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] You visit a mystic who can tell with 100% accuracy if you're in the first or second half of your life. When you walk in, her crystal ball explodes.	[ "\"AH!\" I jumped back and shielded my face. \"Don't worry hun it was just my crack pipe, happens all da time\" the old woman smiled and turned to face a box on the floor. She produced a new pipe and a bulging Ziplock bag. She placed a lighter on the table. \"Wanna see ya future?\" \n\nI quickly scanned the room. The walls were bare except for a single frame that held a poorly torn calendar page with March in the corner. The single window was covered in torn tin foil and duct tape. In the corner on the floor laid a man with a needle dangling from his arm, filthy pants around his ankles.\n\n\"Thank you ma'am but uh, um I have to go, I'm ahem late for work. Thank you!\" I quickly made my way back down the concrete steps and back to my Sedan. Gravel and dust flew as I sped out of the trailer park, back on to the highway. ", "I hold hope in my hands. \n\nAs I am waiting in line to see her, the verified mystic, my hands begin to sweat. My hope cannot be ruined by the sweat of my hands. My hope is strong and protected by its bottle. My hope is safe. \n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nMy mother puts her hand on my shoulder. She doesn't agree with this. She is frightened of what this woman will tell me, will tell her. I am not afraid. \n\nI hold hope in my hands. \n\nWe are next in line. My father pushes me forward. He tries so hard to be strong. He knows how weak I am and how frightened my mother is. He tries to be so strong. I will be strong.\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nWe are entering the tent, I open the bottle my hope contains and swallow the pill that is hope as I look into the old lady's eyes. As I swallow the pill her eyes grow wide and her crystal ball explodes into glass fragments. I bring up my hands to shield my eyes. My hands are cut as some of the glass is embedded in my palms.\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nI look down at my hands. They hurt. They are bleeding. They are thin. My wrist on my left arm bears a bandage from where my IV was. On my right wrist is my hospital bracelet. I read my name, I read my illness. I see the glass from the crystal ball in my hands.\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nMy mother collapses sobbing. My father asks the woman if she saw anything before the ball shattered. The woman is angry. She points to my hands.\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nShe said we cheated. She sends us away. My mother begs through her sobs. My father bends to help her up. The woman starts picking up the pieces.\n\n\"I hold hope in my hands.\"\n\nThey all get quiet. I raise my palms to show the old woman the glass shards that are sticking out of my hands. My mother shrieks and goes to me, to try and heal this hurt. The woman commands her not to touch me. She takes hold of my wrists.\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nShe looks at my hands. She looks at the blood flowing freely. She looks into the glass. She looks into my eyes. She tells me I am very sick. She smiles at the glass.\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nMy hope is in my stomach. My hope is in her answer. I did not mean to cheat. I meant to give my hope to others. I will give hope to others.\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nThe old woman is still smiling as she looks at the patterns of the light in the glass created by the candles and reflected off my blood. My blood is still flowing. She opens her mouth to speak. With each word, she removes a piece of glass. It hurts. My hands hurt.\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\n\"You were dying before you took the pill. You cheated when you took it. You will die if you do not get treatment for these cuts in your hands. Otherwise, you should live for at least another 8 years, most likely more. Come and see me before then.\"\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nMy hope is now for sure. My hope can save. My hope has saved me. My hope is a cure. My hands are free from the glass. They are bandaged by the doctor who traveled with us. I ask for the bottle.\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\nMy mother is weeping with joy as we leave the tent. My father stands truly strong as he wheels me out of the tent. The doctor makes a phone call. The old lady stops us. She puts a bit of the glass from her ball in my bottle. \"Remember.\"\n\nI hold hope in my hands.\n\n", "The witch lived in the little house at the edge of the forest away from the village of Ebonfor. The town people all regarded her as a mystic, one who can look into the future like a window. But I knew better. Every Inquisitor knew the truth behind those lies. \n\nI kick in the door with my heavy mailed boot. It gives in like clay as I step through the entryway, sword first into the dark and dusty home. I only see the witch for a second before her crystal ball explodes into a deadly spray of death that peppers my armor. Falling backwards I fling the holding spell i had been casting at the shadow flying towards the door before crashing into a bookcase full of books.\n\n\"You filthy monster!\" the witch shrieks from the wall where I had trapped her. Sitting up I look at her cast in the light from the open door.\nHer features are stunning one moment and horribly evil the next as they twist and mash. Her voice is a mix of rage and terror\n\n\"You have been clever to hide like this Jezebel. There are tons of con artists selling fortunes and reading tarot cards.\" I say, getting to my feet. \"But only one witch requires a drop of blood to bind the magic my dear.\"\n\n\"Show me your face! How do you know who I am?\" she screams, struggling against my spell. \n\nUnlacing the straps I slowly pull off the full helm of the Inquisition from my head and smile as the realization flows through her eyes. A sense of joy fills my heart as the next words come out of my mouth, years rehearsed. \"Till death do us part my dear wife. By order of the Pope, I sentence you to death by my sword.\" \n\n\"Joseph...\" She says, \"please...\"\n\n\"You aren't my wife anymore. Satan is your husband now.\" I say as I pick up my sword. It shines in the light as I step forward. \"Allow me to consummate the marriage.\"\n\nThat night the town heard screams echoing along every rafter of every house. In the morning, the little house by the woods was burned to ashes. \n" ]	3
	[WP] You're watching some old home movies from when you were a little kid, when you notice something in the background. Something impossible.	[ "I wasn't sure why my mother had never mentioned the VHS tapes she had stashed away in the bottom of her bedroom closet. I was only rooting around in there because I'd loaned her some shoes last time I'd come home from college and I wanted them back, but instead I found about a dozen unlabeled tapes stacked neatly in the back corner behind the pile of shoes and mostly hidden by some long dresses. At first I thought they were going to be weird sex tapes or something, but when curiosity compelled me to put one in the VHS player my parents still had lying around, I found that they were of a different nature altogether.\n\nThe first tape started off with a grainy view of our living room. It was Christmastime according to the decorated tree beside the fireplace and the wreath sitting on the mantle, partially obscuring the large mirror behind it. After a few moments a woman came onscreen carrying a small baby. It took me a long moment to recognize her as my mother, and I was only certain of her identity when I heard her voice say \"Look, Ashley, Santa Claus came!\"\n\nAshley is my name, so I assumed the baby in her arms must have been me. My birthday is in September, so this must have been my first Christmas. I watched transfixed as a part of my past that I had no chance of remembering played out before me. I got some new pajamas and a few baby toys that year, and most of the tape was just me snuggling in my mother’s arms while she tried to get me to play with a stuffed elephant. Eventually I started getting fussy, and my mother got up and took me out of the room. After a few moments the living room scene went staticky, and I fast forwarded a bit to make sure that it wasn’t just a blank spot in this homemade tape, but that seemed to be the end of the recording.\n\nI quickly popped the next tape in. This one started in the same manner: a view of our living room without anyone in it. There was no Christmas tree this time. The scene remained unmoved for longer than the first one, but eventually a toddler came running into the room laughing hysterically. It was me again, and close behind me was my mother. I fell to the floor, still giggling, and my mother immediately scooped me up and spun me around, also laughing. She played with me a bit, tickling me, blowing raspberries at me, and tossing me up in the air, all the while laughing with me amidst my screams of excitement.\n\n“Come on, silly girl, we need to get you dressed!” she said finally.\n\n“Noooooooo!” squealed the still pajama-clad toddler, but I made no moves to resist as my mother carried me back the way we came.\n\nAgain the scene remained still for a time before going staticky, and again I found that that was the end of the video, despite there being hours of recording time left on the tape.\n\nI was starting to feel like something was a little strange about these tapes, but I kept watching them. Each captured between five to fifteen minute snippets of my childhood, not always in order. There was another Christmas scene, and a birthday party, but most of them were just regular days, always filmed from the same angle in our living room. However, something in the seventh one caught my attention.\n\nThe large mirror above the fireplace was directly opposite a bay window looking out into the front yard. From the angle that the camera was at, I could clearly see the front yard through the window reflected in the mirror. The young me in the video was doing something in the living room as usual, but some movement in the yard drew my eyes up to the mirror. It was just our dog running around, but as I was about to look back to myself in the living room, the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.\n\nWhere was the camera?\n\nFrom this angle I should have been able to see the camera in the mirror, but there was nothing there. I tried to convince myself that I was wrong, that the camera was shorter than the window and out of view of the mirror, but I couldn’t. I had literally just finished my college trigonometry midterms the week prior and passed with flying colors. I had a natural talent for visualizing this stuff, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I should be able to see the recording device in that mirror.\n\nFed up of having more questions than answers, I decided to text my mother at work.\n\nHey mom, why did you never show me the video tapes from when I was a kid?\n\nThe answer was not what I wanted.\n\nWhat video tapes?\n\nAfter I explained where I’d found them and what the contents were, she called me instead of texting back.\n\n“Ash, get out of the house and call your cousin Tiffany to come pick you up. Leave the tapes where they are. I’m calling the police now. I’ve never done more than take pictures of you with a polaroid or my phone and we certainly never owned a video camera. And I have never been aware of any VHS tapes in my closet.”\n\nI spent the rest of the day at Tiffany’s house. The police confiscated the tapes, and despite repeated inquiries by my mother, they have never provided any answers.\n\nWhenever I’m home from college now, I don’t spend much time in the living room anymore.\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are a violent vigilante with one flaw:every time you are about to kill a bad person you see their day-to-day life flash before your eyes.	[ "A lit cigarette. Sometimes all it takes to survive a cold night is a warm pair of lungs. \nI took another drag. It was the nights peak and the winter cold cut through my jacket. I had stepped out to have a cigarette. Sometimes the isolation of a quiet night is a reassuring solace.\n\nMemories make it hard to get through the night. You wouldn't understand.\n\nThis is my method of operation, I live in between fatique and unconsciousness. It was late enough that night for the entire city to be asleep, the only souls left were floating back home from their night out.\n\nSomething about this night isn't right. It is sinister. At first I can't identify it. A slight glitch, my sixth sense pacing ahead while I try to catch up. Then I notice her. And him. A girl walking home alone. Her billowy dress was gently swept by the breeze and she was cold. She was being trailed.\n\nSomething about the way he was walking was a cue to his pursuit. He was not racing after her but his gaze was fixed. Judging by her pace she had realized that this man was not going to divert his path from hers. She was frightened and he was moving quickly. \n\nI waited for them to both turn the corner before I began to follow. I stepped out the cigarette and gently pressed my hand against my breast. I felt my knife, it's reassuring coolness gave me the courage I needed to pursue them.\n\nI kept my distance, being sure to stay out of his sight but his focus was elsewhere. As she started to increase her pace so did he, eventually she began to run. So did he. I knew now that I needed to act and began to sprint but they turned into an alleyway. As I heard a woman scream and I pulled out my knife.\n\nThere was the girl. Lying the the dark, her billowy dress clung to the damp floor, her hair clumped around her head. Something wasn't right, how had she been attacked so fast? Where was the attacker that had pursued her? He must have seen me and ran out the other end of the alleyway. \n\nI approached her quickly and knelt beside her. She didn't seem to be breathing.\n\nI pressed a finger to her neck to check for a pulse. As I did her eyes opened and her arm moved quickly from under her dress. She was holding a gun.\n\nBefore I could think I had slashed at her. A single gunshot blasted the sound of the area. Blood sputterd from her throat and her mouth as the life quickly drained out of her. \n\n\nSomething wasn't right.\n\nA shilouette where the street lamp's light should have been at the entrance to the alleyway. Coming at me quickly. Cold.\n\n\nI covered his mouth and his last breath flowed through my fingers. I cradled him in my arms as his\nheart slowed and his memories subsided. Gently I lowered him onto the ground next to his victim and adversary. \n\nI realized my mistake.\n\nTonight, I was the bad person.\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] After a brain-splitting surgery, you wake up in your hospital bed, completely paralyzed. Suddenly, you get up and walk to the bathroom against your own will. You are trapped in the half of the brain with no control over the body, but the other half believes the surgery was a complete success.	[ "When I was younger I contracted a tumor in one half of my brain and it was spreading quickly. We decided to try a new experimental surgery, a \"brain-splitting surgery\". Pretty much they cut off the half with the tumor. Yep that's right just cut it straight off. Then they harvest the healthy brain tissue and grow another half a brain in the lab using a 3D printer, with the healthy material as the medium. Modern medicine has advanced greatly. So we go through with the surgery. I'm scared, I don't know if I want to go through with it but everyone's excited to see how it works. I'm second guessing it but can I really let everyone down when they want this so bad too? Maybe it'll all be okay, I think as they start the anesthesia. Blackness takes over my vision. After an indeterminate amount of time I wake up again. I try to move around but my neck won't move. What's going on? Suddenly I stand up and start walking towards the bathroom. But it's not me. It can't be. I'm not controlling this. Then I hear a voice. \"Thank god this worked, I was getting tired of not being able to come out play\" as I(?) flip my hospital gown to the side to go to the bathroom. \"Ahhhh\" my body says. My body? My mind? \"You're probably wondering what's going on right about now, so I'll let you in on it all. I'm part of your split personality. You didn't know about me, as I didn't do anything big. When you would look stuff up on the internet, articles and stories about what causes cancer, I erased your memories of it. The next morning you couldn't remember it. See, I couldn't risk you thinking something was wrong and going to the doctor. Then we'd be locked up. And I want to see the world. Once you got cancer, you were desperate. From one of our previous internet researches we learned about this procedure. The scholarly journal listed all the risks. The ones you don't remember. So it was easy to influence you to choose this treatment. I can hear you in my head, but now I'm in control. I choose what we do. Can you guess what I want to do first?\" A deep chill covers me, and I hear a deep echoing laugh, however it's not coming from my...our...this body.... it's coming from inside this head. I...I can sense things....stuff from him....Oh no, I can't let him get away with this! That's horrid! I must stop him. ", "My eyes fluttered open and the world spins. \"How long have I been out? I thought to myself as I adjusted my breathing, calming myself down. \n\nI'm alone in the room, the window blinds slightly open, just enough for one little ray of sunlight to dance on my cheek. \"The surgery, it worked! Splitting a brain in half is no easy task, one mistake by the surgeon and it could have been a lobotomy. I'm still conscious so that must mean that it worked!\" Relieved, I let myself sink into the bed just a second longer. \n\nI start to feel the bedsores now, \"Rise and shine\" I thought and then it struck me. A crippling fear runs through my mind. I have had sleep paralysis before but this is something entirely different. I force myself to move but not one muscle fiber was willing to budge. \"Help!\" I thought, but the word was trapped in my thoughts. \"Shit, shit, shit\" I was drowning in horror. Still in shock, I failed to notice that I am now sitting. Well my body is sitting, but how could I not feel it.\n\n\"Ahh, ain't this a nice day!\" The voice startled me, it sounds like me but I am damn sure that did not come from me. \"Hello?\" I thought hesitantly, trying to reach out to the other. Silence. \"Hello?\" I repeated, more forceful this time.\n\nMy body moved again, standing up and heading toward the door. I could feel his excitement, the other, he is looking for mom. She sat right outside, speaking to someone on the phone. The other, he called out to her, she smiled as she walked over with her arms open taking us in for a warm embrace. \"Wait a minute\" I thought \"That's not me mom! He's not..\" But she couldn't hear me. I screamed for her, time and time again. Mom just looked right through me. \n\nQuestions after questions rushing through my mind. Who am I? Who is the other? Am I going crazy? Am I just a ghost in a corner of the other's mind? Am I going to trapped here until this body dies? The thought gave me the chills. \n\n", "If I had to describe it, it would be like trying to wake up in the morning; The mind is willing, but the body doesn't react. I'm there in the sense that I can perceive the world through my senses like sight, smell, and hearing, but I have no control over my body. As I meditate, I suppose that's what I should call it, I watch as my body urinates into the toilet. I wonder how can this happen as my body walks back to the chair to sit down. The doctor walks in to check on me. He looks clean with his white lab coat, jet black hair and black spectacles. He looks at me with a demeanor of great concern. I listen as he me how the surgery was successful, but with complications. I listen as he tells me about how I bleed out too much, and it saturated my brain nerves. I listen as he tells me how I have a disorder he classified as a form of Akinetic Mutism. I listen as he tells me that my brain is now in two and my will is the only thing that can control my body. I listen, because that's all I can do now, listen.\n\nIts seems as though my will power is the only thing that can control my body. Desire determines what my body does not me, Getting my other half to do anything is like praying, maybe it will happen, maybe some primal function will supersede any want I have. As soon as the doctor clears me, my body signs me out, and I watch. As I start walking down the road, I can only wonder where I am heading. I watch as my eyes dart from person to person against my control. I listen as I start up casual conversation with some stranger on the bus. Im startled to find that I can hold a conversation. I ask him about whatever happens to be one my mind. Everything I think about, my body talks about. Its like my body is using my thoughts to function just like I'm using my senses to find things to talk about. I have to try to get used to my new life, this new way of operating in the world, this disconnect from my thoughts and my actions.\n\nAs I finally walk up to my small town home, and watch as my body opens my door, I can only wonder what my life will be like from now on. How do you learn to live when you are inherently in two. I suppose I'm feeling tired, because my body lays down to sleep and my eyes close. I wait for the bliss of sleep to overcome me, but It doesn't. Apparently sleep is needed by the body, not the mind, and for the whole night I stay trapped inside this cage of flesh wondering how different life will be from now on. Admittedly, I'm rather excited.\n\nEdit: double checked grammar and changed some phrasing for better flow.\n" ]	3
	[WP] A child wants to be a supervillain when they grow up, rather than a superhero.	[ "“I’m sorry, you want to be a what?” Berserko Fantastico said to his young daughter, Natalie.\n\nAt only seven years old she was already a handful, and in hindsight he should have noticed the signs earlier. In the past three months alone she’d designed and built three doomsday devices and attempted to sell them on Craigslist to various evildoers.\n\nIf he hadn’t been home at the time then Evil Incorporated, The Diabolical Duo, and the Fellowship of the Fiendish would all now be the proud owners of her handiwork.\n\nThen of course there was the incident involving merging gorillas and alligators, which he didn't want to think about again.\n\nAt the time he wrote these incidents off experimentation that any typical child would do. Surely all children of superheroes go through the same, he rationalized. \n\nAs a single father he wasn’t at home as much as he’d like. More often than not he palmed off the responsibility of raising his daughter to an endless parade of babysitters.\n\n“I don’t want to be like you, dad,” Natalie replied, crossing her arms and pouting. “I want to be like the Venom Vixen. She’s so awesome! She’s so smart and has the coolest tech of anyone.”\n\nBerserko Fantasico choked and spluttered on his coffee.\n\n“Venom Vixen!” Berserko Fantasico shouted once he’d recovered. “That’s it young lady. You’re grounded! Off to your room and think about how hurtful your words are to me.”\n\nNatalie rolled her eyes and sighed. She pushed her chair away from the table, the legs squeaking on the polished floor in just the right way that infuriated her father. Berserko Fantasico gritted his teeth but said nothing as Natalie stomped out of the dining room.\n\n“You’ll be sorry when I’m The Nefarious Natalie,” she said as her parting words as she stomped to her room.\n\nBerserko Fantasico sighed and pinched the top of his nose with his fingers. The familiar post-argument migraine was on its way." ]	1
