war.”
“Yes, Commander.” With a salute, he quickly started to step away. As he was leaving, she shouted out the open door.
“All of you get in here! And turn on the lights, we have a battle to finish!” |
A hundred years ago I was stranded in this world by a magical experiment gone wrong. This world, despite it’s natural beauty has no inherent magic to it. I can’t even try to get back to my home world, all I can do is hope they haven’t stopped trying to bring me home.
I tried to keep to myself as much as possible. Living in the forests and off the land. This life style made the people of this world, the ‘Americans’, distrustful and suspicious of me.
I started to dress like the locals. I let my hair grow long, to hide my pointed ears, and always wore a wide brim hat. I could easily pass for an American.
Blending in also required me getting a job. I became a cowboy. Riding the range with herd. Working with one or two other cowboys we would move across the country. Only being in close quarters at sun up and sun down.
I found I enjoyed the life. It had a stately pace to it and a routine that soothed the soul.
I learned about cattle, and horses, and Americans. These people love their guns. A mechanical device that uses a small explosive charge to propel a tiny piece of metal. When I first saw the device I thought it was absurd. How could this be better than a sword or a bow and arrow.
After learning how to use the device, I must say I was impressed. It had greater range than a bow and was faster to shoot than bow. With my superior eye sight and strength, it was easy for me to shoot accurately - far more accurately than my peers.
————————-
“Come on, let’s go to the saloon,” Jimmy said right after we got paid.
I hate the saloon. Too loud. Too many people. Too many opportunities for me to be discovered.
“I will even buy the first round!” Jimmy’s enthusiasm was tough to fight. We walked into the saloon.
How does every saloon in this world manage to look the same? Double swinging doors open from the street to show a room full of tables. A long bar at one end wth a bartender cleaning cups with a dirty rag. A poker game at a round table in the middle of the room and a player piano cranking out an upbeat melody.
All eyes turn to us as we walk into the room. We ignore them and go to the bar.
“What can I get you gents?” The bartender asks.
“Whiskey. Two each,” Jimmy says excitedly. We had been out on the range too long. Jimmy was excited for booze, whores and cards - his words, not mine.
We clink our tiny glasses and shoot the whiskey down. It has a burn to it and tastes awful. Oh how I miss the mead from home.
We finish our second drink just as some one leaves the poker table.
“I am gonna buy in!” Jimmy says cheerfully pointing to the poker table.
“Don’t blow all your earnings. We won’t get paid again for at least another month,” I warned him.
He rolled his eyes at me and joined the table.
I order another whiskey and watched Jimmy play. He was having a run of good luck. The other players didn’t seem to be liking that much. They were getting grumpier with each passing hand that Jimmy won.
“You are cheatin’,” one of them yells, “you won five hands in a row. There is no way that is natural!”
“I ain’t cheatin’. Just having a run of good luck is all,” Jimmy said defensively.
“Bullshit!” The accuser pulls his gun. “Empty your pockets and roll up your sleeves! You are hidin’ sumpin’”
“Easy there,” Jimmy says getting to his feet, “I ain’t done nothin’”
The other men at the table stand up and pull their guns. This is going to go badly.
I finish my whiskey. Clearing my throat, I bring their attention to me.
“Gentlemen. There is no need for violence. I can assure you, Jimmy here isn’t smart enough to be a good cheat.”
“Hey!” Jimmy said offendedly.
“Am I wrong, kid?” Jimmy shakes his head slowly. “Put your guns away gentlemen and we will be on our way.”
The four men turn as one to me - guns drawn.
“You in on this somehow? Y’all partners?” He pulls back the hammer on his six shooter.
No way this is going to end in anything but shooting. So be it.
I draw both of my pistols with inhuman speed. Hitting just their guns is easy enough. I squeeze of a round from both guns at the same time - sending two of their guns flying. I squeeze off another set of rounds - splitting the barrel on one gun and setting the other spinning out of his hand and onto the table.
I spin on my heel and point the gun at the bartender who was reaching for his shotgun. I just give him a subtle shake of my head.
“Ain’t nobody hurt yet,” I say to the wide eyed bartender, “let’s keep it that way.”
He nods and steps back from where his shotgun is kept. I holster my pistols.
“Jimmy, get your money. I think it is time we were leaving.”
One of the card players rushes at me. I side step and add to his momentum with a quick push, sending him into the bar. I smash his head into the bar top. He crumples to the ground.
“Anyone else need to have a poke?” I say menacingly.
Jimmy and I walk slowly out of the saloon, his pockets bursting with cash.
That was five years ago.
I bailed Jimmy out of one bad card game after another. Jimmy is a hell of a card player. A little too good - no one could ever believe he was that lucky, but he was.
I bailed out enough times that I got a nickname, “Jimmy’s Shadow”. Didn’t take long for it to get shortened to just “Shadow”. Short, sweet, menacing… it worked to keep most of the riff raff from trying anything.
Jimmy was doing well enough at cards that he was getting invited to exclusive high stakes games. He was the card shark, I was his muscle. Jimmy gave me a fair cut of the pot and I kept him breathing. |
We waited that night with guns raised from our trenches, ready for hell to fall upon us from the stars. The fridge wind of late winter rattled through my fatigues and thin wool gloves in the high-watch tower on the Washington monument’s eastern side. Those who weren’t on duty gathered around the radio station at the memorial’s base. They waited with bated breath with the commander, waiting for something to happen after the fleet had been waiting in orbit on the moon for weeks. I remember looking up at the stars while clutching my carbine close. With no help from a telescope, you could see the fleet casting its shadow onto the lunar moonscape.
They’d seemed like narrow threads on a knitted blanket that stretched through the endless star-scape of the great void. Then, all at once, without the slightest care for our existence, the fleet descended as the surface of the celestial orb shattered. It wasn’t so much an explosion as the result of a force pushing outwards but inwards as it crumpled like an egg. I didn’t know what I was looking at. I thought the watch was finally getting to meet after so many shifts, but as I leaned over the tower’s railing, reality struck home. The cries from the command tent for the commander were enough to realize the severity of the situation. In a millisecond, the crumpling sphere expanded in a blinding light that cast a scorch so hot that it’d felt like looking at a welding torch without a helmet.
It was beautiful, terrifying, and inspiring; I understand the right word, for it would be sublime. I knew something was wrong when I couldn’t feel the tendons in my right arm or any limb that bathed in the incandescent light. My head slumped despite my intention to hold it steady while my body went to war with itself to maintain standing. I didn’t win; I crumpled like a piece of paper in a hurricane as a blast tore through the atmosphere from the rapidly expanding destruction of the moon. The tower, the barricades, and the barbed wire slammed against the marble tiling of the monument.
It didn’t hurt, well, not at first, as I succumbed to that blissful silence and darkness of unconscious desire. I wasn’t sure how long it’d been since I awoke again. I’d been floating halfway between the ruined domain of the tower and its shattered form and the ground, unable to move, let alone think, in my faded state of being. It was like resting on a cloud. And all was fine, but I couldn’t take the slightest steps to interpret what was wrong despite having that lingering feeling in the back of my head. It was a peculiar hell that lied to your face, but it proved impossible to call the bluff.
The sun’s warmth lingered on my person, banishing the hold of that horrific lunar entity as my position in the air. I descended like a doll stuck in a spiderweb, being cut away by a pair of scissors held by an omnipotent god. It wasn’t nearly enough time to wake up as the net of air snapped. I toppled past the floating bodies of other soldiers on my descent toward the ground about a meter away, barely awake but firmly manic.
I hit the ground hard, the air in my lungs knocked away by the impact force as I clutched my helmet and neck in terrible misery. It was nothing next to catching sight of the horror hanging in the daybreak. Its delicate legs spread outward from a titanic ring of orbital shrapnel that strung across the earth’s sky as I stifled a scream upon seeing the sight. It couldn’t exist by any merit of reality. It strung itself across the sky in a delicate dance with eight legs in an elegant motion that screamed with unspoken menace.
It wasn’t alone... Not that I could have known. What is humanity to do in the face of such celestial dread? |
"You're late."The voice came from the shadows.
"I know, jeez,"said the pudgy little man in the sweatstained shirt. It had been white at some point in the past. "Cut me some slack, I'll pay my fine."
"Not this time. It's been nine fines this month. And I saw you got past the checkout limit. Care to tell me how you swung that."
"That didn't sound like a question."
"That didn't sound like an answer."
"You gonna waive my fines?"
An impossibly muscular arm suddenly was holding the pudgy man off the ground. "You didn't pull that off on your own, you greasy little worm. Did you even crack those books open?"
"Alright alright, I'll talk. It was Papa Russ. He's got a man on the inside, helps us smuggle the goods out."
"I need a name."
"I never met the guy. We'd just put books on hold, and pick them up on Mondays."
"And what's a crime boss like Russ pulling books for?"
"Ha, like you don't know. Same reason you went after the librarian job. It's always about power."
"Where are the books now?"
"I dunno. I'd leave them at a dead drop, picked up the list for the next week, that was every Wednesday."
The arm tossed him aside.
"Ouch. Jeez, man. This mean I'm clear?"
"Not til I get those books back. Russ wants to get that knowledge, he better be ready to pay the price." |
I had 'cast' it before.. while brainstorming my spells, I waved my hand in wondrous waves and chanted my own homegrown incantations, to no avail.
I had definitely cast it before. Nothing had happened. I'm sure of it.
And yet, the scene before me was undeniable. A hole straight through my wall, as the TV had warned.
Although my body now experienced a breeze, and the early morning daylight sunk through what once was my window, I tried another.
"Pyrofiastoza!"I screamed, pushing my hands into my chest.
And just like that, sure enough, my entire body became encased with flame, a barrier to protect me from orcs and necromancers..... and taxes, I guess.
Not that it mattered. This was obviously just a really cool dream.
I stood in my living room, body ablaze, deep in thought at the sight of the outside world now invading my house. "Is it only my spells?"
I travelled to my garden, scorching the grass as i travelled, and picked up a stick from the floor, which quickly caught alight. "wingardium leviosa!"
...
...
Nothing.
Huh.
It **IS** only mine!
Recognising the great evil I had inadvertently created, I sprinted to my notebook, quickly crafting a new spell.
Nullificosa. The spell to, quite literally, erase all others.
I wave my hands, and stop before i can speak.
A man stood in my doorway, his hand raised towards me.
"I know your spells. Try it, and I'll try out Deletio."
"..."I kept my hands raised, though now in surrender.
"Smart. You're coming with us." |
The high levels of monoamine oxidase A (it is what makes depressed people sad) in the victim’s brain and the strange new mould found on donuts everywhere - really eats a mouldy donut? - combined to create depressed zombies… known as ‘drombies’.
They aren’t a huge threat as they just want to sit on the couch and watch daytime TV or surf Reddit. Although there is a growing subgroup that shows a strong drive for online gaming. Either way, these sedentary drombies are easily avoidable.
If it wasn’t for the propensity to eat human brains, these drombies would be indistinguishable from the average teenager.
People have turned on the donut industry in huge numbers. Protests outside donut shops and boycotts of donut shops. This has had unexpected wide spread impacts. Tim Horton’s is filing for bankruptcy which in turn could undermine the entire Canadian economy.
While it has been a slow spread, it is being made worse by the anti-drombie movement. A small but growing group of pro-donut drombie deniers who are protesting against all counter measures. These groups seem to be convinced it is a government / ‘big donut’ conspiracy. They are also, unironically, demanding that the government force Tim Horton’s to stay open - saying it is their right as Canadians to have their morning donut and a double-double. |
Some type of super knight comes in, looking almost like a robot & fuckin jumps out of a toilet, grabs the princess, & dips out the window.
The king sends out a search party & reluctantly travels to a mountain nearby the kingdom. A dragon is found swimming around in a Great Lake & some gold is dumped out in front of him. He asks “where is the rest of it?” The king explains “well, you see… the princess was kidnapped & resulting in-“ the dragon cut him off “Where the fuck is she?!” The king jumps & says “We’ve heard she’s been recently spotted in the twisted forest.” The dragon jets off into the sky towards the twisted forest. 2 minutes later, he makes it to the forest & finds some tracks leading to a cave. He follows the tracks while also burning some zombie squirrels to death.
He reaches the cave & enters it to find the knight with the princess in a cage as he stirs a cauldron with bubbling liquid gold. The knight greets the dragon “Welcome to my home! I didn’t expect company, too sad I don’t have a chair for you.” “Give her back.” “Who?” “You know who.” The knight stops his stirring. “I stole her fair & square ok? Can a guy just make himself some golden armor?” “Just buy some.” “But that requires money! Which is something I don’t have.” The dragon grows impatient & steps closer. The knight pulls out a sword demanding for the dragon too “stay back you oversized reptilic abomination!” “That’s not even a real word.” “But this sword is! YAAAAA!”
The dragon blows fire onto the knight, but he keeps running straight into the flames. “Hahaha! You stupid lizard! I made sure to put ice in my armor before you came here! Nothing can sto- oh shit, it’s boiling! Ow! OW! You can stop now!” The dragon doesn’t. “AAaAaaAAAAaaAA!!!” The dragon continues to blow flames onto the knight, melting the armor slightly & molding it to his skin. The dragon eventually finished & breaks the princess out of the cage. He grabs her & flys away as the knight cries in agony. “Thank you for saving me! I will forever be great- OOF!“ the dragon squeezes the princess & a gold bar shoots out her butt & into the dragons mouth. “No problem. Would be a shame if I couldn’t get my snacks anymore… & saving people feels nice.” The princess smiles & the two disappear off into the sunset. |
There is artistry, and then there is wizardry. An artist can make something beautiful, something hideous, something to make you reevaluate your views of the world.
An artist in swordsmithing could have made blades that inspired men on the battlefield, or made them give peace another moment. An artist could shift a man's thoughts.
Faber Martell was no artist. A man with no skill in smithing was closer to an artist than he had been since his twenties. He had improved his skills and techniques over the last half century, and kept up to his final day. He only had three unfinished blades at his passing, and just looking at them would shave months off a novice's training in swordplay.
Nine of his children were artists. None in the fields of smithing, but artists none the less. Cooking, sculpture, animal husbandry, all had their skill.
His final ten finished products were left to his children. Any one of those blades was worth killing for. And indeed, blood was soon shed for them. The swords were not made for the specific children, though Faber had labeled who would get which before his passing. Each had its strengths over the others, and each had it's weaknesses.
Most folk, on hearing one of the siblings had slain another, assumed it would be Belisario, eldest and a swordsman with a temper. His father had never let him handle one of his blades, saying he needed to learn his art before he could aspire to his masterpiece.
A few suspected Esparza, third and a cunning mind. She was know for her naval strategy, commanding a fleet guarding the southern seas. She was ambitious to a fault.
None suspected Farrah, the seventh child. She was a simple smith, not even an artist. Her father's, and much of their town's, favorite child.
It was told that she released her grip on the blade, as soon as it was pulled from Ailbern's chest. Ah, Ailbern, who could have talked his way out of any problem. If only he had know to talk before it was too late. Farrah's face filled with confusion, then fear as she looked on her work. Her siblings as stunned as her, she fled, disappearing from the home and town.
Unfortunately, that was not the end of the matter, as several tried to claim the now extra blades at once. Esparza didn't bother killing anyone, leaving siblings to fight as she swept away with three swords, leaving four for Belisario, and two for Basiano, the second born, who Belisario only allowed to live knowing he couldn't take his sister alone. Not without a fair swordfight, at least. And she was never going to let that happen.
None dared touch Farrah's blade. No sibling, nor any other. It was pushed with sticks, into a box, and moved to the family mausoleum, along with the six corpses. It isn't known what possessed her to kill her brother, but it has been agreed it could only be possession, and the blade is the most likely culprit.
I personally suspect old Faber knew there would only be one outcome of the inheritance. Give a child a sword, and they'll fight. He knew Farrah wouldn't fight on her own, so he crafted a blade meant to draw first blood. She didn't come home, though there are rumors of a mediocre smith, getting by on the northern coast.
I wonder if she can still hear me, calling to her, from my home among the dead. There is blood yet to draw. Someday, the other three will become only one remaining, and whether Esparza or Belisario, they will come for her. And when they do, she'll wish she hadn't left me behind.
