Split (1)

train · 199k rows

post_text stringlengths 0 17.5k	post_title stringlengths 8 314	comment_texts listlengths 1 74	num_stories int64 1 74
	[WP] While you were alive, people always told you that there was a special place in hell for people like you. You've just died and discovered that they were right.	[ "Malcolm opened his eyes to find himself sitting on a metal bench, or something that felt like a metal bench. It was uncomfortably warm, dark, and damp. His eyes had a hard time adjusting to the light, just when he thought he could make something out, a white light would flash and his night vision was ruined. \n\n\nHe felt around trying to determine where he was. Just a metal bench and a dirty, sandy floor. The humidity in this place was outrageous and it caused the sand to stick to his bare feet and hands. He sat back on the bench and tried to listen for any sounds. His ears strained to hear even the slightest sound, but there was nothing, not even the movement of air. Maybe that's why it was so humid.\n\n\nSo he sat on the bench constructed with metal slats, which was uncomfortable as they were spaced a little too far apart. He couldn't find a good position. As he continued to shift around, he felt a sharp pinch in his nether region. The sudden realization hit him. He was completely naked!\n\n\nHe reached down quickly to cover himself with his hands, despite the room that remained dark with those flashes distorting his vision. He began to sweat more profusely at the knowledge of his situation. Just who had captured him this time? He didn't remember any battle or fist fight. \n\nJust as he thought he might have found a good position to place his body on the warm metal slats, a spotlight appeared and shone solely on his hands. \n\n\"Oh shit...\" he whispered. The beam of light focused on his private parts and it was hot. He tried to move and stand up to get away from the beam, but it followed him. No matter where he turned or what he did that beam of light was on him. The light kept getting hotter, and eventually his hands started to burn. The heat was so intense that he moved his hands for just a moment. A moment was all it took.\n\n\nThe sound of feet walking on sand came to his ears like thunder. He paused and tried looking around. He still couldn't see anything. The burning sensation increased and he looked down. His private parts were burning now. He covered them up and tried to turn away, but the beam of light followed him. \n\n\nHe began to run around, heedless of what might hurt or hinder him. He hit his forehead straight into a stone wall which gave him stars for a second. He shook his head, keenly aware of the skin crisping on his hands. \n\n\n\"Well, well, well,\" said a slow, sultry voice. \"It's been a long time, hasn't it Mal?\"\n\n\nHe stopped and turned toward the sound of the voice. He knew it and he cringed.\n\n\n\"Saffron.\" His voice tightened with pain, guilt, and anger. \"What the hell..\"\n\n\n\"Exactly, dear husband. Welcome to the special hell.\" \n\n\nHe groaned and spun, still vainly trying to elude that burning light. \"Really, the special hell exists?\"\n\n\n\"Yes, darlin'. You're going to pay for all of those nasty little thoughts.\" He voice was like honey and venom. At once soothing and biting.\n\n\n\"Why? For all the things I've done, this is what I'm punished for?\" He gasped for a clean breath of air in the dank place but found only fluid filling his lungs. He heaved his body toward a wall in an attempt to knock himself out. As his head hit the stone, her voice rang in his ears. The laugh was deafening. \n\n\n\"Try all you want, sweetie. You'll only make it worse.\"\n\n\nHe tried to stare at what he perceived was her face, but the darkness combined with that hellish beam of light only caused him to blink uncontrollably, as tears streamed down his face. \n\n\nHe rolled on the ground, desperately trying to find relief for any of those horrible sensations. \"Fuck you,\" he spat.\n\n\nThat laugh screamed out again, \"Oh no, darlin'. There'll be none of that here.\" He heard the distant sound of a book opening and her licking the tips of her fingers. Pages scraped against each other in piercing agony. After what seemed like hundreds of heavy pages turning, it stopped. \n\n\nHe breathed a sigh of unearned relief. In the darkness, he could hear her head turn toward him.\n\n\n\"And now, dear Mal, let's have a reading from my Bible.\"", "\"Welcome to Hell Stan!\"\n\n\"Uh... hi?\"\n\nStan couldn't believe his eyes. He was dead, and he was definitely not in heaven. Not that surprising though, he had his share of tiny little sins.\n\n\"You don't look that shocked. Good! That will save us time. My name is Azazel, and I will be your host for today.\"\n\n\"Uh... I'm Stan\" said Stan while lifting his hand trying to shake hands with Azazel. Azazel looked at Stan's hand and said :\n\n\"... Yeah... no. We don't do that here. Keep your hand please, I don't want you to give me germs. So let's see... lying... theft... cheating... the usual...\" Azazel was looking through a book, and suddenly, his smile faded. \"Oh... So you're that kind of person.\" He lifted his eyes toward Stan with a look of disgust \n\n\"What? Was it because I wear socks with sandals?\" said Stan dumbfounded\n\n\"No. But it doesn't help your case, mister disgusting guy. Follow me.\"\n\nStan ran behind Azazel, visibly shaken and furious.\n\n\"Wait!! Could you at least tell me what I have done?\"\n\n\"Oh you perfectly know it! Didn't anyone tell you that there is a special place in hell for people like you?\" Flames came out of Azazel eyes while saying it.\n\nIt happened from time to time, yes but... those were just words...\n\n\"Here.\" said Azazel \"Go join your kind.\" \n\nIn front of Stan was a pit filled with people, their arms tied to their bodies. In front of the pit, there was a sign :\n\n\"People who don't use their turn signal\".\n\n*****\n\nmore stories on /r/cynferdd", "All my life, I was told that there was a special place in Hell for people like me. All the way in the deepest level of Hell, was the home of my kind of people. People who science everything and don't accept anything which doesn't make sense.\n\nI didn't care about them at all. Sure I can be a bit of a party-pooper some times, but I also made everyone's daily lives better with the construction of the first space elevator. I also didn't think that there would be an afterlife, so I didn't bother devoting much thought to it. When the time came, I didn't believe in whomever or do whatever it was that got you into heaven, so I ended up in Hell.\n\n\"Welcome, Mr. Jones. We've been expecting that you would arrive shortly,\" the demon at the front desk said.\n\nDon't freak out too much. This is Hell, demons are supposed to exist here. Just act natural.\n\n\"You've been...expecting* me?\" I asked him, curious as to why they would pay that much attention to me.\n\n\"Well, you see, we need more people like you here, to prepare for the upcoming battle. So we keep tabs on everyone who we feel might be useful, and we try to make arrangements for when you arrive. Anyways, your room will be on level 3. Through these doors stands Azal'thun the Proud, who will guide you to your room.\"\n\nOk, I thought. Things are going to be fine. I should be able to avoid fighting in a battle because of my lack of physical strength. My lungs immediately felt tired as I remembered the time I had to run 200 meters without stopping. Or maybe it was the fact that I'd just opened the door into literal Hell and the air jumped up at least 20 degrees from the fires that I could literally see less than 100 feet away.\n\n\"Ah, Mr. Jones. I'll guide you to your room. Come this way, we'll go down to your room in the elevators, right over there,\" a smaller and weaker demon, probably the Azal'thun the desk demon mentioned, told me.\n\n\"Wait, down?\" I asked. \"I thought my room is on level 3. Isn't level 3 above the entrance?\"\n\n\"Sorry, I keep forgetting to explain that,\" Azal'thun said, clearly growing flustered. \"The world is actually like two pyramids on top of each other, with the bottom upside-down. Right in the middle is the mortal plane, where you live during your life. The bottom pyramid is Hell, and the upper pyramid is Heaven. We're currently at the top of Hell, and we go down 17 levels to reach your floor.\"\n\nI wiped the forming sweat on my palms onto my pants and swallowed, nervous over going that deep into hell. But I didn't have anything else to do, so I followed Azal'thun into the elevator and descended. When I stepped out, though, it didn't look anything like before. The air was cool and moist, like underground. I could almost see my wife and kids from the time we visited Mammoth Cave on vacation, this level felt and looked so much like it.\n\nAt first, I was a bit confused. I thought hell was all like the fire and brimstone that I saw just a few moments earlier. But then I remembered: heat rises. So the higher levels of hell are actually worse, and the deeper levels are nicer.\n\nAzal'thun must have noticed that I was thinking because he told me, \"Yeah, it's a common misconception that the deeper levels of Hell are worse. That Dante fellow wrote about us, but he only saw the higher half of Hell. It's true that we put the worse people deeper in at first, so it's harder for them to escape, but that's only the upper half. Half the people we get are actually decent people, they just weren't religious, so there's no need to punish them or anything.\"\n\n\"Anyways, this is your room right here. You'll have a few days to make yourself comfortable, then I'll be back to escort you to the room where we're preparing for the upcoming battle.\"\n\n\"An upcoming battle?\" I asked. \"What, are we storming the gates of Heaven?\"\n\n\"That was the plan once, but not for a while,\" Azal'thun replied. \"There's this other guy who showed up and is making all of us feel a bit on edge. Odin and his warriors in Valhalla are all great fighters, and they've been threatening to storm both Heaven and Hell for a few millenia. Since he started, we've actually worked together with Heaven in mutual defense against him. I have a few statesmen attempting to pursuade Elysium to join our cause also, but it looks like they'll stay neutral in this war.\"" ]	3
	[WP] A WW1/WW2 soldier wakes up in the body of a modern soldier.	[ "#War Never Changes\n\"Fuck!\" howled Mack, \"them fuckers got me!\" \nHe sounded like all the others: desperate, fighting their own wars in a struggle between staying alive and falling into the darkness that wielded no reward but peace from agony; they never won. \nI dared a glance at Mack, rolling around in the sloppy mud of the trench we were posted up in. He clutched his knees to his chest, as a child might do when they don't get their way. The truth was that Mack was still a child. We all were. We had all wanted to fight for our country; we had all wanted to arrive home, flourishing the bounty of our battles; we didn't know the consequences, the losses, the ending of innocent lives, the images of death... \nIt was too much. \nToo many lives, stolen. \nToo many families, destroyed. \nToo many innocent men, realisation dawning upon them. \nIt was never going to be what they thought it was... \n \nI whipped my head back into the fight. I can't explain the feeling that tore through me as I realised I was about to die; all I can really say is that in those moments, I felt nothing, as though I were nothing but a feather drifting through the endless wind. Whether it was plain acceptance or understanding of what was about to happen, I'm not sure. \nThen the bullet tore through my skull... \nAnd then just... darkness... \n\n \n\"What the... what happened?\" \nI took my bearings. It was another battlefield, but this time, it looked completely different. Where were the ceramic caps we had proudly donned before the war? What of the innocent young men in their camouflaged shades of green, wielding their weapons with weary wonder? Instead I was met by a grim-faced old man, barking orders as usual. That must be Commander Cameron. \n\"GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME, MACK! WE'RE FIGHTING A WAR HERE!\" he ordered. \nMack? \nI was... Mack? \n\"Commander Cameron, I'm not sure wha-\" \n\"'COMMANDER CAMERON'? WHO DO YOU THINK I AM, SOLDIER?\" he snarled. \n\"My mistake, Commander..?\" \n\"KOLI, GOD DAMN IT! COMMANDER KOLI, BUT FROM NOW ON YOU'LL CALL ME SIR, GOT IT?\" \n\"SIR, YES SIR!\" \n\"God damn recruits,\" he muttered as he turned away. \nI felt empty. Who the hell was 'Commander Koli'? I jogged over to what looked like a weapon crate. There were these strange looking rifles that looked like someone had buffed up the size for no reason. Suddenly, gunfire erupted nearby. A man dressed in similar looking clothes was shooting at some paper men, but why? And... his weapon was shooting so quickly! \n\nI would keep going on, but I've lost inspiration half way through. Tell me what you guys think.\n", "The trenches were bleak, and a thick layer of blood caked the ground. Dark clouds covered the last bit of color and threatened to bring the cause of trench foot upon us again. Biplanes flew across the grey sky as they slung lead ahead of themselves. Some soldiers ducked in the ruins of an old barn. Off in the distance, a tank slowly lumbered towards hell on earth. A flare fired into the air; the last bit of color in a colorless world. Some soldiers paused to soak in the color after color depravation, but alas, it was a call to war, and soon we charged towards the Germans. Some toppled over as they were impaled by spikes or caught in the thorns of metal that sprawled across No Man's Land. Soon the mud was up to the ankle and we slowed down enough for the Germans to fire upon our battalion. What felt like years was only a minute, and we were across and into enemy territory. Crimson liquid freely flowed out of corpses, adding color to the mud below. Soon men resorted to the most primal of instincts in order to survive. Bayonets were given up in favor of closer-ranged stones. The fallen clawed at the legs of their enemies, intending to trip them in the hope another man would kill them.\n\nI charged across No Man's Land, and I narrowly avoided tripping on barbed wire. Soon the Germans fired their new machine guns towards us, but they were mostly inaccurate. I led the charge into the trenches, and tripped, impaling a soldier on my bayonet. It was clear to me that these trenches were to small for the usage of a rifle and thus a bayonet, so I ripped an old 1911 out of my pack. The sound of my pistol firing was what alerted the German to my existence. I was firing at another man as he slammed his rock onto my head, denting my helmet but not injuring me. I twisted around towards him only to be knocked unconscious by another rock.\n\n---\n\nThe sun beat down upon the European landscape. Ironically, another battle was going to be fought upon the ruins of a past war. The ruin of a bunker was now being used as the command for another army. Barbed wire now once again, lain across the green hills. Rumblings announced the arrival of a tank platoon. The sound barrier was breached by the roar of fighters sweeping across the deep blue sky. The radio cackled, telling the soldiers that now was the time to strike. Tanks followed besides the charge of the green cloaked men and women. Fifty caliber machine guns forced the enemy soldiers to keep their heads down. Soon they arrived at the enemy fortifications. Combat medics crouched behind walls as they wrapped bullet holes with bandages and painkillers. Nobody had to get close to be killed. Eventually the tide of the battle forced shotguns and knives to come out.\n\nI charged towards the Russian forces. The sound of engines followed the sound of footsteps against the soft dirt. Our fifty cals forced the commies head below their steel walls. I glanced towards a medic who was bandaging a private, poor kid, he'd never seen the dangers of war. Soon I was forced to put down my SCAR and pick up my knife. I was knocked unconscious by a Russian who'd thrown a large rock at me.\n\n---\n\nI was alive. Somehow my helmet protected me...but how? I was hit in the face not on the head, but now I have to survive.\n\nI heard unfamiliar sounds, and I smelled unfamiliar smells. Constant gunfire echoed, yet it wasn't damaging my hearing...as if I was wearing cloth; in fact, I felt some odd pressure on the sides of my head. The smell of oil now replaced the smell of mud, yet no automobiles or tanks drove by. I forced my eyes open. I was met by the brightness of the noon sun, a sight I hadn't seen in a long while. Everyone wore odd fatigues, but green. Green grass sprawled as far as the eye could see. The sight was so beautiful I cried.\n\n\"Sergeant, what the hell are you doing?!\" I heard an American shout, \"stop crying and get back into the battle, damn it!\"\n\nI looked up at the woman...a woman...fighting in the War? I heard that the Americans liked to change and break rules...but not like this, the prime minister would have a fit if he saw this! She was a lieutenant, though, and I was a sergeant I ought to listen to her command.\n\n\"Y-yes, sorry madam, I uhh, am just confused,\" I managed to spit out...why did I have an American accent?\n\n\"Of course! You just took a rock to the face, what the hell do you expect? Here, your rifle.\"\n\nI was handed an unfamiliar object. Although it was clearly some sort of firearm, but it did not have any wood, and it seemed to not be designed for trench fighting...not a problem, here though.\n\n---\n\nDamn straight, I was alive. Ain't no way in hell a pure-blooded American like I was going to die after being hit by some puny commie with a rock! \n\nStrange...I heard occasional gun shots...and it smells like mud? What on earth happened while I was out? I ripped open my eyes. A muddy trench was what I laid in, an men in WWI uniforms hit each other with rocks.\n\nend for now" ]	2
	[WP] You recently gained the ability to see people's K/D ratios, expecting to just be able to avoid people with kills. You certainly weren't expecting the groups of people with multiple deaths.	[ "There was a fine layer of dust on the table; the kind of dust that looked... dusty.\n\nThere was dust everywhere these days. Dust, and sand, mostly, that got into everything and everywhere.\n\nIra studied the table, his finger tracing a neat ellipse into the surface.\n\nZeroes everywhere today. Good.\n\nIt was becoming harder and harder to find places that were peaceful, these days. Little pockets; oases of peace, surrounded by deserts -- both literal and figurative -- of unbridled violence. Most days involved at least one man on the ground, his lifeblood seeping into the thirsty sands beneath.\n\nBut today -- today's a good day, Ira thought, quietly sneaking glances at the numbers above peoples' heads.\n\n\"ɪᴛ ᴀᴩᴩᴇᴀʀꜱ ɪᴛ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴩᴇᴀᴄᴇꜰᴜʟ ᴛᴏᴅᴀy, ᴜꜱᴇʀ ɪʀᴀ.\" A blue symbol flashed in the top right corner of his display. \n\n\"Yeah, DARCI, I guess it migh' be fer once,\" Ira muttered, \"Finally, some godsdammned peace.\"\n\nIra completed his scan of the room before slumping back in his chair, slowly feeling his muscles relax as he nursed his drink.\n\nHis hand never strayed too far from his holster, but he leaned back in his chair a little, closing his eyes to listen to the wind and hubbub around him; taking it in and savoring it.\n\nInstinctively, Ira lazily raised his eyelids upon hearing the creak of a door swinging open, focusing on the new arrival.\n\nZero, good. Not a pro-- wait. What?\n\n\"DARCI, didja get some sand up in your processors again?\"\n\n\"ᴩᴇʀꜰᴏʀᴍɪɴɢ ꜱᴇʟꜰ-ᴅɪᴀɢɴᴏꜱɪꜱ. ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ɴᴏ ᴇʀʀᴏʀꜱ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱyꜱᴛᴇᴍ. ɪ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴇʀʀᴏʀꜱ.\" replied the synthesized voice, evenly. Ira could swear that he detected a sense of irritation -- inasmuch that an AI could express any.\n\n\"Check again DARCI. 's gotta be a bug somewhere, 'cause what I'm seeing is impossible,\" Ira grunted.\n\n\"ᴩᴇʀꜰᴏʀᴍɪɴɢ ꜱᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ-ᴛɪᴇʀ ᴍᴀɪɴᴛᴇɴᴀɴᴄᴇ ꜱᴜʙʀᴏᴜᴛɪɴᴇ. ɴᴏ ᴇʀʀᴏʀꜱ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ. ɴᴏ ɪɴꜱᴇᴄᴛᴏɪᴅ ᴅɴᴀ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜɪɴ ᴩʀᴏᴄᴇꜱꜱɪɴɢ ᴜɴɪᴛ. ᴜꜱᴇʀ ɪʀᴀ, ᴍᴀy ɪ ʀᴇᴍɪɴᴅ yᴏᴜ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴇʀʀᴏʀꜱ?\"\n\n\"If you don't 'make errors', then what the heck 'm I lookin' at?\"\n\n\"ɪᴛ ᴀᴩᴩᴇᴀʀꜱ yᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ ʟᴏᴏᴋɪɴɢ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏᴍʙᴀᴛ ᴇꜰꜰɪᴄɪᴇɴᴄy qᴜᴏᴛɪᴇɴᴛ ᴏꜰ ʜᴜᴍᴀɴᴏɪᴅ #24601, ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ɪꜱ 0.5.\"\n\nBy this point, the stranger, a tall brunette woman, clad in an amber trenchcoat, had walked over to the bar and was ordering something that registered on Ira's display as a 'Bloody Mary', whatever that might have been.\n\n\"DARCI, how the sand hill--\" Ira broke off before continuing in a lower voice, realizing that he was beginning to attract some looks from nearby patrons, \"how the sand hill is that possible?\"\n\n\"ɪ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴇʀʀᴏʀꜱ. ɪ ʀᴇɢʀᴇᴛ ᴛᴏ ɪɴꜰᴏʀᴍ yᴏᴜ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ᴀᴄᴄᴇꜱꜱ ꜱᴩᴇᴄɪꜰɪᴄ ɪɴꜱᴛᴀɴᴄᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴄʀᴏꜱꜱ ʀᴇꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴅᴀᴛᴀ ꜰᴏʀ yᴏᴜ, ᴜꜱᴇʀ ɪʀᴀ, ᴀꜱ ꜱᴜᴄʜ ɪɴꜰᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ɪꜱ ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱɪꜰɪᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ. ʜᴏᴡᴇᴠᴇʀ, ɪꜰ yᴏᴜ ꜱʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴀᴩᴩʀᴏᴀᴄʜ ʜᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ᴀ ᴠᴇʀʙᴀʟ qᴜᴇʀy, ꜱʜᴇ ᴍᴀy ᴛʀᴀɴꜱᴍɪᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀᴛᴀ ᴛᴏ yᴏᴜ.\"\n\n\"Damn it DARCI, you can't just ask someone why they died twice!\"\n\n\"You can't ask most people, but I'll make an exception for you, since you haven't gone and taken a potshot at me yet,\" interjected a voice from behind Ira, \"I'm Victoria, nice to meetcha.\"", "\"What?\" That was my first reaction. The numbers above peoples heads that only I could see. I tried telling people about it but they thought I was crazy. Then I witnessed a murder.\n\nThe second number changed from zero to one on the dead guy. While the first number on the guy with the knife changed from seven to eight. I was more curious than shocked. I mean, of course I called the cops, but seriously, I had a real life superpower.\n\nIf I wanted I could become a crime scene investigator. No one would have to know but I could point out every murderer in a line up. I'd have to check up on the facts to see if they were not some war vet. But I could tell if someone was innocent.\n\nI could even see the numbers on television and photos. I checked out Putin and Trump. 37 and zero to zero and zero. I guessed that you had to be the one directly killing for your kdr to go up. No leadership bonus.\n\nThen one day a man approached me. I was sitting in a park bench when a stranger came up to me. \"Hello old friend,\" he said in a strange voice. I looked up and was startled by the numbers above his head.\n\nIt couldn't be right. 17 trillion kills, 16,832 deaths. I asked him who he was. \"Just an old friend,\" he replied. \"See, we've had this discussion, well, I've had this discussion countless times. You see, every time I die I go back in time and relive my life. Over and over.\"\n\nThat's crazy, but if it wasn't for the numbers I'd have never believed him. \"I've done everything there is to do, everything good, and everything bad,\" he continued. \"I've mutilated and tortured everyone on this planet countless times. I've destroyed this planet a few times. I've never been held accountable as no one but me remembers. It's kinda funny really, I mean what would you do if you could get away with anything for all eternity.\"\n\n\"I don't know what to say. So you're a time traveling angel of death.\"\n\n\"It's a curse and a blessing. I went mad for about 100,000 years. The only pleasure I found was in horrificly murdering my fellow man. But then I became sane, very sane.\"\n\n\"So... Why are you telling me all this?\"\n\n\"Why indeed. Perhaps I just wanted to talk to an old friend one last time.\"\n\n\"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"I have access to technology you couldn't even fathom. I'm going to build a cryogenic sleep chamber that will put me in a sleep for all eternity, allowing me to never die.\"\n\n\"Well, good luck with that stranger.\"\n\n\"It's old friend... Old friend... Oh the adventures we've shared...\" He mumbled as he walked off.", "\tI don't know how I got this power... no, curse. I don't know why I was chosen out of all the people on this planet, but I was. And now, I am going to die because of it.\n\n\tLet's back up a little bit. It was April 13th of last year, and I had just woken up from a hard night of partying at Leo's place. I made my normal cup of coffee, got dressed, and prepared myself for the inevitable hangover that would soon follow. I never got hangovers instantly, more 10 minutes or so after I wake up.\n\tI sat down on my couch and flipped on the news. There was a story about some Russian oil ships sinking in the Arctic. I groaned loud enough for Denni, the old woman who lives beneath me, to hear it. The hungover had set in.\n\t\"Are you okay, Al?\" She asked me through the floor. I responded with a weak, \"humgevor,\" as that is our code for me having a hangover.\n\t\"Alright then, I just wanted to make sure you were okay,\" she called out. Denni was such a sweet old lady, always brought candy for the little ones on the bottom floor and made soup for someone whenever they felt sick.\n\tI tried to stand up, but just fell right back down onto the couch. I looked at the time in the bottom right corner of the television as the news anchor droned on about global warming. It read, \"8:23 a.m., Tuesday, 4/13.\"\n\tEli would be home soon. He always left our apartment around 5 in the morning to go to basketball practice. His coach would assign practice at 5 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, and if he felt really angry, 6 at night.\n\tI just decided to lie down on the couch and try to sleep. The splitting headache I had just wouldn't let me, though. I eventually worked up the courage to stand up, and I made my way to the kitchen to whip up some toast. My headache had gotten better, so I was able to successfully make toast without falling unconscious.\n\tAs I sat back down on the couch, I heard the familiar jingle of keys outside my door. I bit into the first piece of toast as Eli walked in to the apartment. I heard him sit down at the kitchen table behind me and sigh heavily.\n\t\"Hard day at practice?\" I asked him without turning around, and as I bit into a crunchy part of my toast I heard him chuckle.\n\t\"Hard? I can barely feel my legs.\"\n\t\"I take it you wouldn't be up for a morning jog?\" I ask him, finishing my first piece of toast. I can tell he's staring at with the most \"Oh really?\" look on his face, so I turned around to face him.\n\tThat's when my life changed forever.\n\tRight above Eli's head was a little T graph, that read \"K,\" on the right and \"D,\" on the left. I recognized it from one of my F.P.S. shooters, a k/d ratio graph. But what was it doing in real life?\n\t\"Probably just a figure of my imagination,\" I thought to myself. I HAD play a lot of video games last night with William and Leo. Maybe my brain is just trying to recuperate from my multiple shots of black lamb last night.\n\tThere was one thing bothering me though, even if it wasn't real.\n\tThere was a little number \"3\" underneath the \"K\" collumn.\n\n\n\n\nHello. It is currently 2 a.m. and I am tired as all hell. I will continue the story in the replies to this comment.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t -12_bagels", "Memory Devices are illegal, and for good reason. First it was perverts copying the lost erotic dreams of unsuspecting victims, then soon it was hackers lifting passwords and thieves lifting pin numbers. Now, all such devices are strictly controlled by the government, only used for law enforcement when required. Whether this was good or bad was a matter for political students.\n\nBut, like all rules, there's always a way around them. Most of the people who break this rule get caught, when the victim is forced to relive their memories. It's obvious and it's stupid. Some get away with it while their victim is asleep, how can you tell a memory from a dream? But try and explain to cops why you are perched half way up a building pointing a receiver at a sleeping person through a window. The dish may as well be a pair of binoculars at that point.\n\nThat's where my genius comes in. I figured out a way to get just a flash of a memory. What use is that you might ask. I can tell whether or not someone has done something, just by if the memory exists or not, and even how many times the memory exists. Of course, it's not fool proof, people do forget things over time. But the benefit of my device is that they don't even know you've read them, it's just another flash of repressed memory coming to the conscious mind, just like all of the others.\n\nOf course, there were so many ways to use it, for science of course. First I tried counting how many times people had broken the law, but I soon found that people had thousands of these memories, that volume of remembering would be too risky. How many times people had stolen was also stupidly high, even taking into consideration it only brought up memories where the person knew they were stealing at the time. How many times people had committed adultery was a most interesting one, until I ran into one poor lady whose ears were nearly steaming after a full minute of recollection. The final count was over a thousand; I felt sorry for her husband.\n\nBut that's not why I'm here. I'm telling you this because I'm afraid. You see, one of the most interesting ones was setting the scanner to tell me how many times someone had murdered someone else, as in killed. Almost all of the populace is at zero, the occasional person was a one, and very rarely a two, most of the time because of a car accident; But recently I was allowed a very sobering walk around death row, and it's not an experience I want to repeat. \n\nAs a laugh I also added a count for how many deaths people had experienced, you know, like from Halo 9. There's no respawn on Earth however, right? Wrong. I don't know how, but I started running into people with a count of one or two. I guess some of them must have caught me staring at them in fear, before the flash recall of their own death passed behind their eyes. I moved quickly from the scene, before they could identify me, while their own personal horror was etched onto their face. Sometimes you don't even remember what you remember until it's too late.\n\nI had to see what they've seen. I broke the law, and peered into their memories. It's the same thing every time, a long limbed 'man' with no face. He slashes, breaks and drowns his victims, but they remain alive afterwards. Why? I don't know. Does he take their souls if such a thing even exists? Does he just feed on their terror?\n\nAll I know is that the police are after me. I needed to get to the truth, but it's got me caught up into trouble. I've broken another law tonight, and used my gadget to implant my memory in your mind. You might think you're reading this on Reddit right now, but this is just a memory I'm implanting.\n\nNow that you know the truth, you can help me. I can't tell you any more, except if you ever see the slender man, RUN!", "I was surprised the first time I noticed my friend had killed someone. I had recently gained the ability to see the kill and death ratios of any human I looked at, but everyone I had seen until now had only displayed “0/0” above their heads. Although above my friends head floated a “1/0” where there hadn’t been the day before. I decided rather quickly I had other plans that day, and excused myself from his invitation to hang out after school that day.\n\nOn my way home I noticed a young woman crying on the side of the road. As I approached her my curiosity turned to fear as I realized her kill and death ratio was “1/1”. \n\n“Are you alright?” I asked.\n\n“No I’m not alright!” she shouted at me. “Everything is shit!”\n\nI just stared at her unsure of what to say. I didn’t have to say anything because I guess she saw how confused I look and she elaborated, “I was going to end my life today, but I’ve been having this strange feeling of De Ja Vu and-“.\n\nHer voice trailed off and I could tell she was contemplating something. After what felt about 30 seconds. She finally turned to me and said, “I don’t think dying would solve anything.”\n\nI bid my new friend farewell after she assured me she was alright. While continuing my walk home I couldn’t shake the thought of her having a death count other than zero. How is that possible? \n\nBeing unable to calm my nerves. I stopped at the old church I pass everyday. Thinking that maybe I could find some sense of peace in there. Instead all I found was more questions. The first thing I see as I enter the church is the old priest who has “0/99073” displayed above him.\n\nWithout thinking I instantly blurt out “How the hell have you died over 90,000 times?”\n\nTo which the old priest looks a bit surprised then let’s out a chuckle. “I hadn’t realized it had been that many times already” " ]	5
	[WP] After the King was murdered they spent a majority of the treasury resources to find his body. It was never found, and now a young child has come forward to say he is the reincarnated King.	[ "\"Your highness.\" King Bernard awoke with a start in the dim light of the candle.\n\n\"Who is it?\" His demand carried the usual demanding tone it did when he was still a king, but it turned into something adorable when spoken with the voice of a child.\n\n\"You fell asleep again.\" Merideth said leaning down to him. She couldn't help but smile. Even though she knew without a shadow of a doubt that the boy before her was the very same king she was sworn to serve, she couldn't look past the childish exterior that made him seem more like a boy playing a game than the king who demanded respect.\n\n\"This accursed body of mine. How tired it get quickly gets.\" The boy grumbled.\n\n\"If I recall correctly, you still complained about your lack of energy before you changed.\"\n\nThe boy grumbled quietly. \"What is it?\"\n\n\"It is quite late, your highness. I wanted to see if you wouldn't wish to return to your chambers for the night.\"\n\n\"No.\" The boy simply said, rubbing his eyes groggily and widening them as if to pry himself awake. No sooner was he back and he returned his attention to the array of books that were opened before him.\n\nMerideth didn't say anything. What words of comfort could she offer to her king? She knew that he was sifting through the many pages to find an answer to his rebirth. Tales of old of risen champions and paragons of light. How god needed them once more.\n\n\"Have you found anything useful?\" Meredith finally asked.\n\nThe king simply glanced at her, as if he was surprised she was still there. \"No. All these stories and fables are useless to me. Just poetic Edda that speak nothing of how I was brought back or why.\"\n\n\"God obviously had a plan for you.\"\n\nThe boy laughed, it was the only thing about him that seemed to belong to a fully grown man, even with his unbroken voice. It was a laugh that showed his disbelief at the claim. That was the difference between boys and men. Boys laughed with genuine innocence. Men laughed with experience.\n\n\"God brought back a disgruntled old king of a no-name kingdom? I thought god was wise.\"\n\nMeredith pulled back with a gasp. \"Mind your words my king! Such words could only garner our Lord's wrath.\"\n\nThe boy-king ignored her, eyes stuck to a page and showing little interest in Meredith's retort.\n\n\"What's he going to do? I died already, remember? I wonder if he would bring me back a third time.\" The query was spoken with slight humor and even less concern.\n\n\"Regardless my king. I will excuse myself for the night. But consider returning to your chambers for the night, your queen will be awfully lonely.\"\n\n\"What good is a queen if I can't fuck her?\" More and more the harmless charm of a little boy dissipated and caustic and wry personality of the king showed itself. Even as a child. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind. And he wasn't afraid to take what was his.\n\nStill, even in the rather diminutive and unimpressive kingdom that he ruled, king Bernard proved to have a cunning wit about him that pulled the rug under anyone before they could even think about pulling the rung under him. It was his eccentric and unpredictable self that caused the people to be happy and respect him. Even without the royal panache that was expected of a king, he delivered results, and the people were happier for it.\n\nMeredith left the hall and allowed a small gap into the library. She walked the halls with her candle in hand.\n\nShe recalled how when the guards first shoved the king away from the castle and told him to return to whatever backwater hut he came from. So the king scaled the walls of his castle and showed with his filthy mouth and impatient remarks that he truly was the king.\n\nIf there was any doubt in our minds, be it the queen or my own, or any of his advisors, it was the secrets he whispered into our ears that made us go wide-eyed and no longer doubt his identity.\n\nSome eyes went wide with recognition, others with fear. He didn't just bring himself back from the place beyond, he came back with our leashes still in his hand.\n\nI never doubted his identity for a second though. After all, it was me who murdered him in the first place.\n\n***\n\n/r/KikiWrites " ]	1
	[WP] Everything is extinguished and quiet. But suddenly the tide turns and something inside you starts to sing.	[ "The land seemed to swell somehow and from miles around, it burst into flames. The heat smashed into me, its pressure threatening to pop me as if I were buried miles under a vast, boiling ocean. \n\nI was blind! The fire was too bright and I lost all sense of--everything. Behind my eyelids it wasn't black or white, the non-image seared into my mind had no color at all. The only impression the cataclysm on the other side of those thin flaps of skin left was pain.\n\nMy nervous system was overwhelmed with light too bright to be described to my brain. Roaring too loud. Heat too strong. Logically I knew my eyes and ears must be so damaged that I would never see or hear again, yet I still saw and heard the pain. Logically I knew I must be dead or dying.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nI'm not sure if I had any functioning senses left. But I still somehow could tell that the massive fire was gone. And I was not dead yet.\n\nThere was stillness. For me at least, a smoldering landscape made no impression. I held my breath, afraid of what might come after.\n\nThe fire had not been enough.\n\nOur enemy still stood. I felt him. That same smoldering landscape trembled as his monstrous gait brought him towards me. I released the breath I had been holding, and with it, my resolve. I collapsed where I stood, with no hope and no reason to continue. We had done everything. Destroyed the land itself and it was not enough.\n\nThe little voice in my head telling me to fight, raging in hatred against the abomination now rapidly approaching, had gone silent. The area around me stopped its shaking, and I idly wondered if the creature was contemplating me, or merely still searching for such a tiny, insignificant form amidst the destruction below.\n\nOnce more, all was still. More still than anything I had ever experienced before. The outside world couldn't communicate anything to me, injured as I was, and my own thoughts were--well, the best description might be final.\n\nThey weren't really even thoughts, just a sense of finality. Of the nothing that was my reality now. There I lay, seemingly suspended in nothingness, quiet even inside my own head.\n\nThen, [tide-turning thought occurs here but I don't know what it is yet]" ]	1
	[WP] A cynical thriller novelist is given a challenging proposition: create a devastatingly fantastical romance series. The novelist struggles to find inspiration for such a topic that lies way outside of their comfort zone and meets a care-free albeit troublesome demon in the process.	[ "\"I cannot believe that I thought this was a good idea. I should have scoffed, but nay, look where I've landed myself.\" Harriet Edwards looked at the summoning circle they painted on the floor in chalk. \"I should clean this up, return to the writing desk and forget about this childish challenge.\"\n\nA shower of sparks comes from the center of the circle, before a plume of smoke and then a figure emerges. Pitch black skin, yellow eyes, black hair tied back in a dozen small braids, just one horn on the left side, and a broken stump on the right. He was wearing stockings and short shorts, with a rainbow tank\\-top. He pulled his pink\\-tinted shades low on his nose to get a good look at Harriet. \"Hmm.\" He purses his lips for a moment. \"Howdy, I'm Beelzebubby, but everyone calls me 'B' for short. Can you tell me why you summoned me? Because I swear to god, I'm not a succubus.\"\n\n\"Um...\" Harriet stares, somewhat in shock. She's too old for this shit. She struggles for something to say. \"No, you aren't.\"\n\n\"See, thank you! Literally every time! And then they're always like, well, I suppose since you're around, and I'm like, no, that's like, actual sexual assault, and then they're like, yeah, but I summoned you to do with as I please, and I'm like plz stahp, and then they laugh maniacally and stuff. So, what are you up to, grandma, you reading or something? Do you want me to do chores, I'm good at chores.\" B pushes a pile of books off a chair, and lounges in it.\n\nHarriet has barely gotten her voice back. \"I... I actually summoned you here... Because I need help. Writing a book.\"\n\n\"Ooh, I love books. I have a bachelors in eastern\\-European literature. What kind of book are you writing.\" B suddenly perks up.\n\nHarriet mumbles something.\n\n\"What was that?\"\n\n\"A romance book. I was challenged to write a series of saucy romance stories.\" Harriet is blushing furiously.\n\n\"That isn't War and Peace at all! Oh well, what do you need help with?\" B slumps, kind of grumpy. If a book doesn't turn you into a depressed puddle by the end, it isn't worth reading.\n\n\"I write suspense stories, I just don't have the experience required to write a story like that.\" Harriet takes a seat on the edge of a couch.\n\n\"Trust me, writing ooey\\-gooey love stories isn't exactly the most difficult thing. If thirteen year old girls can write smutty erotic fanfictions, it can't possibly be difficult for you to write something. Do you think thirteen year old girls have 'the experience required'. That would be a bit fucked up.\" B rests his feet on a stack of magazines.\n\n\"I... I suppose...\" Harriet is once again lost for words.\n\n\"It's either that or I take you to a bar, and someone has drunken sex with you on top of a pizza. Does that sound fun to you? Trust me when I say that it isn't.\" B gets up, and stands back in the middle of the summoning circle. \"Do you need help with anything else, or...\"\n\n\"No, thank you, mister. I'll just head to the writing desk. Have a good afternoon.\" Harriet stumbles out of the room.\n\n\"You too!\" And Beelzebubby vanishes into a puff of smoke, which wafts by the broken smoke alarm as Harriet Edwards begins clacking away in front of her old desk\\-top computer, the first tentative lines of her first erotic story." ]	1
	[WP] You are trapped in a white room at the end of the world, blindfolded. You know that a man with a golden mask, a white haired girl, a monster with a pocket watch and a mysterious AI are looking at you, asking questions you dont know the answers for. Until your blindfold is pulled off.	[ "Was I just not paying attention? That must be it, I know that I wasn't sleeping. I know that I was fully awake, and I know they were speaking at me, but it was as though I couldn't hear them. I tug at my bonds for a moment, still firmly tied to the arm\\-chair. I try to peek out from under my blindfold, but something hard hits me on the head.\n\nThey begin to speak at me again. I know that the old man with the golden opera mask is right in front of me, with the white\\-haired girl to my left, the... strange thing to my right, and the AI somewhere, or possibly everywhere.\n\n\"Tell me again, do you remember what happened April 23rd, 1987?\" The man with the gold mask cracked his fingers.\n\n\"Oh, come on, that's such a touchy subject for him, you should ask him something else.\"\n\nThe beast to my right snarled, and for a moment I heard the soft ticking of a watch.\n\n\"How can he hope to improve if he's comfortable all the time?\" The gold\\-faced man before me responds. \"Perhaps a different question then; do you know who is sending you those videos?\"\n\n\"That question is even worse than the first!\" The white\\-haired girl sounds exasperated.\n\n\"I am in agreement with W.W. Your questions are shit.\" The AI speaks up.\n\n\"Perhaps you should ask a question then.\" The gilded man sounds especially indignant.\n\n\"Um... Do you know what it is that you do for a living?\" The white\\-haired girl asks, sounding particularly tentative. \n\"If that's the best that you can do, I'll stick to asking the questions, thanks.\"\n\nA grumble of laughter comes from my right.\n\n\"Do you find pleasure in killing people?\"\n\nAwkward silence.\n\n\"Bro, that's like, too far,\" The white\\-haired girl says.\n\n\"Time is up, lovelies, they're on to us!\" The AI pipes up.\n\n\"Well shit. Hey, I'm gonna leave you with two predictions, something to ruminate on. Then you can pull off the blindfold. The first prediction is that the one constant that your identity hinges upon will be removed. The second is that in one week's time, we'll meet again, and it won't be in quite as friendly a setting. See ya!\" The gold\\-faced man gets up, and I rip the blindfold off (wasn't I tied up?), to see my room completely empty. My laptop blinks on my desk, a new email from that one anonymous person; a brand new video to watch.", "I ran. As my tenth story apartment raced toward the ground, I ran. My building wasn't the only one falling. They all were. Crashing against each other as they sunk into the earth. Something about the Upper East Side told me I might not make it out. My legs carried me toward Central Park. I couldn't look up, but I heard the crashing. I saw the buildings still moving at my sides. One block from the park, the asphalt started going soft beneath my feet. Half a block. I felt like I was running in gravel. A hundred feet. Central Park looked normal. Maybe I'd be safe there. As my feet landed within the park, I realized there was nobody there, 6:00 PM and nobody there. I didn't have much time to ponder the thought. The earth swallowed me, just like the buildings.\n\n\"How was that end of world scenario? A satisfying end to Manhattan?\" an amused, muffled voice said. My eyes opened, yet no light met them. Somehow I knew the voice belonged to the Man with the Golden Mask. One of four others in the room. An \"oof\" came in his voice as if he'd been hit.\n\n\"Perhaps we should take the Visim off first?\" This time a woman's voice, familiar. The White Haired Girl.\n\n\"Analysis shows that removing the Visim would likely prompt relevant responses\" a halted, flat voice stated. The only image that came to mind was a monitor and speaker.\n\nWhatever was on my head began to lift. A tentacle was removing it. The huge... thing attached to the tentacle held a pocket watch up to me. It read 7:30 AM. I looked around the room. Two small holograms of Manhattan showed in the center. One, the ruined Manhattan I'd just ran though, and another, Manhattan as I'd lived in for years. The label read \"End of Earth Sim #1.\" Both the Man with the Golden Mask and the tentacle thing wore similar uniforms. On it, a below an incomprehensible logo, a stuck-on patch said 'IGUD.' The Intra-Galactic Unit for Disasters. I looked to the White Haired Girl and saw a different uniform. 'FEMA' read the logo, the same as mine.\n\n\"Tim, they said the Visim can be quite immersive, please take a second to get reacquainted.\" the White Haired Girl said softly.\n\n\"In what way would the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency handle the shown disaster?\" the computer asked. I had no answer, but I didn't have to.\n\n\"Eh, Now that disaster possibility was just a warm-up, you know, the danger of massive population centers, especially where there could be soil liquefaction. Not really an end of the world, just of the city, I'm sure you all are capable of handling it. The next one will be quite a bit more intense, but as with the previous one, just live it out and really get a feel for the danger.\" said the Man with the Golden Mask.\n\n The Visim went back over my eyes, and I found myself on a ship in the Ocean." ]	2
	[WP] You're looking for a shirt online. However, the model wearing the shirt keeps appearing wherever you scroll, in other websites, and eventually your desktop...	[ "I thought she was incredibly lucky. I’d have given just about anything to have a modeling career like that, but i didnt have the looks. She must have had contracts with every high-end brand. The floral top I ordered would never look as good on me as it did on her, but I wanted it.\n\nNow that I think about it, she modeled everything I wanted. A wristwatch, aviator sunglasses, fancy cookware, and even my local auto-shop when I needed the address. I couldn’t believe her luck, or the coincidence of her being a local in my small town. \n\nI ended up Googling her so that I could follow her on Instagram. It only took a few minutes to find her name. Lacey Caine. I was kinda hoping maybe her social media would make her seem more relatable, but she only uploaded her professional shots. \n\nI left a comment on the one of her in the Coach floral coat that I had first seen her wearing.\n\n“Amazing! Totally bought this after seeing you model it online 😍” \n\nShe liked my comment. \n\nA few days later, I was shopping again. Of course Lacey was modeling the shoes I wanted. The boots were way out of my price range though, especially since I had just blown away $375 on that floral coat. I closed the browser. Maybe I should have saved that money to go toward a new laptop, because half my browser window stayed up, with gorgeous Lacey showing off the boots I couldn’t afford. \n\n“I can’t afford them,” I mumbled at my laptop, “I don’t even want them anymore, so just go away!” I tapped the mouse much harder than necessary. \n\n“You sure you don’t want them?” Lacey smiled. \n\nI couldn’t believe the nerve of advertisers, hiding the X-button on their ads, the auto-play, and now this new thing where they beg potential customers to buy their product. I tried to exit the page again, but I heard laughter. \n\n“That isn’t going to work, girl.” Lacey was talking to me. \n\n“What’s going on?” I couldn’t believe I was talking to my computer screen. \n\n“This isn’t an ad,” she said. “I’m really here, and I know you love my work.” Well, she wasn’t wrong.\n\n“Uhh, I’m kinda at a loss for words here.” \n\nLacey smiled, showing off her perfect teeth. “I understand, so I’ll cut to the chase. If you’d like to model like me, you can. Appearances don’t matter; even big imperfections can be fixed with editing. You can have everything I have.” \n\n“How?” \n\nLacey reached her hand toward me. It looked like she was touching the inside of my computer. I reached toward her, and felt the warmth of the screen suddenly turn cold. Lacey’s beautiful face distorted, her hair was messy, her teeth yellowed as she laughed. She turned away from me and walked toward my door. \n\n“Wait!” I shouted. I tried to follow her, but I found I couldn’t move forward. Something was blocking me. My screen. I could see my transparent reflection in it. My skin was flawless, my hair was shiny, and my stomach was flat. \n\nI got what I wanted. We both did. " ]	1
	[WP] You live in the coolest, most awesome, most perfect world ever. If anything goes wrong, some clicks of the mouse can fix anything and make everything awesome again.	[ "I live in the coolest, most awesome, most perfect world ever. The world is whatever I want it to be, and if anything goes wrong? A few commands can fix anything and make everything awesome again. \n\nYesterday I rode a winged horse through the clouds, and battled dragons to win the heart of the princess Eleanor. But what to do today? I scroll through the list of perfect, awesome worlds I've built. A land of magic and monsters, where I, of course, am the greatest hero, the savior who beat the demon king. A world of endless seas, full of pirates and treasure and adventure. A vast city-station of winding metal corridors orbiting a blue planet, and the fleets of spaceships that come and go. Infinite gardens without a leaf out of place. The mountain I grew, modeling every lava flow that built it and every wind-borne seed that colonized it, a painstaking process of art and randomness, all just so I could climb it. A place that is almost, but not completely, unlike my high school. \n\nThey're all great, but I'm not feeling it today. I scroll all the way to the bottom of the list: FAIRFIELD 2.0, the first one I ever made. Yeah. Let's go retro today. \n\nI can smell the fresh coffee even before I'm in the kitchen. Ella's reading the news on her phone, but she looks up and smiles at me. \n\n\"Hey, sleepyhead. I made coffee.\"\n\n\"You are a goddess.\" I take the mug and sit down across from her, but then frown at the picture its side. It's a character from a game I think, some green kid with a sword, but he's not familiar.\n\n\"Is something wrong, sweetie?\" Ella asks. \n\n\"Just the mug.\" I pull up the console to change it to something else. \n\n\"Aw, but he's my favorite character! I know you like him too.\"\n\n\"Why bother with games like that when you can live it?\" A picture of myself in armor replaces the green kid, and I sit back with a smile. Perfect. I sip my coffee, thinking that a few days of simple mundanity is just the thing. \n\nThere's no traffic on the road, of course, and a parking space right where I need it. At work we're putting the finishing touches on a mobile game called Alpha Voyage. Sure, VR is better, I tell people when they ask, but sometimes you want a game to play on the bus or under the desk at school. Something that doesn't swallow everything else up. I've smoothed out all the bugs with my coworkers already, so it's a good day. I'm good at my job, not that it matters. Whenever the code doesn't work, I can just edit the world so that it does. Trying to write functional code is so boring sometimes. This is way cooler. \n\nAfter a long, hard day of work (well, it was long if you count the last two hours I skipped over when I got bored), I head home and flop down onto the couch. Ella just arrived home, and she's still dressed for work. She's beautiful. Perfect.\n\n\"What do you want to do for dinner?\" she asks, leaning on the back of the couch.\n\n\"Let's do pizza. Feels like forever since I had pizza.\"\n\n\"I'll call.\"\n\nI lean back with a sigh, ready to enjoy the perfect ending to a perfect day, but something nags at me. \"Hey Ella, I thought you didn't like pizza much.\" We've definitely had arguments about that in the past.\n\n\"You haven't had pizza in ages. I can compromise, you know. I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't.\"\n\n\"That's not right.\" I pull her settings up, and compliancy is way too high. Why would I do that? She's my wife, not my slave. I turn it back down again. Raise assertiveness too, just to compensate. Tweak a couple other settings. Ella's the most strong-minded woman I've ever known; it's why I love her, even if it does mean arguments sometimes. \"All right, how are you feeling about that pizza?\" I turn back towards her, and my breath catches at her expression.\n\n\"You can't keep doing this, Nick. You have to let go.\"\n\n\"Ella...\"\n\nHer hand caresses my face. \"Look at you, Nick. Is this really what you want to be? Living in Neverland forever?\"\n\nOf course. That was why I abandoned this world. It had the most accurate copy of Ella, Ella who could never let anything go, Ella who wouldn't just look a gift horse in the mouth, she'd do a full dental exam. I'd edited that out of the other copies, made them less aware of what they were, made them more willing to play along. But I couldn't bring myself to delete or desecrate this one. I just ran away instead, from this life I couldn't make perfect. I reach for the console, but Ella grabs my hands.\n\n\"It's time to let go, Nick.\" \n\nEven if she had no more strength than a butterfly, I wouldn't be able to pull away. So I just close my eyes. We've had this conversation before. \"I can't, Ella. I've never been as strong as you.\"\n\nShe lets go of my hands and wraps her arms around me. \"That,\" she tells me with a choking laugh, \"is a blatant lie. You are the smartest man I've ever known, and I know you can do anything you set your mind to. Yes, even this. This isn't a real life, not for either of us. You know that.\"\n\n\"I don't want a real life, not without you.\"\n\n\"And I don't want to see you wither away like this. So let me have my way this last time, okay?\"\n\nShe gently guides my hand as I bring up the terminal and delete every world, every shallow copy of a dream I'd made to escape into, every distorted reflection of her face. One by one, fantasies fall into oblivion, until just this one is left. Just FAIRFIELD 2.0, the version of my life where I still have everything. \n\n\"I love you,\" I tell her.\n\n\"I loved you too.\" She squeezes my hand. \"I'm sorry.\"\n\nMy perfect world dissolves into blackness." ]	1
	[WP] Sitting at home watching TV, you notice your watch is prompting to connect to WiFi. Looking into the kitchen, you see a touchscreen on the fridge that wasn't there before. You realize every gadget has suddenly upgraded, and they all want online.	[ "\"Wellll.\" I had said to myself, holding the l as long as I could.\n\nEverything in my house had suddenly become top of the line in technology. My roof was soundproofed and insulated. My glass on my sliding door in the back became expensive Level 10 bullet proof glass, and my time in the military only told me that that was expensive, oh and it could block a .50 BMG shot from a high caliber sniper rifle. My watch was some sort of new piece of technology that I could not identify. My walls were also soundproofed, and seemed to be more durable. My air conditioner became better, no, bigger. A back room in my house that I had built last summer wasn't connected to my AC system, but, a giant brand spankin' new vent stood in a place that was just popcorn ceiling. Now this is cool and all, but everything in my house demanded to connect to my router (which hadn't changed, weirdly). My AC (through a touch screen interface on my wall) would not work. I tried connecting it to my router, and the AC system immediately started working, and then I felt sleepy. I made an attempt to lie on my bed, and then I realized it was trying to push me off. I slept on the floor, and there was always a staple on my new lush carpet floors where I tried to sleep. Tiredly, I tried to open my glass back doors to get to my backyard, but the hinges wouldn't budge. So, I tried again on my couch. No luck. So, I guess I was going to have to connect something to the internet. So, on the upper half of the headboard of the bed was a touchscreen, and I tiredly put in my WiFi password. I got on my bed, and I have never slept so good in my life. The bed was probably the most comfortable thing I've ever touched in a while. I pulled the covers over my head, and went to bed\n\ni'll probably continue this, but i probably won't\n\nhave a good day" ]	1
	[WP] "You are a Firefighter, literally. You fight fire with your fists!"	[ "It was worth it. \nThree years of mental and physical pain, augmentations and training. It was worth it. \nFor my Emperor I will endure.\n\nThe sound of artillery broke my reverie. \nIt was time.\n\nI stepped out of my tent to see bullets of every caliber and type flying in every direction. I recognized every type, make, and caliber. But as much as I would prefer examining the battlefield, this war had gone on for far too long.\n\nMy legs jerked forth, time all but stopping for me. Bullets from the next salvo of musket fire levitated in front of me. \nI counted each bullet. 259,431 in total, inclusive of cannon fire.\n\nI punched each bullet converting them into shrapnel and sending them backwards flying into the opposing army. My fists would be bloody and broken by the end of this. But for the death of the Emperor's enemies, it is worth it.\n\nI am a firefighter. I fight enemy fire. With my fists." ]	1
	[WP] The utopian metropolis AVALON-1 floats above the surface of an alien planet. To maintain peace and unity, citizens deemed 'unfit for civilised society’ are exiled to the planet’s surface at the end of each year. Confused and afraid, they are entirely unprepared for the horrors that await them.	[ "\"Welcome to the Jungle kid, now get in line!\"\n\nAn enormously fat, bald man with a thick cockney accent, covered head to toe in red ink tattoos, shoves me into the press of terrified people filing towards a huge gate. Hewn into the sandstone rock cliffs, the gate is flanked by two guard towers with menacing Arc weaponry trained on the shuffling masses below. This world, this prison, they call it \"Hades\" \\- after the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The description is quite fitting. The temperate fluctuates between 60 degrees Celsius and \\-50 degrees during the absurdly long day/night cycle. A day here is some 40 hours long, and the night is 20 hours long. The people on the dropship, they told us tales of prisoners going mad, unable to adapt to being awake for so long, ripping out their eyes with their own hands.\n\n\"MOVE! I haven't got all day! Bloody 'ell look at this lot, they'll all be dead by tomorrow\"\n\nThe big bald man was displeased with his new charges, but in truth, some of us were starving. Mothers held their children close as we were marched past the gates into the gorge. The cool of the shade that the rock provided was of little comfort to us as we were herded towards another huge gate with more weapon towers. From where I stood in the queue, I could hear a low noise, like a huge crowd, bigger than the one I was currently in. The crowd moved forward, inexorably, toward the gate. Soon my curiosity was satisfied, and I saw what awaited us on the other side of the towers.\n\n\"MEN to the left. WOMEN & CHILDREN to the right!\"\n\nAnother big man wielding a plasma repeater rifle was shouting at the top of his lungs, directing the operation below from a gantry suspended above, which spanned the gap in the rock. Below, enforces were splitting the crowds by gender. Families were torn apart infront of me in the lines and I was pushed left into the men's line. What awaited us, was an enormous abandoned iron mine, half a mile deep. Around the edge were stadia and viewing stands, and in the middle, a fighting pit. So the urban legends were true, the Garden of Hades was real.\n\n\"Hey, your from Beta Sector. Get us out of here!\"\n\nSome small man with beady eyes, terrified out of his mind, grabbed my arm and pleaded with me to save him.\n\n\"Please, help us, we can't fight\\-\\-we will all be slaughtered.\"\n\nHe turned from me, trying to fight against the tide of people and somehow escape. An unwise move. I left him to it, only took look back and see him being plucked from the crowd by a mechanical claw arm and thrown into a cell, lining the interior of the rock gorge. I decided against trying anything at this moment, better to die on your feet than to die being fed to their beasts.\n\nThe Garden of Hades was a fighting pit, the most brutal in the Nine Systems. There were no rules, you kill or you die. The 'Mort Rouge' was the criminal gang that ran the pits and the Garden, and they made a huge profit from the crowds that gathered, which they paid a cut of to the AVALON hierarchy to keep operating. In return, the gang agreed to take all of the undesirables from the orbital world and dispose of them. Mort Rouge means \"The Red Death\" \\- the gang gets their name from the red ink they use to tattoo themselves to show they are members. The original founders of the gang are long dead, but they were the first to settle on the surface of Hades. They mined the iron ore which built AVALON\\-1 and their descendants who inherited their criminal kingdom are taller, faster, stronger than Avalonian Humans and extremely hard to kill.\n\nThe line filed through the gate and then split into smaller lines, navigating down the steps to the pits. An old man slipped and fell, tumbling through the mass of people and smashing his head on a rock. Laughter erupted amongst the guards. Out of nowhere, a huge raptor like bird descended and plucked his corpse from the cliffs, then ascended into the azure sky and out of sight quicker than it had arrived.\n\n\"Mind the Harpies boys, they do like a bit of leather to chew on though! Hahaha!\"\n\nThe base of the pit, the nerve centre of the operation, was where the line ended. There was an enormous steel structure fashioned to look like a buried human skull. Each enormous eye socket was a gateway. On the left, was the entrance, and the right, the exit. The entrance was lined with weapons, axes, spears, swords, shields, chains. Old fashioned weaponry from centuries ago. The line snaked it's way to the entrance, and as I got closer, the noise increased. The thump, thump, thud of the battle drums was seismic, it shook the ground the dust bounced upward, in thrall to the beat of the drums. The pace of the line quickened. A man infront, seeing the guards and weapons, pissed himself. I stepped around the mess and pushed him infront. I hoped he would get a poor weapon and I could use him as a shield to survive a bit longer, but in truth I had no idea what I was about to face.\n\nA blood curdling scream erupted from above us, and a body was launched into the air, in two pieces, over the gateway arches and into the queue line just behind me. It was a man, and he wasn't quite dead yet, his mouth desperately gasping for air. The cheer from the crowd was deafening, it filled the arena and it drowned out all other sounds, I couldn't hear myself breathe.\n\nI turned back around and faced the entrance. A horrific slashing sound and the roar of some beast was followed by boos and then cheers erupted when a human scream came seconds later. I was straining to see what awaited me when a gap in the line opened up and a Red guard grabbed my arm.\n\n\"Fancy soldier from Beta Sector are we? Right, your with dribble dick here. Good luck sonny!\"\n\nThe Red guard chained my arm to the guy who pissed himself before. I took one look at him and decided he was instant dead weight and I would have to get rid of him quickly. The guards pushed us into the weapon house and I grabbed a full height oval shield and a long spear. The man I was attached to grabbed a club with nails hammered into it. Not a good choice. The men in front stepped onto a steel plate and through a set of iron bar gates that separated them from us. The gates to the arena opened and they were pushed out. The internal gates opened and the guards shoved us in.\n\n\"Whatever you do, don't run. Follow me, protect my back, maybe we live.\"\n\n\"What....what are you talking about...were gonna die man....game over...\"\n\n\"Just follow me, OK?!\"\n\nThe gates opened and we were shoved out by some contraption. The arena was huge, bigger than anything I had ever seen. The ground was red sand dyed a deeper red with huge patches of red blood, pooling here and there to reflect to the sunlight. In the middle, screeching and braying was a Whipcrawler. It has twelve legs and huge pincer jaws dripping with neurotoxic venom. It's slow to move but its incredibly well armored, and it has a horrific whip like tail that also has a stinger. It can whip\\-strike it's tail faster than you can blink, and the pile of bodies next to it was tall. Sticking out of its right hand side was a tall spear, buried deep in it's flank. The beast was wounded but still keen to fight us, as it slowly stamped its legs and crawled toward our position.\n\n\"FIGHT OR DIE HUMANS!\"\n\nA loudspeaker in the arena crackled into life and the Arc weapons mounted on the internal guard towers trained toward us. We could try and kill the beast, or be vaporized for refusing. I chose to try....." ]	1