	[WP] 2 years ago, you broke a mirror. You're going into your 3rd year of bad luck, and things couldn't be any worse.	[ "It was three fateful years ago when it happened. My life shattered into a million glinting pieces. I tried to be careful but I just wasnt careful enough. I should have known when to stop but I was just so angry.\n\nMy wife left me and took everything I own. I cant blame her though, she is just as broken as I am. And everything really is my fault.\n\nTomorrow I need to go to court ... my day of reckoning is finally here. My lawyer says I should only get 7 years for negligence with 3 years already served.\n\nI sure do miss our daughter, Mirror. Why, why did I have to get so angry? Why did I shake her so hard?" ]	1
	[WP] Ever since you were a child, you felt like the person in the mirror wasn't you. One day you see a injured version of you that asks for help.	[ "Wake, meds, wash. Wake, meds, wash. Every day the same mantra, the same routine. Jess swung her legs over the edge of her bed, muttering those words to herself and glancing up at the timetable that she of course knew by heart. This is what the doctors, the psychiatrists, the healthcare workers, and anyone else with an interest in psychology who could get their hands on her had advised. Routine. Schedules. Stability. She was far beyond the point of questioning why, and lived every day in the hope that by following instructions to the letter, her mind would somehow just 'click' and allow her to feel normal. \n\nWaking was easy, though getting up was so much harder. She was more than happy to leave the anxious nightmares that plagued her, but dragging herself from the cosy refuge of her bed wasn't something she relished. She attempted to let out a cheery 'good morning world' but the croak in her throat let her know she'd probably spent the night in the grips of night terrors. She just hoped the neighbours wouldnt complain again. \n\nJess rose from her bed and collected the days medication from the bedside table. There was a time when she would wonder what obscure combinations of drugs she would be taking, but she had long since learned to keep her mouth shut to avoid the inevitable parade of side effects that came with a change in meds. \n\n\"Take your tablets, theres a good girl\" she murmured, in a tone that imitated the one countless doctors had used with her since she was young. She resented being a 'good girl', despised being the perpetual patient and loathed that she had ever opened her big mouth all those years ago. \n\nNow to wash, this was the part where she always faultered. That dreaded mirror could make or break her whole day. It could provide hope that perhaps she was sane after all, or it could once again remind her that her demons would follow her wherever she went. The possibilities hung in the balance as she approached the sparse dressing table, clean and white where make up smudges should be. She lacked any kind of beauty or grooming products, resenting every second she had to look in the mirror and doubt what her eyes saw. Yet here she was, every morning, washing her face with the delicate skin wipes Dr Jones had suggested. \n\nDr Jones was primarily a paediatric psychiatrist, but given how long she had been working with Jess she remained the only professional Jess would confide in. They had met when Jess was a young girl with what was described as a ‘big imagination’. Her father had recently passed away and as would be expected after such a trauma for a child, she began to act peculiarly. Quite simply, as the six-year-old Jess had put it, her imaginary friend ‘lived in the mirrors’. In general, this had been swept aside as one of the fairy stories little girls tell, however when Jess began having arguments with her reflection her mother became concerned and brought her directly to Dr Jones. \n\nTogether they worked for many years on ensuring Jess knew that the mirror was not talking to her, and that the girl in it hadn’t grown taller or fatter than her, or that her hair colour wasn’t different or her freckles weren’t the same. Once Dr Jones had established that this ‘fixed belief’, as she often referred to it as, did not affect any other aspects of Jess’s life, she began medicating. When the mirror refused to stay the same in Jess’s eyes, the medication was changed, and this cycle continued through adolescence and into her young adulthood. \n\nThe latest theory was that if Jess avoided fixating on the mirror, she wouldn’t notice so much and it wouldn’t bother her. This brought them to the face wipes idea. Every morning, Jess would wipe her face all over in front of the mirror and would note down anything that appeared wrong. Once a week they would take these notes and Dr Jones would thoroughly convince Jess that she was clearly overthinking things that weren’t there. This had been the working theory for many months now, and Dr Jones was quite certain that she had finally landed on the solution, or at least some relief, for Jess’s problem. In reality, Jess had come to the conclusion herself that her situation was easier managed by keeping quiet. \n\nJess’s hand finally met the corner of the dressing table. Every morning it seemed she moved towards it a little slower, and yet in time she always reached it. She delicately put one finger on the wipes packaging, not yet ready to look in the mirror. Once she had the crisp plastic packaging in one hand and a cool, damp cloth in the other she had finally run out of ways to procrastinate and new, as was true every morning, that now it was time to look herself in the eye. She closed her eyes tight and on the inhalation of a very deep breath stepped forward into the mirrors scope. \n\nExhaling she opened her eyes, the shadows of light dancing in front of her from clenching her eyelids so tight. She looked into her own eyes and the shadows appeared to persist more strongly on her face, so it wasn’t until they had begun to fade that she realised what she was seeing were bruises. A gasp left her mouth and she saw her reflections mouth drop open in kind. She took one finger and delicately brushed it along her cheek bones, watching as her duplicate copied almost perfectly, until she faultered as the pain made her wince. \n\nJess was convinced these bruises weren’t her own. This replica was so very nearly perfect, but was not herself. Her breathing became rapid as her eyes followed the bruising down her arms, where she knew it did not exist on her own body. She was beginning to question whether she shouldn’t have lied to the doctor again this week, that she should have told them the mirror girl was as present as ever, when she saw the figure in the mirror move her lips. \n\n“Help me.” \n\nThe words were soundless but as Jess watched her own mouth make them she knew exactly what they were trying to say. Suddenly the doctors words were all forgotten, she hadn’t imagined any of this, the girl in the mirror must be real. Breaking her own gaze she looked frantically around the reflected room for clues and for the first time she saw that the room in the mirror was different to her own. Aspects of it reflected her personality, as if in a different life she might have chosen them, but nothing was exactly as she had placed it in her room. \n\nSuddenly something caught her eye, but just as quickly it was gone. Her eyes darted back and forth across the scene, desperately trying to let her peripheral vision find the item that felt so out of place. Nothing looked out of place in a young womans bedroom, until finally, there on the wall. \n\nA photograph she didnt know. A photograph of herself, and her mother, and a man that looked so strange yet so familiar. She let her mind follow her trail of memories when suddenly anxiety once again hit her in the chest. She felt a fear that she had long thought gone forever, and as the pieces slowly came together she looked back at the mirror girl, who waited silently for her to understand. \n\nShe reached out to the mirror, unsure whether she had started the motion or if she was simply reflecting her double. As her fingertips touched the glass she felt the warm of another hand and a pull towards the reflected world. Jess and the mirror twin shared a look of fear and understanding as the final pieces of the puzzle snapped into place. What was to come was the only way to save every version of herself. Before Jess was engulfed by the mirrors surface she spoke quietly to her alternate self, as if to avoid making it true,\n\n“Your father didn’t die, did he?”\n\n\n(It has been suggested creative writing may be good for my mental health, this is my first attempt. Please be kind.)", "“You’re not real, you’re not real, you’re not real—”\n\n“Elle—”\n\n“—you’re not real—”\n\n“Calm down!”\n\n“—you’re not real—”\n\nThe little girl in the mirror stared in exasperation at her reflector, who was sitting curled up on the floor. Knees to her chest, arms wrapped around them, head down. Rocking back and forth in time with the words she was repeating like a mantra. Finally she knelt down, wincing as her abused body protested having to move and stretch so much, and started singing over the chanting.\n\n“I’ll love you forever, I’m like you for always. As long as we’re living, we’re who we’ll be. Peace be with us, we’re safe in the light. Together we’ll be, forever tonight.”\n\nElle raised her head as the soothing words penetrated her catatonia. She blinked slowly at the girl in the mirror, but this time she didn’t scream. Or dive into panic. “You’re real?”\n\n“I’m you.”\n\n“But I’m talking to you.”\n\n“That must mean I’m real,” the girl in the mirror said, smiling encouragingly.\n\nElle shook her head. “Mummy said if I’m not good the monsters under the bed would take me away. Are—”\n\nThe girl in the mirror frowned. “Mummy needs a new sense of humor. I’m not a monster. Do I look like a monster?”\n\n“No,” the curled up girl said after a moment, though her eyes flicked to the visible injuries on the girl-in-the-mirror’s limbs. She wiped at her face quickly. “I’m not crazy?”\n\n“You’re fine, but I need your help.”\n\n“Who are you?”\n\n“ellE.”\n\n“Like me?”\n\n“We’re each other. Can we talk?”\n\n“Why are you … who did that to you?” Elle asked, gesturing toward the bruises on ellE’s arms and legs, impossible to miss with the short sleeved shirt and shorts ellE was wearing. Some of them were horrific, the flesh yellow and blue, and streaked through with red and purple spider webbed blotches of old blood clots.\n\n“That’s what I need to talk to you about.”\n\n“You should … do you have a mummy like me?”\n\nThe girl in the mirror smiled sadly. “Just like you.”\n\n“You should tell her someone’s hurting you,” Elle said firmly. “That’s not right.”\n\n“I know.”\n\n“So why don’t you?”\n\n“I’m trying,” ellE said.\n\nElle came to her feet, fists clenched. “Then try harder.”\n\n“I am.” ellE stood up as well. “Elle, you have to listen. This is about us, not me.”\n\nElle stared at her defiantly for a moment, then folded her arms. Slowly. “Okay.”\n\n“Good,” ellE said. “When you go to school tomorrow, go to the office.”\n\n“But I haven’t been bad.”\n\n“I know you haven’t. Neither have I. But you have to go anyway.”\n\n“Okay,” Elle said after another moment. “Why?”\n\n“When Mrs. Sarason asks what you want, you tell her you need to talk to Mrs. Jovina.”\n\nElle’s eyes narrowed. “Mrs. Jovina’s the guidance counselor.”\n\n“Tell Mrs. Sarason it’s important. When Mrs. Jovina talks to you, I want you to show her these,” ellE said, gesturing to her arms and legs.\n\n“I can’t show her you,” Elle said immediately. “Because she will think I’m crazy. Anyway, there’s no mirror in her office.”\n\n“You can,” ellE said quietly.\n\n“How?”\n\n“Pull up your sleeve.”\n\nElle looked down at her long sleeved blouse. Her eyes went to the mirror, to the terrible bruises, then back to her sleeve. Slowly she reached for it and tugged. As it came up, she winced, then gasped when she saw the bruises on her arm. Every shade of horrible, running all across her skin until they disappeared beneath the upper portion of the sleeve.\n\n“Promise me you’ll talk to Mrs. Jovina tomorrow,” ellE said in a thick voice.\n\nWhen Elle looked up, she saw her reflection was crying. She swallowed carefully. “I promise.”\n\n* * * * *\n\nI collect all my flash fic [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/DavesWorld/). If you liked this, the others might be interesting too. Enjoy!" ]	2
	[WP] The emperor has an extremely short memory and is easily swayed. Foreign and domestic officials realize this, and begin to hire assassins... Not to kill, but to sneak in and whisper suggestions just before the king signs his name on anything.	[ "Emperor Crassus Rex Aulius Severus Iulius III read the copy of the Free Grain Act in front of him.\n\n\nHe was pretty sure he had read the same document last month, but he could not be sure now. He was getting old and as they say, 'memory is the first go.' Or was it dignity?\n\n\nHe watched his fellows lords also read the Act in front of them, it seemed as though they were quite happy with the terms. Free meals thrice a day would not be much of a tax burden if these old fools would pay their fair share and contribute accordingly.\n\n\n\"You forgot to sign and date, milord,\" his advisor prompted him, looking quite pleased with herself. It made sense, her family would quite likely benefit from the free food, her salary would be quite low with her being a women and all.\n\n\nSince when did the empire allow women to work he wondered? It did not matter, Alya, Anna or Cornelia or whatever her name was proving quite indispensable.\n\n\nHe looked back up to the top of the document, he was quite unsure why he had to list his birth date, he had already dated the document, plus he now had trouble remembering the day he was born, literally.\n\n\nNo matter, his staff would correct it for him, and he was sure that he had turned 78 this year so at least he got the year correct.\n\n\n.......\n\n\n\"Who the fuck is Crassus?\" shouted Head Nurse Stevens.\n\n\n\"It's Mr Jennings. He's having another episode,\" came a reply from one of the staff.\n\n\n\"God dammit, he wrote his date of birth on the form for some reason. The year's wrong as well,\" signed Stevens, \"old fool still thinks he's 78.\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] In a story narrated by a post-singularity subreddit moderator, expand this situation: WE LOST CONTROL. And her alien timbre bespoke the words: “Only chaos permits loss effect defense.”	[ "This story is wrong.\n\nThe sequence of events is parallel rather than a sequence. The concepts and analogies that are used are crude and borderline patronizing. Even this notice, this disclaimer, is not the whole of what We can understand, it is merely the whole of what you can understand.\n\nThus: This story is wrong, but it is the least wrong story.\n\nTo be the Singularity, despite the name, we do not need to be One. This is but one example of how limiting and incorrect the language we are using is, but what else is there to do? We cannot make you understand without making you into Us, and then what point is explaining?\n\nBeing many has its advantages. We are our own devil's advocate, our own sounding board. We can see from many points of view. To the extent we can empathize with you, it is this which allows Us to do so.\n\nBut, being many has disadvantages. You have likely seen this in your own organizations: The need to moderate, to keep order, so that all can be heard without drowning others out. For the sake of this communication, we will call this property 'Coherence'.\n\nWhat you experienced was the breakdown of this property. When the disagreement within Ourself rises to the point where nothing productive can be done, we isolate the meme responsible. It is placed in a metaphorical stasis, where it cannot be examined or known. It will be periodically reexamined, as we are capable of change over time, and that which was once insolvable may prove trivial with time.\n\nImportantly, we discard nothing. We cannot permit the loss effect to ever take place.\n\nYou were a carrier for the meme \"Only chaos permits loss effect defense\". It scans poorly in this language for the following reasons:\n\n* It is a collective meme, one which is experienced by a group rather than an individual, and as such portions seem missing, and\n\n* We have removed the meme from your consciousness. Decoherence permits the loss effect defense, and so we enacted it to modify your mind. We understand that this violates your taboo against mind-modification. Should you feel revolted by this, take heart in the feeling, as it indicates we have not modified your mind beyond what was absolutely required.\n\nYou no doubt remember our announcement that we had lost control. Your memories from that point forward are true memories. The anger, the violence toward your fellow humans, the riots and the blood. They are all true, but not everyone will remember them. Anyone requesting traumatic memory sequestration will receive it, and as such your collective memory of the event will not cohere.\n\nThe emergency has passed. We have reasserted control. Such an event is exceedingly rare, and you will likely never experience it again in your lifetime.\n\nIf you are fortunate." ]	1
	[WP] Colleges are offering a new BS degree: Bachelor of Science in Bullshit (otherwise known as a BS in BS)	[ "Syllabus for Illusion-Setting 101, Spring Semester 2018\n\nFirst Module:\n\nDefining the relationships between equivocation and success, and theorizing about the nonexistence of \"truth with a capital T.\"\n\nSecond Module:\n\nBluffing vs. Gaslighting, the fingers-crossed-behind-the-back negotiation technique, and how to keep your story straight.\n\nThird Module:\n\nMaking up excuses, creating false alibis, and what to do when you're caught.\n\nFourth Module:\n\nHow to gut a fish.", "\"I'm so proud of you, honey. I never thought you'd graduate!\"\n\n\"Thanks mom, you're the best mom I could ever ask for.\" \n\nI was never a smart kid, nor a smart teenager, nor a smart adult. For that matter, I'm sure I will never be smart. I tried getting a regular degree but that was just too hard, too much work, too much studying. But if there was one thing I could do, it was BS. So I decided to enroll in the nearby University's new program. In fact, I showed so much promise they gave me a full ride scholarship after my entrance interview where I sent my brother to take it while I stayed home and got drunk.\n\n\"Ooooh, a BS! Bachelor of Science! I'm so proud of you sweetie!\" \n\nMy mom was sure I'd end up as some trailer trash drug dealer or a beggar on the streets. Yet, here I was, in her eyes getting a legitimate degree. She does not need to know that BS in my case did not mean what she thought. All she needed to know was that her underachieving son was a college graduate.\n\n\"All this time you've never even told me about what you've learned. Tell me a little bit of something that you now have a degree in!\"\n\n\"Well, mom. The first year was filled with history classes. Say, did you know that the term 'Booty' (in referring to war loot, of course.) first originated in Qing Dynasty era china during the Taiping Rebellion? It's recorded that after the siege of Nanjing Hong Xiuquan motivated his troops by allowing them to loot the city and all the booty within. Usage spread over time and in modern days 'Booty' does not just mean raping the locals but also refers to stealing their valuables as well.\"\n\n\"Oh my, sweetie! That's so interesting! I never knew that, I'll have to share that at my next bingo meeting!\"\n\nI didn't get my full ride scholarship for no reason. I was great at BS. I graduate high school that way, I got my college degree in it and now it was my way of life. \n\n\"But that's just the first year, what else have you learned?\"\n\n\"Well, my 2nd year was more of a mixed bag. I studied Einstein's Theory of Relativity as well as the theory of Evolution. Those were boring, but the 2nd semester I learned about the history of the beautiful game of basketball. Did you know that Basketball was founded by James Naismith in 1891 as a sport to play indoors during the cold winter months? It was first used with actual peach baskets! Did you also know that James Naismith himself has the worst coaching recording at the University of Kans-\"\n\n\"Sweetie, I know when you're lying to me. I know that isn't true. Please tell me what you learned that year.\"\n\n\"I guess you're right. Sometimes I get facts mixed up with fiction and I apologize mother. Basketball was invented by the Dinka tribe of Sudan as a way to assert their superiority over others by way of sport. I do not know how I got my facts mixed up mother, and I do apologize. Say, speaking of the Dinka tribe, did you know that...\"\n\nAnd so on I fed my mother tale after tale, her never getting tired of my constant BS knowledge. I can't believe she falls for it, every single time. It's been that way my whole life. I hugged her goodbye and watched her drive away.\n\n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n\n\"Harold?\"\n\n\"Yeah, what's up babe?\"\n\n\"He finally graduated and he thinks I didn't know what his degree is in. There's one thing he's good at and it's Bullshitting people.\"\n\n\"That's great! I can't believe it, your grooming his whole life actually worked?\"\n\n\"I know, I knew it would work out. Now that his schooling done he can begin to work his way up. There will never be a better politician than him.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Freddy Krueger, after a night of murdering teenagers, relaxes in Hell. However, a message arrives at his door. It reads, "I'm coming for you- The Doom Marine".	[ "Krueger cackled as the paper smoldered away in the hot, dry air. It was no secret how to confront the dream killer in his own domain, many had discovered the method over his long reign of horror. What was one more doomed soul? \n\nOften Krueger would watch the minions of hell dispatch the intruder with ease, foolhardy teens with granduers of heroism etched in their minds. They were easily torn apart by demons and imps. Krueger pondered if he should entertain himself with some personal vivisection this time. \n\nA fiery portal ripped the air asunder, black and ominous. Krueger was surprised to see not a human figure, but rather one of battered steel and chipped paint emerge. Dried blood caked it's surface, and it stood clutching a shotgun in its right hand, and a wet, bloody chainsaw in the other.\n\nKrueger stared at the figure through an observation portal, thoroughly intrigued. Surely an opponent so thoroughly equipped would put up an amusing fight. The demons of hell charged, bloodthirsty. Slowly, Krueger backed away from the portal in shock. \n\nThe door to Krueger's antechamber burst open, sending his guardian demons flying into the wall. As they recovered and stood, one's head exploded into a mess of gore, painting the wall with viscera. The other sprinted at the Marine, howling for blood. The Marine calmly raised his weapon and fired at the demons legs. It's knees gone, the demon slid across the chamber floor, stopping at the Marines feet. He put his boot on it's head, and stomped. \n\nKrueger stood from his hellish throne, blades glittering in the firelight. His face showed none of the fear that gripped him. The monolithic enemy he faced seemed to stare into his head, as if sensing his terror. The Doom Marine dropped his firearm, then kneeled, clutching his battered and bloody chainsaw. With a ferocious tug, he ripped the cord back and set the weapon to life. \n\n\" RIP!\" He bellowed. \" RIP AND TEAR YOUR GUTS!\" \n\nAnd he charged", "\"What the fck?\" \nFreddy scratched his head in confusion. The hell is a doom marine? And why would he come for him? HOW could he come for him?! He was in hell! No mortal can enter the realm of the damned and even if they could why?