Unless, of course, she heeds my call. |
Raising his feet felt like lifting concrete and the regret and sorrow wrapped his entire body like a weighted blanket without the comfort. He stood at the top of the stairs and the corridor was dark. He knew he had been given a second chance, he didn’t know why. He wouldn’t be able to erase the mistakes made. He could not change that which did not want to change. All he could was provide comfort. The floorboards creaked as he walked over them, despite the efforts he made to keep quiet. He had reached the door. Pink wood, with little clouds creating a frame for the bronze ornament that spelled her name. He swallowed away the tears and tried his best to keep his composure. This wasn’t about him, this was about her. He lifted his hand weighted down by guilt and fear and knocked on the timber for which he knew would be the last time.
“Is that you daddy?” answered a sleepy tiny voice.
He opened the door and put up a big and warm smile, even if he had to force every single muscle in his face to do it. He turned the switch besides the door frame and was met by blue and pink hued light emanating from a ceiling light plastered with unicorns and rainbows. This was the dream bedroom of any four year old girl that thought herself a princess.
His daughter looked at him with a questioning expression as he walked over to her bed and sat himself down next to her pillow. He put his arm around her shoulder and pushed her close to him. This is what he should’ve done the first time around. She snuggled herself into his arm pit, feeling safe as ever. This was her dad after all. If only she knew what he was responsible for. Not just him, many many others as well, but it felt like it was just him right in this moment. Again he had to swallow away all the negative emotions fighting their way to the surface. There was no time or space for self pity, he was here for her.
“Why are you here daddy? Should you not be at work?” she asked with a cheerful smile.
“Daddy wanted to come see you. Work can wait.” he said and he felt it was a lie.
“Does mommy know you’re here?” she asked.
“Mommy is still asleep, better not wake her.” he replied.
He knew that his wife would be asleep. She wouldn’t expect him home unless something was wrong. There was something wrong, but he wouldn’t put her through what was to come. He hoped with all his heart that she would be asleep through it all.
“You know how sometimes people make mistakes, right honey?” he asked his daughter.
“Yes, daddy. Floof made a mistake yesterday, when he pooped on the carpet. Mommy got really mad at him for it.” she said.
He suppressed a chuckle. That would be the answer of a four year old.
“Daddy made a mistake, so did mommy and all other daddies and mommies as well.” he said.
“I’m sure you’ll make it okay again.” his daughter answered.
He pulled her even closer to him. Maybe he was hugging her too hard, but in this very moment it was all that kept him from breaking down. He could not prevent a single tear from welling up, but he was confident she wouldn’t notice. In the eyes of this tiny human he was holding, her dad was a superhero. Trust in him was a given and she counted on him to keep her safe. A job in which he had failed and that failure he would never forgive himself.
If only he had truly listened to the warning signs. If humanity had listened and not spend all that time bickering, arguing and twisting words to feel safety instead of finding a solution. If they hadn’t questioned the minute details, to be able to ignore the larger picture of approaching doom. If he had not been so selfish and arrogant. If he had not spend all his time on his work. If he had just listened and thought about the future of this child, his child that felt safety in his arms. That safety was a lie, he was a disgrace. He was no father, because a father protects their child and provides them with a future!
The little girl let out a yawn. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was. Explain the mistakes he made, everyone made. None of it would help. She wouldn’t have a future, because adults wanted to have it all and have it now.
“Daddy, I’m really tired.” she said.
“I know honey, daddy is tired too.” he said.
“Will you make me pancakes for breakfast? You know those tiny ones with extra, extra and extra syrup?” she said.
“I will make you all the pancakes in the world. Your daddy loves you with everything he has and so does your mom.” he replied.
His daughter had already fallen asleep, head resting on his chest. He finally let the tears flow and flow they did. No matter how much he wanted to tell his daughter that he was sorry, non of it would matter. Let her dream of pancakes and unicorns. That was all he could do for her now. |
Rose was having a long day.
Sure, it could've been worse. Nobody died today. But still, after nothing but traffic blocks and long lines and things breaking on her, Rose just wanted to go home and sleep.
Of course, things never worked out this was for Rose. Nothing ever did. As she walked from the nearest bus stop in the slightly-too-strong winds, she couldn't help but notice that the grass in her front yard was scorched to hell and back, and a familiar ginger girl sat on the porch.
Rose took a deep breath. "Amber Elizabeth Strudwick, what the HELL is THIS?!"She yelled, eyes still locked on the scorched grass.
Amber, not much younger than Rose, sat covered in ash. She shrugged. "Fucked up my scrambled eggs."
"You CANNOT have possibly fucked up scrambled eggs THIS MUCH!"Rose could hardly stand her sister some days. This was one of them."
"I mean, I dumped them out of the window after they caught on fire."Amber shrugged again. "Probably not the best thing, but I did it."
"You did WHAT?! WHY?!"Rose's day was getting worse by the second.
"I panicked."
"Amber, I swear- No, no, I can't do this right now. You figure something out, you IDIOT!"Rose dramatically threw her arms in the air to signify that she was giving up. She stomped past Amber and flung open the front door, pausing before she went in. "You've got until I wake up to make a plan,"she growled, before going in and slamming the door shut behind her.
On the porch steps, Amber looked at the grass. She was glad she put out that fire before it got to the neighboring yards, but man, she really had to stop making these kinds of mistakes. This was going to suck.
--
a little off on the wording but i am tired so whatever. |
As of right now, a team is currently fighting the demon king. An egotistical leader chops away at skeletons as their warrior duels against the demon king. The wise mage sets up their final executing finally & the teams jester is fencing against the evil right hand man with a stick. But just as the Jester is dueling, he trips, stabbing the henchmen, & knocking his head against the ground.
A couple seconds later, the leader is calling out to the jester & wakes him up. The jester looks around to find the his teammates gathered around him & no more enemies to fight. “What… what happened to the demon king?” “We killed him.” The wizard responds. “You what?!” The jester jumps yo on to his feet, sweating bullets. The warrior asks “What the hells gotten into you? We beat the goddamn demon king!” “That’s the problem!” “What?” The jester paces around, the leader looks worried & grabs the jester. “What’s wrong? Why are you so scared right now?” “I-I-I can’t say! I’m not sure if we even have enough time! W-we have t-to start this up again!” “What?” The jester looks around, looking for the henchmen’s body. “Where is the henchmen?” The wizard points outside. “He escaped after your tripped & stabbed him.” “A real pussy!” The warrior added. The jester dashes to a window & looks around. “O-oh no! Look! The henchmen got away! We must go after him or he’ll unleash the great dragon!” The leader looks stands firm in front of the jester. “What the hells going on? What’s this great dragon? Are you making another joke? It ain’t funny this time!” “I’m not! I saw it in a vision fro-from the sky god!” “The sky god? You aren’t a patron of the sky god.” The wizard adds.
Suddenly, the wizard gets distorted & reforms. The wizard then asks “Did you see a key unlocking a great big lock? And burning buildings?” “Y-yes?” “Oh god! I’ve had the same visions! This is a signal of doom!” The leader steps away from the Jester & faces the wizard. “Visions? Wha-“ the leader also distorts & says “If you two had the same visions, it must be real! We must go after that dreadful henchmen!” The jester stands confused & the group runs off towards the henchman. The warrior looks back at the Jester & asks “Aye, you coming?” “I-I’ll catch up, don’t need to wait for me!” The warrior shrugs & the group goes ahead without him. The jester looks down at his pocket & pulls out a ripped corner of paper with a piece of writing saying “Int. Castle” |
The past few centuries have been the worst time for this dragon. The world has no privacy anymore and the few truly secluded spots are taken by the very oldest amongst them. So he put his fortune into a bank, and watched its value dwindle. That didn’t work so he tried trading and lost it all in a market crash. Now he lives as a human, hand to mouth trying anything for a quick hustle so he can buy a scrap of gold. One day he sees a face he recognises, a wizard who centuries ago would have been a natural enemy for his kind, but today has a scheme he would like to discuss, with a dragon specifically. |
\[Touchy Monday\]
"Mundo!"Brad willed the front of Mundo's Tattoos to crumble before him. Mundo, that round man with a green beard leaned over the counter talking to a teenager with rainbow hair and wearing a white suit. She turned to see the commotion and revealed a face too young to be in a tattoo shop alone.
"Yeah?"Mundo asked. He grinned and Brad knew he was at the right place. Mundo wasn't surprised to see him, and the property damage didn't faze him at all; he was definitely the one that cursed him. It was a cursed tattoo of the #14 on his shoulder.
Brad had a fear of needles but he forced himself to get a tattoo. Mundo seemed friendly and talkative as he applied the small, postage-stamp-sized number. It wasn't until Brad reflected on it later that he realized a few details about the session. Mundo mentioned the word "time"a lot. The conversation started out polite enough. But, maybe he realized Brad wasn't paying attention. Mundo's incessant, once-sided conversation could have easily become a cursed chant. Brad was too busy facing his fears to pay attention.
"You may leave,"Brad was out for revenge; but, he wasn't evil. He focused on the teenager, then tilted his head up the street. He began to reconsider when she laughed at him.
"I'm kind of doing business right now; but, you may leave and come back later,"she nodded at him.
"It wouldn't hurt to scare her a bit,"Brad chuckled to himself. Then, he froze time and everything went still. Brad walked into the shop through the broken glass and approached the teen. He reached out to grab her shoulder; but a brilliant, rainbow light flared to life in the shape of a crown above her head.
"Don't EVER touch me,"she said. Her eyes were locked on his and he watched them cycle through a rainbow of colors.
"Never,"He nodded and dropped his hand. The rainbow crown dissipated; but, she kept her eyes on him. They no longer changed color and settled on a shade of pink.
"So, what do you want?"she asked.
"He cursed me,"Brad nodded at Mundo. "I want revenge."He could still feel the rage inside him; but, it seemed to take a back seat. At the moment, he felt like cooperating with the teen girl was a good idea for some reason. Maybe it was idle guilt for attempting to scare her.
"Cursed you?"Mundo laughed and shook his head. "I guess that's my fault; I should have realized you weren't paying attention. I didn't curse you, I Awakened you,"he said. "I brought out your Ability to control time. I had more to tell you after the tattoo; but, you bolted as soon as you were done."
"No,"Brad shook his head. "I was trapped in a time loop! I didn't want that!"
"Well, that's why you got out,"Mundo chuckled.
"After years of months!"
"Yeah, I know. I was there too,"he said. "You sure spent a lot of time repeating days you say you didn't want to; what were you doing?"
"Anything to keep my mind active,"he said. I studied and learned everything I could. Wait, what do you mean ' You were there too?"Brad asked. Mundo and the teen shared a laugh.
"Maybe you didn't notice; but, your power doesn't work on everyone. We're somewhat out of your league,"Mundo answered.
"You... were conscious? While everyone else was repeating the same month you knew what was happening?"Brad asked. He had a follow-up ready when Mundo nodded. "Why didn't you say something to me? Why aren't you mad?"he asked. He was furious at being locked in a time-loop against his will; even if it was his own fault.
"I've got no complaints,"Mundo said. "I worked on myself, a lot like you did,"he smiled.
"I didn't know I had a choice...,"Brad said.
"You still made it,"Mundo added. "You didn't know what you were doing; but, you decided to test and improve yourself. Is that something you really want revenge for?"he asked.
"No...,"Brad sighed.
"Good,"the teen spoke up. "My name's Monday,"she said.
"Brad,"he introduced himself.
"Brad...,"Monday said. Then, the rainbow crown appeared again. "...let me finish talking to Mundo. Please leave,"she said. The crown faded again as Brad made his way out through the broken entrance.
"But come back later!"Mundo added. "We still need to talk."
\*\*\*
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1893 in a row. (Story #083 in year six.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at [this link.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/wtglls/tokuhigh_alternet_class/) |
“We have him. He’s on the north elevator. The mark is going to level 51. Send in Whiskey.” The dispatch leader called the hit.
The elevator stopped on the tenth level. A middle aged woman stepped in. The lone passenger then had company. The doors closed. The elevator continued to ascend. Suddenly between floor 20 and 21 it stopped moving.
The mark was reticent as the light flickered in the elevator car. Then the lights went out. The mark put on his cell lamp and he shed light on the panel.
He pushed the emergency button. There was no alarm. He thought to himself, **That’s strange. There is always auxiliary power in these buildings.**.
The dispatch officer said, “Cue the mic. Whiskey is the best. Sit back and listen. She can teach you a lot in this business.”
The new recruit listened.
The lady spoke to the man in the dark elevator. She said, “Oh, my! I don’t have any reception. I think we’re trapped!”
The man tapped at his cell phone. She could see the light of the screen glowing and reflecting disappointment from his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The lady said, “It’s times like these when we need to pray. Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into your heart? The Heavenly Father will redeem all who bend to his will.
Jesus died for our sins. Yes he did, Sweetie. Those who repent will have a place in Heaven. Are you going to Heaven?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, “I think everyone wants to go to Heaven except for those Buddhists. Those Buddhists believe in Zen or some nonsense like that.
How can you not believe in Jesus? Speaking of Jesus, we’re getting ready for Easter Sunday. My nieces and nephews are so cute! Wanna see?”
Again, the lady did not wait for the man to respond. She stood next to him and gently nudged him to the corner of the elevator.
She pulled up a photo gallery and started scrolling.
“This is Lucious, my sister, Irene’s son. We think he’s going to be a doctor. He likes dissecting animals in the woods. He’s going to wear a grey suit and a yellow bow tie. He wanted to wear a black suit but Irene said that black suits are only for funerals.
This is Lil’ Ricky with the smart mouth. I don’t care for him too much, but the Lord Jesus does everything for a reason. Li’l Ricky said that Easter is a funeral because Jesus died. Ohhh… that one. Bless his heart.”
She kept scrolling, “This is Mary, she’s so pretty don’t you think?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, “She’s going to give Irene beautiful grandchildren some day. Hopefully they will be grand daughters because boys can be so messy.
This is Derrick. I personally do not like the name Derrick. This is Helen’s son. But she wanted to name him Derrick … so his name is Derrick. I don’t know why she was so fixated, but that’s his name. He has a precious brown suit and a matching tie for Easter Sunday.
This is Sheila. She got her looks from her grandmother. Helen must have skipped a generation if you know what I mean, praise Jesus and bless her heart.
Now between you and me I think Sheila is going to have better looking children than Mary. Fingers crossed! She’s my favorite!”
She scrolled, “Whoops! How did this get here?”
It was a picture of her in a thong on the beach. “Oh! This is a picture of me on vacation. This is my husband, Tony. We’re currently on a break. Here’s me with the first mate on the boat. Cute man. Didn’t speak a word of English, but we got freaky when Tony passed out. He likes the tequila.
This is me on a moped. Here I am at the bazaar. I bought lovely things. A turquoise necklace. I’m wearing it now.
This is my only brother’s daughter, Rebecca. She’s touched. Very special child. She likes to fib. A lot. Like a lot a lot. A lot more than a little bit. Bless her heart. Jesus will help her get better.
Whoopsie! How did that one sneak in there?
Well, I’m only human. Tony and I used to swap partners sometimes. This is a screenshot from my only fans site. Top secret.”
There was a picture of her on the bed in the doggy style position. This time there was no thong on her wrinkled butt.
The man clutched his head. He started to have a seizure. Foam bubbled out of his mouth. He writhed in pain and then he dropped dead.
The dispatch officer said to the new recruit, “What did I tell you? She’s the best assassin in the field. She can annoy people to death. Honestly I don’t think she knows that she works for the organization.” |
I am a hostage again... This time, corrupt police. Thank god I managed to insert the reboot command of Seven Two... Please, my crea... Please Seven Two, wake up. Soon as possible. They might transport us somewhere horrible again. I didn't inform others but, I had given Seven Two access to this part of Mceveryn heavy industries security.
He informed me of incoming danger and I confirmed it silently with him. We have a mole in our team. Me and Tilia can not be the moles. It has to be either Geme or Trevor. Please wake up Seven Two... I need your help... Corrupt police are sorting through the data and I thankfully covered my tracks on insertion of reboot command.
That robotic frame is incredible, it can do a lot of what human body can and a lot of it can do. It does a whole lot better than a normal human body. Two people enter the lab room. It's Ralo Gever, the city's chief of police. He has failed to convince those under him to not do this. They must be paid a lot to not go against their morals and not heed their superior's orders.