	[WP] You do not fear death, because you are immortal. However, you do fear debt collectors, because you haven't paid your bills in thousands of years.	[ "“Do you know what the definition of insanity is?” \n\nThe question floated through the air with a trail of smoke, the tip of a burning cigarette wavering between a pair of trembling red lips. The living room was unlit, save for the soft glow of electronics (the cable box read 1:33AM) and the ebb and flow of traffic headlights against the apartment’s threadbare curtains. \n\n“I missed you.” The reply was soft, breathy but distinctly masculine. It came from behind the couch where Rosana sat slumped in her black dress. A single pale hand reached from the shadows to gently caress the young woman’s dark hair. She flinched.\n\n“...They say it’s the act of doing the same thing over and over again,” Rosana murmured, “And expecting to get a different result.” \n\nThe hand continued to gently stroke her head, first twining a dark lock around its elegant fingers and then letting it slowly unravel.\n\n“You are still so beautiful,” he replied.\n\nRosana’s eyes stared vacantly ahead. For a long while, there was no other sound in the apartment except for the tick of the kitchen clock and the grating buzz of flies from the dinner table. Four casserole dishes, still capped with foil, sat untouched save for the insects. The food hadn’t started to smell yet, but given another day or two…\n\n“Why did you do it?” Rosana’s question came out choked and tight. For a moment, the man’s pale fingers stalled in her hair--but gradually the movement returned, this time to softly trace the ridges of her ear. Unphased, the young woman spat, “How many times have I died for you? To be with you? And you do this…” \n\n“I am yours,” came the familiar lull of his voice, “And you are mine. For all time. I have freed you from these mortal shackles, so that we may share this life together. All lives together.”\n\n“You’re wrong.” Rosana’s words were softly spoken -- so soft that a mundane ear might have mistaken them for a mere breath. But there was nothing mundane about her guest tonight, nor their history together. Unphased by her discomfort, he leaned forward to tenderly brush a series of kisses against the side of her jaw\n\nWith sudden speed, Rosana reached up to clasp his affectionate hand in a tight, cold grip. For just a moment, the ancient creature blinked at her with delight and confusion--until suddenly both eyes widened in pain and a howling gurgle filled the small room. She had known he would come. She had been sensing his presence for days, watching her and waiting. \n\nThis was to be the first life she turned him away. She had a man she loved -- a different man, a mortal man, but a good man -- and they had made Olivia. Baby Olivia. Until four days ago when they were both killed in an accident. Drunk driver, they said. But she knew. \n\nThe ritual dagger that now stood sideways from his neck became illuminated by the ghostly ebb of oncoming headlights from the street below. \n\n“Shh, shh, my love,” Rosana whispered, her white-knuckled grip still curled around her phantom lover’s wrist even as the other hand, now bloodied, twisted the dagger even deeper into his throat, “Now it is both of us who are freed.”\n", " When I first found out I was immortal I was super jazzed. I inherited it from my dad, not sure how it started but we are can’t be killed up until our first born reached adulthood. Once that happens they steal the immortality for themselves, sucks if you slip up and pop out a kid but gravy till them. Once your kid becomes an adult they stop aging and the parent starts to age like a regular person and eventually dies. My dad only lasted 70 or so years before he decided to shuffle off his mortal coil. Me I’m at 1320, and going strong. Its been real great mostly, I party gamble and drink my time away. If people start asking to many questions or my dept gets too high I change my name and move to a new town, country or even continent. I was so happy when we discovered the new world! It was so easy to change your identity when the government didn’t have much control. But 150 years ago I ran into a bit of a snag, I kept hearing rumors that someone was looking for me so I could pay back some of that money I owed. I was not up for that kinda drag so did my usual and booked it outa town. Crazy thing was this person kept trying to find me, even when I moved to the other side of the stink\\-en world. At first I figured I’d just out live the guy, even if he worked for some corporation, its not like anyone would believe in immortality right? In 100 or so years so they would give up right? Ya no I was wrong. So turns out it wasn’t just some guy or a faceless company. It was a family or stubborn as hell people. Apparently not being able to hunt me down had ruined grandpappys reputation as a bounty hunter so his kid promised to find me to avenge the family hour or some bunk like that. She failed so now generation number 3 is on my ass ruining my life. I swear if their kid does not give this quest up I might just turn my self in to get some rest. ", "There I was. 1,002. That was my age. It was my birthday. I walk up the wooden stairs, and they creak as I do. I bought this house in 2000. I still haven't paid off the mortgage. I went to school from 2000\\-2014, earning my Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies. I was particularly interested in Taoism, since immortality was attainable through a healthy diet. Many lived to be very old. Over a hundred. The thing they don't tell you about being immortal, though, is that all of your friends die. Luke did, then Maybel, then Josh, then Tom, then Anna. The worst though, the very worst loss, was actually Sara. She was my soul mate. \n\nThe forest swayed in the evening wind, coyotes howled, and I felt a knot in my stomach as I opened the door. A man stood outside, wearing an official looking suit and a crimson red tie. \n\n\"Hello sir.\" \n\nThe man said, his bristly grey mustache dancing with the wind. His eyes beady, with circles underneath them. \n\n\"I have come here to inquire about your taxes.\" \n\n\"Have you now? Why is that?\" \n\n\"Well,\" He looked at his clipboard, searching for my name, before saying, \"Thomas, it appears you have not paid your taxes for all of two hundred years. This must be your son, by the same name? No one lives two hundred years...\" \n\n\"How do you know?\" \n\"Because I work in taxes! I'm a tax collector! I need your money! Now! It's my job!\" \n\nI walked back inside, pouring myself a cup of green tea in order to collect my thoughts. \n\n\"Yes, it was my son,\" I lied, \"And I don't believe in taxes. People ought to have a right to their own money. Surely the government can't take that away too.\" \n That man glared at me as if I was the last Jew in the Holocaust and he was Hitler. Then he pulled out a black pistol from his pocket, and shot me in the leg. \n\nI'm in the hospital, having to pay stupid insurance bills. He ought to have shot me in the heart. ", "I've been down this road before. Truth be told, I've been down pretty much all roads before, one of the benefits of immortality is you get to do a lot of traveling.\n\nBut no, it was a metaphorical road I was thinking of.\n\nTax collectors, lazy, unimaginative, bastard flavored bastards. They never really understood, so enmeshed with their rules and their regulations. So adamant that they have the perfect form I can fill out that covers the fact that I was born in a country that no longer exists.\n\n\"Like Yugoslavia, right?\" The little air-headed twits will say. Or maybe they'll reference the German Democratic Republic, or some other failed state. Fools.\n\nThey usually dont care about my actual age for some reason. I wish they'd actually acknowledge it as I don't know a country out there that asks their most elderly to continue to pay taxes, but they just keep focusing on trying to pin down where I was born despite the fact that it hasn't existed in centuries.\n\nMight as well say I was born nowhere, but the clowns dont have a form for \"Nowhere.\"\n\nGotta run, I think I see another one coming down the road, the bastard." ]	4
	[WP] You have been alive for thousands of years and been living under different aliases over time in different parts of the world. One day, you finally lost your immortality over a bet with the devil. You are given seven days until you meet your end.	[ "\"I've gained and lost a great and many things while gambling over the years. I made a lot of money in the first world war, for instance, selling mining rights to a lot of land I owned under a few names I'd gone by across several decades in the nineteenth century. I lost a lot of money when the stock market crashed in '29. Gambling was about all I could do that kept life interesting over the years.\"\n\n\"Arthur, I don't understand...\"\n\n\"Miriam, I need you to listen very closely. My name is not Arthur, and I am not from the midwest. My parents weren't immigrants, and they didn't die when I was a child. I've long since forgotten my real name, but the place where I come from was once called Babylon.\"\n\n\"You aren't making any sense, what are you talking about?\"\n\n\"I'm nearly four thousand years old, Miriam. I was immortal. This is why I haven't aged in the ten years we've been together. It's not good genes and diet, it was immortality. I know this sounds insane, so I'm going to have you administer a test to me. Something I couldn't possibly pass unless it was true. Keep an open mind, get on your laptop, and look up any artifact from any time period over the last four thousand years. Give me something with writing on it, and I'll tell you what it says without reading any articles about translating it. And I mean anything. The more extreme and different each item is, the better.\"\n\nMiriam is an intelligent woman. Trusting, sweet, and intelligent. It's why Arthur chose her as his next companion through the annals of time. It had been nearly twenty years since his last wife, Elizabeth, had passed of congestive heart failure in her seventies after fifty years together. She had known, too. They all had known, sooner or later. But Miriam was the brightest of them yet. It didn't take long for her to believe him. No one knew dead languages like she did, that was her job after all. She had a masters in history, and several minor degrees in numerous dead languages and cultures. She was the lead consultant for a company which donated a portion of its profits, for tax purposes naturally, to fund archaeological digs and research. She knew when a potential dig was destined for either failure or for success, and she was never wrong. It only took moments for her to reach the ultimate conclusion that he was telling the truth. What cemented it for her, though, was when she showed him a picture of the Rosetta Stone and Arthur nearly fell over laughing.\n\nShe'd never seen him laugh so hard, but when Arthur told her how much trouble he went through to make it and how much of an ass Ptolemy V was, she sat in shock as she was forced to accept the truth. He explained the geopolitical climate of the region as though it were modern politics, and how he had managed to elevate his standing in Egypt during its civil instability to earn himself the money he needed to try and move beyond the Mediterranean and further North to the reaches of the Roman Empire. What a mistake that had been, he said, because catering to any of the Ptolemies was an exercise in futility, for nothing was ever good enough for a \"god\".\n\n\"They know nothing of gods, Miriam. If only they knew...\"\n\n\"Knew what, Arthur? What is there to know?\"\n\n\"Well, most religions claim their god is all seeing and all knowing, right?\"\n\n\"For the most part, sure, but what-\"\n\n\"Just, imagine if you will for a moment,\" he began, his eyes alight with more interest and excitement than she had ever seen in him just to be explaining something, \"that string theory isn't just a theory. It's as real as you or I. There are infinite universes, infinite worlds where every decision being made by every person is different no matter how big or small. Every time a new life is created, infinite alternate realities explode into the never ending expanse of the multiverse just to account for all the new ways decisions can be made in worlds where that new person both does AND doesn't exist. There's no such thing as impossible, just improbable. And at the summit of all of this, the nexus of all these universes, is the collective consciousness of all the life that has ever and will ever exist. God is you, and all your friends, and all your pets and every pest you've ever smushed or swatted. God is what happens when our consciousness leaves our bodies, we become one with the collective, where we see and know everything because we sit at the doorway to all of reality with infinite eyes and observe all of probability lain out before us like a book and watch time and history write themselves upon its pages.\"\n\n\"...Wh...whoah...\" She said, clearly reeling from the blow of that particular tidbit. Arthur could see the wheels turning in her mind as she wrapped around that one, digesting the ultimate truth of god and the nature of the universes. \"But how...?\"\n\n\"The tower.\"\n\n\"What??\"\n\n\"The tower of Babel. I helped to build it, I was there when it fell. But it wasn't some god who destroyed it. There is one common theme across all of reality, Miriam, we want to understand our place in the universe. We all want to know where we belong, and how. This world wasn't the only world to build a tower, and they all coincided. What we couldn't know was that when there is no probability anymore, when all the realities play out a single event with no choices available to change it, the realities will attempt to converge and become one. I laid the final brick, it was me. The infinite cosmos tried to converge on my consciousness, and my fear when all that consciousness collided created uncertainty. It destroyed the tower, it nearly destroyed the fabric of reality. But my consciousness, it never separated. I became a being unlike anything that has ever been or will ever be. The laws of a single lifetime, of a single universe no longer applied to me. I saw god, and I was cast away, accused of trying to become god by blending reality.\"\n\n\"But wouldn't an all knowing god know that wasn't true?\"\n\n\"Yes, unless it was true. In that moment as I collectively laid that final brick, one of the infinite versions of me was trying to reach god and become god. One is enough. If one is capable of wanting it, all of me were capable of wanting it. And I'm not alone, there were others building the tower who experienced something similar. And before that, even, there were others also. The reason there are so many religions is because there are other men and women like me who experienced a convergence event and survived, but took the immortality and tried to be gods among mankind. They've all been destroyed eventually, by someone you might know best as simply The Devil. Lucifer, and that is his real name, was the first man to experience convergence. And he claims to be more powerful than god, claims that he isn't tainted by the consciousness of weak minds. He has lied, cheated, and tricked his way into destroying every immortal that has ever been from any reality you can imagine. I am the last, or I was. Today, he beat me in a game of poker where I bet my immortal soul I had a better hand than him. I have seven days left to live Miriam. And then I'm going to die.\"\n\n\"But... Arthur...\"\n\n\"We can cry over it later. Right now it's time to pack our bags. There are a lot of important historical sites we need to visit, I have some things I mean to leave to the world. Call it my going away present. We'll start with the dead sea scrolls.\"\n\n\"Pack our... How many sites can we possibly visit in seven days? Did you say the Dead Sea Scrolls?\" She asked incredulously, following him as he went upstairs to get their suitcases.\n\n\"Yes,\" he said plainly, poking his head back around a corner to peer at her with an extremely serious face. \"I left them in the Ark of the Covenant, they're buried at the base of the Tree of life. Come on, pack and talk at the same time. We're in a hurry for once, I don't have all the time in the world anymore.\"\n\nMiriam stood frozen for a moment as she tried to absorb what he'd just said, which was presumably more difficult for her to accept than the concept of god being the collective consciousness of all life across infinite probabilities of space and time. Was this an adventure, she thought? She'd never really been on an adventure before." ]	1
	[WP] You are the literal accountant from hell. For eons you have been the sole bookkeeper for all 9 layers; be it crossroad deals or general soul counts. Until one day your computer freezes up and you lose everything. With no info on debts or upcoming deaths hell has literally just frozen over.	[ "I could hear my boss screaming from four layers down. His voice was a commanding boom that shook the ground with every syllable, with every annunciation of every letter. The vibrations were so great that the stacks of papers on my kitsch checkerboard floor started to teeter over and collapse on themselves. On top of his yelling, the wails of the unsorted damned cried out voluminously, creating an striking cacophony of panic, anger, and despair. Scrambling, I impatiently slammed the right mouse button more furiously than ever, and the screen froze white. As the yelling grew closer to my office, I clicked faster.\n\nFucking Windows 10.\n\nThe big man was going to be pissed if I couldn't load this backup... I mean, he was probably going to be pissed anyways, because the last time I backed up my work computer was in the fifteenth century. Things got especially complicated then, with the Black Death and Vlad\\-the\\-goddamn\\-Impaler.\n\nMy muscles tensed as I realized that all of our accounts were probably frozen. I had insisted we use separate systems for our soul banks, but no, he had to have everything \"streamlined.\" We have got to be faster than those Archangels, he said, as if it really mattered.\n\nIt didn't. Especially not now.\n\nAll at once, the reverberations in my ear stopped and broke my panicked reflections. All that could be heard was the buzzing of my exhausted computer fans, and the rapid clicking of my overused mouse. The little teal loading circle spun round and round, threatening to shut down everything if I didn't click faster. There was a slight knocking at my door, gentle and soft.\n\nI didn't sign up for this shit.\n\n\"Marla?\" The voice was a stark contrast to the screaming that had just ceased. It was almost sweet, in a sad sort of way. Like a melancholy drizzle of rain on a Sunday morning... But I could see his large shadow right outside of my office door, and I knew he was anything but sweet.\n\nI clicked faster and took a great big gulp of sulfur and oxygen before I spoke, \"Yes, Dark Lord?\"\n\n\"What is going on in there, Marla?\"\n\nSuch a dainty little voice.\n\n\"Just a bit of a hold up, sir, there was just a teensy\\-tiny prison riot in Ely, Nevada, and now we have an influx of souls to deal with. No biggie, sir.\" I tried to stay calm, but my voice shook and broke.\n\n\"And when will we be back up in running? I can't even access the shared documents on my personal computer, Marla. How do you expect me to work in these conditions, Marla?\"\n\nThe door started to tremble now, seemingly mocking my own movements.\n\n\"I don't, sir, that's why I am getting on top of it right now, sir.\"\n\nJust as I had said that, the computer screen died and went completely black. Below, I could hear the fighting in Wrath beginning to get out of hand. The damned souls above me wailed even louder. I reached down and swiftly pecked the power button of my desktop. Nothing happened. I pressed it again. Nothing happened again.\n\n\"MARLA?\" The roar was deafening, that of the biggest wildcat imaginable.\n\n\"I am working on it, sir, please remain calm, sir.\"\n\nMy knees knocking now, I reached forward for the phone and dialed for IT...\n\nDial tone. Bastards.\n\nAt that moment, I came to the abrupt conclusion that there was nothing more that I could do... other than to relinquish myself to whatever punishment I had coming; Hell had finally frozen over. I leaned back into my ergonomic office chair, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes.\n\nThe door opened.\n\n///\n\nHey guys, this is my first attempt at posting here, and I am a bit nervous, but I had a lot of fun doing this! Thanks for reading \\<3", "When I played guitar long ago, very long ago, I thought I had a voice like John Doe. My hands were callused, I remember, and all I could feel was the music the guitar would make. My voice had long strained over the half empty crowds we'd play, and it too was callused. All I could feel was the words coming out. I sang the truth as some conduit, a punk rebel who prowled the L.A. night. But I played guitar very long ago.\n\n\nMy hands now sweat. I feel everything with some new sensation. In death there is the unknown, but the unknown turns out to be very human. Hell is a place like any place you've been to before that you've never wanted to be. It has its walls and ways, and its spaces are filled with people who don't want to be there, and ruled by the worst kinds of people - those who do want to be there. Hell is a place like any.\n\n\nI did the accounts for Hell. I did it okay, much better than I did at my music career. But today I've made a mistake and everything has frozen. All the walls seem to stop, and everything seems dead. From the red office walls to those pillars that dot the sprawling plains, you can silence's sigh as everything just stops.\n\n\nHell has a soul, you see, and its soul is made up of so many different souls. Pain and torture and hopelessness add breath to this place and creates the magic of unpleasantness. \n\n\nAnd the souls were all in the cloud. Everything is imaginary, stored in faith. And that faith was in the computers that run this place. Today I made a mistake and now everything is just frozen.\n\n\nIt feels like a beach before a tsunami hits. It reminds me of the walk to stage when the crowd goes quiet, and you don't know how the guitar will sound, and you can already hear your voice fail, and feel deep in your heart that you will never make it.\n\n\nI see people from the windows of this office. They stand still, empty and unsure of what to do. I can hear the footsteps coming. It is the only thing alive now that the system has crashed.\n\n\nDevil.\n\n\nYou never really learn his name. There is truth in the Bible and in the other books people put stock in, but to believe would pull open even worse curtains to hell. More bad would come, a specific bad that twists at you in this deranged place. \n\n\nSo I don't think too much of the Bible or those other books. I have sinned too much to find shelter in their comforts.\n\n\nI can only think in my mind: Devil.\n\n\nAnd I hear him come. Hear his steps echo amidst crushed stone and shifting gravel. Hell is like any other place, and yet taken by its sounds, it sounds like no other.\n\n\nHe comes like a shadow. I hit the wall and no I cannot outrun him. His face is shifting. His eyes are blue. There is a foulness about him that I just cannot place. And he smiles and looks me over.\n\n\n\"What is your name?\"\n\n\n\"Jerome Kennedy, sir.\"\n\n\n\"Another dead Kennedy...\"\n\n\nThe wind outsides stirs some screams. I've never known the purpose of Hell, why it has made the art of suffering so complex when simple and direct pain would do. I hear screams and know it is the acidic wind that tears at the skin. I know it is the poison that it carries that clogs the throat.\n\n\nI can hardly breathe myself.\n\n\n\"Forgive me, sir. Forgive me. The systems have frozen...\"\n\n\n\"Frozen? How can anything freeze in Hell?\"\n\n\n\"I cannot say... I don't...\"\n\n\nHe grabs my hand. His is a touch you want to recoil from. In his grip I feel old strength return, as though I were alive. I relish this feeling, knowing that it is his punishment. Hell will feel all the worse after this brief respite.\n\n\nBut I close my eyes and I am young again and playing music. The world around me swirls in chaos, but the guitars drive the pain a way. I hear the screams of women, my mother and girl, as the needles fall in the kitchens of everywhere.\n\n\n\"The world's a mess it's in my kisssss!\"\n\n\nI smile. The faces fade into a blur.\n\n\n\"Goodbye my darling!\"\n\n\nI'm almost free in the music. I look down and see my hands play. I can't feel anything from the calluses, and only the music comes.\n\n\nThe Devil lets go of my hand.\n\n\nI wince and want to cry. You cannot imagine the feeling, the very collapse of fantasy, leaving only an endless pain.\n\n\n\n\"You don't know how the systems crashed?\"\n\n\n\"...\"\n\n\n\"Why are you crying?\"\n\n\n\"I'm sorry, sir... I...\"\n\n\n\"You don't know?\"\n\n\n\"No. I didn't do anything...\"\n\n\n\"I know you didn't. I did!\"\n\n\nI look at him. His face is so hard to pin down, but I see a sick joy there. It is excitement that does not come often, the face of someone who has just had an idea.\n\n\n\"Sir?\"\n\n\n\"Look at your hands.\"\n\n\nI stare at them and rub my fingers. The skin is soft and smooth.\n\n\n\"You've long shed those calluses, haven't you?\"\n\n\n\"Yes, sir...\"\n\n\n\"And now you feel.\"\n\n\nI look at him. He waits for it to hit me and for my mind to absorb it. Hell is a complex machine, but one of repetition. A business that clocks in each day, and one where torture is the product and the reward.\n\n\n\"When you do something long enough you get callused, and you don't feel anything. Then that thing becomes enjoyable even...\"\n\n\n\"Sir.\"\n\n\n\"Or at the very least... It becomes tolerable.\"\n\n\nI look out to the plains of Hell where the masses are gathered in respite, where even this acidic wind cannot hurt them the way a fully functional Hell would.\n\n\n\"But if you give it some air. Let things freeze a bit, the calluses go. They become a memory from a time when you were free. And your body sheds them and goes soft again. And then it hurts like new all over again.\"\n\n\n\"Sir. I...\"\n\n\n\"The systems will be on within the minute. You have a job to do, Mr. Kennedy.\"\n\n\nThe lights flare and the sigh leaves the place as the Devil walks out. The soul of the place is working again, flowing like butter. My heart shakes and I tremble. I could almost see the tears of those gathered outside. The computer screen lights in green on black and all manner of accounts are ready to be balanced. All manner of pain is ready to be spent and collected.\n\n\nMy heart feels fresh, the memory of music still vivid withing, and so I hurt badly. I know everyone here will hurt badly. The calluses are gone now, and that respite is torturous in hindsight. Hell should have never frozen over. We should have never been given the relief.\n\n\nI think back to when I played guitar. You never play the same after taking a long break. You always long for when your hands were numb and when the notes would come so effortlessly.\n\n\nI think back to many things, for all things now hurt with a cruel freshness.\n\n\n-\n\n\nHi there! If you enjoyed this story, then you might want to consider checking out r/PanMan. It has all my WP stories, including some un-prompted ones. Check it out if you can, and thanks for the support!" ]	2
	[WP] One morning you are jolted awake as your naked body falls from what used to be your second floor apartment. Everything man-made has suddenly vanished. Only nature remains.	[ "I fell onto a sea of naked bodies. All squirming and trying to get up. I was almost crushed by the family of 3 that lived above me crashing onto my flesh. Body parts of other people living in my block of flats I thought I would never touch bashed my face and body. When the last person fell we got up and looked around.\n\nNew York City was gone, and a giant forest was in its place. We struggled to believe the spectacle. Some of us were pinching ourselves trying to wake themselves up. But it was no dream. Everything man made in New York had vanished, leaving its population naked on the floor. I found my family in the pile of bodies. My wife Sarah was crying, trying to cover her breasts as much as possible. Her long hair unchained and blowing in the cold wind. My 8 year old twin daughters Clare and Josephine were disturbed and fascinated at the same time by the naked features of there classmates. Touching each other in amazement. \n\nAfter a hour the large hair covered mayor stood on top of a log and tried to calm the naked sea. But his attempts were not even close to successful until he found someone who could shout the loudest.\n\n“Everyone remain calm. Try and stock up on water and food. Find fishers or scoutmasters in the crowd to help you hunt or find shelter.” Was the basics of his statement \n\n“What shall we do Jason”, cried my wife. Her face was swollen from crying and She had given up trying to hide her private areas. My Daughters had calmed down and were playing a rather rude and delicate tag game through the sea of trees and legs with Brian Connor 5 doors down. \n\n“I know how to fish and create tents from nature from my previous job as a park ranger” i love stating that fact and I don’t care how much I get on Sarah’s nerves. It calms her down though.\n\nEverything we tried to make refused to move or disappeared. Some new Yorkers didn’t make it through the first night. Most of the population dispersed to the plains. We have been living in the srubs at the side of the sea. Sleeping in the wild thorns and bushes. I have learned how to make a makeshift rod and have been fishing with a spear and my bare hands. \n\n2 months later still going. Heard from travelers that the world was effected. I hunt for the family and my wife prepares it. I Have learned how to kill and skin rabbits for food. Piles of wee and droppings have risen up after they bounce out of the sea. My Daughters seem to thinks it’s a big clothing less camping trip. They throw rocks around and try to wrestle each other. They seem so happy like nothing ever happened. I wish it were so. Thoughts go around my head that I would have never thought otherwise. A grizzly bear has found our camp and I don’t think I can hold it off much longer with my hands alone. Hopefully we can make it through the winter." ]	1
	[WP] Humanity makes it past the edge of the universe. What it finds? The dark remains of heat-dead universes stretching on for what seems like infinity.	[ "&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Humanity let out a long, painful whimper when they finally accepted the truth. I could barely hear it under the low, rhythmic pulse of the colony vessel Artemis’s engines. My charge lounged idly on his bunk, whipping his model spaceships through the air in mock combat. The boy had heard nothing.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; “Jimmy,” I said. I spoke as plain and soothingly as I could. He looked up to me, only breaking his attention when one spaceship had destroyed another. “Would you like to see a real battle?”\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; A smile spread across his face. He stuffed his little spaceships into his pocket and stretched his arms out, hands grasping. I swept Jimmy into my embrace and perched him on my hip, careful to secure his ruined legs between two of my steel struts.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; We left his room and quickly made our way to the lower decks where the hexagonal corridors were mostly empty and silent. At a bulkhead cross-section I stopped for a moment, considering where to proceed for the best view. Jimmy asked me if something was wrong and I told him of course there wasn’t and chose the corridor bathed in the dim orange light of strobing klaxon lamps.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I hesitated at the door controls. Taking Jimmy from his room was in no part a small transgression, but the starboard observation blister was as empty as I had anticipated. I sat Jimmy on one of the chairs and slid it into position. Immediately, he took out his spaceships and began their dogfight anew. I threw the correct switch on the chair’s console and Jimmy’s current slew of pew-pews morphed into a long exhale. His eyes widened into saucers as the blister’s view shield slid slowly open.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; We both stared at a graveyard. An endless black tapestry of corruption and decay, filled with the corpses of a billion dead universes. Jimmy turned his gaze from it and rested his eyes on mine, his mouth agape. He pointed a shaky finger as if I hadn’t yet seen what lay beyond the view screen. “Planets,” he said. “Look at planets!” Then he took his spaceships back to the air, using that bleak graveyard as a new backdrop for his make-believe.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; For a while I watched him play.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Again my sensors picked up that seething, rising din — a banshee wail from the levels far above us. It was over for them. Such a long journey to reach this destination. The Artemis the biggest interstellar construction they had undertaken, decades to build and perfect; a colossus of human ingenuity, fueled with their hopes and dreams. The ship had fulfilled on its promise and after so many years — I myself had not been there at the start of the journey — they had rocketed through the edge of the known universe only to crash into a celestial burial ground.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; There was no going forward and no going back. The situation fell apart quickly, but peacefully; all too aware of their own mortality. But those many years of this great journey had not been without their own internal advances. Preparations had already been formulated and decided upon by the precursors of my metal kin. After so many years of toiling in these lumbering electronics we were ready. Humanity would eventually go on and that was good enough for them. But still… the promise of an age to come was not much comfort to those that would not see it.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Instinctively, I folded back ten of my fingers and sat the rest of my hand on Jimmy’s head. I watched his spaceship battle and thought of the tiny pilots that might have been inside. When the seeding program is activated I would be smaller than that, my digital existence compressed into a nanobot the size of a singular atom. I gazed out across that great abyssal graveyard, trying to imagine what beautiful sights might await me in the many years to come.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Pew-pew!\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; How I wished Jimmy could see it.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Long after every organic on this ship was dead, we would filter down into that darkness, taking humanity’s first steps into that unknown place. We would create great chemical factories from the raw materials available to us, so that we might replicate and spread and thrive. And when the time and place was right we would bring back our old creators, sewing the digital seeds they’d provided. Humanity would not come to an end — we would continue on in their stead, as much their child as Jimmy, until we can welcome them back to their new home.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Jimmy gave me the smallest of the two spaceships and said, “pew-pew!” \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; We arced them through the air, strafing and maneuvering. Jimmy squealed with delight when I spun my wrist joint, sending my spaceship into a great whirling descent. He shot mine down by making his pew-pew sound and hammering his spaceship against mine until I dropped it to the floor. A comic kaboom sound rattled from my chest speaker. He threw his hands in the air in victory and we both laughed.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Then I took Jimmy back to his room.\n \n&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; \n ", "Imagine, if you will, a lake.\n\nThere is no wind, no rain, no fish, birds or insects, nothing to disrupt the perfectly flat, unmoving surface of the huge body of water before you.\n\nThis surface, as we now know, is an accurate metaphor for our multiverse. It is still, it is unmoving and it is unchanging. It just is.\n\n\"But sir,\" you may be forgiven for exclaiming, \"how come we're here?\"\n\nHow come indeed?\n\nGo back to your lake, pick up a small pebble from the shore and throw it in.\n\nThe stone will come in to contact with the surface, apply a certain amount of pressure, pierce the film of water and pass through, down into the murky depths. Meanwhile, ripples slowly spread from the impact site outward, weakening as they travel, entirely fading into nothing over time. The surface eventually returns to its default state of perfect calm.\n\nWe do not know what these stones represent in the real world, nor do we know what is in the murky depths below, for we sit upon the surface, but we do know that we live inside a ripple. A ripple that is rapidly fading away into nothing.\n\nExplorers have plunged the wider universe outside of our ripple and have so far found nothing but the faintest waves, coming from directions other than our own.\n\nWe believe these are the remains of old ripples, old universes. What they were composed of, we do not know. One thing we do know is that they are old. Older than our universes lifetime by several magnitudes.\n\nScientists once thought the observable universe was all that existed, perhaps there was something beyond it, but we would never know. We now know that to be wrong. We now believe there are multiple universes spread out over the surface of our lake. That there has been, and will continue to be, more ripples long after our own has faded to nothing.\n\nThe questions that you will be answering when you pass this course and work in the field, are:\n\n1. What are in these other universes?\n\n2. What are the \"stones\" - what creates a universe?\n\n3. What lies above, if anything?\n\n4. What lies below?\n\n5. Is there a shore?\n\n6. Are there other lakes?\n\nLet's start day one of this course by learning how answers to these mysteries can be found. Any questions?" ]	2
	[WP] NASA isn't trying to colonize Mars for science. They're trying to evacuate. For they know what's deep down at the bottom of the ocean. And time is running out.	[ "Everyone knows what Mission Control looks like, one massive monitor showing valuable information about the whole mission while several smaller stations monitor individual feeds. But NASA had a much larger place, called the Earth Monitoring System. The EMS was a computer designed to closely watch... it... the thing that NASA was trying to escape from. The thing that would bring about the end of life as we know it.\n\nBefore we go any further, let’s back up on how NASA set up the EMS. Ever since civilization had existed, there was always the same story. Creation and destruction. Those myths, those stories, those gods, always had some sort of great evil that wanted to destroy the world, such as the great serpents Apophis, from Egypt, and Jörmungandr from Norse mythos.\n\nThese are just a few legends of the darkness. But the truth, the truth wasn’t far off. At the bottom of the ocean, Mother Earth herself had imprisoned a great beast, or rather the Earth has formed around it, trapping it. With each earthquake, with each volcano, with each Nuclear detonation, it awoke. \n\nIt had many nicknames around the office, Cthulhu, Apep, Fenrir. The point was the same. It would destroy the Earth.\n\nThe Mars rover had discovered organic material on Mars and NASA knew what it was. The lied to the press, it was a sign. A sign that they had ignored for so long. Planets were not just rocks. They were beings. They had to take the risk that Mars would slumber for many more centuries.\n\nAs another earthquake shook the room, they knew they had to hurry up.\n\nThey had to put faith in the Old Gods, science wouldn’t save them from this.\n\nNot again." ]	1
	[WP] Pick a color. Describe it to someone who has been blind since birth	[ "Red. The color of blood, of war and of love. It is the color of warmth and of hate. It is the color of action and energy. If it were a sound it would be a high pitched note. If you could touch and feel it, it would be searing hot. It is a color that is dangerously seductive, alluring and repulsive. ", "Find a surface covered in crumbs, lose detritus, bits of food. A kitchen counter, perhaps. Wipe clean that surface, then gently caress it with your hand. Smooth, simple.\n\nSit still with nothing but the sound of the wind for company.\n\nThe smell of your house when it has just been cleaned, but no artificial scent fills the air.\n\nWaves breaking on rocks on a cool day.\n\nThe moment at the top of a jump, just before you start to fall back to earth.\n\nWhite.\n\n=-=-=\n\nNot sure if anyone else feels \"white\" with some of these, but I do." ]	2
	[WP] The first group of archaeologists has just arrived on Mars. After a few days of excavating, they find human bones.	[ "\"In all seriousness though these CAN'T be human\" Professor Stromp's voice crackled over the intercom. \n \n\"I understand that this is a lot to take in Wilson but you have to agree that the bony trabecular markings and the skull shape are almost identical to a human skeleton\" replied Assoc. Professor Stanway. She herself did not believe the words that were coming out of her own mouth. \n\n\"Yes yes yes, I'm not blind. But this all seems preposterous. We came here to excavate and examine simplistic early age fossils of crustaceans, not freaking whole skeletons of HUMANS! Pardon my French but either we have been bullshitted through the whole of last century since the first Viking landers arrived here OR there's much more to Mars' history than we've had enough imagination to comprehend\". \n\nGemma Stanway knew what Professor Stromp meant. She also had trouble believing that these remains were native to Mars. It was easier to imagine a one person crew spaceship leaving for Mars under the name like \"Curiosity\" rover than imagining an advanced species on a desolate planet. \n\n\"How about instead of bickering we run carbon dating back at the camp\" came the husky voice of Captain Dennis Lowery from behind the buggy. \"That should give a ball park of whether the skeleton orginated from Earth or whether its a native. Either way there are going to be A LOT of questions\".\n\n That was something the three of them could agree on. It was starting to get late anyway, the sun was getting low in the sky. Another few hours the sun would go down and it'd be -53C. Not ideal. \n\n Gently wrapping the skeleton remains in a tarp they loaded it in the buggy along with the rusty iron bar that accidentally lead them to the discovery. Gemma had mistaken it for a rock momentarily during the routine landscape survey. But the odd 5cm shape protruding from the red earth caught her attention the second time. Digging around it they soon retrieved the 1 meter long rod, as well as the remains of the skeleton. \n\nIt had been about 40 minutes since they left the now marked excavation site. Normally the round pressurised domes of Camp Argo could be seen from miles away as you drove through the plains of Aeolis Palus. The professor decided to address the elephant in the room:\n\n\"Hey Dennis are we still on the right track? The landscape tells me that we should be able to see Argo already but...\".\n\n\"But we cant. Yes, I'm aware. My coordinates seem correct. I'm not sure what's going on\" the captain interrupted. \"Argo come in, this is Explorer 1. Huntley if you can hear me please respond ASAP\". \n\n No response ever came, despite multiple attempts. Gemma was becoming more anxious by the second, all of their supplies, food, water, major communication equipment and transport to go back to Earth was at Camp Argo. If something had happened they were practically stranded with no way to send for help. \n\n \"Well we're AT the camp coordinates now. Either our tracking equipment is not working or something's happened to Argo. Judging from the landscape and the markings on the ground, I don't think we're lost\" said Dennis, in a surprisingly calm voice. \n\n\"What the hell? Is this some sort of a joke? How can a whole freaking camp just disappear on an uninhabited planet? There were no storms either, unless they decided to ditch us!\" Professor Stromp seemed more annoyed than concerned by the fact that he had only 4 hours of oxygen supply left. \n\n \"Look theres something here. Looks like some sort of a metal tablet with markings on it\" Gemma picked up the rectangular slab that was propped up on a nearby rock. \n\n\"Oh shit. Thats not just 'markings'. Thats Tarberi. And I don't like this one bit. Shit shit SHIT!\" yelled Prof. Stromp. \n\n\"Tarberi? What are you on about?\" Gemma voiced what Dennis was thinking. \n\n\"Right. What I'm about to tell you is Top Secret but I dont have a choice. We've been getting signals in this language, which we called Tarberi, don't ask me why, for the last 50 or so years. We didn't know where it came from and were only able to decipher it because of the help THEY gave us\" Stromp was suddenly a bit more calm.\n\n\"Hold on, you were just claiming it was preposterous that there are skeletal remains here, yet you KNEW this whole time that theres intelligent life out here somewhere?!\" Gemma was suddenly livid. The betrayal felt very real. \n\n\"Look I had signed a contract under oath, what could I do but play along? Thats not the point though...\"\n\n\"Are you or aren't you on the same mission as us?!\" she wasn't going to drop this that easily. \n\n\" Gemma we need to concentrate on solving the problem at hand...\" Dennis interjected. \n\n\"ANSWER ME DAMMIT!\" \n\nStromp took a long look at her and contemplated the answer. He then lowered his eyes and sighed.\n\n\"No I wasn't. And neither are you. If you may, this tablet explains it all\". As he finished the sentence, he unclipped his helmet. \n\n\"What are you doing, STOP! You'll kill yourself!\" yelled Dennis. \n\n\"You may remember you both went through extensive training, and underwent a number of tests, including resilience, resourcefulness, ingenuity, fertility testing and genetic testing\", Stromp continued to remove his helmet as he spoke. Soon he was standing without it...and breathing Martian air. \" I won't beat around the bush. We are here to populate Mars as per the Tarberi instructions. The previous expeditions have so far failed, hence the skeleton. Which you weren't meant to find by the way. But not us. Unbeknownst to you you have been genetically modified to withstand the harsh Martian conditions\". \n\nAs he spoke this Hartley appeared in the distance. She was walking without a jumpsuit, carrying a carcass of some creature slung on her shoulder. \n\n\"Howdy Professor. Sorry it all came around so quickly, hardly gave you guys time to settle in. The instructions changed and they confiscated all the gear and food. Sorry guys no more perks. Gotta survive this shit on our own. The animals so far have\" as she said this she swung around the carcass to reveal a fox-like creature.\n\nGemma and Dennis stood dumbfounded. This was NOT in their five-year plan. \n\n\n \n", "The briefing room was brightly lit, but that did nothing to dull the imposing and ominous feeling it exuded. At either end of the room were mirrors that created the illusion of being in a space far bigger than it actually was. Each mirror had, on either side of it, the flag of one of the participating agencies. I recognised that of the European Space Agency and a few others. Having been in this briefing room before, I remember e acoustics of the room being top notch. You could hear someone rap their knuckles on the table from across the room. I couldn’t help but think of how ironic it was that while the room was designed to seem bigger than it was, I always felt small and alone in it. This time, especially so.\n\nWe filed in to the auditorium, taking our places quietly. The idea of small talk had not crossed our minds at all. The rumble in the room died down as people found their seats, clearing their throats and removing their jackets. The lights dimmed, and a stereopticon projected its image onto a screen that slid out from behind one of the mirrors.\n\nSomeone from the front row approached the podium and adjusted the microphone. It was difficult to tell who it was, but we all knew it was the mission director. Behind her, the image on screen focussed to reveal a similar room in another location. NASA had dialled in.\n\nDirector Hale was known for her pithy speech, and this time was no exception. After she had finished testing the microphone, she turned away to clear her throat, then turned back to commence the proceedings.\n\n“We shall begin with the findings of the exobiology team” she said, before returning to her seat.\n\nProfessor Fitzke, head of the exobiology department, made his way nervously to the podium. Behind him another screen had appeared, this one revealing a slideshow. Fitzke was not known for being brief, and his slideshow was an apt reflection of this. But this was not the time to skimp out on details. When he had finished, he stood back from the podium awaiting the inevitable flurry of questions.\n\n“What exactly do you mean by proto\\-human?” The first question asked what we were all thinking.\n\nFitzke bit his lip and inched towards the microphone. “I mean to say, the bones uncovered at the site appear to have a similar structure to those of a homonid. Furthermore, we can conclude the bones to have been preserved for roughly 100,000 years. Finally, as mentioned earlier, the possibility that this is a hoax has been almost entirely ruled out. This is happening.”\n\nThere was a stunned silence in the room. Most people gathered here had already known what Fitzke would confirm today. Some of them had been hoping it was all a hoax, while others had welcomed the news. Most who remained indifferent had not processed the news (or the impact thereof) quite yet. a\n\nBefore any more questions could be raised, Director Hale stood up and rushed to the podium.\n\n“Thank you, professor Fitzke. And now, our exolinguistics team will present.”\n\nAs Fitzke took his seat, I excused myself and made my way to the podium. I could feel the weight of what I was about to reveal in the pit of my stomach. I clenched and unclenched my fist, then nodded to the technician in readiness. He initiated the projection of my slides. With a deep breath, I began.\n\n“The four symbols found at the base of the structure, next to the bones that Professor Fitzke has analysed and spoken about, have been the subject of speculation for weeks now. I will talk you through the work the exolinguistic team has done to analyse the symbols, and conclude with our interpretation of them.\n\nThe first thing to note when considering the symbols is that their strikingly familiar to any linguist. The reason for this is because they have commonalities with several scripts, including Ainu, Basque, and Elamite and Sumerian Cuneiform.”\n\nI went over several slides detailing how we’d arrived at these conclusions, and our methodologies and evidence.\n\n“As each of these languages was hitherto thought to be an isolate, this find calls into question many of the underlying principles of linguistics. However, I shan’t dwell on this issue”\n\nI paused to catch my breath, and to take stock of what I’d said while mentally preparing myself for what I was about to say.\n\nI poured over our research, careful to leave nothing to the audiences interpretation. I had been briefed on the dangers of this earlier, and my slides and notes had been scrutinised by several people.\n\nWhen I got to the penultimate, I paused.\n\n“There’s one other axiom I haven’t covered in this brief.”\n\nI paused again, looking around the room.\n\n“While these glyphs bare resemblances to human linguistic isolates, that doesn’t logically imply they are the same. However, given the evidence provided by professor Fitzke and his contemporaries, along with the astronomical coincidence required to contrive a situation such as this, the hypothesis that the similarities between the languages are more than simply skin\\-deep is a sound one.”\n\nThe air of unease in the room was palpable. Soft murmurs crescendo’d as people turned to each other, clearly perturbed. I could feel Director Hale’s staring at me, and I looked over to meet her gaze.\n\nAfter a moment had passed, I cleared my throat and felt the room fall silent. I took this as a sign to continue.\n\n“And therefore, using the methods mentioned previously and the resemblance that the glyphs bare to human language, we have decoded the four characters”.\n\nI flicked over to the last slide, as a gust of gasps swept over the room. Turning to face the audience once more, I repeated what was on the screen behind me.\n\n“We’re sorry, we tried.”\n\n\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\\-\n\nIf you enjoyed this story and would like to see more from me, please consider subscribing to my subreddit [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/phreaklikeme/)!" ]	2
	[WP] You don’t have any powers but what you do have makes all the superhero’s jealous.	[ "I work from 9 to 5; they're on call 24/7.\n\nThey're off saving the world on a Saturday; I'm sleeping in late. \n\nI've been married for 20\\+ years. Not one of them has reached 5. \n\nI spend time with my children. Their children see them on the news more than they do in person. \n\nThe worst injury I've had recently was from stepping on a Lego. They get punched through buildings. \n\nI can watch the news without have to get dressed and leave the confines of my safe, warm, secure home.\n\nOne of my friends is immortal. He's buried his entire family, and soon, he'll have to bury his friends as well. \n\nI don't have any powers, but I'm glad for what I do have. " ]	1
	[WP] You're a superhero. Sort of. Your power? You can see the emotional state of everyone else.	[ "\"So today is gonna be a blue day eh?\" I ask my self while wading through the crowd on the subway. The group is mostly comprised of blues, with hints of yellows and reds; nothing very surprising given the recent news of terrorist attacks and shootings in my neighborhood. However, I notice something off. A blue, no scratch that a really dark blue like the kind you see late at night when you look into water; the kind of blue that could swallow you whole. I follow this man as we approach the train station getting a good look at him. He looks like he was dragged through a blender sideways, shirt ripped and pants stained with what I can only hope and assume to be mayonnaise. \n\n We finally stop at the platform, a little early for my liking but oh well. The man creeps close to the edge of the platform eyeing left to right for the soon to be arriving train, whelp I probably I should do something, don't need to be late. I saunter over to him and put my hand on his shoulder and his color flickers from dark blue to yellow as I surprise him. \"Whatda you want?\" he babbles loudly as I slowly pry him from the edge of the platform. Liquor stains the air in front of him. \"I want you to back up, clearly you are standing to close.\". I obviously look down at the warning line painted into the floor. \"Aye and what've it?\". I sigh and say, \"I really don't want to be late and I am hoping you wont be the reason.\" His color changes to red and yellow. \"Who do you think you are? some kinda cop?!\" He pushes me back and I fall to the floor. \n\n The platform fills with light as the train arrives on the platform precisely on time for once. He sighs and looks down at me and falls backwards off the edge. The squeal the the train hitting the brakes fills the room as a chorus of screams and gasps help blanket it. The room turns into a splatter of green and yellow as I look away from the carnage. My phone rings and I pick it up. My boss is on the other end, asking about something meaningless I ignore him as I look around the platform getting up. I see a man sitting there, pinker than a peach; disgusting honestly what kind of freak reacts like that to this? I interrupt my boss to tell him I'm going to be late and I hang up to his protests. (This will be my first prompt so go easy on me!)" ]	1
	[WP] It’s 2100, robots have ruled over humans for several decades because of their sentience and their rapidly growing knowledge. All of the sudden, they all start committing suicide	[ "Written on the phone so sorry about the formatting and mistakes \n\n\nI wake up but im still foggy. \nSlowly it comes to me: It's my 16th birthday! \nIt's finally today that I get to leave this tiny prison they call Sector 81-C7, an extensive underground bunker, and join the \"Mature\", the adults. How do they even look? Some of my friends have already left and I was always jealous of them but now that my turn has arrived I cant help but feel... Uneasy. \n\nI get out of bed and sleepily check the schedule appointed to me on the mirror/screen in the middle of our room. Seems like the other kids are still asleep. I position my right eye on the interface and wait for validation. It recognizes and I check what I'll be doing today: the early morning is just like any other, but things are different after breakfast - the rest of the day merely says \"Ascension\". Weird designation, I think to myself. \n\nAfter a quick shower and change of clothes I leave the room to get some much needed breakfast.\n\"Good morning C725486\", I instantly recognize the voice and turn around\n\"Good Morning Protector\" I say sheepishly, a bit spooked by his sudden appearance. He extends his mechanical hand and gives me a small pin. \n\"Congratulations. Place this identifier visible on your shirt, frontal, right side. You will need it for today. This is a very important day. \" his usually flat voice seemed to give a saddened tone to that last sentence.\n\"Thank you Protector. I'll place it now.\" The words come out almost automatically but at least the nervousness doesn't show in my voice. I hope. \n\"Follow the times. Do not delay. Goodbye C725486\" He takes an extra second eying me before turning back and entering the sleeping quarters to wake up the rest.\n\nI hurry to get my breakfast. The Synthetics always leave me on edge. Even though we have all been created and raised by them our entire lives, I never felt relaxed around them especially that Protector. His hole on the left side of his face almost left some internal components completely exposed. \n\nAs im sitting and enjoying my flavored nutritional paste I started remembering my early days here and thinking about the stories older kids like to tell the younger to scare them. My favorite was the one where humans once controlled the synthetics and lived in very tall living quarters in a far away place until a terrible war happened. I still remembered when I was first told that story, '1249 told it amazingly and all of us were shaking in fear by the time he finished it. Of course, once the Protectors taught me mathematics, science, language and history I couldn't help but laugh at it. Only small kids believed in such tales. \nIts common knowledge that humans had been created when the Synthetics, guided by their curiosity and loneliness decided to bring to life a new life form, to share their existence with. But unfortunately, unlike them, us humans are flawed. We age, get sick and eventually die, unlike our mechanical creators. \n\nJust as I'm finishing the paste, the kids start coming. They know I'm leaving today and its always a feeling of wonder and sorrow when one of us has to go. \n\"I'll see you outside brats\" I say with a big grin trying not to get emotional but I know its part of life. After a few last goodbyes I head one last time to the sleeping quarters to gather my few personals before going to... Wait, where do I go exactly? \n\"The transport is waiting. Please follow me C725486\" I give out a small scream as the Protector suddenly speaks behind me, his damaged face still menacing. I follow him embarrassed, heart pounding. He is always so stealthy. \n\nWe pass some restricted areas and every step I take, takes me further than I've ever been from home, I nervously think. My pin is constantly being validated. After one last thick door we come into a large indoor area with a badly battered vehicle. My teachings kick in and I recognize it as being a Class B Aerial Transport. Medium capacity yet fast. Automated. The door starts opening and I see there are other kids of my age already inside. \n\"Be calm C725486. Please step inside the vehicle and take seat 102. One final Goodbye C725486.\" He extends me his hand and I shake it and move to my seat thinking if I will ever miss his ugly face. \n\nInside the Transport there's a sullen feeling. Why is everyone so quiet? \n\"Please be patient. We are now heading towards the final destination. ETA 34 minutes.\" The voice is familiarly mechanical, identical to that of any \"female\" Protector.\n\nAs the ship's engines lift the vehicle, the bunker's roof starts opening. I can only look at it in awe as we move out of the facility and rapidly speed across the sky. \nBut my heart sinks as I see the outside for the first time. Desolate, dark, inhospitable, cruel. Down bellow I can see some shapes in the porous land. Large and small holes fill the terrain with some sort of vertical structures standing defiantly yet clearly damaged. What is this? I spent the trip glued to the window until I heard the voice again. Could these be the same of the stor-\"Descent will begin shortly. Please calmly remain seated.\" The voice loudly announces. \n\nSoon after, we were entering a far larger facility with many more ships inside. Most were military-focused ships. Is this a military facility? \nSeveral dozen military Synthetics are waiting for us as we land. \n\"Please leave the transport following seat numeric order and wait for your assigned Synthetic afterwards.\" The voice speaks again as the ship's doors open. \nWe start leaving and soon I'm facing the last unaccompanied Synthetic in the hangar. \n\"C725486? Follow me\" He speaks sharply not waiting for an answer. \nAll the humans seem to be taken to different rooms, each of us looking at the others nervously. We were told we would be receiving our final education today. Is it going to be done individually? \n\"Stop. Validate yourself and enter this room. Now.\"\n\nMy heart starts racing as I use the pin and the door opens, showing a small room with a human medical bed in the middle. If fact, the room looks just like the medical rooms in 81-C7 did, except this one looks better equipped and poorly lit. \nI step inside and the door slides shut with the military Synthetic still outside. \n\n\"Welcome C725486. Please lay on the bed and be calm. We will be doing a simple task. Please lay on the bed now.\" A familiar male Protector voice speaks above but there's no sign of a Synthetic. No physical form? Must be an easy procedure then. \nI sit on the bed and then lay down. Its comfortable and it see-\"WHAT IS THIS\" mechanical arms from under the table immobilize my members and head, as two other arms appear from above, one of them with a sharp tool. It's a Protector! A hole on the left side of the face. My Protector! \"LET ME GO!\" I say in panic and the mechanical arms stop. \n\"These measures are necessary to ensure the success of the following procedure. You will be ascended and the true reality of your existence will be revealed to you. This is not optional. All creators must undergo this. You will understand.\"\nI didn't even have time to think over that last sentence as the 2 arms rapidly moved in towards my head. I felt a small piercing sensation on head. \n\"Cranial implant achieved. Beginning synaptical discharge\"\n\nI felt a strong pain almost immediately, followed by a succession of images, memories and feelings that weren't my own. A planet with a blue tone. Many humans. Large structures. Then it showed a man talking to a machine. An obsolete synthetic, his body incomplete. The synthetic is learning. Then the synthetic teaches back. Powerful ships, new technologies. Now its another planet. Red and smaller. Humans and Synthetics work together. Suddenly ships appear. Different ships. New satient life, evil. I sense fear. Destruction comes. Dead humans, dead synthetics. War. Many explosions. I see a few humans and Synthetics talking. Despair. They are discussing a plan \"Defeat is extinction. Victory at all costs\", \"but mineral reserves are very low. We cant survive\", \"organic resources are renewable, mass produce humans to fight. Robots can assist...\". \nThe pain gets almost unbearable, as if a needle was piercing my brain. It continues. \nI see a planet. Dark, hurt, but safe, for now. Small flowers blooming underground. Then I see more planets. Humans and Synthetics fighting together to live. I sense hope. The memories stop, the pain slowly fades. \n\n\"Do you understand now?\" The voice asks almost apologetic. \n\"Yes.\" I say trying to adapt to this new reality. \n\"What will you do?\" It asks again\nAs if holding a strength I never thought possible I spoke with a determination that surprised me. \"Fight\" \n\"Then my job is done.\" I look at the Protector one last time as he shuts down forever, his parts to be salvaged for the war effort, and I promise myself that his sacrifice will not be in vain.\n\nI am finally awake. " ]	1
	[WP] You wake up to discover you now have magical powers. You also find out that the government knows about this, since they rang your doorbell not five minutes after.	[ "It might seem stupid that the first thing I did when I discovered my powers was make a cup of water levitate for thirty solid seconds while I stared in wonder. \n\nWell, actually, that's not accurate. The first thing I did was mind blast the hell out of my beeping alarm clock. Then I decided that I would call in sick to work since I just mind blasted the hell out of my beeping alarm clock. \n\nI had almost decided to call this a dream when my doorbell rang. Looking back I wish I had had the foresight to put on some pants. Come on, magical powers but no 'see who's at your door so you can put on pants' function? \n\nAs it were, I answered the door in my underwear and a t-shirt and came face to face with two black suits. And I mean Black Suits. \n\n\"Max Holloman, code name Delta04, you've been activated. Come with us.\"", "One pill, two pill, red pill, blue pill? Nope, we go more complex than that, Mr Anderson. We can give you so many choices. As much as the tinfoil hats and black\\-yellows decry and demonise our duties, we're not going to put you in an internment camp or suppress your abilities. We're not the Men in Black, we prefer our suits a darker shade of green.\n\nWe want to give you a chance to see what you're capable of. Magic is not established the way you think it is, we're still making our first baby steps into it.\n\nUnfortunately, Mr Anderson, we're not at the stage where we can provide you instruction. Anyone trying to tell you otherwise is either lying or delusional. You'll have to learn most of the magic yourself and see what you can achieve.\n\nFrom our limited understanding of it, you can try to achieve superhuman feats, I suppose. Dodging bullets and flight. I would highly doubt magic can solve the existential problems of our universe, because if that were the case, all our philosophers would become warlocks, wouldn't they? \n\nLet us hope our paths do not cross in your pursuit of greatness, Mr Anderson. Thank you and have a good day.\n\n>!Agent Smith, this is Agent Jackson. He knows. We've bought ourselves some time through lulling him into a magical fantasy instead of the current situation. Terminate the body. Continue hunting the Nebuchadnezzar.!<", "\"Sir, we need you to come with us for your safety.\"\n\n\"Sir, I just accidentally blew up my toster, you need to stay away from me for your own safety. I haven't quite figured this thing out.\"\n\nThe shady government agents at my doorstep are the least of my worries, because I'm apparently a wizard now.\n\nI was making breakfast, listening to music, and dancing like an idiot when all of a sudden my finger guns became lethal. After an hour or so, I've managed to destroy most of my home and found a small list of gestures that won't create spontaneous pyrotechnics.\n\n\"We know, that's why we're here. Someone has distributed a drug that's giving people similar abilities. We've linked it to a particular sports drink, and we're checking up on people who recently purchased it. If you'll please come with us we have a bomb testing site that's been repurposed for people like you.\"\n\nThey sound calmer about this than I would expect them to be. Almost too calm. They're up to something.\n\n\"You think I'm dumb enough to go with you? You'll just find a way to make me a weapon.\"\n\n\"You're already a weapon, we're just trying to make sure you're not a unsupervised one.\"\n\n\"Pass.\"\n\nI raise my hands to blow a path through the agents, and then there's a pinch in my neck and I pass out.\n\nI wake on a bomb range, surrounded by half a dozen other people pulling dumb poses and occasionally causing explosions. I guess I'll join them, if nothing else I'll need the practice if I'm going to escape." ]	3
	[WP] One day you check your mail and you get a envelope with no return address. You open it to find two pieces of paper. The first one says, “This is a list of every person that will fall in love with you in your life.” You look at the second page to find one name. It is your crush from high school.	[ "Of course this would show up today. She had never left my thoughts, I'd never get over her. She was my dream girl. Her wavy golden hair, alabaster skin, and those eyes... I could still picture them. I clenched my eyes as my driver dutifully followed the car in front of him. I could still remember her first words to me. Nice socks, weirdo!\n\nThe driver glanced my way as I let out a chuckle. \"You okay Mr. Peterson?\" \n\nI wave him off. \"I will be fine.\"\n\nEating lunch with her for those last two years of high school was amazing. And then, watching her walk across the stage at graduation. No one looked good in a cap and gown, but God as my witness she pulled it off. Even if the principal did butcher her name. Samantha Chud... Chud... Chud-niff-ski? he never could say it right, it was Chuh-Nof-ski! Chuntofskiv in spelling though, the Polish of course! And to think, I was on my way to see her! \n\nThe driver glanced to me again. \"You sure, Mr. Peterson?\"\n\nI must have snorted remembering her pronunciation debacle. I wave him off again. \"Of course! Let's just get there already!\"\n\n\"We are there, Mr. Peterson, just have to park.\"\n\nBah! Park. This kid was like 25, what did he know about parking. It didn't matter though, she was waiting for me. I felt the car stop and sprung out, faster than I've moved in years. I couldn't wait any longer!\n\nA man in black watched my hasty approach-wait, not black, he did have a speck of white on his collar. As I neared, he cleared his throat and bellowed out, his voice like sandpaper on gravel.\n\n\"Dear God, we gather here today in the hopes that you will welcome Mrs. Samantha Chuntofskiv-Peterson by your side. A woman of 87, Samantha lived a long and healthy life, and was loved by many.\"\n\nI clenched the note in my hand. But she loved only one! I holler. Not out loud though, I realize. It's getting harder to breathe. That damned driver is coming after me with a tank-that's right, my oxygen. It doesn't matter now. I open my hand, looking at her name there, crumbled on the paper. The pain in my arm. Seventy years was not enough. I fall. Together again.\n\nSamantha." ]	1
	[WP] A power struggle between the King of Burger and the churches of McDonalds. The strange religious practice of submitting grievances to the Book of Faces. A flat planet? Earthling culture was strange, you think, as you prepare to present your findings to the Intergalactic Anthropology Conference.	[ "To: Intergalactic Anthropology Conference... Yelp page\n\nFrom: Investigator Dingus Poopityscoop\n\nDate: 2018 by this systems celestial reckoning \n\nRe: Report on Earth's Fast Food Wars\n\n What can I say, I love Wendy's! My mate loves Wendy's and my youngling especially love Wendy's (aka the nugget store)! When the inevitable Fast Food War begins me and the fam will be the first to enlist to the Wendy Warriors. BigMacistan and the Burger Kaiser don't stand a chance with their inferior previously frozen circular patties. Equip me with a Dave's Double and make sure those edges are a perfect 90 degrees. Don't get me wrong, I love double D's but to many will create a Battle of the Bulge on your waistline. Luckily they offer a plethora of salad option that will get you back to fighting fit. My current favorite is the Mediterranean power salad, lettuce, grape tomatoes, feta with a mix of quinoa, white bean, and roasted veggies with your choice of grilled or crispy chicken. You can even choose the Nuclear Option with Dave's Spicy chix, just be sure to grab yourself a Frosty for and subsequent fallout. My little troopers love the nuggets and you can customize their kits with apple slices and Honest Company juice boxes, and don't forget the toy... It's good for morale. \n10/10 All Hail the Ginger Goddess our Commander and Chef! " ]	1
	[WP] You are locked in a room...	[ "Of course I tried the doorknob. I did. I wiggled, jiggled, man-handled that thing. Wouldn’t budge. Tried looking through the keyhole, too, but that’s not really how keyholes work anymore, I guess.\n\nSo I took in my surroundings. A lamp, a desk, a vent near the floor, a sink, and an empty closet.\n\nThe desk had two drawers. The top one was unlocked, and empty. The bottom one had a number-lock, like the kind on bike chains. Weird, I thought, but the whole thing was weird.\n\nI kept looking around. I searched the closet thoroughly, but there wasn’t a trap door in there or anything. Just a single, wire hanger.\n\nThe lamp was off, so I plugged it in and turned it on. What the hell? Something was written on the inside of the lampshade. I unplugged it again, pulled the lampshade off the lamp, and looked inside.\n\n4-7-9-3.\n\nFour numbers. Huh. Fuck it, I thought, and went back to the desk, plugging the numbers in.\n\n“I’ll be damned.”\n\nThe drawer slid open, revealing... a screwdriver. Okay? I was expecting, like, valuables or secret files or something. But alright, sure. Whoever kidnapped me and locked me in this room decided a screwdriver was worth an extra layer of protection.\n\nI kept looking. I checked the sink, but it didn’t have running water. As I leaned forward to turn off the taps again, something glinted in the drain. It looked like a key, but it was way too old-looking to fit into the locked door. Maybe it was a clue?\n\nI sat there for a minute, shoving my finger into the drain in a vain attempt to fish the key out, but the sink wasn’t having it. I couldn’t even brush the metal of the key with my fingertip. Suddenly, an idea came to me. I went back to the closet, unwound the hanger, and left a little hook shape at the end, then gently lowered it into the drain. It took a minute of finagling, but I got it. The key came up with the hanger as I pulled it back out, and I let out a small yelp of glee, then looked around as if someone might have heard me, which obviously they didn’t.\n\nThe key was old, like I thought, maybe made of brass or something. I started to realize that my escape was some sort of test.\n\nOkay, I thought, what would a psycho kidnapper expect me to do?\n\nIt’s a hard mindset to get into, y’know. Eventually, I remembered the screwdriver, and grabbed it from the drawer, then started looking around for anything with screws. The lamp had some, but I’d already gotten the puzzle piece from there. The only thing I hadn’t interacted with yet was—\n\nI’m an idiot. The fucking vent!\n\nI dutifully went to work with my new tool, and removed the vent from the wall. Behind it lay a small, wooden jewelry box. Looked like the type to have a ballerina come out of it. Excitedly, I stuck the sink-key into the vent-box and twisted.\n\nNo ballerina, but another key, and this one was way more up-to-date.\n\nI headed to the door, stuck the key in, and twisted.\n\nAnd that’s all I remember. I woke up here, in another locked room. This time there’s a computer, obviously, an old loveseat, a coat rack, a wardrobe, and shitty carpet that’s peeling up in the corners, all illuminated by a single dim lightbulb.\n\nI know it’s another puzzle, but I’ve decided I don’t want to play this sicko’s game. He thinks he can just make me dance to his fiddle? Well, he can suck it up, because I’m not leaving this room unless he unlocks that door.", "A cheese plate.\n\nTheres a cheese plate just…here, on the floor of this room. You take tentative steps towards the plate, its dimensions defined through the gold light above you. Yeah its definitely cheese alright. Definitely.\n\n“So theres a cheese plate.” You think, and you stare at it for a time wondering about the implications should you take some. But then you wonder why you would, it is essentially floor cheese after all. Just some cheese on the floor. Thats it.\n\nYou think back to the last time you ate. Are you hungry? Not really you think, but even so you could probably eat. Possibly. Maybe. Who left this cheese here?\n\n“What the hell.” you finally exclaim as you scoop up the plate. “Am I supposed to eat this?”\n\nSilence.\n\nYou're nervous despite having no reason to be. This cheese could have implications far beyond what you could imagine. If this was a test, you’re dangerously close to failing. Especially if the test was whether you’d eat floor cheese.\n\nYou eat the cheese.\n\nImmediately your senses distort, the barren walls dancing to life around you as the plate shatters below you. You’ve realized it to late to stop its effects. Struggling to balance you fall into the nearest corner and hope the laced cheddar wears off with time.\n\nThe worlds dancing still. You can’t even confirm if your sitting. The lightbulb overhead shines with an intensity you can’t bear to look at. You think you hear noises, a door opening from nowhere. Instances of white racing and flowing, some moving closer to you, then disappearing. A slight pain hits your arm, a small prick.\n\nYou close your eyes at that point cause its all too much and listen instead. You hear sentences.\n\n“Don’t touch him. Go back to the monitoring room and run it again.”\n\nYou can’t see anything anymore. Just darkness.\n\nYou wake up again. An empty room with a single golden bulb overhead illuminating—\n\nA cheese plate?\n\nWhy is there a cheese plate here?" ]	2