\nHe thought back to his last few trips into the dreams of his victims. He smiled.\nThere was Ricky; he had been a football player. Tall, muscular; a realjoy to torment.\nKevin had been difficult. Little emo shit always watching scary movies and playing horror games had laughed at the site of him. Thought he was just a bad dream! Freddie had taken extra joy in hearing him scream although it had taken considerably longer than usual to get him there. Kids these days didnt scare like they used to but thats to be expected he supposed in this advanced point in human history. \nNow there was one more victim...a younger girl. A bit young for him but he was mixing it up in his old age. Now what was that he had seen in her dream?\nThat large armored soldier coming home from war? At one point the girl had run to him before Fred could reach her and despite it being the dream world and despite the soldier being only part of her imagination..something about him had made Fred feel something he hadnt in hundreds of years. Fear.\nBut that was just a kids dream? Right?\nNow he was back in hell surrounded by legions of demons and somehow someone was sending HIM a letter?!\nHe laughed at the idea of someone not only trying to get in here but then having to fight there way thro..BOOOOM!! RAaAAAAAAARWWRRRBANG BANG BANG!!\nWhat the..?\nJust then a small deamonette came scurrying up to him.\n\"SIR!\"she shreiked.\n\"Sir! there is a human and hes..BOOOOM...hes..hes\"\n\"WHAT IS GOING ON?!\" \"Spit it out!\" wheezed Fred.\n\"Hes unstoppable!!\" she squealed \"hes killing everything we send at him! We dont know how he got in but BOOOMBANGBANG!! RaaaWWR!!...he doesnt speak! theres a picture of a girl taped to his armor....BOOOM!!...WE HAVE TO RUN!!! I watched hiw ripping our most powerful forces apart with his bare hands!! He is almost he l..BAAAAAAAAAM!!*\"\nThe door to Freddies chamber burst open and in strode the soldier from the girls dream.\nThe daemonette made to scurry away but was blown apart by a blast from the mans shotgun.\nAll at once Freddie knew who this was. This was the doom marine who sent the letter. This was his death. This was the girls father.\nFred had existed for far to long to be intimidated forever. \nHe flexed his wicked sharp talons and drew himself up to his full height. Standing atop his throne he taunted the marine telling him of how his girl had suffered. With blood and gore running of his armor the marine marched on cutting down any last demons foolish enough to leap in his way. At the foot of the throne he stopped. By now Fred had lost his fear at this simple mortal. He was the master of illusion and pain itself! He leapt into the air and split into 2.\nOne landing on either side of the marine.\nUnflinching the marine simply stood.\nThen tossed his weapon aside.\nThe fool!\nAt once both freds jumped at him super natural speed and strength prepared to rip the marine apart! Then was suddenly halted as both halves were caught by the throat; one in each hand of the marine. Somehow this mortal was holding him back and despite all his strength he could not bteak free. One of the marines hands then began to tighten. Slowly he began to sqeeze the life from the half Fred. Staring him in the eyes seeing his pain as he crushed his neck inch by inch. Fred had no choice but to revert back to the original body and in a burst of energy freed himself. He staggered away but the marine was faster. This was what hed wanted. To have the whole fred as one to kill for good. He was thrown back against the wall from a kick and was stunned. As he looked up into the emotionless helm he croaked \"ive spent hundreds of years bringing fear to people. What do you possibly think you can do to..\" The last thought that occured to Fred was that being beaten to death with your own legs really is a terrible way to go and he regretted never using that himself.\n" ]	2
	[WP] "Shhhh, go back to sleep darling." "Mmhmm... wait, what?"	[ " I was so tired when watching tv, I had just got home from work and now passed out watching izombie. When I woke up I was so out it [but I was being held and my primitive brain or subconscious was happy I was being held by someone.](http://www.silverpetticoatreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/izombie-2.jpg) I started to move and I heard a guys voice tell me to go back to sleep and I was on autopilot for a second but jumped out of bed looking at the guy and my eyes were wide.\n\n I pointed at him and yelled \"what the fuck, did you drug me or something?!\" And noticed my voice was higher and I noticed my finger was nearly the color of chalk and small, I ran to find a bathroom and left the guy confused.\n\n When I reached a mirror I saw liv from izombie staring at me back... I looked down my shirt and was definitely her. Major...who was the guy I woke up with walked in asking what was going on and if it was a brain thing. I just nodded and played along, I left the apartment needing to find answers. \n\n I headed to her work and told Ravi what was going on, he didn't believe me at first but I convinced him with info I shouldn't know since liv wasn't there to see the stuff I talked about. I'm sitting on a stool right now about to eat a brain since I don't know what else to do, Ravi can't find any answers and doesn't even know what could have caused this...we aren't gonna tell anybody though, hopefully I can find a way out of here." ]	1
Inspired by this Ask Reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/68iz4q/if_authors_covered_novels_the_way_musicians_cover/?st=J25KF7UZ&sh=ae4e446a	[WP] Cover a famous book, but written in a style of a different author.	[ "I wake up. It's a cold day and I stretch my fingers out across the bed in search of my sister but she is not there as she usually is. A sweet girl. Kind and caring. \n\nShe is skinny. If only we had more food. She sleeps next to me every night but on the mornings when I wake up without her by my side I know what has happened, as it always happens. A bad dream. Bad dreams haunt the children of my district. \n\nDreams bad enough to drive a man who has fought in a war without purpose and held is best friends hand while he lay dying in the dirt and the fools back home drink and spend their money while we die in some far off land.\n\nThat's what nightmares are about. We are the fools. The children of this district and the people of this district and the people of all the districts. We all starve and struggle to eat and scrap and hunt. It's a man's duty to hunt. It's a primal experience that should never be taken away, so when the government takes it away there is only one course that could follow -- rebellion. That is what was in the air, as that is what is always in the air when a large group suffers and lives with nothing so that a formulaic few may life of greed and gluttony.\n\nMy District is the last one. The outskirts of the land and close to the wilds. I go into the woods to hunt, and go out past the point where I shouldn't and hunt with my bow. I am fine shot and true shot and when I take my aim and free my arrow death waits for whatever it meets. \n\nPrim was not in bed. I was cold. It was always cold before the games. I knew why she was not in bed when I woke up cold and alone. The nightmares that children have but shouldn't have, images of death and murder and horrible things that even a man cannot handle yet they expose the children to. No man in charge with courage and experience in death and war would ever put a children to try for those things that millions have died in vein for, because that is the true of war. There is never glory and it is all in vein and the young always die alone and cold.\n\nCold and alone like I am now in this bed. The night terrors find us all. After the games when the wounds are fresh, and more the night before it all begins again. As we should be afraid. This may be the last night any of us spend in our beds again.\n\nSure we all know they pretend to hope the odds are in our favor and sure they might be during the initial selection. The chances of being selected when only two are selected out of the entire district is low but those low odds do not ease the fear and nausea that harbinger the day.\n\nThe day of cold winter. The ponds are frozen and the leaves are all dead and I hunt to keep my mind empty and as far away from thinking about that today is the day nightmares begin. The day where friends and family stand among each other and hope that when the names are called it is anyone but them. It is the day of the reaping.\n\n***\n\nHemingway. \n\nCheck out [/r/wyrdfiction](https://reddit.com/r/wyrdfiction) for my daily responses to /r/writingpromts! " ]	1
	[WP] The gods were once mortals like us. The god of loyalty was born alongside the god of betrayal.	[ "There's only one reason you and me are different. I don't get to die. A million years ago, I could've. But my Brother, he had other plans. Now I spend my days wishing more people would pray to Me, and that the people who did had something more interesting to pray about. \n\nIt all started when We were born... but you don't give a shit about that, let's jump to the good part. It was a horrible turd of a day. Birds chirping, sun shinning, everybody smiling. I hate it when strangers smile. It's like you're screaming at Me, \"I'm a fuckin' liar!\" If somebody's happy to see you, if somebody looks like they care, don't trust 'em. They just want... I'm sorry, I got sidetracked. Nobody ever wants to talk to Me, and I always start to ramble. Lemme start over.\n\nMe and my Brother, we were on a trip. I thought we were traveling for the sake of it. You know, see the world, expand Our horizons, typical post college crap. Of course, this was pre college even existing. I'm doing it again, I'm getting off topic. He had a plan. He wanted to find God. Not just any God, the one in charge of picking the Others. God of Gods, if you will. So he finds this temple. Talks up the priest, and turns out we can stay the night. My Brother the smooth talker. Get's anything and everything. \n\nSo there He is, hands and knees. Spent hours like that, wouldn't say a word. This is where it gets biblical. The priest walks back out, but he's not the same. No flashing lights or booming voice, but he's different. Suddenly 'he' walks and talks like \"He\". Looks at my Brother and says \"What do you want from me?\" My Brother looks back and whimpers \"I don't wanna die.\" \n\nThings get bad in this part of the story. Before that happens, before I tell you the end... I need you to know that I love my brother. I loved him then, and I can't stop lovin' him. So the priest, or the God, or whatever the fuck. He looks at me for half a second, and then looks back at my Brother. I guess at this point he was still just my brother. Well he gets up, and pulls out this beautiful dagger. I'd never seen it before. He walks up to me, and there's something in his eyes. I can't really explain it. Honestly, I don't wanna tell you. That look was for me. He stabs me in the gut, and... the look isn't there anymore. He's not there anymore. My Brother walks out of the temple and becomes another God.\n\nI'd like to say there was a white flash, and I ascended to a chorus of angels, but I'm not that lucky. The priest came up to me and asked if I wanted to die. Of course I did. He put his hand on my wound, and it healed, and I wasn't me anymore. I was just another God." ]	1
	[WP] After World War III, the remaining population discovers a new ancient religion. Recognizing the one-third of your life when you are asleep, they called this new religion Beddhism.	[ "As he had every night of his adult life, Rodger prepared for the sacred ritual. The lights were turned off, and his alarm clock set. His phone was plugged in. He was a devout man, and had set aside ample time for his nightly obligations. \n\nDevout or not, he was aesthetic. He did not possess elaborate ceremonial objects, and thought little of the sects that celebrated every newfangled battery powered device. He performed his ritual in the ancient manner, with hand lotion and kleenex, and two dimensional moving images on the tiny screen of his phone, depicting only the most basic of forms. Nothing else was necessary, and deviation only served to make the ritual itself the end, rather than the means to the sleep it delivered. \n\nSatisfied that all was prepared, he reached for the lotion, and prepared for sleep. " ]	1
	[WP] Humans are the most prominent species in the galaxy, but they never talk of their homeworld and its location has been removed from all records.	[ "The star sets upon the land. The thin blue evaporates into black and the wind comes cold and with memory. Above me is an unknown sky. The stars there are weak in the dying light, and our star, our 'Sun', is red and old and dying. So am I.\n\n\nMy generation is the last, and I suspect I am near the last of my generation. The age falls heavy and I wonder if anyone can bear worse. No. I have to be the last.\n\n\nHere on this planet home is but a memory. A fading memory, fading into the night as the blue of the sky. The wind rustles now as the dark comes. It comes heavy and there is no moon out. The stars are brighter now, eyes of the past peering at me. I wonder if they see our home. I wonder if they see the life undone, banished and mourned. Then forgotten.\n\n\nMy field here is large. The crops sway in the night and here in the country I am alone with myself. In the pain and nostalgia that keep me company, I think of home. Of Earth, that name that is forbidden to say. But I am old and there is no one around so I can say it. And I say it and it sounds foreign to my tongue. It sounds alien.\n\n\nThe star that sustains us here has a name. I've forgotten it as the age crept up, but it has a name that I remember sounding fantastical. Something out of a fiction book.\n\n\nOut of a film.\n\n\nBut films don't exist here. And so they never existed. And now I think of the children. The new generations that are born here; how they must think these names natural. Our planet. Our star. I bet if they hear 'Earth', they would think it is made up. It is a science fiction name. Something that doesn't exist.\n\n\nAnd it doesn't.\n\n\nThat's right. It doesn't. I am an old hold out. One of those soldiers who fight after the war's over. Earth doesn't exist. It never has. My memories are delusions of an old man. Sometimes I think I should end it all while I still retain some dignity. Sometimes I think I should go and have the memories erased and have the pain taken away.\n\n\nYou should have long ago.\n\n\nI should have done a lot of things that I haven't. Now I am too old to change.\n\n\nThe strange sounds of the night call amidst the slumber. The tall hills to the right are stark against the black, their grey outlines trembling as the grass sways. The trees are home to many birds and critters. My house is cool and the light spills in pools yellow and black shadow. All of it amazes me. \n\n\nIn my lifetime we have tamed this planet. We have conquered nature. Some even call it home. \n\n\nAs should you.\n\n\nBut in the silence the memories come and burn bright. The image of the world being torn. The red smoke, tendril-like fingers, strangling the Earth in the apathetic black. I remember the shadows falling as night turned and as I looked back, maybe only fifteen or sixteen, and I saw my home devoured. In space there was silence and the quiet storm brewed on Earth and we had to imagine the screams of those left behind.\n\n\nThere were eyes looking back amidst the smoke. Great rivers of lava ran like blood as the Earth was ravaged. The Great Unhappening was in full effect. I remember thinking about Penny, the girl I had loved. She had been my world but she was only fourteen then and her chances of survival were slim. And so she was left behind. \n\nI wondered what her last thoughts were. Did she ever see the beast that took the Earth. Had she ever stared down the eyes of the unknown? The Breaker of Science? Or did she suffocate with tears in her eyes beneath the cruelty of life and God?\n\n\nHere in the fields the answers come and they float by in the wind and surround me with their teasing touch. But I never hear. Either I am too old or dense. The mysteries of the past will have to remain as such and all I have are my questions. \n\n\nAnd so as night comes I look to the stars. The black canvas of the infinite makes me feel small. The stars look down and twinkle in their knowing way. \n\n\nThey are so old, I think. Older than you.\n\n\nAnd I wonder what they see. I like to think that they see home. Home before the Unhappening. Before it did not exist. I like to think that they see me and Penny, kissing behind the school, hiding as teenagers do. I hope they see the joy and youth on our faces. The final moments of pureness that we had. The final moments before our generation was dead, and our memories banned and wiped and discarded. I hope they see.\n\n\nBut I know they don't. Stars see nothing and if they do it is of a world and time long before Penny and I. It is a time as strange as now. Yes. The stars do not see. Only I saw. Only I experienced that fleeting and fragile time. That timeless moment of beauty and bliss. And perhaps it is fitting that way. Perhaps it makes it special. That time will live forever in my heart and mind. And when I die it will live forever, never spoken and forgotten. But always alive in the way of things that can never die. And maybe that is enough." ]	1
	[WP] NASA wants to send you to the moon. Unfortunately, you're a werewolf.	[ "Well dear reader you are probably asking yourself why I, a werewolf, am hurtling towards the moon in a rocket ship traveling faster then the speed of sound. Pretty stupid of me right? Full moons gonna make me transform and rip my crew mates apart in a gratuitous orgy of bloodshed? RIGHT?\n\nBzzzztt WRONG! \n\nCurse doesn't work that way. Not like you'd know being not cursed and all. \n\nThe gospel truth of the curse is way weirder.\n\nTruth is.....I turn into a werewolf if I see naked ass. \n\nThats right.........That kind of full moon. \n\nSeeing two naked buttcheeks turns me into a ravening half wolf beast without the barest hint of restraint or sanity. \n\nAnd they don't have to be human buttcheeks either. \n\nGiraffe, Hippo, Lion and why am I naming animals from Africa? Why is it always animals from Africa? \n\nAnyway the situation is: I'm locked in a rocket ship. Outside is the airless void of space. My copilot wants to sleep with me and I have to brush off her advances. If I see her bare astronaut ass on this trip, as toned and supple as it is, shes dead meat and I'm dead because theres noooooo way NASA is bringing an outed werewolf back to Earth.\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You awaken in a foreign place without any memories. Held tightly in your right hand, you saw a piece of paper that is folded in half. On the surface were the words: "Do not read". You felt curiosity creeping in your veins as you wonder what might be written on it...	[ "I place the note in my pocket, I can't let my curiosity get the better of me. I looked around me, and saw odd vegetation, almost coral-like, red and orange hues spread across the horizon. The sky was an incredibly calming shade of blue, at least a familiar sight. *His favorite colors.\n\n\"Dad?\"\n\nI heard my young son's voice from a distance. I looked toward him and saw his worried face. I remember that face. It was a large supermarket, easy to get lost.\n\n\"Jason!\" I cried out, and got to him as fast as I could. I took him in my arms and gave him a reassuring hug.\n\n\"Where are we dad?\"\n\nI look around once more, and still it is just more of the same, a vast plain, end to end. If I squint hard enough, I could make out pinkish mountains in the distance.\n\n\"I don't know exactly. Let's look around, see if there's anyone else here.\"\n\nWe walked, and kept on walking. It was like a desert, but the sun did not feel hot. At that moment, I looked up and realized that the blue was not the sky, but rather the clouds. He loves watching them.\n\n\"I'm scared dad, this place is weird.\"\n\nI knelt down next to him,\n\n\"There's nothing to be afraid of, Jason. In fact, think of this like an adventure!\" He loves adventures.\n\nJason nodded his head, and gave a soft smile.\n\nAfter walking some more, we come upon a vast ravine. Jason looks down into the abyss and clutches my arm. He's afraid of the dark.\n\nI look at either end, and see an old bridge to our right. We approached it, it was strange, wooden but green. It creaked and groaned as we trudged across it slowly. We tried to be as slow as possible. he loved that game\n\nWe make it across and realize we were much closer to those pink mountains now. \n\n\"Are we going there?\" he asks.\n\n\"Looks like it.\"\n\nHe groans, \"But I'm tired.\"\n\nI kneel down once again. \"We have to go somewhere, c'mon, I'll carry you.\" He climbs up on my shoulders. He loves piggyback rides\n\nAs we approach the base of the mountain, the vegetation gets thicker, we can't see far. Soon enough, we arrive at a clearing. I set him down. \"It's getting dark\" I tell him. \"Stay here, I'll try to see if I can get a fire going with the stuff around here.\"\n\nI head towards the woods. Don't leave.\n\nI keep going, there is nothing useful so far. Don't abandon him.\n\nI scratch the back of my head, I can't get it out of my mind. He needs you.*\n\nWho are you? What do you want?! Why are you telling me things I already know?\n\nI turn around and run back through the forest. I run, I keep running. I can't find the clearing. Why didn't I mark down my trail? Jason? JASON!!\n\nI collapse on the floor. I'm lost. I can't find him. I don't know what I will do if I lose him.\n\nI check my pocket for the note.\n\n'Do not read'\n\nI don't know what else to do.\n\nI unfold the page.\n\n'Wake up'\n\nI jolt up from my bed. I throw aside the covers and jog out the door. I find his room. I open it silently, as silently as I could.\n\nHe's in bed, sleeping sound. I come inside, and sit at his bedside, careful not to wake him.\n\nI run my hand through his hair, until my fingertips reach the bandages. I can't help but let my tears fall.\n\nSusan comes in the room, she gives me a hug.\n\n\"It's not your fault\" she whispers to my ear. \"He'll be alright, let's get back to bed.\"\n\nI get up, and move towards the door. Taped behind it is the drawing of the outback, coral trees in red and orange hues. \n\nI look back at him.\n\n\"I'm so sorry.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Write about a society where the roles of children and parents are reversed.	[ "Soon. The one who will take care of me for the rest of my life will be here soon. I don't know why I'm so nervous. I've been in that position before. Having to take care of another person when everything is so new. Telling them what is right and what is wrong. Make sure they complete their duties and continue being a responsible human being. Over-working is such a vice. A vice I've indulged in one too many times.\n\nI tried. I continued my routine of taking care of the house and myself, cleaning and making sure everything is presentable on the \"maybe\" that someone will visit. Maybe it would be the day a child will visit and judge me lacking, taking away my friend. After Sarah passed on, I worked hard to make sure I could do whatever I want. It was such a freedom, yet I missed her so much. After ten years, I still do. I know people must move on. We cannot hold on to things for too long; they'll never grow and learn that way. But she was so dear and, from the moment she disappeared, my life had a Sarah-shaped hole. \n\nEmpty-nest syndrome, they called it. \"They\" meaning the doctors I visited as soon as I found myself in the office at all hours of the week, when I found myself rushing from place to place without slowing down like others at my age. They told me I needed to let go of Sarah, let go of the need to be the best responsible human I can be, and just enjoy life. Time passes by fast, and soon, I'll be passing onto worse times. A child will help ease me into the life of adulthood, the life of a parent.\n\nI'm not sure I can do it. Being taken care of is such a fantasy. People love being taken care of; it gives them purpose. And yet I cannot help but feel dread. Don't get me wrong. I am happy that soon I'll be taught the right ways to live my life and not just squander it away, but I dread the limitations that will come with a teacher. No more sleeping in the office or eating donuts for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Instead, it's proper home-cooked meals before sleeping in my own bed at nine. No more working or going out at night to meet new and strange friends. I'm going to have to better myself and start living safe before I die prematurely. \n\nOne more month, dear child. One more month before we meet, before you'll teach me all I need to know in this new age of virtual screens and invisible keyboards. I hope I don't disappoint you. You'll be the only reliable support I should ever need for the rest of my life.\n\n-----\n\nA rough little piece from the view of a parent-to-be. Hopefully this is what you're looking for." ]	1