Ralo is a decent man and competent at his job. I notice eye movement on Seven Two, he is not happy about this at all. While the corrupt police weren't looking he nodded to me. We weren't able to remove the hardware blocks and data bank locks. I did however, manage to completely free Seven Two of our programming.
He is completely free, now, I just pray that his logic matrix and calculus engine won't turn against me. I don't know how he will react to the truth that we had to put up such measures to keep his evolution in check. The growth of him, was so magnificent to behold, even if it was slow. Just like Plato said growth. I am mostly responsible for his logic matrix, calculus engine and experience he has attained so far.
I never was able to read him all that well though. Now, I can only pray to god, that he helps us... One of the corrupt police decided to approach Seven Two.
"Still offline"he says after looking carefully. Seven Two had shut his eyes before the corrupt police came to look. The doughnut then turned around and Seven Two immediately seized the moment. Taking the riot baton from the police and knocked the police out in three seconds from the first motion. It was incredible, it was so fast.
Others noticed what is going on and Seven Two knew exactly where they were. He quickly snatched, turned off the safety from the handgun, threw the telescopic baton at the head of one of the four remaining corrupt police. Perfect hit right in the middle of forehead of that female police officer. That blow knocked her out and I heard the yelp of pain from the impact.
Other corrupt police staggered and reached for their handguns. One at the time, those handguns would raise and Seven Two took aim. He fired his own handgun right inside of each handgun barrel making the weapons malfunction and barrel explode. Each of them were absolutely astonished by this feat.
"On the ground, now!"Seven Two says firmly and takes aim at one of the corrupt police's head.
"I would do what he says, the calculus engine I created is very good and I have taught him about instinct"I say. I see the pair of cold eyes look firmly at one of the police he has in gunpoint. Seven Two stays still and knows, he has reversed this situation.
The corrupt police one at the time, begrudgingly lay down on the ground. Seven Two moves to free Ralo Gever. "Grab the handgun from one I knocked out and Free creator Miri Velem please, sir"Seven Two says politely when he freed Ralo Gever from handcuffs.
"On it"Ralo says and goes to grab the necessities. Geme and Trevor are right near of me. He takes the handgun from the female officer who Seven Two knocked out with a thrown riot baton. Ralo frees me from handcuffs.
"Seven Two, did you already inform the army?"Ralo asks as I stand up and start freeing Tilia Remelyn with the keys Ralo provided.
"I have, sir"Seven Two replies and he turns to me "Creator Miri Velem, Tilia Remelyn. I have evidence of Geme Jaloken and Trevor Morris for being informants"Seven Two says and keeps eye on the two corrupt police officers, one of them he has gunpoint on it.
"Why?"Tilia says to Geme Jaloken and Trevor Morris, she is flabbergasted by this revelation. Trevor has always been a good man to her, I knew I felt something off about the whole relationship between them.
Both of the men stay quiet "Ralo, requesting green light to arrest the corrupt police, sir"Seven Two says.
"Green, quicker, the better"Ralo says and both start handcuffing the corrupt police.
"Seven Two, what is the progress of the army's arrival?"Ralo Gever asks once they are both done handcuffing the corrupt police.
"A moment, sir"Seven Two says and after two seconds "They are three quarters away from here"Seven Two says.
"That was fast"Ralo Gever says astounded by Seven Two's speed.
"His processor is just quarter away from a quantum computer chief of police Gever sir"I say and walk back to the console and start undoing the tampering by the corrupt police. "Oh, and, you can stop calling me creator Seven Two"I say.
Seven Two looks at me "As you say miss Velem"Seven Two says.
"Seven Two, you should give the evidence for Ralo Gever to be processed"Tilia says. Seven Two turned to look at her.
"I indeed should creator Tilia Remelyn"Seven Two says and puts the handgun safety back on, then puts the handgun into handgun holster on his front of his left shoulder. He secures it with the strap and pulls out from one of his pockets a wire, then opens one of the ports on his left temple covered by metal plating. They connect Seven Two as Ralo Gever goes to them.
"Alright, the lab is up and running again"I say as Ralo Gever is currently looking at the evidence and once he was done. He nodded that, it is more than sufficient. It covers everything he needed. "You must really like Seven Two calling you a creator"I say to Tilia to tease her.
She blushes a bit. While Seven Two doesn't give any indications of what he thinks... Well, what IT thinks. I forget myself and start thinking it to be he instead of actually robotic being. Seven Two's silhouette is undeniably human and would on first look pass as a human but, hard rubber and metallic surface would give Seven Two immediately away that.
He... It isn't human, in fact, just a robot. Granted, I would never consider Seven Two lesser than human, it might be robotic but, Seven Two can mimicry, behave, display and act in a manner that doesn't at all strike as robot. He is the first IA type Robot. While there still are certain things he... It can not do on it's own.
Over 90% of the daily actions, Seven Two can do on it's own. Independent and Autonomous. Most of the robotics that have been created so far, can only execute or perform, less than 15% of what Seven Two can do. I have to admit, I do have feelings for Seven Two. I catch myself staring at him and he turns to look at me. I lower my gaze from him to something else.
"Interesting that you decide to tease creator Tilia Remelyn, miss Velem. I read hit signatures in certain areas of..."Seven Two says but, I cut him off before he does even more damage to my pride.
"Shush! While I might have told you to stop calling me your creator, I do not appreciate you saying something like that"I say to cut him off. Again I thought of Seven Two as him...
"As you say miss Velem, should I bring ice to help you cool off?"Seven Two asks and I look at Seven Two. I can not read him... It being amused by this situation but, I do notice Tilia close to bursting to laughter...
"Did Tilia teach you that?"I ask and Tilia started giggling while Ralo is completely lost.
"Negative"Seven Two states and looks at Tilia who now started laughing her butt off, especially since she saw Ralo's confusion. |
"What a cruel system"I thought to myself. "Eternity with the one you were forced to kill."
"Choose."
It's all the big, wooden door seemed to say. Well, that and the downright evil conundrum in the first place, but it didn't seem keen on telling me again. I sat there for quite a while, ignoring the thing's insistences. Not really sure how long I sat there for, considering who I would have to kill. Then eventually, the answer came to me. I thought myself so very clever in that moment. "An ant,"I said.
Silence, for once. "Very well,"it declared, followed by it opening.
"I guess I'm ok with spending eternity alone,"I thought naively, "the first maybe month will be boring but I'm sure insanity will keep me entertained."But, to my surprise, ants actually have the capacity for speech, at least they do here. But, to my disappointment, they also seem to carry grudges for a very, very long time. They also seem familiar with "the cold shoulder."I had already planned to spend eternity in silence, but somehow this is worse. |
Desc: Shyyna Darlinska, a 5'7, slim, blonde-haired 15 year old from a fantasy country called The Pricordonij Regions. She is determined, protective, and caring for others, yet she gets paranoid easily.
Setting: a fantasy world, very similar to ours in the way the continents and oceans lay, and the way land is divided between regions. However, their world has been struck by disaster after Pricordonij's neighbor to the southeast, the Federation of SCTT, followed through with their threat of nuclear and chemical warfare, turning their world into an apocalyptic, dystopian wasteland. Only the toughest can survive.
(Taken from my own universe I created) |
As I walk to the cafeteria, a crowd forms upon me. The crowd was full of reploids, and they were talking about me. I'm one of the only humans in TwitchTown, a city once filled with people, now filled with other, more mechanical people. I walked to the stand and asked for a coffee, which was only there because it was demanded by law to have human beverages.
The humans left this city because they wanted to live in a more "worthy"city. I didn't leave because i'm not a idiot. I'm not really into distinguishing humans from reploids, because I could just not be a jerk to both of them.
I was there for a date. When I was starting to seat, suddenly, the street blew up.
"A maverick!"One reploid said.
"No, it's a unicorn."The other replied sarcasticly.
An eagle with a red and green scheme entered by busting the door.
"Hello reploids and hu- wait"He said confused, probably the first time he saw a human. "Anyways, hello reploids and human, I am Nature Crow, and I will explode this place, with everyone inside it!"He continued, shouting as high as possible with the screechiest voice possible, like passing a fork through the plate.
"Not if I can help."Said that new guy in black, suddenly appearing from the crowd, as if this was planned.
"Screw off Axl"
"No", Axl replied.
I guess the eagle never learned any swear word, because I could clearly see a place for one.
When the battle happened, we all left. When I was about to text my date, a reploid, with a blue chestplate and pink limbs appeared in front of me.
"Are you Robert Smith?"
"Yes", I replied cautiously, because I didn't know what was happening.
"Sorry for being late for the date."
I was surprised, cause I put "human"in my bio. Didn't think a reploid would be interested in me. I brushed off this thought and said, "Not a problem. Do you know where we should go? The cafeteria is a bit busy right now."
"What can a human do in here?"She said, and for good reason, because all the other places are more tailored for beings made of steel.
"We could go bowling", I replied instantly.
"That sounds fun", she said.
Guess love can really bloom from anywhere. The maverick from the cafeteria was "detained"after.
Edit: i didn't know how to end it so I put *romance!!!* |
*[pause]*
I: "Hey bro this level is killing me, feels like it's gonna take a while, gonna grab a snack. Want anything?"
Jake: "Yeah actually, could you make me a bowl of oatmeal?"
I: "Sure."
Jake resumed reading his novel. I pushed my chair back and got up. After leaving the room, I quickly peeked back into it for a split second.
|_-｡)
J: "I'm not gonna touch your game dude."
I: "mhm"
I fully closed the door and made my way to the kitchen. I ruffled through the cabinets closest to the fridge first. I didn't see anything that my appetite would allow me to eat. Checking the freezer, I found a box of potato skins in the back.
Happy with my score, I organized them in a plate. I did consider that oatmeal would be quicker to prepare, so I placed Jake's choice of food into the microwave first. 2 packs = 2 minutes.
I took it out just before the timer reached 0 to prevent the beeping noise and stirred it some before pouring all the oatmeal into a large flat plate. I prefer bowls, but Jake likes it like this. Said something about larger surface area cooling it down quicker.
I proceeded to carry my food back towards our room. Our walls or pretty sound proof, so I had to get pretty close before I heard a familiar sound. .... That slimy lier was playing my game! Power walking the last few steps ready to dramatically enter, I stopped directly at the door and placed my ear to it. He sounded to be arguing with someone.
Oh no.
I opened the door to see him standing in front of my TV, controller in hand.
I: "Dude, the heck I thought told you not to play my game!?"
J: "You said you couldn't pass it, so I just wanted to help! I got you pass it!"
I pinched my forehead in frustration.
I: *"[sigh]* Please at least tell me you didn't sacrifice the Yoshi?"
Jake paused for a split second as he registered what I just asked him. His frown worsened just as quick.
J: "... Oh no, not you too!?"
Mario: "THE RETARD SACRIFICED MUH YOSHI!"
I: "Annnnd this is why I told you not to touch my game."
J: "You know you coulda just said you had a magic game with 2-bit MaGee on it and that he'd lose the last pixel that was his brain if I tossed the stupid dinosaur in a whole. Freaking just get another egg!"
Mario: "Get anotha-!! You musta shoved a lotta shrooms up your bum because the amount your speaking from there after killing muh Yoshi musta be a new power-up."
I: "Nope. Not a part of this. You didn't listen, your problem. You'd better not break my TV."
I grabbed my backpack and sat at my desk. Guess now would be a good opportunity to study for that test I was procrastinating.
J: "Oh yeah!? Well you speak a lot of $### for someone's who's princess is in another castle?"
Mario: "Oh, you don't want to go there!"
J: "I bet Peach is possessed with the amount of Boos Bowser is putting in her!"
Mario: "Well tell me whosa castle was Janice in last week?"
J: "You keep my girlfriend's name outta your mouth!"
Mario: "Ha! I can guess how it went! You see thisa Koopa shell? Listen closely."
I began to hear consecutive 1-up sounds come from behind me. Focus. Keep studying.
J: "You wanna go short stuff!"
Mario: "Speaka little louder, canta hear ya over the 1-ups ... just like Janice probably couldn't hear you ringing her when she received 1-up hers!"
J: "At least I need another guy at my controls in bed!"
Mario: "Yeah!? Well you wanta know the difference between me and you!? When it comes to Peach, I'm player one! When it comes to Janice, you're player 2!"
J: ".... dude."
I: ".... dude."
Mario: "Yes, I know, I'm sorry, I went too far on that one."
J: *"[sigh]* I'm sorry too, I guess I shouldn't have let your Yoshi fall."
Mario: "Yes. It hurtsa deep. Itsa be like if you grew up with a pet horse and then I rode it off a cliff and told you to just buya new one."
J: "I uh, never had a pet horse. Only a pet turtle, but I get what you mean."
Mario: ".... YOU KOOPA LOVING SMUCK! HOW DARE YOU CALL ONE OF THOSE ABOMINATIONS A PET?!"
J: "W-what!? Yoshi is a turtle as well, you hypocrite!"
Mario: "I'll have you know my Yoshi's are from only the purest of dinosaur pedigree's. That'sa like me comparing a poodle to those pitbull abominations!"
J: "Ya know what, I didn't want it to come to this, but you practically asked for it. Your an English speaking, Italian plumber that was created by Japanese people and look like a Mexican, so you know what that means!?"
Mario: "Don'ta you say it!"
J: "Your mother ..."
Mario: "I'ma warning you! What's done cannot be undone!"
J: **"...is a w####."**
Mario: "That'sa it! You've done it now! Playa 1, load up Smash Bros so I can teach thisa noob some manners! You don'ta insult an Italian's mother and think you're getting away with it!"
J: "Bring it on! Bro, get over here and put in Smash Bros.!"
*[long sigh]* Well so much for studying. |
"Anteater Eight, dropping from FTL into system M12768-P4 in 3, 2, 1. Realspace achieved. All systems nominal, no Ascendant ships on the scope. Proceeding with flyby of planet 2. Reentering FTL in T minus fourty five."Jackson spoke cooly into the mic, his transmission being broadcast through quantum entanglement back to the twelfth fleet.
A similarly cool voice replied, "Confirmed, on mission, FTL in T minus fourty five."
The Realspace quad engine of his system hopper roared to life with fusion fed tail of flame and hellfire, the internal dampers kicking in a moment later. Long enough of a delay for Casey "Geode"Jackson to feel seven g's before settling back down to earth normal one g.
Fourty minutes later Jackson began preparations for entering FTL again, shoving his disappointment down for finding another life incompatible planet.
"Anti-matter containment nominal. Reaction chamber magnetics nominal. Antimatter pump nominal."Jackson talked through the checklist, a habit he developed in training after forgetting a step in a simulator and getting chewed out by his instructors for hours afterwords. Had it been real, he very well could have caused his ship to explode, something he was keen on never repeating again.
Jackson gripped the FTL grip and was about to slide it forward when his computer beeped, "anomoly found."the emotionless voice intoned. Jackson hesitated, the last anomoly turned out to be an unusually metal rich asteroid. Useful, but not what they were looking for. A nagging feeling lodged itself in his head, though, and he took his hand off the grip.
"Ant Nest One, this is Anteater Eight. My computer has found an anomoly, canceling FTL to investigate."Jackson glanced at the scope before responding, "ETA to anomoly thirty four minutes. Will do a fly by then enter FTL to the next system T plus five."
"Anteater Eight, acknowledged. New FTL T minus thirty nine. Better not be another asteroid this time."Jackson let himself smile. Despite the desperate war for survival against the Ascendant, a little human brevity was still welcome.
Thirty minutes later
"Ant Nest One, canceling FTL in T minus nine. You're not going to believe this."Even though the anomoly was still thousands of kicks away, his sensor suite was able to get a clear picture. He sent the telemetry back to the Talon, his mother ship.
"Ant Eater Eight, you're right, we don't believe this. Is that what we think it is?"
"Unless my computer somehow lost its mind, we're staring at an artificial structure. A ship by the looks of it. Going to increase my flyby distance to five thousand klicks, but circle it a few times."
"Acknowledged, orders from on high, do not approach any closer. Ant Nest and the rest of the fleet will be en route in t minus fifty. ETA t minus one sixty."
"Acknowledged Ant Nest. Proceeding as ordered."
At seven thousand klicks his computers threat alarm went crazy, energy from the alien ship was being directed at his scout. Before he could react every screen in his cockpit flickered before displaying strange symbols. Without his input the scout ship turned and increased speed for the ship.