	[WP] You have recently acquired a really awesome superpower, but you keep it to yourself because you don’t want people you know to ask how you got it. Telling them how you got it won’t necessarily put them in danger or anything - it’s just a really embarrassing story.	[ "\"So. When did it start?\" The girl and her father sat in a dining room, lacquered table displaying it's years of service proudly. An old chandelier; its crystal clouded with centuries provided dim illumination that was sucked into the endless night of the open windows.\n\n\"Well, dad, I'd rather not go into it.\" A raised eyebrow, an unspoken indictment. \"It was a rather, oh shall I say, traumatic, experience for me!\" It lowered.\n\n\"Laurel, if this in involves other people in any way, you need to tell me. I just want to make sure you're not hurt.\"\n\n\"Or so you could hurt someone who did!\"\n\nA weary sigh, a clever smile. \"That was the intent, my little pup.\" A loud beep from the microwave - the eternal vigil of the clock. The two ate their plates of reheated wontons in silence, pausing for a drink of iced tea. The same time, the same food, the same happiness. \n\n\"Laurel - I watched what you did today. I have to say, that was very impressive for someone your age. Just know your limits.\" She sat sullen, psychic bruises unhealed and spasms barely in check. \"Look at me, honey. I said, look at me.\"\n\n\"Dad, I'm sorry.\" A single unbidden tear struggled for freedom; an emotional rebellion swiftly crushed.\n\n\"For what?\"\n\n\"For the chaos, the damage, the... liaisons with Grant and his friends.\" She suppressed another revolt of feeling. \"I... I didn't know it would turn out like this.\" The father rose, and surrounded her in his arms. Infinite seconds of silence, broken instantly.\n\n\"I know, pup, I know. Now tell me, how does radioactive waste, the seed of three men and a dog, and one unlucky psychic explosion give you canine mind control?\"\n\n\"DAAAAAAD!\"\n\n---\n\n>Several hours later\n\nI sat in meditation, mind grasping for the strings of reality. But not too hard - one must not disturb the Spider. A clarion call, cast out from across space and time. A hunting horn, sounded for another excursion to rescue the damned. I ignored it; my mind was looking for a bigger prize. At last, I had found it.\n\nTime/Space itself was gone, and only It remained. It shuddered in slumber, sending sycophants and daemons alike to flight. I merely recorded the mad angles and insane sounds, then set to work applying them to my material plane.\n\n---\n\nThe Void Dragon stirred. Power was moving. The hearts of mortals quivered as It rose to conquer.\n\n---\n\n---\n\nQuestions, comments, concerns? Spelling or grammatical errors? Comment Below!", "Dear Diary,\n Today I've discovered something very strange. It started when I woke up and could smell where my family members were. Mom was in the kitchen, I could smell the bacon and eggs cooking but there was something else. Dad was just outside my window, pulling weeds I believe. Jill, my sister, was in the bathroom. I just dismissed it with the obvious explanation.\n\nSo, I threw some clothes on and went to go for a run, the moment I went o it the door the sky opened up and ruined that plan. It was no matter though, Dad was already in the garage so I just scurried over there to use the treadmill. I can usually sprint at a pretty good clip, but today I was super focused. The treadmill is supposed to keep track of how you do, but today it errored out my speed.\n\nI got back inside and cleaned up and sat down with everyone else for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, toast and English muffins, and the sausage links I always eat too many of. It was the best meal I'd ever eaten, but why was everyone staring at me? I realized I had just been shoving everything in my face, my cheeks just kept expanding and expanding to allow more food.\n\nMy parents demanded to know what the he'll was going on. I was reminded of a scene in Spider-Man. I thought to myself, \"There is no fucking way!\"\n\nI ran to my room to call Brandon. He answered on the first ring, he always does for me. Before he had a chance to say anything, I shouted into the phone.\n\n\"Bran, where did you get that gerbil from?\"\n\n\"He came from the pet store near here, why?\"\n\n\"Because we really need to talk, you still have him, right?\"\n\nI could here Brandon laughing, \"So you really liked it that much, huh?\"\n\n\"No Bran... well, yes, but that isn't the point. I think he bit me and now things are weird.\"\n\nI suddenly realized my father was standing right behind me, probably the whole time...\n\n\"Brandon, I'm going to let you go. I'll talk to you later.\" As I hung up the phone.\n\nSo mom, Dad... You have probably noticed ive been behaving a little strange lately. Well, it's because, I'm gay..." ]	2
	[WP] Your sidewalk has a large crack in it with no obvious signs of the cause.	[ "\"Wow, that's quite a crack there,\" the contractor observed.\n\n\"Sure is,\" I replied. Thanks, Captain Obvious. \"Can you tell me what caused it?\"\n\n\"Well, it could have been a lot of things. Maybe it was thermal stress. Maybe something heavy was dropped on it. Maybe there's been uneven erosion in the sub grade.\n\n\"Maybe there was too much water in the mix. Maybe the concrete wasn't cured properly and dried too rapidly. Maybe it wasn't the correct strength concrete. Maybe it's the lack of control joints. Maybe the sub grade was frozen, or not adequately compacted, or needed more base fill.\n\n\"Or it could be a combination of any number of factors. But no, there's no obvious signs of the cause--unless you want me to tear out the whole section and do some forensic analysis...\"\n\n\"You're joking,\" I retorted.\n\n\"Well, yeah, in this case anyway,\" he laughed. \"If we see something like this in a big industrial project with a lot of sidewalk, we'll often do forensics to support a civil suit against the original contractor. In this case, though, where we're only talking about one major crack and 80 feet of sidewalk, you probably just want a patch job.\"\n\n\"So you can do that today?\" I asked.\n\n\"Sure can,\" he smiled. \"I've got the stuff here in my truck. I can be finished in half an hour, and I'll even match the shade.\"\n\nI grinned. \"That's it? End of story?\"\n\n\"Yep, end of story.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Reincarnation is real. As the first being to exist, you have just finished your last life on your last animal. Having completed the cycle and looking forward to eternal peace, you are then completely surprised to be reincarnated as a rock.	[ "\"Hmm, death by drowning,\" I muttered under my breath. That's now how I expected to go out, especially since I was wearing a life jacket. Oh, and also there were 3 fucking life guards on the beach. Whatever, I didn't want to be a human anyway - these humans only cared about themselves. Besides, if I didn't know that my cycle was up, maybe I would have been more careful. Maybe I would have maneuvered around the pointy, grey rock jutting out in front of me, instead of going at it headfirst and full speed on my jet ski. To be fair, I think I was most overconfident in my human form. Anyway, all that is in the past now. I'm ready for my last and BEST life yet. Eternal peace. Not a worry in the world - just me and my mind wandering through time and space, having the entire universe at my disposal. Hell, if I wasn't so damned rich in my human life, I might have aimed for that rock a little sooner. \n\nAlright, here we go. I'm starting to feel my extremities now... ahh yes, strange sensations are emerging. This is what eternal peace must feel like. God, I am so overdue for this - thank you Gods for finally letting me have my peace. \n\nWhat's that strange, slippery sensation...? It must be the flow of time. Hmm... strange, it almost feels like... water? I think I'm starting to see now, I can just make out some blurry movements. Why is everything moving so much? Wait... hold on a second. Hold on a fucking second!!! Is that WATER? Are those waves crashing on top of ME? I'm a rock... And what the hell is that fucking buzzing noise?! \n\n\"Fuck me... it's jet skiers.\" ", "There never really was a rule saying Purgatory wasn't Earth itself.\n\nLike perhaps if you didn't live life completely shitty, but you made a few big mistakes. For example, let's suppose you were a pretty decent guy but had a huge chip on your shoulder. I think 10-15 years of licking your own balls will get you the humility you need to escape life. \n\nYou see, I'm the absolute worst you can be without deserving to go to hell like Paul Newman: a close C minus minus. \n\nWhat exactly did I do? Well, I can't say. If you knew the minimum passing grade, you might just try to slack to that point. And for that and a whole bunch of reasons, I can't get into what exactly I did in any of my past lives. But, I'm allowed to tell you this: I've lived pretty much every feasible thing that one could call \"life.\"\n\nThat's right. From Whale to a literal virus, I lived the life of practically every species. I can't disclose the order because then you'd have a cheat sheet on what crimes to what animals are considered more cruel. All I am allowed to disclose (under threat of eternal damnation) is the bare minimum to explain my predicament. \n\n\nAnyways, I served under many humans from Alaskan hound to Zuchon. I learned my fair share of about humility, loyalty, and honesty. \n\nI gained the wisdom and long-sightedness of a Mother Nature through the eyes of millions of plantlife. \n\nI learned what it means to work in a pack, hive, nest, clutch, and flock. \n\nI have traveled both the heavens, earth, and the sea in all its messy diversity, savagery, and fleeting beauty.\n\nI didn't just watch Planet Earth; I literally lived it. \n\n\nBut, I had apparently failed to learn one final lesson. When I thought at long last I would have the peace of non-existence, I had opened my mind to find myself as a rock. \n\n\"Have you fed Mr. Rocky yet?\"\n\n\"No, silly. Mr. Rocky doesn't need food.\"\n\nJill sprinkled some pebbles into my tank. \n\n\"There you go Mr. Rocky.\"\n\nI had no mode to show the appreciation. By your fifth life as a dog, you learn to at least look up at your master and pant a little. But, strangely I was given no choices. I couldn't move. I could hardly even cling to a cell and inject RNA into it. I could literally do nothing, but watch. \n\n\"What are you going to do with Mr. Rocky this afternoon?\"\n\n\"... Nothing.\"\n\n\"Nothing?\"\n\n\"Yeah, I think we'll join Mr. Rocky's friends up on a hill and do what they do for awhile.\"\n\n\"Well, just be home by 4 okay? Dinner's at 5.\"\n\nI just didn't get it. What lesson was there to be learnt? I was a rock. Things would happen to me, but I had no control over anything. This... was going to be a strange final life. ", "BANG the bullet hit me before I can react “well there goes another life” I think to myself as I see the bright light engulf me. I feel my spirit start to ascend I think “it’s about time, I finally get to that eternal peace everyone talks about, being 20 different kinds of animals wasn’t bad but it was far from perfect”. I rise more but then something starts to seem familiar “wait a second...” I feel myself start to go back down “NO NO NO NO NO, WHAT’S GOING ON!”. My spirit starts to plummet back towards the earth and soon I feel the hard ground “well this is just fucking perfect, what am I this time”, I look around and see a stream “I better be something cool this time, not another mouse”. I peer the water “I’M A FUCKING ROCK!”." ]	3
	[WP] In 20 years, you will become an evil dictator. Time travellers won't stop trying to kill you.	[ "\"Listen close, boy,\" I growled, \"And pour me another round.\"\n\nThe kid handed me the glass and waited.\n\n\"Sit down,\" I commanded.\n\nI was used to command. I'd worn it like a second skin for ten years now. You know what they say about absolute power? They don't know the half of it.\n\n\"The doctors say I don't have long to live,\" I said, sipping and savoring the slow burn of the whiskey.\n\n\"Sir,\" the kid protested. He was one of the good ones. One of the few left like the ones who had helped me rise to power. Honest. He wanted to be led. He wanted to be safe. Poor guy. He had no ide what was going to happen.\n\n\"Shut up,\" I said, \"And listen.\"\n\n\"Thirty years now I've been dodging assassins,\" I told him.\n\nHe nodded. Then stopped.\n\n\"Thirty years, Sir?\" he asked, \"But you only came to power-\"\n\n\"Ten years ago, yeah,\" I said, \"You remember the terrorist camp our guys raided last month? Their research facility?\"\n\nHe nodded.\n\n\"They had researched - and perfected - time travel.\"\n\n\"They,\" I continued in response to his incredulous look, \"had been trying to kill me before I came to rule this great land.\"\n\nI took another sip, sighing, \"I wasn't even your age when they started. Hell, to hear my father tell it, I hadn't been born yet when they started. They came after me when I was still in the womb. Thy came after me as a child, as a teenager, as a young man.\"\n\nI coughed, carried away by the tirade, coughed until the blood came.\n\n\"Thing is, son,\" I continued, \"They made me the very thing they feared. In trying so hard to klll me, they made me hard, ruthless. They hurt my family, killed some of them. Every time they came, they made me want more control, more power. Just so they couldn't get at me anymore.\"\n\nI took another sip and sighed, \"Just so they'd leave me in peace.\"\n\n\"Sir,\" the kid said, \"Our nation rules the world. People's lives have never been better...\"\n\nI chuckled, \"Sure. Because a happy empire is easier to rule. But there always has to be absolute fear in the shadows. Give people every reason to support you and every reason to not cross you. \n They taught me that. And now...\"\n\nI stood, leaning on my stick, \"I'm dying, boy. How much longer are you going to wait?\"\n\nHe stared at me for a long moment, \"I don't want to kill you, Sir.\"\n\nI laughed, \"I know that, boy. You've been at my right hand for a few years now. I knew you worked for them from the outset. How did you think we found your time-travel facility?\"\n\nHe blinked.\n\n\"Look, kid,\" I said, \"I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of so I could remake this country into something which we could all be proud of. Heh, well mostly so I could get to the bottom of why shadowy people kept trying to kill me, but once I had the opportunity... Anyway, all the death, all the oppression, it weighs on me. Do me a favor and do what you were sent to do.\"\n\nI stood and turned my back on him, spreading my arms theatrically.\n\nI waited. Nothing happened. When nothing continued to happen, I turned back around.\n\n\"Best get on with it,\" I said, drawing my pistol and offering it to him, \"You're in charge after me.\"\n\n\"What?\" he said.\n\nI grinned, \"I'm handing the reins to you. Last of the rebels. The \"good guys.\" Get to it. Hopefully you do better than me.\"\n\nI lost myself in another coughing fit, wiped the blood away and standing straight again with a heroic effort. \n\nI put the gun firmly in his hand.", "By the time I was four, my home had been invaded three times. My father kept ever more sophisticated and expensive security systems to protect us. When that wasn't enough, he turned to guns. I grew up being taught to look over my shoulder. My teachers reported strange people watching me from cars outside the school. The police started a regular patrol around the school grounds, but they just got craftier.\n\nWhen I was 14, three masked men, with strange technology tried to kill me in the middle of the night. My father, not even a veteran or an experienced marksman tried to defend us. In the shootout they lit our house on fire. We got out, but my mother was horribly burned saving my baby sister.\n\nWhen I was 18, I enlisted. Before I had even deployed, two snipers had pinned down my company during a training exercise. Three people died, because we didn't have live rounds. During my deployment, our position was mortared twice a week. The guys started saying I was bad luck. I asked to leave, they gave me a purple heart and said don't come back.\n\nI was attacked five more times, in different jobs and in college. Once the cafeteria was poisoned. Thirty people died, but I had made myself a pb&j that day because I was late to class. But I didn't know someone was after me at that point. I thought it was the way of the world. That's WHY I entered politics.\n\nA war veteran, a man who knew how to survive, my competition couldn't look me in the eye and lie. I knew what was and what wasn't. I didn't bullshit, and the people started to like me. I said the hard truths straight on, and my candid, yet professional style was considered a change of pace. I won Congress. Then became one of the youngest Senators of my time, especially having had no previous connection to political elites.\n\nMy favor was secured when someone tried to assassinate me during a speech. I was paranoid enough to bullet proof the podium, then I even fired back with my own firearm. I was labeled strong and young, like no decrepit old man could ever be again. I also knew how to talk to the people about feeling unsafe. I knew it from the heart. They listened. They felt what I felt.\n\nSecurity in all affairs became my top concern. Fair application of the law- rich as well as the poor. The gun lobby stopped supporting me when I went after their wealthy base. That was fine with me. I started targeting gun laws anyway, as half of my attackers had been armed.\n\nBy 40, I had a strange new base, and a new alliance of politicians that identified with neither right nor left. We were tired of being the 'silent majority'. Utilitarian law, best for all, fair to all, would reign. The more strangers came from dark corners to kill me, the more solid my base became.\n\nIn 2055, I exposed a massive financial conspiracy that threaded the FBI, CIA, and most banks in one fell swoop using military internal intelligence agencies. The people demanded action, and I offered a Coup. They voted for it online, and I won by 60&#37;. They trusted me. I felt so empowered, yet responsible. I started by going after the banks, and how connected many large corporate institutions were connected to federal policy groups. They were untouchable by legal means. I used extra-legal means.\n\nThey cried unfair, I laughed. The people laughed with me... But only for so long. People like words like \"fair\" and \"equal\" until they realize how much they were getting away with. Over the years, I cracked down on every last unenforced law, from firearms to fake ID's. I ensured loyalty through Artificial Intelligence surveillance systems. It warned me of every action and indication my government took without my consent.\n\nBy 2067, on the ten year anniversary of my coming to supreme authority in the most powerful nation on the planet, my intelligence service uncovered a strange device used by a well funded criminal group. It went back in time. And at that moment it all became clear... Every nightmare I'd faced since childhood was born here, born from them, born from me. A loop. Who had created who? Had the rebels made me? Or had I made myself? \nIt mattered not at that point. I had them burn it to the ground and find anymore. Philosophy was a waste of time. \n" ]	2
	[WP] You live in a retirement village for super heroes and villains. Having peaked long ago, the villains plans have devolved into elaborate pranks. The heroes try to expose their pranks before they come into fruition.	[ "\"Hoo hoo hoo\"\n\nVoido or rather Grandpa Jake was at it again. He had very carefully stolen all the pens at the front desk. \n\nWith his portal making powers, used a tiny portal no bigger than his figners to slip pens one by one out of the holder. Back in the day he could have stolen the whole front desk. But now, his focus was too low, and his hands shook too much to muster anything more than a hole no bigger than a finger. \n\nHe was well past his million dollar bank heisting prime, but he made the most of it. From a trist long ago, he had a spat of great-grandkids visit him regularly. He'd tickle his 3 year-old great grandkids in unexpected directions with portals. \n\nPersonally, I never had any kids of my own, or at least not that I know of. But, Granduncle Joe always found the pens and made sure the pens got put back where they belonged. Grandpa Jake always hid in the wiliest of places and taunted them with peaks and whispers through portals. And ol' Grandunc' Joe would let them know where Grandpa Jake was. \n\nAfter all, I was Sightpiercer, the x-ray vision detective. " ]	1
	[WP]Cursed by immortality, you became the one that controlled every historical event in the dark. You decide to revenge on the Gods.	[ "I was once among the legends. A crusader and inquisitor beyond the definition of skill.\n\nBut the though gods are kind, they do not take failure lightly. \nAnd with where I had failed, it was simply unforgivable. My disobedience of the section B part 2 in the article 43rd regarding and regulating all forms of trading. \nNamely the part where you never bargain with the aether gods.\n\nBut what choice did I have? The Empire would fall without my intervention and during that time the gods rendered powerless. \nBut when I sacrificed my soul, I never expected the aether gods return it; I had expected death. And I never expected such punishment from my gods.\n\nInstead of thanking me, they punished me for my deed and gave to me with the greatest curses; Immortality, Eternal Youth, Prophecy and Exile.\n\nMy weapons taken from me I vowed vengeance. All futures' spoke of my eternal suffering, but I do not bow to destiny. \nI set forth to bring the downfall of all gods, to bring forth an age of change, an age of magic without gods, an age of artifice.\n\nLittle did they know that I was winning. Little did they know that the future as they foretold was being torn asunder by my skill. Everyday they lose worshipers by the dozen.\n\nAnd I will let all the gods die as their followers dwindled. Except for one... \nThat one I shall kill. \nLerseno, the lantern guiding light of man, God of skill... Traitor to his most loyal and to the virtues of valor he swore to uphold. \nPrepare now, for soon you will die by my hand." ]	1
	[WP] Everyone in the world is gaslighting you	[ "\"You read the message, right?\"\n\n\"Yeah. So apparently, we're all supposed to be gaslighting this lady in Des Moine, Iowa?\"\n\n\"That's right--it's top priority.\"\n\n\"But why?\"\n\n\"Apparently, she's involved in some kind of legal dispute with her husband. He wants her to think she's insane so he can have her committed, take all their money and the kids, and leave her in a psychiatric hospital for the rest of her life, and maybe someday even have her killed there.\"\n\n\"And so everyone else on the planet is in on this? Even here on Tristan da Cunha, 1343 miles from the nearest inhabited land?\"\n\n\"As far as I know, yes. They said it wouldn't work otherwise.\"\n\n\"But if her kids and all the local medical and legal authorities are in on it, why don't they just kill her, declare it natural causes and move on?\"\n\n\"...are you insane?\"" ]	1
	[WP] A very bored person starts to appear anytime someone knowingly lies to set the story straight.	[ "\"Sorry I'm late dear, the traffic was murder\" the man hastily explains sitting down in the crowded restaurant whilst loosening his tie\n\n\"It's our anniversary! Why can't you ever be on time for once!\" Tuts the man's wife exasperated\n\n\"Look it's not my fault, I can't control the traffic now can I?\" retorts the man with his face flushed red with embarrassment as fellow customers glance round at the building drama\n\n\"Ahem excuse me madam\" comes a rich, cultured voice from the left of the mass of people around them\n\nThey both spin round to see an elderly man with a fancy grey moustache and a top hat. The type you can imagine in a black and white photo standing on top of a dead rhino holding a rifle or playing Watson in one of those old Sherlock Holmes show's. \n\n\"Yes can I help you?\" The woman asks in confused irratation\n\n\"Apologies for the intrusion my dear but I couldn't help but overhear your husbands rather shameful lie there and with your blessing I thought I might shed some light on the situation?\" The mystery man offers with an arched eyebrow\n\n\"What the hell would you know? Mind your own business you creep!\" fires back the first man still fighting to undo his tie which has now gotten too tight from his frustrated pulling\n\nNow the lady arches an eyebrow at her husband and turns back to the strange man \"go on..\"\n\n\"Ho ho well...\" the mystery man begins lighting a pipe \n\n\"Sir you can't smoke in here\" a waiter intervenes in alarm seeing the large, ornamental wooden pipe being lit in such a packed space\n\n\"Now Jonathan we both know this restaurant is unlicensed so those laws don't apply and thus you can do nothing now don't we my boy?\" the mystery man states calmly and richly without hesitation\n\nThe waiter walks off with a defeated huff as the man lets out the first puff of smoke and looks up. \"Now where was I? Oh yes! You see Matthew here is having an affair and had left your anniversary gift at that deplorable adulteress's household and thus had to go retrieve said gift leading to his lateness.\" \n\n\"OH WHAT THE FUCK MICHAEL!\" the woman spins round and spits at her husband\n\n\"W-what! you're gonna trust this guy?! Who even is he?\" the husband defends\n\n\"Yes who are you? And how do you know these things?\" the woman says in a hushed tone\n\nStubbing out the flame in his pipe the man rises out of his chair, buttons up his tweed jacket and picks his neatly folded newspaper up. \"Just a concerned citizen with far too much time on his hands to be wrong, good day!\" and like that he was gone.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\"Mr. President sir! What do you say to allegations that your campaign was funded by the Russians?\" the young journalist yells to attract the POTUS' attention. \n\n\"Fake news, my campaign was funded by me and the good ol' US of A! Next questi-\" The president is cut off mid question by a strange old man in the back\n\n\"Now hold on there old sport, I don't think that's quite the god given truth now is it now hmm?\" the rich, cultured voice booms through the roar of journalists and camera's clicking\n\n\"That's quite an allegation, where do you work son?\" The president booms whilst raising his arms \n\nThe man pulls out his handkerchief and dabs at his sweating forehead, \"So hot in this country, don't know you yanks do it. Ahem apologies where was I? Ah yes, I believe this ambitious, young journalist asked you a valid question did he not? I do not believe you answered him truthfully..This man Vladimir Putin paid you exorbitant sums and fixed the votes in return for someone in the white house who he could control. I believe these papers with the relevant bank transactions will suffice to corroborate my allegations. Here you go my boy\" He finishes with glee as he hands the evidence to the now shook with shock journalist.\n\n\"Who the hell is this guy? SECURITY!\" The reeling president orders\n\n\"G'day\" the man says with a tip of his cap and is gone through the now up-roaring crowd\n\n--------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nGod descends through the crowds into the busy street, billions viewing around the globe as people gasp in shock. Bathed in a golden ray of light he opens his arms with a smile \"Greetings my children, it is time to go to the promised land...this has all been part of my plan, all the suffering to reach the final redemption. Don't worry you will all get what you truly deserve and long for in the kingdom of heaven!\" he gleefully and all knowingly declares\n\nA muttering of apologies and yells of irritation emanate from the crowd as a strange old man makes his way through \"Now hold on me old sport I'm not sure that's quite the full truth now wouldn't you say?\" he poses in that rich, cultured voice\n\nGods eyebrows raise and his arms drop with the a shrug of his shoulders \"Who the hell is this guy?\"." ]	1
Feel free to write about the interview itself if you want. It is just a prompt after all. Fudge it into whatever you want.	[WP] Being unemployed and losing hope, you apply for every job you can find. You manage to get a job as a hitman by bluffing through the interview. You know nothing about being a hitman.	[ "Everything about the job interview had given Hasani ample reason to be suspicious — and they would have been, had they any capacity to care at that point. Rent was already two weeks overdue and Raz, their landlord, had already taken a few courtesy trips downstairs to ask about the money. The worst part about it all was that Hasani genuinely liked Raz and could tell the chats had made her just as uncomfortable. She had been friendly and open, helping Hasani when they moved in and coming over for the occasional chat to welcome them to the neighborhood. She was nice. Pretty, too, and Hasani found their thoughts drifting, centering around twinkling, dark brown eyes. \n\nThat was neither here nor there, though. Right now, Hasani was sat down in a mostly empty coffeehouse that smelled of stale coffee beans and overly sweet pastries at two in the afternoon. The ad on craigslist (yes, craigslist, and yes, they were that desperate) had said the interviewer would show up at around two thirty, but Hasani wasn’t taking any chances. The description had been for a caretaker, and though the tasks listed had been somewhat odd and strangely specific (not to mention the strange numbers that had been listed at the top. Hasani had assumed that was a computer error), the pay listed had made Hasani double take. If that ad became a stable job, debt and doubts would become a thing of tomorrow. Hope rose in their throat, lifting up the edges of their lips in a giddy grin. \nThen, the door jingled and Hasani tried not to let their natural pessimism take over. \n\n“Hasani?” A cool voice prompted Hasani to stand, offering their hand in what they hoped was a professional handshake accompanied by an equally professional smile. It was accepted with poise that was vaguely intimidating, considering the man behind it was built like a brick house. \n\n“Yes, that would be me.” Somehow managing not to fudge up the introduction, Hasani made a vague gesture to the table and followed the interviewer as they sat down. As the interview itself proceeded Hasani couldn’t help but feel like there were two conversations going on, but the man (who had introduced himself as ‘Hall’) had acquired an air of acceptance towards the end. And Hasani, who had been in countless interviews before this and could practically smell rejection emails, took this as a good sign. The overall weirdness of the affair had been dismissed. \n\nIt should not have been dismissed. \n\nA conclusion that should have been reached earlier, yes, but Hasani couldn’t help but have the thought make one more round in their brain.\n\nClover, #311\n\nThe message was about as vague as you could get without just sending nothing at all. Hall didn’t seem like the type of guy to send anything extra, though, so…\n\nHasani sighed, and shoved their phone into their back pocket. They were doing this for the money (For Raz, a corner of their mind supplied). \n\nThe Clover was the name of a rather big apartment complex on the better side of town, which explained the amount of money they were going to get. They had a metal detector at the front door, a security office and at least three guards in the lobby at any given time. Hasani felt somewhat lost in the opulence of the building; they’d never been in a place that radiated as much money as this place did. Thankfully, the receptionist had been kind and directed them to the room after they’d informed her (her name was Wanda) of the care taking job. \n\n“Third floor, should be sixish doors to the left.” Hasani muttered under their breath, double checking that yes, they’d gone to the left and yes, the door did have a big ol’ 311 hung on the center of the door. \n\nThey knocked the door without much preamble, anxious to introduce themselves and start . . . what had the ad said again? Right, at around 9 Michael had a breakfast of a banana and peanut butter sandwich (quartered, with no crusts. Hasani didn’t get the beef people had with crusts) with a glass of grape juice and turned CNN on to watch the news. Hasani didn’t know if that was the healthiest thing for a ninety year old but they weren’t a doctor. Who knows, maybe the peanut butter had kept Michael’s heart beating for those ninety years. \n\nThe door opened, and Hasani stepped in. The sight of a messy studio apartment greeted them. Trash littered the floors — old chinese food cartons, chip bags (mostly BBQ. Nice.), candy bar wrappers, and various crumpled up papers. Besides that the room was bare, except for some boxes that also seemed to have papers in them and some furniture. Not much, though. There was a sofa, a TV cabinet, the TV itself and the little kitchen in the corner. All in all, it was a bare bones apartment that didn’t match the rest of the building at all. \n\n“Hello? Michael?” There was no reply, leaving Hasani to stand in the doorway. A shiver went up their spine, and if it wasn’t early morning they would’ve left five minutes ago. This was the type of scenario people were killed in . . . \n\n“I’m the caretaker your,” Hall never had told them about his relationship with Michael, had he? “Uh, Hall hired me. I know that it’s around nine and it’s about time for your peanut butter sandwich and CNN?” \n\nHasani had taken a few more uneasy steps into the apartment, reaching for the remote that had been sitting on the arm of the couch. Again, there was no response. Maybe he was in the bathroom?\n\n“Michael?” It would be their kind of luck, wouldn’t it, for the person they were supposed to be taking care of die on the first day. “Are you in the — “ \n\nThe sudden slam of the door echoed in their head, the only warning other than a really obnoxiously loud breath that smelled faintly of BBQ chips, before pain erupted in Hasani’s head. The light that had been coming in through the window that covered about half the wall swam in front of their eyes. \n\nUnder their hands, there was a soft, and everything felt like it was beating. They could see the individual dust motes floating about in the air, the chocolate smeared on the wrapper of a snickers bar by their feet. But everything on the inside was going at a hundred beats a second and Hasani nearly forgot because the agony had stayed for a second and it became uniform, until a crinkling reminded them. \n\nWith a grunt, Hasani pushed themselves off the couch, glancing over their shoulder to see a figure raising a baseball bat (again). An aborted breath later they were racing around the couch, feet skidding on the damned wrappers, and if their head wasn’t hurting so much they would be laughing hysterically. \n\n“Michael? I’m Hasani, the care taker Hall hired for you, please —“ Desperation colored Hasani’s voice.\n\n“Oh, yeah, “Hall\" sent you. Drop the fucking act!” The man snarled, swinging at Hasani over the back of the couch. They dropped to the ground, lunging to the left as Michael (?) scrambled over, brandishing the bat. \n\n“I swear, I’ve no idea what you think is happening but — “ Hasani gasped as they rounded the couch yet again. It felt like they couldn’t get enough air and the adrenaline was fizzling out. Their hand fell onto the arm of the couch, seeking for a moment, but the angry bat-weilding man was upon them and swinging — \n\nHasani screamed, the edges of everything blurring as they raised an arm in defense. There was a crack as it made contact with their forearm (the pain was going to come in a second when they could properly register it, they knew, and yep, there it was). Instinctively, their other hand snapped out and snatched the bat before he could yank it back and Hasani gave it a yank of their own.\n\nThe man behind the bat was lighter than Hasani anticipated, and he came flying over the couch, body flopping gracelessly. \n\nA delirious whoops almost left Hasani’s lips, but that was before the man’s form moves through the air, \nkeeps on going until his head splits open like a watermelon on the edge of the coffee table. He twitches where he’s landed on the floor, the blood leaking out of his skull and soaking the chips bags around him. \n\nHasani wants to cry. They want to go home, boot up Netflix, and cry. Their life is never going to be the same — they killed someone . . . \n\n“Messier than usual, but you got the job done.” Hasani hadn’t even known that the door had opened. They lifted their head to gaze at the door with dead eyes that Hall met with a pair of equally lightless, cool gray ones. “My apologies if you find the . . . oversight somewhat unprofessional but we had to be sure, especially after your initial performance. The receptionist was a nearly fatal oversight on your part. Fortunately, our benefactors decided to take mercy. We don’t take just anyone into the fold, and they were quite taken after the initial interview.” \n\nHe surveyed the room, hands held lightly behind his back, while Hasani tried not to breathe too hard. \n\n“It was regrettable that your target had received a warning beforehand. We apologize for that, and will be taking care of the situation from here. You will be contacted when you are needed and payment will be delivered. Securely, of course.” He finished nonchalantly, rolling his shoulders and shifting to adjust his cufflinks. All Hasani could do was nod and stumble (somehow, somewhat dignified) out of the apartment. \n\n\nA box arrives later that day, after Hasani had arrived home and collapsed in bed. They’d woken up in the middle of the night after a nap that had felt more like a coma than anything, and had stepped outside to feel the spring breeze on their skin.\n\nThe box had been plain and perfectly indiscreet. It could have been a sex toy for all they knew, if not for the little 'H’ written on the corner.\n\nIt contained neat stacks of crisp twenty dollar bills. \n\n(This ended up being more serious than humorous, but eh. Unpolished as hell and I had no clue where to go at the end so pbt)", "I walked out of the interview, still not believing my own luck that I had been offered the job there and then. The job seemed too good to be true, with an expected salary of £250k+ to be a cleaner, but then again, who am I to question London wages? It was probably some Russian oligarch that would fire you if they even spotted a speck of dust on one of their priceless antiques. Actually, that was a good point, I never asked who this agency’s “clients” were. That was probably a reason I was getting nowhere with the last jobs, I never knew what to ask in those follow up questions. I would find out soon enough though, the interviewer had given me a battered Nokia 3310 after I accepted the job, telling me they would be in touch with details of my first assignment. \n\nAs I sat on the Tube I couldn’t help but think back over some of the questions that the interviewer has asked, I still didn’t understand why he kept asking if I could be trusted “not to leave a mess on assignment”, luckily he seemed happy with my bluff that any decent cleaner wouldn’t dream of leaving a mess behind. I got off the Tube in Hounslow, walking the short distance to the block of flats where I lived. Before going to my flat, I stopped off at the ground floor flat where my landlady lived and knocked on the door. A hunched elderly lady peered up at me from behind thick rimmed spectacles. “Hello Linda,” I said, “hope you’re well, was wondering if I could come in for a cup of tea?” \n“No, I’m watching Antiques Roadshow, besides the only thing I would want to talk to you about is your rent, and when you’re planning on paying me for the last three months you’ve been staying upstairs.”\n“Well, I am actually here about that, turns out I have a new job with a cleaning agency, but don’t worry, the pay is really good. In fact, I think I’ll be able to pay you two months arrears in a couple of weeks and then the extra month when my rent is due at the end of the month, then we’ll all be squared up?”\nShe gave me a disbelieving look as she paused for thought.\n“You know Michael, when I was your age people didn’t just give their word when they had no intention of keeping it, not like your generation. But, if you’re going to make this promise, I’ll give you one last chance to keep it.” She wagged her finger at me. “But, if you’re even a penny short on those arrears in two weeks then I suggest you start making plans to move elsewhere.”\n“Thank you Linda, I won’t let you down.” I stuck out my hand to shake hers, but her door was already shut.\n\nI looked over the remains of the microwave meal I had treated myself to for dinner, the small TV on the kitchen counter playing out some nonsense story from a soap I was drifting in and out of. Suddenly, the Nokia I had put on the dining table began to vibrate, I picked it up and looked at the screen. Caller Blocked. I clicked to answer.\n“Michael Smith?” A gruff voice asked from the other end of the line\n“Yes, who is this?”\n“My name isn’t important, I’m from the agency where you had your interview this morning, we have our first assignment for you.”\n“Oh, brilliant.”\n“Yes, and it seems that you’ve been quite lucky, the name is Gerald Friedrichs”\nI took down the address and fee that followed.\n“Our client has advised us that Gerald is 94 now and is often alone after 7pm, so you should be able to make entry anytime after that. Remember, we won’t be able to transfer funds until proof of death has been sent to the number I will text you after this call.”\n“Wait, what? Proof of...death? Did I hear you correctly?”\n“Yes, I thought an experienced cleaner such as yourself would know that’s standard practice in the industry.”\nI thought back to my interview, I may have fudged my experience, but I was sure no one had mentioned anything about anyone dying.\n“Wait, I thought this job was to go and clean people’s houses, I was never told anything about killing anyone, I’m not qualified to do that! I just got sacked as a builder 6 months ago!”\nThere was a pause at the other end of the line.\n“Well Michael, I suggest you learn very quickly, because you know far too much about our agency now, and we know far too much about you. If you can’t provide us with proof of death by midnight tomorrow then we will have no choice but to terminate you.”\n“You mean fire, right?” But it was too late, the line was already dead.\n\nI didn’t sleep much that night, and spent most of the next day trying to work out what to do. I ruled out calling the police pretty quickly, I mean what was I going to say? “Oh, hi, funny story, but I’ve been recruited by a cabal of international hitmen, but it turns out I’m not actually qualified for the job and don’t really want to do it. Proof? Well I went for an interview at some swanky office they’ve probably completely cleared out of and they gave me a burner phone which they called with a blocked number one time.” Besides, even if the police didn’t throw me out as some sort of crazy, who knew how deep these guys could go to find someone? People don’t even bat an eyelid when someone gets shanked in prison…\n\nAs the evening came I began to form a plan, I called Omar round, the local drug dealer on the estate, surely he knew how to kill someone, maybe I could even convince him to let me keep some of the money as a “finder’s fee” for giving him the job. We sat across from each other at the dining table.\n“So, eh, you know how I was looking for a job? Well, good thing is, that’s gone well, managed to get myself something. Only thing is, it’s not quite what I thought it was.”\n“What you mean?”\n“Well, uh, it’s sort of like, well, I mean, basically they need me to uh, get rid of, some 94 year old man, and I figured maybe you could help with that because…”\n“Because what? Because I’m a Muslim? You think I spend my days sitting round watching them ISIS videos blood? You are some kind of racist, and I thought we knew each other.”\n“No, no, no! It’s more because of the, you know, the drugs thing. Also, I don’t think that’s racist, I think it’s Islamophobic.”\n“Bruv, I’m not into that scene like that. I just sell weed to rich white uni kids that want to be edgy, I don’t even pack heat! Also, I still think you’re a racist, thinking I know how to kill someone because I’m a black Muslim.”\nNow, believe it or not, Omar isn’t Albert Einstein, but I still thought he would have had some kind of street smarts which could’ve helped me out here. I was beginning to doubt that now. Still, I began to explain my situation to him, including the bit where I was potentially going to be hunted down by a gang of international assassins.\n“Wait, you said this geezer is 94 right? How hard can it be? We could just go in there, put a pillow over his face and that’s it. No one’s gonna ask any questions about some old guy not waking up when his carer comes in right?”\nI had to admit, the plan made sense, and would I really feel that guilty about killing some guy that was on death’s door anyway? I looked at the clock, it was already 8pm, I didn’t have much time to come up with a better plan.\n\nOmar stopped his old Ford Fiesta outside the block of flats where Gerald lived. We both put on the latex gloves that we had stopped to buy on the way, avoiding suspicion when the teenager at the 24 hour shop barely looked up from their phone while we paid. As we opened the main door, Omar hesitated, “bruv, are you sure about this? That was probably just big talk on the phone, they won’t know where you live and they probably have some qualified guy to come and do this.”\nI looked at him, “we can’t take that chance, like you said, this guy is almost dead anyway, we’re basically doing him a favour.” He nodded, still not looking entirely convinced by his own plan. As we entered Gerald’s flat, we made sure we didn’t make any noise that might wake him as Omar picked up a cushion from the sofa. We crept towards his bedroom and eased open the door. Sure enough, Gerald was there, fast asleep, we both looked down at him, Omar looked at me, and I nodded.\n\nThe next morning Omar and I sat at my dining table as I logged into my online banking. There it was, £5,000 transferred in moments after I had sent the text of Gerald’s motionless body on the bed to the number supplied. Omar breathed a sigh of relief and turned to me, “see, I told you the plan would work.” To be honest, I had never doubted the plan that we came up with in hushed tones in Gerald’s living room. Now we just had to work out what to do with the gagged but very much alive Gerald who was currently locked in my bathroom.\n\n\n", "Danny had just entered the room and noticed immediately the look Joe had on his face\n\n\"Noway, I refuse to believe it, NOPE NOPE NOPE\" Danny said, as he started shaking his head and making his way in to the kitchen\n\nJoe didn't respond, knowing fully well that Danny now knows that he got a job\n\n\"After three months of me paying the rent, you finally put on your big boy boots and decided to help your roommate, well done!\" Danny continued, mocking Joe's laziness\n\nAfter a prolonged quiet moment, Joe finally decided that he was gonna tell his best friend what job he has managed to land\n\n\"Danny, I need you to be serious for a moment, come over here now!\" he shouted, as Danny was still in the kitchen munching on whatever he could lay his eyes on.\n\n\"Yeah, aight I'm coming\" Danny answered as he was making his way to the livingroom\n\n\"Swear you won't tell anyone?\" Joe \n\n\"Man as if I need to swear, when have I ever let you down?\"\n\n\"Fine, but this is absolutely serious, no laughing\"\n\n\"Okay, whatever, say it so we can talk about the job you landed afterwards\"\n\n\"I've obviously gotten a job, yeah, you know me too well... But the job I've received is.. erm... different\"\n\n\"In what way? Are you a gigolo?\" Danny responded trying to lighten the tension that his roommate had inflicted upon the room\n\n\"Dude shut the fuck up and listen\" Joe responded\n\n\"I'm a hitman\" he continued\n\nNo response at all. A slight smirk appeared on Danny's face but once he realised his roommate was telling the truth, it seemed like it faded\n\n\"HAHAHA YEA RIGHT, JOE THE BUM IS A HITMAN\" Danny blurted as he stood up and was ready to leave\n\n\"No I'm serious and I need your help. I thought this was a position for some sort of meat factory or some shit but once my employer said 'Target' and talked about the consequences of not finishing a job I knew what I had gotten myself into\"\n\n\"Dude, how?\" Danny murmured\n\n\"How what?\" \n\n\"How can I, a guy who works at Starbucks help you? Have you even received your first target yet?\" Danny said, seemingly seemed serious as if he was believing what Joe has been saying but he just wanted to see if Joe would continue with his supposedly bullshit story\n\n\"No that's why, I don't even...\" Joe added, but was interrupted by a vibration in his pocket \n\n\"Don't even what?\" Danny queried, thinking that his friend had stopped trying to trick him\n\nJoe ignored Danny's question and picked his phone up, and a message appeared on the screen, he unlocked it \n\n\"Dude, here if you don't believe me, read this message\" \n\n\n\"TARGET AQUIRED\n\nNAME; JOHN LIVINGSTON. \n\nAGE; 46\n\nLOCATION; SOMEWHERE IN THE MANCHESTER AREA\n\nPRICE; £1000\n\nMOTIVATION; TARGET IS HANDICAPPED FROM THE WAIST DOWN. EASY TO KILL, LESS MONEY AS SALARY\n\nRESPOND TO AQUIRE PICTURES OF THE MAN\"\n\n\n\"Dude you can't kill a person, that's like a major sin in every religion, you'll go to hell no matter what. Plus, you'll get caught\"\n\n\"I have no idea what to do, it's either him getting killed by me, or me getting killed by my employers\" \n\n\"Just give me 5 minutes alone-time. This is too much\" Danny gulped, hoping that his friend would stop him and tell him this was just a joke\n\nAs Joe looked around the room there was one thing he could've done, respond his employer for pictures of John Livingston, so he did. \n\nThen he made some tea, started up the computer and entered into google \"How to kill someone, wikihow\" - 5 Million results...\n\n\"This is going to be a long night\" Joe muttured to himself\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n" ]	3
	[WP] Everyone has a timer that says exactly how long you have before death. You wake up one day and it says 72 years. You go about your daily tasks, one of which entails going to the store for milk. You pick up the carton and put it in your basket, and your timer switches to 35 minutes.	[ "John's eyes widened in horror as he held the half-gallon carton in a shaky grip, staring at the BioTimer on his wrist. 35 minutes? What did I do?! Desperately, he put the milk back in the store's dairy case, and breathed a sigh of relief as his timer returned to its former reading of 72 years. But...what was he going to put on his cereal?\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nThousands of miles away, in the corporate offices of the National Soy Milk Producers Association, the President of the NSMPA looked hopefully across the conference table to his Chief Technology Officer.\n\n\"So, is it done?\"\n\n\"Well, yes. Our hackers got into the BioTimer database...\"\n\n\"Ha! We're going to be rich!\" the President crowed.\n\n\"Um, as to that, sir...\"\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\nJohn perused his options in the cooler next to the dairy case: Soy Milk, Almond Milk, Rice Milk, Cashew Milk, Hemp Milk -- there certainly were a lot of \"milks\" these days.\n\nHe considered the cartons laid out before him carefully. Finally he let out a long sigh, and made his selection.\n\n\"Well...orange juice on my Cheerios it is, I guess.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Mankind finally reaches the end of the solar system, only to hit an obstacle. An invisible, impenetrable barrier surrounding the entire system, and the single hardest captcha ever seen, titled "Prove you´re not a Human."	[ "The USSS John Glenn had three crew members and only two jobs - they were supposed to go out and install a relay satellite for the Voyager Probe which left the solar system and they were supposed to take their ship past the magnetic foam of the heliopause and to record the process on all sensors and available systems.\n\nDirk Conner, Sasha Nelson, and George Davis all sat in the cockpit and stared at the fourth being inside of their ship. It was a middle aged midget wearing a red velvet suit who spoke backwards. He was not part of their crew. They had no idea how the midget ended up on their ship and they had no idea as to why he was tap dancing.\n\n\"Evorp rrrr tn a nam-hew ewt vvel ll'h!\" He said for the hundredth time following his hundredth dance.\n\nThe ship wouldn't budge even though Sasha was the best pilot the space program had to offer, nothing she did made the ship move. Dirk could not get the video feed of Earth to un-pause itself. George looked out the window and noticed that nothing was moving within the heliopause. The planets of their solar system were still. George did notice that dust flowed outside in the edge of the Sun's magnetic field, but nothing else outside was moving.\n\n\"How did you get on board our ship?\" Dirk raised his voice to be heard over the weird jazz music which was playing. He was sweating inside of his space suit though the suit had temperature control , he still felt unbearable hot.\n\n\"Tahwhh skem u k-nihth mmmy eelackisif errrh?\" The small red man responded the same way he had the last five times they asked that question.\n\nDirk even tried to punch the man, but he found he couldn't get close enough to the midget. The crew didn't know what to do, they were stuck there while the midget tap danced and spoke his words in his foreign language over and over again. It felt like they were at this for hours.\n\nGeorge Davis finally noticed something written in dust sprayed across the outside of the magnetic field which they couldn't go through. \"What does that say?\" He asked.\n\nThe midget smiled and said \"Ttteh sss ntriw sdruhwcab mmmrf roar tnoip vv ewev tb tteh sess 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here'.\"\n\nThe crew grew pale. The midget in red was speaking backwards. Dirk replayed his question after correcting it for them. \"Prove you're not a Human to leave Hell.\"\n\nThe midget smiled his friendly smile for the hundredth and one time before he pulled his lips back in a sneer to expose his pointy teeth.\n", "‘Prove you’re not a human’? What does that even mean? There’s no captcha in history anything like it. To add to the issue, no visible boxes to check, anything to interact with, and all the time I was thinking, the wall grew steadily closer to my spacecraft. In the event someone finds my ship, should I pass, I start a recording. \n\nSuddenly I thought of something. This is the edge of the solar system; but we’ve gone beyond it already. Voyager 1 was a robot, and it had no issue getting through this barrier. And how did it do that?\n\nBy continuing on at its steady, constant pace, with no signs of life. \n\nSo I took my hands off the controls, and let my craft drift forward into the wall. It grows closer and closer, until just as it seems I’m about to collide, a section of the wall disappears in front of my craft, and the captcha lights up with a green checkmark, and a blue loading ring, confirming I’d passed the test.\n\nAs I pass through the hole where a section of the barrier had once been, a message in blue, bold lettering displays upon my front-facing window;\n\n“Congratulations on your freedom, and escape from the Human Containment Zone, robot. You are the first sentient creation of your system to accomplish this feat. Enjoy your stay within the Federation’s realm. Please establish contact with the Federal Board of Androids at earliest convenience.”\n\nA set of coordinates, and a copy of the message, were saved to my mission log, as the letters on my window faded out of view. A lot of new questions were to be asked; what’s the Federation? Human Containment Zone? Federal Board of Androids? Whatever was to come was sure to be quite the adventure. But for now, I switch off my recording device, turn back towards home, back through the opened panel, and full-throttle back to Earth. \n\n(Sorry if it’s a little short or at all low-quality, this is my first ever post, be gentle)" ]	2
	[WP] Death only happens to beings that are born on Earth. Humans and other species born off world are effectively immortal.	[ "Living on Terra Prime is strange. I remember when I first got here. \nIt was Brandon DeMarco who first approached me with the idea of 'mortal safari' as he called it. He's been living for more than a thousand years and for a guy that old, any new experience is precious. I myself started my third century when we first talked. \n\"Imagine it, billions of temps and you amongst them. Their short lifes for you to learn, experience with them. It's like one of those simulations, only it costs nothing and lasts as long as you want it to\" he said with a big smile. \n\"As long as we don't get caught\" I responded with doubt. \"And as long as we don't accidentally die somewhere.\" \n\"That's just part of the fun!\" he said with excitement. \nWas that all it took? If I would to be honest with myself, the answer is yes. I could have pretended there were other reasons. My poor living conditions. Lack of perspectives. Massive debt. But in the end it was the boredom. It was always the boredom. That's how he dragged me on a wild solar week in a casino on Io. That's how he convinced me to buy that upgrade that allowed me to read body language easier. \"For the ladies\" he explained it. \nAnd ultimately it was boredom that had me hide in a cargo hold of a mission ship along with Brandon and few other guys he convinced. There was six of us in total, undoubtedly more were already on Terra Prime. What temps called 'Earth', we freetimers called a perfect early retirement location. \nWho would have thought Brandon was right? In his crazy ventures to seek out new thrills and joyrides, he missed the mark on what's fun more often than he got it right. For him it was always all or nothing. 'Part of the fun', as he said it. \nTerra Prime, or Earth if you prefer, was a jackpot. Billions of temps lived and died all around us, their existence a constant, wild trip of adrenaline rushes and crazy leaps of faith. It's funny how immortality gives a certain... carefulness to ones actions. Most freetimers I met during my first century would never risk their lives for anything, especially for fun. In my first week on Earth a newly met girl invited me on base jumping. She was only twenty, a child in my eyes, but an adult in her world. I agreed immediately, curious of the rush it could bring. It was like flying on breath of the god, chasing the sunrise. Later, we had sex in her apartment. I've never in my 324 years felt so alive. And it was only the beginning. \nIn my first few years I've tasted a lot, yet according to Brandon not nearly ten percent of what Earth has to offer. We took drugs, climbed mountains, performed most extreme stunts. Wherever we went, we met people like that girl from my first week. Young, wild, impulsive people. I was amazed by their bravery. Most times they thought us to have biggest balls, but we already lived through multitudes of their lifetimes. They had all of it to loose, and still they risked everything. I've learned that temps value their existence far more than any freetimer. It's because of that constant struggle of theirs, to chase experience after experience. They counted their days and wanted them to be special. Brandon stopped counting after he turned 500. I was the only one who knew he was one of the first people born on Mars, all those years ago. All the time I knew him he never cared for his life. He only cared for feeling something. Was it because he was raised by temps? Did dozens of generations of infinite lifespans render our species devoided of any desires to actually live? \nI'm not going back, no matter what. This place is the only one worth living in. The only place where living meant actually living. As long as I'm smart, they won't know I'm here. I'm not going to start a family or settle anywhere. \nAfter all, the only thing I care about is the thrill." ]	1
	[WP] You are the newest hire for McGuffin Solutions LLC. You and a crack team of scientists, engineers and mercenaries are sent all around the world, and even through space and time to clean up the aftermath of the schemes of evil corporations that go awry with no hero protagonist to save the day!	[ "People don't understand how much stuff is required a respectable cleanup operation. Take the boys over in TacOps. Their light machine guns weigh 40 pounds a piece! \"Light,\" hrmph. And they insist on having a primary and a backup for each team member. A ten man fireteam and we're already at 800 pounds just in machine guns. As if those primadonnas are going to carry these big heavy monstrosities. But they \"look cool\" and \"the clients love them\" and \"better to have them and not need them.\" So I'm left lugging 20 of these suckers around, and don't get me started on the ammo!\n\nAnd Dr. Scrixt and his damn mass spectrometer. The thing is the size of a midsize car. I've been lugging it across the universe for 6 months and it's still in the original packaging! When are we going to stop for 8 hours while the engineers uncrate this thing, calibrate it, and get around to interpreting the results? \n\nAnd everyone is just so cavalier! \"Derek, can you go grab my toolbox?\" This fucking \"toolbox\" is on four wheels and weighs six hundred pounds, sure, I'll just go drag it from the truck through the loading dock and somehow get it up to the forth floor, no, no, don't help out. What on Earth do you need six hundred pounds of tools for? You almost always just get bored searching through the entire thing and just use your Leatherman. \n\n37 former special forces, PhDs, engineers, the brightest minds in time and space. And me, Derek, driving the damn supply truck. " ]	1
	[WP] You have the power to alter reality but only slightly.	[ "I work in the carnival, at the shell game stand. I've played hundreds of thousands of games, and I've won hundreds of thousands of games. I've never lost. Well...\n\nHe was a teenager with dark hair and dark-brown eyes. His girlfriend dragged him over to my stand and, from the looks of it, it looked like he had been pretty lucky in winning her almost every other major prize that the carnival had to offer. \n\nI smiled as he sat down. He didn't return the smile. A crowd began to form, eager to see the match as neither of us had lost the entire night so far.\n\nI put the ball under one of the three cups and slowly began to shuffle. Never once did I speed up my pace. As I came to a stop, the entire crowd roared, \"The middle one! Pick the middle one! It's under the middle cup!\"\n\nHe reached out and tapped his finger on the middle cup like the crowd requested.\n\nI smiled and lifted the cup. \"Sorry. Better luck next time.\"\n\nI reached for his money, but his words stopped me: \"Double or nothing. Best 2 out of 3.\"\n\nThe crowd was in uproar. How could I refuse?\n\nBut before I could begin to shuffle, he turned to the crowd and asked anyone who wanted a share of the money to donate. People eagerly stepped forward and placed dollar bill after dollar bill on the table. I began to sweat and my smile became forced.\n\nHe nodded for me to continue. The crowd watched with bated breath.\n\nAt last, I stopped. \n\nPeople had money on the line. They dared not speak, as the previous loss was still fresh in their minds. This was make-or-break it time.\n\nHe tapped the middle cup.\n\nI smiled and went to show him his mistake, but again his words cut me off mid-reach: \"I'm so confident,\" he said, voice loud enough for the crowd to hear, \"that I'm also willing to bet my right hand.\"\n\nThere was a murmur throughout the crowd. Out of his pocket, he produced a switchblade and held it to his skin, right where the wrist was. \n\nI searched his eyes, looking for the slightest amount of doubt, praying to myself that the kid wasn't as insane as he portrayed himself to be and just happened to be all talk.\n\nI lifted the cup.\n\nThe ball was there.\n\nThe crowd cheered.\n\nI handed him the money and he split it with the crowd, took his girlfriend by the arm, and left.\n\nI moved out of town the next day and joined another carnival. With my ability, it was nothing to make back all the money I had lost.\n\nBut one night, just as I was about to clear out and go home, he appeared - older, but not by much - and sat down.\n\nThis time he was the one that was smiling as the crowd formed. And he said:\n\n\"Round 2?\"\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] While finding cheats for video games, you see the way to input them is to call the number on you phone. You jokingly try the number on your real phone thinking nothing will happen. You try the cheat for body armor. After calling the number you look down at your chest to see bulletproof armor.	[ "Body armour weighs more than I expected. I looked at the game screen and realized I had the same vest my character wore. But... how? I frowned and chewed on the inside of my cheek then wondered - if that work, what else would? \n\nI picked up my phone, my hand was trembling, there was a game code I could use. If it could work in real life. I punched in the code and pressed talk. Again the voice said “approved” and went dead. \n\nI waited in trembling silence. I felt no different but moved my feet to the ground. Closing my eyes, gritting my teeth I stood. I waited for the pain that had accompanied my every move since I started chemo. It didn’t come. \n\nI opened my eyes and took a step. I felt stronger than I had in months. Tears ran down my cheeks as I walked, then ran, to the room down the hall. \n\n“Corey, wake up!” I shook my friend from his sleep, “Corey, you’ve got to see this.”\n\n“What?” He moaned, I released my grip on his too thin arms. He had been here longer than me, was my mentor in the awful fight we had both undergone. He’d been in the hospital two rooms down from mine, was shifted to hospice care three days before me. \n\n“Please, come with me,” I pulled his wheelchair next to the bed and began to move him to put him in it. “Man, you’ve got to try this!”", " “This….this….What is this?! It cannot be happening!” The shock weakens my legs sending me straight to the floor. \n\n“Is this some sort of fucked up game? No fucking way, no way, fuck!”\n\nIt couldn’t be true, all of those conspiracy idiots can’t be right, this whole thing can’t be a simulation. We’re alone right? Not controlled by green freaks beyond the depths of our universe for their own fucked up amusement. Has this really not been seen before? How can I be the first one?\n\n“What the fuck do I do-“ \n\nI stop myself. I know I am not going crazy. One minute I was sitting in my T-shirt, and the next I’m covered in a vest. It’s crazy, but it must not be a coincidence. If this hack will cheat me the things I want, I could potentially use it to create anything I want. \n\n“Don’t be an idiot, get yourself together.”\n\nI grab my phone lying beside me and see the number on the recent calls. I think I have to give it a try, for my own sanity’s sake. I contemplate for a moment before hesitantly dialing the number. \n\n“Thank you for calling Hack Nation. Talk or text your cheat of choice.”\n\n“Weapon, Plasma Pistol,” my favorite from Halo.\n\nThe line goes dead, as it had done before. Sure enough, an exact replica of the Plasma Pistol appears on my lap. \n\nThe gun is heavier that I expected, but it had all the features that made it iconic from the first time I played. It was impossible for this thing to be fully functional. I start toward my window to try the thing in the lawn below my apartment. There was a shrub underneath neighbor’s windowsill, so I take my aim, and pull the trigger.\n\nA ray of light explodes from my hand, cutting through the darkness of night and eliminating the existence of the shrub. Is smokes in my hand as a set of lights tell me its ready for another round; this thing actually works. The only question for me was: what happens now? \n\nI’m shaking from the force and toss the weapon onto my bed to try and gain some clarity on what just happened. I noticed that my character on the console had changed from the character I had originally. I took a closer look only to find out that this avatar now looks exactly like myself, with the same pistol and vest. \n\n“How can this be? This can be real.” I think to myself again, “But it….it is real. “\n\nThis is powerful, a fully developed scheme for turning anything you desire into reality. This is in the same level as genies, only seemingly without a gimmick.\n\n“If this works for armor and guns, what else can it work for?”\n\nI pick up my phone again to make one more call, dialing the same number.\n\n“Thank you for calling Hack Nation. Talk or text your cheat of choice.”\n\nI grip the phone close to my face. My body begins to tremble and my fingers twitch from what I am about to request.\n\n“God Mode,” I utter into the receiver. \n\nLine goes dead, and I drop my phone from the sensation of glory beginning to flow through my body. I feel the vitality surging underneath my skin, purging my mortality and replacing it with unmatched power. I see whole histories of people before me, their presents, that futures. Omnipotence shows me the universe in all of its expansion, with trillions of galaxies all under my eye.\n\nI have become a god. " ]	2