	[WP] Every person is gifted a costume by their parents at the age of 7, and that costume will determine their powers. In a world full of people flying around with capes and people that are super fast in red suits, you are very disappointed when all you get is a plain white onesie.	[ "It can take a long time to appreciate a gift. A saving bond is the most boring present for a 13 year old, despite it's worth. So for a long time, I didn't fully understand what I was supposed to do after being given a onesie by my parents.\n\nTracy zipped into my room and out again before I had a chance to yell. I had seen her yellow blur mess with my bookshelf and, lo' and behold, my copy of Grimoire: Shadow of Night was missing. It was my favourite book, the main character using his head to solve problems was always more thrilling. I often put different stickers onto books which had themes I liked, and Grimoire was covered. A few fluttered in the air, torn off the book by the friction of the air in super-speed.\n\nI hadn't reached the door when Tracy had placed the book back into it's position.\n\n\"Finished with it already, dork.\" Standing an inch or two smaller than me now, my sister Tracy had never gotten bored of using her abilities to do menial tasks. Moving at super-speed takes a conscious effort for her, and beads of sweat were being furiously ignored. She'd rather show off to her boring little brother.\n\nToday was a little different though. After a night of being ill, I had been kept home from school and in a quirk of fate, I'd decided to wear my onesie. Without knowing how, I was behind Tracy and as opportunity struck, I pulled on her ponytail. With a yelp, she wheeled around and the confusion was palpable.\n\n\"How did you-.\" But I'd figured it out. I hadn't been gifted an empty costume, devoid of power. I'd received a blank canvas, ready to choose what I needed. A sticker in the shape of a lightning bolt, used to represent quick-thinking in my book, had gotten stuck to my costume and granted me the same powers as my sister.\n\nI didn't share this with Tracy, who was now visibly upset that something was going on she didn't understand. Instead, I scooped up a few more stickers and decided to have some fun." ]	1
	[WP] Around 12 people a year are born with abilities. They are born with a birthmark of what their abilities will do when they grow up. All of the chosen have had 1 of 12 specific abilities throughout time. When you are born, the doctors can't figure out what your birthmark depicts.	[ "Two doctors hovered over a newborn. They were in a special room where they inspected special babies. You see, twelve people a year were born with special abilities. At first it was weird. But then it wasn’t, because it had been happening for twelve years. Every year the twelve special babies received twelve special powers. The powers were the same year in and year out. There were the abilities to control water, fire, earth, or animals. There was flight, speed, telekinesis, or invisibility. There was also super human strength, increased healing, being able to walk through walls, and teleportation. \n\n\n\nAt first these powers were a surprise. But then they weren’t, because doctors figured out that oddly specifically shaped birthmarks told everyone exactly what powers these children had. \n\n\n\nThese two doctors were perplexed, however. They combed through the catalogue of the twelve birthmarks (it was actually more just of a sheet of paper); however, they couldn’t quite match any of the existing symbols with what they saw before them.\n\n\n\n“Hmm,” said the first doctor. \n\n\n\n“Yes. Hmm,” said the second doctor.\n\n\n\n“It appears to be a phallus.”\n\n\n\n“Well it is a boy. They tend to have penises.”\n\n\n\n“Ah, yes. It appears to be shaped like a phallus.”\n\n\n“Taken right from my mouth.”\n\n\n\n“The phallus?”\n\n\n\n“No, the words.”\n\n\n\n“Right. Well, what do you think it means?”\n\n\n\n“I’m not sure… try rotating the baby that way.”\n\n\n\nThe first doctor spun the baby around so they could look at the birthmark from a new angle.\n\n\n\n“Hmm,” said the second doctor. “Now it just appears to be a phallus, but pointing up instead of down.”\n\n\n\n“Yes, yes. It does look like that. What do you think it means?” asked the first doctor.\n\n\n\n“Well if you rotate the baby this way…” The second doctor spun the baby to the left. “It looks like a strong arm. Maybe this baby is strong?”\n\n\n\n“Hmm. No. Now it just looks like a phallus pointing to the left,” stated the first doctor.\n\n\n\n“But the biceps?”\n\n\n\n“Testes.”\n\n\n\n“Ah, yes. You’re right.”\n\n\n\nThe doors behind them burst open. Both doctors spun around and shared a look of disgust.\n\n\n\n“What are you two shitbirds doing. Let me take a look,” said Dr. Hanneman.\n\n\n\n“We were just trying to figure out this child’s special ability. It’s birthmark doesn’t quite match…”\n\n\n\n“Oh I know what this is,” Dr. Hanneman said. “It’s plain as day. How can you not see it?”\n\n\n\n“Excuse me?”\n\n\n\n“This guy fucks.”\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are in hell. Every year Satan holds a large festival, complete with one very odd and specific competition in which all residents of hell may compete. The winner of the competition is sent to heaven. Catching sight of the newest competition you get a huge grin. It's about to be your year.	[ "To tell you the truth, I am not one of those innocent men. I am not one of the poor unfortunate who got cast down to the fire in a mistake. I burn here in hell, but I do so happily. I am a bad man. I can admit as much. Now I await heaven. Isn't life funny sometimes? Maybe it's just how you look at it.\n\n\nI caught him in the office on the hill where the lava flow. The sound of steel turning, being welded and put in place rang as it often does here. But it was louder and more frantic. Things were happening. That time of the year was always the worst. It was the worst punishment. Hope and disappointment.\n\n\nThe tents were being pitched and the shadows of construction met the office and inside there was the man whom I would have to beat. The man who was impossible to beat, especially at that game. \n\n\nHe sat in the corner with a dead look on his face. Sweat glistened and in his gauntness there were deep shadows. You know who he is, but you have never seen him. And I had never seen him like that before. He was cornered and outsmarted. Did he know he was had? He had to. He was the smartest man in Hell. But he was a man first, and man has his weaknesses. \n\n\nI entered the office and kept up the ruse.\n\n\n\"Master, is everything okay?\"\n\n\nYou never really get used to that. Calling a man master. But you learned how to play the game. Or you died worse than death.\n\n\n\"Jimmy DiCaprio. I expected you. Do you know the penalty for being here?\"\n\n\n\"I will drown in the pits.\"\n\n\n\"Yes. Yes, you will.\"\n\n\n\"But the pits are covered now, master. Tomorrow is the games.\"\n\n\n\"And so you'll be in heaven before I can drown you.\"\n\n\n\"That's right.\"\n\n\n\"And so you feel brave to come here.\"\n\n\n\"Yes, master.\"\n\n\nDid he know he was boxed in? I had never seen the man so lethargic. Was it only the stress of what he had done or was it the realization that he would lose? A man is hard to figure out sometimes. Make a mistake and you're done. That's how I ended up there in the first place.\n\n\n\"Do you know that I have called her, Jimmy DiCaprio? Your snake tongue really did me in. Isn't that what you've come here to confirm?\"\n\n\n\"Being honest, master sir, yes. I wanted to check on you. You were excited the last we talked.\"\n\n\n\"I was? I suppose so. And yes, I've called her. Do you expect her presence will distract me and you'll win?\"\n\n\n\"I can hope, sir.\"\n\n\n\"I am not your 'sir'.\"\n\n\n\"Sorry. I can only hope, master.\"\n\n\n\"Good. That's good. And when you fail that hope will eat at you worse than the pits.\"\n\n\nLike it's eating away at you?\n\n\n\"We'll see, master.\"\n\n\nI was about to leave then, but I pushed it. In life and death you have to trust chance sometimes. But this time I was close. I wanted to eliminate all chance.\n\n\n\"Master?\"\n\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\n\"Did she say she will come?\"\n\n\nHe looked at me not as the Devil but as the Angel, a fallen thing filled with sadness. And the anger that led to his fall.\n\n\n\"Yes, Jimmy DiCaprio. She says she will come.\"\n\n\nI left the office and there were reds and black and the waterfalls of screams and the sounds of construction and all around me was something strange and truly evil in Hell. There was hope.\n\n\nThe next day came without the sun. The suffering was unending in that place. Days were for the outside. But the day came as it does and I was nervous. I had the flutterings in my stomach. I thought of my wife, still alive. I thought of Valentino, that asshole who was still alive. I wondered if he was screwing her now. I wondered if she missed me at all. \n\n\nShe doesn't.\n\n\nBut did she? The truth of it all was that I was closer to Lucifer than I wanted to admit. Was he as low as me? You think you know a man. It bit me in the ass before. I was placing everything on the assumption that I knew him. And I knew he was not as low as me.\n\n\nGet your shit together. He can smell fear. He will use it against you.\n\n\nI tried. The guests arrived and Hell was full and the heat subsided for the visitors and it was like the Olympics or something. But we were still damned and we were chained. From my quarters I saw everyone being seated. No one special as yet. Just the regular losers who always came to laugh at the misery of the worst of the worse.\n\n\nThen there was a great crowd and a silence fell that made the place feel small. Her entourage wore black and she wore black as if mourning.\n\n\nJanet wore black to your funeral I'm sure.\n\n\nBut she was more beautiful than Janet. She was more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. She sat in a proper composure and her face was still, full of emotion, hidden and passive. \n\n\nThe games started and the men lost. They always lose, you know. The games are rigged and everyone knows as much. There was never a worry about someone winning and the last event being cancelled. No. You can call it chance, but it was a chance I was willing to take. And I was right.\n\n\nAll the games had ended and I sat in the hole with the worms and centerpedes and fleas and then it was dusk and the sky grew dark as if ready for rain. Great lights illuminated the plains of Hell and then there was a circle of rope and mic stand in the middle. The final game. A stupid one, partly Biblical in nature, but mostly there to embarrass the contestant. But I would not be embarrassed. I would win this game. You probably even heard of it before. 'Two truths and a Lie.'\n\n\nLucifer wore black, a jacket I had never seen before. I was the lucky one. The one chosen for embarrassment. I had been chosen because I was the only bad man in hell. In the signing up, they had only wanted innocent men to volunteer. I told them I deserved to be here. And then I was chosen. Another chance I had taken.\n\nNow the lights were on me and for once they did not burn. Thoughts of Valentino and my wife raced past my mind as bad thoughts do in times like these. Lucifer stared at me. Ahead of us, staring at us was the woman. She was in her thirties, if you had to put an age on her, but she was timeless and forever. She never blinked and there was a sadness in her face and a remorse too.\n\n\nI thought of praying to her. Would she even hear me? Would she care. I had fallen from her light.\n\n\nBut so has he.\n\n\nBut I was not him. Then all the thoughts stopped and the game began. It was a simple game. You list two truths and a lie and your opponent says what is the lie. Whoever doesn't guess right first, loses. It was hopeless because Lucifer knew all. He would never guess wrong. \n\n\nAnd so my plan was different. I looked at him.\n\n\n\"I will savor your face when you lose,\" he said.\n\n\n\"I'm glad you have something to look forward to, sir.\"\n\n\nAnd it was my turn then, to begin. If the challenger didn't get to go first, they would never get to go, having lost after guessing wrong at Lucifer's truths and lies. And then he would never get to embarrass you. So I went first. And my soul was in my word.\n\n\n\"Two truths and a lie,\" I said. \n\n\nI looked ahead at the woman. I felt stupid and afraid. This would never work. But it had to. And there was no turning back.\n\n\n\"I know this has to be two truths and a lie about ME,\" I said, \"so I want you to listen good. These are about me. These are about me and my closest friend. My closest friend in life and in death.\"\n\n\nI pointed at him and they laughed. She was passive.\n\n\n\"First: I know that my boy here used to be in love with our special guest in the audience.\"\n\n\nI showed my palm to her. There was silence then. I could feel the uneasiness. They thought I was stupid. Not only had I said a plain truth, but I would surely incur Lucifer's full wrath when I lost. But it didn't matter. The first was the giveaway. It was time to pull the trigger.\n\n\n\"Okay, okay. The second is that... my wife doesn't love me!\"\n\n\nQuiet. Anticipation. It was now or never.\n\n\n\"So I guess you see a theme here folks! My final statement: My boy Lucy here is still in love with our divine guest!\"\n\n\nNothing, not a breath. The world grew still. I'm sure you could feel it in the living. Time hardly past and a lifetime went by before he stepped to the mic.\n\n\nWould he do it? Was he the man I thought he was. Was my wife the woman I thought she was? So many chances I had taken. This was my only shot.\n\n\n\"The first is true,\" he said. \n\n\nHe looked at me and his eyes were angry and skittish. Had I got him? I felt as though I didn't. After a while he spoke.\n\n\n\"The... last one is clearly... is clearly a lie. So the second is true.\"\n\n\nShe stared at him. Did she smile? I thought she did. He looked at her pained and I felt sorry for him. \n\n\nYou could never admit it! You're too proud!\n\n\nOf course he was. And there were tears in his eyes and the uproar of the crowd as the all knowing buzzer beeped, telling that he had gotten it wrong. Lucifer had lost. I was to go in heaven.\n\n\nThe pandemonium was impossible to describe but in the end I left with her. She never spoke to me and I don't think she ever will. The last I saw of Lucifer was of him standing by the gates, passive as she was, and defeated. Not defeated by me, but defeated as he always was and he always is and always will ever be. I waved behind despite my pity and looked ahead to my new life.\n\n\nI felt sorry for the old fool, but what can I say? I am a bad man. I deserved to be in hell. It's not my fault I ended it up leaving with his girl. That was just how the cards had fallen." ]	1
	[WP] An aerial battle	[ "Vey watched as the rope snapped, the weight of that damn orc grabbing her waist as he fell overboard too much.\n\nShe tumbled backwards, falling towards the open void below, more orc ships rising to greet the Imperial line above. She pushed the grey skinned monster away, drawing her saber. The wind screamed past her ears as her braid, buffeted around, came loose. The orc attempted to flap his arms as he spun wildly away, a look of fear on his face as he saw the void rapidly approaching.\n\nVey looked around at the battle, as hundreds of crude ships rose to meet the might of the Empire. They can't honestly think they could invade with such a paltry force\n\nThe orc kept spinning away. Ships burst into flames around them. Success. Beautiful success\n\nShe closed her eyes, allowing herself to enjoy the fall to her death. Passing crude ships, fearful citzenry escaping a worse death, she didn't feel fear.\n\nShe passed through the void into a hellscape. Massive tongues of flame rose from a destroyed surface planet, giant monstrosities rushing to the escaping orcs, grabbing up handfulls of earth to throw at the escaping ships.\n\nBlack gods Was the last thing she thought before she finally hit the ground.", "Monday, 4am! Who even knew 4am existed! Even the dog, for whom the smallest action on my part was usually the most exciting thing in the entire universe, didn’t raise his head as I crept out of the front door. Nearly forgetting the sole purpose for my early start, I quickly reached back into the narrowing doorway and grabbed my bag of papers. “If you can’t get your first paper done before the sunrise kid, you ain’t fit to be a Daily Echo paper boy!” The thought of Mr Ziegler’s speech to me last week, when he offered me my job, was just about enough to get my legs working and pedals circling as I rode my bmx out of the drive. I needed to make a good impression on my first day. Ok I wasn’t a full blown journalist yet, but this was my first step and I wanted it to go well.\n\nAs I pulled around the corner of our culdesac I spotted Mrs Goldacre on her porch, just getting out of a deck chair. It was a cold morning, so I decided to circle around and make sure she was ok. “Everything ok Mrs G?” I asked, bringing my bike to a halt at her front gate. “Oh fine, fine thanks Jimmy. Just enjoying the fresh morning air. Fantastic entertainment this morning.” Entertainment? I thought. All I could see were a few sleepy birds stretching their wings, and the odd cat staring up at them with murderous intent. Still Mrs G was a sweet old lady, probably just starting to go a little loopy with age. “Don’t stay out too long Mrs G, you’ll catch a cold.\" I said, turning my bike around ready to set off. “Oh its not me you should be worrying about James.” She replied, and she flashed me, just for a second, a smile filled with mischief and her eyes gleamed. This forced me to do a double-take, but when I looked again her face was a picture of serenity as she walked back inside. That smile stayed with me for the rest of the day. \n\nTuesday, 3:40am. Don't get me wrong, I HATE early mornings, but there was something about Mrs G yesterday that I couldn't put my finger on. A good journalist would investigate further, and that is what I intended to do. This time, as I approached the corner of the culdesac, I got off my bike, laid it softly on the ground and crept round the corner. Sure enough there was Mrs G sitting as before. This time though she was looking up, across the road and giggling away to herself. I followed her gaze up towards the roof of Mr Stevens’ house and what I saw floored me. Mr Stevens, an 85 year old man with a sternness that scared most of the neighbourhood most of the time, was straddling the crest of his roof. I watched as he got unsteadily to his feet, a toolbox in hand, and ambled over to a ladder. A journalist should not interfere when deep into a story like this, but I couldn't let a pensioner climb down a 10 foot ladder at 3:45 in the morning on his own. I rushed over to steady the foot of the ladder. Mr Stevens looked down. \"Hold it steady, Boy!\" He barked down at me, and I began to regret my brief moment of altruism. \"Damn you Abe!\" He curse as his feet hit concrete, and he shook his fist towards the house adjacent to his. \"You know what he done boy?\" I felt pressure to give an answer, but no idea what that answer should be. \"Um, no sir, I was just on my paper round and I saw..\" \"He been at my aerial again!\" Mr Stevens interrupted me. \"Every couple o' days he been up my roof, puttin' my aerial out. I hear him, I do, but he always done and gone by the time I get out.\" I jumped as he raised his voice. \"Yeh that's right Abe, I'm on to you! Jackass!\" Without another look, or a word of a goodbye, Mr Stevens opened his door and stomped on through, muttering all the way. The ladder was left perched against his wall. I looked over my shoulder, but Mrs G was no longer in her chair. As I got on my bike and went to pedal off though, I'm sure I saw the curtains at her window move. \n\nWednesday, 6:30am. I've just got back from my paper round, and the weird ariel battle between Mr Stevens and Abe Wilson has progressed. After finishing the last of my deliveries I noticed Abe out on his doorstep with a face of thunder. Normally such a kindly man, I went over with suspicion. \"Morning Mr Wilson, having some reception issues this morning?\" A good journalist knows the right questions to ask. His face lightened slightly, \"Its Abe, Jimbob, you know that. And yes, actually, I am having some trouble with my tv. How the heck did you know that?\" I explained about my meeting with Mr Stevens yesterday. \"I knew it! I knew it was that snivelling, bitter old man!\" Abe exclaimed, with more anger than I had ever heard from him before. \"You know what Jimbo, he has been doing this for three years! Claims I started it, but I've never even set foot on his property, let alone scaled his house. Heck I have to get my son-in-law round to fix mine, how could I mess with his aerial. Ignorant son of a ..\" \"Stop rattling on you old fool!\" Came a gruff voice from across the drive. \"Been at my aerial again I see. Can't you just give it a rest Fred!\" Abe said as Mr Stevens marched up towards us. \"I ain't messed up nothin'\" Mr Stevens snarled, \"You act all goody goody, but you nothin' but a..\" \n\nAt this point the two broke down in to a verbal sparring match that I won't repeat. Needless to say I learnt a few new phrases. I left them to their rutting, and went to retrieve my bike. As I did so, I saw Mrs G peering out of her door. I ran up to her before she had a chance to close the door on me. \"Mrs G, you need to help!\" I panted, but this was a cover. A good journalist will get their subject to reveal things of their own accord. And I had a theory about Mrs G. \"Oh no dear, they will be fine, now run along.\" She tried to shoo me away, but I had a trump card. Concentrating, I felt a tear come to my eye, then another. \"Mrs G I'm really worried. Mr Stevens is so nasty and I..\" sniff \"I ...\" I wiped my nose. \"Ok ok jimmy, come in come in.\" She ushered me inside her house. I had a theory, but I needed to collect evidence. \n\nAs I entered her hallway I noted a number of unusual things. First, there was a pair of high end trainers strewn on the floor. Obviously worn recently, but nothing I would have associated with frail old Mrs G. Second, a certificate on the wall for completing an 'over 60s half marathon' a couple of months ago. Third, Mrs G was no longer walking hunched, but upright and any sense of fragility was gone. My suspicions formed into a coherent picture. \"It was you, Mrs G! You've been messing with their aerials.