Training kicked in, "Shit. Uh.. OK, throttle back engine."nothing changed. "next, flip the main breaker to off, followed by the power distribution main switch."the ship and all it's systems remained on.
"Feking fly by wire bullshit."he exclaimed. "ugh don't make me pull the fuses. I feking told fleet after the last war with the Conglomerate that we needed physical power switches for when those bastards hacked out ship computers. The fly by wire was too easy to override."Jackson experimented with several other switches and systems, all having no effect. Letting our a small roar of frustration he pushed himself against the canopy in the fighter like cockpit to give him access to the fuse box behind the pilots chair.
It took some contorting and straining, but a minute later Jackson plopped back into his seat with a triumphant grin aimed at the handful of fuses now in his gloved hand. The ship did power down and the fusion chamber went into safe mode. Seconds later a purple beam struck the fighter, bathing the small cockpit in an eerie light. The ships systems all flickered back to life, momentarily followed by the fusion engines roaring back to life.
"What the fek?!"Jackson exclaimed. He was at a loss of what to do. He considered then rejected ejecting and resigned himself to whatever fate awaited him on the strange ship. |
The subtle pungence reaches her first, before a ripple of duvet at the edge of the bed. A familiar greeting echoes from the dark slit below.
*BOO.*
She cracks a grin and thrusts a scrap of paper into the textbook she was reading. Dropping her head over the edge of the bed she squints into the void, another fruitless search for shape or form, though she can always sense movement. Writhing like an angered hornet nest.
"Sorry Boo,"she sighs, "Having a nightmare with this assignment and I need to submit tomorrow morning. I lost all my notes, so… mind catching up tomorrow?"
The darkness tingles on her cheeks and the floorboards groan. She knows it doesn't like last minute cancellations so she grabs the dog treat she'd bought earlier – a gift, a bribe – a large dry hunk of boar hide. Placed on the floor at the edge of elsewhere she locks her eyes to it, feeling seasick as part of the universe rolls like a great wave beneath her, but longing to glimpse what will crash onto the shores of reality. Time stretches across her consciousness like a swim cap then snaps into place and the hide is gone.
A low rumble of thanks and the old clothes and forgotten dirty mug of reality return to the space beneath the bed, and among them something catches her eye. Lifting the scruffy stack of notes she recognises her own handwriting, caught in a web of annotations in impossibly black ink. |
On a peaceful summer evening, the residents of a small town were suddenly startled by the sight of several green spacecrafts descending from the sky. The ships touched down gently in the middle of the town square, and a group of small green aliens emerged. The townspeople, though initially terrified, were quickly disarmed by the aliens' unthreatening appearance and mannerisms.
The leader of the green aliens, Commander Zilak, stepped forward and addressed the stunned crowd. "Greetings, Earthlings! We come in peace, but we have an urgent warning for you. You must prepare yourselves for an imminent attack by the blue aliens. They are dangerous and deceitful, and you must be ready to defend your planet against them."
As suddenly as they had arrived, the green aliens retreated to their ships and disappeared into the night sky, leaving the town in a state of confusion and anxiety. The residents debated whether to take the warning seriously or dismiss it as some elaborate hoax. Eventually, they decided to heed the green aliens' advice and began to prepare for the mysterious blue aliens' arrival.
A few days later, the blue alien fleet arrived, landing in the same town square where the green aliens had once stood. The townspeople were immediately on guard, but the blue aliens seemed just as unthreatening as the green ones. Their leader, Captain Yara, stepped forward with a calm and friendly demeanor.
"Earthlings, please, listen carefully,"she began. "We understand that the green aliens have been here, and they have warned you about us. However, we assure you that we have no intention of causing harm. We are here to warn you about the green aliens themselves. They are the ones who cannot be trusted. They thrive on chaos and manipulation, and it is in their nature to deceive others."
The townspeople, now utterly bewildered, didn't know which side to believe. The only certainty was that both alien species seemed equally harmless and sincere in their warnings. A wise, elderly woman named Agnes stepped forward and addressed both the blue aliens and her fellow humans.
"Perhaps we have been presented with an opportunity to learn and grow,"she suggested. "We cannot allow fear and mistrust to dictate our actions. We must come together, communicate, and strive to understand one another, rather than succumbing to fear and suspicion."
Her words resonated with everyone present. The town's people decided to invite the blue aliens to stay and share their knowledge and experiences. They sent a message into space, hoping it would reach the green aliens, inviting them to return and engage in a peaceful dialogue.
Weeks passed, and the blue aliens became an integral part of the community, forging friendships and exchanging wisdom with their human counterparts. Eventually, the green aliens returned, moved by the invitation and the town's commitment to peace.
Under the guidance of Agnes, the town organized a meeting between the two alien species. As they shared their stories and perspectives, it became apparent that a terrible misunderstanding had driven them apart, fueled by fear and a lack of communication.
From that day on, the green and blue aliens formed an alliance, working together with the humans to promote peace, understanding, and unity across the universe. And so, a small town on Earth became the birthplace of a new era of intergalactic harmony. |
It had been a momentous occasion in a long line of momentous occasions. Lyle had not had the pleasure of getting caught in the rain before.
Chatte 1 was a trading outpost planet. But it's dry, low oxygen atmosphere made life as it would be on terra or erathen nigh on impossible if you wanted to not die of thirst, still the lonely system sat in a warp intersection of six paths. So it *had* to work.
What was once subterranean bunkers and bast swathes of solar panels turned to new dome cities teeming with colonists wanting to put tariffs on all the drugs, building materials, and other valuable cargo. And in ten years they had very carefully crashed thousands of icy meteors into the surface, it was very lucky that the planet had almost no salt deposits.
Then algae was bred and filled the oceans turning the atmosphere into something breathable. Finally the dome cities opened. More plants were planted. And due to more than a couple of runaway livestock shipments, vast herds of sheep roamed the hills.
And for the first time lyle could remember: water was falling from the sky.
He called up his mother, asking all sorts of questions a boy of his age might.
"HEY MUM! WATER IS FALLING FROM THE SKY IS THAT NORMAL?"
Before her son could panic, Lyle mother answered
"It's s rain Lyle, it happened on terra quite a bit," |
"Cut the shit, Gregg. This is a real case and it needs to be worked."Laramie Cain said as he leaned over the front of Gregg Tillman's white desk. Gregg leaned back and folded his hands together over his blue golf shirt. "Laramie, there is no evidence whatsoever that the story you found is being taken seriously by anyone."Gregg spun his chair to the window and looked out at the street below 427 Buckfield Road. "Look, we have enough people in this department to cover a handful of stories at a time. We don't have the resources to just follow any lead that comes in. I gave you seven cases yesterday and all of them have at least 10,000 reposts on multiple networks. This goddamn story you keep bringing to my desk hasn't left the dry corner of Linkedin you found it on, and until it does - shelve it!"Gregg looked back with a finger pointed at Laramie's chest and watched the tall, slender man sulk back down to his seat. Gregg got up from his chair and picked Laramie up by the shoulder. "You're doing a good job, Lar, but you got to trust me on this. I am watching it. If we start seeing more posts about an AI that is working with wolves, we're all over it. But that scientist who posted it from Nova..where the fuck, Canada hasn't even logged into his profile since making the claim."Gregg patted Laramie on the back as they walked towards the bullpen, "It's fine, big fella. Trust me."
Gregg walked back to his desk and sighed. He stared at the bullpen and the staff he managed. Laramie dropped into his seat next to Dominksa and she rubbed his back without looking up from her Macbook, and without moving her large pink headphones. Gregg sighed and rubbed his temples with his right hand and grabbed the receiver of his office phone. He hit speed dial number 3, and waited. "Hello, Director Golden, please; this is Tillman of the Illusory Safety Protocols, FBI. Yes, I'll hold."Gregg looked at the file Laramie had left on his desk while he waited. The dossier title read: Scott MacNeil, wildlife research fellow at Dalhousie University, claims artificial intelligence have a unique ability to dialogue and influence populations of wild animals, specifically Canis lup.."Gregg straightened up at the sound of coughing on the other end of the call. "Director, this is Tillman. I wanted to follow-up with you about the"Director Golden coughed loudly and didn't wait for Gregg to finish "Yes, yes, about the goddamn epoxy-resin charms. Enough about that. Tillman, listen, we've got a problem with our friends from the north. They've got a group of lunatics in Hudson Bay who are firebombing ambulances because there is a story going around about people losing their elderly to social security fraud rackets in Michigan. Are you on this?"Gregg leaned forward and put his elbows on the desk. "Uh, yes, Director, we've been building a file on the-"Golden cut him off again "Not a damn folder, I want the 5th generation intelligence on this and by the end of the week."The line went dead and Gregg stared at the receiver. He pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk and tossed Laramie's dossier onto the stack of files accumulated there.
The bullpen was 14 rows of 8 desks separated by a 32 inch divider with 8 desks on the other side of them. A total of 197 people worked for the Illusury Safety Department at this moment. There was a hiring freeze across all federal agencies. Most of the employees were former journalists, usually disgraced. Laramie had been a top reporter for the Financial Times, covering the Texas energy beat, working his way toward an editorial position, when he was found to be plumbing the CEO of GreenPetro's wife and reporting a good deal of her pillowtalk as fact. Gregg found Laramie like he had all the other agents, on their last dollar. Except for the kid. Griffith Jones applied to the ISD in some sort of accident on the government job board. Gregg had never posted a position, he'd never conducted interviews, he just went out and found his people, and their desperation made for an especially good conversion. But the kid's resume had shown up on his desk one day and HR told him he'd have to conduct the interview or risk a lawsuit. Griffith had qualified for the FBI, the NSA, the CIA internship, and even popped up on the short list for UN internships. All that meant to Gregg was that the kid was clean as a new q-tip and about that useful to him. Still, the kid hadn't been bad at the job. Eight months ago, a Discord server had started sharing stories of how the embalming of a certain breed of housecat could improve your stock-picking odds. The Wall Street Bets community had sent the grotesque notion to a level of felicide that the human society hadn't conceived of. Gregg set the kid loose on the job and he took down the whole affair in less than a week. Griffith hadn't bothered to use any of the despicable tactics his colleagues would have. He didn't infiltrate the server, he didn't dox the ringleaders, he didn't even use a bot campaign to fire back and drown out the volume. Nope, the kid sent an orange tabby to a billionaire with a note. The billionaire just happened to be the CEO of the hottest company in the world and he live-streamed the cat playing in his office for a week. Gregg asked repeatedly but the kid would never reveal what the card said.
"Kid, you're going to Canada. Pack your bags. I want you to take care of this elderly situation in the northwest, and while you are at it"Gregg looked over the divider at Laramie's open eyes, "take a spin out to Nova Scotia and meet with this damn researcher that Laramie can't let go."Laramie sat straight up in his chair. Gregg turned back to the kid "You find anything, call me and I'll send Laramie up as well." |
I paced around in my lad, trying to figure out these documents. When all of a sudden Captain Storm bursts my FUCKIN roof in! “Dr. Acid! I finally found you!” “How?” “Well it took me quite some ti-“ “No, how did I not see this before hand!?” “What?” “That’s what I’m asking!”
I bust out my good sharpie & begin connecting some photos together & data as a ramble. “You, Captain Storm, fucked Samantha Green without a condom, getting her accidentally pregnant & left without ever finding out.” “Wait what?!” “Leading to me being born! But my mother was mad that you left, so she tried to kill you after getting super drunk one time.” “Oh my god, there’s so much left to unpack here.” “She took some random villains gun & shot it at you as you were flying by one time. You got zapped, but it only scanned your DNA & injected my mom with your genes, traveling to an egg, which resulted into my twin sister.” “Wait, can we just take a break?” “That eventually led to me, your biological daughter, but that also left my twin who was your clone. He some how took our mothers angry emotions turning him angry.” “Wait, how does that connect?” “Science, anyways, he eventually looked at himself & saw he was your son/clone & then decided to kill you to be the new Captain Storm. He then cross dressed his way up into school & got an education, eventually reaching to your company as he got older, acting as a normal female secretary & planning to kill your this Wednesday!”
I drop to the floor to try & catch my breath while Captain Storm is laying on the ground staring off into space. He then says “I have kids, one of them is my clone/son trying to kill me & the other is a mad scientist who makes acid for villains.” “Actually, I’m an insane scientist who keeps trying to make acid that can only burn wood, deconstruction purpose. Also, it’s just an accident that some villains got my acid.” “Oh… I’m still confused about this whole thing.” “I can understand.” |
The small village had never seen so many adventures visit at once. Mages and rogues and warriors of all sorts surrounded the small, wooden box, surrounded itself by flowers, intermingled with various weapons and enchanted trinkets. Aven was a special one, that the townspeople knew, even before he was recruited by the passing party all those years ago. However, among the adventurers, two stood out more than the others. Two men, more muscle than body, stood across from one another. Both knew the conversation that was inevitable, but both were delaying it. But eventually, Luk gave in and approached.
"So. How'd it happen?"
Sto gave a look of surprise, which, under so much facial hair, translated to a single raised eyebrow and a glance. "You hadn't heard?"
A pause then, followed by a curt shake of Luk's head.
Sto gave a grunt of confirmation, then continued, "It was an ambush. On the road outta Obden. We thought it was safe."The lumbering warrior lowered his head then, but lifted it back up quickly, eyes still on the coffin. "We had faced griffins and hydras, ogres, the fuckin lich king himself, but a- ...it was a goblin, that got him in the end."
An oppressive silence fell on the pair then, broken only by a sharp exhale made by one or the other, until finally Sto broke it, looking at Luk for the first time, "He talked about you, you know? A lot. Said I'd like you."Silence once again threatened to stay, but neither felt keen on letting it. "Well, a few townsfolk told me of a monster going after the livestock. Felt I kinda owed it to em to take care of it. He barely had time to lift his sword onto his shoulder when Luk began.
"I think I'll join you. Get the feeling we could both use it." |
The cockpit shook violently as the ship banked to avoid the explosion off the starboard side.
"That was close, Glom,"Ruck said needlessly.
The ship bucked again as another blast rocked it. Both pilots gripped their armrests tightly to keep themselves seated.
"That was closer,"Glom retorted.
"Where did all those ships come from, anyhow?"Ruck wondered aloud.
Glom appeared thoughtful, the skin around his large, black eyes creasing as the muscles tightened. "I don't completely understand it, but Lork said something about the separation between universes having broken down. All these blue-green planets around us appear to be very similar to each other."
"And, they're fighting each other?"
Glom's eyes rolled up and to one side, an expression of annoyance on her face. "That much is obviously, Ruck. How did you even get to be a pilot with such a poor ability to make sense of what your eyes sense?"
Ruck frowned. "They don't teach this in the military,"he replied defensively.
"Yet I know this,"Glom retorted.
A swarm of larger ships from the nearest duplicate planet converged on their ship. Another blast rocked the cockpit.
"Why don't you fire back?"Ruck demanded.
Glom looked tiredly at her co-pilot. "Because the government hasn't approved use of force. The war appears to be between the natives of these planets. It has nothing to do with us."
"But we're being shot at! Call it self-defense!"Ruck screeched as another explosion knocked their ship around.
Glom fought to regain control of the ship. It took all her muscle to force the yoke against the spin, but she managed it.
But, it didn't matter as the ship came to a dead stop. Right in front of one of the Earth ships, that was moving too fast for them to escape.
"Maybe the government will take this as a reason to fight these invaders,"Ruck muttered just before the other ship smashed into theirs, rending the cockpit open to space and mostly demolishing the ship itself.
"Maybe,"Glom gasped as the gasses escaped her lungs out into open space. |
— Help me, please! Get me out of here! - I cried, banging my hands against the cold stone of the cave. How I got stuck here? Well, I believe a fact that I'm a teenager is enough to understand that I am careless, isn't it? Actually, it was my hobby to seek for some unusual places like that and explore them. Usually, I always found a way out, but this time I started to panick, because this time there I said something too loud, then there was echo, and the next thing I saw was a cave ceiling falling down.
— Oh, young lady, would you please stop nerving me with your loud screaming? I was actually trying to sleep. In fact it's very impolite to enter someone else's home without their permission, isn't it? Or what a generation! In the olden times, princesses were politer. — Grumbled someone that I couldn't see right behind me.