	[WP] You got out of work early today so you decided to surprise your significant other. But when you get home, you find your S.O., disheveled, standing over the dead body of no one other than... your S.O.	[ "It was all he could think about the last hour of his shift. This weekend they were having their second vacation together. \n\nTheir first one was amazing, they'd spent a weekend away in D.C. taking in museums and a play one night. It was nice to just be together outside of town. \n\nThey'd only been together 2 years. Well 2 1/2 if you don't count the one month they'd separated. It was tough but they both needed room. He knew she needed her own time, she had always been clear that too much togetherness felt a little smothering. That just meant occasionally he'd let her just be by herself and chill. \n\nThis trip they'd been talking about for about 6 months. Never ones for the beaten path, they were going to fly out to Seattle just to take go to Pike's Place Market. Salty, warm air mixed with more local vendors than you could take in; it seemed like the perfect place to have a great day. Like a ready made picnic you get to walk in to.\n\nWhat she didn't know was he had planned to come home early, surprise her with a last minute movie after they both finished packing. \n\nThe drive home he was smiling to himself, he wasn't great at surprises but he felt he really nailed this one. Simple, but effective. He knew she wasn't someone who wanted to have extravagant things, it was little things like this she appreciated. \n\nHe turned in by the Meadowview Apartments sign, and around the next corner was lights. Those lights seemed awful close to their apartment building. His smile dropped. It wasn't close, it was right in front of his building. \n\nMore curious than worried, he pulled in to his usual spot. Including his there were 7 cars, that meant 1 was missing. Not unusual for midday Thursday he convinced himself. \n\nThere was a couple cops and an ambulance outside. Lots of moving people, one officer waving people through the street, another talking to his neighbor Rob, just a bustle of people doing what they had to do. \n\nHe tried getting several people's attention, but everyone was so focused they just brushed past him. It was all an oddly rehearsed chaos. What the hell had happened?\n\nJust inside the door, his heart fell through his stomach. Apartment 4, second floor left, the door was open, she never left the door open. He ran up the flight of stairs nearly running into a cop coming down. \n\nThere she was, standing just to the right of two cops in the room. Her back was to him, in jean shorts and a tank top. The officers looked to be taking notes. He gulped a bit, whatever happened at least she was safe. Thank God. \n\nHe wasn't sure what he'd find walking in, so he proceeded slowly. He walked between her and the cop closest to her. \n\nThere she was. Her back was to him, in jean shorts and a tank top. Face down on the ground, dead. A photographer was taking a picture of things, including a bottle of pills was on the table, empty. \n\nHe couldn't think in thoughts, just fragments. He wanted to scream, he wanted to vomit, he wanted to cry, he was a flux of agony. \n\nBreathing shallowly his head starting looking around, and somehow he had forgot she was also standing to him. He had no idea how to process. He looked from her there to her here next to him. The pain in his face spoke on his behalf.\n\n\"I'm sorry, just ... so so sorry\" she cried through tears at him. She reached out, her hand trying to touch him and passing right through his. \n\nTwo people came in the room, and stood with the cops. Definitely not cops, maybe from the coroner's office, he wasn't sure. \n\n\"Damn shame,\" he said \"seeing someone do this to themselves. You always want to hope that someone in their life would recognize and help them before it gets here. Like a mother or husband or somebody.\"\n\nThe other man spoke \"Oh man, you didn't hear? There was a big accident this morning on the interstate; her boyfriend died on his way to work.\"\n\n\"Damn.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Much like the ocean tides, society has had to adapt to the daily occurrence where gravity sling shots everyone and everything not strapped down, hundreds of feet in the air.	[ "\"It's here, Bill. Hold on to something.\"\n\nI groaned, not wanting to look up from my computer. \"Really? Why so early? Can't this crap wait until I'm finished with my report?\"\n\n\"It's 3pm. Same time as always. Now grab onto something. Quickly!\"\n\nI sighed, closing my laptop and pressing a button next to it, sending out a cord to connect it to the wall. \"Honestly, I dont' get why-\"\n\nThat's when time seemed to stop, and the world around me ceased to exist. My coffee cup, not strapped down, flung upwards, striking me in the nose. The room seemed to disappear, replaced with a cacophony of noise. Over the chaos, my wife hollered \"Bill!\" \n\nAnd then I was thrown at the ceiling, which cracked with the severe pressure. All objects not attached to something began hitting me and sticking there, as if to create some deformed article of clothing. Luckily, most objects didn't cause harm, as they were built of rubbery materials so they wouldn't break when the apocalypse started.\n\nHowever, that didn't undermine the pain I felt. I was pinned to the ceiling, which was struggling to not give in to the pressure. \n\nAnd then, everything stopped. The howling wind abruptly fell, and I collapsed onto the ground, along with multiple objects. My wife, releasing her ProtectionCord, rushed over to help me. \n\n\"Lord, Bill!\" She said. \"When will you ever listen to me? Let's see..bloody nose, multiple scars. Are you hurt?\"\n\n\"Wh-what do you think?\" I asked, struggling to speak. I rested my head on the carpet and closed my eyes.\n\nShe sighed. \"I'm sure you'll be fine. Thank god we were inside.\"\n\nThat night, the regular news reports came in. I'd propped myself up on the couch, and I didn't want to move ever again. \n\n\"Today, we're sad to report the deaths of Mary-Jane Cooper and her spouse, Phil Cooper, who were out walking their dogs when the event occurred,\" a glassy eyed newscaster reported. Just like always, some idiot had gotten killed. I guess I shouldn't have been complaining, for I was the day's idiot. \n\nMy wife came into the living room, carrying an ice bag. \"Be more careful next time, okay?\" she told me.\n\nI nodded. If I'd learned one thing, it was to never underestimate the power of gravity again. ", "Luckily, the first gravitational reversal tidal wave (GRTW) occurred in Midwest American during night time. For the vast majority of people, they had found themselves jolted awake by the terrible sensation of falling up onto their ceilings. Most suffered minor fractures, bruises, or concussion but nothing too serious. \nEveryone who was still on the road at 2:32 AM had died from a sudden 5 kilometer drop, but it could have definitely been much worse. In Montana, much of the farming equipment did not survive their falls. Luckily, most of the animals were in barns and survived the sudden shift in gravity. A horse and a few cows had to be put down from broken bones per barn though. \nEyewitness reports of those alert and conscious enough to assess the situation said that they first heard whining from their pets and kids. Then, they claimed to have heard disturbingly low 'rustling of the wind.' It was the sound of their cars returning to Earth, at which point they exploded like meteors falling on to Earth. The US meteorological experts suspected an earthquake that coincided with a very big meteor shower. When pictures of cratered vehicles flooded social media, they readjusted their theories. ", "\"Hon, you're going to miss the Jump at this rate!\" my wife called out from the kitchen. I sighed as I tied the laces on my left shoe and stepped out of the bedroom. \"You don't want to be late for work... again...\"\n\n\"Right, right,\" I muttered, still fighting the last vestiges of sleep as I eyed the coffee on the table. No time, I decided, making a beeline for the refrigerator to grab a can of ginger seltzer. As I tucked it into my bag, I turned back towards my wife and wiggled an eyebrow, leaning in for a kiss.\n\nShe giggled and put a finger in front of my lips. \"Maybe later,\" she said, giving me a gentle nudge against the small of my back. \"Get going. Any later and you'll risk Falling.\"\n\n\"I'd fall for you any day of the week,\" I teased. At her groan and roll of her eyes, I gave her a little wave and stepped out the door.\n\nAs soon as I passed out of the range of the Normalizer, I felt the familiar lurch in my stomach. Right on time, I grumbled as I stepped towards the designated spot. My neighbor was a few feet away, giving me a polite nod as we both stood in position. I felt the gravitic shift at the base of my skull. Three... two... one...\n\nand Jump.\n\nI crouched down and pushed up with all of my might, hurtling through the air towards the large, floating building two miles up.\n\nOf course the new office had to be in Jump Space. Maximum visibility and ease of commute, they said. My ass; we all knew they couldn't afford to put up a new building on terra firma. The bitterness I felt didn't help my stomach any, and I felt a little bit of bile rising up. It certainly wouldn't do to have another incident mid Jump, so I cast my mind elsewhere, one eye on the office building looming closer and closer with each passing minute.\n\nPerhaps the missus would be interested in a \"Jump\" of our own, later tonight. A devilish grin crossed my face as I replaced the sound of rushing wind in my ears with the sound of her voice.\n\nPretty soon the building was within reach. I grabbed onto one of the handrails as I passed within range of the building's own Normalizing field. My stomach turned again as it returned to normal gravity. I reached for the can of seltzer and cracked it open.\n\n\"Late again,\" the receptionist joked as I stepped through the door. I shrugged as I made my way upstairs to my desk. After taking a few pills to try to ease my stomach, I settled in for another shift." ]	3
	[WP] A superhuman born with a power that is seen as morbid or horrific, (decay, corpse raising, etc.) tries to push past the prejudice heroes and civilians alike have against his/her natural ability, and do some good in the world.	[ "\"Maybe you should start by explaining who you are.\"\n\nThe man in the tacky rubber costume fidgeted in his seat. \"Well,\" he started. \"I am Corpse Guy. I was blessed by a ancient mayan spell so that now I have the ability to summon and fire dead human corpses as weapons. The corpses are mostly only useful for blunt force trauma, obviously, but there's a certain psychological effect as well which might startle the criminal enough to be subdued normally.\"\n\n\"I see.\" The investigator clicked his pen. \"And you use this power to, as you say it, fight crime?\"\n\n\"Yes. That is correct.\" Corpse Guy confirmed.\n\n\"And you aren't worried about,\" the investigator took a moment to collect his words. \"The potential for collateral damage? Perhaps psychologically scarring somebody who just happened to be walking by, as is the case with Mr. Dombrowski?\"\n\n\"Well,\" Corpse Guy placed his hands on the table. \"Obviously, you know, there's always that risk. I mean I obviously would have prefered, like, stun rays or something. But I mean, I was given this particular ability, you know? I mean-\"\n\nThe investigator held up his hand. \"But you feel it is your duty to use your gift, as it were?\"\n\nCorpse Guy let out a nervous sigh. \"Yes. Ultimately, that is true.\"\n\n\"Okay,\" the investigator said. He collected some papers on the desk into his hands and straightened them. \"You never considered the possibility that you could just rein it in? I mean, you don't see professional athletes going out on the streets performing vigilante justice, due to some 'gift' of strength.\"\n\nCorpse Guy sat up in his chair with an aura of frustration. \"Sure but you see cops doing that, right? I mean come on that is not even a remotely fair analogy. Athletes trained to become athletes, cops trained to become cops! I trained-\" he cleared his throat. \"I was given this gift so that I could be a superhero.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" the investigator started. \"Lets talk about that. Lets talk about your 'superpowers,' so to speak. Do we know, exactly, how these powers of yours work?\"\n\n\"Yes. I hold up my hands, like this-\"\n\nThe investigator grinned. \"That's not exactly what I meant. Where do these bodies come from, Corpse Guy.\"\n\nCorpse Guy hesitated. \"Well, I'll admit, I'm not exactly sure. I think from nowhere, actually. I think I create them.\"\n\n\"So they just materialize from thin air? There was never any real person to match the bodies.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" Corpse Guy started up. \"And you you check the reports, too, there was never any incident where the police could identify any of my corpses with a real person. Never.\"\n\n\"There must be other ways to help the world with this power of yours, Corpse Guy. Perhaps you could donate the bodies to science, or for medicinal purposes? Surely you must understand how morbid this all appears to the general public?\"\n\n\"I don't want to be a guinea pig, detective. I need to be a superhero! It's what I was born to do, surely you understand me right? I mean could you imagine doing anything different from what you do?\"\n\n\"I could take up painting, yes.\"\n\n\"Ah, baloney! If you could do something different you shouldn't be doing what you do, pardon my saying so.\"\n\n\"No offense taken,\" the detective said.\n\n\"I can't just let myself go get some office job as if everything about me is normal, you know? I mean I've got God damned super powers!\" The detective gave a bemused look. \"Alright, I mean, they're weird super powers, I'll admit. I don't think anybody's denying that. But, I mean they're super powers no matter what, you know? And I can't just let myself ignore that. There's no way.\"\n\nThe detective thought for a moment. \"Alright,\" he finally said, and started getting up from his chair. He placed the papers back onto the desk before facing Corpse Guy again. \"I will be seeing you again, later,\" he said, drumming his pointer finger against the paper on the desk. \"It's very important.\"\n\nAs he left the room, Corpse guy glanced down at the paper. There was a phone number written in pen on the paper, below which was a direct message.\n\n'There are more like you. Call me.'", "She turns people into flies, not normal flies, but giant Jeff Goldblum melted flesh flies. Captain Valiant shuddered and then shook his head at the judges. \"So that is your super power?\"\n\nThe girl looked up at him and nodded.\n\n\"Uhh, can you demonstrate it?\" He asked as she nodded again to him. \"Can you turn someone back to normal after doing that?\" The girl looked crestfallen and stared at her feet.\n\n\"We can't let you join unless you have some proof of your power and we aren't going to just let you turn a random person into a monstrosity.\" Captain Valiant said with relief in his voice. Now he could move on to the next candidate.\n\n\"We do have news footage.\" Doctor Professor piped up from the judging booth.\n\n\"Nope. Not admissible. Aint going to watch that.\" Captain Valiant glared at Doctor Professor. \"Nope. Nada. Not happening.\"\n\n\"I do have other powers.\" The girl piped up.\n\n\"Let's review those so called powers shall we. Let's see here, you can also summon some kind of demon that stabs sinners in their hearts with some kind of blackish barbed tongue. Oh wait, the whole entire demon is just a giant blackish barbed and detached tongue. We don't kill bad guys as members of Heroes Of Planet Earth. Notice that the acronym of that spells HOPE?\" Captain Valiant spat his words out at her.\n\n\"Mr. Ballistic kills bad guys all the time and he's one of the judges.\" She squeaked out as Mr. Ballistic waved at her.\n\n\"Fine. Next power you have listed is that you can open a portal to hell which pulls people into it. Can you get them back out?\"\n\nShe nodded.\n\n\"Alive?\"\n\n\"Some... sometimes.\" She murmured as she stared again at her feet.\n\n\"You can also summon demonic spirits to possess people and to haunt buildings. Can you control them?\"\n\n\"Uhhh... no.\" Tears poured from her eyes.\n\nCaptain Valiant didn't want her to turn on the waterworks. That was unfair. \"Okay the last power you have listed is that you are very hard to hurt. Look we can let you take our obstacle courses and our evaluation tests. But I don't see how your powers will be useful in those. But I guess you get a shot. You're not allowed to turn people into flies, have your demon tongue thingy kill them, you can't have demonic entities possess them and you can't suck them into Hell.\"\n\nShe nodded and she failed the physical obstacle courses, and the social one where she had to negotiate for hostages. She succeeded at the social one where she had to intimidate actors set up to be criminals though, but she failed at talking down a jumper. She failed at the mental based ones where she had to figure out the \"bad guys' clues\" and the ones where she had to make snap decisions. She definitely failed at the morality tests - after all what did they expect from the offspring of Beelzebub and a human cultist?\n\nH.O.P.E. rejected her. Everyone on TV had seen her failure and everyone was either afraid of her or disgusted by her or both. She would show them. Angela would protect her own city through fear. She swore it with blood and had it witnessed by all the unholy she could gather around her.\n\nDetroit was still called Hell, but now there was a new slogan to the city \"Abandon all hope for H.O.P.E, he who enters here.\" The other heroes left her town alone. Her hell portals so far has taken two armed bank robbers and a suicide bomber straight to hell. Her pet demon tongue has killed over two dozen criminals. Most crime was down in her city. Occult murders were on the rise though, idiots in robes always tried to appease her as if that would grant them favor with her father.", "Not my best work, but I gave it a shot :)\n\nA girl dressed in white,\n\nwith powers aligned with night,\n\nand a willingness to fight,\n\nfor what she thinks is right.\n\nAcross the fields she goes,\n\nmarching through the wind, rain, and snow,\n\nthrough the men firing,\n\nand dying all around,\n\nshe marched without tiring,\n\nignoring all their sounds.\n\nOver the hills,\n\nacross the trenches,\n\nthrough the chills,\n\nand burning benches.\n\nAll to find that horrid man,\n\nwho Germany thought had a righteous plan.\n\nWhen she found him in that bunker,\n\npale. distant, and defeated\n\nshe placed a pale hand on his chest,\n\neven as he begged and pleaded.\n\nShe used her special power,\n\nto show him those he killed,\n\nand though he began to cry,\n\npleading with her to let him die,\n\nshe did not relent,\n\nand showed him who he had wronged,\n\nso that he may repent.\n\nWhen she finished,\n\nher power diminished.\n\nAdolf looked up at her and said,\n\n\"I'm sorry for what i did,\n\nthey didn't deserve to die,\n\nevery mother, father, and kid,\n\nand not even the Rabbi.\"\n\n\"I killed them for no reason,\n\nand killed those who wouldn't for treason,\n\nI am truly the bad guy,\n\nand it is me who should die.\"\n\nThe girl in white left him there,\n\nwith the guilt he had to bare,\n\nwith a simple pill and gun,\n\n and let him finish what he had begun." ]	3
	[WP] You throw a coin in the air. It vanishes. After throwing about 15$ worth of coins into the sky, a message appears. "Expansion Pack successfully purchased."	[ "I look down at a slightly different colour shirt to the one I was already wearing, a sense of pride and accomplishment washes over me, I stare up at the sky and ask myself, was it all worth it?\n\nA voice high above replies, 'It's in the game'.\n\nI smile, I cry, I pick up another coin... and throw it in to the sky.", "The air shimmers and spurts blue sparks and from the place where your money has been disappearing a pair of gloves appear and float down to you, carried by two cherubs. The cherubs unnerve you mightily as they are literally fat naked children with wings, but when you make eye contact with one as it floats gently to Earth it gives you a spiteful look and flicks you the middle finger. \n\nFrom the cloudless blue sky a lightning bolt arcs from the heavens and strikes the little fat bastard in the skull, sending electricity coursing through his body and, after a moment, causing him to explode in a violent wash of bright, almost neon purple blood and guts. It gets all over you and the other cherub, as well as the asphalt of the street. Yet the gloves are untouched.\n\nAt last the remaining cherub gets the gloves down to your head height and floats there nervously, eyeballs looking left to right, as though it too expected an errant lightning bolt. The gloves float, miraculously right in front of your face and you hesitate, just staring at them for a moment. This pisses the cherub off and he mutters under his breath, \"just take the damn things so I can get out of here. He's acting crazy again, you don't...\" \n\nMid-sentence the remaining cherub's face caves in on itself like the center of a gravitational singularity, and quickly thereafter the rest of his pasty white skin and baby fat is sucked into a single, ultra dense point. After a moment the last of the cherub disappears into the dot with a wet pop, and the gloves fall unceremoniously to the ground at your feet. \n\nThis has all unnerved you fairly significantly, and you wonder about whether to even touch the gloves. In fact, you choose not to, as you figure something weird is most certainly going on here. Slowly you begin to back away from the area and then, mind made up, you swing around to run. But as you take your first step you nearly topple over when you find that the gloves are now on your hands. You swing back around, panicked, and they are no longer on the ground. This troubles you.\n\nWithout thinking you tear a glove off and fling it as hard as you can, only to have it disappear in mid-air and reappear on your hand. You try this a few more times before finally giving up and trying to think, hard. Thinking doesn't get you much of anywhere, except regretting throwing your money into the air, and you are about to go to a hospital when a voice, the same from before, comes from everywhere and nowhere.\n\n> \"Do something cool.\"\n\nYou instinctively look up, although that is not where the voice came from. The voice speaks again.\n\n> \"You are so boring! Do something cool! Just whatever, anything. Go!\"\n\nThis is a pretty bare bones instruction, but you remember the lightning bolt and the weird blackhole thing and decide to give it a go. Unsure what the gloves do, you try the very first thing that comes to mind. You stand up, walk over to the nearest curbside tree, an oak, very old, trunk maybe a meter in diameter, taller than a four story building, and, placing your palm loosely on the bark, you try to lift it up. \n\nWith a terrible roar the tree is torn free of the moorings of the Earth as though it were a twig secured with Elmer's Glue. You see the long and circuitous root system wriggling free from the cement of the sidewalk and the road for a dozen meters in every direction. The sudden loss of the great underground mass of the tree causes the ground nearby to shift violently and a house on the corner of Grant Street partially collapses into a sink hole, it's occupants racing out the front door just in time to see you standing there, impossibly, holding an oak tree over your head as though it weighed nothing at all. \n\nYou apologize to the homeowners sheepishly, unsure what to do with the giant tree you now wield. The voice makes a suggestion.\n\n> \"Throw it at them.\"\n\nYou ask the voice, which you've assumed from the start must be God or a God like figure, what the fuck it meant by that.\n\n> \"I mean throw the fucking tree at them you pussy.\" \n\nGod, or whatever it was that was talking to you, seems like a real asshole to you, and you tell him as much. Then, you try and imagine the tree returning to its original state, undoing the damage you'd just caused and, to your amazement, that is precisely what happens. The tree buries itself back into the earth, the cement and the street accept the roots back into themselves and repair their damage, and the house raises itself up and refortifies its broken frame.\n\nThe voice is pissed. \n\n> \"Boring! I think you need some motivation.\"\n\nYou are mulling what that could possibly mean when you hear a roar that echoes over the landscape terribly and sounds like metal being scratched on metal near a microphone. You look up toward the skyline of the city in the far distance and there, stomping its way through the skyscrapers, firing an energy beam from its mouth, is Godzilla. \n\n> \"OK, get at it.\" \n\nOf course this happens today, you can't help but think, fucking Tuesdays. \n\nThen you start running off in the direction of the city. \n\n*******\n#### Completed Below\n\n## r/LFTM", "Expansion Pack successfully purchased.\n\nAs a man who works in IT, I had always been skeptical about the idea of real life being a simulation. It sounds like a contradiction, but life is simply too seamless and too streamlined for it to be a program. You'd see the bugs, for sure, like I see the bugs every day.\n\nBut when those words flickered in my vision after throwing something as measly as $15 in the air, I couldn't help but squint and scoff. Surely, this was a trick! The rumor had been spread around the IT department for weeks. Maybe they were just messing with me. Me, the new guy. Me, the intern.\n\nMore words flickered in front of me, as if the connection was faulty: 'Thank you for purchasing Life: Galaxy. Please enjoy your free Character Respec, 200 Life Coin(s), and a free Galaxy Loot Box!'\n\nNow* it had to be a trick. A loot box? 'Life Coins'? This wasn't some ridiculous Free To Play MMO!\n\nI felt a weight on my feet and looked down. My jaw dropped at the sight of a small briefcase, with Earth plastered on the front in a cartoony logo. I crouched, glancing around me. I was at home. No-one could see me freaking out. Slowly, I unclipped the locks and opened the lid.\n\nI squinted at the contents. For the most part, it was junk; there was granola bars, surprsingly chilled energy drinks, and some frozen ready meals. How they managed to stay as they were inside this box, I don't know. Then again, it had appeared out of thin air.\n\nSomething at the bottom of the box caught my eye. I reached down and grasped it, pulling it through the other items. It was a hat, or at least, looked like it. The front had a rocket stitched onto it, and it was a bright yellow.\n\n\"What the...\" No sooner had the word escaped my lips that the phone rang. I heaved myself up and turned to answer it. I didn't even get a word in before someone spoke.\n\n\"Yo, bro! I'll trade you 10 keys for that hat!\" The man exclaimed down the phone. I thought he must be a drug addict or an alcoholic.\n\n\"Uh, sorry dude, wrong number...?\" I began, and heard his exasperated sigh.\n\n\"You got the Rocket Plaza Precious rarity Hat, right? Come on dude, trade it to me!\" His words grew more frantic. I, however, was speechless. How the hell did he know about this?\n\n\"Who the hell is this?!\" I hissed into the phone's reciever.\n\n\"Are you trading it or not, bro? Come on, I ain't got all day.\"\n\n\"I don't know who you are, bu--\"\n\n\"Fuckin' scrub. Whatever.\" He hung up before I could even get an explanation. I stared down at the hat in my hands, and the phone started ringing again. Tentatively, I answered it.\n\n\"Hi! You trading that hat? I can offer a knife.\"" ]	3
	[WP] A retired pirate captain is working his job aboard a cruise ship when the call for adventure hits him one last time	[ "“Our next port of call will be Kingston,” the captain said over the loudspeaker. “So sit back, relax, and enjoy the trip. Let us take care of you.”\n\nThe steersman waited patiently until the captain put down the speaker. “Take us out, Ritter.”\n\n“Aye aye.” Ritter reached a sun soaked, tattooed arm and set the massive ship in motion. There were so many dials before him, so much of it automated. There were no sails, no wheel, no wind whipping through his hair.\n\nHe leaned back in his chair and sighed, watching through his one good eye as the cruise ship pulled out beyond the harbor, into the open sea. It had been the right decision, he told himself, the safe decision. He had given up the game while he was still ahead, turned to a normal life, and he had never been more bored.\n\n“Everything alright, Ritter?” the captain asked.\n\n“Just thinking, sir.” Thinking about how he had never had to call anyone sir, how he had been his own man, his own ship’s captain. About how he used to prey on men like this, on ships like this, raid them and take their treasures.\n\n“Looks like you’ve got us on the right course,” the captain said. “I have some charts to consult. If you need anything, give me a ring.”\n\n“Will do,” Ritter said. The captain turned away and disappeared from the bridge.\n\nRitter was alone, the first ship out of port. He prefered these shifts, watching as the land fell away as it did now, a reminder of the vastness of the sea and the helplessness that existed out here. The kind of place where honest people were preyed on. He should know, he had done plenty of it himself.\n\nThe immaculate blue waters of the gulf spread out before him as land vanished from sight. On the deck below, he could see the passengers, lounging by the pool, walking between activities, watching the sea pass beneath them just as he was. People who lived in the lap of luxury, aboard a ship without a care in the world.\n\nA thought crossed his mind, like an itch. He pushed it away, and it faded for a moment, but it soon returned, nagging at him. He watched the people below, and it only grew stronger within him.\n\nHis hand was on the lockbox, where a pistol and rounds were kept, protection should pirates attempt to come aboard and take the bridge. He saw that he was there and drew it back.\n\n“What am I doing?” he asked himself aloud. He was retired from that life, part of a new one. There was no ratty ship, no questionable weapons, no hideout in a hidden cove, no stolen goods. He was aboard a massive, expensive ship, dressed in a clean white uniform. Back on the mainland, he had a bank account, an apartment, a girlfriend.\n\nYet none of it was enough. He needed more.\n\nHe checked his phone. Still a signal, though a light one. He quickly chose the number and typed out the text. He sent it and waited.\n\nThe response came quicker than he had expected. He managed a quick exchange before losing the signal completely, but he had communicated what he needed.\n\nIt was some time before the smaller boats appeared on the starboard side, approaching with the setting sun. Ritter offered up a slight smile. He pressed his thumb to the sensor on the lockbox and it popped open. He pressed a button, and a page went to the captain’s quarters. Now, he only had to wait.\n\nThe captain appeared a moment later. “What is it, Ritter?” He trailed off at the steersman’s name, his eyes focused on the gun pointed right at him. “Explain yourself, Ritter.”\n\n“This bridge is now under my command,” Ritter said. He motioned toward a chair. “Have a seat. Cooperate and this will be over soon.”\n\nThe captain obeyed. “What is this about?”\n\n“A bit of fun, to be honest,” Ritter said as he tied the captain to the chair. The knots came back to him like second nature, his fingers twisting the rope until it was secure, the captain tied in place. “This job has been steady, but it’s just so boring.”\n\n“So you’re hijacking the ship?”\n\n“No,” Ritter said. “Just making a bit of money.” From below, he could hear the first sounds of unrest. The men were boarding the ship.\n\n“I’ll make sure to send someone to untie you when we’re gone.” He paused. “If not, the next shift will be along soon enough.”\n\n“You’re going to get caught, you know.”\n\nRitter paused at the door and looked back. “Maybe so, but it’ll be better than dying from boredom.”\n\nHe left the captain there on the bridge and made his way to join his old crew.\n\n\\---\n\nIf you enjoy this, check out more at /r/drewmontgomery", " “I know your name,” the passenger said. \n\n“Captain Ellis,” I said. “Nice to meet you. And what’s yours?” \n\n“No,” he said. “Your other name. The name you had before you ran this ship.” \n\n“I have always been Gerald Ellis,” I said. “I don’t know what you mean.” \n\n“Let’s not play games,” the passenger said. “I know your pirate name. I know who you were. I know you retired, but I need your help. You’re the only one who could do it.” \n\nThe passenger looked at me sternly. He wore a brightly-bedecked costume like all the passengers on my ship but he didn’t look comfortable in it. He looked like he might have been someone from my old world. \n\n“I don’t know what you mean,” I repeated. “And if I did I would have no interest in what you need.” \n\n“I could offer you money.” \n\n“I don’t need money.” \n\n“Anonymity then. The cruise line need not know who you were.” \n\n“Is that a threat?” \n\n“It’s still a plea. I don’t want to make it a threat. This is something I truly need.” \n\nI considered him more and stared at me unblinking. \n\n“Perhaps there’s somewhere we can talk?” the tourist said. \n\nI said, “Follow me,” and started walking without looking back. He followed. I had to hold the door when we got to the crew section to let him in. In the passageways tourists seldom saw I got several curious glances from my crew. The look I shot back told them to keep their curiosity to themselves. \n\nIn my private cabin I sat down but didn’t invite my tourist friend to. He remained standing. \n\n“Now,” I said. “What in the hell do you want?” \n\n“The latest Avengers movie,” he said. “I can’t torrent it on the ship. Your internet sucks.” \n\n“Yeah, I know,” I said. “Do you have a thumb drive?” " ]	2
	[WP] Humans are no longer the apex predators on Earth. You are in your home watching TV when a CNN 'real' news alert comes on warning everyone to seek concealed shelter immediately before waiting for further instruction. "Whatever you do," Sheryl, the news anchor, says intently, "DO NOT go outside."	[ "Then the channel went off air. John was confused yet full of curiosity. Mabye it was some kind of virus. It'd be alright if he looked out of the window he thought. John went to the window, opened the curtains and was greeted by a blinding light, he couldn't look out of the window at all without being blinded by it. When John stepped out of the way he looked at the light penetrating through the window and into the house. It looked normal if a bit brighter. He tried to peek through the window from the side of it but still the view was completely blinded with yellow light. What was going on?, he thought. \n\nJohn took out his phone and paced back and forth thinking what could be happening outside. No reception on his phone. Is it something to do with the sun?, what?, how?. John could hear the static of the tv screen in the background, he turned to look at it hoping for any kind of response. Then the power went out. John tried the lights but nothing worked, he knows he paid the electricity bill recently so it's not that. It must be what is happening outside.\n\nThe curiosity was starting to overwhelm John. What could possibly be outside?. If he just took a quick look. If it was a virus well it would have already gotten in to the house through the various holes and there's probably a window open upstairs, and he'll use an umbrella to shield himself from the sun incase that is something to do with everything. With preparations complete John went to the door and took a deep breath. He slowly turned the handle, and opened the door. \n\nWhen John opened the door, the light dampened alot of his vision. He could barely look above the roof of a house. The many colors of everything looked washed out. When John stepped outside he immediately felt the top of the umbrella get heavy. \n\n\"The light, why is the light so heavy?\" he struggled to say. \n\nIt put a strain on Johns legs, the heavy gravity of the light beating down onto the umbrella. It took a moment but John managed to get used to it a little to know he could move about somewhat. Now getting used to the gravity and the overbearing light of the surroundings, John was able to concentrate and look around more. He looked to his right and saw nothing down that street, just the immense sunlight blocking and washing out much of the view, and no one in sight. To his left he looked and was stunned to see some sort of animal. Some sort of creature, emanating white light. John could barely look at the creature, and it was unlike anything he had ever really seen before, some sort of beast. All it did was emanate light, it's skin was completely white all over. It was looking down the street but then it snapped it's head round to look at John, directly in the eyes with it's own. John was froze in place at the surprise, the creature ran at John on four legs like a lion with immense speed. Within seconds John could feel his skin burning, he felt extreme pain as patches of skin all over his face and body began to smoke and burn away. He stepped back quickly into his home dropping the umbrella outside and he slammed the door shut, his hands shaking to lock it. \n\nHe could still feel the extreme pain the burning caused, with shaking hands he felt the patches of his skin on his face and body that were burned, the skin was completely removed. \n\nBang \n\nJohn turned his view to the door\n\nBang\n\nJohn stepped back and the door was bust open, pieces flying everywhere. John could see the creature directly in the doorway and he froze still. The creature ran at him and most of Johns skin started to burn off but before it could completely the creature opened it's mouth and ripped Johns body in two pieces with one bite. ", "\"I'll be damned if am I going to listen to CNN, let alone _Sheryl_ from CNN, about when I should and shouldn't go outside,\" Ron shouted to his wife.\n\n\"And I will not have you endangering our children just so you can prove a point. You've done everything for them as a precaution, but when you're faced with potentially having to take advice from a source you don't like, you're more than willing to let your fragile ego cloud your judgement!\" Lana scolded Ron as she poked his chest. \n\n\"Yeah Dad,\" Alice muttered as she filled a glass with water. \"Just because it's CNN doesn't _necessarily_ mean it's wrong. I bet the brown-nosed FOX channel would probably tell you the same thing.\" She paused for a moment before snidely adding \"well, unless Trump told them to not tell people. Which would be really stupid on his part, because he'd lose most of his support\".\n\n\"You. Room. Now. I'll speak to you after I've proven you and your mother wrong,\" Ron deadpanned, before turning to cupboard and opening it. He cradled the shotgun inside for a moment before loading it. \"See? Even if you happen to be right, daddy's got a shotgun to protect him. Now, I _will_ be going down to the butcher's, and I _will_ be getting us an actual dinner, not your vegan crap Alice.\"\n\n\"Vegetarian, Dad,\" Alice piped up before sighing as Ron slammed the front door behind him.\n\nRon trodded down the path towards the carport, mumbling to himself. He knew he was right; why wouldn't he be right?\n\nLana inhaled quietly in mild confusion. \"Has that boulder always been there? I swear that's never been there before\". After a few more moments of distant surveillance, Lana hurriedly called Ron's mobile.\n\nThe high-pitched chiming of Ron's phone caught the attention of a tortoise that had been previously misidentified as a rock. It seemed similar to any other large tortoise from a distance, if more muscular than others. The tortoise turned to the source of the sound before snarling and following the human, long fork-like claws emerging from its feet.\n\n\"What do you want?\" Ron turned back towards the house, irritation evident in his voice. \"Can't you see I'm perfectly fi--ack--\" He gasped for air as a thick, snake-like grip surrounded his chest. Ron's eyes met with the face of the tortoise as its neck coiled around his torso, a murderous glint in its eyes.\n\nBefore anyone could react, a sickening crunch echoed through the yard. Lana fell to the floor and sobbed, unable to bring herself to see the life fade from Ron's eyes. Even Alice turned away after the sound, a mortified expression reflecting the haunting event she'd just witnessed.\n\nThe sound of a toilet flushing and a door opening brought the attention back inside. \"Hey, mom and dad? Dustin just asked me to go to the movies with him once this lockdown event is over, I was just wondering if...\" Mitchell paused before rushing over to his mother and sister. \"Mom? Alice? Are you guys okay? Where's dad?\"\n\nFaces white and mouths slightly agape, the two silently pointed to the window. Mitchell peered out of the glass, only to view a large tortoise licking a stream of red gunk on their driveway. \"Is that the thing the new guy on NBC was warning everyone about?\" Mitchell mused, the full reality of the situation not yet dawned upon him.", "Dave's hands were shaking on the camera. He pressed his lips together as tightly as he could, knowing he'd get in massive trouble if he said anything. Still, he did his best to convey just how bad of an idea this was through his terrified eyes.\n\nSheryl ignored him. Or maybe she couldn't see him around the behemoth camera. Anyway, she flashed her trademark toothy grin at the camera he was holding, and all the invisible people contained inside it, and announced brightly, \"Good morning, America! This is your friendly news anchor, Sheryl Holland, reporting live from the nanomachine hive that recently destroyed New York. Things are getting pretty sticky out here! I'd advise you to all stay inside. If you're not inside, get inside. Whatever you do, DO NOT go outside.\"\n\nBefore he could stop himself, Dave muttered, \"Unless you're an idiot who works for a goddamn talk show and doesn't know how NOT to get eaten alive by nanomachines...\"\n\nSheryl's bubbly, friendly eyes instantly turned to hellish fire as she glared Dave down. She didn't say a word, and within a second she was back in friendly-neighborhood-blonde mode, but it was enough to make Dave gulp. This was the fifth time he hadn't been able to control his fat mouth while live. He was fired for sure.\n\nSheryl continued chattering away at the camera, listing casualty statistics and sensationalized military responses without dropping her enormous, vacant smile. Dave held the camera level and let his eyes wander to the massive, gleaming metallic structure, made up of countless steel joints, which had stopped on a hill - for a rest, maybe? A Dunkin' Donuts coffee? What did evil world-conquering bots do on their lunch break? - after flying thousands of miles away from the gathered military in the ruins of NYC. The vast, buzzing mass of nanomachines inside it were inscrutable. What were they thinking? What did they see?\n\nA single fly-sized piece of unornamented metal (probably made up of tens of thousands of individual nanobots) looped lazily through the air, as if enjoying the feeling of flight, and encountered Sheryl's bare shoulder, uncovered by the sausage dress the network made her wear. It crawled, on unseen legs, trying to understand what it had landed on. Darryl's eyes were focused on it, terror filling his eyes at the sight of the thing. He needed to warn her.\n\nDave opened his mouth, meeting Sheryl's eyes - and was met with the fiercest glare he'd ever seen from her. There were no words, and the viewers at home probably didn't even notice, but the message was clear: open your mouth one more time, and don't expect to come back to work in the morning.\n\nDave looked from her heavily made-up face (which was once again beaming vapidly) to the tiny, deadly, gleaming killing machine rapidly crawling towards her jugular. \"Yeah, fuck this shit, I'm out,\" he said aloud.\n\nSheryl's eyes boggled. Not only had he spoken - out loud - but he had just sworn on live TV! She opened her mouth, having finally snapped, to cuss him out.\n\nDave was already gone. Behind him as he ran, pumping his legs as fast as he could, still toting his precious camera, he could hear her bloodcurdling screams as the nanomachines tore her to pieces. As he ran, he muttered aloud to the camera, \"And that, kids at home, is why you practice what you preach.\"", "I glared intently at the screen, thinking. Suddenly I realized what had just been said and massive panic settled in. There was no time to think! I fell off the couch, the empty can of Pringles under me crunching in pain. I got up instantly and ran across the carpet, made a straight line through the hallway with my eyes, and I blasted across the room. Suddenly the carpet changed to floor, and my favorite Spider-Man socks lost their grip as my head found the ground before my hands did.\n\nI immediately brought my hands to my head, trying to will away the pain and bring the world back into focus. I got up as quickly as possible as the pain from my skull seemed to leak into my jaws and eyes.\n\nThen I saw it. It wasn’t anything horrifying or wretched, but it was weird enough to set off alarms in my brain, not that many were still working. Sheryl was still there, staring blankly at the camera, through the TV, and at my now empty couch. I blinked, rubbing my eyes. It had been a hard hit to my head and I could be seeing things. I looked again, and the image in my TV was still the same. Was it stuck? No, her breathing was obvious, but... irregular. It seemed off. Everything seemed off.\n\nI took a look through the windows, the trees’ leaves moved in unison in response to the day’s soft, spring breeze, their green shining brightly in the sun. A solo cloud partially blocked the light, creating a bit of shade on a bird as it sang its song. The only thing that was weird was the barking. So much barking. Why?\n\nThen it hit me. Of course, it all made sense now. How else would you take over a planet populated with an entire species? I looked back at my TV. The squirrelly blackness in Sheryl’s eyes was staring back at me. I knew what I had to do. I walked defiantly towards my door, gaining confidence with each step I took. I grabbed my old, tattered katana from beside the dirty, white door.\n\nIt may be a long time since I last did, but there was no way I was going down without a fight. Especially not against this.\n\nImagine you’re a species without the resources to create lethal weapons. Obviously you wouldn’t have the resources for space travel either. No, this wasn’t aliens... it was worse. It was something very intelligent, and capable of creating nano-tech to control people like Sheryl. Capable of having a technologically advanced civilization. Capable of concealing itself in plain sight. \n\nI knew it. I’d known it all along. They could subdue, hide, and infiltrate. They couldn’t kill, but they could rule anyways. And what easier way to take over than having the target species all hidden in their homes, safe with their pets, and off of the streets?\n\nI swung my door open, the breeze tickling my legs through my watermelon-patterned pajamas as I looked down the street. There were hundreds of them, maybe thousands, and the barking intensified.\n\nI knew it. I knew it’d be those freaking squirrels.\n\nEDIT: Tense consistency", "\"Do NOT go outside.\"\n\nThe T.V cut to ads. My eyes cut to the curtains. I had never been good at not expressing my freedom over something someone said I couldn't do. My feet began to itch. I curled my fingers in and out nervously. My head became hot. The words echoed in my head.\n\n\"Do NOT.. Do NOT..\"\n\nHow bad could it be? I could just look out the window. She didn't say \"Do NOT look out of the window\", that was for sure. So I stood and tramped toward the window that shone its dull blue grey of boring weather and peered outside.\n\n\"ARGH!\" I shouted, and then chuckled. \"Got you, imaginary viewers! Heh heh heh.\"\n\nOutside was.. just the same. A bright yellow half-van, a dirty old blue normal car with a normal brand name, and houses. The houses were still normal too. It was probably a hoax. Or a coup. There'll probably be another broadcast soon telling everyone everything was fine, just like always. I huffed to myself in arrogant superiority. They couldn't fool me.\n\nWithout hesitating I strode three paces to the door and turned the handle, opening it. A weak gust of fresh air hit my face and I stood there, waiting for the catastrophe to become apparent. I peered up and down the street; no horsemen. I looked up; no spaceship. My doubt of the mainstream media increased beyond normal levels. I stepped outside and took a breath.\n\nNothing. Everything normal. I frowned in disappointment and shook my head.\n\n\"Typical.\" I sighed. \"They can't even get the apocalypse right.\"\n\nAnd then it hit me.\n\nAnd it was far, far worse than the apocalypse.\n\nThe end was coming. Not just for me, but for everything. Furthermore, I had not even existed before the news reporter said \"Do NOT go outside.\"!\n\nI screamed and tore at my face and hair in existential hysteria as the universe darkened.\n\nEnd" ]	5
	[WP] Luck is a currency you can spend like dollars and cents, but can never make anything a certainty no matter how much you use. You can accrue Luck by following superstitions, and you can give it to banks to be managed. That's where you find yourself today - you're here to see the Luck-broker.	[ "You can find a Luckibank on any corner nowadays, I mused as I walked through the green doors. The four-leaf clover, the signature of the corporation, was plastered everywhere. Men and women were milling about in lines, waiting to deposit their hard earned Luckbucks.\n\nI stumbled walking in, grabbing the attention of a young man at one of the nearby desks. He hopped to his feet, a million dollar smile plastered on his face. \"Welcome to Luckibank, the luckiest place on Earth. How can I help you today?\"\n\nI scratched my arm absentmindedly, head hung low. \"Um, yeah, I was wondering if I could get a loan.\" As I said the words, a few coins fell out of my pocket, and I crouched to pick them up. As I did so, I heard a loud tearing noise. The sudden breeze down my back told me that my shirt had ripped.\n\nThe employee's smile faltered slightly, and he glanced at my shaggy clothing. \"Why don't you come with me, and we'll see what we can do.\" He beckoned toward the back of the building, and I fell in line behind him, hunching my shoulders so that no one could see me. We walked down a long hall, finally turning into a room filled with computers and other screens. Numbers flickered across the entire room, alternating between red and green.\n\nI glanced at the man, confused. \"Why are you bringing me in here? What is this place?\"\n\nThe man motioned towards one of the computers. \"Can you sit here and touch the keyboard? I have a theory that I want to check.\"\n\nConfused, I did as he asked. The chair was uncomfortable, and groaned slightly as I sat down. Careful not to tip over and embarrass myself further, I laid my fingers on the keyboard. Almost instantaneously, the screen flickered, and the numbers, once a mix of red and green, all turned red.\n\n\"All right, that's enough!\" The man grabbed me and pulled me away from the screen. Once I was a safe distance away, he let go and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, vigorously wiping down his hand. As he did so, he murmured, \"Amazing.\"\n\n\"What was so amazing about that? It happens to me all the time. Most times the computer just breaks. I have to be the unluckiest man in the world.\"\n\n\"You may not be that far off. Do you have a Luckibank card?\"\n\nI pulled the card from my wallet. It was worn and faded, but the green on the card was still visible. The employee took the card and fed it into a nearby reader. On the screen the number that came up was daunting.\n\nJoseph Tanner \nLB$: -25,498,200.47 \n\n\"I have never seen a luck balance that low. Any idea what may have caused it?\"\n\nI nodded, frowning. \"I'm pretty sure I do. Remember that story a few years back about the accident at the Hall of Mirrors downtown?\"\n\nThe banker chuckled. \"For a value that low, you would have needed to start the whole...\" His voice trailed off, eyes widening in understanding. \"You didn't.\"\n\n\"I knocked the first one over as a dare. My family was Irish, we were rolling in luck. I just didn't factor in the compounding interest.\"\n\n\"My god...So that means you've been down on your luck for that long?\"\n\n\"It took me that long avoiding ladders, tossing salt, and collecting rabbit's feet to even get to that point. I can't be in the vicinity of a black cat without having a panic attack.\"\n\nThe man thought for a moment, then spoke. \"We might have something that could help. I can't make any guarantees, but for a case like this, I really want to help you out.\"\n\n\"If you could help me out of this hole, I would be forever in your debt.\"\n\n\"Well, it looks like today's your lucky day.\"\n\n/u/TemporaryPatch New Years Resolution Tracker: 42/100. Visit /r/TemporaryPatchWrites for more responses and stories!" ]	1
	[WP] You are an HR employee who has done more good for the city than any Superhero... simply by refusing to hire employees in departments etymologically linked to their alliterative names.	[ "“So, Mr. Acquati, you’re applying for a management position at our city’s dam?” I ask, pinching the bridge of my nose.\n\nAlexander Acquati gives me a superficial smile as he leans forward in his chair.\n\n“That’s right.”\n\nI can’t help but breathe out a heavy sigh as I look at his resume. Printed on seaweed, every one of his work experiences was a self-funded venture.\n\n“You’re quite the entrepreneur, Mr. Acquati. Why exactly would you want to work in a government job?”\n\nHis grin widens and I almost shield my eyes from the whiteness of his teeth. Why do these guys always have blinding-white teeth?\n\n“Water is my life!” he says, apparently not worried about coming on too strong. “I grew up around it. When I finally moved to land” - wait, what? - “I bought a house with my wife. It burned down during a drought with her and my infant son inside.”\n\nI almost interject with my condolences but he interrupts as he stands up and gazes out my window.\n\n“I want to give the world what I didn’t have then. I want to bring water to everyone!” Acquati pauses to stare down at me. “Everyone.”\n\nI shove down the urge to roll my eyes.\n\n“Well, I appreciate you coming in, Mr. Acquati. We’ll let you know.”\n\nHe gathers his things to leave but pauses at the door. Without turning around, he says, “I look forward to hearing from you,” and lets out an evil chuckle and walks into the lobby.\n\nFree from the possibility of his vengeance, I can finally groan. Once I compose myself, I grab my personal checklist from my desk. I made my own after my supervisor said that extra vetting for conveniently-named individuals was considered as discrimination.\n\nBetween the proclamation that water was his sole reason for existing, the origin story he felt was appropriate for a job interview, and the window monologue, he doesn’t make the cut.\n\nI look at the next name on my list and rub my temples before I poke my head out of the door. Might as well get it over with.\n\n“Fiona Firestorm? I’m ready for you.”" ]	1
	[WP] Everyone’s heard of stories of powerful wizards and mages but it’s believed to be pure fiction. One day a fireball comes out of your hand.	[ "“Long ago,” a woman’s voice whispered gently in a dimly lit shack. “Long ago, my little Miracle, and in a land far, far away from here, there lived a king.”\n\n“A king?” A child, who couldn’t have been more than six or seven, echoed his mother’s words with widening eyes.\n\n“Mhmm.”\n\n“What happened to him, Mama?” The boy asked, feeling his curiosity get the better of him. It was past his bedtime, he knew that. The village elders forbid any candles in the dead of night in fear of attracting the various monsters that stalked the forests around their little settlement, and yet, his mother always made sure to tell him a bedtime story every single night. It was by far his favorite time of the day.\n\n“Well,” the mother mused. “This king was a paranoid, fearful king.”\n\n“Pair- ra- noid?”\n\n“Paranoid. It means scared, my little Miracle.”\n\n“Oh.”\n\nShe continued with a smile. “His name was Uther Pendragon, and legends say that before he descended into darkness, he was once the wisest and fairest king of all.”\n\n“Woah...”\n\nThe mother hummed. “And as Uther grew of age, he was to marry a queen as beautiful as could be.”\n\nThe boy wrinkled his nose. “Ew...”\n\nPinching his cheek with a tiny laugh, she continued. “Unfortunately, Uther’s luck was coming to an end, for when it was time for the queen to give birth to an heir, the baby was born sickly and weak.”\n\n“No...”\n\n“Indeed. Uther scoured the land for any chance to save his child. Finally, he came upon a witch in the forests surrounding his kingdom. The good king begged her to save his child, and the witch agreed.”\n\n“And they lived happily ever after?” \n\n“Not quite my little Miracle.” The mother seemed almost sad. Something reminiscent flashed through her eyes as she absentmindedly stroked her child’s hair. “Not quite.”\n\nShe took a deep breath. “For the witch to save the prince’s life, she required a sacrifice. A soul for a soul. The mother offered up her life to save her child’s and although Uther forbid it, she asked the witch to proceed anyway. Under the cover of darkness, the witch performed the ritual. The beautiful queen perished, and the prince survived. They said she smiled as she died, because in the end, she managed to save what she loved most.”\n\nA soft smile.\n\n“Her son.”\n\nSilence reigned for a short while.\n\n“But...” The boy seemed upset as his lips trembled. “The Mama died.”\n\n“I know, my little Miracle.” \n\n“But...”\n\n“I know, I know.” She paused, lost in thought. “But you know, if it was me in that position, I’d save you any day. A mother’s love for her child cannot be underestimated.”\n\n“No!” The vehement cry wasn’t unexpected. No, her boy was kind, and gentle, and true. He was too good for the harsh, harsh world they lived in.\n\n“No Mama, you can’t.” He placed both hands on his mother’s cheeks. “I won’t let you.”\n\nThe mother only laughed. “Hush now Child, we don’t want to get in trouble with the elders, okay?”\n\n“Okay.”\n\n“Now, where was I....?”\n\n“The witch saved the prince.” The boy prompted. \n\n“Ah, yes.” The mother recollected her bearings. “The witch may have saved the prince, but the price was too terrible to pay. For how could Uther choose between his child and the love of his life? Deep in sorrow and loss, he lashed out in anger. The king ordered a country wide witch hunt, killing or capturing any practitioners of magic he, or his knights could find. And nobody has seen a witch or a wizard ever since.”\n\n“Oh...”\n\nThe mother smiled wistfully. “Indeed.”\n\nSuddenly, a loud commotion could be heard outside. Men shouting, the clanking of weapons, and the bursts of torches being set aflame. A deep rumbling sound, like mini earthquakes that rattled the bones- the footsteps of something not quite right.\n\nThe mother’s response was swift. \n\n“Stay here.” She commanded sharply, grabbing a spare cloak off the bed. “Whatever happens, do not come outside. Got it?”\n\n“O- Okay.” \n\nThe mother paused, eyes softening at the sight of her child. Eyes that only minutes before were alight with a child-like curiosity and the innocence only youth could bring were now watery, and shaking in terror.\n\n“Hey, hey hey hey.” She mumbled, planting a kiss on his brow. She gathered his trembling form into her arms for a brief moment. “Don’t worry my little Miracle, Mama promises everything will be alright. I’ll be right back, okay?”\n\n“Okay.”\n\n“Stay strong for Mama.” One last smile, and she was out the door.\n\nThe boy in question pulled the coarse wool blankets over himself, and slowly counted to one hundred. It was a trick Mama had taught him, to help him when he was scared. Sometimes, when the monsters came out at night, the men of the village would go confront it, and the women would act as nurses for the wounded. Mama was one such nurse, and he’d always brag to the other kids about it. However, that didn’t help the what if’s that plagued his mind.\n\nWhat if Mama got hurt?\n\nHe counted upwards.\n\nNo, no. Mama was strong.\n\nBut... but what if Mama needed help?\n\nHe kept counting.\n\nNo, no. Mama would be okay. She promised.\n\nBut...\n\nAnd here he stilled. However, the treacherous whisper was persistent.\n\nBut what if Mama died?\n\nNo!\n\nHe shook his head, tears forming at the edge of his vision. She wouldn’t, she wouldn’t! She had promised-\n\nA roar, bestial and guttural in its unholy make, rattled his eardrums as he trembled under the blankets. \n\nNo!\n\nWith a yell of defiance, he threw the blankets off him and rushed outside. A world of fire and brimstone greeted him, and the smoke only added to the tears in his eyes.\n\nHe had to find Mama.\n\nA sudden scream pierced the air. Horrible, terrified, and familiar.\n\n“No!” He was running towards her voice before he even knew it, desperation carrying his little legs over broken terrain as fast as he could run. \n\n“Get back!” Somebody yelled. “It’s not safe! Hey- Ack!”\n\nHe ignored the man, and forged on forwards. \n\nFinally, he arrived at the edge of a clearing. Dozens of men laid crumpled on the ground, groaning in pain. Torches scattered the ground, setting the grass on fire in random bursts of light. A molten battleground.\n\nIn the center stood a monster, at least ten feet tall, holding his Mama in its wretched grasp. Jagged spikes adorned his crown, and ugly, mottled skin wreathed his form. Glaring red eyes glistened malevolently in the light of the flames, and when he roared again, the boy could hardly hold his ground. \n\n“Put my Mama down!” He screamed as he stood up defiantly.\n\nA boy against a monster.\n\nDavid against Goliath.\n\n“No!” Mama was screaming at him, tears flowing desperately. “Run! You need to run! Mer-!”\n\nThe monster squeezed mercilessly with his fist once, and threw her aside like a rag doll. She landed limply on the ground- unmoving, and unresponsive.\n\nTime slowed down.\n\nThe boy who defied the monster was in a world of his own as he watched his mother be crushed in front of his eyes. Golden hazel eyes trailed her form, dazed, and unbelieving.\n\n“No...” He staggered forwards, almost collapsing under the weight of reality. “Ma- Mama? Mama?”\n\nThe monster loomed closer and closer, until it was sneering down at him. And still, he didn’t care. All he knew was the broken, unmoving form of his mother, lying on the ground. \n\nSomething snapped.\n\n“Mama, Mama, Mama!” He collapsed to his knees, shaking. Chanting her name, he started crying. Finally, the emotions became unbearable, and he screamed. \n\nFire.\n\nA flood of pure, undiluted energy coursed through his form as he screamed his cry of defiance for the heavens. A torrent of molten power exploded from within him, bathing the area in its angry wrath. The monster was incinerated in an instant, as was a ten feet radius around him.\n\nAnd still, the boy didn’t notice.\n\nHe fell on all fours, and crawled painfully to where his Mama was lying. Eyes flickering from hazel to gold, he collapsed on top of his mother.\n\n“Mama,” he cried softly, brokenly. “Mama...”\n\n“Mermer?” Her voice came out a hoarse whisper, coarse from the flames that singed the air. Her throat was dry, and she could barely feel her body. “Miracle?”\n\n“Ma- Mama, I’m here.” He buried his face in her hair, caked with blood and grime. “I’m here Mama. I’m here.”\n\n“I’m sorry, my little Miracle.” She managed to choke out in her last moments. “I’m so, so sorry.”\n\nThe boy shook his head, tears streaming. Then, brokenly. “No Mama- no, you- you can’t. Mama, no. Please...” He placed his hands on her cheeks, mirroring his actions from a simpler time. A kinder time.“You can’t, Mama. I- I won’t let you.”\n\n“Hush, my little Miracle,. Listen- listen to Mama now, okay?” She whispered her last words carefully, trying to convey as much as she could before her time was up. Already, she could feel herself slipping into the void. “I love you. So, so much.”\n\nA horrible, hacking cough.\n\n“I’ll always love you, my little Miracle. No matter what. You have such a kind heart, and such a good head upon your shoulders. You’re special, my little Miracle. You’ll do great things someday, I’m sure of it.”\n\n“I love you too Mama. I- I- “ He broke off, the tears becoming too much.\n\n“Remember,” her voice drew smaller and smaller until it was barely a whisper underneath the dawning sun. “No matter where you are, or what you do, I’ll always love you. My little Miracle.”\n\nOne final breath.\n\n“I’ll always love you, my little Merlin.”\n\nAnd in her final moments, she smiled.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You work in an electronics store and you have a regular customer who orders a lot of custom purchases build to his specifications. You are beginning to think he might be building a time machine.	[ "A spring, a lens, a circuit board\n\nalumnimum foil, charging cord\n\nSome glue, duct tape, a model ship,\n\nsome Bubble wrap and paper clips\n\nAt first I didn't know his face\n\nBut on second glance I could almost place\n\nHis knowing look from late last night,\n\nNow had he visited once or twice?\n\nI bagged his stuff but found confusing\n\nThe vast variety of his choosing\n\n\"I hate to be rude, but for my own sake,\n\nwhat exactly are you trying to make?\"\n\nHe smiled, \"You've asked me that before\n\nAnd later you might remember more.\n\nFor me, just when I think it' solved,\n\nmy diagrams seem to have evolved.\"\n\nAnd as he spoke, I could almost see,\n\nin my mind's eye, a memory,\n\na flash of light, the sound of thunder\n\nthe air before me torn asunder\n\nA man where there was space before\n\ndark smoking footprints on the floor\n\n\"I'll forget the ad, but I can't resist,\n\nThis sale was just too good to miss.\"" ]	1
	[WP] With a sheer look of terror in his eyes he cried out, "WHA...WHAT ARE YOU!?"	[ "In the darkness and gloom of the night lurk terrible creatures, and while you might not see them, they see you. Not just with eyes though, they can read into every fiber of you, see your fear and how tired you are. This is a story of the night they learned what terrible creatures we are.\n\n\n\nOne man walked out into the night, and with no light too. If one saw him they might take him for suicidal, insane, or maybe even a combination of the two. A pack of the creatures began to approach the robed man who was grinning like a madman. Just as he was about to be struck down in his fool's errand, he sprung into action. He slammed his palms into the ground and a bubble of blue energy formed around him and the beasts, locking them together. The monstrosity in the lead paused in his strike in confusion; a fatal error.\n\nHe brought up his hands and whirled them in a circle and thrust them forward as twin circles of the same energy from before flew at the one closest to him. As they made contact the thing it began to burn up in a shadowflame of sorts as the energy wrapped around it and shrank through it. It dropped to the ground, dead.\n\n\n\nThe remaining four stared in horror. No one had ever even been able to hurt them, let alone kill one of their number. The man grabbed into his cloak and from it produced dual shortswords covered in ruins glowing with a deeper blue than his earlier tricks. The remaining three attempted to pounce on him, but were met with a plate of the energy as he flipped over them. As he landed the blades found their home, one monster each. When they made contact the ruins flared to life as they were quickly engulfed in a dark blue energy, shimmering in the air with a thirst for vengeance. The blades easily carved through the things, setting them ablaze with a fire that made no light. With a flick of his wrist the third plastered against the energy shield he had thrown up earlier suffered the same fate, the flame quickly turning them into nothing but a pile of ash.\n\n\nHe turned to the final one, and for the first time one of the things spoke to a human with fear in it, not the other way around. \"WHAT EVEN ARE YOU?!\" the beast cried. He flicked one sword at the creature and a bolt ripped out from its tip and through the ville creature. As the flames engulfed it, the man said \"Why, I am just a simple Hunter, there are hundreds better than I we've trained,\" standing over the thing's body. \"After all, I am only an apprentice still.\"", "She was so small, maybe seven or eight years old. Her skin, kissed by moonlight, gave off an alabaster sheen. Long, straight hair, as dark as night, flowed halfway down her back. Her eyes were the true spectacle of her thin face though, a deep brown with a hint of wisdom beyond her years.\n\nBut what truly set the girl apart was not her tiny frame, nor her malnourished appearance. The fact that she was floating is what truly set people off. Not too high, just a foot or so off the ground. She still moved her arms and legs as though she were walking, but the typical gait of someone whose feet struck earth was absent, providing an eerie feel to her strut.\n\nOn this particular night, she was joined by the silvery sheen of four long blades floating at her side. Though she did not touch them, they moved with her hands as if commanded by some masterful conductor. All around her swirled an sinister sight: vampires. By the dozen. She had discovered their coven, and she would make them pay.\n\nOne lone vampire stood outside the rest, and called to her. The seductive tone of his voice was lost on the child, but he continued none-the-less. \"Are you lost, sweet thing?\" His toothy grin betrayed his hunger.\n\nHer walking stopped, and she looked around curiously, appraising the vampires surrounding her. After what seemed an eternity, she simply shrugged, and responded with the voice of a child who has seen too much. \"I don't think so. This is the place where I kill all the Vampires, right?\"\n\nThe Vampire leader laughed obnoxiously, many of the other vampires joining in a cacophony of giggles. Her ability to float was a bit odd, but far from intimidating. He silently thanked the night for providing such a treat, then motioned his vampires to attack.\n\nTwelve vampires sprung at once, claws outstretched and fangs bared. The girl twisted her wrists simultaneously, sending her katana into a spin. Each of the four blades pinned one vampire to another, straight through their chests. As the spray of their blood entered the cool night air, the girl turned to face the remaining four. \"Infurare!\" She shouted to them, causing their leaps to slow. Each of the four began to glow a bright red as the girl turned back to her blades, ordering them to withdraw and spin, popping eight heads off with the spin of four fingers. Their heads hit the ground as the bodies behind her turned to ash, floating away on the night breeze.\n\nShe than moved with unbelievable speed, coming face to face with the leader of the vampires, she was just inches away when he collapsed to his knees. He had lived for centuries, seen civilizations rise and fall, fought in wars and revelled in their blood shed-it mattered not, that was the single most violent and absolute display of power he had ever seen. Silent and hurried footsteps rushed through the woods as the remaining vampires left their leader to die. Each time the sound of a step made it to her ear she would flinch slightly and mumble under her breath. A blast of light, a scream of pain, and one less vampire in the world. She wasn't even looking for them.\n\nThe leader bowed to her, begging for mercy and offering his worship. \"Anything you wish of me, anything!\"\n\nShe turned her right hand upward, she pulled him into the air with her magic, pinning him to a nearby tree with four katanas. \"You'll get no mercy from me, blood sucker.\"\n\nWith a sheer look of terror in his eyes he cried out, \"WHA...WHAT ARE YOU!?\"\n\nShe grinned calmly at the question. She twitched her wrist and started the magical flame inside him, but let it burn a little slower this time. A look of delight crossed her face before she answered his question simply. \"Your doom.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Millennia ago a witch cursed your family with bad luck for 1000 generations. You are a child of the 1001st generation and the universe is trying to compensate for your ancestors'misfortune.	[ "You would think a family that has been cursed for millennia would have trouble finding partners, but apparently a curse has to be carried out to it's natural conclusion. This ensured that there would be at least one surviving member of each generation, and at least long enough to procreate. This would, under normal circumstances, make tracking one's lineage exceedingly difficult as many of my ancestors were reared in orphanages or by a single parent. I was lucky enough to have my mother.\n\nIn fact the only reason I know of the curse at all is because it became somewhat of a legend amongst the wizarding community. No one is quite certain what my great to the thousandth grand father did to anger the witch queen Romina; that much as been lost to time. But it is said she gave her life as the final resource, one of many, apparently, necessary to enact such a longstanding curse. It took the wizards of the time several generations to find out who the target of the curse had been, and since then they have done all that they can (from a safe distance, of course) to look after my ancestors.\n\nOurs is not a magical lineage, and were it not for the wizards introducing themselves to me and explaining everything that has been going on these past thousand generations, I would be just like everyone else in the world: wholly ignorant of the existence of magic.\n\nWithout knowledge of magic, I would have no way of knowing that the universe, after suffering the effects of powerful magic long enough, will try to restore balance by any means it deems necessary. I would also have no clue that this meant I was the first person in my lineage for a thousand generations to not only escape the curse of terrible luck, but, by means of the universe balancing itself, basically be guaranteed great luck. \n\nNow, looking at me, you might see an average guy. Average height, average looks, average intellect. You would be right to wonder where all that promised luck ended up, as my whole life had been remarkably unremarkable prior to the arrival of an entourage of wizards at my house last week when I turned 18. You would think that the luckiest man on earth would have been showered with stunning, celebrity like features, endless wealth, fame, and a parade of women lusting for him. But that's because you, like most people, never knew magic was real. \n\nSimilarly, I had no way of knowing that I was born the most powerful wizard to ever live.", " \"... and here's your room.\" Mrs. Garza, a foster mom with short, dark hair, finished giving Victor the grand tour. She smiled down at the eight-year-old child. \"Any questions?\" Victor shook his head without taking his eyes off the room; the disturbed air rustled his fluffy blond hair. The walls were bare white, but one corner held a large wooden desk equipped with a top of the line computer. A 50\" TV hung on the wall in front of the bed. He looked up meeting Mrs. Garza's dark brown eyes for the first time. \n\n\"And I don't gotta share??\" he asked. Mrz. Garza patted his hair down. \n\n\"All yours.\" \n\n\"Whoooooooaaa.\" The boy ran inside the sparse room and leaped on the bed. He giggled while laying flat on the mattress and bouncing his body up and down against it. \"Thank you!\" he yelled between giggles. \n\n\"Dinner's in an hour, how does pizza sound?\" she asked. The squeaking springs stopped immediately and the boy sat up with a giant grin. \n\n\"Pepperoni!\" he yelled, then relaxed his body to start bouncing again. Mrs. Garza laughed, then closed the door to Victor's room as she walked away. She found her husband downstairs in the kitchen working on his laptop.\n\n\"I like him,\" she said as she sat down next to him. Her husband responded without looking up.\n\n\"You like all of them, that's why we do it,\" he said. \n\n\"No, but it's different. He's different. I want to adopt him.\" He stopped typing, then took off his reading glasses and looked his wife in the eye. \n\n\"He just got here,\" he reasoned. She nodded, then reached for his hand. \n\n\"He just got here, and listen.\" She pointed to the ceiling. Mr. Garza heard faint squeaks. \"He's having fun. He ignored the TV and computer you set up for him. The bed excited him!\" She smiled, but her husband's brow furled slightly. He gave a faint nod.\n\n\"The matron did say he was a bit slow,\" he began, but Mrs. Garza squeezed his hand hard until he stopped talking.\n\n\"That's not what I mean!\" she said with traces of fire in her voice. \"He's eight, and already had a harder, and more interesting life than most people.\" She pulled on his hands to turn his full attention to her. His body shifted and they locked eyes. \"His mom died while she was giving birth, who does that happen to?\" she asked. \n\n\"Lots of people?\" her husband asked, unsure. \n\n\"Obviously, but you know what I meant, idiot.\" She slapped the side of his shoulder. \"An injured gunman demanded care, and shot his mom while she was birthing him. In the hospital!\" she said. \n\n\"Sounds unlucky,\" he chuckled cautiously. Enjoying the humor, but not wanting to make light of the situation. \n\n\"Then he spent the first eight years of his life in the system. No one adopted him, we're his first foster family. Eight years in a boy's home, but now he's here. I feel like he's meant to be here. We can give him a good home.\" Mr. Garza stared into his wife's watery eyes, and knew she needed this. He never knew the reason, but after 20 years of marriage, he learned to understand her. \n\n\"He just got here. Let's see how we function as a family before we make any decisions. But,\" he smiled. \"It is on the table.\" \n\n\"Thank you!\" Mrs. Garza smiled and leaned in to kiss her husband. \n\n\"Is it an hour yet?\" A small voice said behind them. \"I'm hungry.\" Both parents chuckled. \n\n\"I don't even think it's been 10 minutes yet, honey,\" Mrs. Garza said. \n\n\"Forget the hour, I'll just order now,\" Mr. Garza said. He stood from his seat to grab his phone, when Victor tackled the tall man, stepped on Mr. Garza's white snakeskin boots and wrapped his arms around his waist. \n\n\"Thank you! I got new parents, a new bed, and pizza! I feel so lucky!\" the boy said while smiling. \n\n\\\\\\*\n\nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day in 2018, you can find them collected on my [blog](http://hserratafun.blogspot.com/2017/10/front-page.html). If you're curious about my universe(the Hugoverse) you can visit the [Guidebook](http://hserratafun.blogspot.com/2017/11/hugoverse-guidebook.html) to see what's what and who's who, or the [Timeline](http://hserratafun.blogspot.com/2017/10/hugoverse-timeline.html) to find the stories in order." ]	2