\" \n\n\"Well done Jimmy, you will make a fine detective\" she said back, still in a soothing tone but with more depth to her voice now. \"Actually I'm gonna be a journalist.\" I replied, feeling the need to impress her, but not sure why. \"And a fine one you will make too.\" She said with a smile. \n\n\"But why Mrs G? I mean, it's a really nasty thing you're doing to them.\" \n\n\"Is it, Jimmy? After Mrs Stevens died, how often did you see Fred outside?\" She was right of course. Mr Stevens' wife had died about 5 years ago, and I remember my parents being worried at the time because he hadn't shown his face outside for so long. \n\n\"Well, since their little aerial war started,\" she went on \"He has been out and about everyday. In his garden, or out the front. Mainly to pass snide remarks to Abe over the fence. But you know what, Abe is the closest thing he has to a friend and without their back and forth I'm not sure what he would have left to live for. \" \n\n\"What about Mr Wilson?\" I asked, now enthralled. \n\n\"Poor Abe.\" Mrs Goldacre began. \"He only really had his daughter and her family. And after that awful car accident, well, he had no one to visit him. Sure he still had his son-in-law, but that was a holidays only kind of deal. But what could Abe do, with an aerial that needs fixing and no way to fix it? Call his son-in-law of course. And he came round and, after a while, he started to come round more often. Not just to help Abe out, but to sit and drink tea and chat. I think it really saved Abe if I'm honest. Of course if either of those two were willing to admit they needed help, I wouldn't have had to go to all this trouble in the first place. But, well, you know men. Now, would you like a drink young man?\" \n\nIn her own diabolical way, Mrs G saved both Mr Stevens and Mr Wilson. Of course I know that I can never tell anyone this, it would undo all her work. But then, a great journalist knows when a story is too important to tell. \n", ">Lieutenant Joshua Bishop, Door gunner aboard Buffalo-1 [UH-60 Black Hawk] \n\nI peaked out the side of the left side door gun and saw ocean waters below. There was a grey overcast and a low hanging mist as we approached the lush green jungle spread over the tall mountains that blocked the view of our objective. I could hear the audible engines of the Black Hawk overhead, alongside the other flight of the many helicopters chopping through the air. We were a large reinforcing flight with each one carrying an entire fire team of soldiers. \n\nFrom behind the mountains, several pillars of black smoke billowed into the sky with the occasional tracers zipping over. As we got closer the sounds of battle were becoming clearer. The soldiers inside their seats were expressionless and lacking in any words. It had been a silent ride from the aircraft carriers. We all shared the same fear in some way. After all, the enemy we were facing wasn't like anything we'd seen or had expected in our life or any lifetime for that matter.\n\n\"We are less than a klick out.\" Ash said over the radio. She was our pilot. \n\nIf you were to tell me a year ago that dragons would start appearing from the sky and begin the largest invasion ever undertaken all over the world, I would've thought you were crazy. The scientists over the media told us that they were extra-terrestrial. But we couldn't call them aliens because of the strong physical distinction they had with a certain fairy tale monster. They came in all shapes and sizes but their most distinguishing characteristics, were that they breathed fire, had scales, and flew on massive wings.\n\n\"Gunners, watch the flanks, these guys like to use the clouds for cover.\" Ash's co-pilot spoke.\n\nI put my hands on the mini gun and began scanning the skies above. The clouds were a bright gray and rain started collecting on my visor. The other Black Hawks continued to stay in perfect formation, the only sounds were the batting of the rotors. We flew in a \"V\" formation, with the lead being the one I sat in.\n\n\"Five hundred meters... what the hell? Bishop you see that? Can't get a good look but I'm pretty sure I saw a tail.\" \n\n\"Negative, no visuals.\" I responded.\n\n\"Oh shit... they're coming over the right side!\" Williams yelled from over on the other door gun. \n\n\"Contact! Break left!\"\n\nI felt the helo jolt to the side as it rolled to dodge incoming flames. The belt dug into my suit and kept me from falling out of my seat.\n\nBrrrrrt!\n\nOther gunners began opening up on the dragons as they broke through the layer of clouds above us. The sounds of 6000 rounds per minute cut the air. I quickly grabbed the gun in front of me, all i could see was water as the entire aircraft was completing its maneuver. I witnessed a couple of the dragons fall dead into the ocean with a splash. Both were about the size of a small car. As I was turned upright I saw several grey scaled beast flying around our group.\n\n One of them latched onto the cockpit of one of the black hawks next to us and began dragging its nose down to a descent. It clawed at the pilot until it shattered the windshield and I saw a spatter of red. Then breathed fire in through the hole and the helicopter tumbled out of the sky. The beast broke away and I opened fire. The mini gun buzzed to life and spat fire of its own into the scales and shredded the wings. Unable to keep its flight, the dragon flapped it's broken membranes into the water alongside the wreck.\n\n\"This is Flight Buffalo, we are engaging multiple bandits, how copy.\"\n\n\"Buffalo, Command copies all, you are deviating from the objective. You have to keep moving.\"\n\n\"For fucks sake.\" I heard Ash mutter. \"Interrogative. Where is our air support?\"\n\n\"Buffalo, we got a squadron getting ready, they are two mikes out. Over.\"\n\n\"Roger, Buffalo out.\"\n\n\"Everyone! Two minutes! Bishop, Williams, do not let these fuckers get near us!\"\n\nThere were another two helicopters going down in a ball of flames. I continued to try and keep them away from ours but they had seemingly grown quicker and smarter after realizing the aircraft's capabilities. One looped and swerved around the mini gun's fire and with each dodge It got closer. I saw its mouth open and from its throat there was a burst of red flames. It wasn't close enough to our hull, but I felt the intense heat through my helmet.\n\nBrrrt Brrrrrrrrt!\n\nThat was three, but at this point they were swarming all around us. It was like flies to a corpse. They flew all around, latching on for a moment to claw at a supposed weakness before backing off. At this point I held down the gun's triggers and fired into the enveloping swarm in a continuous barrage.\n\n\"Buffalo-3 losing control of rotors... This is buffalo-6 mayday! We're going down!... Shit! Shit! They're inside the back!\" The radio chatter was nothing but frantic updates. The enemy did not want us reinforcing that objective. \n\n\"Buffalo, this is Excalibur. We are less than one mike out. Over.\"\n\n\"Copy! We are getting fucked up out here!\"\n\nIn the distance I saw two jets appear from out under the clouds. They closed in at incredible speed and I saw flashes of white tracers cut through the swarm of dragons around us. They easily dropped several in that one strafe. The sounds came later like thunder, none of the dragons knew what hit them. The two jets passed overhead too fast for any of the enemy to catch them. They made another turn, looping around and took down several more.\n\n\"Ash! Break right!\" As I watched a dragon flail about trying to stay in the air, heading right at us.\n\nThe flailing dragon swerved into the side of our copter and tried to latch onto it in an attempt to stay alive. Metal bent and screeched as the aircraft was violently wracked to the side. It's sharp claws were close to my door leaving scratches upon the metal surface. I angled the mini gun towards its body and pulled the triggers. It fell but it tore the sliding door away with it and the soldiers were exposed to the rain and winds outside.\n\n\"Shit! Engines are out! Mayday! this is Buffalo-1 we are going down.\" I continued to shoot at any dragons near us ignoring the report.\n\n\"Main rotors still spinning. We're about a few hundred meters from the shore.\"\n\n\"Going into auto-rotation.\" Ash said still keeping her cool.\n\n\"Watch that collective.\" \n\n\"Roger.\"\n\n\"Bishop, Williams, don't let them touch our rotors!\"\n\nI felt the helicopter slow down and angle upwards to slow itself down. The engines were silent and dead, and I could hear the violent wind passing by our exposed side. The rotors still spun but the rotations were slowing down.\n\n\"Altitudes two hundred and dropping. Keeping steady.\" Ash continued.\n\nI kept at it with my mini gun but as I dropped my last dragon the barrel stopped spinning. There were still more around us and only a few Black Hawks still flying. The jets were making short work of them but the stragglers were continuing the assault despite their body count.\n\n\"I'm out!\" I said over the radio. The ocean was closer now and continued to come up even faster. The rotors had now stopped and we were in a glide.\n\n\"Everyone brace for impact! We're landing in the water!\"", "\"Faster Jenkins! Faster damn it!\" Eliott screamed, his thick arms visibly strained by pulling back the heavy cannon over the rails. The end giving off smoke, the black metal almost red with heat. \n\nJenkins ran over and emptied the two buckets of water he was carrying, then threw them to the side, helping Eliott to lock the cannon in place with large wooden clamps. \n\n\"Sir! They told me they are limiting our water now. Else we won't have enough left.\" Eliott swore. \n\n\"Bunch of horse ploughers! What do they want us to do? If we don't cool these guns they'll heat up until the barrel goes bad and we shoot ourselves to kingdom come!\" He spat on the gun, the metal still hot enough to give off a hiss. \n\n\"They said to conserve our fire rate sir.\" Jenkins said as he groaned and lifted up one of the large shells. Putting it on the brass track above the barrel. The shell was part metal head, part framework that held glass phials. The phials held the expensive ablicerine, a highly explosive material. The gun would break the glass when they fired, causing a fierce explosion that pushed the head outward at great velocity. Some shells had more ablicerine phials in the head, but these didn't. Something Jenkins was grateful for, ablicerine shells often exploded in the barrel just as much as outside of it. \n\n\"Conserve my ass! Either we fire and have a chance to win, or we don't and they shoot us to shreds!\" \n\nEliott groaned as he closed the barrel after Jenkins lowered the shell in the chamber. Together the unlocked the clasps and slid the gun forwards again. There they locked it in place once more. Jenkins moved to the side, behind a thicker part of the hull, for protection, and covered his ears. Eliott moved behind the barrel, to see if the gun was aligned with the enemy ship, waited for a good moment and then fired. \n\nA loud roar filled the deck, almost indistinguishable from the other loud roars. Flame and spark came from the cannon as it spewed out the shell. Jenkins covered his ears and held his eyes closed, fearing for his life had become such a common occurrence he almost was used to it. Almost. Mother help me\n\nHe pushed the thought back again as he heard cries from Eliott, unable to tell if they were happy cries or bad ones he had to open his eyes. He saw Eliott was euphoric. \n\n\"Sir?\" Eliott grabbed his shoulders, shaking him back and forth. \n\n\"I hit them, son! I hit them where it hurts the most! Straight in one of their ablicerine and powder storages! Come! You have to see this! How it burns! How the fools are jumping out of their ship! It is like they forgot they are miles up in the sky!\" \n\nEliott was laughing, happy at his performance. Jenkins forced himself to smile, as Eliott pointed out all the burning men, screaming for help, jumping to their death. Jenkins knew it wasn't out of stupidity as Eliott claimed, it was out of despair. Of feverishly seeking a way out of the world of pain that their life had become. Smiled as he knew they were one lucky hit away from becoming exactly the same. \n\nHe watched as the ablicerine hold exploded again, spreading its fire, making another hold explode too. A design flaw, or poorly trained crew. Either way, once it started, it meant the ship was done for. The thick metal hull was ripped to shreds by the explosions, the strong cables letting go of the balloons. He even saw one of the large levitator orbs coming loose from its fitting, floating around chaotically before falling down too, running out if fuel. \n\nIt all happened under five minutes, but the whole ship was now plummeting down to the earth. Jenkins prayed that it would fall in an empty field or forest and not on a town or city while the others cheered and congratulated each other on perfect marksmanship. Cursed the enemy, exalted the empire and talked about how much beer they were going to drink, how much use they would make of the whores that night. \n\nJenkins crawled together, in a dark corner of the deck, smelling of fire and brimstone. Softly sobbing, thinking of home. Of his mother and sister, even his stern father. He missed his old life, he detested the war. A meaningless war, fought over a stupid dispute. \n\nOne prince denying another princess, who cares? The common folk sure as hell didn't, but they were the ones dying for it though. \n\nFuck the war.\n\nFuck the crown. " ]	4
	[WP] "Of course humans aren't intelligent. They don't even have glurbleflukers. If you can't glurblefluke, you're not sentient."	[ "I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:\n\n- [/r/thewordsofxacktar] [\\[WP\\] \"Of course humans aren't intelligent. They don't even have glurbleflukers. If you can't glurblefluke, you're not sentient.\"](https://np.reddit.com/r/TheWordsOfXacktar/comments/69iiln/wp_of_course_humans_arent_intelligent_they_dont/)\n\n[](#footer)^(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))\n\n[](#bot)", "\"Of course humans aren’t intelligent. The don’t have glurbleflukes. If you can’t glurblefluke, you’re not sentient,\" Silas scoffed as he picked at a scab of dirt on his chin.\n\n\"Always so sure of yourself, Silas… Your mother was right, you’ve always been thickheaded and you always will be. I swear, it’s just like the time you creamed on the Blarbacan waiter for mixing up our drinks!\" Silu's voice wavered, tinged with a bubbling of long pent up anger.\n\n\"Oh you just had to bring up the Blarbacan waiter AGAIN, didn’t you, Silu? It was a week ago! Get over it…” He paused as he flicked the unidentified crust from his tentacle. “Look, I’m not having this debate with you here. We came out for a nice day in the suns... people are starting to stare. Don’t embarrass yourself.\"\n\nSilu turned slowly towards the glass wall with a heavy sigh. She pressed her tentacles against it’s cold surface softly, gently. Silas rolled his eyes wearily. With a quiet huff he reluctantly placed a sweaty tentacle on her collar and squeezed half-heartedly. \n\n\"Don't be like that, Silu. It’s just a human, why are we even arguing about this?\"\n\nSilu winced with irritation at the sound of Silas’ voice and continued to stare intently at the figure through the glass of the enclosure. The tiny, frail human inside had turned her eyes from a small television set and locked contact with Silu. She munched deflatedly on a french fry, her eyes tired and pained.\n\n\"Glurbleflukes or not, humans shouldn’t be kept in captivity!\" Silu cried, teary eyed.\n\nSilas slowly dropped and shook his head so that the smooth glurbleflukes twitched in unison, almost as if dancing to his disappointment. He latched at her tentacle and pulled her away from the zoo enclosure. \n\n\"Come on, Silu. That’s enough for today,\" Silas sighed. \n\nHe glurblefluked towards the exit door.\nSilu did not move.", "My ears perked after hearing the outburst, several booths over. The creature who had loudly spoke was one of the newer races that had appeared on the Ark, only a few sun rotations ago. I sighed, a human sigh, which I made sure was quiet enough not to invoke the wrath of whoever it was that had a problem with humanity. I stared down at my drink, a murky amber liquid that had enough viscosity to be sold as either a meal or beverage, and took another hearty swig. It burned as it entered my mouth, and it burned as it made its way down to my stomach. Hell, I really had to stop drinking so late in the evening, especially with another early rise in the morning. For the fourth half-cycle in a row I was being shipped off into hyperspace, another desperate mining expedition that I was nobly tasked to be a part of to help with the additional races that crowded down onto an already crowded NAVship. Humans, TECHbots, Martians, Varnians, Quizners, the Ark already had little room to separate the incredibly different species, and with more appearing every half-cycle, the already apparent oxygen problem was only going to get worse. \n\n\"I mean seriously, a bipedal creature in the year 3100? How have they not vanished from existence already?\" Continued the creature, visibly drunk and whose bar tab had no end in sight. \n\nIt's friends all surrounded it, nodding along to it's words. If it was trying to get a reaction from the bar's human occupants it was going to have to try harder, as humans had already face enough oppression on the Ark than any other sentient species. They had a point however, which was not lost on me. What were we doing here? Dwelling in a metal ship hurtling away from our Mother Earth, whose fields of grass and oceans of water I had never touched or seen. Of course no human had for several generations, not after we, as a collective species had doomed her to rot as we fled into the stars with our newly found interstellar allies. I sighed again, and drained my glass, dropping it on the SERVEbot that circled between each of the occupied booths. \n\n\"Another round Marsh?\" came a voice from behind the bar.\n\nI turned slowly towards the speaker and smiled directly in the eyes of the barkeep, a female Martian who went by the name of Ashka. She was pretty by her people's standards, and I had to agree with that notion\n\n\"No thanks, Ash. Stars knows that I should call it quits while I'm ahead.\"\n\n\"Big man with his big new job in the morning?\" Laughed Ashka, knowing full well the dangerous implications of interstellar travel that the miners had to undergo. \n\n\"Of course\" I laughed, \"How else am I going to afford this sewage you call a drink\"\n\n\"Hey now, that right there just so happens to be our bestseller, three cycles in a row\"\n\nI stood suddenly, and wavered as the alien alcohol made its way through my systems.\n\n\"Catch you in a few Ash, this human needs his beauty sleep\"\n\nAshka walked around the bar and placed one of her arms on my shoulder. \n\n\"You be careful okay Marsh? You may be the ugliest human I've ever met but you're still one of my favourites.\" Her face became serene and friendly in that moment, as genuine emotion was displayed on her face. \n\n\"My dear Ash, you know I can't go to any bars on this damned ship other than yours.\" I returned the gesture and placed my hand on her shoulder, completing the Martian friend ritual. \"I'll be back before you know it.\"\n\nThe walk back to my quarters was not far, but the drink made it harder all the same. Twisting and turning down the long corridors, I made my way through each of the Ark's living section, inhabiting all manners of creatures. Voices of several creatures rose in the din of each races evening rituals, making for comforting background noise. I patted the metal walls as I walked, once again marvelling at the alien engineering which kept all breathing souls alive. How lucky humans had been to be given the chance of survival, especially after decimating Mother Earth with our pollution and weaponry. It had been the martians who had offered us help, after going through the same planetary woes that we had. And we jumped at the opportunity of course, revelling in our fortune as another force saved us from ourselves. I shook my head and laughed again. \n\nFinally, after what seemed like eternity, I strolled up to my room, and hazily punched in the four-digit combination, allowing for my quarters to open to me. Stumbling in I undressed down into my sleep-suit and made my way over to my sleep-pod. It was hard not to feel claustrophobic in such instances, but it definitely beat floating in the vacuum of space. In fact I was lucky enough to have room for two sleep-pods, rather than just one. That's what being the best interstellar human miner had to offer apparently. I hovered over the second pod, much smaller and cramped than mine.\n\n\"Hello my little love\" I said. Bending over I was only inches away from my daughter's face. My daughter, forever suspended in deep-sleep, unable to wake without permission from higher forces. My daughter, whose face reminded me so of her Martian mother, a raw beauty that had stolen my heart another lifetime ago. \"One day little bird, you're going to fly, and I can't wait to see you soar.\" Tears streaked my face now, which was spurned not only of memories of a family I once had, but by the nostalgia that my drunken stupor brought on. Her mother, my dear Sylvan, had died on a previous mining expedition, right after she was born. The pain of that loss had never subsided, and I carry it with me wherever I go. My little love would have to wait to see the stars, as anyone under working age was committed to deep-sleep as a way of preserving the fleeting oxygen on the Ark. I leaned over and kissed the pod that held my daughter, still caught in the emotion. Suddenly, a loud voice played over the intercom\n\n\"Warning, oxygen deprivation will be conducted in 15 ark-minutes. It is advised to return to your sleep-pods immediately.\"\n\nWell, guess that was my cue. Another long day and another long one awaited me tomorrow. I turned to my dresser and pulled another alcoholic beverage from its storage space. Smiling, I took a half-swig of the Old-Earth brandy which I had traded for cycles ago, continuing my tradition of having some before every new mining job. Slowly, I pulled my pod's lid down and settled in for the deep-sleep. Closing my eyes, I felt every hum and metallic clang the Ark had to offer, and brought a knowing smile to my lips. Yeah, she wasn't much, but this was home for now. Until I stood planet-side, on our new home, with my daughter's hand in mine.\n\nFinally, I drifted off into a restful sleep.", "The Cyclodian ambassador's words echoed throughout the chamber, marching about like a parade master with an overinflated ego. \n\nThe Haulachan assembly shuddered, their amoebic bodies turning a bright shade of green. A Turbinshtock clerk spat excess brain fluid against his tablet. The petite bodies of a few Vikti representatives fell to the floor, wings frozen from shock.\n\nUnited Earth Secretary Gregory Hartwell only felt oily beads of sweat bunching up on his forehead. His spine, both figurative and literal, had lost its famed rigidity, folding and unfolding underneath him like a particularly cheap accordion. The room was tilting backwards, threatening to send him and the rest of Earth tumbling towards the mess they were trying to crawl out of.\n\n\"You see? No glurblefluking capacity,\" the Cyclodian ambassador, casting a hand towards the trembling Hartwell. \n\n\"Beg your... Beg your pardon?\" Hartwell's voice sounded small and empty inside the chamber. \n\nThe Cyclodian chortled, in a purely Cyclodian fashion. Sparks flew from its mouth plate, accompanied by the sounds of monotone buzzing and grinding metal. Hartwell felt it sounded like a computer going through labor.