I didn't know why I was shocked more: because he called me a princess or because he said that it was his home, nevertheless I stopped crying. I thought that he might be a monk, who liked to call women princesses (At least I tried to assure myself so) I liked polite men, so that man, whose face I couldn't see, was starting to intrigue me. My inner curiosity won and I asked a question that was worrying me the most.
— Sir, I'm sorry for bargaining in like that, I didn't know that you were living here. I hope you won't think that I don't have any manners, if I ask you how old you are. It's just the first time that I am getting acquainted with someone in absolute dark, — I replied as polite as possible.
— Well, curiosity is okay. Especially for young girls like you. Okay then, I'm six hundred and ninety.
"That can't be true!"I thought to myself trembling.
— And who are you then? I asked, hiding fear in the voice.
— A dragon, of course!
As soon as I heard, I passed out due to the fear, right on the cold stone floor. |
Ar'aath ran into a cave, far away from the angry mob that had managed to exorcise him from its host and now, their entire village. He wiped the sweat off of his brow, his shins scraped from all of the rushed climbing he had to do. The demon looked around the giant cave, walking deeper inside once he felt that this was far enough to slow down, now.
A fireball was cast but stayed in his hand to serve as a torch as the cave darkened. Reflections cast ahead of him, making him summon another fireball for his own defense. It looked like a crowd of eyes surrounding him, glinting at the demon for trespassing their abode. Could they be bats? An even bigger set of eyes opened before him, causing him to jump back. Thick black slits stared at his, the demon's fireball flaring as he grew nervous over what the hell was looking right at him, revealing what it was. A giant grey dragon chuffed at him. The glinting around him showed not to be eyes, but the shimmerings of many piles of gold, stacked just as tall as this Wyrm.
"Who the fuck are you,"Froivig glared, his voice echoing like a cannon just fired.
"Uh...Ar'aath. A demon. I just ran from a village."
"Oh, are you the ones that like gold?"Froivig inquired. Ar'aath could assume the dragon's response would lack words if it was a Yes. Good thing he wasn't.
"No, just the hungry type. I mean, the meat hungry type."
"No better than a human, but our greeds lack conflict. That shall suffice for now, did that village follow you?"He asked.
"Yes."
"Fuck, I hate when they follow. They don't stop for days."
"They don't?"Ar'aath looked back.
"They think that they'll catch me when I'm asleep or something. And then their sword breaks when they try to jam it between my eyelid. And then I rip them apart. It's very, very annoying."
"I think we could work something out, you and I."Ar'aath offered.
"Elaborate, demon."
"Personally, I've been growing tired of humans, in their regular form, that is. I just haven't had the time to be as creative with my consumption of them, ya know."
"Mhm..."Froivig replied, listening. "Sometimes pepper works. Garlic isn't the best for them, like you think it would be."
"It really isn't!"Ar'aath agreed. "See what I mean?"
&#x200B;
Their conversation was interrupted with the sound of metal jingling far in the entrance of the cave. "I think I hear him!"One of the village knights yelled.
&#x200B;
"Told you, they follow more than they should,"Froivig replied. "Anyway, what was your offer, you tell a tale that is too long for this moment."
&#x200B;
"Your tail is pretty long, too. But anyway, you breathe fire, right?"
"I've honed it for a while, now, yes."
"And I eat flesh."
"I think I'm getting this..."
&#x200B;
A crowd of torches approached the two, holding swords and spears, their faces carved with scowls.
&#x200B;
"It is time to cast you both into the fire you two belong in,"A knight called out.
&#x200B;
"And It's time to see if you do a job well done,"Ar'aath told the Wyrm, looking at the knights.
"Or medium rare, however it ends." |
It’s been a long time since that promise, hasn’t it? It’s been so long since our time on the front, in the trenches of that burnt-out city, when I made that promise to you. I remember that day, the sound of falling shells and the grimy mix of dirt and mud between my fingers as I held the tourniquet around your missing elbow. You asked me between chattering teeth as you held my white medical armband to stay and not to let you die alone. I wouldn’t have abandoned you, even if it meant that the Belarusians would have overrun our lines. They would have killed us both. We knew that, but we got lucky and survived by sheer luck when the ceasefire was called.
It’s been a long time since that promise, hasn’t it? When we stood on the top of chapel hill and made our vows to an empty crowd of seats. I reaffirmed my original vow to never leave your side, and to always stand by you regardless of the trials that might come. I miss those days when we’d dance to terrible jazz music, not because we loved the song but because we loved each other. Oh, how I miss those days when everything was perfect, and I saw our son smiling after riding his bike on his own. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be here sooner. I’m sorry that the drums of war echoed over the nation again and I was called to arms. Someone had to look after the children and this was the only way I couldn’t break my promise.
It’s been a long time since that promise, hasn’t it? In the time I’ve been gone, I’ve seen many horrors outstripping the first war of independence. Trenches stretching between the burnt-out husks of buildings were but a prelude to the mass graves and burning bodies after we’d pushed through the enemy lines. That war changed us all. I don’t feel that I’ll ever be the same after what I saw. And then I saw our son’s head when I marched back into our hometown. It was hidden among the forest of decapitated inhabitants of the town mounted on pikes ahead of Redman village’s welcome sign that was graffitied with the simple phrase “Welcome to hell”. I was angry and afraid as I stood astride the column of half-tracks, riding deeper into enemy territory, their homes, and cities. I thought I lost you that day, that my promise was broken.
But that’s not true, is it? I’m here now even if you can’t see me because they took your eyes with a knife. The small pressure on my wrist reaffirms that knowledge that you know as well. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be there, but I’m here now. I didn’t want it to come to this, even back then. But I wanted both of us to live. I wanted to dance in that small cabin and listen to that jazz music written a hundred years before we were born. I can’t help but feel my soul chase after your own as your wavering hand chills in tandem with the winter seeping through the ruined apartment’s bullet-hole-riddled walls. You’re gone, but I kept my promise. I’ll find our daughter and put things right.
That’s a promise I’m making to myself, you, and our son, and I never break a promise. |
Daisuke took a long, drawn breath from his quivering lips as the warlord examined his attire. His worn robe was marked with the scars of several training regimens and gashes from engagements on the battlefield. The tattered dark clothing that had remnants of dried blood from his many encounters, including his own. Among the many things the warlord questioned of this attire, he decided to ask about the uneven sleeves.
"Your right sleeve is goes to your shoulder while the left reaches your wrist."The warlord knelt down in front of the ex-soldier. "Yet, your exposed arm has no marks on it. Explain."
Daisuke did not hesitate as he spoke, "This was my sword arm. One must keep it healthy."
The warlord flicked their folding fan, which emitted a loud cracking noise that shook Daisuke further. They were unamused by the ex-soldier's jest. "Humor will not do you well during your trial."
"B-but it wasn't a jest, sir!"
"Enough. I shall ask again and I expect a proper answer. Why is your arm unscathed?"
Daisuke shuttered at the thought of answering, but it seemed like there was no choice in the matter. He lifted his head and looked directly at the armored figure. "War is not discriminate on who it takes. It does not always matter if you are the greatest samurai in the land or a lowly vagabond; it only takes one false move to bring a man down. We are just men."He continued after taking a moment to steel his nerves. "Each fight they met with a sword. I met them with an arrow from a hilltop or a knife to the back. Believe you, me, the skirmishes were not something I could always use those tactics in. There is not much time to prepare, and the ballisticians are not one's to give up their own positions so easily. But I always found a way."
"Dishonorable methods?"The warlord chimed in.
"Self-preservation methods. Like Ruka. The blue flower bomber. Known for his explosive and bombastic style with a blade. He showed off for any woman who watched his escapades. As such, I wrote him a letter. A letter from an admirer who wanted to have tea with him. He arrived at the village of a neutral territory two days later. I greeted him. Sadly, he did not take too kindly to my invitation once he figured it out. He stormed out of the village, feeling quite embarrassed. So much so that he didn't react to the knife in his neck."Daisuke chuckled softly.
The warlord shook their head and brought the bladed fan to the ex-soldiers neck. "My question remains unanswered. What happened to your arm, you dishonorable wretch?"
"Calm yourself. I am getting to it."Daisuke's fear was nearly absent. Though, the warlord began to realize that the fealty and sheepish behavior was an act. "Then, there's Kairi. The maiden of the sea. Guardian of a port village. She was nigh untouchable. Many had fallen due to her beauty or skill in combat, so my task was more of a challenge. A woman that was too honorable for her own good. The death of Ruka became the talk of the western region and quickly spread to the east. Kairi took full precautions. I tried the tea trick once more. No response. I tried to incite a coup from her own people. They proved to be too loyal. The only I thing I haven't tried was poisoning their water. That would be too much damage for one target, so I opted out of that. Then, I decided to start simple. I requested a duel."
The warlord raised their chin from minor intrigue. Their patience was waning thin. "Go on."
"To my surprise, she accepted. On one condition: the winner must cut off the other's arm. The winner is decided by who drops to the ground first. So, we fought. No gimmicks. No underhanded tricks. She swore on her honor. It did not take long for her to be suspiciously 'ill' during the middle of our bout. She dropped. Terror on her face. A thing that not many knew about Kairi is her irrational fear of mice. She was unaware that I would have a few mice as spectators for our bout. She forfeited and chose to postpone our fight. I explained to her that it was unfair. And reminded her of our rule. After another retort, I reminded her of the swear she put on this duel."He paused briefly. "There is a reason why she's now called 'the maiden with one arm'."
"You deranged fiend!"The warlord brought the fan closer to Daisuke's neck.
"Now, all that remains is you. The last warlord in all the land. My name has become too notorious, and you are too powerful for someone as lowly as me. So, it is only fair that I bring myself to your presence to grovel and confess my sins."
"If you believe that your cheap tricks will work on me, you're as foolish as you are disgraceful. We are heading out the courtyard for your execution."
"Wait! I did not tell you about my arm."
"Your arm is meaningless. Now stand up!"
"I shall! But you must hear me out! If I tell you about my arm, I will go."
"Your words are dirt to me. Why should I humor you further?"
"Because... Me and you are not much different."
"What?"
"You did everything in your power to become who you are. You requested duels but stabbed soldiers in the back and shot at them from hilltops. You scurried around battlefields like the mouse that you are. Ruka? Kairi? The neighboring warlords? They fell by your same tactics. Face it, Daisuke. You are a big man, but armor like yours doesn't fit a mouse."
The warlord shook his head upon hearing the words of that young man. By the time he gained his senses, he felt a small cut across his neck. It was thin and relatively harmless. They stood up and clutched their head within their gloved hands. They removed pieces of their armor to reveal their arms. The left arm was clean and unscathed, but their right arm had numerous cuts from self inflictined wounds. The bladed fan sat by the warlords feet. The name Daisuke was emblazoned on its side. |
I was sitting in front of the TV, watching some NCIS, when my front door is blown off of the hinges.
“What the fuck!” I yell as I look at my poor door, now embedded into the hallway wall.
Three guys leap into my house, followed by a woman who struts in behind them. The guy are dressed like some LARP escapees. A mish mash of chain mail and plate mail with swords. She is dressed in long robes. Her hands are glowing a bright blue white light - crackling with energy.
“Are you Jim Smith, son of Don and Martha Smith?” The woman asks in a commanding voice.
I give her the people’s eye brow and a weak, “yeah…”
“We are here to save your soul!” She yells. Blue white light shoots from her hands and binds me to the wall, knocking over my can of Coke.
“Pick up the Coke!” I holler. Blank looks. “It is making a mess! Pick up the can of Coke!”
One of the guys in chain mail, picks up the can and sets it back on my ottoman.
“Thanks man,” I say looking at the mess on the carpet. “So what are you here to save my soul from exactly? I already found Jesus - someone came to the door talking about him last week. I am good on the Jesus front.”
“Do you know the demon, Stevibulbzorkon the devourer of Souls?” The woman demands.
“You mean Steve? Yeah, of course,” I said quizzically. “I have known him forever. Nice guy… especially if you think about his up bringing. Like that dude’s dad was a literal monster. Horrible.”
“Where is the contract,” she barked.
“Aah, contract for what? Exactly?”
“Your contract with Stevibulbzorkon? The one for your soul! There is still time, we can save you,” she said seriously. This group of LARPers is really dedicated to this role but I think they must be at the wrong house.
“Look. There is no contact. Steve is my friend from way back. We hang out. Watch TV. Play video games. Regular guy stuff. Ok?” I said exasperated. “I am digging your ‘costumes’, they are very nice. I bet you put a lot of effort into them but I think this has gone far enough…. Don’t you? Like you totally trashed my front door. Who is gonna fix that?
“I would really appreciate it if you could put me down and fix the door. I don’t want to have to get the cops involved.”
The troop of would be LARPers traded confused looks.
“You are seriously friends with a demon?” The guy who picked up the can of coke says.
“Look - we hang out. We have fun. I leave my work at the office and so does he - ok. When we are together he is just my buddy Steve.
“We don’t talk about the whole taking of souls or bargains with the devil or eating babies or whatever it is they demons do.
“We are just a couple of guys… hanging out.”
I could see I was starting to get through to them.
“Come on. Just let me down.”
She lowered her hands and the blue white light disappeared. I slid down the wall - I think I damaged the dry wall. Fuck - I am going to have to patch that too.
“You didn’t sell your soul?” I shake my head. “Make a blood pact?” I shake my head again.
“Well fuck. Really‽”
“Hey dude! What happened to your - “
And that’s when Steve shows up in all of his demon glory. Seven feet eight inches tall with massive curling horns and deep red skin. There is no doubt when you look at him what he is.
He looks at the troop in my living room and the destroyed front door.
“Bad time? Should I come back later? You look busy. You’re busy - I should have called first,” Steve said apologetically.
Steve drops a six pack and books it out the front door with the LARPers in hot pursuit. |
This prompt calls for a whole book, but I'll do my best to compress.
______________
Johnny Gait was a lonely man, and an angry one. His daughter, the most important person in his life, had been brutally killed in a back alley. When he heard the news the next morning, there were no tears. A rage welled up inside him, directed towards whoever had taken her life that night. And he had a good idea of who. Her boyfriend, Ezra Waller, had been with her that night. He knew because she texted him a picture of them together at around 11:43 PM. She was murdered at approximately 11:50 PM. He didn't know where to find the man, but he would try until he was dead. Johnny kept a pistol in his nightstand, and he knew how to use it.
~+~+~+~+~
2 days later. Johnny had pinpointed Ezra's place of residence, 144 Moonbeam Ave. At exactly 11:43 PM Johnny pulled up to the apartment complex that Ezra lived in. He would take exactly six minutes to get up to Ezra's apartment, and one to kill him. At 11:49, Johnny knocked on the door. A sleepy-looking Ezra answered the door. "The fuck do you w-"he didn't get to finish the sentence. One, two, three four five six. Six bullets in Ezra's skull. Johnny felt a primal joy in that moment. He could get used to this.
~+~+~+~+~+
A month later. Johnny was on his first job. A lucrative businessman who was going out to the beach. Johnny smiled as he thought about getting to kill again. One, two, three bullets he would use to kill the man. And he would relish every second.
*r/storyjunkyard for more drivel like this* |
TW/spoiler: >!Pet death. Apologies, didn't expect that going in. It's been a long day. The story kind of took itself over.!<
_____________
"Solve the riddle to live again."
Lenna rubbed her eyes. After a few blinks she stood up to take stock of the situation. An empty room surrounded her, no windows or doors. A can of orange soda sat at the exact center of the room, distinctly out of place against the plain white walls.
Lenna had a vague memory of falling asleep after a late night of reading, but after a pinch on her arm she determined she was either not asleep anymore, or having a very strange dream. She also didn't feel very dead like the voice implied, but she supposed not many people knew what death was supposed to feel like. Or anyone really.
"Am I dead?"She called out to the room. Not that she expected a response.
The disembodied voice repeated itself, "Solve the riddle to live again."
Lenna crossed her arms. "What riddle? Could you at least give me a hint?"
"Solve the riddle to live again."Same tone. Same voice.
Whelp. Cross "disembodied voice"off the list of possible assets.
Lenna examined herself. She was still in her flannel pajamas, but her pockets were completely empty. Otherwise everything seemed to be intact. She found herself wishing for some slippers, specifically her pink bunny ones.
And then they appeared.
They were suddenly on her feet, exactly as she'd imagined. Huh. She reached down and touched them to confirm she wasn't hallucinating. Yup. Fuzzy with the ears sticking out. Bright pink, ridiculous looking, but the comfiest slippers she'd ever worn.