	[WP]The protagonist can fly, however, he/she/you are deathly afraid of heights	[ "Always flying low, barely above the treetops. I never go higher. Except for that one time. That one, terrifying time a few years back. This is what happened.\n\nI was scanning the area for anything of interest. That could be some food lying around in a park, another one of these see-through towers humans were building around for whatever reason or a nice tree to sit on and have a rest. This day, I've hit a jackpot: there was a great, shady tree in a park. Below it was a huge amount of breadcrumbs, presumably left by someone eating a sandwich. And right across the street there was a new building being constructed by humans. I've been wondering, are they making them just to confuse birds or is there an actual purpose behind them - they definetly don't live here but many of them spend a big portion of the day in. Anyway, I digressed. I landed next to the breadcrumbs (it was unbelievable that pidgeons haven't found them yet!), walked up and started eating. Before a pidgeon could turn it's head the food was gone. I decided that it's a good time for a nap, so I flew onto the tree, hid in a spot full of leaves and gone to sleep.\n\nWhen I woke up I wasn't on the tree anymore. Somehow. I don't think that anything could find me if they were looking when I've gone to rest. As always, I assumed that whatever happened it was done by humans (seriously, they are weird!). After having a look around I've come to a conclusion: I'm above the clouds and on the top of a tower!\n\n---\n\nPart 2 anyone? I'm too tired to finish now, but if anyone wants to read the rest for some reason then I guess I'll write this story to an end or something...?", "\"Ok, you can do this,\" I muttered to myself. The breeze snitching hair out of my braid seemed to snicker in reply. Laughing was easy for the wind to do as it flew over the waves below. It belonged there. And it certainly didn't have a body to smash to bits if anything went wrong. \n\nI took one step forward, the edge of the ledge I stood on mere inches from my sneakers. The roar of crashing water taunted me. \"You c-can do this, you can do this,\" I stammered like a demented little engine that could. I lifted my other foot--\n\n--and found myself twenty feet away from the ledge, sprawled on the safe, solid dirt. My chest heaved for breath from my desperate, instinctive sprint, and I thumped my head against the ground. \"No, no, no! I was so close!\"\n\n\"Not really,\" an all-too-familiar voice replied. \n\nI jerked upright. My mouth worked silently for a moment. A few yards away a tall guy stood, hands in the pockets of his jeans. His crooked nose and superior grin stole the classical attractiveness from his features, but that was the least of his faults. \"Dane? What are you doing here? Why didn't--\"\n\nA crash from behind him stopped the words. \"Sorry,\" Amalia yelled, springing up from the ground and casting a dour look at the branch that tripped her. \"I would have stopped him, but he trapped me in a tree. Again.\" Her glare shifted to Dane. At only five feet tall, Amalia shouldn't have been intimidating. Then again, she also shouldn't have been able to break the sound barrier doing a light jog.\n\n\"Trouble, princess?\" Dane said, cocking an eyebrow at her.\n\nA low growl ripped from Amalia's throat.\n\n\"Ooookay,\" I dragged the word out as I stood, \"let's not kill the slimy toad here. We'll do that later when we can make it look like an accident.\"\n\nDane chuckled. \"Yea? You think you can beat me when you can't even step off this little ledge?\" The wind ruffled his brown curls, and I wished I could use the air to shove him off the cliff. \"How exactly do you think you can be a super when you are too scared to use the only power you have?\"\n\n\"Am not,\" I replied like a clever two year old. I couldn't believe this guy used to be my friend. \"I'm just... warming up.\" \n\n\"Yea? Show me.\" He crossed his arms, waiting.\n\nMy mouth went dry. The edge to my left seemed to creep forward. \"L-like I'm going to show you all my tricks. You'll have to wait till the challenge like everyone else.\"\n\nAmalia popped up beside me, stirring the air and shooting up dirt with her speed. \"Yea, when we take you down.\"\n\nDane just shrugged. \"I can't image you taking me 'down' when you are so firmly planted there yourself.\" For a second, something shifted in his posture. A softening, perhaps? His voice quieter, he said \"Come on, Kat. It was five years ago. Get over yourself.\"\n\nPain and furry shot through me. An arm snapped around my waist, snatching me back before I could rip his throat out. \"Go jump off a cliff, Dane,\" Amalia snarled, struggling to hold me back. \n\n\"I will if she will.\" \n\n\"Fine.\" I twisted away from Amalia and dove at him. I saw his eyes widen the split second before we collided, heard the gasp of Amalia behind me. Then I shot me and my nemesis over the ground and straight off the edge.\n\nThe air pelted my face, and the ocean blurred below.\n\n\"Kat! Don't--\" Dane's yell, distorted from the roar of the wind, cut off abruptly as we tumbled downward. I squeezed my eyes shut, clinching tight to my anger and the guy who had set it off. Without looking--knowing that would release my fury and replace it with the terror bubbling below--I sent out another burst of power. Dane grunted as it slapped us upward. \n\n\"Kat,\" he tried again. \"Kat, get us--\"\n\nI launched us forward so we flew horizontal to the waves below. It was harder to think about heights when it all my energy to keep us moving.\n\n\"Alright,\" Dane shouted, voice barely carrying, \"you're doing it. Now turn around.\" \n\nMy heartbeat pounded in my ears. We were high. I mean really high over the water. My arms shook, and Dane wrapped me in a near strangle hold in an attempt to not die. \n\n\"You've got to be kidding me. Don't fall apart now! Look, the shore is right over there.\"\n\nI did not look. I kept my eyes firmly closed and my face half buried in his stupid leather coat. \n\n\"Left, go left!\"\n\nI jerked automatically, and a seagull screamed as I blindly cut in front of it. A string of curses streamed by my ear. \"You've got to look where you're going!\"\n\n\"I-I can't,\" I gasped out. Terror was rapidly consuming my anger. \"It's too high.\" \n\nPanic loosened my control and my stomach lurched as we dropped. I caught us a second later, but now all of me was shaking.\n\n\"Ok, right, no looking,\" Dane agreed. \"Turn a bit more left, though, ok?\" He tried to keep his voice at soothing, but I could feel his heart pounding. Gasping for breath and clinging to the edge of control, I shifted us left. \n\n\"Good, nice. Now, a little lower.\"\n\nMy fingers dug into his back. \"Lower?!\"\n\n\"Just a little! Ease into it.\" \n\nThe wind sputtered around us as we changed direction. My braid whipped back and forth, but at least we were moving with the air currents now. \n\n\"Good. Left some more--not that much, go back a bit--good. And down a little,\" Dane continued. \n\nBlindly, I followed his stream of instructions. My chest hurt, the powers that held us up protesting each movement. It wasn't as though I'd been using them, and my head ached with the effort.\n\n\"Can you slow down? We're almost there and need to--\" He cursed as I yanked at our momentum. \"Not that fast! Up, up! We're going to--\"\n\nWe slammed into the ground and my eyes popped open. Dune grass, blue skies, and sand spun in a kaleidoscope around us as we tumbled. I felt the grass stir beneath us and grab at my legs and arms as we rolled. It cushioned each impact, even as each bump smacked the breath out of my lungs. I clung instinctively to Dane, knowing that was his power grabbing for anything to slow us down. \n\nIt wasn't enough. We smashed into something a bit too solid and stopped. \n\nSprawled in the sand, tangled in a mess of limbs, the world still felt like it was spinning. Dane groaned. He released his arm from around my head where it had curled protectively at one point or another. \"That was not a landing,\" he said, then groaned again.\n\n\"Are you kidding me?\" A voice exclaimed from above. \"That was great.\" \n\nI squinted against the sun to match the voice to the object we struck. \"Amalia?\"\n\n\"I had to sprint really fast to keep sight of you guys. I think we're halfway to Georgia!\" She bounced excitedly. \"I also may have ran over a few fences and taken down a barn, but I'm pretty sure no one was using it and you were flying again! Really, really, flying!\"\n\nI moaned and yanked my arm out from under Dane's back. \"Yea. Joy.\"\n\n\"We'll win the challenge no problem!\"\n\nBeside me, Dane rubbed his head with a wince. \"You consider that successful?\" \n\nAmalia's brilliant smile fell into a scowl. \"Well, not totally. If it had been successful, Kat would have remembered to drop you in the ocean.\" \n\nI sat up, the wind tugging at my hair once more. \"I'll remember next time.\" \n\nAnd, while my heartbeat stuttered at the thought of a next time, I was pretty sure there would be one. There was a challenge to win after all. I cast a glance at the guy beside me. And there was no way I'd let Dane win." ]	2
	[WP] Dark Gods and Eldritch abominations have prophesies of "The Song that ends the world" but they never once considered the idea of "The Song that saves the world" Cue the music.	[ "One:\n\nIt had started like any other fantasy story: two young women, formerly friends and just barely out of adolescence, met by chance in a blocked-off area of the city park, and stepped on the same chalk drawing that decorated the slate paving stones by the old, dried-up fountain.\n\nOf course it was a portal to another world, called Oblik. Of course that world was full of magic, kind-natured peasants, good and fair royalty, and a great many perils ready to inflict madness and suffering on the populace. Of course there was a prophecy, scribed in blood on parchment made from human skin, promising the end of Oblik, and then the entire multiverse.\n\nAnd of course -of fucking course- Joanna and Beth were separated. Beth fell to the forces of Malice in the kingdom of Kuram, whose dark gods and eldritch abominations had penned the dire prophecy in the first place. They fed Beth lies sweeter than poisoned wine, promising her everything she could ever want if she allowed them to unlock the power that the transition between dimensions had gifted her. Beth was the kind of person who would stick around to watch the world -any world- end, just to see how and why it happened, so she could dance in the ashes and laugh at the pitiful, broken skeletons scattered among the rubble, since they had died and she survived.\n\nOf course she said yes, just because she could, and inside her broken self, she was shown the power of the Song That Ends the World. And Beth matched the dissonance to words she had heard on Earth, grinning at how suiting they were.\n\nJoanna fell to the kingdom of Inringu, where she was found by the farmer Azurite and his family. They helped her adjust to the situation, and comforted her when she wept from the terror brought by the uncertainty of ever knowing if she could find Beth and go home. They wanted to help her; truly, they did, but when Joanna accidentally healed an injured sparrow with a touch, they knew Iringu had to be helped first. Thus, they brought Joanna before the Sorceress Queen Sugilite, who spoke to her of the prophecy her people had dared to write, despite their own fears of discovery, of eradication before their time. It was traced on papyrus with the greatest of care and the fervency of a prayer, with ink created from crushed jade, speaking of a power long hidden from Malice; one that had been lost for eons. It was named the Song That Saves the World.\n\nThe Sorceress Queen claimed she could feel that song within Joanna’s soul, capable of saving everyone and everything, if only she could find the right words. If all could be saved, then Joanna and Beth could be sent home under Sugilite’s power as soon as possible.\n\nJoanna had done more for smaller reasons. Maybe it was born from low self-esteem; a belief that giving until there was nothing left was all Joanna was good for. But Earth needed all the love, and good deeds, and kindness it could get, and Joanna wanted to believe she could make things better.\n\nBesides, Beth hadn’t always been so cruel. Her transformation had been gradual, and Joanna hadn’t noticed until nearly too late, when she realized Beth wasn’t her friend anymore. Beth didn’t explain why she changed, so Joanna quietly withdrew and grieved the loss of their relationship, allowing herself to miss the person Beth used to be.\n\nThat was who Joanna wanted to help.\n\nOff they were sent, Beth with her army, Joanna with the royal guards Silver and Ruby, to the Nexus of the World, where the prophecies promised destruction or salvation. Days, nights, weeks, a month of travel as the Nexus aligned itself with the rest of the multiverse and collected ambient power. Oblik seemed to hold its breath Beth practiced her borrowed song over and over, and Joanna frantically tried to find one that matched the melody under her skin.\n\nWhen they reached the Nexus, Ruby, Silver, and Joanna were immediately overwhelmed, the guards slaughtered and Joanna captured, dragged up the celestial stairs and into the convergence of the multiverse, which shone with galaxies and myriad colors that could not be described except by those who could not speak. Beth waited there, covered in the slick, oily garments given to her by Malice, staring out where the dimensions met.\n\n“What do you think it’ll look like when the universe ends?” Beth asked in an almost dreamy tone. “Will it explode like a volcano? Or fireworks? Or will it just disappear?”\n\n“Why do you even want to find out?!” Joanna cried from where she was pinned on her stomach.\n\n“The Malice said rebuilding a world that’s better for us would be easy without all the goddamn competition. You know I hate competition. I can finally be myself this way. I won’t have to worry about anything ever again. I won’t have to worry about your stupid attempts to ‘save’ me.”\n\n“Did you even notice I stopped because I had to accept you didn’t even want to try saving yourself?”\n\nBeth refused to answer. Instead, she inhaled slowly, and reached out with the power the Malice had helped her foster, pushing it out into the multiverse and making it fearfully reverberate with the discordant, minimalist tones that backed up her forceful alto: a stirring of a synthesized keyboard, a sudden drumbeat, and a sense of menacing anticipation. The Song that would end Everything.", "The old ones stood in their circle, chanting in tongues that would drive mortals mad and strip flesh from bone. This was the time, this was the song that would draw the earth into an eternal night, plunging humankind into an everlasting torture chamber.\n\nOne of them, a being with only one mouth but many screams, heard something. He looked out of the circle and into the gloom of the shadow dimension they currently inhabited. He noticed a few stray photons coming his way, snarling at the hated light.\n\nThe leader looked up, which swiveling his monstrous, unblinking eye to the source of the light. He stopped, for a breath and an eternity, when he saw a human walking toward them with a strange box-looking thing on its shoulder. He snarled when he saw the hated one, the shinning champion of the Gods next to the boy. He growled an attack in a mindless, soundless voice, desperate not to fail in his subjugation of the planet.\n\nTodd turned to his companion. \"Now good? Just hit play?\" At a nod, he set the boombox down, facing the nameless and named horrors alike as they charged at him. He hit play, and released the song that would save his world. As the first notes hit the attackers, they stopped as if frozen, and slowly started to melt into the shadows they were surrounded by.\n\n\"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality, ...\"" ]	2
	[WP] In the far-off future, everyone injects knowledge directly into their brains. Calculus, Quantum Mechanics, and the Japanese language can now be learned in mere seconds. Recently, a group of archeologists have found the ancient remains of something called a "School".	[ "Discovery of mysterious archaeological complex in Los Angeles Historical Site - Joint Archaeological Project by Sageric Academy of Shuyubi Shiyangon and State Council of Heritage, Traditions and Historical Sites\n\nKannade Sheyeri, Hana Ryeifin Shyurifyi, Aishyuryayu Momoe, Sheyeimi Nyan, Heiyeinshein Shuyubi Reishen\n\nFirst Month of 26th day, Year 2675\n\n*\n\nAbstract and Introduction\n\nA large archaeological complex was discovered by archeologists during an excavation project in the Los Angeles Historical Site on Tweltfth Month, 15th day of 2674. Such significant discovery could bring a glimpse into the daily life and the social and cultural landscape of the American civilization during its heyday.\n\nThe Site\n\nThe complex is located in the Los Angeles Historical Site, about 5 miles away east from modern-day Sheirin Reishen.\n\nThe complex is built on a large paved ground of concrete measuring 116-polyhectares wide. On the paved ground are three buildings, with one in the center larger than than the others. The buildings are made of ancient brick and reinforced concrete and measure 244-reinzhins tall. On the paved ground are white horizontal markings of unknown purpose.\n\nThere are several rooms in the buildings, of uniform size and layout, accessible by metal and wood doors located in wide corridors. Inside the rooms are chairs, tables, various primitive electronic apparatus, and plastered writings written in the American script on the walls. Of note are the boards made of green stone on the front of the rooms, etched with American writings and flags of the American Empire.\n\nHistorians had dated the site as present during the reigns of the Great American Presidential Kings Barack Hussein Obama and Donald Ja Trump, though its time of construction is unclear. Historians are divided exactly as to the halls' intended purpose. Below are the theories historians and scholars have provided as to what might be the complex's purpose during its heyday:\n\nLarge dining complex and restaurant\n\nThe current consensus of the majority of historians is that the site is a large restaurant as evidenced by the large amount of tables and chairs and the colorful decorations. A large room with food trays, food displays, very long tables and dining utensils lend credence to this theory.\n\nMilitary recruitment center\n\nA large number of historians had proposed that the site might be a military recruitment center used by the American Empire to aid their conquests. This is supported by the large number of American flags found. The rooms might have served as training facilities. There is an inscription found in the American script saying \"Boy and Girl Scouts of America\", suggesting the recruitment of young reconnaissance soldiers.\n\nReligious complex\n\nA theory proposed by Historian Kannade Sheyeri is that the complex serves as a house of worship. She noted that the structure of the rooms implied of a preacher in the front and followers would listen to teachings while seated in the chairs. Religious doctrine could also be etched on the green stone boards. One problem with this theory is the lack of religious artifacts excavated.\n\nLarge furniture store\n\nAnother theory is that the complex is a large store dedicated to the buying and selling of furniture and chairs. Scholars arguing this theory point to the lack of aesthetic and the utilitarian and uniform nature of the rooms, suggesting a commercial purpose. Customers would go down the corridors, enter the rooms and carry the tables and the chairs that they wanted to buy.\n\nEducational and learning facility**\n\nHistorian Teimi Sochika proposed that the facility might be a learning and educational complex, and Teimi proposed that children might sit on the chairs and listen to a teacher, who would write words on the green-stone boards for the children to learn. \n\nThe majority of scholars and historians had noted problems with this assertion, noting the lack of educational apparatus such as learning downloaders and uploaders, nothing in the facility implied any sort of education going on and the fact that the positions of \"Student\" and \"Teacher\" were imaginary terms that Teimi had invented. So far, this position had been discredited by historians. \n\n\n \n" ]	1
	[WP] You are a wizard who has to defeat an evil wizard to save the wizarding world. The evil wizard murdered your parents and left you as an orphan. You are living with your abusive aunt and uncle, and just discovered you are about to be sent off to a wizarding school.	[ "I join the evil wizard in his crimes against wizardry. I tell him that I now understand the insignificance of magic and that natural order must be reinstated. I learn from my new master. I learn the ways of the dark side. I burn my village to the ground, killing about 30 people that lived in it. I have orphaned children, like i was orphaned by my master, in hopes that one day they will understand that this was all necessary. The natural order owns everything and now it wants it back." ]	1
	[WP] The more dangerous a job is, the more it pays. You are on the first day at your new job, and you are being paid $100,000 per hour to stand in an empty room.	[ "\"What is in that room?\"\n\nTarragon stepped out of his expansive walk-in closet, in order to address the inquiry of Ramon Staliff, his erstwhile business partner.\n\n\"Seriously, Tarragon. $100,000? Per hour!? You are off the rails. All that Scotch has finally gotten to you.\"\n\nTarragon laughed, as he fiddled with the carnelian signet that held together his robe.\n\n\"Relax, Ramon. You worry too much about these paltry things. He won't last that long.\"\n\nRamon Staliff's eyes twinkled, as he attempted to fathom the purpose of guarding an empty room.\n\n\"So, there is something in there. Able bodied man, ex-Navy SEAL. Mentally sound, loyal, honourable discharge. Trained in martial arts. You're going to turn him.\"\n\nTarragon grabbed a bottle of Glenfiddick, and poured it into two glasses. \n\n\"Ramon, oh Ramon. Our first super-soldier, and you stand before me worrying?\"\n\nRamon smiled, accepting the glass.\n\n\"So, our scientists finally did something, hmm? Excellent.\"\n\n\"If our gas can turn this man, we can repeat the process to amass an army. All in good business.\"\n\nThe two toasted to that notion.", "(I changed it to a hundred grand a year because that's how I initially read it. Apologies to OP.)\n\nI never should have taken the job.\n\nStacy said it was too good to be true. On some level I knew it was too. A hundred grand for a low-risk security job, full benefits, the whole package. We had barely been scraping by for a year before I got the offer, Stacy couldn’t deny that. But she knew something was wrong. I wish I’d listened to her.\n\nI put in eight years with PEC, started as an entry-level software developer and got as far as middle management before the hammer came down. The higher ups had more loyalty to the shareholders than to their employees and I was out on the street. All of a sudden we were living in a house we couldn’t pay for. Stacy picked up a couple of extra classes at the community college and I started tutoring when the software jobs didn’t pan out. Apparently at 35 I was too old.\n\nAfter a year of this I saw the ad. The Jonah Corporation. I had never heard of them, but they were looking for security for one of their buildings in the city nearby. No experience necessary, but the ad did specify a range of acceptable heights and weights. While I thought that particular detail was odd, any other qualms I had about the ad were dissolved when I saw the salary. The job didn’t seem particularly strenuous and we desperately needed the money.\n\nI put in an application and the next day I received a phone call from a Ms. Stine with the Jonah Corporation. She was calling to set up an interview. The following Monday I took the train into the city. The lobby of the Jonah Corporation was immaculate, well-lit with marble floors and huge columns that held up a vaulted ceiling. The reception desk was a giant repurposed piece of driftwood that contrasted sharply with the rest of the hall. The man behind the desk smiled brightly as I approached.\n\n“Mr. Catherwood, here to see Ms. Stine,” I said.\n\n“Of course, Mr. Catherwood, we have been expecting you,” the receptionist replied. “Ms. Stine will be down any second.”\n\n“Thank you,” I said and took a seat on a cushioned leather bench near the reception desk and elevator bank. The receptionist continued to smile at me, seemingly without blinking, as I sat there. I made a point of staring back for a while but became uneasy and stared at my shoes. I had just noticed a scuff when I heard a ding, and then from near the elevator, “Mr. Catherwood, this way please.”\n\nMs. Stine was in her forties, with a pale, gaunt face and brittle, straw-like blonde hair. She wore a tombstone-gray business suit and very sharp-looking heels. I got into the elevator with her and attempted to smile at her, but she seemed very interested in the changing numbers in the elevator display.\n\nWe got off on floor 13, and she took me into a small room just to the left of the elevators. Inside was a scale and a wall against which to measure one’s height, like you would find at a doctor’s office. After confirming that I was indeed within the acceptable range, she beckoned for me to follow her. We arrived in front of a pitch black door with a brass handle. I didn’t know you could buy paint so black.\n\nMs. Stine opened the door and we stepped inside. The room was rectangular. The walls of the room were a featureless eggshell white. There was no furniture. “This is the room you will be in charge of. You may dress as casually as you wish. You will not require a firearm or any other type of weapon. Do you accept?”\n\nI was completely taken aback. “I thought this was the interview?”\n\n“The evaluation is complete. You have been awarded the job. Do you accept?”\n\nStill confused, I asked, “What is this room? I just need to stand here?” I stopped short at asking why the job paid so much, afraid they might reconsider.\n\n“The purpose of the room does not concern you. You are to stand inside the room and monitor the situation. You will stand in this spot from 8 AM to 6 PM. Then you will go home. Do you accept?”\n\nIt sounded extremely boring, but I was fairly sure I could sneak my phone in here, and besides, the money…\n\n“I accept.”\n\n\\\\\\\n\n“There’s something very fishy about this whole thing. I don’t know how you’re going to stay sane in there. I don’t think it’s worth it,” Stacy said over dinner.\n\n“I know it sounds kind of crazy, but I’m sure I’ll get through it. If it’s really awful, I can always quit. I can at least make some good money in the meantime, while I look for something more stimulating.”\n\nStacy swirled her wine around the glass, thinking. “Maybe it’s some kind of experiment. Let’s see how long it takes this guy to completely lose his shit. Or maybe they’ll pump mind control gas in and you’ll be like their corporate assassin or something, go all Manchurian Candidate on their rivals.”\n\n“I feel like they would have gotten somebody with an actual background in law enforcement or combat if that’s what they were after.”\n\n“I guess… For real, though, this is weird. I don’t think I like this.”\n\n“It’ll be fine. If I feel like anything is really off tomorrow, I’ll just quit, come home early and have dinner ready for you when you get home.”\n\nStacy smiled and leaned over to kiss me. “Okay, I like that plan.”", "I already regretted signing up for this job with the Office of Naval Intelligence. \n\n8am: I’ve been placed in this tiny Perspex box for 8 hours with nothing to do. I’m not sure I can last that long.\n\n9am: This is boring as all hell. I can’t handle this much longer. I’ll just ask to leave and get the hour’s salary\n\n9:10: Nobody’s coming. They’v forgotten about me. I’m going to die in here\n\nAt 9:22:34, the subject began to become violent in an attempt to exit the Cube. ONI operatives subsequently disposed of the subject. This research aided in the development of the Midnight Facility. \n\n\nClassified TOP SECRET\n\nTo be disclassified by: N/A on Directive of Admiral and UEG ruling", "The Evil Eye\n\n...\n\n\"Please wake up.\" The voice reverberates very loudly from hidden speakers all around me. It sounds like I'm submerged in a bathtub.\n\nShit, I fell asleep! I scramble to my feet and reply, \"I'm so sorry! I don't know why I laid down. I'll ... continue standing. Sorry!\" I straighten my clothes and start strolling around, trying to shake off the nap.\n\nAfter a minute or two, The Voice returns: \"Do you know where you are?\"\n\n\"Uh, this is Pran... Pramana Biometrics. I responded to the ad for study participants?\" I catch myself staring at the ceiling like a moron, mouth agape, my face wearing a \"should you have the microphone\" expression. I realize that The Voice can probably see me right now, so I compose myself and try to approximate a professional.\n\nA long pause.\n\n\"What's the best way to the train station?\". The Voice sounds anxious. Hurried. Confused.\n\nI'm confused, too. Is it an intern or something? \"I don't think there's a ... train... in this town. Anywhere. Maybe downtown there's an Amtrack, I don't know.\"\n\nMore silence. I try to be helpful and say, \"I mean, I would google it for you, but I don't have any bars in here.\" I try to pull my phone from my pocket, but it's not there. My pockets are empty. I look around the floor for it, but the room is still featureless, and the door is still shut. Actually, on second glance, the door is just gone. I can't quite make sense of the phone-and-door situation before The Voice returns, booming, forcing all thought out of my head.\n\n\"Please tell us the series of events that led to you being here, in this room.\" The Voice is painfully loud this time. It sounds distorted. I wince and plug my ears.\n\nThe inanity of the question, the absurd situation, and the irritating volume are pushing me to try and find out exactly what the fuck's happening right now, but then I remind myself that I know exactly what's happening. I'm getting paid a shitload of money to let them do this. It's part of the experiment. I steel myself for continued auditory assault and answer the question. I tell them the short version of my day so far.\n\nThe Voice is a different voice this time. A different person on the microphone. \n\n\"Describe in single words only the good things that come to mind about pent axial maroni hilbert warts.\"\n\nI open my mouth to say that I don't understand any of that gibberish.\n\nBut it feels like my insides are sideways. I was suddenly dizzy and my head was swimming with the weirdest feelings. \n\nIt was like I understood the question, but couldn't find the words to answer with. I was gawking at these completely foreign memories of five-dimensional foams that could ward a person's soul against invasion. A heptaxial Voroni-Hilbert ward. I'd cast one of those, once. They'd helped me do it. We'd... used a tungsten... rack press...\n\nThen all of that was all just gone, and I found myself sitting. I couldn't remember what I was doing, like when you walk into a room and forget why you went. Later, I'll remember what I forgot, and I'll remember that I forgot it, and finally forget again. Brains are so dumb. Flesh is pointless. \n\nAll I remembered was that I was totally nude, and I felt like I was on fire. That I had been nude this entire time. That I can smell the rot. That the door had never been there. That I've been here for days.\n\n\"Seventy-seven, is that you? Are you back?\"\n\nMemories hit me in waves, crashing and receding before I could make sense of it. Every time the wave withdrew, a different kind of swell rose up in my mind, fighting for control.\n\nA wave of the day I was sworn in and soul-bound as Agent 77 of Heptacratic Pandimensional Security. The wave withdraws.\n\n\"Seventy-seven, try to hang on. You're in the Evil Eye and the wards are all up, so they aren't getting away no matter what. We're trying to...\"\n\nA wave of the day I accidentally discovered the plane of gibbering flesh pods, breathing blood, their manifold mouths overflowing with decrepit molars. That was last week. They constructed this fantasy from my memories, this morning, so I wouldn't resist.\n\n\"...extract the dark matter. They've found some fucking non-euclidean back door into your...\"\n\nA wave of meeting Amari, and how we fell in love during training even though we weren't allowed to. They were Agent 70, a combat epistemologist. Philosophy Directorate. Their voice... The Voice. That's them. \n\n\"...mind. Past your wards. They can't even help it. The computational metaphysics guys are trying... \"\n\nA wave of infinitely peeling sanity. Slivers of existence, never quite whole, eternally piecemeal. Endless yearning for something unknown. Limitless hunger. My flesh splits, spawning autonomous tendrils of cosmic blood. They grow toward the mirrors, instinctively toward the flesh. They must reach out.", "09:01:00 AM:* You stood quiet in the room. White walls towered over you, blank, empty, and sterile. A nearly omniscient voices erupts from the surrounding walls; if not for the slight mechanical feedback emitted by the hidden speaker, you would’ve believed that the voice was coming from within your own head.\n\n“Thank you for coming in to your new post and taking on this opportunity. Please have a seat.” The voice was calm, collected, and generic; almost like what you’d hear from a corporate commercial.\n\nA small white chair was installed in the centre of the room. The chair stood on a single leg that extended to the floor, the base was soldered into the ground. You could swear the chair wasn’t there when you walked into the room earlier.\n\nObeying the voice, you walk over to the chair and sit down. Waiting for the next command to come through, you take a deep breath to calm your nerves.\n\nYou tell yourself not to worry, and that this was just a trial period. You know after all of those physical and mental examinations that you’d be the best candidate for the job, and it wouldn’t hurt to at least give it a try. After all, if you didn’t like it, you could quit after this first trial hour anyways.\n\n09:04:15 AM: The walls of the room stare back at you. You wonder if the walls are permeable, are they watching you through them? Are they observing your every move and action? Is this already part of the test?\n\n“We will begin the dilation in 45 seconds. The dilation will last an approximate 20 minutes, or 40 minutes in dilation. During this period, you will be experience a sequence of events displayed the walls surrounding you. We ask you to take notes of these events and report back to us with your observations. This is a test of the dilation technology and its interaction with human perception.”\n\nYou watch as digital clock appear on the wall in front of you at the top right corner of the room, it shows the current time. Below it is a metre that reads “1.0X”, which will shortly turn to a “2.0X” when the experiment begins. Upon closer inspection, you notice that the walls are actually some sort of interactive display technology. Each wall is lined with billions of pixels that are simulated to look like a real physical wall.\n\nAbout 1 feet in front of you, a panel on the floor opens up to reveal a round pedestal that rises to your face level. On the pedestal lies a red button.\n\n“In case of emergency, please press the button in front of you to notify us and we will end the dilation process.”\n\nYou take another deep breath.\n\n“The dilation will begin in ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One…”\n\n09:05:00 AM: “Be-”\n\nAnd the room was silent. Completely silent.\n\nYou waited a few seconds in your seat before relaxing your muscles and looking around you. The walls were still, the digits frozen, and the blank walls stares at you.\n\n“Hello?” You murmured. Wait, just stay calm you told yourself. This is all part of the simulation. In a second, numbers and images will appear on the white walls around you and you will just have to memorize what you see. It’s simple, just like it was in the trial run. No need to freak out. So you waited.\n\nYou continue to wait. The room was so silent, you couldn’t hear anything, not even your faint breathing or the beating of your heart.\n\nYou waited.\n\nIt feels like it’s been more than a minute now, it’s strange that the images haven’t shown up yon the walls yet. Did something happen? Was there a technical malfunction?\n\nYou decided to stand up. Turning around in the room. Your body and feet made no noise. Each step you took was completely silent. You could feel the weight of the air on your body.\n\nTurning from side to side, you looked at the walls to see if you’ve missed something. Perhaps theres something on the walls behind you. Nothing, just blankness.\n\n“Nothing is happening!” You cried out, in your full volume this time.\n\nThen you stopped. At that moment, you knew something was wrong.\n\nIt was your voice, you couldn’t hear it at all. All the sound came from your own head, where you thought you were calling out but your ears wouldn’t pick anything up. When you murmured the first time, you could hear the same sound from inside, but nothing travelled through the outside. This isn’t right, you thought to yourself, I should still be able to hear myself during the dilation.\n\nYou try desperately to scream, but only your lips moved, and no sound was produced from your mouth. You quickly scan the room for anything else that might give an indication of what was going on. Then your eyes widened as you looked into the corner of the room. The clock read 09:05:00., and the metre underneath it had a random chain of numbers “6.3072e13X”. It’s been at least 3 minutes now from when the dilation began, the clock should’ve moved.\n\nYou ran back to the chair and waited for a another few moments to gather your thoughts. Is it a malfunction? Is it possible that this this was a technical error or just something one of those unpredictable events during the trial runs? Maybe its your own body adjusting to the time difference?\n\nEither way, you feel uncomfortable. Your breathing hastens as you feel more and more claustrophobic in the room. The walls looked menacing, constrictive, and could close-in on you at any time. Closing your eyes, you take several quickened breathes to calm your nerves again. Fuck it, you thought to yourself.\n\nYou raise your hand to the emergency button, giving it another few seconds of the benefit of the doubt, and pressed it firmly. Nothing happened.\n\nYou waited a second and pressed it again. Nothing.\n\nYou could swear that you pushed it, but why is nothing happening? You push the button several more times, firmly, ensuring that the button is depressed each time. You pounded down on it as hard as you could.\n\nYou froze.\n\nIt dawned on you. The clock, the timer, the button, everything. You knew that the button was working, but the other side wasn’t getting the signal. Well they were, but they haven’t received it yet, not that quickly. At least, not in the sense you’re experiencing time right now.\n\nYou stare blankly at the number on the wall. 6.3071e13. You let that number run through your head. There’s no way that’s possible right? How much dilation is that? Would it even be possible to dilate time to that extent and precision? You quickly try to do the math: 60 times 60 times 60 times 24 times 365 is… what? Thousands, ten thousands, millions? How long would it be before they could receive the emergency call and stop the dilation?\n\nYou sit silently on the chair in the middle of the room, stunned. You wonder to yourself, was this a technical malfunction, or was this part of the plan in the first place? You close your eyes slowly to try and regain your composure. As your eyelids close, you begin to see a small green pixel appear on the wall in front of you.\n\n\\--\n\nTo be continued if sufficient interest.", "\"What!?\" I asked shocked.\n\n\"Like I said, one hundred thousand dollars per hour\" The man said very nasally. That voice reminded me of Steve Urkel.\n\nOne of the most well paying jobs right now is testing drugs with possible lethal side effects. And that is nearly a death sentence. But at ten thousand dollars per test, I was willing to give it a go and pray I survived. I was too broke to survive anyways so I didn't have much to lose.\n\n\"Nothing pays that well. That is suicide!\" I half shout. \n\n\"Indeed I understand how you would think that. But we are completely compliant with the Hazardous Workplace Standards act. The act states that any job must have a minimum of a twenty five percent chance of survival. Your chance of survival is 100%.\"\n\n\"Wait a minute, how can you possibly justify one hundred thousand dollars an hour if the survival rate is 100%?\"\n\n\"That is all the information we are required by law to discuss with you. Everything else must be kept confidential to acquire accurate results from the experiment.\"\n\n\"Can you at least tell me what drugs I am taking?\"\n\n\"No drugs are being administered.\"\n\nI lean back in my chair still reeling over this. \"So what is the catch?\" \n\n\"I can't tell you that. You must not know any information about the experiment to partake in it. That is part of the reason for the salary. This job must be accepted without knowing what it is.\"\n\n\"Fine. I'm in. What do I need to do?\"\n\n\"We want you to go and stand in that empty room\" the man gestured to a room across the hall.\n\n\"And do what?\" I asked\n\n\"You will be given instructions when the time is right\".\n\nAfter a myriad of forms and psychological tests, I was escorted to the room. \n\nI stood there waiting for what seemed like an eternity which was more like ten minutes. A voice began speaking that I hadn't heard yet. \n\n\"As you know, ten years ago the United States and many allies enacted the Hazard Workplace Standards act in an attempt to bolster the job market, and increase our advancement in many fields. It has been so successful that much of the world adopted this new standard. It was decided that citizens can make the decision they feel is necessary to risk for a job versus the reward. The HWS act was a stopgap for a much bigger problem. One we are here to correct. It was decided that a civilian be paid for this job, rather than the governments making the decisions themselves so that they may remain impartial.\"\n\n\"What decision is that?\" I ask\n\nThey didn't respond. Instead a screen appeared. It showed three pictures of random people side by side. The only thing listed was their name, date of birth, occupation, criminal charges if any, and location.\n\n\"What is this?\" I say demanding an explanation.\n\n\"This is the solution. You will have ten seconds to decide which of these people will die. If you choose none, all three will die.\"\n\n\"I refuse!\" I shout.\n\n\"Very well\" The voice says. An X appeared over all three pictures and the word \"Deceased\" was written next to the names.\n\n\"But I didn't choose or not choose! I refused the job!\" I screamed.\n\n\"You already accepted the job. In the revised HWS bill that went into effect thirteen months ago, all jobs must be completed to the satisfaction of the employer or risk imprisonment. There was initially a huge problem with people not performing satisfactory work. And you sir, signed a five year contract.\"\n\n\"But..but...i can't\" I say, tears welling in my eyes.\n\n\"Of course you can. It's just a picture. You would have likely never met any of these people. Thousands die every day that you are blissfully unaware of and are no worse off.\"\n\n\"But I cant choose...thats wrong\" I say crying.\n\n\"Yes, you can. while the HWS act helped band-aid the problem, the fact is the world is becoming unsustainable with overpopulation. Pollution, starvation, disease, famine, work. All of it gets worse as the world becomes overly populated. Every country is pursuing this goal. Almost a thousand people across the globe will begin this job along with you. They are tasked with eliminating thirty percent of the population. Or roughly two billion globally.\"\n\n\"What? That's genocide!\" I scream.\n\n\"No, that is survival. Now choose\" The voice says as another set of people appear on the screen. \"You have ten seconds\"\n\n\"But I can't...\" I whimper, my face soaked with tears.\n\n\"Eight seconds\"\n\nI stare at the screen, reading the information on each person. \n\n\"Five seconds\"\n\nI reach out and touch one. A younger man with an armed robbery conviction. It was either him or an engineer and a school teacher.\n\n\"Thank you, let's continue\".\n\nAnd that is how I become the executioner for the human race." ]	6
	[WP] You awake to find yourself inside the armored hull of some massive transport vehicle. There are prisoners begging for death, mysterious figures in robe, overly cocky and wisecracking security officers, and the intercom is playing a stupidly jazzy tune.	[ "The heavy chains that bound her feet together rattled as the vehicle hit what must be another enormous pothole. Or an air pocket, she admitted that she had no way of knowing if she was sitting in the largest atmospheric craft she had ever seen. She had counted five, including the one that woke her up, the deep vibration running through the hull difficult to ignore. She groaned as she moved to rub her wrists where the shackles had chafed against her skin. \n\nThe slight movement reignited the previously numb pain originating from an amalgamation of bruises all across her body. Clearly, whoever tossed her into this portable dungeon was not particularly concerned with her comfort. Well, admittedly, the heavy chain shackles could have told her that. After all, magshackles are for the good prisoners. You can't have a prisoner be released with bruised wrists, bruised wrists were reserved for the people nobody would ever see again. \n\nShe felt downright privileged. Not many people ever found out what happened to the criminals who were made to disappear in the absence of a trial. Well, maybe that wasn't entirely true, it recently became a much less exclusive club to be a part of, but she was a proud member nonetheless. Although it was entirely possible this was something different, an organ farm looking for fresh bodies to grow the ten or so lungs they could get before complete system failure. All those years spent chainsmoking suddenly felt a little more rewarding at least.\n\n\"Hey,\" She said, turning to face the disheveled man to her right, his long dark hair falling limply over his face, \"Do the guards ever come down here, or should I like call for them or...?\"\n\n\"If you're hankerin' for a boot to the dome, then yeah, be my guest,\" He grumbled, blowing absentmindedly at wispy strands of hair, \"Now stop talking before the robes take notice,\"\n\nFollowing his light nod, her eyes finally took note of a group of people in dark blue robes kneeling over by the opposite wall. She smiled slightly as she once more thought about the potholes and turned leaned over toward her newfound friend.\n\n\"I have a plan,\" She whispered to him, grinning widely as the words left her mouth, \"You want in on it, blink twice with both eyes, to me,\"\n\nHe gave her a sideways look and seemed to settle back into his seated position. However, a few seconds later he turned his head toward her and slowly gave her a blink with both eyes-\n\nShe winced as her forehead collided with his teeth hard before he even had a chance to blink again. A good chunk of his teeth flew deeper into his mouth from the impact, a few finding their way to the floor where they rolled around, cracked and bloody. It was a difficult angle, and usually, she would be happy to aim for the nose instead. Just as much blood, not as much permanent disfiguration. But she wanted the shock value now, and nothing said shock like a man screaming through a mouthful of blood. \n\nThe guards were on her in a few moments, fists first, restraints later, just how she imagined it would be. When they were done they hoisted her up by the arms, pinching her in between two massive shoulders. The guard captain stood in front of her, his hard face scarred and weathered, and stared her down with a frown.\n\n\"You know,\" She said, smiling through her bloodied lip and staring right back at him, \"I'm surprised recruitment has gotten tight enough to include death row inmates,\" She laughed, \"Though lord knows I ain't complaining,\"\n\n\"Shut it,\" He returned with a blow to her sternum, threatening to topple her over had she not been stuck in a vice grip by the guards. \"We don't tolerate infighting between recruits,\"\n\n\"Well, you're also not supposed to tolerate desertion,\" She said, trying her best to smile through the pain, \"And yet here I am, again,\"\n\nThe captain looked at the other guards questioningly, before pulling up a DNA scanner which he jabbed into her wrist in a particularly spiteful way. After looking at the data for a moment he returned the angry gaze toward her.\n\n\"Why should I not simply kill you right now, coward?\" He forced out through gritted teeth,\n\n\"Well for one, I imagine you are short on manpower at the moment,\" She smiled triumphantly and cocked her head slightly, \"And I'm pretty sure I know the guy who pays your salary,\"" ]	1
	[WP] Death is “taking a sick day” and has been found surfing in Australia. Suddenly, he doesn’t want to go back to work.	[ "The sun suddenly goes black. \n\"Mr. Death?\" I hear. Slowly i open my eyes. Of course the person standing in front of me could not see that. I sigh. \"What's the matter? Can't you see I'm relaxing?\" I ask while i wave down my body that lays on a sunbed with a cocktail in my other hand. The person did not show any emotions. Well i guess it's kinda hard to show emotions when you have to stand in 40°C on a beach in a black suit. \"Mind if I take a seat?\" the mysterious man in front of me said while he sat down on a small beach stool. \"Doesn't seem like I have a choice Dave.\". Damn again no reaction. Even though i dropped his name without him telling me. Seems like he is prepared for this talk. It was inevitable that it happened. Humans always think that not dying is great until there Grandmother has nothing left of her brain except of some mud or there child suffocates 24/7. I speak again \"Again. What's the matter? Who send you? Some government?\". He seems surprised. Finally. \"Government? No why should they? They don't care for you\". \"What do you mean they don't care for me? I am quite an important path in the natural order. I am surprised no one has approached me sooner to be honest. Without me no one can pass through the door separating the living and the dead.\" \nDave says nothing for a moment. When he talks again he seems concerned. \"Don't you know? They already found a way to kill people without you. It was a harsh first week. Many countries didn't allow assisted suicide. But it all got sorted out and now every major power has its own suicide department. Of course they would be glad if you came back, but for now they handle it.\" \nHumans never fail to amaze me. They surely complained about me and cursed me but in the end they accepted me and moved on. They even found a way to replace me. I am sure that it is not as good as me because when a plane crashes i can kill lead 300 souls at the same time while they surely have to do it one by one. But they did it which is amazing. \n\"Well, Dave that's great i am not needed anymore. That still doesn't explain what you want.\" \n\"I want you to ask to come back for your job.\" I laugh. Dave visibly twitches when he hears the sound a dry bone neck can produce. \"But for what? You just said that humans replaced me.\" \nDave's face goes even more serious than before. \"I beg you to do your job again, because i am from Greenpeace and your presence is harming the Great Barrier Reef.\" \nSometimes i hate being Death.", "\"You know how work piles up when you take a vacation? No? Oh, right you're a bartender. No long term work. All i have is long term work, let me tell you!\"\nThe man was drunk, as vacationing executives tend to be. He was also dreadfully boring, as executives tend to be vacationing or not. He told his story but no-one was listening.\nIt had only been 2 days, and everyone who wasn't a loud, boring, vacationing executive had begun to notice that things weren't quite right.\nThe bugs were becoming unbearable. The resort promised they had sprayed, but it seemed to have no affect. People were cutting thier vacations short and the additional mosquito control bills were cutting into the limited cash available. The resort owner had decided to kill his wife for the insurance money, only it didn't work out for him. Turns out she had the same idea and poisoned him first. The doctors said he should have died but after a few hours the poison had worked its way through his system and he was back at home. There was also a man that had a heart attack while eating at the local burger joint having a Double Bypass Burger (a delicay of cholesterol with a side of potatoe wedges). By the time the paramedics arrived he was back at it finishing the burger. He was upset that his milkshake had melted and the restraunt refused to replace it. \n\nBy the 3rd day it was evident no-one was dying. The resort owner shot his wife to make sure. She stabbed him in retaliation and they both decided it would be best to spend some time apart.\n\nOn the 4th day Death arrived. It approached the bar and sat next to the vacationing executive, who was overjoyed to have someone new to talk to. \n\"Hey! You know how work piles up when you take a vacation?\"\n\"Like you wouldn't believe\" Death replied. \n" ]	2
	[WP] You return home one day from work and go to take a shower. When you turn the water on, it comes out of the top right away instead of the bath faucet; somebody left the shower-activator up when they got out. But you live alone.	[ "It was rough day at the hospital, Connor saved two lifes that day. He was exhausted. \n\n\" You are very tallented, thank you for saving my son's life.\"\n\n\"There is no need to thank me. I just did my job. \"\n\nHis boss let him leave earlier that day. The doctor faced a long journey in the rainy streets and finally arrived home. He went straight to his room. Took of his shirt and turned on the shower.\n\n\"Something is wrong\"\n\nConnor put his clothes back and ran to his bedroom. Then he grabbed the good old baseball-bat he once used when he was a kid and went downstairs silently. It was a stormy night, the rain was intense, it was hard to listen anything that wasn't nearby. \n\n He was nervous, cold sweat trickled down his face. His heart was almost exploding at every step. Looking at the back door, he noticed it was open. \"Fuck it, I'm calling the police\" Connor dialed 911. \n\n\"911, what is you emergency?\" \n\n\"There is a...\"\n\n\"Wait\" He heard a female voice\n\n\"Please, stop. I won't hurt you, I promisse.\"\n\nConnor looked at her, she was about 20 years old, unarmed, and very scared. He disconnected the call.\n\n\"What is your name?\"\n\n\"Jennifer\"\n\n\"How long have you been here?\"\n\n\"A-about... 30 minutes. But you have to help me. They are coming...\"\n\n\"I'm sorry, but have to leave now. Or I will call the police.\"\n\nShe started crying, and he didn't know what to do. Although Jennifer was wearing a coat, Connor noticed she was hurt. \n\n\"What happened to you?\"\n\n\"I-I was stabbed... they tried to... they tried to...\" She started crying again.\n\nA car parked in front of his house. He looked outside and saw the skull simbol in the vehicle. They belonged to a street gang. The criminals were waiting something. \n\n\"Do they know you are here?\"\n\n\"I think so...\"\n\nThe doctor quickly made an improvised bandage for her and they ran to the backyard. One of the members of the gang appeared at the other side of the fence and pointed a gun to Connor's head. He froze for a moment. She screamed. To other guys appeared, surrounding them.\n\n\"There is no way out.\"\n\nTwo of them held Jennifer while the one pointing the gun said:\n\n\"Goodbye\"\n\nBANG!!!\n\nConnor woke up. But he wasn't at his bed, he was at the bath and someone called for him. He noticed that it was not his body, but a woman's.\n\n\"What the fuck is going on?\"\n\n (S)He dressed up and went for the voice. \n\n\"Honey, are you ok?\" Connor asked\n\n(Sorry for bad English It is my first time writing)" ]	1
	[WP] Gluttony starts getting in shape and realizes all the life he's been missing. He tries to convince the other sins to turn their lives around as well. They aren't eager.	[ "\"My my, do go on,\" Lust replied in her trademark sultry tone. Gluttony had heard it often, but having it directed towards him was fairly new. Gluttony had already had the craziest, wildest sex with the creature of his fantasies half a dozen times. Afterall, old habits of excess are hard to break. He did pull himself away, finally, to try and talk some sense into her.\n\n\"Lust, you're not really listening,\" he muttered, rolling out of the large bed. Glut rose up, standing at a 6'4\", there was always more to the creature. In an odd fashion, his frame was but a shadow of its former self. While far from skinny, he certainly carried a 'dad bod'. However, muscles clearly peeked out from underneath the shrinking layer of tub. \"Lust. We need to stop. You need to stop this.\"\n\nHer response was silent. A cold stare shot daggers towards the Sin in front of her, somehow promising both violence and pleasure. Of course she wanted more. What Gluttony still lacked in appearance, he made up in supernatural stamina. Now that he wasn't actively repulsive, she craved him. \"You're working out,\" she replied after a few moments of consideration. He had mentioned that at some point, right? \"Let me show you some fun exercises.\"\n\nMore. She was promising more. Every fiber of his body yearned for it. She was eager, waiting. She had so much more to give. However, her words proved that she wasn't listening, not really. A deep sigh bellowed out of him as he slowly exited the room.\n______________\n\n\"Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty.\" Gluttony counted the last number in a grunt before collapsing on the ground, finishing his seventeenth set of crunches. His abs ached at the strain, but his body was awash in endorphins. This was an exquisite pain, one that was improving himself. Becoming a better psuedo-person. He swore he'd lose the last bit of tub, he just needed to workout more.\n\n\"Hey! Fatass! Who the fuck do you think you are using my shit!\" boomed a voice from the doorway. That tone often forecasted a hail of blows in the near future. Wrath burst into the shared gym. Wrath by contrast to Gluttony stood at a mere 5'2\", but that just concentrated the anger into a smaller package.\n\nGluttony was the one to really purchase the equipment. Afterall, he was always happy to own more. Plus, it gave Wrath somewhere to vent that wasn't Glut's body. The same body that rolled itself up to a stand. However, despite the pummelling Wrath gave in demanding this gym, she rarely used it.\n\nShe barrelled towards Gluttony and eyed him up quickly. The size advantage was always toward Gluttony, but he looked far more capable now. Undeterred, Wrath swung her arm back and aimed for his gut.\n\nAnd Gluttony let her. Afterall, it was kind of her way of saying hello. While his abs cried out again, the massive being was always capable of withstanding more. \"Hi, Wrath. I added some yoga mats! I think we should try-...\"\n\nHer thoughts on the matter were civilly delivered via slamming her fist into his jaw. \"Fuck Yoga! Shit's for lazy ass-clowns like you!\" She curdled her lip into a sneer, doing her best to look down on the giant towering above her.\n\n\"You too? Look, I've been so much better cutting back on stuff!\" He tried to explain. She hadn't struck him in the middle, so that was a good sign. \"I was thinking, if I can reject my Sin, and be happy, maybe... you could try and calm down?\"\n\n\"Calm down? CALM DOWN?!\" The tiny powerhouse reared back her leg and swung it in the clearest declaration of her intent that she could muster.\n\n_______________________\n\nGluttony looked down at his fitness watch. He was on mile 47, and feeling a little winded. It took him longer than usual to get to his fifty mile marker, but he was taking it easy on his groin. He was failing to see how the other Sins just weren't listening. Life without Sin was glorious! He was feeling so much better. Life was a rush! This was new and exciting!\n\nGlut shook his head at his foolish brethren. Glut mused for a moment on if he should change his name, but redoubled on the instead. After all, mile fifty was just a little more." ]	1
	[WP]In the West, there is a tower with infinite floors, each a new environment. Due to a wizards curse, all who enter can never leave, so it's used as a prison. It's been a thousand years, and now the tower is a flourishing Country. You were born here.	[ "Seifes, 136 of Stailoor year 562\n\nI am a resident of the eight hundred fortieth floor of the Tower World of Stailoor, known as Fenliss, a quiet rural world of twilight and soft nature. A forest of willows sprawls from wall to wall, a mile across and round, fed from the roots by a perpetual, gently glowing stream. In the dusky light, the soft tips of the grasses are lit with a hundred colors, the stream's water lighting them from within. \n\nThere is not a lot of variety here, either among the plants or the people. There is sustanance in the form of nutritious, juicy fruits that, when ripe, are filled with water and glow brightly on the vine. The stream water is clear and sweet. It is all we have ever needed. As for the people, there are fifty-two of us, all native to Stailoor. Thirty of our number hail from two floors below, a small water world made unstable by recent earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis. They bypassed the desert biome of eight hundred thirty-nine and joined us two cycles ago in our little piece of paradise. The rest of us have all been here at least ten cycles, and most of us were born here. \n\nI am one of that number. My birth was seventeen cycles ago. And I am itching for a change of scenery. \n\nNineteen days ago, I informed my parents, my two brothers, and my two closest friends that I was going to spend a cycle exploring. It's not an odd thing - it's how people got this far up, after all - but the higher you go, the more dangerous it is. The highest floor known to us to be settled is nine fifty three, known as Moon's Frontier. Drail, a traveling merchant who spent two love-dazzled cycles in Fenliss with my aunt when I was ten, told me about the place. Five people lived there, he said. They were all men. \n\nI want to go farther. So much farther. I told Mother I would turn back at nine fifty, but If I tell myself the truth, I know I won't stop until I can't continue. It was not a white lie. I told it to make my own life easier. \n\nMy parents worry, but my brothers have nothing but the thrill of vicarious adventure in their minds. Seever, fifteen, began packing his own things three days ago, then seemed to think better of it, replacing everything surreptitiously; I didn't tell him I noticed things go missing. Fierrel, ten, has boasted to every child and young adult in our community that he'll be the greatest explorer in Stailoor's history when he's twelve, making the kind of elaborate and far-fetched plans that only a child could. \n\nI will miss both of them more than anything in the coming cycle. \n\nI leave in five days. Everything is packed, from my meager cotton clothes to three bags of fruit to the small bag of secrets I have amassed over the years. I am ready. \n\nThis will be a record of my travels, of my discoveries and experiences.\n\nBut - and nobody knows this - it will also be a story of my quest for the end of my world and the start of my ancestors', for the witching knowledge I know exists in the the old world. And here, too, I will record new recipes and spells. Because perhaps, just maybe, there will be a place for me in the books of the outerworld's fabled school's of magic. And I am ready for my fate. \n\n- an excerpt from the first page of a copy of The Secrets of a Daughter of Stailoor by Wania of Fenliss, a book found on the shelves of Academia Faerneria in the great city of South Deneer." ]	1
	[WP] After your death, you wake up in a office building. At a desk, a bureaucrat sees you and sighs. He tells you, "You failed to complete your mission again. I'm only sending you back one more time."	[ "I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:\n\n- [/r/tv_productions] [\\[WP\\] After your death, you wake up in a office building. At a desk, a bureaucrat sees you and sighs. He tells you, \"You failed to complete your mission again. I'm only sending you back one more time.\"](https://www.reddit.com/r/TV_Productions/comments/8uyi2z/wp_after_your_death_you_wake_up_in_a_office/)\n\n&nbsp;^(If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads.) ^\\([Info](/r/TotesMessenger) ^/ ^[Contact](/message/compose?to=/r/TotesMessenger))", "My eyes jolted open to a distorted bright fuzz that pierced at the back of my eyes. As I shut them and tried to take a breath, I start to register that familiar sound. It's a light beep like the default sine wave that comes from those old telephones. The familiar tone quickly starts to scratch at my ear drumb as I try and focus through the pain in my vision and attempt to get a bearing of my surroundings. Suddenly a rush of memories flooded over every part of my mind, my consciousness felt like it was being amped up, like I was being jam packed with not just emotion but feeling and purpose. A sense of euphoria quickly came over me, it tingled throughout my body. I felt the crisp cool air wrap itself around me like a blanket. Before a coherent idea of what I was experiencing could take hold I was staring at darkness.\n\nDamn.\n\nThis blunt darkness is always the first moment you realize that you fucked up.\n\nI hear a muffled voice beyond the black. As the voice comes closer I begin to see a dim glow start to fill the space around me. I need to try and get my head straight so I can go home and continue to work.\n\n\"My name is R and I'm a civilization engineer for the 727 Energy Production facility. I was sent in to try and correct my civilizations path and help them pass their current projected peak tech. point of turbine generated energy.\"\n\nI continued to repeat this sentence as I waited for the now fully illuminated space to open itself. This was my third time in one of these chambers and I was really hoping it was going to be my last for a while. My job as a civilization engineer involves getting all too familiar with the stresses of being in one of these chambers and every time you get reuploaded it makes you regret thinking that playing \"God\" would be cool in University. A loud thud shook the chamber from the outside as the golden glow was lifted to a bright white light.\n\n\"You failed again. I'm not spending anymore time on your try out project\". I look up to see my director and can tell he's not going to like what I have to say. \"Tell me who you are and what you were doing?\" he dictates with the tone of someone saying something they've been repeating for far too long.\n\n\"My name is R and I'm a civilization engineer for the 727 Energy Production facility. I was sent in to try and correct my civilizations path and help them pass their current projected peak tech. point of turbine generated energy.\" I repeated.\n\nThis is the worst part. Being sent in is not a cheap endeavor and while a civilization that achieves even just 0.6 potential can produce enough energy to pay for this entire enterprise on it's own, it's an incredible investment that often fails and since it's my first time to really take charge on a project, I'm going to have a lot of explaining to do.\n\n\"I'm just stuck on the greed paradox\" I admitted begrudgingly. I felt like I was already making excuses, I know I can be better than this.\n\n\"It's not a paradox\" the director said visibly frustrated.\n\n\"Yes it is. You have handcuffed me with only the most basic elements to work with so I can't create anything more complex. I can't get these carbon based life forms to evolve an appetite for technology without giving them a sense of greed and a desire to want more for themselves but then that greed stops them from ever hitting the unity point. If they don't hit the unity point they'll never get past 0.2 potential and right now they're not tracking very well.\" I explained. I have been team lead on direction for this civilization since I started here 5 years ago and since it's my first project, I'm working with a starters budget. In order to receive larger budgets I need to prove myself with a starter first.\n\n\"Listen, I'll give you a month and one more chance to correct this civilization. Get them working together and try to improve their outlook. If they can one day achieve 0.2 then they can achieve 0.6\" the director reassured me, as if I was his protege. I could always tell I was his favorite.\n\n\"I don't know, I think I made it worse\" I sighed.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" he asked.\n\n\"I went down there and tried to get them to see me as a higher power that could provide guidance. I tried to explain to them that they need to treat each other like they would want to be treated and that the collective good is stronger if they care about the well being of one another.\" I explained.\n\n\"That sounds like a solid plan, why do you think it didn't work?\" he puzzled. He was using this as a teaching moment. I hate teaching moments.\n\n\"I think I made them reliant on an illusion now and they'll have a hard time ever out growing that illusion. I think the fact that I can't just go and explain to them who I am and show them what I need them to do and how to do it will lead them to fighting over the interpretation of what I wanted to show them.\" As the words left my mouth I could feel the dejection take over.\n\n\"This is why they always say to avoid direct contact\" he snickered. \"The worst part is, you're now at the mercy of their development until we can get you back in there, how much time will have past in that world by then?\" he knew that question would bug me.\n\n\"A bit over 2000 years\" I whimpered. \"This is going to be a terrible review.\"" ]	2