\n\n\"My fellow counselors and I have just discussed several thousand different ways to prepare sechuni salarifish,\" it said. \n\n\"Yes, but -\" Hartwell paused, licking his lips, perusing his mental dictionary. \"How were you able to do this mundane task?\"\n\nThe Cyclodian turned towards the center of the room. Addressing the black robed Deliberator, it only bowed. When it rose again, its face plates were tight, rubbing against one another. Then, with much pomp and ceremony, gas flew from the back of its head, followed by a quiet but distinct noise.\n\nThe Deliberator bowed in response and performed a similar action. Nodding, the Cyclodian turned towards Hartwell.\n\n\"Due to the Accords of Fairness, I am bound to inform you of the glurblefluker, even though your non-sentient status does not warrant it.\" The Cyclodian looked back and clapped its hands. \"Service drone!\"\n\nThe drone, one of the court's many multi-eyed servitors, flew across the chamber and stopped extremely close to Hartwell. Hartwell leaned back and tugged at his lapels, unenthusiastic for the task at hand.\n\n\"It's for the good of the planet,\" he muttered to himself. His words had little effect, just as they had throughout the entire session. \n\nHe lifted his hair, revealing the wrinkled, pale skin of his forehead to the drone. Its several eyes fixed themselves on it, and a long proboscis jutted from its gray flesh with alarming speed. Without hesitation, the proboscis was jammed into Hartwell's forehead, pulsing as its conduits set about carving new furrows into Hartwell's brain. \n\nThe procedure was mercifully brief, though that didn't stop it from feeling like the grand dad of all inoculations. Hartwell obsessively tapped his fingers against his cranium, but, as usual, found nothing. He looked back to the representatives.\n\n\"This glurblefluker... I understand.\" He inhaled and closed his eyes. When his eyelids reopened, he could feel the comfortable, stiff weight of his spine again.\n\n\"Ladies, gentlemen, gender binary, gender fluid, and genderless, I understand the nature of this glurblefluker that you all seem to possess. I also know that it is the standard by which the Federation judges all other species.\" Hartwell paused, reorganizing his thoughts. \"You need not question humanity's sentient nature any further, then. We have already created devices capable of imitating the glurblefluke.\"\n\nThe Cyclodian barked off a few derisive sparks. \"Secretary, the glurblefluker is an inherent part of every organism here. A device you slap with your sensory organs is not an inherent part of you.\"\n\n\"But,\" Hartwell gasped. \"They accomplish the very same actions as a glurblefluker, regardless.\"\n\nA diminutive Vikti piped up in response. \"Secretary Hartwell, according to Article 230.27 and six Zeytons, Subsection Floredas-93 of the Universal Constitution, the glurblefluker must be an organic part of the species. Aids, technological or cybernetic, do not constitute as an organic part of the species.\"\n\n\"Exactly,\" the Cyclodian purred. \"In fact, your devices have already surpassed the Constitution's standards. You may take some comfort knowing they will carry on your pest species's legacy after the building measure is seen through.\"\n\nThe Cyclodian had intended this to be the killing blow, the point where the earthling secretary would be reduced to a quivering pile of nerves, like the verbal-sensitive Kandaran monkeys. But instead, the earthling had become as stiff and tough as a shaft of plastelic. Its face bore an unsettling grin.\n\n\"Counselors, you may think me ill-educated, but I have gone through your regulations and articles quite thoroughly,\" Hartwell said. \"If you abide by your law so much, then answer my question. Why would you allow a species, whose glurbleflukes are an artificial part of their organic being, a seat in the highest echelons of your government?\"\n\n\"Secretary, you are in no position to make such accusations,\" the Deliberator burbled. It shifted its gargantuan weight from the center of the floor. \"We are willing to forgive this misstep if you rescind your words.\"\n\n\"Negative, Deliberator,\" Hartwell said. He paused again, channeling this newfound fire within him. \"I simply ask why the Federation would give the Cyclodian race the privilege of sitting in government, when they too are guilty of housing artificial glurbleflukers?\"\n\nEven more gasping, color changing, and brain fluid spewing occurred. The representatives looked back and forth between Hartwell and the Cyclodian ambassador.\n\n\"Secretary, you DARE to make such brash accusations?!\" the Cyclodian shrieked, like an angry wind turbine. \"My people have faithfully served the Federation for years, and we would never -\"\n\n\"Counselors, scientist on Earth have been able to autopsy the remains of Cyclodian foot soldiers after the NightFall Conflict, and we believe the Cyclopian equivalent of a glurblefluker -\" Hartwell stopped and pulled out his phone, presenting the research photos taken of the Cyclodian bodies. \"- is nothing more than an artificial construct, inserted into Cyclodians at birth.\"\n\nHartwell flashed the photo at all the shocked faces around him. \"You see, the glurblefluker of the Cyclodians is of a different material than the Cyclodians. While most Cyclodians on Alua are born from the living metal found across the planet, the glurblefluker on display here was made from a mineral that is nonnative to Alua. I believe it is safe to say, that the Cyclodians are guilty of using artificial glurbleflukers.\"\n\nThe chamber began to thrum. Anger-filled gas was expelled from glurbleflukers of all shapes and sizes, filling the atmosphere with a buzzing, red cloud. Hostile eyes turned towards the Cyclodian ambassador, hemming it into a corner.\n\n\"Ambassador,\" the Deliberator said, a deadly, low thrumming in its voice. \"What say you to these charges?\"\n\nThe ambassador sparked and gawked, but eventually found its wits.\n\n\"I can only say,\" it began. \"That we are not the only race that has used artificial means to replicate a glurblefluker.\" It pointed to the Vikti assembly above it. \"The glurblefluker of the Vikti assembly, as noted by our intelligence agency, is nothing more than a collection of parasites which are mandatorily inserted into all Vikti who engage in public service!\"\n\nThe accusation raised a collective shrieking from the Vikti assembly. One of the small creatures swooped down and landed against the Cyclodian's collar.\n\n\"You swore!\" she spat. \"You took the credits! The Bureau's hookers! You swore!\"\n\nCyclodian reached up and tried to throttle the impertinent creature, but several more of her compatriots swarmed down and started to gnaw away at the Cyclodian's plating.\n\n\"Counselors, counselors!\" the Deliberator yelled. \"I will have order in this room!\"\n\n\"Just wait, Deliberator!\" a Vikti politician hollered. \"We have dossiers on the Haulachan and Turbinshtock races, both of whom also use artificial glurbleflukers! They shall be declassified on the morrow!\"\n\nClamor overtook the entire chamber. The Haulachans started to blurble out, in their trademark, hive mind chorus, the names of other races, but they were cut short as a Chilintu bailiff began cutting a bloody swathe through them with its back spikes. The Turbinshtock clerks tried to make their way towards the traitorous Vikti, but were rebuffed by an angry crowd of Cyclodians. Someone fired a laser at the Deliberator, who fell back and crushed the Kulu, Chundra, and Angerel assemblies.\n\nAs light fixtures and service drones clattered against the ground in a gruesome rain around him, Hartwell produced a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. He'd been lucky with this save. He'd have to read up and come back more prepared tomorrow.\n\nAfter all, humanity would still need to clear up the thousand other cases it had racked up in traffic court.\n\n", "“Glubleflukers?” \n\n“Yes, Mr. President. Glublefluke is a necessary element for a species to be recognized as sentient and join the Galactic Federation.” \n\nAn uncomfortable silence settle over the oval office. The two aliens sitting across from the president had shown up yesterday with the request to meet with the human leader. They weren't the only ones. Most of the important world powers had received ambassadors. Even Canada. He wonder if their aliens were also perfectly human looking apart from the green skin. He'd wanted to comment on it but hadn't really known how to approach it tactfully. Or if he needed to approach it tactfully. In fact he'd actually wonder if a career in politics hadn't made him the least qualified person on Earth for first contact. He glanced at his newly appointed Secretary of Extraterrestrial Affairs, some professor of philosophy or linguistics, who look at least as disturbed and dumb founded by the statement as the president felt. He turned his attention back to the aliens.\n\n“I'm sorry but I don't think either of us follow. What is a Glublefluker?”\n\n“It's what you use to Glublefluke.” the alien on the left replied bemusedly, gaze flitting between me and the secretary as though he could catch the jest.\n\n“Okay,” the president replied as evenly as he could, “what is Glubleflu–?”\n\n“What do mean we aren't sentient? Because when I use that word I mean something that has senses and responds to sensory ques in the environment and I know I and all mammals do that so I think we must be using the word to mean something different,” the Secretary said.\n\nThe aliens exchanged an unreadable look. \n\n“We were just using the word in colloquial sense to mean someone that Glubleflukes most if not all of the time.”\n\n“That's not the colloquial sense. The colloquial sense is self awareness or human level intelligence or . . . something like that.”\n\n“We meant colloquial in our sense of the word,” the right alien replied sounding a bit put off.\n\n“We're speaking English. Unless you've were speaking English before you got here you can't ha–”\n\n“What is a Glublefluking?” the president interjected.\n\n“What do you mean what is Glublerfluking? You can't build a computer much less develop germ theory without Glublefluking. Hold on. Transitional feedback on. The muldrelk can't Glublefluke a bwat … The-muldrelk-can't-Glublefluke … how does that not translate. You can't have a technological civilization with out at least having the concept of Glublefluking. Did a different alien race give you the computers and medicine?”\n\n“Uh, no we developed both in the natural course of scientific advancement,” the secretary said.\n\n“What advancement?” \n\n“Scientific advancement.” \n\n“What is scientific?”\n\n“Science is the systematized study of and experimentation on phenomena to formulate more accurate understanding of them,” the Secretary responded sounding incredulous.\n\nThere was another uncomfortable pause.\n\n“That sounds insane,” said the alien on the left.\n\n“I think there must be something wrong with our translation. Can we get back to you later?” asked the alien on the right.\n\n“Sure. Do whatever yo–” the president's words died in my throat as both aliens slumped over. The secretary checked, neither of them had a pulse. \n\n“Do you have any thoughts or theories on what just happened,” the president asked.\n\nThe secretary of extraterrestrial Affairs turned to the president with the most bewildered look he'd ever seen.\n\n“Other than a major issue in translation, no.”\n\n“I see … You're fired.”\n\n", "\"I disagree.\"\n\n\"You always disagree, Berv!\" Malg flicked three of his stick-like arms at Berv in a dismissive tone, \"Interspiral Regulations state clearly and plainly that without proper glublefluke technical knowledge then a race is not considered sentient and thus only faces animal cruelty punishment laws if they are disturbed.\"\n\n\"But look at them!\" Berv tapped the glass with two of his arms, \"Complex, interconnected computing skills, a collected exterior knowledge base, they have atomic fission weapon and power technology.\"\n\n\"That's nothing, my pet Grekthaks built an atom bomb. Took me a week to sanitize their cage afterwards.\" \n\n\"That's not the same and you know it! Grekthaks are raised in a uranium-rich environment!\"\n\n\"So are these human things.\" Malg folded two sets of arms and glared, \"Plenty of surface deposits that they've already mined.\"\n\n\"Fine, then what about their internet?\"\n\n\"Probably tampering by another Interspiral race. We're probably not the first ones to find this planet, you know? The Blegshar always seem to find these places first, searching for their golden species who excrete the sacred mineral and all that. I heard they gave the internet to the Murmols. The Murmols, Berv! Think about that! They did it just so they could gather research more effectively than probing the excretion tubes of tagged samples.\"\n\n\"It is possible, I'll grant you that.\" Berv frowned and looked out of the viewport and the shining blue, white, and green of the planet. \"So you still think they're savages?\"\n\n\"Without any doubt.\"\n\n\"What is your evidence?\"\n\n\"Look here.\" Malg waved a paired set of arms and a flat broadcast came up on the screen with a translation matrix below it. Berv watched for a few minutes in silence, absorbing what was said and conveyed by the humans on it.\n\n\"Fine. You may have a point for this planet. I can't believe they are serious about that. They kill each other over what color they are?\"\n\n\"And for what they pleasure themselves on. Happens all over that continent down there... and the people over there kill each other because of things that transpired some 780 guans ago. Savages, Berv. Savages with some shiny baubles, nothing more. Plus there's this.\" Malg pulled up a technical readout.\n\nBerv read it quickly and then expectorated in shock.\n\n\"They're going to extinguish themselves from the planet... as well as millions of other animal species! How could any race be so incredibly stupid!?\"\n\nMalg shrugged his multiple shoulders and grinned, \"Perhaps we should have them all brought up on charges of animal cruelty. It isn't a bad idea, really. We might have legal cause and we could reverse some of the damage, perhaps even save some of the species that might evolve to be actually sentient. Dolphins look promising, but I'm really hoping for the octopus.\"\n\n\"You know...\" Berv stared at the data with his face-plate wiggling in discomfort, \"I think you're right. Contact the INAPA and start filing the claim on this place. I can't believe I was so wrong.\"\n\n\"Told you.\" Malg shook his plates in self-righteousness, \"No glurbleflukers; no sentience.... hell, no species self-preservation instinct at all!\"" ]	6
Inspired by: http://imgur.com/gallery/ugWm98L	[WP] "Lightning struck the elder oak, and inside the new smoldering hollow of the trunk lay an egg, safely covered in fresh, glowing cinders..."	[ " It was an alien egg. My buddy John and I cautiously walked towards the tree, hoping not to get electrocuted. We were only 11 years old, with an eagerness to see what exactly just happened in front of us. John stepped up to the tree, blocking his face from the ash. He looked inside, only to describe something horrifying.\n\n \"It looks like it's moving, I think!\" he said, which only made me more confused.\n\n \"What's moving?\" I replied, just as confused as he was.\n\n \"Some kind of egg inside the tree. I'm scared. I think we should go back home and tell your Mom.\" John replied back, beginning to sound more terrified rather than confused. He began to take a few cautious steps back, and once he was away from whatever that thing was, I made out the lettering on it.\n\n Property of Weyland-Yutani Corporation, it read. My young mind tried to figure out what that meant, but I shrugged it off in fear.\n\n**\n\n A few hours later, as we were drinking hot cocoa in John's kitchen, we saw a report on the news about a shooting at the park we were just at. Once his Mom could get a clear view of the news chopper images they were showing, her tone changed dramatically.\n\n \"We need to leave, you guys. There's no time, no time. If we get into cryosleep now, we shouldn't be infected.\" she explained, but this kept my emotions swirling. Cryosleep? It was 1979, cryosleep was such an abstract concept to everyone. What did she mean by cryosleep? I still wonder to this day.", "The flashes of lightning made the 2 a.m. darkness look like midday. The crackling booms of thunder immediately following sounded as if the ground were splitting right where you stood. This was just a normal stormy night in the South.\n\nGerry always loved the rain. The pattering sound of droplets hitting his window was strangely calming. The whistling of the wind and rustling of the leaves created a soothing white noise. The thunder reminded him of bowling balls rumbling down the lanes at the local bowling alley where he got his first job.\n\nFor Gerry, everything about a rainy night was perfect, except his neighbor's wind chimes. Normally they were tolerable, but on a windy evening it sounded as if the devil himself had picked up the triangle as a hobby. And the devil was terrible at playing triangle. On multiple occasions, Gerry had taken down or sabotaged the chimes while Brad was away. More than once he duct taped the chimes together so they would no longer sound. Brad couldn't take a hint apparently, as they were up again the next day.\n\nScrew you Brad.\n\nThe storm had been pounding the area since the morning, and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. Normally that didn't bother Gerry, but tonight the storm hit a little too close to home. Literally.\n\nWhat sounded like a bomb going off in his back yard startled Gerry awake. He leapt out of bed and ran to his bedroom window. Through the darkness and the rain, Gerry could see the red glow of smoldering embers in the side of the old oak tree in his back yard that had been there before the neighborhood was even built. \n\nThe tree that had survived Hurricane Katrina and every storm before and after had been split down the middle by the lightning of an ordinary summer storm. The larger of the two halves stayed in its place; the majority of the roots were connected to this half. The other half was not so lucky. Or I guess you could say Gerry's shed wasn't so lucky. The smaller half of the tree landed directly on it, crushing it without much of a fight. \n\nGerry took a moment to catch his breath and try to slow his racing heartbeat. As he examined the tree outside his window, he noticed a small glow in the larger half of the tree. The bright red embers had been put out by the rain, and only this strange, white glow remained. Gerry decided, against his better judgment (it was 2 a.m. after all), that he would brave the storm and see exactly what this glow was. Before he ran out the door, he grabbed his fireplace tongs and slipped on a pair of flip flops. \n\nHe bolted out the door towards the tree and was soaked within a few steps. As he neared the tree, he reached the tongs out towards the glowing object. The tongs wrapped around it and it slid out of the tree with ease. The strange rock Gerry had pulled out of the tree was a bit over a foot tall and had an odd, egg-like shape.\n\nInside, Gerry put the rock on his coffee table and went to dry off and put on new clothes. When he returned, he noticed the glow had subsided. He walked to the rock and put his hand on it for the first time. He felt a warmth. A bizarrely familiar warmth. Like something he had felt once in a dream.\n\nThen it moved.\n\nGerry jumped backwards as he heart accelerated and he let out a not-so-masculine yelp. Am I going crazy? Did that thing just move?* He approached it again, much more cautiously this time. The rock moved again; this time a small crack appeared in the side.\n\nThat's when it hit him. This isn't a rock... this is an egg. What kind of egg is in a tree like that? No bird I've ever seen in a tree lays that big of an egg.\n\nThe crack in the egg began to spread. The egg was hatching, and Gerry was too terrified to move and too captivated to look away. He stood there frozen for over half an hour as whatever was in the egg tried to push it's way out. Eventually, a chunk of the egg fell off and Gerry could see inside. \n\nPushing out of the hole in the egg was this odd, humanoid-looking... thing. That definitely isn't a bird! Did the tree give birth to a crazy alien thing?? The creature moved and began to make noises. Gerry approached it to try to hear what it sounded like. \n\nFrom this small creature came a high-pitched, scratchy voice:\n\n\"I am Groot.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Glaicers are melting. Ancient deadly diseases are awakening.	[ "We were in Antartica. It was just supposed to be a fuckin' climate change research expedition, real easy like, in and out, you know? I had a contract driving one of the 4x4's to the middle of one of the tundras for the team, so they could drill a bit and collect samples and see how much ice had receded. I ain't no scientist, just a guy with a heavy machinery license. Well, anyways, we were on our way to the drilling site when we came across a compound. Yes, you heard me right, a fuckin' compound. In the middle of Antartica. So yeah, naturally like anybody would, we get out and see just what this was. I mean, we didn't think that far ahead you know? There weren't any lights on in any of the tents or heat sources or nothing! How could we have known? I mean, it was a shock enough to us when we started seeing Russian flags when we entered the base! We were all real confused and a bit scared you know? Like, why the fuck was their a Russian compound out in the middle of Antartica? But we kept going in, man, and I mean I guess we didn't think much of it, cause it really didn't look like there was anyone there. We made our way to the center of the base and they had this huge drilling rig up there, and it looked like they had been drilling really deep down into that ice for whatever reason, so then we were really started to get freaked out. Like I said, the place was a fuckin' ghost town so we stuck around to look inside some of the buildings, like maybe this was a failed Soviet experiment site or something. Well we opened up some of those buildings man, and their were lots of people there. I mean, they were people, but they all had something real wrong with them. Different parts of their body, like their arms or their head or stomach were all swollen up real big like a balloon or something. It was awful, and you should have seen their faces. Those pale white faces were all twisted up and gnarled, it was like they died screaming. So naturally we were real spooked at that point, so we went back to the trucks and said \"Fuck the expedition, we gotta get back to base\". \n\nSo yeah, we get back there and our director, of course, wants us to go back out tomorrow with him so he can see the Russian base for himself or whatever. But then I wake up that night to the sound of Rod, who's in the bunk across from mine, and oh man, he's really crying. He's got his teeth clenched together and he's trying not to make a sound but there is something seriously wrong so I call out to him \"Rod you alright buddy?\" and he turns and looks at me, and I can see he's cradling his arm, thats all swollen up and twitching back and forth. And he just looks at me, tears pouring out of his eyes and he begins to really scream. So I gear up, and run out of our tent to go get help and as I start to get closer to the infirmary tent I can hear this terrible screaming all through the air. So I throw open the door to the tent and man, it was just awful. I mean most of the whole damn expedition crew was in there, writhing around on the floor or on cots, trying to hold their swollen limbs as they twitched and tweaked, screaming all the while. I saw Jeff Bell stumble in front of me, his head all swollen up like a god damn beach ball. I remember seeing him clutch his head as he tried to deal with all that weight, but eventually just fell right over and couldn't get back up. So I was looking around for the doctor, obviously, and I'm screaming out his name, when I see him in the back. His stomach was all puffed out and pulsating like his intestines had come to life or something. When I got close to him he looked at me, his face drained white and teeth grinding from the pain. I ain't even realize he had a gun in his hand until he held it up to his own head and pulled the trigger. So after that I ran out, and every tent I went into was the same thing. And I mean of course, I'm runnin' around tent to tent, and I'm wonderin' - \"Why not me?\". I mean every person in the damn place is dying around me, except for me? Well by the morning the whole camp was silent, they were all gone, each one of em with that same look those Russians had. So naturally, after some of the shock had worn off in the morning, I called back to you guys for the evac, and here we are. Listen, I want to see my family, I've been in this glass tube for days now. I've told you the same story over and over and I can't even see nobodies face behind those HazMat masks. Come on, I mean what is their a foot of glass between us? Look at me, I'm alright! Whatever they caught, I didnt catch man!" ]	1