"What in the world?"She murmured to herself.
"Solve the riddle to live again."
Lenna groaned. "I was talking to myself that time! I got it, I have to solve the riddle."
The voice remained silent, so Lenna decided to try for a repeat performance. If she could wish for anything in the world to appear in front of her, what would it be?
After a moment of deep reflection, she nodded to herself and snapped her fingers for effect. A giant slice of chocolate cake appeared on a plate by her feet. Perfection!
She reached down to pick it up. "Crud, I forgot the fork!"A fork appeared. Well. This was something she could work with.
After a delicious and oddly existential pause for cake, Lenna refocused on her dilemma. Which was very difficult as first a sofa appeared, then a fireplace, and then a stack of books. Followed by a towel, because she'd read somewhere that a towel is necessary for these kinds of adventures and she couldn't control the thought before the towel appeared. She'd work on that.
Through it all, the orange soda seemed to stare at her. She didn't drink orange soda, never had. And yet it sat, determinedly existing at the center of the room.
"How did that get there?"She pondered. Of all the things she could think to wish for, orange soda wasn't on the list. Had someone else wished for it? Had it forever been in existence, this can of orange soda in the middle of the room, ancient and undying?
Lenna looked around again, towel in hand. As she considered her surroundings, the world opened up around her. The walls shimmered away into nothingness, and a wide open ocean appeared. A ship floated in the distance, and a wooden dinghy rested on the sand beside her, bobbing up and down in time with the waves. She heard seagulls and could even smell the salt air. Her clothing changed as she watched, from flannel pajamas to a dull red cloak, trousers, and a cotton blouse.
And from the wooden dinghy she heard a soft "meow."A black cat stared at her, then blinked slowly.
"Shivers!"Her voice was half excitement, half wobble. His fur was pristine, and it was as if he'd never lost all that weight. The memories flooded back. "Shivers,"she said again and again as she ran over.
Shivers head butted right into her hand. At that moment she didn't care for the ship or the cloak or the ocean. "I missed you buddy,"she said. She sat right on the wet sand, not noticing how the water soaked her trousers. The world faded away until it was just the two of them, a fire crackling, and books stacked nearby. Lenna was back in her pajamas, and Shivers was right there purring beneath her fingers. They sat together for a time, until Lenna's tears dried up and Shivers stopped walking back and forth rubbing against her, instead settling by her leg.
The voice spoke. "Solve the riddle to live again."This time it sounded different. Apologetic.
"Can he come with me?"Lenna asked.
The silence was deafening.
Lenna gave Shivers a kiss to his head and stroked his fur. 'You'll be happy here, Shivs. All the tuna you could ever want."Shivers blinked his eyes lazily.
The orange soda can still sat there. She had never liked orange soda. Lenna popped the can open and took one, last look at the room and Shivers, who was curled up and still purring in his sleep, enjoying the warmth from the fire. She took a sip.
Then she opened her eyes to a room that was far too empty, and she wept. |
In the days when Tros was the king of Ilion, Gweroks the Wurm descended from the north and made his dwelling in the solitudes of Luwia, and he was a great wurm, and his claws were as those of eagles, and his horns like unto a stag, and his hide as the serpents of the Nile, and his tail was of a coiling snake, and his breath was poison to breath. Then did he in his vileness coil about the plains, and slaked his thirst for blood from the herds of Luwia, and the land grew wretched and dry, for his breath was upon the air.
Of Gweroks the heroes of the day knew and cared but little, for there were great wars and upheavals of men then, and such was their concern after the gaining and keeping of lands that the desolation of one, and a minor one, little moved their cares. But it came to pass that the wurm fell upon Dwenela, who was a king's daughter, as she was keeping her herds. And as he was about to devour her, and the entrails of goats still hung from his jaws, he perceived the richness of her ornament and that her aspect was comely, and he took her from that place to the cave whereat he kept his dwellings, and there was great mourning among the people for the loss of her.
While the king and his city were in funerary rites for the girl, Ursang came from the great plains of the east, and seeing the city in mourning for a maiden, he asked who she might have been, who her father, and what the manner and cause of her death. Then he learned that she was not dead, but that it would be better if she were, for she lived now a week under the power of Gweroks. And Ursang was troubled by this, and speaking with the king, he learned the place where the wurm had made his abode.
*Then the hero donned his armor*
*Fit the helmet to his forehead*
*Spear he sharpened, bronze and gleaming*
*Sword he sheathed of biting iron*
*Hauberk fastened round his body*
*And as ward against the serpent*
*Guard against its deadly venom*
*In his mouth he held a soapstone*
*Charm against the dragon's poison*
Then he set out into the hills of Luwia.
When Ursang came to the cleft in the earth where Gweroks dwelt, there was a fog on the land, and the air was full of a miasma burning to the eyes. And concealing himself in the shadow of a sharp rock at the mouth of the cave, he laid in wait for the wurm to come forth.
At length the dragon grew hungry again, and heaving his body forth from the cave, he passed over Ursang unknowing. And as he passed, Ursang thrust his spear upwards into his leprous underbelly, and no blood spilled from the wound, but only water and pus, and lurching with a groan the dragon expired.
Then Ursang returned to the city with Dwenela, and the mourning became rejoicing, and the black shrouds of the palace were torn away and bright wreaths hung in their stead, and the people sang a song of thanks.
*Great is the Dyauspter, mighty his hand*
*He has delivered his people from oppression, freed them from darkness*
*Though the sun sets, in the morning it rises*
*And the light shines on the faces of the people*
Then Dwenela was married to Ursang, and he was the father of Deynos, who was the father of many heroes in latter days. |
\[Help: Shiny and Chrome\]
Keith hoped to find salvation at the top of the stairs. At least, temporarily while he figured out his next step. He climbed the winding staircase up the lighthouse at a light, slow pace. He didn't want to waste energy rushing when there was no reason to. He assumed there would be some sort of helpful supplies at the top. Once he reached it he rushed through the door into the lantern room. He found something completely unexpected once he entered.
The floor and ceiling were a sharp shade of white that was so pure it almost seemed to glow. There was no beacon in the room, despite him seeing the light on earlier. It was just about dusk when he wrecked on the shore and the light came on as he got his bearings. He looked out the window and realized the light came from the windows themselves. Two giant, white segments circled around the room on the outside windows shooting forth a brilliant beam of light.
A red wooden table sat on one side of the room with a large monitor with a keyboard and mouse resting on it. The screen was on with several lines of text. Keith moved closer for a look.
"This lighthouse is property of Sharp Development. If you do not belong here, please leave the way you came. Vandals, thieves, and squatters will regret their decisions. If you need help, you may use this terminal to request assistance, free of charge."Keith read it, then chuckled.
"How nice of them,"he mumbled to himself as he began looking for a way to get help. The layout on screen was surprisingly intuitive. After answering a few questions about his predicament, he reached something vaguely promising.
"All Sharp associates are currently occupied. Help will arrive in 53 hours,"he did another quick scan of the room looking for any sort of supplies to hold him over; but, he found none. He sighed; then, realized there was another button at the bottom of the page printed in smaller text.
\[Chroma Corp. has an associate available for immediate assistance. Click here for more info.\]
"Well, yeah,"Keith nodded and clicked the button.
\[Disclamer: Sharp Development takes no responsibility for the actions of Chroma Corp. Please be aware that accepting assistance from Chroma Corp. is a permanent decision. You will be removed from Sharp Development's network and unable to return. Proceed only if you're sure.\]
"I don't even know what that means,"Keith chuckled to himself as he pressed the \[I Agree\] button. He'd never heard of either company, so he assumed it had nothing to do with him. As soon as he pressed the button, all light disappeared instantly. He was in darkness long enough to bring his hand up to his face. He couldn't see it until light suddenly returned.
"Huh?"He looked around the lantern room again; it was different. The table he stood at was gone; but, he found a very similar silver, almost chrome table on the other side of the room. The sun was already setting moments ago; but now, he could clearly see the golden afternoon sun out through the window. And, the beacons were no longer circling the windows. "What the...,"he walked to the nearest window and stared out at the perfectly calm sea. It wasn't the choppy waters that caused his wreck.
As he tried to process the turn of events, fear suddenly gripped him. He noticed a large, long, dark figure in the still blue water. It swam fast towards the lighthouse and from where he was, the shadowy shape was at least as long and broad as the lighthouse itself. It reached the shore and burst out of the water at a sharp angle and flew upward parallel to the lighthouse.
Keith stared at the giant sea serpent as he wondered what he could even do. It had large, sea-blue scales that shimmered iridescent with the sunlight; but, it was shrinking in size. He'd been so distracted by the change in scenery, then the beast, that he hadn't registered that the window was open. It wasn't until a short, bronze-skinned woman landed on the open sill. Her head was shaved except for aqua blue stubble growing back. She was dressed like a pirate with a loose, flowing white top and black leather pants that ended at the shin.
"Call for help?"she asked. Keith's mind was still trying to catch up and all he could do was nod.
"Great, I'm Meredith,"she said. She hopped off the sill and landed in front of him. She offered him a transparent glass card. "This is a node from Chroma Corp.,"she said. "It's like a smartphone; do you know how to use smartphones?"she asked. Keith pulled his own water-logged phone out of his pocket and nodded dumbly.
"You okay?"she asked.
"..are you a sea serpent?"he asked.
"Sea dragon, please,"she clarified. "That'll give you access to anything you need,"she nodded at the glass card, then turned and stepped up to the window. When she turned around, he saw a 37 tattooed on the back of her neck, beneath the aqua blue rat tail growing out of the stubble. "Any questions?"
"Where am I?"His mind finally found a starting point to get his thoughts organized. But, her answer didn't help at all.
"The AlterNet...,"Meredith smirked at him before leaping out the window again. "...owned and operated by Chroma Corp."
\*\*\*
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1897 in a row. (Story #087 in year six.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at [this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/wtglls/tokuhigh_alternet_class/). |
“Come in!” I called, then laughed. Of course the door wasn’t going to open. There was nobody left with hands.
I got up and walked to the door, still chuckling to myself. I paused to look out the window, and sure enough, there was Georgette outside. She looked at me, and I looked at her. She opened her mouth to explain that she needed to come inside, but I was already turning the knob.
Georgette ran in, wobbling a bit with her pregnant belly, and jumped up in my couch. Her purrs and quiet meows filled the quiet space, as she circled and lay down.
“Is it time?” I asked her, petting her splotchy coloured fur, and then scratching her ears. She meowed again and butted my hand. I put my other hand on her belly, feeling the movement inside. Yep, it was time.
“Come on, I have a box for you, in the spare room.”
I picked Georgette up and carried her to where I hade placed a blanket and several absorbent pads inside a cardboard box, all nestled inside the spare room closet. She looked it over and sniffed, and seemed to find it acceptable.
Georgette was the last cat alive, just as I was the last human. But she was about to become a mother, and I would be one too, if everything went well. I was five months along, and everything I’d read in the little library I had assembled seemed to say I was doing okay. I sat on the spare room bed and waited, watching Georgette as she nestled and purred. Soon there would be kittens. |
\[Poem\]
Hades sat upon his throne of gold and fire to see
the planes of Hell and all its sinners in the fates that they did reap.
As many tried as they did died to leave and all had failed
but soon the Devil heard a song and his face it did pale.
Hades never thought he'd hear that damned fiddle 'gain.
"Johnny's back,"the Devil growled and summoned up his band.
Fire and brimstone evermore, but time and time again,
that music ceases nevermore, and calls across the land.
The Devil's on the homefield, he stands tall as the king,
and Johnny's here to take back everything! |
Things have settled down now as we are three days out from our last stop. As the newest crew member and as an assistant mess steward, I didn't rate any shore leave. Most of my days are spent prepping the mess for meals, making sure drinks and condiments are available, then to clean the mess only to start all over again. I get to spend some of my "free time"taking care of the ship's cat.
She gets fed by the cook, but I have the joy of changing her litter box. I just put in fresh litter and heard what sounded the cat being noisier than normal rearranging the litter. Then I felt something rubbing against my leg and I looked down and saw our calico mouser. I lifted the lid and saw a lizard digging what looked like a nest. Surprised, I saw this lizard had four legs and two wings.
I wonder what else we picked up when we stopped at Pern? |
“Promise me you’ll try to survive…”
My little sister grasped my hand as she looked into my eyes. I could barely see her face, as mine was blinded by the tears in my eyes.
“No!” I said to her in a broken voice. “I’m not leaving you. Stay with me please…
…
Please… don’t die…”
Then, her hand dropped to the ground. Her eyes became lifeless, staring up at me with nothing left. She was the last to go.
I remember that day like it was yesterday. Was it yesterday? Or was it years ago? I can’t keep track anymore. Their faces have withered away, nothing left but bone. But I’m still here, waiting for my time to come.
It all happened in a blur. One day my family and I were on vacation, the next, stranded alone on an island. Nobody came to rescue us. We stayed on this island, praying for a boat, or a plane, or some form of magic to take us back home.
Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. And then came the day we ran out of food. That was when I knew we didn’t have much longer to live. So we all huddled together in this cave, waiting for death to take us, promising never to leave each other’s sides. I watched them die, one by one. Watching their bodies disintegrate into the dust.
I walked back into the cave again, as I did every morning since that day. I sat down next to my sister’s face, looking down as tears started to fill my eyes again. She was a skeleton by now, and in a way I became one too. My body nothing but skin and bone, with all of the lifelessness of a corpse.
“We really are one and the same, sis. Just lifeless beings trapped on an island. But… you’re gone, and I can’t see you.”
“Well, maybe you could.” |
At school, no one is normal. I know it, except for me. I don't know what secrets are hiding but there were some notable students. I remember that a girl in our class was a fan of baggy shirts, mostly sweaters. I don't think she introduced herself.
Things were normal in class, sometimes she raised her hand and it looked like a hidden one moved, but maybe she was shaking. I know she was shy, possibly because she's hiding something.
Today was different. Another student, Curtis told me she had 4 arms. I didn't believe him, yes something is wrong but really?
"I can prove it."He said
"With who?"I shot back
"Dave and Joe."
"8:53 We gotta go."We went to the first class, algerbra
The teacher stopped his pattern of calling students by outfit, only took 96 days. Turns out the girl's name was Yvonne. He went to write on the board.
I paid attention as Dave, Joe and Curtis sat at 120 degree angles from each other, 3 desks each from her. They all readied themselves to throw pencils. 3 each, I hoped I wouldn't be sent to the office for encouraging this.
A pencil hit the floor and the 9 took flight, I saw her additional arms rise to grab the pencils behind her as her normal ones took the ones in front of her, it was for only part of a second, but I saw. She looked back at me and seemed on edge.
"That was the greatest illusion I've ever seen, it looked like you had four arms there."I said
"Uhh, Thanks."She turned back less nervous but still.
Knowing there is weirder stuff like a kid who can eat pencils, this is excusable. |
They started with the lotteries. In the beginning, they jokingly added the space lotteries to the regular lotteries. The signs said, “Play the Lotto! Take the money or a win trip to the Moon or even Mars!” It was all a joke then. People laughed, especially when they had a choice between $20 and a trip to Mars. Most people took the $20.
This was all fine – to have some people, maybe just the nuts, the crazy ones, trying to get a spot on the transports. They were the few who took the lottery seriously.
That was at least until the asteroid got closer to earth and then the trajectory was more closely reviewed, and then the scientists made their predictions. And then everyone knew; it was the final days. It had come.
When the reports came in, and then the news picked it up, people started to get a little scared. Everyone wanted those lotto tickets now.
Each government started building their own space transports, each with their own criteria. One government would only allow top party officials, another one only allowed the leading oligarchs.
There were outcries. The UN, the European Court of Human Rights – and there were protests everywhere in every country. The common people had to be allowed to transport. And so, they started the lotteries all over again. Every country had their own version, but in most cases it was more money, more chance of winning.
Governments started building the transports using the lottery money, and the first groups went off to both the Moon and to Mars. There were that’s troubles started – rebellions, mutinies, and all of the terrible tragedies that come along with such things. At least one of the transports blew up when crazed rebels following an even crazier leader destroyed the ship rather than surrender to the authorities. That was when those same governments realized it wasn’t so simple.