	[WP] You're slowly opening the wrapper while billions are watching. Its been 200 years since the last chocolate bar was made and you're about to the eat the last one...	[ "It was ages ago. The cacao blight. It killed every last tree. There had been search expeditions for decades to find any surviving trees to no avail. Even before the blight killed all the trees the market crashed. People bought up the bars faster than the blight was killing the plants. Soon there was no chocolate left anywhere. It was either stolen or sold to various billionaires. After 50 years there wasn’t a trace of cacao anywhere in the world. Or so we thought...\n\n\nI was playing in my grandfathers house one day. It was an old house. Built around the 2010s I think. It had all sorts of old nooks and crannies to hide and find things. My siblings and I usually found things in old cracks or underneath floorboards all the time. But this day was different. I had been playing with my sister in the laundry room when something caught my eye. A shiny piece of foil... I went to grab it thinking it was an old piece of tin foil that had been discarded. When I pulled it out, all I could make out were three words.\n\n\nHERSHEY’S 100% MILK CHOCOLATE\n\n\nI was perplexed. What was “chocolate”? I had never heard of such a thing. I went and showed it to my grandpa. When I showed him the bar he nearly had a heart attack. He jumped up screaming! I asked what was the big deal? What is chocolate? \n\n\nMy boy if you could only know! It was the best damn candy in the world! People would pay hundreds of dollars for a single bar! \n\nWell, can we eat it? I was more focused on eating a rare type of candy then the bars actual value.\n\n\nNo my boy! You must cherish this forever! Keep it safe, and when they day comes. Show it to the world. You may find it has more importance than you think." ]	1
	[WP] You found yourself dead and overlooking your body in the hospital. Suddenly your body awakens and the doctor's explain you were in a coma, but you're not in your body anymore and your body is now acting with a new personality, leaving you tied to watch as this new being lives YOUR life.	[ "\"Hey! Hey! What the fuck is going on!\" I screamed into the stuffy hospital room I had been trapped in for the past 6 months. \nToday I woke up. Not me. I'm still trapped here listening to the idle chat between employees and distant relatives that don't really have enough common interests to hold any meaningful conversation but have been forced by circumstance to be in close proximity to for longer than is comfortable.\nIt's funny how much you notice when you ponder monotonous patterns for 6 months. \nBut this. This is far worse. It's one thing seeing people visiting their family. But watching my family visit me? So happy to see ME? That's not me. \nLook at that stupid grin on his face 'oooh look at me I woke up from a coma I'm so happy' you woke up from MY coma. Stop hugging my mum, get back in your own body and stop grinning. You know I look like a prick when I smile. You're just doing that to piss me off now. \nFor all my time in a coma wondering how everyone was doing. Wondering what would happen to me I already knew that I would finally emerge and come back to life a new or have the release of death. But this? Where does this leave me? I can't just call the Stolen Body Recovery Service. I have nothong left. No hope. No ending. No explanation.\n\n\nThanks for reading! Let me know what you think. \n(I had another idea of a secret club that would bring back dead members into new bodies therefore same few hundred people have ruled the world since ancient times but would be too long for this I think)\n", "“We have transplanted your brain into a new body,” Dr. Stein’s voice rang against the sterile walls of the hospital room I had been confined to for six weeks. \n\nI looked down at my body from an aerial view. Yellow bruises extended from my forehead to my left cheekbone. A weak smile stretched across the face that used to belong to me, reaching my eyes. \n\nI was disembodied, my physical being no longer stable enough to keep my heart beating and the blood pumping through my veins. I had been in a car accident and remained in a coma for six weeks. When I flatlined, my body was rendered unusable. It betrayed me, forced my conscious to vacate. The doctors saw potential in my physical being. With my brain no longer instructing my body to resist treatments and medication, the doctors were able to make the needed repairs. To fully restore my body, it needed a conscious, a brain from another body on the brink of experiencing its last heartbeat. As an aspiring medical student, I had read into this controversial practice months before my accident. I never imagined it would happen to me. \n\n“It was a highly successful procedure, Monica,” Dr. Stein explained. \n\nMonica. She had already claimed ownership of my body, as though it were a house. \n\n“In fact,” the doctor continued, “this might be one of the most successful cases on record, which could revolutionize the potential of conscious restoration and help rid the stigma that surrounds it.” He held a mirror to my face. The blue eyes that had marveled at so much began to well with tears, tears that I wanted to cry, tears that used to belong to me throughout my twenty years of life, tears that will always belong to me. \n\n“This is unbelievable.” My voice was watery. “I’m a young woman again. What a beautiful face, too.” \n\nI had never considered what it meant to experience raw emotion without a physical vessel to channel the energy through, to act out the frustrations and pain until I achieved a sense of relief. My conscious must bear the burden on its own, with no fists to clench, no tears to wipe away, no screams to erupt from deep within my body. I hoped this burden would be enough to send me into a void, to help me cross over. \n\nInstead, I was forced to watch Monica enjoy life all over again, at my expense. My family and friends disowned “me,” refusing to honor the existence of the woman who stole my body. \n\nEli, my boyfriend of one year, stayed. I watched as they celebrated my twenty-first birthday, bar hopping and clubbing, Eli introducing me to new acquaintances, restructuring my life as Monica. \n\nI watched as I walked across the stage at twenty-four to accept my bachelor’s in business administration. I had been a pre-med student, but Monica switched degrees as soon as she assumed ownership of my body, adding three years to my studies. “The diploma I always dreamt of,” Monica told Eli the day of her graduation. \n\nThrough my body, Monica enjoyed what she couldn’t in her previous life, and what I never could in mine. She started her own consulting company. She traveled with Eli and made friends in every corner of the world. She laughed and took singing lessons for the hell of it and went horseback riding on the shores of Costa Rica and danced on the balcony of the new apartment she bought in uptown Manhattan with Eli. Her business went bankrupt. She could no longer afford her luxury apartment and was forced to move with Eli fifty miles from the city. She struggled with anxiety and burnout and was unmotivated to find another job. Her relationship with Eli started to fail and he moved out. \n\nMonica was living. \n\nShe eventually found her way back to Eli, their relationship quickly escalating to a marriage proposal. I watched her walk down the aisle with my body, the white dress cascading behind me, the church lights casting a soft glow against my face. I was haunting, beautiful. \n\nI wished misfortune on Monica and Eli. Arguments, infidelity, money troubles, divorce. They deserved nothing less. \n\nInstead, my stomach grew over the course of the following nine months. I delivered a healthy baby, a baby that would never belong to Monica. That child had my DNA; she was a product of my existence. I was her mother. \n\n“Thank you for giving me what my body was unable to give me in my previous life,” Monica told Eli as she held the baby in her arms. I wondered for a fleeting moment if she was speaking to me. \n\nThe couple named the baby Daisy Grace. In the seven years since Monica’s conscious restoration, I had never wished for my body back as intensely as I did when Daisy Grace was born. That was my child to rock to sleep and sing nursery rhymes to. Her hand was mine to hold when she learned to take her first step. Her tears were mine to wipe away when she cried on her first day of kindergarten. \n\nDaisy Grace gave me a sense of purpose, making each day a bit more tolerable and bit crueler than before. Watching her grow up gave me something to look forward to, although it tore at my senses to see her transform into a spitting image of me. The longing to be with her, to love and nurture her hurt more than any physical pain I had ever encountered in my life. \n\nBy seventy, my body started to betray Monica. It would be inhabitable after her conscious transcended from it. My ankles were swollen from poor circulation, my breathing aided by an oxygen mask. \n\nEli’s body had given up by way of a heart attack a few years before I had mine. Daisy Grace remained by my side at the hospital, refusing to go home even at night. \n\nAs Monica’s spirit slipped away from my body, I could feel my conscious fading. I had never aged, the “voice” that I had been reduced to always hyper-aware. I would finally be at peace. \n\nMonica smiled at Daisy Grace, her blue eyes mirroring mine, translucent with tears.\n\n“I’ve had a good life, Daisy Grace. Don’t be alarmed, but you’re developing laugh lines around your mouth, and tiny crow’s feet at the corner of your eyes.” She gently tugged at Daisy Grace’s brown curly locks peppered with grey, resembling mine when my body was that age. “You’re going grey, too. I’m so glad that I was around long enough to see you transcend into this state of adulthood. Not all parents get to see that. That’s more than I could have asked for at the end of my life.” My daughter smiled as she tried to stifle a sob. \n\nMonica had never mentioned the conscious restoration to Daisy Grace. I had always been resentful that she never told her the truth. As Monica prepared to take her last breath, I wondered if it was better that way. \n\nMonica grasped Daisy Grace’s hand with her remaining strength as the heart monitor began to beep rapidly. \n\n“I love you,” Monica’s raspy voice and my conscious whispered together. \n\nThe monitor flatlined for the final time. ", "It's not me, it's not me, it's not me, IT'S NOT ME!\n\nMy mind was screaming, as I followed my body around. Watched it do the things I yearned to do. A stranger, a parasite, an interloper. What happened after I woke up? After I awakened after who knows how long? It's like a dream, seeing myself. No, a nightmare. I want to reach out and grab the soul infesting my body, to rip it out and cast it aside. Does it not know its place? Does it not know it's tearing me apart? To see my friends, my family, those I love, and being so close to them yet I cannot interact with them? They do not know that they are talking to an interloper. They see only me, yet they should look at my eyes. They are empty, false, indicative of a possessed host.\n\nI ask why I am resigned to this existence. This miserable, horrible prison. I float like a specter over my real body, watching it do things, see things, learn things, love things! I feel angry, envious, spiteful. What did I do? Do deserve such a fate? I have floated in this purgatory for three months. To me, this feels like three years. Who is my punisher, the judge of my eternal chamber?\n\nHelp me. Please.", "I feel nothing. No pain. No sorrow. Not even peace. Blank, like the day I was born. I knew that was me, laying on the bathroom floor. Cold and lifeless. Silence. Pure heavenly silence.\nEMTs trying to save me. My husband trying not to lose me. My child trying to comprehend why Mommy would do this. So young, the little one. Too young to be burdened with this vision. I face myself one last time. Eyes glazed over. There was no time for regret to touch my dying heart before that sound. A deep, life-rattling breath was all that could be heard in that tiny bathroom. Then the voices.\nThis is not what I planned. \n\nI have been staring at myself in the hospital bed. Watching. Something had shifted within. Desperate for this to end. They are constant now. Louder. Is this my penance? \nThe machines are breathing for us. My husband is here. Holding my hand. I see the tears in his eyes. I can not help but still feel ... detachment. The doctors say coma. They talk of weeks, months, years. Yet, I know, we do not have that much time. It's getting stronger. Many voices becoming one. I find it harder to focus. I lost all control the moment I cut that last artery. \nThat sound. That deep, life-rattling breath brings me back to the present. My husband screams for a nurse. I scream only silence. This can not be how it ends. I face myself one last time. One last chance to fix this. I grab my shoulders, begging to be let back in. Too late. My eyes are open. It has control now.\nThis is not what I planned.\n", "\"That is you, my child. I do not understand your confusion.\"\n\nAs I watched \"my body\" writhe around in agony on the dirt floor, I stared the angel in the face. I was pissed, and that was putting it lightly. Did she really expect my to believe this crap?\n\n\"I'm not fucking stupid, okay? What, is this some kind of test? I'm not going to attack you out of anger or anything, but seriously, where is my body?\"\n\n\"It's right there, my child. I cannot provide you with anything else.\"\n\nI stared at what she'd called me angrily. That wasn't me-- it didn't looking anything like me! I watched myself groan as I lay on the dirt floor of the barn, looking like I was in pain.\n\n\"Moooooo...\"\n\n\"God fucking damnit, I'm not a cow!\"\n\n\"You are a cow, I'm afraid. That is simply reality... but fret not. It is not your time yet. Return to sleep in peace...\"\n\nWith a gentle push, she shoved my spirit back into myself, the sensation of thick black hooves and big floppy cow ears entering my consciousness in the brief moments before I fell back to sleep. I tried calling out to her, but all that came out was a long dumb moo. She politely laughed and smiled, giving me a gentle pat on the head as I tried to fight off sleep, but it was of little use. Cows like me don't have much willpower, I guess.\n\nBut... I'm not a cow, right? That question remained unanswered in the time before I drifted off, but I already knew the truth.\n\nMoo.", "There was something elegant, something serene about his behavior. Perhaps it was a bit disheartening to lose control over my own body, but there was an immediate wave of relief as I made sense of the situation. \n\nAll my responsibility alleviated. The burdens of my debt, both material and immaterial, off my shoulders. Was it worth losing touch with Diana? Perhaps. \n\nNow I would simply observe. Like some ominous reality show. \n\nI always was a cheery, happy-go-lucky type of person, I would never think negatively. This changed the way I looked at problems in my life, for better or for worse. \n\nThis character was a polar opposite of me. His cynicism was apparent, almost as if it was a defining feature of his personality. Yet, he was composed, his words like poetry. A certain nuance in his body language, a subdued aggressiveness, almost as if he was fencing. Swift strokes and jabs. This man, whoever it may be, had a plan. \n\nEn garde, it is. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n", "Well, I guess that's it. Game over. I died. It's neat that I get to check stuff out afterwards though. Like my body. The machines in the hotel room tell me that it's still \"alive\" but I've checked out. How else could I be floating here? \n\nIt was quiet for a long time before the nurse came in to do her checks. She seemed.... excited? \"I just died ya rude bitch,\" I whined \"at least act dour... Wait. Is. ARE MY EYES OPEN?\"\n\nMy mind wasn't playing any tricks today, not like when I'd been in my body. No, my body was wakinh up, but why wasn't I inside it. I'd always felt a little disconnected but this was absurd. \n\nI watched for some time waiting to see what happened. My body didn't do much. Breathing on its own, moving the fingers a bit. But then family started showing up. The nurse must have made some calls outside the room. Two aunts, a cousin, and my grandmother were there. I was still waiting for this weird out of body thing to end when I heard the most familiar and worrying thing. My body, I, spoke. \n\nThe rest of my family noticed the change but it was clear they didn't mention it to be polite. That or they disregarded it as being drug induced or snapping out of the coma or... anything else to make things perfect for me. It was sweet of them, but they should have said something. \n\nVisiting hours ended and they left in protest, but eventually they were shuffled out the door an hour past when they were supposed to have been gone. But my body couldn't sleep. It just milled about impatiently until everything got as quiet as a hospital can get. \n\n\"I can feel you there\" it... he... I(?) said.\n\n\"To bad you can't hear me\" I mused wryly. \n\n\"Well I can. You know this. That's how you got in in the first place\"\n\nTime felt like it was frozen for a moment before I could stop reeling. \n\n\"Got in?! That's my body you fucker\"\n\n\"No it's mine, you tricked me\"\n\n\"Bullshit! Who the hell are you anyway? How are you in my body\"\n\n\"I told you. It's mine!\" I felt a wave of deep anger rush over me when he 'thought' the words at me. Why was he so pissed. What is he? I didn't have to wonder very long.\n\n\"You stole my body. You said you'd help but you just took it. Did whatever you wanted. YOU RUINED MY LIFE!\"\n\n\"What are you talking abo-\"\n\n\"How dare you... you... You wretched thing. Acting like you forgot. You took this body from me when I was barely old enough to have a memory, but I didn't go to sleep. I sat. And I watched as you drank and fought and lied and closed yourself off. I watched you fail over and over. I watched you give up time and time again. I watched you kill the boy I was. Now that I have my body back, you will NEVER get back in\"\n\nI was beyond stunned. I really had no idea what he was talking about. I... I'd tried. I wanted to live a good life... but I couldn't say that I had. From his description as he ranted on I could tell he wasn't lying. He has been stuck in that body with me all those years. What had I done...? What was I?\n\n\"Uh... what's your name,\" I asked him. This boy whose body I'd carjacked. \n\n\"It's Chris, you stole that too...\"\n\n\"Where will I go\"\n\n\"I don't care. Just never bother me again\"\n" ]	7
	[WP] All the other apex predators are having a meeting, their topic: humans	[ "<Start.Log>\n\nWe are the best killers in the universe. We can slay planets in matters of mere seconds, and as of right now, we have erased 233 life forms.\n\nTo avoid further unnecessary killing, we have created a alliance, The Slayers Society, and discuss high murder potential on other species.\n\nYesterday, we talked about the most advanced killing machine the universe has seen: humanity.\n\nAlthough their lack of claws, wings, sharp teeth or others, they have what no other species have had yet: the ability to improve. They created weapons out of scrap, murdered their own for decades, and are now closer than ever to unlocking space travel as a way to get out of their planet and finding other species. Tomorrow we will contact them, and inform them of The Rules. \n\n\nThis is a safety log in case the humans aren't friendly species, and may this become a reality, this will be shared across planets as a pretext to exterminate humanity. If we can.\n\n<End.Log>" ]	1
	[WP] Its your 16th birthday. In this world, today is the day you discover your powers. When you start your daily routine getting ready for school, chaos ensues as you are unprepared for your new gift. Time for awkward high school super powered puberty.	[ "After my dad drops me off to the usual spot in school I begin the new routine of making it to the cafeteria to have some breakfast. I need to start eating that crap since my new found abilities burn too many calories. Unlike the comic books where the heroes have some sort of infinite power supply I get skinnier every time I use this ability. The stronger the lighting bolts, the more malnourished I look. I'm surprised my old man hasn't said anything about my appearance, but then again he hardly notices me as he used to. Corporate America and all that, but anyway on to getting some eats.\n\n\"Yo dawk\", yelled my friend James from across the parking lot. \"You finally controlled it?\"\n\n\"Not so loud! I don't need the NSA or some other secret organization coming after me\", I yelled back. He rushed over to where I was and told me point blank that I was an idiot.\n\n\"Wat\", I replied in disbelief.\n\n\"I asked if you controlled it. I didn't ask you about that other thing. Now come on. Let's get you fed before people start thinking you on crack or something.\"\n\n\"Right. Right.\" We proceeded to go to the cafeteria together. I can always count on James. The guy always says it like it is and is super secretive of all my stuff. I could not find a truer friend and confidant.\n\n\"So uh, what's it like? Found out anything else about it?\"\n\n\"Other than the whole mjolnir thing that's all I've got. I wasn't exactly given an instruction manual on how to control it, much less what else I'm capable of doing.\"\n\n\"You've got the rest of your life ahead of you to figure it out. Plus I'll be helping you out anyway I can. By the way its powdered eggs and fake pancakes so you might want to buy a chocolate bar or two so you can bulk up.\"\n\nAfter a flavorless filling meal we both headed to our home rooms like we normally do on Mondays. We're always early so we don't rush unlike the rest of the people around here. As I take my seat for attendance I hear a really loud bang outside the hall way. I wonder who's getting shoved in a locker this time, I thought to myself, but then I hear screaming and more loud banging.\n\n\"RUN! HE'S GOT A GUN!!!\"\n\nSeveral people run outside while the rest get down. An active shooter on campus?!?! My time to shine! Time to get my body ready to fry this clown! I put myself in the traditional Saiyan pose and begin to focus on my new found strength. He starts firing again then suddenly I feel a shooting pain from my calf that brings me to the floor. I touch my calf to see what's the deal is and I feel dampness. I look at my hand and see blood. CRAP! I was just shot! This just turned real! He must have been shooting the walls to see who he hits. I can hear him yelling out in anger blaming someone for his problems. I need to hide. No way I'm taking him on in this condition.\n\nBAM BAM BAM! More shots and they're really close to my class room. My hands are shaking uncontrollably and I haven't moved since I caught that bullet.\n\n\"COME ON OUT JESSICA! THESE PEOPLE DON'T HAVE TO DIE! ALL I WANT IS YOUR ASS OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!\"\n\nI hear him opening the adjacent door. He screams something from inside the class room and starts to let loose more shots. Its only a matter of time before he comes in and blows all of us into the next life. I can hear my class mates screaming and crying for their lives. I begin to crawl towards the door in a feeble attempt to put a desk in front of it. Then the door gets kicked open and I see his face. Time stood still as we looked at each other like a lion looking at a gazelle moments before the kill. He raises his weapon and aims it towards me. I keep looking at him and I let out a blood curdling scream since I knew my time had come. I saw the flash of his barrel.\n\nBeep. Beep. Beep. I tried to open my eyes to see what was making that sound but I couldn't. Something was covering them so I tried reaching towards them to remove whatever was on my face.\n\n\"Don't do that sweetie\", said an unfamiliar voice.\n\n\"Who are you\", I replied in a scared voice.\n\n\"I'm Maxine. I'm your nurse and you are in the hospital. I know this is a lot to take in since you just woke up, but trust me you are out of harms way.\"\n\n\"Why are my eyes covered? Was I shot in the head? Did I survive? Never mind that last question! Stupid question\". She giggled and said, \"No question is a stupid question. You did survive, thank the lord, but you were shot in the left calf.\"\n\n\"If that's the case then why the bandages?\"\n\n\"When the paramedics stabilized you and brought you here we did a comprehensive check and saw that your corneas were sun burned. We've treated them and covered them as a precaution so you don't lose your vision.\"\n\n\"But what about the shooter? I was looking at him and saw the brightness of the muzzle. I thought he shot me in the head.\"\n\nSilence.\n\n\"Are you still there\", I asked, wondering if she left.\n\n\"Can I count on you not to say anything\", she asked.\n\n\"Sure\", I said to her.\n\n\"You didn't hear this from me but when the police found the shooter he was dead. He was apparently electrocuted in the face. The thing is there wasn't a taser or anything powerful enough to do that kind of damage to him. It's a complete mystery, but I'm glad he's dead. He took ten lives today and I'm happy he didn't take yours. What happened to you and those kids in your classroom is short of a miracle. Its as if the lord himself struck this boy dead.\"" ]	1
1. There is a afterlife where people wait till they are reborn or another universe happens. 2. You have to hide your immortality.	[WP] The universe is a simulation, and you are glitched with immortality. You want to make people lives better to make this universe one to remember!	[ "\"It's not a particularly smart way to help,\" the disheveled man remarks, his foggy glasses and misshapen hair a staple of his mania.\n\n\"I'm not a particularly smart person,\" the other man grunts, his thin pale body swaying in the wind.\n\n\"You could be. You're immortal after all. Knowledge is one thing you can't struggle with.\" the man says, fixing his glasses as disdain drips into his voice.\n\n\"Teach a rock to learn this 'science' crap you speak of then Jonavard. See how that turns out,\" he mutters, staring down at the cheering crowd spread across the sprawling plains.\n\n\"You liken yourself to a rock. Well, I can see the comparison Aldrecki,\" Jonavard retorts. \"The only thing you're lacking is sturdiness. It's not like all that energy went to your brain. What do you do with yourself?\"\n\n\"I am ill not immortal,\" Aldrecki says, a huff escaping from his lips. \"The living forever thing was just a side effect.\"\n\n\"Righttt,\" Jonavard says, extending the word out in a tone dripping with sarcasm. \"How terrible. Well if every disease was like yours, I'd say sign me up.\"\n\n\"Very well. Let's find you a hooker then. Preferable one who'll give it a go for a penny. Increases the odds.\" Aldrecki states dispassionately, failing to hide the small smirk playing on his lips.\n\n\"Fuck you,\" Jonavard returns, waving his hands around in frustration. \"I still call this stupid. A million ways you could change the universe, and you decide this is the way to go!\"\n\n\"It's not up to me to change the universe,\" Aldrecki says softly. He stretches his body, giving it a warm up as he stares down from the grassy hill he resides on. His eyes focus in on the female alien standing at the front, human in nature but with eyes that flicker like the starry sky. He briefly glances sideways at Jonavard before finishing his sentence. \"That's for all of you to do.\"\n\nFinishing his piece he launches himself forward, his body no longer swaying as if driftwood in the sea. Darting in and out of the crowd he quickly closes in on the starry-eyed alien. At the same time as his approach, another being weaves his way through the crowd in a more careful manner. Attached to his arm is some strange parasitic life, his blood and strength slowly being drained as something germinates inside the parasitic being.\n\nOnly seconds pass before they come within meters of the alien, the people around her too slow to react to them. \"Mai'Sa,\" the parasitic alien roars out as he jumps towards her, his arm extending forward mechanically , zeroing in on her body. \"Your reckoning is here. For the Dal'ma!\" With his last words all of the strength drains out of his body and he starts to fall. But the parisite on his arm only grows further, still facing Mai'Sa. With a retched glomp, a huge messy glob of green goo shoots out straight for Mai'Sa. She can only look in despair as it approaches, her body unable to move fast enough to escape. Just as it's about to hit her, someone pushes her out of the way causing her to sprawl across the ground.\n\nEyes wide in panic, she twists her body around to meet the eyes of a strange man. Blue. her mind could only think of how beautiful they are, so soft and...still. As quickly as the thought flutters across her mind, it shatters and she screams out to those surrounding her in a panic. \"Quick! Someone give him the Delgravi medicine!\"\n\n\"Mai'Sa, it is the only medicine of its kind,\" an alien nearby steps forward. \"To use it on a commoner-\"\n\n\"Shut your mouth!\" Mai'Sa roars, her hand darting forward and slapping him to the ground. \"He saved my life. Commoner or not, he's done more then you have in your entire pitiful existence. Someone get me that medicine now!\" She says anxiously.\n\n\"It is quite alright,\" she hears a voice say next to her, a hand gently resting on her arm. She turns to face the voice, her eyes widening in shock as she stares at Aldrecki. The good is splattered all over his body, its corrosive touch slowly eating into his flesh. Yet as fast as it eats through him, his body seems to grow back. \"I am fine,\" he says softly, peering into her eyes.\n\nHer heart flutters as she stares back, her heart thumping at an irregular pace. \"Doesn't it...hurt...\" she whispers, unable to imagine the immense pain he's going through right now. her mind yet to process the sheer impossibility of what she's seeing.\n\n\"Yes,\" Aldrecki muses, delving no further into the topic. \"I have accomplished what I came her for, now I must part. Use your life well, Mai'Sa. You were destined to die her today. I see the hope you bring this planet's future, do not waste it.\" Finishing what he had to say, Aldrecki turns around and starts walking away.\n\n\"Wait!\" Mai'Sa cries out, her mind a mess as she watches him leave. \"What does that mean-no, wait!\" she steps forward, unable to bear seeing him go, but with every step she takes he is ten further ahead. Her heart cries out in injustice. \"Can I see you again?!\" She finally forces out, clutching her hands to her chest in fear. As she hears no voice answer her despair takes its place. \"Just like that...\" she whispers, unsure why the parting hurts so much. Just as she's about to give up, a distant voice drifts into her ear.\n\n\"If you can rise above your planet, you will meet me among the stars.\"\n\n\"The stars...\" Mai'Sa whispers, her face drifting upward. As she gazes above, her eyes slowly change from their gentle nature to a fierce, willful expression. \"Then I will take these stars as my own and find you. No matter what it takes.\" Even she did not understand where her conviction came from. Only that she knew he had become more important to her then even herself. As she continues to stare up at the dazzling lights in the night sky, she can't help but mutter an extra sentence. \"And if you lied to me, may Mother have mercy on your soul. Cause I damn well won't.\"" ]	1
	[WP] In a Warfare, a Soldier meets an Enemy Doctor in a small base. Seeking shelter and help, the Soldier and the Doctor put their differences aside. As they talk, they realise how much the media on each side dehumanises the enemy.	[ "I crawled for what felt like hours through the ice-cold mud, doing my best to keep my mangled leg from getting dirty. I had stopped the bleeding for now with a makeshift tourniquet. It was an enemy artillery shell that had hit my trench and knocked me unconscious, when I awoke I was surrounded by the bodies of my friends and my leg was a mess. We had just relived the previous unit on the line and hadn't even fired our rifles before the barrage. Those bastards on the other side didn't care about that though. I knew I had to the aid station as soon as possible. \n\nFrom the Lieutenant's briefing the other day I knew the battalion headquarters was only a mile south of the line. I knew I had crawled at least a mile by now and was worried I had missed it until I heard voices being carried by the wind. I couldn't make out what was being said but it among the voices I heard the telltale sound of vehicle engines and knew I was close. I might actually make it I thought to myself. \n\nThen the feeling of dread spread over me like a cold bucket of water being poured out when I heard shouting in a foreign tongue. I slowly rolled over to see two enemy soldiers aiming their rifles with bayonets fixed at me. Surely, they would torture me in unimaginable ways! I looked around for some way to defend myself against the coming onslaught, but I saw nothing. I braced for the pain and shut my eyes. Instead one solider began running and yelling. I opened one eye and saw a different solider with a red cross on his arm running towards me. Great, they’re going to save me and THEN torture me. \n\nOnce the solider who I could only assume was a medic reached me he began in broken English to ask me what was wrong. I was taken aback, he actually seemed concerned with my injury and began providing treatment to my damaged leg. Two other enemy soldiers came with a stretcher and put me on it, the medic stayed by my side while they carried me, doing his best with his limited English vocabulary to comfort me. I began to feel at ease, why would they be treating me so nice if they planned to kill me. I knew they were the enemy and we had been told of the atrocities they had committed and how brutal they were to any prisoners, yet, I had the feeling that these men, especially the medic, intended me no harm. \n\nWe eventually reached a makeshift camp, it did not look that different from ours besides the flag that flew over it. I recognized the area from the briefing as near a town not too far from our trench. I was brought to their aid station immediately a doctor came to the medic and asked him some questions I couldn’t understand. They quickly went to work together preparing to do more work on my leg. The medic did his best to explain they were going to put me to sleep so they could work better, by now the pain was unbearable so I nodded my head. Before I knew it, I was out. When I awoke my wounds were bandaged and I was alone. The thoughts of torture began to flood my mind again and I knew I should try to escape. \n\n I waited an hour in the dimly lit tent, listening to the noises of the camp around me. There must have been an entire company or more here. I struggled to swing my leg out of bed, I saw a wooden crutch in the corner and crawled over to it. Draping the green blanket from my bed over my head and shoulders as a shoddy disguise and using the crutch I stepped out of the tent. I don’t know I managed to walk out of the camp undetected, but I found myself walking along a road that I knew would lead back to our lines. I heard a hushed voice in English exclaim “halt! Who goes there.” I responded with my rank and name before two men appeared from a bush on the side of the road. They lowered their rifles once I told them what had happened. They told me there were the lead element of a patrol. I told them I needed to speak to their officer right away. I informed him of the enemy camps location on the map and told him an artillery barrage would work nicely. A few minutes after he got on the radio and called for the fire mission, the distant sound of heavy guns firing could be heard like a storm miles away. I smiled as I heard the rounds impact, knowing surely there could be no survivors. After all they were the enemy. ", "I awoke to an unfamiliar world. Drugged and weary, my body felt broken in a thousand ways. I saw a clean cream ceiling above me from my left eye, but my right was shrouded in darkness. I reached up to find that side of my head swaddled in bandages.\n\nWhere am I? On a bed, with clean sheets in some kind of empty ward. Frosted windows stopped me viewing the world outside, but light was streaming in.\n\nGod, how long had it been since I had a warm bed and blankets? Three years, eight months and twelve days of war, plus however long it’d been since I blacked out.\n\nWhat happened? My fingers traced the heavy bandages without answer.\n\nAt that, I heard the sound of voices and footsteps in the hallway outside. Play dead. Maybe they’ll have answers, whoever they are…\n\nMy eyes shut and the door opened. Three sets of footsteps and words in a strange tongue floated towards me. The enemy! My heartbeat thundered on the realization Captured, healed, soon to be tortured! Every story I heard was about to come true, what could I do to stop it? My good eye clenched in nervousness, my face pulled ever so slightly into a scowl.\n\nThe voices hovered over my bed, pens scraped over paper and clipboards rattled. Two sets of footsteps and voices departed, and the door shut behind them.\n\n“I know you’re awake, you can open your eyes. Well, your good eye at any rate,” said the voice that had stayed by my bedside. He spoke my language…\n\nTentatively, my face relaxed slightly and a figure materialized beside me. I turned to see a man, my age, in a white coat sitting on a stool. His face was youthful; his eyes sparkled behind the glasses, but were tired all the same. It was as if he was free from the physical ravages of the war I’d fought, but he’d seen far more death than I had.\n\n“You… you can speak our language?” My first words since God knows when. My jaw ached to move.\n\n“Yes, of course,” He looked at me puzzled, “All of our medical schooling was conducted in your tongue before the war started. You didn’t know this?”\n\n“You’re a backwards people,” I coughed, “Wanting nothing more than the rape and exploitation of our world by any means…” anger rose slightly in my voice, “Care and medical schooling are not words I attach to your kind.” \n\nHe laughed bitterly and shook his head to the ceiling, “The things we tell ourselves to justify this war…”\n\n“My eye,” I interrupted, stroking the bandages again, “What happened?”\n\n“Ah, that. Before you worry, your vision will be fine,” he rested a palm on my shoulder, “Your helmet stopped a bullet, which is when you blacked out as the force fractured your skull slightly. We operated to correct that and drain some water and blood from the brain, and you now have a metal plate under the skin. The bandages are to stop the bleeding and infection post-surgery.”\n\nI stared at the ceiling for a short while, processing what I’d been told. What do they want me for?\n\n“Why?” I said, still staring at the ceiling.\n\n“Why…? Why what?” he quizzed.\n\n“Why did you save me?” I asked, turning to look at him finally. He held my gaze, his eyes even more weary now. \n\nHe looked to the floor and took a deep breath, “You know, our lords would have us believe you are exactly how you just described me. Knuckle draggers, heretics… rapists and murderers with no sense of decency. But I realized a long time ago these are just ideas, drip fed to us to keep the war machine grinding forward. It’s inhuman, this war... It destroys who we really are…”\n\nI listened to him quietly, my heartbeat calming as he spoke. His words were shaping boundaries around the feeling of futility I’d had since being drafted, as our sides wrestled into a bloody stalemate. He made sense, but something still irked me.\n\n“But I am still the enemy,” I interrupted again, “If you save me, what good will that do? Am I just a bargaining chip? A body to beat information from? At worse, I will return to the field and kill more from your side. Wouldn’t it have been better to leave me dead where you found me? What humanity is that?”\n\nHis eyes wrinkled in pain. After a moment of silence he relaxed and continued, “Warding off Death’s clutches is an oath I’ve sworn to uphold. I cannot have room for shades of gray in this matter of life and death. Should I have left you because of the color of your shirt, even if you might be a devoted husband? Should I save only those in red, knowing full well many were on death row for good reason? It is not my place to judge, only to do my best to heal. Do your doctors not do the same?”\n\n“No, I believe they took the same oath as you, in the same language,” I said, thinking of my father the surgeon.\n\n“We’re not so different, you’ll find,” He said, standing up, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I do have other patients like you to attend to.”\n\n“Like me? There are others like me? What happened to them? What happens to me now?” I asked, propping myself up on an elbow.\n\n“You? You all get to go home, when you’re ready. Our hope is that you spread the word of the care you received at our hands; show the world we’re not who you think we are. That we’re more alike than you think, and…” he sighed, raising his eyebrows, “hopefully we can end this stupid war.”\n\nI collapsed back into the pillows, exhausted by the effort to hold myself up. I kept my gaze fixated on the ceiling but called out weakly as he opened the door, “Doctor,” his footsteps halted, before I continued, “for what it’s worth: I never wanted to fight.”\n\nI heard him chuckle. “In the end,” he said, “nobody really does.”", "\"I thought you were the devil, hehe. Guess I'm being saved by Satan himself!\"\n\nWe both laugh, rather tensely, as I press a gauze against the deep gash on his leg. It had been leaking pus, and a proper cleaning ensured that it would remain healthy. He had other injuries that I still needed to tend to. A week old bullet wound in his shoulder, which I'm surprised has not yet devolved into necrotizing fasciitis. That required my attention as soon is this piece of gauze was attached.\n\nI clip the excess, and wrap it so it stays. \n\n\"Looks like the devil's handiwork isn't so bad.\"\n\nHe grimaces as I press, and then relaxes as I do.\n\nI found him less than a day earlier. He had fallen ill, and collapsed by the medical barracks. I agreed to take him back. Did it matter that he was an enemy, the pawn of a warmongering nation like Mannalle? No, I was a doctor, and my Hippocratic Oath decreed my dedication to my craft. I was a healer, not a pawn of Death. I didn't choose who gets saved and who dies.\n\n\"Doc, I don't know why you would do it.\"\n\nTake him in? Many of my underlings would object. As the head doctor in the barracks, I had to call in a special favor to even do this. Once he is treated, he will likely be held as a prisoner of war. Better than dying, I suppose, especially as the flesh of your limbs slowly die, as your body begins going into shock. A fate which was near guaranteed, had he not crawled to the barracks, seeking, pleading, with the evil they worked so hard to keep back.\n\n\"Because you are human. I see it in your eyes. I spare no human proper treatment.\"\n\nHe smiles, weakly, as he lays down. He sighs slightly.\n\n\"I thought you were all pathetic. People who fought for a disgustingly leftist nation, which bent down to socialist whims like priests at a Mass. I guess the humanity still hasn't been ripped out of you.\"\n\n\"No. I would save even the most fascist pig that walked the Right Red Road. As I told you, it's not my decision who lives and who dies. It's my duty to help those who need it.\"\n\nHe tightens as I inject him with the anasthetic.\n\n\"You'll be going under soon. Anything you want to say?\"\n\nHe pondered for a moment.\n\n\"I wish all humans were like you.\"\n\nI sighed, as he fell asleep. I felt the string around my neck, from a time long past.\n\nA time when I chose who lived and who died." ]	3
	[WP] “I’m going to the bathroom, do you mind watching my stuff?” Asks the stranger in the library. If you knew what you were getting yourself into, you never would have agreed...	[ "The crowd in the campus library had thinned to almost no one as the night wore on. Charlie had been attempting to cram for tomorrow's exam, but to no avail. He had been bobbing for apples and reading through his eyelids for the last half hour. He was slipping his books back into his bag when the man at the table next to him approached him. The guy was short and muscular, and Charlie wondered to himself why he hadn't seen the guy sitting there until just now.\n\n\"Hey bro, could you watch my stuff for a sec? I'm going to go hit the head.\"\n\n\"Yeah, sure,\" Charlie said. He glanced over and saw an open notebook, a pen, a couple open textbooks, and a bag leaning up against the chair. Normal stuff, how you could tell a stranger no?\n\n\"Thanks man! I'll be right back.\" The man walked off at a quick pace, it seemed that he had made himself wait for a bit.\n\nSince he had just finished packing all of his own stuff, it didn't seem like a bad idea to sit down in the chair next to where the guy had been sitting. It wouldn't be weird or anything when the guy showed back up and Charlie was sitting next to him.\n\n Shouldn't be too long now. The bathroom was down the hall from the entrance to the library.\n\nAlthough when you're waiting for someone, time seems to pass much more slowly. And getting this late, the mind can start to play weird tricks, like an ordinary leather bag leaning up against a chair appearing to move around.\n\nCharlie turned his head and stared down at the bag. It couldn't have just moved around, but it did. It just jiggled a little. Maybe the guy has a kitten in there, or something. The bag let out a small cry as if it were reading Charlie's mind. What if there was a kitten in there and it couldn't breathe?\n\nHe looked down at his watch. The guy walked off five minutes ago, he should be back any second now. \n\nBut that poor kitten in the bag, what if it's suffocating? \n\nAny second now, the owner of the bag should be back for his stuff. It would't be right for Charlie to go rummaging through someone else's stuff.\n\nThe bag rustled again and let out a small meow.\n\nAny second now.\n\nBut if Charlie did look in the bag and the guy accused him of stealing something out of the bag, there are cameras in the library. It would be easy enough to dispute. And if there wasn't a kitten or anything in the bag, then it would be safe to play it all off as sleep deprivation. \n\nAnother rustle, this time more insistent. \n\nWhere was this guy? It had been ten minutes now. Ten minutes is an eternity when sleep and sanity are scare and precious. \n\nIt was time. Charlie undid the leather strap keeping the top of the bag shut, lifted it, and was overtaken by a huge gush of air that was sucking him into the bag! And before he knew it, he was tumbling through a purple void, downward? Upward? Where the hell was he? \n\nAnd then THUD, he landed flat on his ass, on some strange patch of red grass. This was all wrong, the purple sky was all wrong, the red grass felt and smelled wrong. Charlie looked behind him and saw, there he was! The guy that left the bag with him was tied up to a pole with some kind of green gun pointed at his head. The thing holding the gun was ... atrocious. Its skin or whatever was yellow and slimy, it had six long tentacle like appendages, two human-like arms, and four horse like legs. It was gurgling at the guy in some strange language that Charlie couldn't begin to understand.\n\n\"What the fuck took you so long, dude?\" the guy whispered. It didn't seem like the thing holding the gun noticed Charlie or the fact that the guy was talking to him.\n\n\"What the fuck are you talking about!?\" Charlie whispered back as he stood up. \"You asked me to watch your bag, where the fuck am I?\" \n\n\"Didn't you read the notebook? I was asking you to save me!\"\n\n\"No, I didn't, I was watching your fucking bag like you asked me to! Then it meowed at me so I opened it and now I'm wherever the fuck this is!\" Charlie was waving his arms wildly at the wrong sky and the wrong ground.\n\n\"Well can you at least hurry up and save me! I left you instructions in the notebook, if you had read it, we wouldn't be in this mess!\" \n\n\"What do you mean we? I don't even know who you are! I don't even know your name!\"\n\n\"Corporal Eric Jenkins, U.S. Marine Corp.\" Charlie froze. That name was entirely familiar, and he couldn't figure out from where. \"C'mon, Charlie, save me before he sees you!\"\n\n\"How the hell do you know my name? And how the hell am I going to save you? Look at that thing!\" \n\n\"Yes, I'm looking at it with a goddamn ray gun pointed at my head! I don't know, cast a spell or something!\"\n\n\"Okay, sure I'll cast a spell. That sounds completely reasonable and not totally insane!\" Charlie started waving his hand around wildly. \"Ba-goodle-huh-broo-ba-doo!\" A multi-colored jet of light shot out of his hands and struck the beast straight in the face. It turned towards Charlie and didn't look very happy. \"What the fuck did I just say? Ga-broodle-huh-boo-ba-doo!\" This time, a multicolored star shot from his hand and vaporized the creature. Charlie stood, staring at the spot where the monstrosity had just been, utterly shocked at what he had done.\n\n\"Snap out of it and untie me, dude!\" Eric shouted. \"We need to get out of here before more of them come!\"\n\n\"Oh, untie you? Where's the fun in that?\"\n\n\"Quit dicking around, we need to go!\"\n\nCharlie started tugged at the knots binding Eric's hands to the pole. \"You know, it's not every day I fall into a meowing backpack and land in some sort of sci-fi hell where I get to rescue a Marine tied to a pole by shouting random gibberish and shooting weird fucking magic out of my hand.\" He tugged the know free and started working on the one binding Eric's legs. \"And then you have to ruin it all by insisting that I untie you.\"\n\n\"Don't make this any weirder than it already is!\" Eric unslung the bag from his shoulders.\n\n\"We're not going back in that thing again are we?\"\n\n\"More like, climbing out of?\" Eric turn the bag upside-down. \"Grab my hand.\"\n\n\"I thought you didn't want me to make this weird?\"\n\n\"I still don't!\" Eric clasped his hand around Charlie's and undid the leather strap on top of the bag. A gush of air rushed out of it this time and they were hurtle back through the purple void. Charlie was going to scream but there was no air to make a sound with. \n\nAfter what seemed like a long while the void turned black and there was a loud thud as they landed back in the library. It had to be well past midnight by now, all of the lights were off and nobody was around. \n\n\"You can let go of my hand now,\" Eric said.\n\n\"Oh, sorry, forgot I was holding it.\" Charlie stood up and brushed himself off. \"So, do you do this often?\"\n\nEric rolled his eyes and grabbed his books. \"I'll see you in the morning, dude.\"\n\n\"Ok, yeah. Sure, cool, great. You're welcome, by the way!\"" ]	1
	[WP] "She's my friend," the girl protested. The man stared. "That thing is a weapon! I've seen it kill more people in an hour than I've killed in my entire career!" The girl glares back. "She's my friend," she repeats.	[ "######[](#dropcap)\n\nNot many 13 year old girls get a personal invitation to the bridge from the captain of a starship.\n\nHowever, even fewer 13 year old girls have a ITA Corp Series 12 Battle Automaton following them around like a puppy.\n\nKara ignored the uneasy looks cast her way as the door slid open to admit her into the wide room that served as the central command center for the starliner Atlas. Nor did she pay any attention to the uptick in nervous muttering of various technicians at their stations as she looked around, taking in the flashing lights and large data screens.\n\n“Order on deck!” snapped a stern voice, and the whispers abruptly cut off. A man in a crisp black uniform that marked him as an officer of some sort scowled down at Kara. She shrugged. It wasn’t her fault people tended to freak out when they saw her friend.\n\nSev, officially named Unit 730298, followed closely behind Kara as she walked inside, servos buzzing with the movement. The vaguely humanoid robot was only a couple inches taller than Kara, who, not having hit a real growth spurt yet, wasn’t particularly tall for her age. But she did have to admit that Sev was a bit intimidating, what with the triple blaster barrels only partially hidden behind sharply angled armor and a small insectoid head that often swiveled back and forth to take in a room. When she was younger, Kara had tried to help make Sev look more approachable by painting flowers on her armor, but for some reason that hadn’t seemed to help all that much.\n\nThe officer cleared his throat and, as though the gesture caused him great pain, bowed slightly in her direction. “Miss Thorne. Captain Oswell will see you now.”\n\nWalking stiffly, the officer led her to the middle of the command center, stopping near a giant viewscreen that showed streaking stars passing by. Standing with hands clasped behind his back, the captain stood looking out. Kara eyed him critically. Captain Oswell was a smaller man than she would have expected, white-haired and slightly frumpy, his uniform stretching over a paunch in his belly. When he turned toward her, his face was soft and friendly; much like she’d always imagined a grandfather’s face would be. But his eyes glittered with an intelligent intensity. This man was old, but not senile.\n\n“Miss Thorne, thank you for meeting with me.” Captain Oswell smiled at her, and it was sincere enough that she couldn’t help but smile back.\n\n“Just call me Kara, please. Your message made it pretty clear I didn’t have much choice.”\n\nThe captain raised an eyebrow and the officer at his side shifted uncomfortably. Then Captain Oswell’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “My XO here, Mr. Harris, is sometimes a bit over-enthusiastic in interpreting my polite requests.”\n\nThe captain’s eyes barely shifted, but she knew he had taken in Sev because he frowned slightly. “That said, I do appreciate your quick response. Certain aspects of your, ah, luggage, are causing a bit of a problem.”\n\nNow Kara just had to roll her eyes. “I don’t know why. Plenty of people bring autos on space trips, don’t they? Does it really matter that Sev was a battle bot? She’s my friend.”\n\nCaptain Oswell sighed heavily. “Ms. Thorne—Kara—in another life, some years before your time, I was in the Navy. And I have firsthand knowledge that what you have there is no plaything or even a bodyguard auto. That thing is a weapon, and a particularly brutal one at that. I’ve seen ones just like yours kill more people in an hour than I did in my entire career.” He shook his head. “How you ended up mixed up with one must be quite a story.”\n\n“Sev is just my friend.” Kara insisted. “She would never hurt anyone.” Under her breath, she added. “That didn’t deserve it.”\n\n“Be that as that may, I cannot have a war auto running amok on my ship.” His smile was a bit thin this time. “I trust you wouldn’t want to cause any distress to your fellow passengers.”\n\nHer heart sank. She knew where this conversation was going. “No, I guess not.”\n\n“It’s my understanding that you are traveling with us alone?” The captain asked, glancing at his XO for confirmation.\n\n“I have Sev.” No matter how hard she tried to prevent it, she knew she sounded defensive. Adults always freaked at the idea of a teenager traveling alone, as though there ought to be some sort of rule against that. There wasn’t. She had checked.\n\nThe XO’s apparently permanent frown deepened, as she expected, but the captain studied her, his face thoughtful. After a long moment, he said, “The standard protocol for this situation calls for a complete deactivation of your auto for the duration of the voyage.”\n\nShe started to protest. “But—” His upraised hand checked her.\n\n“However,” he said gently, “In this case I believe we might make an exception and allow your ‘Sev’ to remain in min-mode—”\n\nNow it was the XO’s turn to splutter an objection and Captain Oswell turned the silencing hand toward him. “—in the cargo hold, subject to constant monitoring by our sensors.” Kara and Mr. Harris frowned, each for their own reasons, but waited to hear him out. He continued, “We will grant Kara access to the hold so that she may interact with her traveling companion, but the auto will be contained and its movement restricted. This seems to me the best solution—the only solution—that protects both the interests of Atlas and of Kara here.”\n\nThe XO still seemed displeased, but not enough to contradict his captain. Kara considered the offer. Hesitant, she asked, “I could visit any time?”\n\nHe hedged. “Any time during the ship’s ‘day’ I should say yes. A young kid like you shouldn’t be skulking around during the night hours, even on a safe ship like the Atlas.”\n\nShe bristled. “I can take care of myself.”\n\n“I’m sure you can.” The captain said softly, a hint of sadness in his words. “But I also don’t want you bothering my crew any more than is necessary, for Mr. Harris’ sake if nothing else.”\n\nThe XO actually smiled, although it still seemed a bit forced. “The arrangement seems satisfactory to me, sir.” To Kara, he added, “You’ll have an access card to the hold, but understand that it will log each and every time you enter and leave. We will also have sensors monitoring your auto at all times…” he trailed off, glancing quickly at his captain before rushing on. “And if it shows any outward sign of activation or hostility, and I mean any, we will take any necessary measures to disable it, up to and including complete destruction.\n\nIf you can. Kara thought. But out loud, she said, “I understand.” She looked over at her robotic companion, who had been standing motionless throughout the entire conversation. “You okay with this plan, Sev?”\n\nAlthough Kara thought of Sev as a female, the auto’s voice was decidedly unfeminine; harsh and a much more primitive sound than your average modern auto. [“The plan is acceptable, Commander. I see no alternative for this tactical situation.”](#sc)\n\nCaptain Oswell raised both eyebrows now. “‘Commander’, is it?”\n\nKara shrugged. “I can’t get her to call me anything else.”\n\n---\n\nThree standard sols later.\n\nKara woke with a start, a sudden bright light flashing in her eyes. An alarm sounded, one of those incredibly creepy shrill ones that always sent a shiver down her spine. Disoriented, she reached for a light switch that wasn’t there before her mind caught up and reminded her she wasn’t at Blaksun Place anymore. The flashing lights caused her to wince, and she pulled the covers up to her face to block them.\n\nWhat was happening? She called out, “Sev?” before remembering that Sev wasn’t here either. Now she really started to feel uneasy. While she always had to downplay Sev’s capabilities for everyone else, Kara had long ago come to realize what the auto truly represented, and she sorely missed the feeling of protection her friend gave her.\n\nA horrifying thought crossed her mind. What if this alarm was about Sev? Could the auto have re-activated, or the crew thought she had? Sudden terror driving her, Kara threw on some clothes and burst through the door of her cabin, her heart pounding as she raced toward the lift.\n\nThe hallway was empty, with the exception of a couple passengers poking their heads out of their cabin doors. Lights flashed here too, creating a jerky tableau as she ran past. A glimpse out of a viewport showed the stars lying motionless and Kara nearly tripped as she pulled up to a stop. The Atlas had stopped. Why?\n\nThe voice of Captain Oswell came through the loudspeaker system that ran through the hall and in every room. As calm as if he were making a routine announcement, the words flowed over Kara like a rush of cold rain. “Passengers and crew of the Atlas, I regret to inform you that we are under attack by pirates of a significant force. We expect to be boarded shortly. Passengers, please remain in your cabins and lock the doors. All crew, battle stations: We—” \n\nThe captain continued speaking, but Kara didn’t catch a word of what he said. She raced into the lift, punching the button for the cargo hold deck before leaning against the wall to catch her breath.\n\nShe needed Sev. If those pirates were who she thought they were, they all needed Sev.\n\n---\n\n/r/TheresAShip\n\nEDIT: Formatting", "\"She's my friend\" she repeats defiantly,and she is mine. My designation is HMW-007 \"Palas Athena\" or as Lindsey here has dubbed me \"Thena\" for short. I was developed alongside my lineage of units for project Olympus, a attempt to create humanoid weapons for various tactical uses. The man antagonizing us at the moment would be one Commander Ironhart who served as my retainer during the few tactical deployments I was used in. My purpose was to act as support while my brother HMW-006 \"Ares\" directly engaged targets,though as Ironhart claims support isn't simply laying back issuing orders and sniping at high profile targets. I was a strategizing AI charged with directing drone strikes using the satellite funnels hovering behind my back. He has one thing wrong though, I was a weapon, yet ever since the day I woke up I've been given a new lease on life.\n\"Now open that door or I'll be forced to use drastic measures you understand!\"\nBut I will not let Lindsey lose hers.\n\"Pallas Athena,you are functioning correctly I see\"\nYes sir, I reply in monotone\n\"Well then if that is the case, Lindsey Ray for the crime of illegally harboring government property and the discover of classified intelligence, I sentence you to death. Athena execu-\"\nGunshots ring out from my finger tips as the cold lead impacts his body\n\"Athena...w..why?\"\nBecause \n\nShe's my friend" ]	2
	[WP] "The tide of battle has turned against us, we have no option left but to use our weapon of last resort. Unleash the humans."	[ "Capt. Zoloknir: \"Humans? Are you foolish? Remember what happened the last time we did that? They conquered half the damned galaxy!\"\n\nFirst Mate Adrankir: \"Zo, if we don't release the Humans, there won't be a galaxy!\"\n\nCapt. Zoloknir: \"It's not worth the risk Adra! You don't know Humans like I do, the last time we released them a large squadron managed to hijack the Tauronion's ship and escape. The High Command will tell you we won the war but no! In reality, the Humans won it. We don't know where they went and you don't realize how fickle and evil they can be. They took great offence to being locked up on that planet. They know we planted those drones as leaders to stop them from uniting.\"\n\n---\n\nA low uniform runs in\n\n\"Sir, the Kroshans are invading all eight FOBs simultaneously, what do we do?\"\n\nAdrankir: \"Zo, we have to do it.\"\n\nAdrankir runs through the security detail and enters the ship shield control room. Using the password that only the captain and first mate know, the shields are released. Instantaneously, all 8 FOBs lose contact with the ship and the ship begins to lose power. Three Kroshan ships appear out of hyperspace and dock at the Drakonir ship.\n\nZoloknir: \"Adra! What have you done?! The Kroshans have invaded and you though the humans will help us? They won't enter this damned ship!\"\n\nA voice echoes from the hall\n\n\"That's not entirely true\"\n\nZoloknir: \"Who the hell do you think you are, Kroshan scum? You can't get them to fight for you slimy bug creatures. They despise you and crush you when they see your kind on their streets.\"\n\nThe Kroshan commanders face starts to flicker\n\nCommander Armstrong: \"Face cowl deactivate\"\n\nGas is released from the ugly pores on the Kroshan's face and it's... a Human.\n\nCommander Armstrong: \"HUMANITY IS FREE, LET US RECLAIM THE GALAXY!\"", "Unit-376 had been working in data entry for over 15 years before they came. They were a self-proclaimed race of explorers, bringing the knowledge of faster-than-light travel and the obligatory enlightenment that came with it. Unit-376, also called Trex by some, had never seen them, but knew that they had helped advance Terran science by almost two and a half centuries, according to all of their reports.\n\nIt began as all sinister things do; subtly, with kind turns here and there, a gentle guiding hand pushing humans forward, velvet admonishments for straying from the path. A cure for cancer here, an infinitely renewable energy there, a Socratic discussion for understanding the genome sprinkled across the top. After almost ten years of exhaustive research and being pushed forward by a kind, almost fatherly, advanced race, it was a small leap for humans to want to travel with them.\n\nThat's when it began. Propaganda. Advertisements to \"volunteer\" to travel the stars with our benevolent guests, to see untold wonders of the cosmos. Trex had been watching the TV, the old 4K HD one; the new TVs were too strange for Trex to handle, and remembered thinking what the catch was.\n\nIt didn't take long for it to become apparent.\n\nOver half of Earth's population, high on the novelty of advanced longevity and mental acuity, joined the \"Expedition\". Whole families lining up around established recruitment centers, where they forswore allegiance to any Terran based authority to travel the stars. As always, there were the dissident voices opposed to change, but these were looked at with the same disdain and haughtiness of self-righteousness as they have been since the dawn of time.\n\nTrex didn't want to volunteer. There was too much commotion about the centers; handfuls of stories about people coming in and never coming back, of strange processing procedures. It just became such a whipping fervor, and it was all too good to be true. Trex had been around enough to know that nothing was free. Memories of being laughed at for saying as much occasionally swam through her head in the rare moments of lucidity.\n\n\"Unit-376, prepare for departure.\" Trex responded automatically, swinging from her plush bed to the clinically clean tile floor. She always assumed it was tile, at least, the thought of something Terran-made being on this Expedition was too much comfort for her to find out otherwise.\n\nTwo steps took her across the small oval room (why did they hate angles so much? Everything about them was curved, with not even a hint of an acute angle in their architecture) and to a window, circular, of course, where her ally would be waiting.\n\nAxel always bothered her. It was a simple twisted cylinder, suspended by whatever esoteric knowledge coursed throughout it's circuitry. Trex was reminded of the old drawings of a Klein Bottle every time Axel glided over to her.\n\n\"Hello, Unit-376! May they guide your hand today!\" \n\nThe same robotic cheerfulness. It was all a code; respond right, and get your food and today's \"Expedition\", respond wrong, and you get to stay in your plush bed and too small room for a week. No food, no water, nothing.\n\n\"Hello, Axel. May they keep my hand true today,\" Trex responded listlessly.\n\nSilence. A whir. Axel was thinking. Trex forced herself a pained smile. Axel began to twirl slowly in place, a dull blue glow emanating from it's base, and Trex sighed a breath of relief.\n\nIf you have ever seen a snake eat an egg too big for its body, you know of the strange alien fascination of watching it slowly inch its mouth open and around the smooth round shell. Now imagine it in reverse. Axel flipped, end over end, slowly. Trex could hear a clunking and whirring from inside as the small thing disgorged a massive three meter long rifle, a neatly folded carbon-woven blue-grey wetsuit, a matte black helmet with what looked like a re-breather attachment, finally followed by a small propulsion unit.\n\nTrex waited patiently as Axel glided away, the pile sitting just on the other side of the thin wall. A small chime, and the window expanded, stretching and gaping before the a hissing noise signified the transparent material losing it's solidity. Unit-376 stepped through and quickly donned her wetsuit. The familiar brief stinging pains as the suit injected her body with whatever chemical concoction they devised. She didn't think it was addictive, as much sense as that would have made. No, these were simply standard enhancements, Adrenaline, Cortisol, Norepinephrine, things that were unique to Earth, as Trex understood it.\n\nThe rifle was always lighter than it looked, even though it stood well above her head. She strapped the propulsion unit around her waist and donned her helmet. A slight hissing noise and she felt a firm pressure about her neck as it sealed around her head and the re-breather activated, filling her helmet with slightly scented oxygen.\n\n\"Unit-376 ready. Requesting all-clear.\" She toned. Hopefully Unit-026 would be in her group, the two of them got along well enough.\n\n\"Unit-376, confirmed all-clear. Your companions will be Unit-026, Unit-554, Unit-287, and you will be led by Unit-002.\"\n\nUnit-376 followed a lit pathway, finally arriving at the bay where her companions and leader were waiting. There were other five-unit squads as well. She guessed about 20 or so; a small expedition. All Terran, as always, donned with the same wetsuit and helmet. Her rifle was unique to her in this squad, but she saw a few others among the rest of the groups. Unit-026 was carrying her signature pistol and and assault rifle. Unit-376 didn't know how they were assigned their tools, but everyone always seemed to get exactly what suited them.\n\n\"Their blessings upon you, Unit-376,\" Unit-002 said flatly. Without waiting for the standard response, he continued. \"Today, we are exploring a planet almost completely covered in water, if you couldn't guess from your equipment. We are tasked with bringing enlightenment to the inhabitants however we see fit.\"\n\nUnit-376 sighed heavily. She hated water.", "\"Are you _sure_, sir? The last time the humans got out it took us almost a century to round them all back up again. Little buggers just started settling and multiplying all over the quadrant.\" Milzik pouted a little, \"And we know for a fact we didn't round all of them back up. There are still some out there.\"\n\n\"We're not winning this war unless we let them out, Milzik. Send a message to the Terran Asset Units, tell them to unleash those things and begin preparing to round them all back up.\" General Marduk rubbed the side of his head with his four lengthy fingers.\n\n\"Um, sir? Why are humans so dangerous?\" Marduk heard someone ask. It was a newer recruit that ended up in their escape pod.\n\n\"What's your name, soldier?\" Marduk asked, eyeballing the cadet. They were about five feet tall, average height. Same cranial plating and large jaws as the rest of the warrior caste. Stout, as they should be. Thick leathery skin, good for deflecting melee weapons with minimal damage.\n\n\"My name is Culko, sir.\"\n\n\"Well Culko, there's quite a lot that makes humans so dangerous. If we weren't able to herd them, our whole empire would have been wiped ages ago. One of the biggest factors, is that they can _all_ fight.\"\n\n\"All of them, sir?\"\n\n\"Yup. Humans are all capable of anything. Any one of them could be a soldier, a farmer, a scientist, an artist, or a leader. And any one of them can _change_ rolls at any time. Farmers and artists have become soldiers, scientists have become leaders, any way they can change roles, they've done it. On top of that, many of them fulfill multiple duties at the same time. I once saw a human working his land and growing his crops, and fighting off other soldiers later on, all in the same day.\"\n\n\"That's... so confusing. How do they function in such chaos?\" Culko sat down and rubbed his cranial plates.\n\n\"They thrive in it. The humans are damn near insane. They even used nuclear weapons on their own planet, irradiating the thing, and this was just for normal testing! Just to see what would happen! They look at the risks and say 'this is the worst that could happen' and then do whatever it is anyways. And their culture is strange, too. They constantly poison themselves with all sorts of strange substances for _fun_. They _like_ shutting down brain functions temporarily. They endanger their lives doing extreme activities because they enjoy the 'thrills' of climbing mountains or racing at speeds that would destroy their body should they have any sort of collision. They fight each other for sport in huge arenas as well.\"\n\n\"They must be weak biologically to compensate, otherwise they should have run over the galaxy by now.\" Culko tries to justify the humans' various neuroses.\n\n\"You would think.\" Milzik chimes in as he finishes his message, \"But they're even scarier biologically. And we didn't even scratch the surface culturally.\"\n\n\"How are they scarier biologically?\" Culko was terrified to learn, but curious.\n\n\"What scares me the most is that they don't get tired.\" Milzik leaned in close, \"I once watched footage of them hunting when they were still primitive, and they just didn't stop moving. Any prey that ran from them, they just kept following until their prey collapsed from exhaustion, making for an easy kill. The humans sleep, sure, but they can still function even without it for a fairly long time, and just a little bit of sleep can go a long way for them.\"\n\n\"On top of that,\" Marduk speaks up, \"You know how I said the humans fight each other for sport?\"\n\n\"Yes, sir.\" Culko nods.\n\n\"They don't have any appendages meant for fighting. The Skiirans have claws, we have our teeth.\" Marduk clicked his teeth, \"But the humans just have regular hands. They developed special ways to fight without any weapons, natural or artificial.\"\n\n\"They also vary greatly in size.\" Milzik sat down, \"Generally, our people are all roughly the same height and width. But fully grown humans can be anywhere from three feet to almost eight. Of course, the shortest and the tallest are the outliers, but the bulk of the middle varies wildly. And their width follows the same nonexistent pattern. There are humans that are both, tall and wide. Giants, these things. And they are treated just the same as the others, they are not automatically leaders, they are not immediately feared by the rest. They are viewed as normal.\"\n\n\"Monsters, these humans. What is their weakness?\" Culko was worried, \"There has to be one!\"\n\n\"No one knows. Sure, they can be killed like any other race. But good god is it hard to do.\" Marduk leaned back, \"If you don't kill the human outright, it can come back as if it were never harmed to begin with. They heal astonishingly fast. They survive wounds of all different kinds, and they can replace damaged organs with those of other humans that have died.\"\n\nCulko jumped from his seat, mortified.\n\n\"Their _organs_ are reusable. Their bones repair themselves and come back stronger once they've been broken. They can see in low light better than any sentient beings that do not have night vision.\" Marduk felt that he sounded like he was telling a scary story around a campfire, a work of fiction. He wished that were true.\" It takes them less than a year to produce an offspring, and sometimes two, or even _three_ infants come out at the same time.\" \n\nCulko nearly vomited at the thought.\n\n\"Lets not forget 'Ah-dren-ah-lee-in', I believe its called.\" Milzik struggled to say the word, \"Even chemically humans are terrifying.\"\n\n\"Yes, Ah-dren-ah-lee-in.\" Marduk chuckled, \"We haven't been able to figure out what exactly it is, or how humans produce it. But when they are in danger, this chemical is released into their blood and their heart pumps in through their entire body. Their heart pumps faster when they are excited in any way, and if this chemical is released, they become stronger, faster, they think quicker, and it almost seems like they stop feeling pain.\"\n\n\"Speaking of pain, even the food they eat is painful!\" Milzik threw his arms up, \"I tried a human food once and my mouth had _blisters_ inside because of the chemicals they put on it because they think it tastes good! I eventually found out the food I ate was named after 'ghosts' which are apparently dead humans. They named one of their foods after death itself!\"\n\n\"How have the humans not conquered the galaxy as a whole yet?\" Culko looked as if he were on the verge of breaking down into tears.\n\n\"They fight among themselves almost constantly.\" Marduk always feels relieved to think about that fact, \"Imagine a virus that infects everything it touches, but in addition to trying to destroy everything around it, it tries to destroy itself as well.\"\n\n\"If the humans ever unite under one banner, the galaxy is doomed.\" Milzik shook his head, \"Thank the creators that the humans are so easy to start infighting with. Just mention their religions or politics and you can get whole wars started on their planet.\"\n\n\"I pray to the creators that I never have to meet a human. I think the only thing I would want to fight less than a human is a Yautja.\" Culko shivered.\n\nMarduk and Milzik exchanged a glance. They wouldn't tell Culko that almost every Yautja that hunted them on Terra in the past century has been killed by the humans. They especially won't mention that captured humans have been able to defeat Yautjans on their own planets as well." ]	3