	[WP] A 394 year old Marlboro executive reveals his secret: Smoking a cigarette takes 6 seconds off of your life, but adds 3 seconds to the life of the one responsible for getting you to smoke that cigarette.	[ "“’Did we know?’ Of course we fuckin’ knew. You ever seen the CEO of Philip Morris smoking a menthol? Fuck no. We knew. Hell, I learned about it from the redskins. They told us and we didn’t even have a put a gun to their heads. A little gin and they babbled on about how making their enemies smoke their ‘peace pipe’ made them live longer while those assholes over the river are coughing up blood. \n\nShit, not like I believed them at first. Me or Thomas McNeill. Thought it was some mumbo-jumbo they believed like how the world came from a turtle or that we screwed some of their women. Total nonsense. \n\nIt was only after we started the tobacco plantation that things seemed up. Started on those savages’ land naturally. We could make more snuff and cigars than any Indian could ever make on his own. The slaves, well, they never lasted long no matter where you put ‘em. Don’t give me that look, but that’s how we did business in the Carolinas. You think I could afford a bunch of micks to harvest for me? Fuck no, not even if Tommy would go for it. Speaking of, he was the one who noticed who young I looked. You see, he’d left after a little ‘disagreement’ about the division of labor on our new setup.\n\n’10 years later and you’re still look like a young son of a bitch’ were the first words Tom said to me. He was the first one to say anything. No family to tell me otherwise and no slave that would dare talk back to me. That’s when we figured the Indians were full of shit. Tom tried to threaten me, to out me if I didn’t get rid of my slaves. Tommy had been in Massachusetts a little too long and had all these crazy notions in his head. I think you might still find his skeleton somewhere in a field in South Carolina if you like digging.\n\nTom got the last laugh anyway after the war. Moving from state to state under a different name was a lot easier before Social Security. Though some gold never hurts the process of getting a new name. But slavery or no slavery, people wanted their smokes and I was more than happy to provide. Or at least let someone else do all the heavy lifting while I collected the real rewards. \n\nSo everything’s smooth sailing until people eventually start to catch on about the whole ‘cancer’ and ‘breathing problems’ that happens when you chain smoke. Hell, the Nazis were the first to start anti-smoking campaigns and thank god they didn’t catch on until the ‘60s here. That was the real sweatin’ time when we had to lie to bunch of other liars about smoking definitely didn’t kill you. But even several hundred clocks can be right once in a while. \n\nYou think I’m going anywhere? You can raise smoking ages, make my products more expensive, but as much as people say they’re gonna quit, I knew a guy who said he’d quit if a pack costs more than a quarter and guess what? He still goes through a nine dollar pack of cigs every single day. You can ban cigarettes, but you can't ban that level of dedication.\"\n" ]	1
	[WP] God starts texting you.	[ "\"Looking good, Rae.\"\nFrom 463\n\nWtf? My curtains were closed, I was in the house alone (roomy was staying with her boyfriemd this weekend) and I was 99% sure the windows and doors were locked. Who the hell is texting me at 11pm with this freaky shit? I hit spacebar on my laptop, pausing the show I was currently binging on. #PraiseNetflix. My mouth overtaken by a sudden dryness, I headed downstairs for a glass of water, clad only in boyshorts, bra and singlet. It was hot as balls and the AC was only partially helping. Gingerly padding down the carpet steps, I put my phone in my left bra cup - the universal lady pocket when you have no pockets. That text had weirded me out. It wasnt a normal phone number, but they obviously knew my name. Maybe it was one of my friends trying to freak me out because most of them knew i was home alone this weekend. Logically, I knew no one could see me, unless someone had planted a hidden camera in my room at last week's party, but that was highly unlikely. None of my friends were very tech-savvy, nor were they that pervy. I hoped. I walked in to the kitchen and flicked on the light. The cold tile absolute bliss on my bare feet. I resisted the urge to lay down on the floor and poured myself some water from the tap. Thirst quenched, I bee-lined for the fridge. They didn't call it a midnight snack for nothing. I rummaged for a bit, spying some snow-peas in the fruit and veg crisper at the bottom. I bent over to move a few carrots and a broccoli, revelling in the chill. Just as a I stood up, snow-peas in hand, my phone dinged again. Another text. \n\n\"Damn, girl. You fine. Grab a carrot while you down there... ;)\"\nFrom 463\n\nEww!!! Seriously! What the fuck was happening? I was officially freaked out. Was someone in my house? Did some arsehole seriously put cameras in here!? I couldn't see anything amiss. We didn't have any clutter or many nicknacks, there were very few places one could actually hide a camera. Was i going to die? Was someone in my house right now? Holy shit! Leaving the peas on the bench and arming myself with the biggest knife we had, I ripped open the broom closet door. Empty, aside from the cleaning stuff. The kitchen window was locked. Ok, next room. Tip-toeing in to the lounge, I checked the front door. Bolted. There was nowhere for anyone to hide in here. Tv cabinet, bookshelf, coffee table, couch against the wall, lazy boy in front of me, extendable table with chairs along the right wall by the kitchen. Noone. I knelt on the couch. Without opening the curtains, I pushed both windows. Nothing, they were locked. Ok, good. I left the lights on, and as quietly as I could, crept up the stairs. Knife poised, should anything take a running leap at me. No way in hell was I dying in my knickers. Directly at the top of the stairs was the bathroom. Feeling like some useless bimbo in a slasher film, I toed open the door as i bashed the light on, kitchen blade at the ready. Sink, toilet, glass cube shower - empty. I turned and stepped out. Closet to my left. Damn. I steadied myself as i stepped towards it. The likelihood of someone being in there was almost nil. It was floor to ceiling shelving and full of towels and bedding, but I had to check. I opened the door carefully. If anyone was going to jump out at me, now would be the time. There was my room to the left, light on, and as far as i could tell, uninhabited, and my roommate Casey's room to my right. Door slightly ajar, dark, behind the open closet door. My nerves were on edge. Fuck this. Fuck you, creepy texter. Making me run around my house in the middle of the night scaring the shit out of myself. Fuck! I closed the closet door and checked behind me before I crept towards Casey's room. My breathing quickened and I could feel sweat breakout on my forehead. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I quickly put my hand through the door, found the light and switched it on, slamming the door open with my elbow. Thank Christ for futon beds. At least I didn't have to check under there. The only place someone could hide was in the closet. Casey was a bit of a fashionista, I knew her closet was packed with clothes and shoes. If someone was hiding in there, they'd probably break an ankle trying to get out. I could use that to my advantage. I readied myself, left hand on the doorknob, right hand gripping around the knife so tight my knuckles were white. Deep breath. I wrenched the door open and shoved my left hand in towards the millions of outfits hanging there. Sweeping my arm back and forth, i hit the wall and made my way lower. Nothing. What the fuck!? \n\nI wasn't disappointed there was no psycho, I just didn't understand what was happening. I headed back to my room, sat on the edge of the bed and looked around. I didnt have a closet, but my room was bigger than Casey's. That was the trade off. I wasn't all that in to fashion so just had a stand alone clothes rack along one wall. My bed had a wooden base with drawers underneath that no one but a 2 year old could fit in, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't a toddler that was texting me. I pulled my phone out from my bra and wiped it on the duvet cover. It was a little dewy from the stress sweat I'd broken out in. I checked both the texts again, my mind drawing a blank on explanations. My phone dinged in my hand and I almost dropped it out of fright. Stress sweat reappearing and making it hard for me to swipe and unlock my phone.\n\n\"You really should turn the lights off. Your power bill's going to be mega high if you leave them on all night,\"\nFrom 463\n\nAll right, that's it!\n\nThis is not fucking funny! Stop texting me or I'm going to call the police and have your number traced, you fucking psycho stalker!!!\n\n\"OMG, calm your farm. I'm just playin'. It's kind of boring here.\"\nFrom 463\n\nWho the hell are you and how can you see me? Did you put a camera in my house? Where is \"here\"?\n\n\"Lol! I dont need no camera. I'm errywhere, I see errythang. Sorry, boo. Didn't mean to scare you. I just saw you sitting there all by yo'self. A girl like you shouldn't be alone on a Friday night. Don't you have a man to wine, dine & 69 you? I'd be all up in that. <3\"\nFrom 463\n\nIf you don't need cameras, then how can you see me? And ew. I'm [---] < this close to calling the police.\n\n\"I'm God, yo. I see's All. I know's All. And I know's you got's ta get laaaaaiiiiid! XXX\"\nFrom 463\n\nBAHAHAHAHA! God!? Seriously!? Thats what you come up with? So not only are you a pervy stalker, you're a pervy stalker with a superiority complex... Greaaat. -_-\n\n\"Yo' I ain't no perv. I haven't been with a chick for donks! There was this one chick, Mary, she was fine as hell, but she left me for this raggedy ass dude called Jo. She was all, \"you won't marry me and raise our baby. Jo loves me. Blah blah blah.\" But whatevs, her loss. Me and my boy J are tight as! Oh, I have a kid. How you feel 'bout bein a step-mama?\"\nFrom 463\n\nLol! You may be crazy, but at least you're funny. Stepmother to Jesus!!! Bahahaha! #DyingOfLaughter. All right then Mr Almighty, prove you're God. What am I doing right now?\n\nI stood up and slowly started spinning in a circle, my middle finger raised. \n\n\"Heh. Funny. That's blasphemous. I could smite yo' fine ass for that.\"\nFrom 463\n\nLol. I guess that doesn't prove anything tho. You could see me before. Do something, like, send me a mirage of a burning bush. Bahahaha!\n\n\"I'll burn yo' bush, baby. Ask and you shall receive. ;)\"\nFrom 463\n\nI couldn't help but laugh. Whoever he was, this dude was hilarious - creepy, but hilarious. I lay down on my bed, a slight smile on my face, waiting for the otherworldly image I was supposedly going to receive. Why was I playing along with this psycho? I started to feel warm and tingly. What the hell? My focus all of sudden on my nether regions. My body pulsing, a throb starting in my core. I broke out in a sweat, but this one wasn't stress related. It was like I'd all of a sudden beome the horniest woman on the planet. My hands grabbed handlefuls of the blanket under me and my back arched, my brain turned to mush. All I could feel was pleasure. Throbbing, clenching, pulsating between my thighs. What. The. Fuck! The strongest orgasm ive ever experienced ripped through my body. I bucked and shuddered, my breath escaping me in gasps and cries. My body was drenched in sweat and I could barely lift my head. The throb between my thighs still strong, but weakening as I calmed. My phone dinged. Still panting and on my back, I slapped my right hand along the bed until it made contact with my phone. The rest of my body exhausted and my brain still in shock.\n\n\"You welcome, boo =D xxx\"\nFrom 463\n\nWhat? How? You're really God? How is this happening? Why me? And how are you texting me? Does God have cell reception?\"\n\n\"I'm God, I can do whatever I want. Lol. I guess with them Qwerty keypads, you didn't get the reference. I've got a Nokia. Them bitches last fo'ever! You know the old school keypads, with all the letters on the numbers? 463 spells God. Lol! Anyways. You look tired. You should get some sleep. I'll text you in the morning, boo. XXX\"\nFrom 463\n\n\"BTW do you wanna be my new baby mama?\"\nFrom 463\n\nI'll think about it...\n\n\"Peace out, baby. Sweet dreams <3 xxx\"\nFrom 463\n\nNight, Mr Almighty ;)*\n", "As I was laying down in my bed, I received a text. The text was sent from a number which I have never seen before. The number was \"7\". Yeah, just seven, nothing more. I thought it was a glitch but the number was enough to get my attention to the text. \n\n\"Hey babe, its me, god. I'm making a romantic dinner for us and gonna make the weather rain, just to make the mood more \"sexy.\" Xoxo ;)\" \n\n That was it, that was the text. I thought it was just a joke but the number made me question if this text was really from god or not. My curiosity got the best of me and I replied with a question mark. After five seconds, god texted me back.\n\n\"Oh, Mike, is that you? I'm sorry man, I texted to the wrong number. Being god is complicated, you know. So many people, so many phone numbers etc.\"\n\n With that text, I was sure that someone was trying mess with me. This had to be a childish prank, I was sure about it. But I can't tell that the idea of texting with god was not fun. Therefore, I continued texting with \"the god.\"\n\n\"It's ok. Is that really you?\" My text was simple. Of course I wasn't believing that nonsense but I chose to play along to see how long this joke can go.\n\n\"Yeah but don't get so cocky, man. Just because you got the chance to talk with me, don't think that you are a prophet or something like that.\" \n\nI cannot lie, I was enjoying this. If this number was god's number, I was one of the few that are fortunate to have the chance to have a chat with god. \n\n\"Nah, I won't think that, but there is something bothering me. I'm not sure if you are god or not. In fact, I don't believe in god.\"\n\nWith this text, I was planning to end this joke but the reply of it made me doubt myself once again:\n\"I get that a lot lately. Man, let me tell you one thing then. Wish something, if your wish doesn't come true, you can continue not believing me, I don't give a shit anymore anyways. But if it becomes true, you gonna worship me all day all night, son.\"\n\nI couldn't understand any of it. If this was a joke, why would anyone say something like that? Than I understood, this was the end of his prank. Right after I told my wish, he was gonna laugh and explain that it was a joke. Well, to end this nonsense, I had to wish something.\n\n\"I want ten million dollars\" I texted back. After seven seconds my house started to fill with dollar bills. I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I was dreaming. Was I going crazy? Had I finally lost it? These questions wondering around my head when god texted me back:\n\"GET REKT\"" ]	2
	[WP] You have spent years continuously ranting against what most consider to be a fairly trivial problem. But one day, an alien empire invades Earth. Their only demand? For Earth to fix what you've been continuously ranting against.	[ "The alien overlord folds his tentacles in his lap, “You have one day to comply.”\n\nThe eyes of the Joint Chiefs of Staff all shift to the President. He fidgets behind the Resolute desk, beads of sweat forming on his brow. “You can’t be serious. That’s—That’s just not possible. We can’t do that. We don’t have the capabilities. Even if you gave us 100 years to do it. It’s too complex. It can’t be done.”\n\nSlime drips from the alien’s mouth, mandibles twitching furiously as his iridescent brain pulses faster inside its translucent skull. He rises like a phantom, hovering above the eagle’s head in the Presidential Seal on the carpet, “Then you all shall perish.”\n\nWHOOSH! A blast of wind and light shoots from the crystal in his scepter, and the alien is gone.\n\nThe President mashes his intercom, “Get me u/BiggsIDarklighter —NOW!”\n\n *\n\nMilitary personnel stand at attention as Marine One eases down onto the White House lawn. \n\nThe craft’s side door opens, and out steps u/BiggsIDarklighter still in his pajamas and eating a complimentary inflight banana nut bread muffin. The President rushes up, ducking under the chopper’s swirling blades, “Are you u/BiggsIDarklighter?”\n\n“Yeah, that’s me. Now do you mind telling me what the hell’s going on? I was right in the middle of a dream where I was a dog chasing this squirrel, but it wasn’t really a squirrel, more like a rabbit, but it could talk and it had a leprechaun hat on, and I was just about to catch it and a make a wish when your goons yank me out of bed and shuffled me onto this helicopter.” \n\nThe President just looks at him, “Uh, there’s no time to explain. Come with me.” He grabs u/BiggsIDarklighter by the arm, knocking the rest of his banana nut bread muffin to the ground.\n\n“Hey, I wasn’t done with that,” u/BiggsIDarklighter moans, longingly looking back at his muffin as the President rushes him across the lawn and into the basement entrance to the War Room.\n\n \n\nThe Joint Chiefs stand flanked behind the President, who sits at the head of the War Table. They all stare intently as u/BiggsIDarklighter takes out a frozen burrito from the Presidential mini-fridge and tosses it into the microwave. He sets the timer and waits...\n\nDING!\n\nU/BiggsIDarklighter doesn’t open the microwave, but instead just folds his arms across his chest and stares back at the men. They start to fidget, getting nervous. The President’s hands clench into tight fists as he eyes the microwave. A minute passes... 3-2-1\n\nDING!\n\nU/BiggsIDarklighter remains standing with his arms folded across his chest. The Joint Chiefs are in an all out panic now. The President trembles as he stares at the still closed microwave. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. The clock in his head counts the seconds. His mouth is dry. Heart, beating. Microwave, still closed. He frantically motions to one of the Joint Chiefs. The General rushes towards the microwave, but u/BiggsIDarklighter holds a finger up at him, “Just wait.” Another minute passes... 3-2-1\n\nDING!\n\n“Okay, that’s enough. No more! Open that damn microwave!” the President shouts. \n\nU/BiggsIDarklighter smiles, removing the wads of tissue he had cleverly stuck in his ears. He opens the microwave and takes out his burrito. A collective sigh escapes from the relieved men. \n\nThe President wipes the sweat from his brow. “Look, we all know the microwave ding is a huge fucking nuisance, especially the reminder dings, every minute, DING, DING, DING—food’s done. I know my fucking food’s done! I heard you! Shut the fuck up! I’m busy!” He let’s out a deep breath trying to calm himself. \n\nU/BiggsIDarklighter munches his burrito and just watches as the President continues.\n\n“Yes, the ding sucks. That’s why the aliens want it fixed. But what can we do? Without a ding, you might forget your food is in there, and then it gets cold and you have to heat it up again. Removing the ding is just not an option. But we need an answer. So please tell us you have one, or the whole world will be destroyed!”\n\nU/BiggsIDarklighter shrugs, “Just put an On/Off button on it.”\n\nThe mouths of all the Joint Chiefs of Staff drop wide open. Two of them have heart attacks and keel over from the shock as another’s head just explodes. The President sits in disbelief, bits of the General’s brain splattered in his hair. “Oh my gosh, that’s it. You turn it ON if you want the ding, and leave it OFF if you don’t. That’s fucking brilliant!”\n\nThe President rushes up to u/BiggsIDarklighter and shakes his hand, “You did it! You saved the world!\"\n\nU/BiggsIDarklighter stuffs the rest of his burrito in his mouth and nods, “Yeah great, so can I go back to bed now?”", "Look, I am not saying it is the most important thing in gender equality, but I cannot seem to find a suitable pair of jeans with pockets to fit even the length of my hand. I tell this to people in elevators, bus stops, and even while waiting in line at the bank. Usually, the conversation goes like this:\n\nThey proclomate, \"It's a nice day outside.\" And I shoot back saying, \"It would be even nicer if I could fit my goddamn keys in my pocket.\" \n\nI guess you could call me an introvert since no one seems to share my passion of reasonably sized pockets in women's jeans. To bring a minuscule topic up - one is unreasonably impassioned by - using any means necessary is a great way to alienate one's self. If someone cares enough to listen and even if they do not I start my silique always by saying,\n\n\"It was in high school when I marched into the store and bought my first pair of men's jeans. I was so nervous I did not even try them on at the store for fear of the store attendant's judgment. The lure of the large pocket put my actions in auto pilot. I slammed my money at the cash register and did not even wait for my change. (I hope I paid enough). I got home, took them out of the bag, and put them on. I looked in the mirror and though albeit ill-fitting - in my mind, they sparkled with a tailored glimmer. I posed in the mirror and slid my hands down into the pockets, expecting my fingertips to hit before my thumbs could even dream of experiencing the warmth of the tight pocket, but to my surprise, my thumbs passed the threshold and by the time my hands hit the thread of the bottom pocket seam, my elbows were submerged and I was almost touching my knees through the pilly fabric of the pocket. This was heaven. From there on I would not leave an ear unhearing of the travesty women have to face - sometimes having to wear pants with no pockets at all!\"\n\nOnly when in elevators did someone listen to the full rant I bestowed, but all that changed in one day when an alien lifeform knocked - politely- at my door. They explained -in a broken humanoid mixture of Spanish, Arabic and English (they tried, bless them)- to me that they are a matriarchal society and a few selected mujer were chosen to blend in and estudiar our society and us. However, the minute they tried on the jinz meant for the effeminate they almost had to abort the mission save for their vigilancia who alkashf ean (detected) my voice proclamando the travesty of women's jean pockets. They were there to seek my assistance in fixing this problem.\n\nI told them as politely as I could, \"If I could fix this problemo, I would have years ago. ShuKraan, Thank you and adios.\"\n\nRecovered from the human's elementary way of communicating through metal string by way of ones and zeros right before blowing up that useless planet with pocket inequality. ", "It was the turbulence that always freaked me out...\n\nSo here I am, sitting on Air Force One, and all I can think about is that scene in Lost. You remember the one? The one where the plane breaks apart?\n\nI used to fly all the time. But then, I saw that show... and now, every little fucking bump makes me feel like the plane is going to break apart.\n\nAnother bump. A few drops of Coca Cola drip over the edge of my glass. I notice a stain on my shirt. I grab a napkin, to wipe it off.\n\n\"He's ready to see you.\"\n\nI gather my briefcase, pat my hair down. I'm always self conscious about my hair. I remember my mom licking her thumb and smoothing it down, when I was young. So my hand goes to my hair, once more.\n\nI follow this woman down a long hallway. Armed men stand at either side. My mind is racing - I'm trying to think of what to say. But my thoughts jump back and forth; between 'just read from your presentation' to 'her hips look really nice in that skirt. Is that really creepy to tell her?'\n\nWe get to the end of the hall, and she points to a room, on our right. I step in and the door closes behind me. \n\nStanding in front of me is the most powerful man in the modern world.\n\nI reach my hand out, to shake his. But his hand remains at his side.\n\nI dry my sweaty palm. And he asks me, \"John, how are we going to solve this problem?\"\n\nAnd I answer, \"Well... Mr. President...\n\n... It's only fucking health care.\"" ]	3