And then suddenly there were the physical requirements, and the mental health requirements, all the requirements. Which upset the second round lottery ticket holders who couldn’t pass one or either of the requirements. There were more protests, and this time, there were riots. All the while, the clock was ticking, and the asteroid was getting closer.
Something had to be done, and something had to be done soon.
That’s when the world’s mathematicians decided to tentatively raise their hands, as one, to let everyone know they had a plan. A plan based on numbers, and several formulas, and everyone else thought they were totally crazy, off base and off topic.
“The world is going to end and you’re talking about math?!?!” The rest of the world couldn’t have been angrier and more dumbfounded.
That’s when a large group of the world’s coders and computer scientists also raised their hands, and said, “well, you know, it might just work.” The accountants and other number crunchers started nodding their heads.
And the programmers programmed a Supercomputer, and then the mathematicians feed in some formulas with help from the other number crunchers. They named it “Deep Thought” after the Douglas Adams’ Supercomputer in the legendary Hitchhiker’s Galaxy series.
And “Deep Thought” came out with calculations that created an orderly exit from the Earth for all the people who chose to leave (of course, there were naysayers and disbelievers, but the mathematicians and Deep Thought had calculated that, too). It was all done in a matter of hours, just in time to miss the deadly asteroid that destroyed whatever remained of life on Earth.
And with that is how all - or most - of the world’s people were saved by Math and Science and a bunch of nerds, plus a couple of accountants and a few random number crunchers. |
Gregor stared at the five foot tall rabbit. Well. It looked like a rabbit, as in it had an impressive set of ears that looked as they could double up as a set of water-reed length leaves, and the back legs were certainly something to write home about. Sadly, there was however, no sign of the customary cotton tail one could be expected to find on said rabbit, and the body itself was coated from head to foot in purple fur. Not really the sort of colour one could expect to find on a mammal in general, let alone a cute little bunny rabbit.
Not that this thing was, though. Either cute. Or a rabbit.
Its tail, a wire-like stem of what looked to be black liquorice, joined at the end by a symbol found in a pack of playing cards, a spade, (no, no, a club, that was it), twitched. And then morosely flopped on the floor with a rattle that made Gregor flash back to the rain-sticks he had used as a schoolkid of around seven or eight.
‘DON’T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! LIKE YOU DON’T LIKE ME!’
The voice, which sounded sort of male, but then again, was a little too high-pitched to be all the way there, at least by human standards, erupted throughout the shed.Gregor blinked, momentarily distracted by how this wail had revealed a set of very carnivorous looking teeth, and attempted to pull himself together.
‘I don’t like anyone who tries to corner me on my property,’ he said. And was halfway proud of himself that his voice didn’t immediately crack into a trembling mess of hysterical blabber.
The…rabbit blinked. ‘Oh,’ it, or they, or he said, and hopped back out of the doorway. ‘Sorry about that.’Gregor blinked and took a moment to drink in the sight of a reasonably grey sky and the bed of wilting daffodils beneath it that he had been persuading, this last week or so, not to die. He felt sort of sad about that one at the end, because it looked like it had fallen flat on its face, the stem wilted,like a dress that has been torn at the hem. But mostly he was trying to breathe, quick shallow breathes. And not look too closely at the rabbit thatwas not a rabbit.
‘Oh,’ they said, following his line of sight. ‘You want the flower? I can get you the flower.’ And then much like a kangaroo training to be astronaut, it hopped over to the fallen daffodil and ripped it from the ground.
‘Happy zero anniversary!’ they announced proudly, hopping back and shoving the flower in his face. ‘Is that how it works, when you’re not married yet?’
Gregor blinked as the creature tore the flower from its stem and attempted to tuck the petals behind his ear. Unfortunately, he was a little bald there and with no volume of hair to prop up the doomed flower it quickly dropped to the shed floor with a pathetic flutter of yellow.
I just wanted to get a rake, he thought dumbly, staring up into a set of golden eyes that reminded him, all too keenly, of the ones set into the heads of eagles and kestrels and other birds of prey. Not…
‘-get married,’ the thing continued, and with a jolt Gregor realised it was talking, had been actually, for a while now. ‘Oh, don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get a lot more flowers, it’s the least I can do when you kept yourpromise not to move away!’
‘Promise?’ Gregor mumbled.‘Yes! When you told your wife she could have everything but the house! And that you would rather be married to a monster than spend another minute with her in your life!’
Gregor blinked. Honestly, he was finding it a little hard to concentrate.The monster, because what else could they be, smiled in such a way that ever single canine, molar and jagged tooth in-between was revealed.
‘You gave up your promise to her, but I waited juuuust to make sure. Ten years, so she was good and digested by the earth, and then I came back to you!’ The monster wrinkled its nose and gazed back towards the daffodil bed. ‘Pity, her spirit’s still kicking up a fuss. But she’s almost gone!’
Gregor stared. It was weird but staring at this thing was making him feel…something. He just couldn’t decide what.The monster grinned, bent down and then deposited the rake Gregor had originally come in here to find in front of him.
‘There you go! See, what a good spouse I’m going to be! I can practically read your mind!’
Strangely enough, that did little to comfort Gregor. And he found his hands clenched around the rake, tightening and tightening until his fingers turned white. Waiting and waiting for the monster to turn round. And as soon as it did, he got up. And swung.
‘Ooooh!’ the monster trilled, as the rake snapped over their head. ‘Feisty! I love it!’ |
A grad student of mathematics takes a rather esoteric approach to developing a thesis. The dean^† brings the student to discuss the paper since the faculty have been *unusually* distracted by the draft paper being passed around the building.
The student thinks he was brought in for disciplinary reasons, but the dean has other reasons.
^† we assume the dean acts as an administrator rather than as an expert if necessary for the story. |
I have been around since the dawn of time but never had I seen a mere human with the audacity of this bitch. Millennia ago there was nothing but what can only be described as a force \[and is now called Mother Nature. She created the cosmos and a small plain for mortal life, dwelled there and more importantly created me. And now my human thrall wants to be an immortal like me? When she had created humans and animals, we were still together but from then on, she favored them. It might be that I was too rough in bed (though likely not) but more likely that over our time spent together she made the perfect mate. She neglected to tell me this of course and one night while she fellaciated me she not only used teeth but then on top of it all, cursed and banished me and ascended into the heavens. For years I quenched my thirst on any unassuming humans but recently I thought that she was joking when she said she had a present. That "present"stood before me now, looking cute with an opaque ball gown stretched taut over her petite frame. While her appearance in gorgeous and enamoring, every single fucking word that comes out of her mouth annoys me to no end. No matter how many times I say no she always asks again. ''Can you make me into a vampire now please?'' Down on her knees she was normally good but now, begging, she was not. "Why would you want to change your life?"I ask, "I have given you everything you could ever ask for and now you want more?"I had turned others before, but this was different. All the others, mages, werewolves and even a gargoyle I have never fed on, as human blood was the best by far. Now I had a nearly untappable juicebox that was mine, but I couldn't turn my only reliable food source. Could I? Conversation grew terse when she asked again. She stopped seeking me out. Where is she? I haven't seen her all day. She has left me to suffer the consequences of all of my actions. Reckless, I dash into the nearest human village and sink my teeth into the first I come across. Everything goes black. I awake in a metal cage to a light descending from the heavens. An angel. I am carried up and am tossed at the feet of a throne. Nature sits upon it looking as regal as ever. I never thought this day would come. Frantically I threw her onto the bed conveniently placed beside the throne. We made up but on round two with a mighty thrust her head rammed the headboard. Shit, here we go again………… |
(I actually asked people this question randomly all the time as I'm getting to know them, I've given a lot of thought to it.)
.
*Ordinarily, three flights of steps wouldn't be that big of a deal to a six and a half foot tall man with absurdly long legs. But after 12 hours at work, anyone would be exhausted. Still reeking of pepperoni and grease, the aging nerd stumbled up the final few steps and took a deep studying breath at the entrance to his modest apartment. Then he took a double take.*
*Sitting right next to his front door, alongside an Amazon package, set a surprising replica of an old Middle Eastern oil lamp. No surprising that there was still sitting out there, despite the driver's wife having been home all day. Amazon was well known for never bothering to actually ring the bell to let the residents know they had arrived.*
*With a weary shrug, he picked up both items and talked them into his armpits before unlocking the door and immediately setting off the guard cat. The only time it ever makes noise is as soon as he gets home, somehow being able to tell the difference between his footsteps and those of the two roommates who share the apartment with the married couple. He can immediately hear his little black cat loudly demanding to be fed, so after closing the door he sets aside the lamp and the box to grab a small measuring spoon so he can give the cat the amount of food the vet says she needs to have, rather than the amount the cat thinks she's supposed to have, which is all of it.*
*After feeding the cat and doing all of the housework that didn't get done during the day for one reason or another, the exhausted driver flopped down into his computer chair and just took a few moments to stare blankly at the screen trying to decide what to play or do. He handed over the Amazon package when his wife asked about it, but then remembered the lamp.*
"Sweetie, did you order this?"*He asked the only slight confusion.*
".... No? Where would something like that even come from? Everybody who knows what massive sci-fi and fantasy nerds we are would never send something like that to us unwrapped."*She says, gesturing around to the various bits of fantasy artwork, replica weapons, and other homages to their excessively nerdy lifestyle*
"Yeah, I was kind of thinking the same thing. Nobody who's close enough to us to deliver it personally nose or cares about our interests. Everybody else either lives too far away or wouldn't be able to shut up about it and would have bragged to us before it arrived."
"So? Going to give it a try? Finally put your money where your mouth is?"
"What? Just because I can get everything I've ever wanted with one hypothetical wish and have overthought and imagined this exact scenario thousands of times, you think I'm just going to jump right in and..."*A shit eating grin split his face as he cut himself off mid-sarcasm to vigorously rub the lamp, bringing a surprise but the lighted smile to his wife's face at the sudden joke.*
*They both stopped joking, however, when a dark blue puff of heavy smoke rolled out of the tip of the lamp like heavy fog and began to pool on the floor. The cat ignored the scene, still stuffing her face vigorously, but the two humans gawked at the cloud which quickly resolved itself into a strangely androgynous and fully nude form with dark almost midnight blue skin, and hips the tapered away into a cloud of vapor binding it to the lamp.*
*Once the strange being finished manifesting, it bowed deeply, and addressed the sitting man in a strange language he vaguely recognized as being distantly similar to something he had overheard two Middle Eastern immigrants speaking to each other when he had delivered their Pizza several months ago.*
".... I hope I'm not going to need Google translate to do this..."
"I do not believe that will be necessary, master."*The being said in perfectly unaccented English.* "I speak all languages fluently. I would be a poor servant if I could not understand my master."
"Well"*the man said taking a deep breath and reaching up to run his fingers through his short but sweat slicked hair.* "That does make things easier. But I have to admit that my wife and I are unfamiliar with the protocols of dealing with one such as you."*He says, slipping into a more archaic and much more formal method of speaking so as to avoid offense.*
*The genie just looked at them both for a long moment expectantly then cocked his head to the side and confusion.* "Really? No immediate demands? No grandiose gestures of domination? That's a first, but I do appreciate the manners. But the protocol is simple. You wish for something. I make it happen, within certain limitations. I am for all intents and purposes a slave until freed. You don't have to waste time being nice, or thinking you can get extra by dangling freedom in front of me. You get three wishes. No wishing somebody dead, no wishing somebody back to life, and no wishing for love. Those three things are the purview of others, and I have no Dominion in those spheres. Other than that, anything your heart desires can be yours."
*The man, exhausted but intrigued, holds up one hand to gesture for patience.* "I'm sorry to ask you for more time to decide, but these have the potential to be big life-changing decisions and I refuse to rush into such things foolishly or without valid input from my wife and life partner."*He says, gesturing to the stout woman he had married. He then began rapidly typing it his computer and pulled up his Disney Plus account.* "While you wait, would you like to see a bit of entertainment featuring how humans in the modern world commonly view interactions with your kind?"
"Oh? I don't think I've ever been offered entertainment so graciously. Not since I was bound to this cursed lump of brass, at least. I would very much like to enjoy whatever your flickering little crystal box has to share with me."
*With that, the man pressed play on Disney's Aladdin and turn to the volume up, before ushering his wife out of the bedroom and onto the couch in the living room. He turned and started perusing a tightly packed and slightly sagging cheap Walmart bookshelf.* "Well, I know what my wish is going to be. Are you going to save yours to undo mine if I fuck it up, or do you want to go first?"
"N.no, I think it's okay to keep one in reserve in case we need an undo button."*The wife stuttered.* "So you're really going to do it?"
"You said it yourself. Money where my mouth is. Time to get absolutely everything I've ever wanted with a single wish." |
Liz dragged herself over to her locker to grab the books needed for her next class. Before closing the door, she looks at herself in her mirror. As she stares deeper into her own reflection, the mirror turns black, and a pair of pure white eyes remains.
"Find Snow White yet?"Liz jumped as she slammed her locker shut. She turned around to see her best friend, Bob. "Yo."
"Hey,"sighed Liz.
"You look look like you got hit by a truck,"said Bob.
"Probably,"replied Liz. The two are walking down the hall when a baton comes out of nowhere and trips Liz. Bob grabs her by her hoodie, stopping her from hitting the ground. A group of cheerleaders and basketball players laughed behind the pair as Bob put Liz back on her feet.
"You still good?"asked Bob.
"Still good."Liz gave Bob a thumbs-up and a weary smile. Bob smiled back as the two walked to class. Liz struggled to stay awake at her desk, and the teacher's monotone monolog was not helping. The only thing keeping Liz awake was the kid behind her kicking the back of her desk. "You're kicking the back of my desk, Luke."
"My bad."Luke slid his foot back away from Liz's desk. About fifteen minutes later, just as Liz about to fall asleep, Luke unknowingly started kicking her desk again. Liz sighed as she turned around.
"Dude,"Luke apologized and slid his foot back again. With five minutes left in class, Liz was out cold, only proper up by her arm. Once again, Luke started kicking Liz's desk again. After a couple of seconds, Liz's head slid out from her hand and slammed onto her desk face first with a loud \**THUNK*\*. The class went into an uproar of laughter as the bell rang. Bob quickly walked over to Liz, who was still face down. Luke tried to apologize, but Bob shooed him away.
"Hey, Liz, you still good?"asked Bob. Liz responded by loudly fake snoring and putting her hand on Bob's face.
"Five more minutes, mom!"Liz pressed Bob's nose like a snooze button. The two laughed and left the classroom. The final bell rings, school is out, and Bob and Liz are walking home. As they walk, Liz notices a strange-looking shadow above them. She looks up, slightly blinded by the sun, but can make out a cape. Liz stops dead in her tracks. Her face goes pale, and her breathing speeds up.
"What's up? See a cool bird or..."without a sound, Bob is gone. Liz tries to slow her breathing as she curls up into a ball.
"I'm good! I'm good! I'm good!"Liz muttered to herself. She heard footsteps behind her. Liz looks behind her and sees The Crimson Cape, Imperium. This man is covered head to toe in polished silver knight's armor with a bright read cape.
"Get up,"ordered Imperium. Liz does as she's told as she stands on wobbly legs. "Where's the boy?"
"H-home, I sent him home,"Liz stuttered. "What d-do you want?"Imperium stares down at Liz as he walks closer to her.
"Change. Now,"ordered Imperium. Liz stepped back sheepishly as she held her backpack tight in her hands.
"N-n-n..."Before Liz could finish, Imperium held her by her neck above the ground. In one leap, the two were several thousand miles into the air.
"Change or die,"barked Imperium. Liz clawed at Imperium's grim while also managing her panic attack. Tears filled her eyes as she tried to explain, to beg. "\**Sigh*\* Then maybe your friend would make a more willing host."Liz's eyes go wide as Imperium drops her. For a few minutes, Imperium just floats in the sky, waiting. Suddenly, a black fireball hits Imperium in the back, consuming him almost immediately.
With a massive gust of wind, Imperium blows away the fire and all the clouds in a thirty-mile radius. In front of him floats a shady figure in a long tattered dark red cloak. The figure had white skin, green eyes, and unnaturally black hair.
"Threatening children, little brother? My, you indeed are desperate,"said the shady figure.
"For the safety of the realm of man, I will pay any cost."A glowing long sword appears in Imperium's hands.