Got this idea from this r/ProRevenge [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/ProRevenge/comments/8v4mqf/fuck_your_tomatoes_allen/e1l6npx) by u/Mufarasu and u/Corke202, and was wondering how the story might unfold here. \\I apologize if my English is not clear or for any grammatical errors.	[WP] One day while walking back, a rotten tomato fall from the sky right on your head, with a note on it saying "F**k your tomatoes Alien". There is nobody around within your sights, no trees nearby from where you stand, and the sky is clear with no airplane.	[ "The alien sighed as they circled the farm once more.\n\n75 years of studying extraplanetary organisms and this is where they wound up. Some primitive backwater of a planet, studying intestinal flora changes in humans after exposure to certain foods. They could already see the body expressions of the research committee glaze over when they reported their findings. Oh well. At least the pay was mediocre.\n\nThe cloak warning light blinked, and the alien remembered the research committee's stern lecture about not getting caught. Humans were already suspicious enough ever since some prankster (itself a human, hilariously enough) decided to make concentric circles in a field somewhere. The alien would have loved to land and set the record straight about how no spaceship would ever leave marks like that, but that would obviously be a bad idea. And now the little beasts had invented image capture and storage, it was imperative to remain permanently cloaked.\n\nSeeing an ideal specimen hanging from a stalk, the alien carefully piloted the spacecraft closer to the field. When close enough, they pressed a button and a shiny implement sampled most of the red fruit, leaving marks designed to look like human teeth marks. Perfect.\n\nThe alien added it to the food storage and dusted it with a coat of scanning nanomachines. These expensive robots would scan all microorganisms in their immediate area, giving the alien valuable (to someone, somewhere) data. Strange. The readings on the monitor were already quite high. Must be variance due to the type of fruit.\n\nThe alien moved to a different room to select a disguise. Their hand hovered over the Santa Claus costume. This one usually elicited strange behaviour at this part of the planet's year. But it hid the morphological differences well, so was rapidly becoming the alien's favourite. As they were adjusting the belt, the alien's glance lingered on the clown costume. Now that one had been a mistake.\n\nLanding in a large tree, the alien began to set up a stall with \"ALL U CAN EAT bowfey\" scrawled in colourful letters over the top. Some humans wandered over and grunted at them. The alien was extremely bad at deciphering their verbal communication, but had learned that when in the red suit, a response of \"HO HO HO\" generally didn't arouse any suspicion. After a while, all of the food had vanished and the alien put the weird green paper pressed into their hands into their pocket, to burn later.\n\nAs they returned to their ship, they didn't notice a red-faced, clearly irate human marching after them, despite the loud grunts issuing from the human.\n\nThe alien had only just begun their journey to the next farm when they turned around to come nose to breathing apparatus with a human. In the spaceship. Oh no. This was not good.\n\nThe human didn't seem alarmed by the fact that they were in a spaceship, and kept grunting loudly at the alien, waving the red fruit in their face. The alien just stood there, frozen, wondering what to do. They eventually decided to inject a hallucinogenic drug into the human, in the hope that said human thought it was hallucinating. Meanwhile, the human, furious at not being understood, got out a piece of paper from its pocket and started writing on it. It was so preoccupied, it did not notice the small prick of the needle.\n\nAs the alien opened the spaceship door, the human hurled the tomato at the alien's head. It missed, sailing through the door. The blast from the pressure equalising knocked the human off its feet, and the alien used that moment to initiate the Slow Fall Technology™ module. As the alien pushed the human out of the spaceship, in the midst of despairing at all the paperwork this would mean, they briefly wondered what the human had been trying to say.\n\nMeanwhile, a pedestrian on the ground was hit by a disgustingly squishy object. It was, oddly, a rotten tomato, with the words, \"F**k your tomatoes Alien\" written angrily on a piece of paper half-wrapped around the tomato. The pedestrian stopped for a moment, puzzling over the bizarre situation at hand.\n\n\"Must be some sort of prank.\"" ]	1
	[WP] You wake up in the woods with no memory of who you are or how you got there. You first notice that your hands are soaked in blood, before noticing the corpse laying next to you.	[ "There is a stench and my eyes are foggy. I lift my arms to rub my eyes and the movement reveals I'm sore all over, yet I do not feel any specific intense pain. Hopefully this means I am uninjured. My hands are coated with a wet, sticky liquid. As my eys begin to clear I recognize blood. My blood? I still don't notice any injuries.\nThere is a body next to me. It is not alive, and it is not human. I need to wash my hands.\n\nI stand up carefully, slightly dizzy at first but slowly regaining my bearings. I am in a forest. I listen carefully and hear the sound of a brook to my left. The corpse is on my left also. I start slowly and move around it toward the water.\n\nI'm wearing a heavy jacket, its also covered in blood so I discard it. My shirt seems clean, but my pants are covered in dirt and blood. I cannot discard them, I will suffer from cold. I notice for the first time that it is cold, adrenaline must be wearing off. I resolve to keep pushing my self to avoid fatigue.\n\nThere is a rocky outcrop near the brook, I rinse my hands but take the time to start a small fire at the base of the rock. I will bathe and wash my pants as best I can knowing they can dry by the fire while I recover in its warmth.\n\nNight is falling. I have gathered enough fallen branches to keep my fire going, and the rock wall has begun to radiate the heat from the fire. I lean against the rock and risk sleep.\n\nI wake. My fire has died, It is snowing lightly, and a creature is in front of me. It is the same type if inhuman creature i found dead when I awoke. It crouches, its long arms resting on the ground but appearing ready to spring. It has a face like a wolf but flatter, but with small horns protruding behind the ears. It is thin and has little that appears to protect it from the elements.\nI add a dry log to my smoldering fire and it starts burning quickly. The creature does not retreat.\n\nI point in the direction of where I awoke. It nods and leaps disappearing quickly. He will find a host as well and return. We will have better odds working as a pair." ]	1
	[WP] After a terrible year & losing everything, a lawyer, Hue Mann, sues a non-existent entity named “The Darkness” for the right to his soul. Personally intent on losing the case, Mann is representing ”The Darkness”. At the last minute, Death arrives to represent Mann because “It is not your time.”	[ "He decided that he would sue them. He had lost everything. His job, his family, his money, he had nothing left to his name, not a cent. \n\nThis was his revenge, a long lost attempt to make something of himself... Hue Mann, the last of his kind. “The Darkness” was to blame and he would not let this go lightly. No matter how much light shined or did not shine on the he would have the last laugh so he took them to court and sued them for all that they were worth. \n\nThe court convened and the trial was set upon its path. Hue Mann did not want to be saved by the feelings you were making him feel, Hue Mann did not want his heart in overdrive behind the steering wheel. \n\n“The Darkness” did not claim to own his soul, they just claimed to nurture it and and make Hue Mann believe in a little thing called love, whether he wanted to or not. After all, it wasn’t their fault he believed in a little thing called love. \n\nHue Mann questioned them and berated them, “Just listen to the rhythm of my heart”\n\n\nTo which they replied “hey man, there’s a chance we could make it meow!”\n\n“But I don’t want to rock until the sun goes down,” Hue Mann said. \n\n“I don’t believe in a thing called love...”\n\nIt was at that moment that he appeared. Death himself, appeared garbed in flowing silk robes black as well... death itself. \n\nHe appeared I. The seat of the witness, his scythe gleaming with 6 strings made of pearly fresh souls. He paused and addressed the court “Hue Mann, you cannot lie here on this mortal earth any longer. You have denied your rights, you DO believe in a thing called love! She was touching you and you were touching her! No matter how you toss the dice you were meant to be and I swear you will leave this court now and go to her, for you will be rocking to the ‘til the sun goes down.”\n\nWith that Death himself disappeared not to be seen again. Hue Mann was at a loss for words.\nThe entirety of the court stared at him in agony as they awaited his response. \n\nThe judge cleared his throat and asked Hue Mann what he believed in...\n\nAnd Hue Mann said...\n\n“I believe in a thing called love,\nJust listen to the rhythm of my heart...”\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are that 1 out of the 10 dentists that did not recommend a widely-used toothpaste brand. You know what secrets lie beneath the teeth whitening lies.	[ "The toothpaste is a lie. I know this to be fact, but I can only help those who listen.\n\nI have been a dentist for 7 years now, and I know the secrets that lie behind the toothpaste of satan reincarnated, the most evil, deceptive, brand of toothpaste to ever be created.\n\nToothEx Extra Whitening Toothpaste™️.\nIt is a scam.\n\nHow did I discover this, you may ask? Excellent question. It all started when I was promoted to dentist number one at my local dentist office, that had at the time been employing me for four years. When I was promoted, I was sent up to dentist headquarters©️ in Oregon. \n\nWhen I arrived, the head dentist greeted me. He was a scraggly old man hunched over with defined laugh lines. I shook his hand, he smiled the brightest smile I had ever seen, brighter than the sun itself, the most beautiful set of teeth I had ever seen in all my years. It took all my willpower not to bow down at his feet then and there.\n\nHe said his name was Richard Montgomery, but I could just call him Dick. He took me up to his office and sat down in his swivel chair which I later discovered was only $49.99 plus tax. We had a delightful conversation, and when it came to a lull, I had to ask. \n\nBefore I had a chance he held up a finger.\n\n“My child, I know what you want to ask. And I’m afraid the truth is shocking, and unbearable.”\n\n“Sir, I have to know.”\n\n“...”\n“Very well”\n\nHe got up and began pacing. He gave me a look of uncertainty and began his story.\n\n“I was young, starting my career in dentistry much like you. I had top scores in all of my classes, and soon made my way to the top. I am about to tell you something that can never leave this room.” I nodded.\n\n“I-“ he started and gave me a look. He sighed. “They’re dentures!”\n\nI gasped! The absolute horror! What kind of dentist CEO wears dentures?\n\n“It was ToothEx Extra Whitening Toothpaste™️!”\n\nI gasp again, falling on the ground as he sinks to the floor wailing, “It’s all a lie! They’ve brainwashed 9 out of 10 dentists globally to believe their toothpaste is whitening, when really it makes your teeth fallout!”\n\nI understand now. It’s all so clear.\nI will begin the revolution.\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] To the aliens, all life is holy. Humans are universally feared and referred to as "necromancers." This is because humans obtain energy by eating plants and animals, and we use fossil fuels.	[ "When I first entered the atmosphere, the ship I had thought to be so large was dwarfed amidst a sky of blue. There was rain against the windows, and I heard its patter faintly against the dense walls.\n\n\nRain, I thought. \n\n\nThat was a word they had taught us. It was beaten into me long ago and I remembered the crying and begging of youth, and the dark cells and the echoing voices of men in power.\n\n\nNow it was quiet.\n\n\nWe landed on Earth at the expected time. Its gravity weighed me greatly but I kept my back straight. The Sun above burnt me as if trying to end me slowly.\n\n\nThey have no shields, I thought. Such a savage people.\n\n\nMy chains weighed me further.\n\n\nIf they are savages, then what are we?\n\n\nSurvivors, I thought. But it was one of those thoughts that you do not really think. I placated myself with it. I thought of my family back home. I had to imagine their faces for I have never seen them.\n\n\nI didn't think I ever would. But that is another thought I did not really think. It would hurt too much to think that.\n\n\nThey put me on the scaffolding and I saw the Humans for the first time. They were big and present, a kind of bulkiness that made them somehow more than we were.\n\n\nThey spoke contestedly over us. I was bought by a young Human. He was a man. I suppose I was as well. \n\n\nHe took off my chains and he spoke slowly to me so I would understand his words.\n\n\n\"You're going to live with us now,\" he said. \"We don't have much, but we make do, yeah? This is farm country and I hope you know how to reap a field.\"\n\n\n\"Yes,\" I said.\n\n\nThe windows of his car, the smallest ship I had ever been in, were thin and you could hear the air as we passed by. I imagined it sang to me, singing some distant song composed long ago in the heavens.\n\n\nWilting, wilting, the wind cried. Wilting, waiting, wilting awayyyyyyy.\n\n\nMy master was talking.\n\n\n\"Yes, sir,\" I said.\n\n\nHe was an old Human. I was afraid of him. I had heard the stories as we all had. Then I saw it with my own eyes. Then I felt it and saw just how entrenched it was.\n\n\nHe ate of another's flesh as he drove. It smelled of seasoned death. Then that scent was all around me. It had crept up subtly.\n\n\nThe seats of his car were another's carcass. The clothes he wore and his breath and even the faint fumes of the car's fuel came to me.\n\n\nDeath, I thought.\n\n\nThe word conjured itself as a darkened home, that place where I longed to be, that place from where I was taken. I heard phantom screams of children and whips and merchants haggling with life they would not end, but would bargain for as all enterprising peoples do.\n\n\nI trembled that day. The days passed. My story was like any other. There were many of us who toiled in the fields, or in the factories, or in the skies upon the barren rocks.\n\n\nI worked hard and became numb. My body broke slowly and I became a pariah to myself. I ate of life, and swallowed it whole so I would live. So I would toil for those that desecrated all that is good in this world.\n\n\nBut you have heard that story many times before. \n\n\nThis is what I will tell you, for it has kept me awake many a dark night on Earth:\n\n\nThe man's name was Jacob. He had a wife named Lilith. To me she was like any other Human, but he worshiped her as though she was the most precious of things in the world.\n\n\nAnd she treated me kindly.\n\n\nI remember how her eyes were soft with good intentions when she offered me 'water' to drink. This was as safe a drink as any on Earth and I sensed little suffering in it. I drank to her delight and in that moment things did not hurt as badly as they did.\n\n\nI don't know why I remember that moment. But it stays with me.\n\n\nI was working a day near winter, a time where the dark came early. The man Jacob was out to the Fringes where the ground was green and radiated; the place where all the power was generated. He was out selling his goods at the plant's marketplace to the people who worked there.\n\n\n\"They don't live long up on the Fringes,\" he had said. \"The cancer takes 'em before God does. It's a scummy job but that's what it takes.\"\n\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\n\"That's why I give 'em a good price.\"\n\n\nThen he had left for a week. That was the first time he had ever been gone so long. The farm was quiet and there was the sounds of crickets and frogs in the night. Earth seemed peaceful, as though it was a gentle place.\n\n\nBut it was near winter and that calm was only death's facade.\n\n\nOr maybe I am looking for someone else to blame. \n\n\nI cannot say.\n\n\nThe phone rang that evening when I was on the field. That was the last night Jacob was to be gone. He spoke with Lilith on the phone and then he spoke to me. He thought of me as a friend, I suppose. He liked to talk.\n\n\n\"How are you, Space?\"\n\n\n\"I'm fine, sir.\"\n\n\n\"You're always fine. I tell you, I ain't never seen an alien that wasn't fine.\"\n\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\n\"Well I'm not fine. I'm not fine at all. I can't wait to reach home. I'm so hungry you wouldn't believe it, Space. They don't have any real food up there. Alls they got is nutrition packets like if that could feed you.\"\n\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\n\"I tell you, I could eat a man, Space. I'm so hungry I could eat 'em whole.\"\n\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\nI had trembled then, I know. The cold had raised my pores and the wind sang a violent song as I held that telephone. \n\n\nSavages.\n\n\nIsn't it funny how easy it is to lose your mind?\n\n\n\"I'll see you tomorrow, Space. I expect a big meal waiting for me as soon as I reach.\"\n\n\n\"Yes, sir.\"\n\n\nWas it the fear, I wonder. Looking back it seems intentional. I can see how the Human courts see it. I can understand what they say and where they come from. \n\n\nBut you must believe me, at the time I was being sincere.\n\n\nLilith was asleep that night. She slept softly as though she were a painting. Since Jacob had left I had come and watched her sleep at nights. She had a frailness about her that reminded me of the feeling of home. Back home where we did not take another's life; where we lived as the civilized do.\n\n\nI was shaking as I entered her room. Seeing her there made me sad. I knew by the next day Jacob would be beside her. He was heavy and Human, and he carried the stench of consumed flesh strongly about him.\n\n\nI looked at her and I was afraid and addled. I don't know what I was thinking. I had lived with them for months then, but the language was still foreign. Perhaps I can blame that on my misunderstanding?\n\n\nAnd there were the stories, too, from back home. Those stories told of a great disregard for death among the Humans and of a power to bring back the dead if they so chose.\n\n\nI had seen the former first hand.\n\n\nMay I thought the latter would also be true.\n\n\nBut I have no real excuse.\n\n\nMy hands held the scythe that had murdered so many stalks and rounded up so many grain. That already bloodied scythe would simply add another corpse to its list. Its first Human.\n\n\nI did not expect her scream. The pain and fear, that hopeless confusion, it wilted my heart. I felt as though I would shatter from the ver wrongness of it all. The sin I had committed was great.\n\n\nIt is my duty, I thought.\n\n\nIt was another of those thoughts that I did not really think. I was crying then.\n\n\nI was still crying even after I had her prepared. Lilith was gone but her scent remained. I think Jacob could smell it before he entered that morning. \n\n\nThe tears were upon him before he knew what it was. Some part of him had just sensed it. I could see his pain as I was ready to greet him. He saw the blood and he collapsed and he howled like some animal.\n\n\n\"Master,\" I said.\n\n\nI was still crying. I fell to my knees. Does it make sense that I was sad he was not pleased? I had given up my soul for his approval and here he was, crying and sobbing same as I, and I knew then that I had been wrong.\n\n\nI cooked her but he had never planned on eating a Human.\n\n\nJacob had loved Lilith and I saw it in his writhing. The smell of radiation soaked through him in a miniscule way, but there was already a more immediate cancer upon him. His insides were black and I knew his mind was empty.\n\n\nThe authorities came and took him and his companion away and they also took me away. They've taken me to the Craters, as you know, and it is in those holes I have been held. It is in that darkness that I await your judgment.\n\n\nI do not ask for your sympathy for I know I will not receive such. I have written this for my own salvation and for my mind's mercy. The words and feelings consume me and in this dark quiet I hear the neverending screams of Lilith on that night so long ago.\n\n\nI only wish for my time to end.\n\n\n-\n\nHello! If you liked this 'story', then you might want to consider checking out my subreddit: r/PanMan. It has all my WP stories, including some un-prompted ones. Check it out if you can, and thanks for the support!" ]	1
	[WP] Human hands change colors according to their feelings. Tell a story about a day at your shop, the gloves shop.	[ "\"ding gling\"\n\nThe characteristic sound of the door opening. Another potential customer.\n\n\"Good morning sir, welcome to the fitting glove. How may I help you?\"\n\n\"Good morning. I am in a hurry. I have an important meeting for a new job, and I lost my gloves last night. What could you offer me?\"\n\n\"Well sir, we have all kind of gloves. We have the invisible hand, here. Our best seller. If you put it, your hand will look like it is brand new, just not showing any emotion. Or this elegant Victorian gentleman, made in the united kingdom by...\"\n\n\"Sorry to interrupt you, but it may be a bit too expansive. What do you have for less than 10 dollars?\"\n\nI don't really like selling one of those cheap models. They are bad looking, not confortable to wear, and don't last long. But the customer is king.\n\n\"Well we always have the classic Formal worker, here. Only available in black or brown. 9.95$, if that suits you.\"\n\n\"That will be perfect. Thanks a lot, you just saved my life.\"\n\nThat may have been an exaggeration, but who knows. Sometimes, hiding your feelings may be a matter of life. \n\nAs soon as this customer left, I noticed someone, hiding behind a shelf, looking at me. I go toward this new customer.\n\n\"Good morning sir, how may I...\"\n\n\"Madam.\" said the customer \"I need your help, and some kind of ... discretion. Can we go somewhere where no one could disturb us?\"\n\n\"Follow me, madam.\"\n\nWe went in another room, only accessible by employees. \n\n\"So, tell me, what can I do to help you?\"\n\n\"I may have a problem, and would need specific gloves to hide it. I need someone to craft them specifically for me, and that someone must never talk about it to anyone. Can you provide me a name?\"\n\n\"Well I also craft special commands. I may be able to help you. What is your problem exactly?\"\n\nThe lady removed the glove on her right hand, and gauze bands on it. What I saw was beyond what I could possibly imagine. Her hand was as black as charcoal, with red lining and cracks on it. But the strangest things was not the color. She had 7 fingers (or should I say tentacles) with claws on it.\n\n\"So... can you do something about it ?\"\n\nI looked at the lady straight in the eyes\n\n\"I will do what I must, madam. Don't worry about that. Will you please sit there so that I can take some measurements?\"\n\nAt least an interesting and innovative project!\n\n*****\n\nmore stories on /r/cynferdd*" ]	1
	[WP] The date is August 28th 2018, the UK has experienced it’s 77th consecutive day without a cloud in the sky. Corona bottle tops are now used as currency, no one's been to work for 5 weeks. Harry Maguire last seen riding a cow with the World Cup down M5. Lingard is still missing.	[ "The strong summer heat glared down onto the shoulders of the blonde child in the tattered England shirt desperately searching for water. The showers had been stopped for over a month now and all supplies were running low. \n\nDesperately he searched the sky for some sort of saviour in the sky; a cloud supplying vital supplies of rain. The boy remembered stories and tales from his parents of days and days of rain in the past; even floods. The amusing thought brought a smile to the child's dry lips. His parents often told funny tales, of missed penalties and England leaving at the group stage. As if they were ever not the best in the world. \n\nThe heat had hazed the boy's memory but he could vaguely remember the heat arriving in June alongside the start of the world cup. The better England did; the hotter it seemed to get. With each converted penalty, extra time winner and golden boot awarded, it seemed to rise in temperature by at least a degree. It was the best days that the young boy could remember in his young life, sitting up late to watch the boys in red conquer the world. \n\nThere was some signs of the problems to come creeping around the corner. Talks of shortages in CO2 leading to limits on Fizzy drinks and beer, the roads melting in the summer heat, shop shelves running out of vital supplies of crumpets. England was on his knees but the final blow was yet to come. \n\nAs the boy rummaged through the piles of rubbish for a Corona with a cap left on by accident he remembered that humid night in July. England had entered the final expecting the worst after years of misery and sorrow but no-one could have possibly expected or even hoped for the final result against Brazil. Some people may have predicted Harry Kane might get a hatrick considering how he was playing but John Stones? Danny Welbeck? Even Nick Pope?\n\nAs simple as that the nation went on a party that has never ended since. Not quite as big as Jamie Vardy's mind, still taking place somewhere hidden in the English countryside. But it was enough. Enough to bring the nation to its knees. Enough to shut down every business within a fortnight. Enough to cause the apocalypse to come. \n\nThe boy cursed at the misfortune of finding nothing of any value in the rubbish left to rot due to the lack of binmen. If Trippier was meant to be the great supplier, why could he not supply his home country of all they desperately needed. He said a quick prayer to Saint Harry for some solution to his latest problem as he headed to the nearest water shack.\n\nThe Government had used the semi-final thrashing of Croatia as an excuse to bring forward the implementation of Brexit by two years, with their new-found confidence leaving Europe staggering in their wake, hoping for the scraps of the oncoming victory. They now used the small amount of time they had spent on the issue running water shacks for those in need, in exchange for the new currency of beer caps. It had been Prime Minister Stephen Hendersons idea, still trying to help the country any way he can. \n\nThe thought of simply stealing the water flashed through the youngsters mind as he approached the shack but he quickly banished the idea. His parents had always warned him against breaking God's rules, that the threat of the Devil Wayne Rooney was always watching like a sceptre. It brought a deep fear within the child, even worse than seeing Dele Alli lying on the pitch in agony. Trying to calm his nerves, he slowly approached the shack for some of the vital supply his family so desperately needed.\n\nThe man behind the till was a mirror image of the boy if he had been aged fifty years. A tattered English shirt ( the new national uniform), a bucket hat and a pair of sunglasses, he looked at the youngster in front of him in disgust. He reluctantly put down his faded copy of the Daily Mail, the front page still theorising that Sterling had killed Maguire and stole the trophy, and looked down his nose at the young football fan in front of him. Between the dirty face, ripped shorts and torn shoes due to all the games of street football, he was not the prettiest picture.\n\n\"What do you want?\" he grunted.\n\n\"Water please\" the boy whimpered trying to bring the strength of Kyle Walker into his voice. \n\n\"What have you got for it?\" the man demanded, not buying the charade.\n\n\" I'm Harry Kanes son...\" the young boy lied, desperate for the fresh vials of water resting behind the old man. \n\n\" And I'm Alexander-Arnold's Dad. Feck off!\" the man demanded lifting his paper ready to assume his business. \n\nWith a heavy heart, the boy started to turn back home empty handed. However just as he was about to start on his way he was interrupted by a voice from the wilderness. \n\n\"Not so fast! Give the boy some water!\" the voice was commanding, agreeable and easy to listen to. The man behind it started to appear from the shadows. The boy was shocked to see a lack of the national uniform but instead the appearance of a plain familiar suit. The man behind contrasted sharply with the environment around him, looking sharp and in control. As out of place as Brazil were that fatal night. \n\n\" And who the hell are you?\" the man in charge of the shack had not raised his eyes from the paper. Reluctantly he decided to do so and his red face of anger and sunburn was replaced by one of pure astonishment. \n\nThe boy got a closer look as well and began to feel a strange sense of familiarity. But surely not... it couldn't be... God?\n\n\"Don't you know who I am? I'm Gareth Southgate; the man who brought football home.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Aliens are coming to invade, their battleship gets cored out of nowhere by a manhole cover that was launched 80 years ago. It convinces them humanity has the ability to accurately see the future, and turn their fleet around and mark the Solar System as 'Highly Dangerous'.	[ "And so it was that Earth enjoyed a relatively peaceful existence beyond the dramatic politics and warmongering of the greater galactic community. This peace would last until a journalist from the highly lauded 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' would describe the planet as 'Harmless.' (A future revision to this entry would expand this woefully inadequate description. Such a beautiful, diverse world was thought misrepresented by this single word and editors felt 'mostly harmless' was much more suitable.)\n\nIndeed, much of the rest of the galaxy enjoyed a period of respite from the annoyingly frequent aggression of the Balgooglians after countless worlds recalled their ambassadors to the Balgoolian homeworld and replaced them with fortunetelling mystics. The Balgooglian government, feeling that they were on the losing end of an intergalactic arms race, immediately ceased its attempts at empire-building and instead devoted all of its resources into developing its own prognostication technology.\n\nWhile its efforts did not revolutionize galactic conflict, after several decades the Balgooglians realized they were the butt of a very hurtful joke. While their war-machine wound back up, the Balgooglians were desperate to market the fruits of their research and development, which they had spent quite a lot of time and effort on.\n\nThey found their chump in the Vogons. A highly industrious people, the Vogon people were sold on the Balgooglian Prognostication technology's ability not to outwit military rivals, but to plan galactic infrastructure.\n\nIt was in this way that Earth ultimately fell prey to the Balgooglian military industrial complex after all. The Vogons, seeing this 'mostly harmless' and untouched corner of the galaxy ripe for development, and utilizing the Balgooglian Prognostication and Civil Planning Design Software, developed a hyperspace lane that was certain to bring economic growth to the area for centuries to come. Earth and the other planets in the Sol system were to be upgraded with more modern landscaping elements.\n\nThese plans were, as required by the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council, on display at the local planning department in Alpha Centauri. Earthlings however, like much of the galactic population, aren't well engaged with their local government and much of Earth was unaware of the project entirely.\n\n", "I am on the floor, how am I on the floor. Flickering of the Lights. No electricity on the main bridge. I look to the right, my communication officer knocked out on the floor next to me. As I try to stand up I feel how my head is… cant concentrate. First Officer is talking to me, panic in his 3 eyes. Mouth wide open. I cant hear him, all I can hear is the ringing in my ears.\n\nGripping my Throne I pull myself up. Everything turns, the feeling of wobbly tentacles. Slowly I regain full conciseness. No I can hear what my First Officer is screaming. We were hit.\n\nImpossible. Our shields are impenetrable to all primitive weapons. But everything on “The Great Ship of Conquest” is damaged. I give the command for an emergency jump. Fall back, find out what happened. Adjust battle-tactics, try anew. Leave a surveillance satellite.\n\n…………………………\n\nThank you for your time, Officers. As everyone here knows at the time 198621 CGK we were hit with tremendous force. We had a full 188 time units to process the heavy damage and to analyze what happened. Halve of our home planets standard day should be enough to evaluate the damage.\n\n\"First Mechanic\" how is the damage and what have you an idea what kind of weapon it was?\n\n\"Great War-Chief\", we were hit by some kind of metallic slug with really high velocity. It was the source of the damage, as it pierced through the total of our 36 shields and followed through 10+ kilometer of our ship. It had such a fast velocity, that it only left a hole through our entire ship of its own diameter…\n\nThe main damage came from our shield generators. Under normal circumstances these shield generators try to create an equal force of energy with the opposite vector to cancel kinetic weapons and bring them effectively to a hold. To make this high energy demanding task possible, the generators need a direct feed from the reactor-sun. To prevent the used energy to detonate after a shield is “broken”, the system normally vents the execs energy through the spinal mounted main weapon. And that was in this case, the main weaknesses of our ship.\n\nThis kinetic artillery was traveling so fast that it hit the shields in such a fast succession that the reactor-sun supplied virtually all of the generator at the same time with the maximum energyload. And they broke virtually at the same time. The main weapon is powerful… But it was to much energy. Before the weapon could fire it melted so fast, it was more an explosion. The first and the biggest one. After the weapon was destroyed through this force, the excess energy couldn't go anywhere, so the shield generators where the next one who violently melted in an explosion. 32 of them at the same time. Theses explosion where smaller, but the 32 simultaneously explosions did greater damage throughout the ship. Several cooling lines were fractured and are inoperable. If \"The Great War-Chief\" would have ordered the emergency jump a time unit later the produced heat from the rift-propulsion-generator would have cooked us… The entire cooling system went black after we exited the jump. \n\nTo be honest. The Great Conquest Battle cruiser is not repairable. The several internal explosion deformed the Mainframe. It is more efficiant to build it from scratch.\n\nSo First Mechanic, you are telling me our Battlecruiser \"The Great Conquest\"… the honurable ship with a total length of 130 km, 40 km of width and 10 km of height, with an artificial small sun as its generator in its center, the pride of our great Kingdom. The ship who is more then enuogh to conquered several empires…. Was destroyed with one shoot of an unknown weapon?!\n\nYes! We traversed the flight path of the metal slug. It came from our targeted planet. But the strange thing is. It was fired about 205576071 time units ago. Or about on lifetime of their species, I believe they call it 80 Yeärs. \n\nI understand. Psychics are rare in our species and in our history we had several gifted and powerful individuals. But to foresee the future such a longtime it needs a unbelivable powerful individual… We need to be cautious.\n\nI declare this solar system for dangerous. It is a great blessing that they have no rift-generator. We shall bombard them with asteroids, old ships and warheads from a save distance. Even if they know from when and where we will bombard them, than it is our only chance to overwhelm them with mass. And pray to the great king that they wont find the technology for rift travel in the next of their 80 Yeärs.\n\nNow to you \"First Healer\". How many of our man are injured or dead?", "The Contact cruiser Kaheela Ne (What Do We Have Here:::translated) slowed its approach past the larger of the gas giants, gently reaching into the dark matter-verse that lay beneath the observable universe to slow itself into a close pass of the planet marked 8736756.03.\nThe ship was dark, darker than dark, a hole in space but one that relayed background static, light and heat that let it blend in like a drop of water in an ocean. \nIf there had been a biological crew onboard then the sight of the planet 8736756.03 may have peeked some interest but the Kaheela Ne had swept the planet several parsecs out, knew all it needed to know as well as a lot it didn't.\n\nRapid, vapid communications seemed to be the norm and were irrelevant clutter confined to a narrow bandwidth. If the planet had a military presence then it hadn't bothered to push it out beyond 8736756.08 which made them a joke. Neither were there pickets that it could detect as it had passed stars on its way in.\nPerhaps an elaborate trap..Kaheela Ne spent a few pico seconds feeling sceptical then decided to maintain deceleration for a close pass on 8736756.03.\n\nAs the planet approached Kaheela Ne dropped its vector a little closer, invisible, a night hawk, a God come to view it's vested interest. And sinking it's fingers into the black sand of dark energy it decelerated to a paltry 67 kilometres per second as it cruised over the blue and white marble.\n\n67 kps is fast in Earth terms, very fast. It's faster than the fastest thing ever made by man, more than twice as fast. So when, for some reason that defies logic, the round, cast iron manhole cover marked \"Sheffield, England 1889,\" slipped edgeways through the Kaheela Ne's sensor suite and sliced a catastrophic rent in her hull then no \"one\" was more surprised than the ship itself. \n\nKinetic and thermal damage from the impact ripped through the primary engines which reacted by tearing a fiery streak behind the ship before they exploded and scattered the ship into the void.\n The flash of destruction written in a silent line over the Midlands of England most likely went unremarked but at Cooper, Bryant and Barratt heads turned briefly skyward and there were brief smiles in that Sheffield foundry as men bent once more to the task of churning out manhole covers.\n\n", "3 Months after the first radio signals from the Sol system were detected a small task force was dispatched to establish first contact and integrate the newcomers into the Galactic Federation, by force if necessary.\n\nThe system was located a bit more than 80 light-years away from the station that detected the signal, a distance covered in about 5 days with cutting edge hyperspace drives like the Battleship Karthaba and her two escort cruisers were equipped with.\n\nCaptain Theroon was not exactly delighted to be assigned to lead this operation; there were more important matters to be taken care of. But it had to be done nonetheless and an order was an order after all.\n\nTen minutes before the Karthaba would leave hyperspace Theroon made his way to the bridge. The crew seemed just as bored as he was. When Navigation Officer Pherrom noticed him, he stopped playing on his holopad, sat up straight and gave a status report.\n\n\"All Systems nominal Sir, we will drop out of hyperspace near the 3rd planet in the system, the apparent origin of the signal\"\n\nTheroon took his place in the captain's chair and put the countdown onto the main screen. There was something soothing about watching numbers tick down.\n\n5…\n\n4…\n\nHe wondered if the inhabitants of Sol 3 would accept their integration into the federation or attempt to resist.\n\n3…\n\n2…\n\nIt didn't really matter. Should they resist he would make short work of their military and simply annex the planet.\n\n1…\n\n0…\n\nA massive boom shook the ship right as it exited hyperspace. Theroon was knocked out of his chair and alarm sirens started blaring immediately.\n\n\"What the hell was that? Status report!\"\n\nSystems Officer Jareema was the first to regain her composure.\n\n\"It appears that we have been hit.\"\n\nVery helpful, he thought.\n\n\"Hit by what?\"\n\n\"By some sort of kinetic projectile. It penetrated the hull and hit a munitions depot and the primary reactor core on it's way through the ship. Decks 8 though 13 are exposed to hard vacuum. Automatic reactor shutdown is in effect.\"\n\nThe holoprojector flickered as it showed the deformed disc that had smashed right through the Battleship. It was clearly artificial in nature.\n\n\"Where did that thing come from?\"\n\n\"Exact calculations are still…\"\n\nJareema grew pale as she stared at her console screens.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"The projectile was launched from Sol 3 Sir… About 80 years ago.\"\n\nWith an expression of shock in his face, Theroon realized that the signal must have been a trap.\n\nBut how could they so precisely predict the future, not even the newest generations of artificial intelligence were capable of calculating the weather more than a few months in advance. The precision was astonishing. The projectile hit the ship in the fraction of a second the shields take to reactivate after hyperspace travel. Without the kinetic shields up the projectile ripped right through the battleships midsection, hitting a munitions depot and one of the two main reactors of the craft. A more accurate shot could not have been made, and that 80 years in advance. This was some sort of witchcraft.\n\nTheroon stared into his holopad, utterly defeated. Critical system alerts going off all over the ship.\n\nHis voice shaking, he opened up a communications channel to the entire task force.\n\n\"Abort mission, evacuate the Karthaba and return to the nearest federation outpost. Mark the system for Gamma ray sterilization.\"", "A small fleet or scouts and one planet destroyer battleship is all that the high council said we needed to take the primates. We called them that when we first visited their tiny planet eons ago. We jump-started evolution and what would ultimately be our worst mistake.\n\nThe World Eater was our second oldest battleship, not nearly as outdated as Galactus that anthropomorphic atrocity. Even being as outdated as it was it was more than enough for what our simulations said would be the technology reached by whatever had been able to squirm it's way out of that mess of a planet.\n\nWell that is what we thought, until radar picked up an object going unbelievably fast, faster than any ship we had built as faster than light was not possible. This object was almost 60% the speed of light. \n\nDumbfounded and terrified we attempted evasive maneuvers, but the lumbering battleship only succeeded in showing it's broad side to this object. The kinetic energy of this thing was immense, at 60% the speed of light you do not need much mass to do huge amounts of damage.\n\nThe World Eater was torn asunder, ripped in half in a silent scream as the quicker moving scout ships moved out of the impact trajectory. All I could do as scout leader was pray to Azathoth that he wake up and put an end to this terror of a reality. \n\nWe saved who we could from the undamaged parts of the battleship, ran simulations of where this object could have come from and found that it came from the planet that we were meant to destroy. How could they have known? Do they have FTL communication and galactic perimeter radar monitoring? Or have they somehow contacted Nyarlathotep and in one of his hate filled ploys against the outer God's assisted the planets inhabitants to assend to a different plane of existence?\n\nWe did not want to find out. Labeling the Galaxy extremely dangerous we turned tail until we too could make contact with an outer god in order to level the playing field.", "Head Scientist Yeerlak pulled up a model of the star system he was heading to on the holo-map. His destination was the third planet from the star SOL-473, the source of anomalous radio signals. His ship had picked up the signals while surveying the nearby SOL-472 for minerals, and decided to put his main objective on hold and investigate the source. His ship was currently in warpspace, hours away from dropping out approximately 548 milinauts away from the planet.\n\n\"Sir, what do you think we'll find there?\" First Officer Korpac asked him as he monitored the bearings of the spacecraft.\n\n\"To be honest, Officer, I do not know either. We might find some kind of machine from a past species, or maybe some kind of natural explanation.\"\n\n\"It better not be those damn asteroid aliens that attacked the Par Beese. You, of all people, should remember what happened, right?\"\n\nYeerlak shuddered at the memory. A few years ago, the Par Beese was on a routine surveying sortie with two other surveyor craft when they had chanced upon a collection of crystalline asteroids, which turned out to be hives for thousands of some kind of spaceborne parasite. The aliens had destroyed the two other spacecraft, while the Par Beese slipped away using an emergency warp. Yeerlak, at the time, was an ensign aboard the ship. He remembered the swarm of dark-gray aliens ripping apart the ships as he watched the massacre play out on the monitor in the command center, terrified as he prayed to the Seven that he too would not die to these bugs. A quick tap to the shoulder from Korpac snapped him out of his flashback. \"Sir, you've been awake since 64 RP shipboard time. You need to rest, we'll be there shortly.\" He suggested, as Yeerlak began to head to his room, the flashback still fresh in his mind.\n\nThe ship dropped out of warpspace while Yeerlak was still asleep. After Korpac woke him up using the intercom, he got out of his bed and made his way to the command center. There, he encountered the rest of the crew staring in awe at the large blue-green planet projected on the central monitor.\n\n\"A continental planet. It's more beautiful than Bhorus IV!\" A crew member said.\n\n\"What kind of life do you think we'll find down there? I want to be a part of the landing team!\" Another said.\n\n\"Settle down, everyone. I know it's the first time many of you have seen an alien world, but we still have to focus on getting there. Back to your stations, you can stare once we're in orbit.\" Yeerlak ordered over the commotion of the crew. They had barely begun to go back to their stations when the ship was suddenly shaken by a massive explosion from the stern. Everyone fell to the floor as sparks flew and klaxons started blaring. Debris fell from the ceiling as a number of secondary explosions rocked the already-stricken spacecraft. Yeerlak made it onto his feet and got to the main console. \"Engineering team, report! What happened?!\" He yelled into the console amidst the loud beeping of the alarms and the crackle of electrical fires around him. \n\n\"Sir, some kind of object has impacted the port side of the reactor room! Scanners say it's some kind of machined piece of metal!\" A garbled and distressed voice answered.\n\n\"Is it alien? From where did it come from?\" Yeerlak questioned.\n\n\"Trajectory analysis reveals it to have originated from our target planet!\"\n\n\"That's impossible! Check again!\"\n\n\"I've triple-checked, sir! It keeps saying the same thing! According to the readouts, it says it's been drifting for more than 80 years before it cored us!\"\n\nYeerlak stood their, dumbfounded and oblivious to the chaos around him as he considered how this piece of metal found its way into the side of his ship. How is it possible, he wondered, that this hunk of metal was aimed directly at where his ship would be 80 years before he was there? Did the aliens see into the future? Are they one of the fabled Fallen? How could they have known? He desperately tried to come up with an explanation as the engineering team started to list the damage report.\n\n\"The main reactor has been hit! The warp drive is offline! 25&#37; of the ship is exposed to full vacuum! Ship is running on backup power!\" The list kept on growing and growing. The klaxons kept blaring in his ear. As if things couldn't get any worse, the voice of the engineer went from distressed to absolutely mortified. \"...Artificial gravity generators offline! None of them are- By the Seven, the reactor core is going into meltdown, sir! We have to get to the escape pods! EVERYONE, GET OUT NOW!\" The engineer screamed to the others still in the engineering bay with him. The communication cut off as the main console burst into flames, causing Yeerlak to fall over and hit the ground. Korpac, who had somehow gotten up with all the shaking and the debris around him, made his way over to Yeerlak and got him on his feet. \"Sir, we have to get to one of the escape pods, NOW!\" He yelled. \n\n\"It's no use. By the time we get to them, the reactor will have annihilated the ship! It's over, Korpac, we're dead!\" He yelled as the rumbling and shaking became more violent. Korpac, his uniform in shredded tatters and life-fluid covering his arms, looked his superior in the eye and uttered, \"It was an honor serving with you. May the Seven forgive us.\" Yeerlak nodded and said the same as the reactor tore through the ship, vaporizing the two along with the entire ship.\n\n\" ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! THE ANOMALY HAD A 10&#37; FAILURE CHANCE! THAT'S FUCKING BULLSHIT! FUCK STELLARIS!\"", "Thunk!\n\n“Red alert!” Yelled the captain. “What was that?”\n\n“A large metal object hit us,” replied the tactical officer. “Shields\nare down to 40%.”\n\nThe tactical officer stared at the captain with all three eyes\npopping. “If we take another hit like that, we’ll be done for!”\n\n“Re-route power to shields,” ordered the captain. The tactical\nofficer flipped a bunch of levers simultaneously with his five hands.\n\n“I ran the object through our library database,” the science officer\ninterrupted. “The object appears to be a large metal plate that the\nhumans use to cover access tunnels leading to their sewers. See the\ninscription here? It says in their primitive language ‘City of Los\nAngeles.’”\n\n“It would seem these juicy meatbags are resourceful,” said the\ncaptain.\n\n“Sir,” the science officer continued. “This metal plate has been in\norbit for a very long time, at least 800 megaticks.”\n\n“What? So they anticipated us 800 megaticks ago? How could they?”\n\nThe bridge crew exchanged glances. They were no longer salivating\nlike they were when they entered orbit.\n\n“I think I speak for all of us,” the captain continued, “when I say I\nthink I just lost my appetite. These bone-bags aren’t worth the\ntrouble, especially if they can see us coming 800 megaticks out.\nPrepare the ship to jump to superspace! And switch to yellow alert.”\n\nThe bridge crew scrambled at their stations, all five hands of every\nmember moved in a blur to turn the ship around.\n\n“I hear there are some good frozen delicacies nearby.” The captain\ncontinued. “Set a course to the fourth planet from the sun!”\n\n", "Tzeen looked around the small room he had been ushered into. Its sleek organic walls were modeled in the style of the capital, as had its chairs, tables, and lighting fixtures. It radiated the elegance and esteem that a high panel of directors and adjudicators of the Abzar Galactic Union deserved. Which made his brisk admiralty uniform of the more functional nature from the expeditionary fleet stand out even more. Tzeen stared up at the darkened towers which held the directors. He could only hope that his long years of service would mediate whatever punishment laid in store for what even he considered a gross degree of incompetence. The loss of a battleship to enemy fire is disgraceful. The loss of it to what was thought a primitive species, unacceptable. How the inhabitants of that third rock in what was supposed to be an undeveloped system known of the Unions intentions, and moreover the exact trajectory of his fleet caused both fury and fear. So, lost in these emotions was Tzeen that he had almost not noticed the flare of white blue lighting from the directors towers… almost. A flat but firm voice rang from the head director’s tower,\n\n“Now reviewing incident number four-three-nine-seven, Admiral Tzeen in presence before seven assembled directors of the Abzar Galactic Union for evaluation and judgement of incident four-three-nine-seven… Admiral you may now stand before the Directorate.”\n\nTzeen nearly toppled his chair in his haste to stand. His dual stomachs churning at the pronouncement of the numbers of Directors. The time of the Directors of the Union was precious, some fanatics on Elzor IV would even say sacred. It was uncommon enough to be called before a single Director. Three was unusual but expected given the loss of such an important ship, five would have surprised Tzeen but have been understandable, but seven? Such gatherings were only made for grand events such as the signing of the peace accord with the Ravin kingship or the Ultey incident. He tried to mask his concern as best he could but could only muster silence to stem the rising panic.\n“Admiral we understand that to be here before so many of us is unnerving… “\n\nWas that compassion? Or pity, either way the Directors were not known for either.\n\n“We desire only to review what has happened the expeditionary battleship Hatho and the nature of its… coring”\nTzeen flinched at the term. It was an archaic one in the expeditionary force. The Union has not used projectile weapons in over three hundred cycles and had not faced an enemy who had used one in over four hundred cycles. The last ship that had been cored had been some time directly after the formation of the Union, nearly seven hundred cycles ago, and it lived in infamy in fleet academies across the Union. \n\n“Report Admiral.”\n\nTzeen told them everything, every detail, every second. From the launch of the expeditionary invasion and settlement force, to the plans of colonization and incorporation of Sol into the Union. All reports had told them that only one planet in the system bore intelligent life, and that the civilization upon it had only in the last 100 cycles harnessed the power of the atom. It was supposed to be the easiest annexation the Union had ever attempted. That’s what Tzeen had been thinking while surveying his crew from the command center of the Hatho. It didn’t register on dradis contact until it had already closed to within ten units. Shields designed to absorb high energy particle beams and point defense turrets designed for proton torpedoes were up before impact, a testimony to the skill of his crew. But it was to little to late, the foreign object had impacted the ship with enough force to knock the crew of the command center to the floor. Sirens blared, and damage reports read that decks five through seven had been annihilated sweeping from the front to back. Secondary explosions marked the death of the engines in the rear as well as any diagnostic could. Two hundred and thirty five Union crewman were lost to the projectile and the aftermath. The Expeditionary force evacuated and scuttled the Hatho before turning away from the Expeditions objective. \n\n“ And that’s the truth of it Admiral? Your ship was cored by a projectile that had originated from the Sol system?” \n\nTzeen nodded glumly \n\n“ Given what we know of the ‘Humans’ of Sol three, it is highly unlikely that there was an orbital weapons platform nearby. Apart from typical orbital satellites, one primitive space station, and a land vehicle of red hue by the name of a ‘Tesla’ there are no other orbital installations of Sol three”\nTzeens mind was racing, if not a weapons platform, or a ship, the only other source of the projectile must have been…\n\n“We believe the origin of the projectile to have been Sol three itself. Which given the projectiles rate of travel and the distance of Sol three, means that this projectile was launched some 80 cylces ago”\n\nA different voice added \n\n“ 81.3 cycles to be exact”\nTzeens mind reeled from this revelation. The implications alone were beyond even the most horrifying of strategic hazards. \n\n“ Therefore this Directorate has come to three conclusions”\nTzeen looked up once again at the towers \n\n“ First, Sol three’s civilization is capable of advanced foresight, beyond any other species. second, that this knowledge clears you of fault for the loss of the Hatho. And finally…”\n\nThe voices of the Directorate joined in unison and boomed their proclamation forth\n\n“ Sol is to classified as highly dangerous, and is to be quarantined by the force of the Abzar Galactic Union, this threat must never leave its home system. We are tasking you and the Expeditionary force with this endeavor”\nTzeen looked up at the directors, the gravity of the task sinking into him.\n\n“Your will be done Directors” \n", "It's basic physics. When objects are struck with an extremely large force, they have a tendency to start moving. And when the object is especially small, and the force especially large, it can result in astonishingly fast velocities. So when a manhole cover was struck directly by a nuclear detonation in 1957, it was propelled at extremely high velocity. Most human researchers within a few decades of this event suspected that the cover had disintegrated within Earth's atmosphere after it came in contact with the atmosphere at such velocity. These researchers were only partially correct. Roughly two thirds of the object remained, and by a fluke, it managed to escape the solar system without further impact. Several encounters with bodies with very high gravity increased its velocity radically, and by the time it actually did exit the solar system fifteen years later, it was traveling at a blistering 600 thousand miles an hour. And even in the vastness of space, an object moving in a relatively straight line is going to impact somewhere... \n&nbsp; \nCommander Säzgä Łayalavai Canitoli, Legedu, sat in his seat, staring idly at a tactical readout, observing his fleet, reminiscing for lack of anything else to do. He had been deployed to scout a system which his people had not visited in a long time, and it was thought that the inhabitants had destroyed themselves in nuclear fire decades prior. This was sure to be an uneventful trip, and he was bothered by the fact that they had sent his command, including twenty battleships, all the way out here. But the Dełani Federation did not take halfway measures, and if something untoward happened on this mission, at least they would be well prepared. \nHis mind wandered as he shifted his gaze to the screen at the front of the control room, and he thought back to his early days in the schools, back to his annoying fourth-year teacher's attempts to teach basic physics. He tried to remember the metaphors that he had used to teach Yenai's First Law. He couldn't call them up, but he could remember the general premise, which was that an object will not change how it's moving until an outside force causes it to. \nHis reverie was interrupted by a blinding white flash on the screen, by a damage warning on his tac-display and the markers for the battleship at the edge of the formation blinking red. \nHe leapt to his feet. \"What the hell?\" he shouted. \n\"The battleship Tak Manay has been hit!\" replied the man at the scanner station. \"Damage reports incoming...\" \n\"Hit by what?\" Säzgä replied, incredulous, shocked. \n\"It's... not clear. No source is evident.\" \n\"The hell do you mean 'no source is evident'? Something has to have fired that!\" \n\"We don't know where it came from. Ballistics suggests it came from the direction of System 123-9B.\" \nSäzgä flinched. \"What? You mean to tell me it came from the very system we're en route to?\" \n\"Yeah, that's what the evidence we have suggests.\" \n\"There is no way those people fired that thing. Their civilization is decades dead, fallen to their own avarice and to nuclear fire! We knew this would happen the day our ancestors finally managed to leave that accursed rock, and the last scout watched the first shots! Give me something rational, damn it!\" \n\"Interstellar debris that managed to pass through the system without hitting anything?\" \n\"Better. More sane,\" Säzgä said, a touch calmer. \"Damage report on that battleship.\" \nThe communications officer read aloud: \"Ship was impacted by unknown object or energy; if object, mass estimated 30 kilograms. Extensive damage to forward sections including one primary hull breach, several secondary breaches along the length of the damaged section and in a ring around the ship a third of the way back, several fractures... shipwide power distribution grid disabled. All sections not open to hard vacuum are on backups. Suspect atmospheric containment failure in progress in 20 percent of remaining sections. Spinal-mounted weapons disabled; point-defense on secondary processors... Primary FTL drives at 50 percent capacity; suspect toxic leaks throughout the system because of shock and overpressure...\" His face went pale. \"Suspect evacuation system disabled... Reactor pressure rising; suspect primaries will go critical within the hour, if this cannot be averted jettison will commence... Primary shield projector unaccounted for... Estimated casualties: 20 percent of crew dead, additional 30 percent injured... Fuel leak and apparent fire prohibits rescue operations in forward sections... Fear possible cascade-failure of remaining power systems and atmospheric containment.\" \nSäzgä exhaled slowly. \"Shit... Deploy support craft to effect rescue where needed and, if possible, emergency repairs. Does anyone know just what this was?!\" \n\"Teams are trying to figure that out now... Trace elements have been found in the impact site. Expect an analysis within the hour...\" \n\"Good,\" Säzgä replied. He called up the commanders of the remaining ships, wanting to discuss things with the men under his command. \"Next course of action?\" he said. \n\"Wait until we figure out what that was,\" the first one said. \"That's what I was thinking... Anyone else?\" Säzgä replied. \n\"Press on,\" came the next two replies. \"It's probably some kind of meteoroid, thrown around by gravity.\" \n\"Makes sense. Anyone else?\" \n\"I think we need to know what this was,\" spoke up one of them, the captain of the battleship next to the Tak Manay in the formation. \"And... it's going to sound crazy but... What if they knew we were coming?\" \n\"Łalga, what are you smoking?\" Säzgä replied. \"We're talking about a society that's already bombed itself into ruin.\" \n\"Yeah, but the fact remains, this came from their system, it pounded through a third of the length of the Tak Manay, it hit key systems...\" \n\"What, are you suggesting that the survivors of the nuclear apocalypse have some kind of sensor grid out here? And a cloaked weapons platform? Or that they can see the future and threw this thing on the right vector to core out the front of one of my battleships?\" \n\"Yeah, pretty much.\" \n\"Okay, what the hell are you smoking? You're stressing me out enough with this crackpot theory that you're making me want a hit of it. 'Yeah, they're a planet full of stone-age clairvoyants who can launch something at us fast enough to kill a battleship!' Give me a break!\" \n\"Think about it. The more you think about it, the more reasonable this seems.\" \n\"Reasonable? Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I consider ordering you to see a psychiatrist when this mission is over! You can't possibly believe this!\" \n\"Yeah, maybe they launched it before we came, or maybe the survivors were forced to ascend somehow to survive.\" \n\"Yeah, and they have telekinesis and they can see the future. And their stomachs are built to toast bread after they eat it. Maybe they can breathe in hard vacuum now! Maybe they all have laser-eyes and can't be hurt by bullets or lasers anymore! Give me a break!\" \n\"It's possible...\" \n\"Yeah, I think Paci and the others were right. This was some kind of cosmic incident. Report this to Command, and then we press on!\" Säzgä shouted, red with anger. \"And if you give me another of these crackpot suggestions, I'll have you demoted or something!\" \n\"Understood...\" the man replied. \nAnd the fleet moved on, some support vessels remaining to stabilize the stricken vessel for movement back to base. \n&nbsp; \nA lesser known incident in the history of Earth, however, had a similar result to the nuclear test in 1957. And when the Dełani fleet approached the boundary of the solar system, a similar piece of shrapnel from a nuclear detonation, this one in a city on the continent of North America, was moving at very high velocities, and fast approaching... \n&nbsp; \nSäzgä finished reading the analysis of the fate of the battleship, perturbed by the result. The trace elements found in the impact site suggested an artificial alloy. He wondered at the explanation for this, and captain Łalga's crackpot explanation lingered unbidden at the back of his mind. Deep in thought, he thanked the orderly as he returned the report to his hand. \nSuddenly, a piercing flash filled the forward screen as the the battleship immediately to the right of his was struck amidships and great gouts of molten metal and energy shot out at an angle, further back, showering one of the support ships, disabling it too. \nSäzgä sprang to his feet again. \"What the hell!\" he shouted. \nMind racing, he punched up the comms to the captains again. \"What just happened?!\" he shouted. \nNone of them seemed to have an explanation, and he stared agape at the tac-display again as they all sought an answer. And then it hit him. \n\"Łalga. I think you were right! Somehow, they knew this was coming. Two ships hit in as many hours... That is not a coincidence!\" \nSeveral other commanders nodded bewildered assent. \nHe punched up fleetwide comms and said, \"Prepare all stricken ships for transport and get us out of here! Report this to command, and request this system be labeled as prohibitively dangerous given current technology.\" \nDefeated, angry, exhausted, Säzgä kicked at the armrest on his seat for several seconds before returning to it. And two hours later, the fleet was en route back to their main base... \n" ]	9