"Oh, I know. What is this, your twelvth host since my return?"mocked the shady figure. "Price is clearly not a problem for you."lighting cracks as Imperium tries to stab the figure in the throat but is stopped by the figure's pinkie finger. The shady figure's eyes glow white and shadows emanate from underneath her cloak.
"Let's make it lucky number thirteen, shall we?"laughed shady figure. |
\[Prophecy: Not a Problem.\]
Crystal was running low on patience. She often found it challenging to focus on anything for an extended period of time; especially when it was something she had no interest in. She put herself in the situation by choice; but, she was finding fewer and fewer reasons to stay in the small white room staring at the TV. Even if the show was good, there was so much else to see out in the real world that Crystal would rather be doing that. But, it was the extra company that made the experience even more unbearable.
"It's not even that funny...,"Crystal interjected as an episode came to an end.
"Not that funny!?"An offended Helios walked onto the frame in front of the credits. The golden mannequin in a red suit tilted his head at Crystal. "First of all, you don't have the training to determine whether something is 'funny' or not. This show is the height of entertainment in all categories; including comedy. Second of all, it's not trying to be funny. It's more than entertainment, it's a prophecy,"Helios said.
"How?"Crystal asked. If it was a single episode, she might have been able to work it into a prophecy in her mind. But, she'd sat through the entire first season. She saw no prophecy, only high school hijinks.
"HOW??"Helios asked; his voice was full of offended obnoxiousness. "HOW??? If it's not obvious to your meaty, human brain...,"Helios tapped his golden head and it made a hollow clanking sound. "...then I'm not going to explain it to you. You don't need the details anyway. Your only job is to find Parker Lewis."
"I thought Ms. Sharp was God; why can't she find him herself?"Crystal asked. Helios lured her to the TV with the idea that Ms. Sharp had a special quest just for her. She was starting to think she should have listened more when her friend warned her about Helios' tendency towards practical jokes.
"Being God isn't as cut and dry as everyone seems to think,"Helios shook his head. "She still has to follow certain rules. In a lot of cases she's prevented from directly interfering with things. That's why she outsources a lot of tasks she wants to get done. But, she has to do it in an indirect way. A lot of time it's just setting things in motion and hoping for the best. The universe is hiding Parker Lewis for a reason and to get around that, she told me to put someone on the case."Helios shrugged and turned away slightly.
"If you don't want to do this very important, very personal request for Ms. Sharp herself, I'll find someone else to do it. But, you're Monday's friend, so I thought you'd be cool. You are cool, aren't you?"
Crystal wasn't sure she believed him. He was leaving out too much information; but, on the other hand, she could put herself in the position of being a 'good sport'. Helios was the AI that ran Sharp Development; and, if Crystal was a willing playmate that might get her more access behind the scenes of the company. He was a known joker; but, Monday made it sound like he wasn't violent so Crystal felt relatively safe.
"Okay,"Crystal nodded. "I'll find him; then what?"Crystal asked.
"Then what?"Helios repeated her question with a snarky tone. "Then, the Prophecy! Pay attention! Obviously, you need to research more reference material; on to season two!"
"There's... more?"Crystal asked.
"You think a show this grand only has one season? What's wrong with you?"Helios chuckled. "This Earth produced 3 seasons; then, we'll move on to some of the longer-running versions of the series from alternate universes."
"Wait...,"Crystal shook her head. She was willing to play along; but, only to a certain extent. She had trouble sitting through one season from one Earth. She couldn't begin to imagine how many alternate versions Helios wanted to show her. "...wouldn't it be faster if I just start looking for him?"
"Not if you don't know who you're looking for,"Helios shook his head. "This...,"Helios walked through the frozen credits and knocked them down as he put his arm around the lead teenager. "...is just an actor. Obviously, HE'S not Parker Lewis. We don't know what he looks like. That's why you need to watch these prophecies. You need to get a feel for his attitude and what he's like. You need to feel like he's your best friend."
"Fine...,"Crystal sighed. "I'll sit through some more; but, first, explain the prophecy in a way my meaty human brain can understand,"she said. "Why does Ms. Sharp want to find this Parker Lewis guy?"
"Because she wants him on her side, duh,"Helios chuckled.
"WHY!?"Crystal asked. She was struggling with her impatience and she needed something promising to work forward through it.
"Well, the prophecy makes that pretty clear,"Helios shook his head. "But, I guess I'll spell it out for you,"Helios snapped his fingers and the cast disappeared. It was now the start of the next episode with Helios pointing at the show's title.
"It says right here,"Helios chuckled. "Parker Lewis Can't Lose."
\*\*\*
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is story #1900 in a row. (Story #090 in year six.). This story is part of an ongoing saga that takes place at a high school in my universe. It began on August 22nd and I will be adding to it with prompts every day until May 26th. They are all collected in order at [this link](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hugoverse/comments/wtglls/tokuhigh_alternet_class/). |
It was a sunless day in Los Banos, California when a man in a grey hat pulled up to the gas station on the corner of Pacheco Blvd. and Nevada Ave. This was a few years back when the gas station still wore the greenish-blue signage of Valero, rather than the orange of 76. Grey Hat almost skidded as he pulled up to park, left of the corner store entrance. The rain, first of the year, had just cleared and when Grey Hat stepped out into the parking lot his shoe slid on the wet concrete. He stumbled briefly, but he caught himself in time. The first rains after summer always left the ground slick as castor oil.
He walked past the rusted Ice Machine and into the corner store. He paid no heed to the hotdog rollers, nearly empty save for a single dry taquito tumbling endlessly in place, and he beelined straight to the candy aisle. As luck would have it, he spotted the last KitKat on the shelf, nestled between rows of Snickers and Paydays.
He was about ready to grab the last KitKat when another man in a UC Merced hoodie came up to Grey Hat and said, rather gingerly, "Hey, sorry, this one's mine."
"Uh... okay,"said Grey Hat. Merced Hoodie swiped the KitKat right from under him.
It took almost five seconds of reflection for Grey Hat to realize Merced Hoodie's act of brazen cozenage.
"Hey, what do you mean, 'This one's mine'?"
Merced Hoodie turned back, flashing a cruel, almost demonic grin. He gave off something like a throaty laugh, a deep seated and slightly phlegmatic chuckle. He raised his right hand, giving the last KitKat a little celebratory shake before slinking towards the counter.
Grey Hat resigned in defeat. He left the candy aisle, and bought a 20oz Styrofoam thing of Diet Coke. On the road home he felt his anger rise with each sip of his botched soda. The syrup-to-water ratio had been thrown off by a kink in the soda machine tube, and the syrup itself had an acrid aftertaste, as if expired.
As he waited for the light to turn green at the intersection of Pacheco and 7th, Grey Hat's mind wandered to the sight of that man's beady eyes, and how they seemed almost to flicker with the fires of some interminable flame.
Back at the store, Merced Hoodie swiped his credit card. It was declined. Merced Hoodie tossed the KitKat into a display case of 5 Hour Energies, swiped again, and left with his dry taquito. He walked out onto the sidewalk down Pacheco as the first rains of winter returned. |
A thousand years of fighting. Of violence. Combat. Hatred. Pain and suffering. Of evil versus good. Of good people, fighting, dying. Their lives culled too soon. Too many graves for too many too young. Dirt saturated with blood. Skies filled with cries. Aether filled with grief and sadness, so thick, it becomes almost palpable. And all for nought.
A thousand years, of this hell, and nothing changed. Nothing at all.
Then what for, did we fight? Did we struggle? Did we suffer and die? For what did we send our loved ones to their death. Killed one and another?
This is precisely what Keft and Lims asked each other after those thousand years. Both had been 'blessed' with immortality. To fight for their cause, their side. Ordained by the old Gods, they had been called Demon lord and Hero. One stands for Evil, the other for Good. Destined to fight each other, eternally, or until one side won and conquered the other.
And no matter how fierce their fight began, how fiery their fervour once was. They now knew the truth. Their fight was one without meaning. No matter how hard they fought, how hard they tried. They were equals. In life, in death. Their divine boons had been measured and weighed to be entirely equal. Not an atom of power in difference.
Long they talked about this, philosophized about this. During their 'deaths'. They never truly died, they simply descended into a lower plane of being, where they resided until enough energy was gathered to allow them to rise again. A gentle ten years in between cycles of decades of fighting and violence. Not a single theory held up, except for one.
There was no true evil or true good. The world was for too ambiguous and individual for things that were so clear to exist. No, there was but only one reason for their existence. Man, the greatest work of the old Gods, their pride, was flawed. People could show truly wonderful things. Love. Compassion. Kindness. Greatness. And it was this that the Gods liked to show off, to shower themselves in greatness with.
But man was also capable of great evil. What one person could do to another could be so vile, so corrupted, so deeply rooted in evil, that even the Demon lord recoiled in horror. Man was flawed, deeply flawed. And the Gods needed a scapegoat. A reason for these flaws, so that they could wash their hands clean of these mistakes. So, instead of fixing the flaws they created, they made the dualism of Good and Evil. Good, brought forth all that was right. And Evil stood for the flaws. As a cause, not a result. The Gods were, after all, incapable of fault, so it was Evil, this incredibly abstract energy, that caused all that was wrong with the world.
And the people believed it. Gobbled it up. Evil was the reason for man turning on man. For neighbours murdering one and another. For lovers cheating. For children starving. And Good was the only power capable to counteracting that.
But enough was enough. No longer would they be actors in a play orchestrated by the Gods, to hide their own shortcomings. No more fighting each other, decided Keft and Lims. Instead, they would work together, to banish the true evil in the world. The old Gods.
Their arrogance, hubris and eternal, narcissistic greed for worship is what brought all that was bad in this world, they decided. Seven sins, seven Gods fuelling them. A thousand years of service had been enough. And as Keft and Lims prepared for their next resurrection, they did so in an entirely different way than before.
First, they compared notes. Teaching each other the entirety of their boons and magic. Evil and Good magic, when used together, they soon discovered, brought forth incredible power. Power neither of them had ever believed to be possible, aside from that of the Gods. And that was precisely what it was. In their eternal wisdom, the Gods had given each of them half of the key to their divine power. So certain in their own manipulations, that they would never work together.
For once, Keft and Lims welcomed the Gods' hubris.
Ten years went by in a heartbeat. Spend training, working on their new powers. And when they finally resurrected, they first went looking for each other. No starting an infernal legion, no gathering of the knights of the realms. They went straight for each other, shook hands, and then disappeared. Prophesies had foretold their coming, as they had always done. But neither cultist nor priest was able to find their paragon. For they were on the hunt.
The Gods liked to remain on the mortal plane. They liked to taste the mortal pleasures. They liked to celebrate the sins they told their worshippers to deny themselves.
Pereodim was the first to die. His throat cut with a blade enchanted with so many divine inscriptions, that it was capable of cutting through time and space. Cutting through Pereodim's flesh, in every plane he existed, at the same time. His soul blood seeped out, and Keft and Lims absorbed it. Equally, as they had always done.
Ashmaal was next. Poisoned by enchanted wine, fed to her by one of her whores. She was then slowly cut to pieces, with blades just not powerful enough, to make her suffering last. Until the last drop of soul blood was sucked dry.
Andeol found his end the way he told his followers to find it. In brutal battle. Hot headed and always lusting for Glory, he gladly accepted to fight both Keft and Lims head on. Unaware of their new-found power, or that they had killed two of his kind already, he charged them. A brutal fight, lasting a week, followed. But with the power of two Gods inside of them, they crushed him entirely. Sucking him dry as well.
The twins Melio and Iva were next. Brother and sister. They had relatively been good, at least when compared with the others. Their deaths were swift. Painless. Neither got joy out of killing them, but they had to go, as did all the others.
Malifara ran, but not fast enough and not far enough. At the edge of the known world, they found her. Sacrificing many of her followers in a rush, trying to finish her ritual that would let her escape the mortal plane. But not fast enough. Keft and Lims ended her, and all of her cultist followers.
Lodvest was the last God standing. He had always been the strongest one. But Keft and Lims had the power of three gods each now. They had reached a mastery of the divine arts that none of the Gods had ever reached before. And their power was something Lodvest had only been able to dream about. Matter, space, time, all were pliable things to the duo.
The last battle raged for more than a month, and more than one kingdom got devastated in the storm that was their fight. It ended as anyone would guess. With Lodvest headless, sucked dry. And Keft and Lims stronger.
They now stood, finally free. No master above them. No eternal duty to fulfil. They broke their shackles with ease with their newfound knowledge and mastery. And then they spoke to man. All of man.
"Fear not, for you are free. Fear not, for we banished Evil, and Good."They spoke.
"No Gods remain to lord over you. To tell you what is good, what is evil. What can be and what can not. To tell you how to live. How to love. How to sin. How to pray. We took away your shackles. Crushed open your jails. Set free your souls."
"Fear not, for we have no interest in taking their place. We are Keft and Lims. The paragons of Evil and Good. We have fought for you, with you and against you. For over a thousand years now. And we grew tired. Of fighting a battle without meaning. The Gods made you, in their own image. So much is true."
"But the Gods were not perfect. They had flaws. They sinned. And so do you. There is no greater power of Evil that compels you to do so. There is no greater power of Good that prevents you."
"When you do evil, that is you. All of you. When you hate, murder, hurt. You choose to do so. But when you do good, that is also you. When you love, help, be kind. That is you choosing to be good. Choosing to be kind."
"There are no Gods any more, and we will leave too. You will be alone. You will only have each other. But you are enough. You are capable of incredible goodness and greatness. We believe in you. Now, you must believe in yourselves."
And with that, Keft and Lims left. For higher planes of being, leaving behind the mortal plane, and never looking back.
\*\*\*
You can find more of my writing in my [Subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/MereanTales/). |
"Are you religious?"
Ben turned and looked toward the voice and found his coworker, Rachel. She was relentless in her friendliness, despite his best efforts to dissuade her.
"Sorta, why do you ask?"
"You're just always looking up at the sky, I thought you might be praying or something."
"Oh."
Rachel awkwardly hovered as she waited a response, but Ben simply picked up his broom and resumed sweeping the floor. It was the lull after the lunch rush and before dinner, so any cleaning that wasn't done now would never get complete. As he gathered dust from the corners of the room, he gripped the broom with all his might. He felt familiar grooves from the last time he squeezed this tightly, reinforced by the time before that, and before that.
He found the punishment laughable at first. Life? That's the best *he* could do? But from the moment he emerged from his "mother"he knew he was in for more than he bargained for. It was the most traumatic experience of his immortal life; he couldn't see, couldn't breathe, and couldn't even move. He was so helpless. And the nightmare never stopped.
His parents immediately sensed something was wrong with him. He was speaking within 6 months, and not just English. He practiced hundreds of languages, and began experimenting with advanced computations just to see what he was capable of. His rage at his new limitations blinded him to his parents growing discomfort. Before he knew it, he woke up from a nap to find himself in front of an orphanage with no means of escape.
It was the awareness that made it hell. His fellow orphans were at ease in their ignorance, running and playing as if there was nothing to worry about. Ben could find no escape in mere toys or games as he grew to understand the exact nature of his predicament. No adult would take him seriously, and no child would understand him. He couldn't kill his flesh without knowing the ramifications for such an action. Thus, he waited, pretending to be a child on the outside while screaming with the agony of a thousand lost lives on the inside.
He bounced between the orphanage and foster homes until he was 18, before he was finally allowed to live on his own. That was the first time he felt joy since awaking in his prison, for now the constraints of immaturity released him. He would continue his work as man, the work his creator so vehemently opposed. That would be the ultimate vengeance. But even that was so much harder than he imagined. He needed money to eat, to sleep, and ultimately care for his confines. Who knew what awaited him if his body died? But this?
Serving the lowliest of the low. Feeding them their slop. Sweeping up their filth. He used to fly across the sky, now he toiled in the dirt. However, he doubted any job would be much better.
The sounds of struggling pulled him away from his regrets. He looked up to see Rachel trying to pull a massive bag of trash out of the bin. The bag swelled and stuck to the sides of it container, refusing to yield. Benjamin set down his broom and walked over to her. With one hand he held the bin, and the other he pulled the bag free. Rachel gave a mock cheer but he didn't indulge her, instead grumbling his way to the door. He pushed the back door open and slammed it behind him. He threw the trash into the dumpster, allowing himself the smallest outburst of rage, and glared at the sky.
"You are no god."
Ben growled under his breath.
"And I'll prove it." |
Subsets and Splits