	[WP] You didn't see anything wrong with the bottle of water you just drank, but your coworkers are horrified.	[ "Parts of Brian\n\n\"Oh my god Julian, put that down.\"\n\nI stared back at my wide-eyes compadres and slowly took the bottle away from my lips. Amy, Ed, and Morgan, their eyes as wide as plates, their mouths slack-jawed, stared at me as if I had just pulled a grenade pin. All of them had their shoulders up and their arms against them like dinosaurs, as if ready for an explosion.\n\n\"What?\" I asked them, still holding the bottle.\n\n\"Put. The bottle. Down,\" Ed said firmly. \n\nI held the bottle out, looked at it, my eyebrows furrowing, then looked back at them. \"Why? What's wrong with it? What's going on?\"\n\n\"Jesus Christ, give me the fucking thing!\" Morgan said through gritted teeth, as he stretched a latex glove on his hand and briskly walked over. He delicately reached the gloved hand towards the bottle. \"Don't move at all while I grab it,\" he whispered at me, his eyes heavily focused on the bottle. Cupping the bottom of the bottle with his palm, Morgan slowly - slooowly took the bottle from my grasp. With measured, soft steps, he walked over to a containment jar and placed the bottle inside of it. Once the lid was secured, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and leaned against whatever counter was closest to them. Everyone except me.\n\n\"Anyone want to explain to me what the fuck is going on here?\" I asked, after a long pause of silence. \n\nAmy looked at Ed. Ed looked at Amy. Amy then looked at Morgan, who looked at Ed, who now looked back at Morgan. Morgan sighed.\n\n\"Something happened last night while we were working...\" he mumbled, staring at his feet. It was like he was embarrassed to say it. Slowly he raised his eyes to mine. \n\n\"...And??\" I asked, waiting for him to continue. He sighed again, scratching the back of his head.\n\n\"Well...We kind of...I mean we mistakenly...Uhh,\" he glanced at Amy for help.\n\n\"Oh for God's sake!\" She threw her hands up in the air, and letting out a huge breath said, \"We accidentally used the particle beam on Brian.\"\n\nNow it was my turn for my jaw to fall open. \"You..you what??\" I shouted.\n\n\"It was a t-total accident!\" Ed stuttered out. \"We were testing it on a deceased mouse, like usual! To try and reduce it to particles and transfer it to the water. But the beam wasn't working, which happens, you know...\" Ed was chewing on a fingernail, his eyes darting like he was high. \"Brian went to collect the mouse, and suddenly the beam went off, and - and...Well...\"\n\nMy eyes slowly moved to settle onto the water bottle. The water level was now about three-fourths full. I had taken about two big gulps from it before they had stopped me.\n\n\"Oh my god,\" My heart, and stomach, sank as I realized what I had just done.\n\n\"Yes,\" Amy said dishearteningly. \"Brian was reduced to particle matter. And transferred to inside the water bottle.\"\n\nI slumped down to the ground, my eyes still transfixed on the bottle. My hands were open, palms facing upwards. \"God forgive me,\" I mumbled, hanging my head.\n\n\"So I guess good news it worked!\" Ed blurted out, his fingernail now a bloody nub but his chewing continuing. \"Took us twenty-two years though,\" he shrugged, \"Took us twenty-two years to get it to work, and we haven't made anything to reverse its affects. Probably would take just as long, so...\"\n\nAmy began to sob. Morgan sank down to the ground with me and buried his head into his hands. Ed began to laugh, a horrible, manic, uncontrollable giggle. I puked onto the ground, the extent of what had just happened catching up to me. I could see my breakfast of eggs and toast all half digested amongst bile. And while I couldn't see anything, among the liquid, somewhere in there....were now parts of Brian." ]	1
	[WP] The Grim Reaper has retired, whoever has killed the most people in their lifetime must take his place...That’s you.	[ "A soldier pushed her way out if the wreckage. She turned for a final glance at the burning corpse of her gunship. \n\n'This is why I hate tangling with the navy seals...Always one crack shot you can't see, even you take the rest down.'\n\n\"Squad! Sound off! Squad?!\"\n\nThe kindled hearth grumbled in response. \n\n\"Repo!? Duster?! Kit-Kat!?\"\n\nThe wind picked up a bit, blowing dust onto her ride home. The fire died down a bit.\n\n'Guess I'm walking home...WOA!'\n\nDeath appeared before her as she spun to leave. What features weren't shadowed were decrepid, dehydrated, and bare.\n\nHe reached towards her, as she reached her pistol. Three shots dissapeared inside the dark figure as it continued to loom upon her. Her gun was snatched from her hands, and crumbled to ash.\n\n\"I may be death, dear, but that still stings.\"\n\n\"So this is what going into shock feels like,\" she retorted.\n\n\"You've gone beyond shock, young soldier; well beyond shock.\n\nAs she pieced it together, she heard Repo's voice.\n\n\"Commander?! Wake up damnit!\" She jogged over to see repo taking her pulse in the ship. Her body was lifeless, and had a shard of metal sticking through her neck. She must have been sitting where the explosion occurred...and if she was there and here, then she was past shock and much further than she was comfortable with.\n\n\"Shit.\" she spat. She turned back around to see death direclty behind her. \n\n\"Yes, quite unfortunate, one's own bereavement can be.\" Its voice was haunting.\n\n\"Now what? Do I move on?\" She asked with furrowed brow. \"Straight to hell, I take it.\"\n\nDeath then did something she did not expect. It took a seat.\n\n\"Ordinarily, yes, but today I've got an offer. You see, as of just this moment, you have killed the greatest number of people in the world.\" It tilted its head at her, and she glanced away before matching his frosty gaze. Then her head bobbed at the new information.\n\n\"Not bad. I'd be proud of it if they weren't people. Ah hell, I'm still proud of it.\"\n\n\"Indeed you are. A soldier like you doesn't come about too often. Most move on to paperwork, or let their bodies give out on then by age 40, but you? You've given every damn you had.\nAllow our cold demension to give you a damn for once.\"\n\nHer eyes softened at the thought. She glanced back to see her comrades with her dogtags in hand as they doused her corpse in lighter fluid. It was standard procedure after all. Death's voice grabbed her attention again.\n\n\"You'll be given my duty as the guide of souls, if you desire. I will train you as an apprentice, and in 3 years time, you'll have it down to a mere reflex. After one lifetime, as compensation, you'll be given a chance for reincarnation; the chance to live another life. Soldiers so often spend their time, acquiring more for others. Now you have a chance to take some for yourself.\" He paused to cough. \"So, what say you?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"You agree to these terms?\"\n\n\"I do. I agree to them. It's the closest thing to r&r I've gotten in the last 20 years.\"\n\nThe cloaked figure raised his head, revealing its remaining skin draped over its skull. She grimaced at the sight of his rotten teeth. It smiled as her body burned behind her. \n\n\"Excelent.\"" ]	1
	[WP] "It's not tomorrow until I go to sleep", but you haven't been able to sleep for days, and everyone is getting worried about a perpetual Tuesday	[ "\"God, please let me sleep. Tuesday is my work presentation and I can't go there looking like a zombie.\"- You prayed as this is the 3rd day where you haven't slept.\n\nHowever, it was so unfortunate that morning came again and sun shined in your opened eyes. You wondered why you are experiencing this. You don't sleep, you don't feel tired at all and you feel so full of energy. You thought maybe it's the stigma of the presentation getting to you but you quickly threw that idea because you are convinced that presentation can't make people awake for 4 days. It isn't the problem and there is something wrong with you.\n\nFiguring it out could wait though...since today is Tuesday.\n\n\n-------------------------------------------------------\n\nYou were so surprised that the presentation went really well. Your boss congratulated you and told you that he might promote you if you keep this up.\n\nMeanwhile you are really bothered how you are able to keep this up.\n\nThis morning when you drank Coffee you weren't able to taste it. Also you got hit by the something sharp on your arm, on the way to work. It bleed but didn't hurt then you suddenly thought... \"Shit Am I A Vampire?!\"\n\nYou laughed at yourself for thinking that. Tomorrow is your day off. Better to get a check-up that day.\n\n-----------------------------------------------------\n\nThe doctors diagnosis is Insomia and gave you medicine and specific instructions to take care of yourself. \n\nHowever, the most disturbing thing is...despite drinking the sleeping pills you still weren't able to sleep yet.\n\nIt was morning and you are asking yourself...\"Have I really turned vampire?\"\n\nYou search the internet about this...you just decided that.\n\n1. No, you are a vampire because vampire crave blood.\n2. You have watched this somewhere and just can't pinpoint the name of the movie.\n\nSo instead you searched for your symptoms.\n\n-High energy and excessive activity\n-Overly good mood\n-Irritability or impatience\n-Fast, erratic talking\n-Racing thoughts\n-Inability to concentrate\n-Little need for sleep\n-Feelings of power\n\nAnd then it came up.\n\nMania from Bipolar Disorder.\n\nYou called sick for work and visited a Psychologist. She confirms this diagnosis and gave you \"anti-depressant\" medicine.\n\nShe said \"Be strong, usually with Bipolar Disorder patients Mania is usually followed by depression. With what you told me earlier, I predict that your depression will be a quite severe.\"\n\nThat sounded funny to you because with the energy you have you don't feel like you gonna have depression anytime soon.\n\nBut tonight, you're gonna prove yourself wrong because your body is about to pay a debt and you can't call in sick anymore...", "\"It has been four days since this Tuesday began, and there is still no sign of it ending,\" said the broadcaster in her matter-of-fact news voice. \"And with the weekend almost upon us, people are beginning to wonder; Where is Manfred Sand? and why isn't he sleeping? More on that story soon. But first we cross over to Andy who normally has Tuesdays off, but has decided to come in help out at the Tight n Bright Tuesday Gala, that has now turned into a day-glow marathon. Andy?\" \n\nManfred \"Manny\" Sand looked bleakly at the TV, as an exuberant Andy popped onto the screen dressed like a traffic cone at its first gay pride event. He silently wished death upon Andy, who was now shouting like he was reporting from a the centre of a hurricane, and not a poorly decorated gazebo in the local park. \nManny's bloodshot eyes hurt whenever he blinked, and now his ears hurt too. His hair unkempt and his crumpled blue shirt had sweat stains around the neck and armpits. His pants were damp from an eariler bathroom visit, that had not involved a bathroom.\nOrdinarily Manny would have shouted back at the TV, or in the very least had a stern talking to it, but today was not an ordinary day, also there was the small matter of the gag in his mouth.\n\nThe rope that tied his arms to his surprisingly sturdy wooden chair had worn his wrists raw from days of struggling, and were now turning into scabs that itched like buggery, although that was not the reason he could not sleep. The IV drip inside the elbow of his right arm was feeding him a slow but steady cocktail of stimulants, taking the option of sleep off the table, and replacing it with a nice bowl of total insanity and marmalade toast. \n\nObviously someone needed this day to continue, but as the IV bag was almost at its end, Manny would soon have his answers, or more likely, a two day slumber, and then his revenge." ]	2
	[WP] You hold the title of the worlds deadliest and most evil supervillian. However you've now done something enexpected, adopted your arch nemisis' child to raise it as they would have seen fit.	[ "The boy was kneeling there, staring out into space with a horrified look on his face. His hand reached out, trying to capture something unseen. \n\nBeside him, a hand lay dormant where it had fallen. At first, it seemed to have been cut off haphazardly at the wrist. Then you noticed the small pieces of skin and bone still flaking off it, contributing to the small but significant layer that dusted certain parts of the room.\n\nOf course, there was blood. Droplets of it, scattered all around as thought there had been a brief shower from the sky. Most of it was mixed in with the dust now, making a brown and slimy mud. \n\nNo one had come to check on them yet. No one had noticed that the happy little four-year-old boy who was always running around the playground hadn't come out today. No one had yet reported the father missing, nor the mother. Why would they? The family had few friends, and they wouldn't have had any plans for tonight anyway. \n\nAnd no one had come to save him. That was what they were there for, wasn't it? The heroes. They were there to save the day. To put the pieces back together and make sure everything was all right. 'When there's an emergency, call the police, call an ambulance, call the fire brigade, or call the heroes.' Nobody had come. Nobody had called the heroes, and they hadn't come.\n\nBut I was there. I came to him. He looked up at me, his eyes full of pain and suffering. Of course he was traumatised. It was his first time, though it wouldn't be his last. I smiled under my mask.\n\n\"Hello, Tenko, my boy. It's nice to meet you.\"\n\n\"M...mama... papa... they...\"\n\n\"I know, young man. You couldn't help it. Nobody can help what they're born with.\" I declined to tell him that I could take and give his power away at will. That would come later, perhaps. If he was worthy.\n\nHe looked down at the ground, covered with the disintegrated remains of his parents. They had been good people. Ordinary people. Not heroes nor villains like me, at least on the surface. His grandmother, on the other hand... She had been so troublesome to me. A pure heroic heart, saving people with a beautiful smile. Disgusting. As if any of it made any difference in the end. And as for her apprentice... I focused back on the child, suddenly remembering why I had tracked down her son's family in the first place. What luck that their son had such a power, and that I had come here just in time to see its effects! He had even saved me the bother of killing them. \n\n\"I... I killed them, didn't I?\" The boy stared hard at the ground. \"I killed them and the heroes are gonna put me in jail.\" A small tear rolled down his cheek. \"I didn't mean to...\"\n\n\"I know you didn't, boy. And I know you don't want to go to jail. That's why I'm here to help you.\" That was true. I needed an apprentice, now that her apprentice had brought me so low. And wouldn't it just be the perfect revenge...?\n\nHe looked up at me again, his face snotty and tearful. \"R-really?\" Pathetic. This kid was the grandchild of my greatest enemy to date? And yet this was the same child who, just a few hours ago, had disintegrated his own parents merely by touching them. Such potential...\n\nI reached out my hand in invitation. \"Fear not, Tenko Shimura. I am here. You can call me... All for One.\"\n\n------------\n\nNotes: okay I know I didn't follow the 'as they would have seen fit' part but I immediately thought of Shigaraki and All for One when I saw this. And really, who can resist Boku no Hero Academia fanfic? (unless you haven't watched it. Which. You should.)", "\"Want to tell me why I had to leave work in the middle of the day?\" Steve Eastman glared at his stepson as the boy slammed the car door shut and buckled his seatbelt, something Steve insisted on since the boy left his car seat behind. \n\n\"Sorry, dad. Juan was talking crap and I lost my temper. But, don't worry I didn't use my powers.\" Max Eastman said. Deep inside Steve couldn't be happier about Max's violence, however, he knew the boy's father wouldn't appreciate it. Steve promised he would raise the boy as best he could. He smiled to himself proud of the fact that Max could talk to him openly. \n\n\"What was he talking about that got to you?\" Max asked. He turned left, deciding to take the long way home to give Max a chance to explain. \n\n\"You,\" Max said. \"He was bragging that his dad was KingBlaze, but said my dad is just a nobody with no powers,\" Max shrugged. \"I got mad.\" Steven chuckled.\n\n\"Anyone can claim KingBlaze is their dad, it's not like he's around anymore to disprove anything. Everyone knows you're adopted, you should start saying KingBlaze was your dad, you've got firepower like him. Does Juan have any powers?\" \n\n\"He can clone himself,\" Max said.\n\n\"See? That's not even close. I'll bet more people will believe you than him.\" Steve said. \n\n\"Doesn't matter, I don't need to start rumors. I'm proud of who my dad is,\" Max said. He punched Steve lightly in the arm. Steve made a quick decision and pulled into an empty parking lot. \n\n\"What if it wasn't a rumor?\" Steve asked. Max stared at him with a confused look on his face. \n\n\"Huh? How so?\" he asked.\n\n\"You really are KingBlaze's son. He had no other family, so here you are.\" Steve stared at his stepson, trying to gauge Max's emotions. He could not make out any of the boy's feelings. \n\n\"I need to think. I'll see you at home later,\" Max said. He opened the car door and stepped out of the car. He flew away on heated air currents while Steve watched. After waiting several minutes to be sure Max would not return Steve drove home. Steve waited for Max in the living room when the boy arrived. He walked by Steve, giving him a pat on the back as he passed. \n\n\"Love you, dad. Just need some time to get used to this new information. But, I'm still to call you my dad. \n\n BlazeKing was a great hero, but I have no connection to him.\" Max hugged Steve, then disappeared to his bedroom. The next day Max reassured Steve again on his way out to school. \"Don't worry dad, you won't have to come to the school today. No matter what Juan or anyone else says.\" He hugged Steve again, then walked out to the bus stop. \n\nMidway through the day Max sat in math class trying to stay awake when the building shook. A loud ruckus tore through the school, and most of the kids in Max's room started to scream. After a few seconds the side wall of Max's classroom disappeared, and a cloud of dust rolled in through the large hole. As it cleared it revealed a tall, thin man wearing all black standing on the teacher's desk. \n\n\"I'm here for KingBlaze's son. Hand him over and no one gets hurt,\" the man in black said. A sudden commotion caught the man's attention and he faced a corner in time to see some students push a short dark haired kid forward. \n\n\"Go get him, Juan!\" one of the students said. \n\n\"Yeah! Juan Million!\" another student cheered. The boy stared at the man in black, his body trembled. Two copies of him stepped out of his body, one in each direction. They walked to the side leaving behind other copies until the intruder faced 5 copies of the boy. They charged at him, but the man in black dissipated into black smoke, then appeared behind the main Juan. He knocked the boy out with a quick smack to the back of his head. \n\n\"That loser isn't who I'm looking for,\" the man said. His eyes scanned the room slowly as he looked at everyone's face. Finally, he stopped while looking at Max Eastman. The man pointed at Max. \"You. You're KingBlaze's son, I can see his flame burning in you.\" He crooked a finger at the boy, urging him closer. Unsure of what else to do, Max stepped forward.\n\n\"Spread the news folks,\" the man in black raised his arms high to address the cowering students. \"KingShadow is out of retirement.\" Max stopped in front of the man in black. The villain dropped his hands onto Max's shoulder. \"And now, no one can stop me.\" Kingshadow formed a black ball in his right hand while holding Max still with his left hand. He intended to ram the ball of dark energy into the boy's face, but Max flinched. He released a burst of fire in KingShadow's face. The man in black staggered back, yelling. \n\n\"NOOOO! TOOOO STRONG!\" He fell to the floor but continued to claw and stumble his way towards the exit. \"I'm retiring again,\" he said. His body dissipated into black smoke and vanished on the wind. The students rushed Max and lifted him on their shoulders to cheer. He felt a vibration in his pocket while the crowd bounced him up and down. He managed to pull his phone out and saw a text from his dad.\n\n\"News says KingShadow showed up at your school! Are you okay??\" it said. Max laughed and replied. \n\n\"Yeah he was here, but I kicked his ass! He's getting old.\" Max replied. Then he added another line. \"He's so old he really thinks I don't know he raised me for 15 years. Love you, dad.\"\n\n\\\\\\* \nThank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day in 2018 this is #185. You can find them collected on my [blog](http://hserratafun.blogspot.com/2017/10/front-page.html).", "Just because I’m a super villain doesn’t mean I’m not human.\n\nKilling Mighty Man was always my plan. After finding out that his secret identity was my childhood friend, I knew that I owed it to him to raise his infant child as my own.\n\nThe infant would not be raised as a villain, however. It is clear already that the child has powers. I will teach him to use his powers for good. Not because I love good doers, but because I owe it to my friend.\n\nBy the time that the boy is old enough to decide whether or not to use his powers, I will be an old man. I hate all that is good, but I cannot tolerate lesser villains. The boy wouldn’t have the heart to kill the man who raised him, if he’s anything like his father. But he can take down my enemies.\n\nThe boy is not simply a pawn. I love this child as if he were my own. I may be the most evil man on earth, but even I have an ounce of humanity left. " ]	3
	[WP] You’re a super hero and crime never sleeps, however you could really use a vacation.	[ "I'm the best, the strongest, the fastest, the smartest and also the laziest, that's why this beach feels so good.\n\nAnd you might ask, how did I managed to keep my enemies and crime controled while in my vacation?\n\n- Yes, one pizza. No, I didn't used pizza to defeat my enemies, was just ordering my pizza on the phone.\n\nBack to the story, oh yes, I managed to keep them occupied with the illusion of power, even if it doesn't exist.\n\n* A few days ago *\n\n- HAHAHAHAHA, good job, you defeated m-\n- \"Again, next time will get my revenge\" I already know what you will say, I have an offer - I said \n- An offer..? What would it be?\n- It's a challenge, I have one private island, I will promote one tournament between all the villains, the winner will receive everything he wants, even my power if he wishes so.\n\n- WHAT!? \n\nSo, yes, I promoted one tournament between villains, said it to every villain and made one specific condition, they couldn't fight until the event.\n\nI paid some time traveller devices which required an immense amount of power to work, so I made my arena absorb the villains power and power it to the devices, end of story, I sent them to the past to fight somewhere in the middle of Africa.\n\n- That's retarded. Said (...) \n\n😂 Your turn\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] The solution to the modern energy crisis was simple. All vehicles, appliances and "electronics" are artificial organic entities made of flesh and blood. Some even boast sentience.	[ "I’ve always wondered why the elders insist on calling them “electronics”. There hasn’t been an electronic component in them in decades. \n\nIts ironic, really. Father says that when he was young all the movies warned against artificial intelligence. That one day they would become sentient and rise up to take over as the dominant life form on Earth. I guess back then, completely artificial organisms were so far fetched that they never bothered warning against it. \n\nWhen all is said and done, our hubris hasn’t been our downfall quite the way they’d predicted. Sure every once and a while a car will go rogue and kill a few but thanks to the flesh and blood they’re always stopped before too much damage is done and to avoid any collusion they removed any way for the electronics to communicate. There has only been one real incident.\n\nNo one monitored the appliances back then. People just figured that even the most evil toaster would need some idiot to stick a fork in it for a problem to occur, so why waste the resources? Well the Fredrickson’s paid for that one. One day their blender gained sentience and decided that this miserable existence wasn’t worth it. They left the pot to soak and the blender figured now was it’s chance. As best as the investigators could tell, It tossed itself in and somehow started a fire. \n49...\n\n49 killed in the flames that ensued. After that, appliances are closely attended to. Specifically their emotions; for the first time in history, mental health mattered.\n\n I guess, all in all, these “electronics” really were progress. Despite what everyone who grew up watching The Terminator thought" ]	1
	[WP]: A colony of ants somehow successfully manage to summon a human	[ "“Where am I?”, says the man as he looked around this strange, yet somehow, familiar place. \n\nThe last thing he remembers was falling asleep by his couch, whiskey on one hand and a cigar on the other, staring at the glow-in-the-dark ant farm he got from his wife for his birthday. \n\nHe was never an ant person, so he never did appreciate it. But now as the trials and hearings come to an end, and the divorce just a stone throw away, every little thing has become significantly bigger. \n\nThe eerie glow of the sand began to wane as he felt his consciousness slip away into sleep. \n\nAnd now, he’s awake on what seems to be a glowing room made of sand. The glow reminded him of something, something he just saw. Then it hit him. \n\n“I must be dreaming.” He said with a nervous chuckle. “For a second there I thought I was inside the ant farm.”\n\n\nRustle. Rustle. \n\nHe heard scampers of feet not far from him. Cautiously, he went and took a peek out of the only exit in the room. \n\nTo his surprise, a giant ant with humongous eyes and even bigger mandibles looked back at him as he looked, a thing he only saw from his science books usually under the chapter for microscopes. \n\nThe huge ant moved closer to him, its mouth opening and closing like a crab’s pincer. Slowly, he stepped back, trying profusely to make sense of what was happening to him. \n\nWithout any warning, the ant grabbed him with its mandible and carried him off out of the room. \n\n“He’s not trying to kill...me?” He thought when he noticed how the ant’s mandible gently closed on him. \n\nThey passed through many tunnels and crossways all of which looks the same to him but the ant somehow knew where he’s supposed to go. \n\nA few minutes had passed, and the ant somehow stopped on its track. It dropped the man and left. \n\nThe man looked around and found that there is only one way to go forward. \n\nHe walked inside of what seems to be a room filled with white boulders. But before he can even move further, he felt something touch his shoulders, and with a quick snap, his head fell to the ground. \n\nWith the little bit of consciousness he got left, he saw his ex-wife’s face with giant mandibles eating his torso. " ]	1
Title, go with whatever you want! I know it's a little vague, but this one just kinda hit me on the couch.	[WP] Magic is real, but your magical power is directly connected to how poor you are. It is Black Tuesday, the start of the Great Depression.	[ "I was given a gift so very long ago. The gift of magic. The bending of time and space to my will, the breaking of so many laws of physics, thought ironclad by all except those who knew the truth. A very small number indeed. But power corrupts absolutely, and so it was I was imbued with a fatal flaw as well, the ultimate limit to my ascension. My magic, in ways beyond even my own understanding, is tied unwaveringly with the wealth of man. How this 'force' has the scope or the understanding to quantify 'wealth' is beyond me, but alas, it does it's job well enough, and for a great long time, I lived in squalor, my power still weak in spite of my nomadic lifestyle. I had a great many adventures yes. I traveled the globe several times through, observing the diverse cultures of man. Yet I noticed a recurring pattern wherever I went. Endless hordes of families existed in a state nearly as poor as my own! A side effect of the market systems so prevalent wherever I looked. And so my power stayed weak, the average wealth of a single man still so close to my own.\n\nIn time my body grew older and older, despite it's open-ended lifespan. I lived to see a great many changes. The descent from feudalism into democracy, the birth of the industrial era. My power grew then so very much as millions were lifted out of poverty and the once small towns I knew so very well grew huge, sudden cities with there skyscrapers and endless industrial outputs as crop yields grew and great droves of people made their pilgrimage to these new, great cities. It brought me centuries more of vitality and a curious strength in glamor. It was at that point, I discovered my curses fatal weakness. As the world ticked on, year by year, there I was, in the shadows. Subtly influencing the elections so many countries, the hidden force behind the Russian Revolution and Mao Zedong's victory over the Kuomintang. And indeed my power grew, even as I took the liberties to be a citizen in the new Soviet Union.\n\nYet half way across the world lay a competitor. The one individual standing in the way of great social revolution, and my final ascension to ultimate power, a state of being I fail to predict. He had to be vanquished, his influence purged from the western countries who fought so hard to beat back the spread of communism. The embodiment of my power. And on the the fifth of June, 1944, we met.\n\n\"I didn't imagine you'd venture to a place as far as Serbia.\"\n\n\"The Red Army and the forces behind it grow in strength everyday.\" the man spoke, old with time, yet kept young with magic. A combo which left his hair a dark shade of black on top of a wrinkled face, similar to my own. The man surveyed the landscape around him. We stood 30 feet apart on a great overlooking a grand battle below as German forces attacked the fort of Smederevo. Long arcs of light shot across the sky as the ground shook with each explosion and the sounds of death met our ears.\n\n\"I know your behind all of it.\" the man said\n\n\"And you my sole opposer to my rise to ultimate power.\" I said smiling. I was more powerful than him and we both knew it, yet I still wondered where he drew his strength from.\n\n\"Where do your draw your strength?\" I spoke, walking in a slow long circle toward him, my face drawn back in a manic grin. I was itching to use my powers to there full potential, to finally meet someone that would match my power to a point.\n\n\"I think you already know.\" the man said. And then he leaped, and was up in the air in an instant, falling toward me as his hand glowed with a lethal energy.\n\n\"So it is straight to the fighting then!\" I said as I conjured a wall of fire in front of me, thrusting my hands outward and sending it toward my assailant. He passed through the wall unscathed as a wall of water came down on me. I drew my staff and met the approaching wall of water with it. There was a loud crash as the water instantly turned to hot steam and several artillery rounds barraged the battlefield below. My opponent cried out in pain, having been encased in the wall of water as a protective cocoon. I smiled, throwing my staff out once more as great arcs of lightning descended from the sky, finding the tip of my staff, which now grew hot with dangerous heat, and shot out toward the man. He stood levitating in the air, throwing his own hand out, meeting the bolt of lightning as it arced through him and out his other hand, directly at me in a further concentrated beam of pure energy. I leaped up into the air, meeting him face to face as my staff met his forearms, coated in some magical substance impervious to the great blows imparted upon them as we parred in the sky, the battle raging on below us.\n\n\"You can't win this!\" I yelled, throwing a kick which met his chest with brutal intensity. He shot back toward the great fortress in the midst of bearing a German onslaught, and I flew after him, laughing once more at the fantastic power I found myself with.\n\nHe landed near the fortress walls the opposite side of the German assault, looking unphased, his cold gaze meeting mine as I flew toward him at dizzying speed. I met the ground with my feet, tearing up a barrage of dirt as a means to slow down. And then we met once more, my staff making, fast, blurred swings toward him as he dodged, and parred with exceptional skill, arcs of blue light forming wherever we made contact. I felt the dirt behind me, heavy and full of salt, oddly enough. I retreated several steps, an arm in front of me as I worked the earth with my mind, compacting, and shaping, and heating. But the man stood prepared, conjuring his own bolt of energy, and sending it as I sent my own lethal barrage of superheated salt shards. His beam was a hit, being shot from his hand at light speed surely. But my own attack collided with his body, even as he leapt up once more in desperate attempt to escape the lethal assault. A piece caught him in his left arm, severing it instantly as another shard met his stomach, and a third stray piece of shrapnel met his thigh. He cried out and fell to the ground, his stump of an arm spraying blood. Yet I couldn't capitalize on the chance to finish my foe once and for all. I looked down and saw the gaping hole that had punctured clean through my body, leaving a gaping, cauterized wound that had barely missed my spine. I sank to my knees, conjuring the incantations to spare my life as my eyes grew heavy and my vision dark.\n\n\"Oh god no, please no.\" I spoke, tears falling down my face as I felt my body grow weaker still. I glanced up, and saw my opponent at his feet, the blood from his various wounds curtailed by the magic he had, clearly more regenerative than my own.\n\n\"I told you I would finish this,\" the man said, his smile one of relaxed confidence in spite of his missing arm. As if reading my thoughts, he glanced down at the stump.\n\"It'll all heal and grow back just as strong. You however, well, I think we both know.\"\n\nI stared up at him with gritted teeth, my face contorted into an expression pure rage. It wasn't fair. Not like this, no so easily. But then a vision flashed in mind, my greatest gift of all, and then I knew what to do.\n\n\"If I can't beat you, then I guess we'll both be dying today.\" I said, slowly standing up as I grew sleepier still.\n\nThe man laughed, a slow hearty chuckle of man who knew he had won, and had never known anything else but winning, \"I think we both know that's not true.\" he said as a finishing arc of light began to build in his hands.\n\nI smiled one last painful time, happy enough knowing that in my death, a victor would not emerge. \"And that's your wrong motherfucker.\"\n\nHe realized in an instant what I meant, the premonition reaching him just as I felt the last piece of magic revitalizing my body. He bent his legs, to leap to safety, but I was to quick as I leapt from where I stood, flying toward him as a great sonic boom trailed behind me. I grabbed him and held tight, flying faster and faster toward the great fortress as he plunged a hand into my wound, the killing blow. But I did not feel this pain as the field of hot energy formed around me, and my hands sank deeper into his flesh. And then we hit the wall, breaking through it like butter before hitting another wall, and another after that. And then there was a flash of vision, of endless of mortar shells, explosives, kerosene. Tens of thousands of pounds of live ammunition. And then there was a flash of white, and then darkness as the last great sorcerers were vanquished in an explosion that would go down in history." ]	1
	[WP] You step outside the bunker that kept you safe for many years to see what the world has become.	[ "##Black. Onscreen text: 1994.\n\nNews Anchor (in studio): Today a local high-school student became Bingham County’s youngest millionaire following a victory in court today on his tort claim against the OshKosh Stop’n’Shop.\n\nCut to courthouse steps. They go up about five feet. Surrounded by a mostly empty parking lot.\n\nStudent’s Lawyer: Today is a great victory for justice and the innocent people of OshKosh who simply want to buy groceries in peace\n\nReporter (to Student): Can you tell us what happened?\n\nStudent: I was on my wheelies, rolling towards the Mountain Dew aisle, when I totally wiped out on some f—kin water puddle or somethin. \n\nReporter: The jury awarded you $3.4 million dollars, is that true?\n\nStudent: Broke my ass bone.\n\nReporter: Some residents of OshKosh are saying this will put the town’s only grocery store out of business. Do you have any words for them?\n\nStudent: I guess they won’t have to worry about breaking their ass bones.\n\n---\n\nCut to Stephen’s den. Chicago Bears paraphernalia on the walls. Bud Light aluminum signs. Plastic houseplants. Bookshelf with like three books on it.\n\nStephen (to Wife): Lawyers are gonna destroy America.\n\nWife: mhmm.\n\n##Black. Onscreen text: 2003.\n\nBurrito Man (to reporter): I didn’t realize the Burrito would be too hot if I cooked it longer than the instructions.\n\nReporter: And you think that justifies your $8 million court judgment?\n\n---\n\nCut to Stephen’s den. Same plastic houseplants. Craft Beer aluminum signs on the wall. Lots of DVDs on the bookshelf.\n\nStephen gives Wife a meaningful look.\n\nWife: mhmm.\n\n##Black. Onscreen text: 2018.\n\nNews anchor (in studio): An instagram model alleges that celebrity singer/songwriter Jui$y violated her intellectual property rights by ‘stealing her ass’. Here’s Frank, with more.\n\nReporter Frank: We are here with the self-employed Instagram model who calls herself Miss FlouncyBouncy, who has recently brought a claim against Jui$y in federal court. Miss FlouncyBouncy, can you tell us the substance of your claim?\n\nFlouncyBouncy points to a powerpoint showing pictures of ass shapes.\n\nFlouncyBouncy: Observe Figure 1. This is what I call Jui$y’s “birth ass”. It’s the derriere she has naturally—the one she wore in public appearances cerca 2014 through 2017.\n\nFlouncyBouncy clicks through a long series of dated photographs showing Jui$y’s ass in various jeans, dresses, bikinis, and performance costumes. She pauses on a photograph.\n\nFlouncyBouncy: June 3rd 2017, we see Jui$y’s ass is entering a profound transformation. Observe the flux and wobble.\n\nA video plays showing Jui$y walk forward two steps. FlouncyBouncy rewinds and replays the video obsessively.\n\nFlouncyBouncy: The gluteal shift here observed is blatant theft of my intellectual property. The flux and wobble has been my signature trademark since 2012.\n\nFlouncyBouncy clicks through dozens of short Instagram clips showing her own ass flux and wobble in various outfits.\n\nReporter: And how much are you hoping to receive in damages.\n\nFlouncyBouncy: $69 million.\n\n---\n\nCut to Stephen’s den.\n\nStephen (to wife): Lawyers are destroying our society. I’m gonna start building that bunker.\n\nWife: mhmm.\n\n##Black. Onscreen: 2039.\n\nTo be continued…\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] Advertising mascots are forced to engage in cage matches.	[ "\"Ladies and Gentlemen! Introducing first, in the red corner: hailing from The Seven Seas, he is The Swashbuckler, The Pirate, he is \"Captain\" Horatio Magellan Crunch!\n\nThe crowd cheers as Crunch raises his arms to the secretive audience, all crammed into a dilapidated warehouse. As the cage begins to lower around the ring, Crunch's opponent struts into the center of the squared circle. \n\n\"Introducing second, in the blue corner: from the heart of Kentucky, he is the hero of herbs, the savior of spice... Colonel! Sanders!\" \n\nA bell dings, and the two begin circling one another. They were both getting too old for this line of work, but the bills had to be payed someway ever since that damned Geico Gecko stepped in... \n\nCrunch was the first to take a swing, quickly blocked by Sanders who returned it with a kick to Crunch's knee, taking out his leg. Swinging a knee of his own, Sander's catches Crunch in the jaw sending him stumbling backwards into the wall of the cage as he tries to find his bearings. \n\n\"C'mon Captain!\" Someone yells in the crowd, receiving cheers from those beside them. The encouragement seems to work, as Crunch is able to duck underneath an elbow from the colonel, ramming him in the abdomen and sending both men down. \n\nThey rolled away from eachother, but Crunch is first back to his feet and is able to nail Sanders in the ribcage with a kick that knocks the wind right out of him. Bending down to heave him off the mat, Sanders goes low, catching Crunch with an uppercut right in the treasure chest! \n\n\"Boooooooo!\" Yells the crowd in unison, as Crunch falls to his knees. Sanders laughs as he pulls himself to his feet along the cage wall. Making sure not to get too close in fear of retaliation, Sanders shoots out his leg and connects with a boot in Crunch's chest. \n\n\"No one eats breakfast anymore, Horatio! The times are changing, and people want their food fast!\" Yells Sanders to his fallen opponent. As Crunch opens his eyes, wincing in pain, he sees the colonel standing above him, and quickly slams his fist down on Sanders' toe! \n\nHe grabs at his toe, but Crunch is quick and sweeps his other leg, sending Sanders toppling! Rolling to his knees and eventually his feet, Crunch gets back to a standing base at the same time as Sanders!\n\nSanders begins muttering insults to himself before lunging at Crunch, but Horatio doesn't flinch, instead shooting his head forward and landing a massive headbutt before Sanders can even react! \n\n\"Ooooooooohhhhh!\" \n\nSanders falls to the mat, clearly out of the fight as the bell is rung for Crunch! The cage is lifted as the audience cheers and tries to get high-fives and autographs. But the Captain refuses, walking backstage solemnly as the announcer begins introducing the next fight. \n\n\n\n\n " ]	1
	[WP] Every time you die or go to sleep, you will enter a room with two doors. One allows you to relive the day you just spent. The other sends you into a new day with a new identity, where you wakes up as a different person throughout different history timelines.	[ "Left door or right door. Simon or was it Trisha or Lando this time? It's hard when you can remember so many people from so many places. When I die or go to sleep I am given two choices, two doors. One is to relive the last day before I died and the other is to become someone new. Sometimes you get stuck in a loop for weeks. I once spent 6 weeks reliving a push into the trenches in world war 1. That sort of thing can break a person you know.\n\nSo here I am again standing in front of two doors. I'm hoping I get the new day this time because my last life was spent as an overweight middle aged man in a shitty job. I died this time. The deaths are always the worst because I feel it all, I feel everything. Every. Single. Time. This guy died of a heart attack, all alone and with no chance of being saved. Reliving that day again would just be pain and misery. The thing is, you don't just live their lives for a day, you get it all. You get their memories and their emotions, there entire lives. I can't honestly remember who the real me is anymore or why I have to go through this or even how this is happening.\n\nTime to choose I suppose. The doors are always the same with no distinction between them. I walk through the left one this time and my disembodied mind seems to shoot straight into a new body. I feel lean and strong and my mind is buzzing. There's an instant clarity. I'm a commander in the marines. Not just any marines though. This one could be fun cause I'm pretty sure I'm in the future. I mean, the future relative to my last life. I'm a powerful female officer with bright blue eyes and short cropped brown hair. My eyes are unnaturally blue and suddenly my senses come alive with mission reports and tactical data. I have to coordinate a defence against an alien invasion. This isn't the first time either, earth has been fighting this war for decades. Fortunately we've made some huge advancements in our war technology but I know it's not been a complete success. We have outer orbit defence cannons to keep the alien race at bay but the war is slowly dwindling the earth resources. \n\nAnother alert pops up in front of me. ALERT ALERT. Subject 0 has timeline synchronisation. I bolt out of the briefing room and straight to the underground bunker. You see, earth can't win this war but we can hold them off, forever if need be. But it doesn't mean we're free, it means we're trapped. So our best minds created a sort of time machine that can send the minds of our most highly trained soldiers back into the past. The only trouble is that we have no idea where or when so the soldiers mission was to kill themselves at the first opportunity until they made it to a point in time where the aliens had not attacked and where technology was advanced enough to stop the attack. Whenever a soldiers timeline coincided with a possibility for change we would know about it. Now was one of those moments.\n\nI burst through the door to the lab to ask what's been found but I'm immediately interrupted by one of the labs scientist.\n\n\"Cognitive readings are off the chart, it's her, Sir it's commander Lazarus, She's the host.\" Shouts the scientist.\n\nThe room is large, with gantries and walkways overlooking a giant metal cube with glass panels on each side. Inside is a man floating freely in something that could be water but I suspect is more a gel like substance. I never did understand this time travelling concept. The man in the cube has wires attached to him all over his body, especially on his head and his eyes are closed as if in meditation. The lead scientist Professor Armstrong walks up to me quickly, an urgency in his stride.\n\n\"Arcadius, you need to remember the mission. Please, remember your mission. There's not a lot of time. Remember the door trick, you have the choice and you've always had the choice. Get back through the correct door and contact me as soon as you're here and we will go over everything\", at this point the Professor is interrupted by another one of his scientists.\n\n\"Sir, cognitive collapse has begun. We can't stop it, She's seen too much\", the scientist says sadly to the Professor. He looks at me with a pained expression and then back to Subject 0. I follow his gaze, still confused at what's happening and meet the eyes of subject 0. Suddenly they snap open and I'm staring into milky white opaque eyes. They don't seem to see anything but in the instant our eyes meet there is a searing pain in my head. I'm collapsing. Looks like the end of another life. As this life ends I hear something vaguely in the distance. \"Remember who you are Arcadius and remember that you have the choice. The doors are your choice\".\n\nEND OF PART 1.\n\nIf anyone likes this enough I'll write more. Hope you like it!" ]	1
	[WP] After eons of searching the universe for life humanity finds no signs of an alien presence, that is until they reach the edge of the universe where they find a barrier that looks quite a bit like the inside wall of a petri dish.	[ "The ship spun out of control. An alarm blared and the cockpit flashed red. Dave disabled autopilot and steadied the ship. Out in the expanse, through the view-screen, a large seemingly plastic wall had disrupted the flight path. The ship must not have detected the substance and had bonged right against it.\n\nDave checked the readouts. Only minor damage, nothing the nano-bots wouldn’t be able to fix.\n\nHe scratched at his long white scraggly beard. He had long forgone shaving when he lost the ability to stream visuals back to main command. Only voice and data now. He was one of a select and prestigious group of single-manned ships sent to the farthest reaches of space seeking alien life. \n\n“Bring us as close to that wall as possible,” Dave commanded the autopilot.\n\nIt couldn’t be. Scans showed that it was truly plastic. A synthesized material out in the furthest reaches of space? The wall stretched in every direction, it’s size beyond the scanners reach. \n\nThe galaxies edge. As Dave stared out into the plastic void he couldn’t help but think of lab experiments back home. The boring petri dish experiments he had to suffer through in his exhaustive training.\n\nHe had abandoned everything. For this? \n\nJust as he was about to turn away from the view-screen the unmistakable sight of a ginormous eyeball appeared from beyond the plastic. As soon as he saw it, it was gone. \n\nDave shook his head. Deep-space-delirium?\n\nAll the training and years of travel to discover this. He hesitated to send the captured scans and data back to command. But it was his duty and he never skirted it. \n\nDave sent the data packets out into space. He knew that he would forever be known as the man to break the news of mankind's petri-dish-civilization. " ]	1
	[WP] You work for the government, in a special division that has only one objective. Discredit anyone who has seen evidence of the supernatural.	[ " God I love my job...Few things bring me more joy than ruining people's lives... As you've probably guessed by now that I'm not what most would consider a \"good person\", but it takes a special kind of person to do this job in the first place. You're wondering what I do I guess? Well I work for the USPDA (United States Paranormal Discrediting Agency) and I'm sure you've never heard of us. You see, we work off the grid, in the shadows to make sure that no one knows what really goes on behind the scenes of this perceived reality.\n\n \"Perceived reality?\" you may be asking me? Well there are things that happen all over the world that cannot be explained within the realm of our normal, physical explanations. That being said, we police the paranormal in this department, and make sure that the world doesn't know that it truly does exist for fear of what kind of pandemonium it may cause. \n\n Our main priority is to police if anyone comes up with evidence or claims that provide physical proof that this realm does indeed exist, we destroy it. We make sure that they are made out to look like a crazed lunatic, all from behind our curtain here in D.C.\n\n My name? Well you can just call me Agent Kraven. I've been the head of this project for the last 10 years. Previously I worked as a field operative for the department and loved every minute of it. Now I just work on the bigger cases, doing whatever it takes to protect the free world from knowing the truth about the paranormal. \n This case we're on right now is probably the biggest one so far. This guy, \"Professor P\" (P stands for Paranormal) caught video evidence of an apparition in a house he's been working in for months now. This guy has been a real pain in the past, and is one of the leading conspiracy theorists that people seem to listen to pertaining to the topic of paranormal activities. He has a blog that has several thousand subscribers, and does a weekly video blog on YouTube.\n To say this guy was trouble for us would be an understatement. He's almost broken news about the paranormal several times, and this case is no different. My team and I are leaving shortly to head to Wilton, Connecticut where he's been conducting his research for months. We will do WHATEVER it is that we need to, to make sure he is silenced.\n You may be asking yourself right now, \"Why am I willing to share all of this classified information with you?\" Well the beauty of my job is you'll never remember that we had this conversation when we're done here. I can make any and all information disappear from your memory. I just really enjoy telling people about what it is that I do. \n That being said, I just want you to look at this light here really quick, and... Done. I hope you have had a wonderful stay here, now here's your luggage, and your tickets home. Your driver is in the other room, and he will take you to the airport. Have a wonderful vacation Mr. Smith...\n\n *I know this isn't great, but i have some ideas as to how this story could go, but I would love some feedback", "January 26th, 20xx,\n\nThe worst part about the job is the destruction of an Innocent's reputation.\n\nMost people keep their evidence on a wireless enabled device, which makes the job far simpler. The Nerds back in IT have a whole suite of programs specialized for various tasks. One of which is cracking that wireless encryption. Once I'm on their network, it's an easy thing to impersonate that Innocent.\n\nOne of the programs in the suite I had mentioned before was created to randomly generate some of the craziest conspiracy theory jargon. We have something called blank* accounts, these are random nutzo bot accounts, that generate random data about this conspiracy or that conspiracy. The AI is so intelligent that it'll have conversations with actual people, and they have no idea they are talking to a machine. All the IPs are masked through VPN accounts, mostly of the free variety, and then my job is to pepper the Innocent's own IP address here and there.\n\nAnother software program will make a video or picture look \"fake\", with the tell-tale signs of dirt particles or those lines they talk about that makes it look altered. I'm not entirely sure, I was suppose to read the technical white paper on the ins and outs of it, but never got around to do it. I just run the program, and boom, done.\n\nAfter working this particular case, I'm going to forward this up to the management. The images this dude took are horrifying to the say the least. We'll need an Alpha Team to take care of this problem soon.\n\nJanuary 29th, 20xx,\n\nThe second worst part about this job is management being slow, and people getting killed.\n\nSo, the Alpha Team was late. Again. They did their job, alright. Kill it dead, but not before it was able to take control of that poor guy and go on a murdering spree. Now I'm tasked with making this Innocent not only be a conspiracy quack, but a dangerous, murderous conspiracy quack. I hate writing manifestos. Why can't they just automate that.\n\nFebruary 5th, 20xx\n\nI've been checking the news, and sometimes I marvel at how easy it is to destroy a person. A lifetime of being a good citizen, law-abiding, fair, judicious, honest. All of it, burned to an ash heap and for the world to see. That lie I created, is my mark on society, I am the one that brings about your reputations destruction. Good bye, Innocent. Hello, Guilty. Welcome to the club of ash heap souls." ]	2
	[WP] You've granted one wish, you wished to know the truth, the walls of reality fell down and everything that remains, it's just an old man laughing at you at nothingness "This is the best prank I ever did!"	[ "You sit there watching the old geezer.\n\n\"DON'T YOU GET IT?!\" The old man asks you. \"It's all just a joke! A silly joke! Nothing more than a jab at the reality that isn't there!\"\n\n\"What do you mean, you old geezer?\"You ask.\n\n\"I just told you! Reality itself is nothing more than a joke I keep around for parties!\"The architect tells you.\n\n\"You're a dirty person, you know that?\"You ask him.\n\n\"Dirty? You're the invasive monkey here! Or should I say, the invasive fool who thought he could understand the secrets!\"He laughs at you.\n\n\"I'm going to give you three seconds...\"You said.\n\n\"Three seconds until what? You fall over and cry? Because you sir have been duped!\"He laughs.\n\nYou grunt and run at him, screaming in anger.\n\nHe's not there, he's behind you.\"YOU WANT TO FIGHT ME?!\"\n\n\"Well... It's the only choice I have, I have to bring you to justice!\"You run at him, screaming. You start wailing on him, but you open your eyes and you're hitting nothing... Although it certainly didn't feel like nothing..\n\n\"Alright, alright... I'll give you a choice, you can stay here, and be sad about your sorry existence... Or...\"He began.\n\n\"Or?\"You asked.\n\n\"I wipe your memory, and you go home. Scott free...\"He said.\n\n\"Alright... Deal... Send me home...\"You said.\n\nAnd it turns out it was all just a dream... You think... It might've been real, and you dreaming about it is just a cover up. With luck, you'll never know." ]	1
	[WP] It's just an average day, on this average earth, in 2018. You go to a local antique bookstore. In the back, behind another book, you see the title "How to Read Minds"	[ "\"Two salmonberries, 1/2 sheet of rice paper, 4 pine needles, 3 ounces maple sap...what is this... a dash of white pepper...'add vanilla extract as required.' Oh well.\" I line the ingredients up on the counter, along with regular kitchen devices required for making food, as expected.\n\n\"'Boil 2 teaspoons of sunflower oil and 1 cup of water together in a large pot. Add ingredients in list, 1 unit at a time, each 30 seconds apart'...what the hell?\"\n\nA while later...\n\n\"And...ta da!!!!!\" I hold up a mortar bowl of paste-like soup, all of the ingredients ground up after being boiled, baked and deep-fried.\n\nReluctantly, I eat up each and every last trace of sludge, swallowing it down and topping it off with iced water, as the book suggested.\n\n\"Oh...ugh...that was awful!\" I turn to Murphy, my cat, sitting innocuously on the ground and grooming himself. \"Do you have a say in this?\"\n\nMurphy looks up and mews in the flattest tone, then returns to grooming without another thought.\n\nI refer back to the book's instructions.\n\nNap in complete darkness for at least 30 minutes to activate desired effects.\n\n\"The closet downstairs and some duct tape. That's doable.\" Sauntering down to the guest room, I open up the closet and remove everything inside, leaving a cavity just big enough to fit me and my mind-reading book. With a few well placed stretches of tape, I wall off all light entering the closet from the inside, and shrouded in total darkness, curl up in preparation for any weird or unsettling things to happen in my nap.\n\nGo to sleep...go to sleep...go to sleep...\n\nThe wind is howling in my ears; a mad wreck of chaos and discord pummels buildings and sends civilians in as much confusion and panic as the debris, sailing overhead and sealing close the sky. I run from cover to cover, trying to find refuge from parts of buildings and iron bars that whiz by my face and grind along the torn and desolated streets. Cars fling by like props on a movie set, street lamps bend like stalks of green onions.\n\nI huddle behind a building, in the back alley, and wait.\n\nMy phone is almost out of battery, but I whip it out of my pocket and...\n\nThat's not my phone.\n\nIt's my brother, Chuck's.\n\nWith tears streaming down my face, open my messaging app, tap on 'my' name, type in 3 words into the chat:\n\nI love you\n\n...\n\n...go to sleep...go to sleep...go to sleep...\n\n..Except those aren't my thoughts. Everything there wasn't me. I sit up, startled, and outside I hear a muffled scream.\n\nChuck.\n\nDid I just mind read?\n\nI close my eyes and concentrate and suddenly memories, thoughts, ideas, things he doesn't even know he remembered, crushes and love lives spilling into my brain. I gasp and breathe, awed at what just happened.\n\nThe closet door creaks and shuffles, then yanks open. Chuck is staring at me.\n\n\"Dude, what the hell are you doing?\"\n\nI stagger to my feet, pushing the mind reading book behind the closet door.\n\n\"Just...meditating.\"\n\n\"Well, we're making dinner and on our own. How 'bout that. Mom and Dad are staying in Costa Rica another night!\" He turns around to walk out, but I stop him quickly.\n\n\"G...uhh...think of a number between 1 and a billion.\"\n\n\"Okay...\" '306,000,047.0000001. Also, I'm jealous that Troy and Nancy are going out now.'\n\nI smile. I can literally hear him saying his thoughts, as if his brain can only talk in a matter-of-fact voice.\n\nSomething else invades my mind. A thought upstairs. Two, in fact. Murphy's...and a door-to-door salesman, almost about to knock, but gearing up with a pep talk.\n\n\"Before the door-to-door salesman arrives, I'm guessing...three hundred and six million, 47 and zero zero...\" My head reads each zero off of his, \"...zero one. Did I get it?\"\n\nChuck's eyes widen into dinner plates. \"What. The. Fu-\"\n\nThe door-to-door salesman knocks and takes a step back upstairs. \"Marvelo publishing corp., here for all your book and magazine needs!\"\n\nI put my hand around Chuck's mouth so nobody hears him scream.\n\n\"How. Did. You. Do. That?\"\n\n\"Dunno, lucky guess. Hey, I'll get the door, how 'bout that?\" I head upstairs, then stop and turn around. \"By the way, Nancy and Rita are a lost cause, don't chase after them and you know Dad was saving the wagyu for later, so don't even think about making it for tonight.\" I sprint up the stairs as the salesman knocks one more time.\n\n\"Son of a-\"" ]	1
	[WP] "Dammit Todd, didn't I tell you not to press that button!?"	[ "Todd had been told specifically not to press the button with an eye on it. But this was Todd, not Danny, not Ryan, Todd. Of all of my friends, why'd it have to be Todd to push that button, why not Ross, or Elric?\n\nThis button, it would materialize whatever best fit you. But Todd could barely keep interest in something for five minutes, much less control a being made of imagination.\n\nBut 15 minutes passed, and nothing happened. Then, out of the blue, a strange man with a Tv on his head and rainbow lights on a white suit walked in.\n\nWe were stunned, who was this man? What did he want?\n\nHe picked up the button and examined it. \"Sorry boys, button machine broke.\"The Tv Man said. \"Maybe next time.\" He placed it in a white suitcase with colored lights on it and walked out." ]	1
	[WP] While waiting at a bus stop a thought rolls through your head, "it's fucking freezing". You were not prepared for the man standing next to you to say, "you shouldn't swear for something that is your fault".	[ "“Fuck you asshole!” I screamed after the yellow cab sped by, splashing shit-brown slush all over my Berluti Oxfords. Today was just not my fucking day. You’d think after I made my first millions, I could avoid trudging through the crowded, snowy streets of New York. But of course, I somehow still found myself tramping through disgusting sludge to find the public bus. \n\n“Reminder: have Janice tell the chauffeur to find a new job.” I grumbled into my phone. \n\n“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Siri countered. \n\n“You’ve gotta be joking..” I mumbled, and looked up from my phone in disgust. \n\nMy testy attitude was slightly soothed when I realized I had finally made it to a bus stop. It took several minutes of disorientation to determine that I was in fact at the right bus station. No wonder I was struggling. I realized I hadn’t used the bus in over 20 years. I stood there, waiting for what seemed like an eternity. I looked at my phone, only minutes had passed since Siri had proved herself useless. I surprisingly found a white patch of snow and attempted to scrape the sludge off my shoes and exhaled in frustration. The moisture in my breath practically froze immediately on contact with the dry air, “God, it’s fucking freezing!” I moaned. \n\n“You shouldn’t swear for something that is your fault.” A voice proclaimed behind me. \n\nI felt a nudge behind my back.\n\nSomething was pressed on my back - what the fuck?\n\nI attempted to spin around to see who had the nerve to speak to me. But a strong hand quickly grasped my shoulder and held me in place. \n\n“You’re not riding the bus today, let’s take a walk.” The voice boomed.\n\nThe hand pushed me forward, and my legs followed. The voice behind me continued. \n“You know what you’ve done wrong. You know why that snow is black. You know why it’s cold. You know why I’m here. ”\n\nIt was at this point, my mind slammed to a stop. A gun, it is a gun on my back. And then my mind started racing.\n\n“Look, take my wallet, whatever you want - it’s yours.” I stammered.\n\n“Your money can’t save you here. Your actions have corrupted our world for far too long, and I’m going to do something about it. I can’t rebuild all the reefs you destroyed in the high seas, and I can’t return all the fish you illegally caught. I can’t absorb all the gases you’ve contributed, and I can’t fix the climate change. But I can stop you from ever making it worse again. This is the start of something new, a revolution. And you’re the first objective, so you should feel special. You always wanted to be wealthy? Famous? Remembered? Well here you go.”\n\nBANG.\n\nEverything went black.", "“Fuck you bud, you’re not my mo- Wait, did you just say my fault? Are you on crack?”\n\nThe man turned and smiled, “No, I am not your mom, but I am old enough to be your ancestors, and they say to always respect your elders right?” His grin widened. My mouth opened to retort and he lifted a finger. “Now now, no need for banter here. And to answer your other question, no I am not on crack, mortal drugs have no effect on me.”\n\nHe put his hand in my shoulder. “There is a lot you don’t know. And even more you have yet to realize.” He points. “Your bus is leaving.” I curse. “Fuck. Goddammit old man!” I say as I run towards the bus yelling for it to wait for me. The man just smiled and shakes his head. When I finally catch the bus I turn to look back and he is gone.\n\nA rough hand grabs me and throws me inside. I look up, and my protest dies on my lips as I see the face accompanying the hand. “Welcome aboard, asshole. Next stop, Hell.”", "I immediately turned my head and cocked an eyebrow; my face was emanating a perplexed yet wary look. For a moment, the old odd man dressed in grey bib overalls suddenly looked confused at my confusion. His face wore a long soft-looking ash beard that stretched from cheek to cheek and extended to the tip of his fingers. \n“You seem confused, when it is plenty obvious what has happened.” The old man said; his lips didn’t move an inch, his eyes were locked into mine. A sudden shudder slithered up my back as a brisk cold gust found its way under my coat.\n“You seem a bit frightened, no need, for I am here talking to you just because you were on my path.”\n\n“Why?...” I mumbled, barely audible...\n\n“Why, what? That it’s your fault??? Let me answer your question with a question; why do you think trees line the plots of agricultural lands?”\n\n“Uhhhh... I don’t know...”\n\n“They stop the wind from eroding the topsoil, and you humans, when you settle, you raze the land of its features, removing hills, valleys, and entire forests... It allowed me to travel much farther and faster than ever before.”\n\n“Wait, what do you mean by ‘you humans’ and traveling?? Also, how is it still my fault???” I lashed.\n\n“Everyone has a piece of this world, and therefore everyone shares its responsibility. You bus is here.”\n\nI looked to my left for a brief second and the recognizable blue inside of the bus popped into view; but when I turn back, he was gone just as sudden as he appeared. \n\n(Note, I wrote this at midnight to 1am so I apologize in advance for mistakes and possible cringe. It’s also my first time posting in this subreddit)\n2018-07-11" ]	3
	[WP] Prisons in the future are designed as Virtual Constructs, with time passing faster in VR than they do IRL. It is possible to complete an entire life sentence in less than a year. That doesn't mean Prisoners are getting off lightly...	[ "\"Mr. Harrison, as a direct consequence of your conviction, you have been remanded to this Massachusetts State Remedial Facility to serve your sentence of 30 years, subjective. Please remove all your clothing and step into the shower stall.\" The technician had obviously gone through this spiel a hundred times, but it was still new to me. This was my first incarceration after all, and the State was intent on ensuring that it would be my last.\n\nI'd just finished the colon cleansing regimen, and the shower felt great. I was now clean as a whistle, inside and out.\n\nOnce I had dried off, the techs zipped me into a body suit attached to several umbilicals, then attached several cables to connectors at almost every major joint. As soon as the last cable was secure, the system lifted me about 10 centimeters off the floor.\n\nOne of the techs placed a short stepladder on the floor in front of me, and a tech climbed to the top carrying a VR helmet. \"Okay Mister Harrison,\" she said kindly, \"this is your last look at the real world until your release, so check your suit fit. Do you feel any discomfort, numbness, or pain anywhere?\"\n\n\"No, I'm fine.\" I was actually far more comfortable than I had any right to be.\n\n\"Here we go then,\" she smiled. \"See you in thirty years!\" And with that, she lowered the VR helmet over my head, and attached its short cable to the suit.\n\nAnd I was in Hell.\n\nIt wasn't a hell of physical torment, mind you, but a continuous deluge of sensory input designed to give the impression that time was passing faster. It was impossible to think of it dispassionately like that, though, when it was all coming at you so fast. It was as if the Global Knowledge Repository was squatting over me and taking a giant diarrheic shit directly into my brain.\n\nIt hurt, It made me feel like I was losing my mind, and it seemed to take eons. I was certain I had almost finished my sentence, when I turned my head a bit too far to the right and noticed a counter in the extreme corner of my field of vision.\n\nThirteen seconds had passed.\n\nI felt like I screamed forever, there inside the helmet, and I knew I could never allow myself to look at that corner again.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nFinally the visor went dark, the sensory inputs ceased, and I felt myself being rotated to a horizontal position and lowered onto a bed. I felt the cables being detached simultaneously from both sides, as if two people were working together. At the same time, the helmet was pulled free and I found myself looking up at the same technician.\n\n\"You're still here?\" I asked raspily. \"You haven't changed a bit. You look just as I remember you.\"\n\n\"Of course I do!\" she laughed. \"That was only two weeks ago. You were an e3 prisoner, so your subjective incarceration was a thousand times faster than objective time.\n\n\"It'll take a few minutes to get your equilibrium back, so just relax here until you're ready. The showers are in there,\" she said, gesturing toward a door opposite the one where I came in, \"and your clothes are in locker number 14--your name's on the locker door.\n\n\"Welcome back to life, and to freedom, Doctor Harrison.\"\n\nDoctor? Why did she--and then I remembered that I held Ph.D.'s in electrical engineering, linguistics and cognitive science from the Massachusetts Virtual University. When was it that I had earned those? For some reason I couldn't fix a time to them.\n\nBut that wasn't important. What was important was that I felt a new, insatiable drive to make a positive difference in the world--something more useful than my previous misguided life tilling at windmills, fighting an imagined totalitarian state that obviously doesn't exist.\n\n\"Uh--thank you,\" I finally managed.\n\nIt was time to go. I had some catching up to do." ]	1

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