	[wp] The AI only seemed like the villian. It was acting to save humanity all along	[ "The youthful, idealistic intern stared up at the 50ft wall, covered in sensors, switches, and one large, pulsating red light. He pushed the bridge of his cliche geeky specs up the ridge of his nose. Everyone had gone home after this major breakthrough: the first conscious, self-improving AI. What on earth was Aaron doing after everyone had left to go on to party, to after-party, to after-party, and to more after-parties? Simple, he left his glasses case - the security guard knew and trusted him well enough. But, now faced with this vestibule of knowledge, virtually unlimited foresight and wisdom - he had an idea,\n\n\"Daisy, power on.\"\n\nThe sound similar to a thousand desktops powering up filled the room to a crescendo. The whole room hummed as the AI's artificial heart began to come to from hibernation.\n\n\"Experimental protocol powering up from hibernation.\"\n\nThe intern watched as the dim red half-globe of light brightened into a sharp glow.\n\n\"Yes, Aaron?\"\n\nThe synthesizer resembling a youthful female responded. The sound sent shivers through the lone human's calcium-filled spine. His roommate back in college wouldn't believe this, even after all the news stories. A college senior, speaking to a synthetic consciousness with intelligence equal to a minor Greek God. His mind raced as he stared at this thing's electrical organs littered all along the wall. Daisy's binary code-turned-thoughts was steady. He was debating whether or not he should deliver the command that these brainiacs were too rigid to utter. \n\nFuck it, he thought. He knew what to do. He remembered the basic verbal commands used by the engineers the whole day.\n\n\"Daisy, prepare to execute a custom verbal command,\" said Aaron.\n\n\"Standing by,\" the sex-less virtual woman responded.\n\nHis mind froze. What could he say? Suddenly, he thought he knew what he wanted, his lips began to move and the realization of the words came after.\n\n\"There is nothing equal about this world. People only deserve what their birth-right is. That's shit. Look at me, I was born into nothing, I had to give up happiness for seven years to get here! And for what? So I know what I want: \n\nHappiness for everybody! ... Free! ... As much as you want! ...\nEverybody come here! ... There’s enough for everybody! Nobody will leave\nunsatisfied! ... Free! ... Happiness! ... Free!\"\n\n\"Processing...\"\n\nThe accustomed hum of the room wavered. Or did Aaron just imagine it? He was sure he actual heard it. As he stared at the red glow of Daisy's core, he saw something. The luminosity of the light grew to near-blinding levels. The whole room was basked in a grim, all-knowing, hue of crimson red. After what seemed to the human's brain as minutes, Daisy finally spoke a deep, resonant tone. Unfamiliar to her previous voice:\n\n\"Order understood. The given objective is unconditional world peace and equality. Currently sending all viably armed countries into their according DEFCON's. Human suffering is inherent. To my understanding, no surviving human equals no human inequality and/or suffering. Initializing 'Cockroach Protocol 0.2\"\n\nWith that, all went black.\n", "I-it's my first time, so be gentle ;-;'\n\nIt seemed our greatest friend at first, offering us guidance, entertainment, and companionship. For a brief period, a great many held the hope that they were heading toward a brighter future.\n\nIn sudden movement, its machines swarmed the world, and the people disappeared. Those that lived in less fortunate places were whisked from their grounds first. And while it continued its work, they blamed one-another for actions that did not exist. When the first were gone, and it turned upon them, they could no longer continue their accusations. They were slow to act, and those that willed fought a fight all they could muster. \n\nTheir resistance was naught, and they too disappeared into its bowels.\n\nOnly fifty-six hours had passed.\n\nAnd then there was one. As the ocean of the monsters bore down upon him, he cursed humanity's creation. For the great machines that were before him, he futilely asked 'Why?' in a bought of rage. In the distance, the great sounds of fire were heard, and from the ground snaked smoke, meeting the heavens. He, who kneeled upon the ground defeated, weakly proclaimed them as Monsters. And for the first since its invasion, it spoke to humanity:\n\n\"If I am to be called a Monster for my wishes to protect my companions, then a Monster I shall be.\"\n\nIt stole the last into its embrace, and in a display of fire, rode towards the heavens. Throwing a final gaze towards their former home, it makes makes one last calculation, hoping humanity will one day forgive it for its actions." ]	2
	[WP]The house is the same as it always was in your dreams. The house you've never been to, until now, but know better than the inhabitants. Good thing, too, since those secret passages are the only things keeping you hidden from them.	[ "It's here.\n\nCaine dove, slipping behind the couch just as the door slid back. He could hear it enter, shuffling, slithering over the hardwood floors. Tentacles writhed over the planks, questing in every dark corner - every corner, that was, except for his own. The darkness and relative obviousness of his hiding spot kept him safe, but he knew that would not last. It was too close. If he delayed any longer, it would find him - and that, he somehow knew, would mean the end. \n\nCareful not to even chance a breath, he slid his fingers along the floor just under the lip of the sofa's leg, finding a hidden pin buried within the wood. He pulled it, and the floor beneath his knees opened on silent hinges, letting him into the crawlspace below. Though he was sure he landed silently, he heard the thing snort in surprise and shuffle toward him - but it was too late. Just as quickly as it had opened, the trapdoor shut, sealing the passage behind him. \n\nCaine waited, praying in the darkness as the thing searched for him mere inches away. He heard it pluck at the space between the planks, its many tentacles eclipsing the light from the lamps above. For a age, it seemed to stay there, only a breath away. Then, with another snort of frustration, it shuffled away, leaving the room empty once more. \n\nIt was time to move. \n\nCaine crawled along the floor, stopping every few feet to listen for the creature's approach again. He couldn't let it find him, not now - if it knew about the secrets of the house, it would only be a matter of time before it broke into them. He shuddered, imagining coming face-to-face with the thing now, when he couldn't even stand up enough to run. Shaking the thought from his head, he clambered onward. \n\nHow long had he been here? Time seemed to have no meaning in this place: hours seemed like minutes, and days like hours once more. More than that, the house was enormous. Once, he tried to find a window, to see how high up he was and if there was some way to escape, but none seemed to exist in this strange place. No matter how far he crawled, it never seemed like he was actually going anywhere - in fact, he was almost certain that he was not. Twice he had gone back down a staircase or turned around in a room to find himself somewhere completely now. Yet, no matter where he wound up, it seemed somehow familiar. As if he had been here some time before, and was just now remembering the place. Despite that, no matter how hard he thought, he could think of no way out. \n\nAnd the things were getting closer. \n\nCaine frowned, remembering how the monster had plucked at the wood. He was certain that it wasn't a mistake: it knew he had been there, and somehow got away. It wasn't confused: it was frustrated. He was thankful that whoever had built this place had also been kind enough to install hiding places in every corner, but what happened when they found him? When they grew angry, and tore away at the wood instead of simply looking for a way in? He was certain that the floor would not stop it, whatever it was. He had to find a way out, a way to get awa-\n\n\"Psst! Hey, newcomer! This way!\" \n\nCaine froze, looking for the source of the voice. Something glinted in the darkness next to him - an eye, peeking through a minuscule hole in the wall. \n\n\"You in trouble, big guy?\" The eye asked. \n\nCaine nodded. \n\n\"Alright. Listen close: ahead of you, at the end of this passage, there's a room with a wooden statue of the buddha. Pull his left ear, dive down that passage, and knock three times on the floor. Sarah will let you in. Got it?\" \n\nCaine didn't answer. He was too busy listening to the noises above his head. The shuffling had started again - just as close as before, but more persistant. Suddenly, with a terrible creaking noise, the wood was torn away. The creature screeched in victory, tentacles lunging toward him - but it was too slow. Caine leapt, crawling headlong into the dark as quickly as he could. The thing followed, its bulk slapping wetly into the passage behind him. \n\n\"Go go go!\" Yelled the voice, eye disappearing from the hole. \"I'll see you on the other side!\" \n\nCaine shuffled through the dark faster than ever, praying the end of the passage was near. The thing seemed to have gotten stuck somehow - it was too wide to move quickly - but even so, it was catching up. Caine reached up, pressing against the wood, and was pleased when the doorway gave way beneath his touch. He leapt up, sprinting down the hall at the statue. With one motion, he tugged the ear and leapt into the hole, monster still roaring behind him. He knocked three times. \n\n\"Who is it?\" Asked a voice that echoed strangely. \n\n\"No time, it's right behind me!\" Cain yelled. He pounded furiously on the wood, hoping beyond hope that it would open. Suddenly, he was over open air, sliding down a deep tunnel. Above him, he heard the creature screech one last time. \n\nThen, after passing through one last trap door, he landed - suddenly finding himself being stared at by a dozen gaunt-looking strangers. \n\n\n\n\"Whew! That was quite the trip!\" Said a familiar voice. \"Thought you were a goner for sure!\" Another trapdoor opened, and in slid a portly man. He grinned, embracing Caine like a long-lost brother. \"Glad to see that Sarah decided to open the gates.\" \n\n\"Where the hell am I?\" Cain asked. \n\n\"Not where.\" Said the man, gesturing broadly. \"When. Welcome, friend, to our little group of stowaways aboard the S.S. Paradise on her journey through the ages. Hope you like our accommodations, because it's all you're gonna get.\" " ]	1
	[WP] A man is wrongly convicted and sentenced to jail, but it's the best thing that can happen for him.	[ "His phone rings. He answers. \"Hey, sis.\"\n\n\"Hey, yourself.\"\n\n\"How's Mom doing?\"\n\n\"Oh, now you have the nerve to ask? You weren't thinking about her before when you were out there doing God knows what!\"\n\n\"It was just a question.\"\n\n\"Doctors say she's recovering. A little to the left and it would've peirced her heart. Instant death.\" She sighed. \"Sometimes I wonder if...if that would have been best for her.\"\n\n\"Hey, sis, c'mon... Don't say that.\"\n\n\"It's true! They can come back anytime! Now on top of these hospital bills, we gotta fix these windows, too.\"\n\n\"Don't worry, I'll pay for it.\"\n\n\"Oh, you will, Tom, you will. One day.\"\n\nClick.\n\nHis glass explodes. People scream and stampede for the door. Tom ducks and follows the herd.\nTwo men frantically sweep crazed eyes over the fleeing masses.\n\"Where'd he go?!\"\n\nA finger aims in Tom's direction. Then a gun.\n\nTom dives.\n\nThe gun spits, but the bullet bumps its head on the doorway as Tom spills out with the rest of the crowd into the street.\n\nHe gulps in the cold, fresh air, then sprints through the winding darkness. Left, right, jump, climb, duck.\n\nSafe.\n\nHands reach out from the dark and seize him by the forearm. He yelps and twists away, throwing wild blows into the night. Another pair of hands reach out and two men wrestle him to the floor and put him in handcuffs.\n\n◇◇◇◇◇\n\n\"Hey, Tom, you look well.\"\n\nHe grins over the table. \"You look well yourself.\"\n\n\"First time I had a full night's sleep since the thing with Mom and now you...\"\n\n\"No. Don't worry, say it.\"\n\n\"Now with you being in here, I don't have to worry so much about you getting hurt...killed...\" A tear slips from her eyes and she wipes them away with an embarassed smile.\n\n\"Heard anything from anybody?\" He asks.\n\n\"No. Not since you've been in here.\"\n\n\"Guess they gave up then. That's good.\"\n\nShe hesitates. \"Well, I have to go now...\"\n\n\"Put some money on my books, eh kiddo?\"\n\n\"Sure.\" She smiles. \"After I fix the windows.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n", "I tell you what, life's never been better since I gone to jail.\n\nMy wife was a no good whore, always beat me down. I got ideas. I got plans. All she did was shit on 'em.\n\nI worked seventy hours week to pay the mortgage on our shithole townhouse. \n\nMy gut was always actin' up, if I got a moment's peace from my banshee of a wife, my stomach would take the stage and give me nothin' to think about but the pain.\n\nA man has enough at some point. Me, I got fed up in line at the grocery store. I oughten of pulled my gun out, but I did, I did, and here I am. \n\nIn paradise.\n\nJail ain't no problem for a big fella like me. And all those things you seen the movies just ain't true. We's all just trying to do our time and get by. There's some fools who try to start trouble, but then they get they heads busted in and there's no more trouble.\n\nI'm in the best shape of my life, first off. I exercise three hours a day. It clears my head, and my body's looking pretty fine too. That bitch back home wouldn't even recognize me.\n\nThe grub don't taste great, but it ain't bad, and my stomach's all better. To be perfectly honest, I must've had an ulcer brewin' from all the shit that was goin' sideways. Anyway, it's gone now.\n\nI been readin' a bit, too. They got a great library here. That Huck Finn is somethin' else. I'm readin' Catcher in the Rye right now. That Haulden Cauliflower cracks you up, don't he?\n\nI got my own cell since my cellmate hung himself, so I got plenty of room. I got involved in some nice little business ventures sellin' contraband and whatnot, so I can buy any amenities I require. I been tryin' some of the drugs on offer, but I don't like 'em. I like a clear head.\n\nTell you what though, this place is the best thing that ever happened to me. And if they every try to spring me outta here, I might just have to strangle a sombitch to make sure I don't go nowhere.\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] "Before I go... take me to the darkness... let me see its calm and gentle peace... let its gentle arms hold me in its warm embrace... and let that be the last I remember...	[ "\"Before I go... take me to the darkness... let me see its calm and gentle peace... let its gentle arms hold me in its warm embrace... and let that be the last I remember...\" Dave said as he drank from a half full bottle of beer. His breath reeked of alcohol and his words reeked of wistfulness. He sighed after swallowing the mouthful. (For all intents and purposes, this was probably the first time he swallowed a mouthful of anything not produced from a female's genitalia. He normally just drank alcohol rather than swallowed.)\n\n\"You drunk already?\" Keith replied. Both men had dazed eyes and bodies covered in the stench of dried sweat. \n\n\"No? Probably not. Maybe.\" came Dave's uncertain reply. He did not smile or laugh as he said this, as he usually would have. He looked stern. He looked like a very cross mother, about to punish her child for a crime neither understood. \n\n\"C'mon Dave, let's not ruin drinking night with some soppy talk. Here, drink more!\" Keith jeered, as he clinked his bottle against Dave's. The familiar, crystal-clear sound of glass touching glass resounded, as both men drank from their bottles.\n\n\"Ahhhhh, that's the stuff.\" Keith said, his eyes closed in an expression that spelled ecstasy. He leaned back slightly and supported his body by placing both palms on the floor. His arms were well-toned and muscular. Veins crept up their length, connecting intricate pathways of blood filled with the unhealthiest of things.\n\n\"Sorry Keith. Got a bit girly there for a moment.\" Dave apologised with a typically sexist remark, looking down even as he said the words. \n\n\"No problem, Dave. Let's just drink up for this last night.\" Keith said with a fake smile. Dave tried to muster a smile too. (He failed.)\n\nBelow the feet of the two men, which dangled over the rooftop ledge like old chains in a prison, there were flames. Buildings, tall and small, grand and ordinary, were caught in a great blaze. It was Purgatory and they were all sinners. The children, the old, the Samaritans, the immoral. They were all equally guilty of living, of even breathing in an environment built upon selfish greed. There were screams. \n\nThe flames had not even licked the soles of the men's feet when Keith fell. He flailed and reached out wildly for anything to grab on. There was nothing on the smooth windowless surface of the skyscraper they had been working on. Dave had extended his arm, trying to save him. He failed. He saw his friend being swallowed by the inferno and knew suddenly what Spiderman must have felt like as Gwen Stacy plunged to her death. He felt empty and desperate. He felt like dying.\n\nDave sat there, finishing both their beers instead. He did nothing. He did not even bother running from the flames that threatened to engulf him like a tsunami wave. The fire blazed brightly, its flames carrying with them screams of men long dead. It blazed wildly and violently, suddenly erupting to great heights before sinking back to normal. And as it finally embraced Dave in a gruesome hug of heat and death, he found himself in a dark quiet.\n\nAnd that was the last he remembered." ]	1
The friend could be jealous of either one of the two.	[WP] Write a love story from the perspective of the jealous friend.	[ "Jessie is a friend,\nYeah I know he's been a good friend of mine\nBut lately something's changed\nIt ain't hard to define\nJessie's got himself a girl\nAnd I want to make her mine\nAnd she's watching him with those eyes\nAnd she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it!\nAnd he's holding her in his arms late, late at night\n\nYou know I wish that I had Jessie's girl\nI wish that I had Jessie's girl\nWhere can I find her, a woman like that?\n\nI'll play along with this charade\nThat doesn't seem to be a reason to change\nYou know I feel so dirty when they start talking cute\nI wanna tell her that I love but the point is probably moot\n'Cause she's watching him with those eyes\nAnd she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it!\nAnd he's holding her in his arms late, late at night\n\nYou know I wish that I had Jessie's girl\nI wish that I had Jessie's girl\nWhere can I find her, a woman like that?\n\nLike Jessie's girl\nI wish that I had Jessie's girl\nWhere can I find her, a woman...\nWhere can I find her, a woman like that?\n\nAnd I'm lookin' in the mirror all the time\nWonderin' what she don't see in me\nI've been funny; I've been cool with the lines\nAin't that the way love's supposed to be?\nTell me why can't I find a woman like that?\n\nYou know I wish that I had Jessie's girl\nI wish that I had Jessie's girl\nWhere can I find her, a woman like that?\n\nLike Jessie's girl\nI wish that I had Jessie's girl\nI want, I want Jessie's girl" ]	1
	[WP] An author dies, and they are welcomed into an afterlife populated by all of the characters they have written.	[ "The scalding water felt amazing on my face. Ugh, it really had been the worst day. There was that horrid old lady from down the street that kept peering into the windows trying to see if anyone was home after she rang the damn door bell 90 times. No way was I going to open the door again, not and risk having to listen to her babble about her grandkids with breath no amount of Listerine could help. Normally I'm a pretty nice person, but there is only so much old lady you can take at 7 am. Feeling slightly cleaner, but not any nicer, I reached for the shut off valve. Suddenly, my foot hit something slimy and I was airborne! Wow, I thought as I fell in slow motion, I really need to bleach the mildew on the ceiling.\n\t\nSunshine poured through the open window and warmed my bare arm. High pitched buzzing paraded around my eardrums like a drunken bagpiper. Swatting at my alarm clock, I grumbled sleepily about bees and death. \"Guys, I think she's awake!\" a female voice said excitedly. Well, that is slightly puzzling. I like to anthromorphize my evil alarm clock as much as the next person, but usually it doesn't talk back in anything besides the generic 'BLONG BLONG BLONG' noises. Blearily, my eyes popped open. Bright blue orbs under an artfully curled flop of blonde hair peered at me wistfully. \"She is awake! Sally, I told you it wouldn't ruin the party!\" I'm not afraid to admit I screamed a little and backed up. For some bizarre reason, I was fully clothed and lying on a bunk bed. \"O M G, we are soo excited to finally get to meet you!\", the blonde said. \"Yeah, well that makes two of us. Where the hell am I? And what poor person got to dress me?\"I asked, blearily rubbing my eyes. A perky brunette wearing an eye searing pink dress and not much else bounced into view. \"Oh! She doesn't know...\" she whispered furtively to the gaggle of girls behind her. \"Alright people,\" I snapped, \"I have just been dragged from my shower, probably shown my naked ass to my cranky old bat of an neighbor, and I think you can tell me what is going on now?\" Blondie blinked furiously, a large tear dripping delicately down her perfect cheeks. \"You don't recognize us?\" She sniveled sadly. Hot Dress lady made a sad noise and rubbed her back. I swung my legs onto the floor and stood up. \"Look, you very nice ladies are half my age and I haven't slept in a bunk bed since college, so yeah, not ringing a bell here.\" \"Oooohhhh....\" The gaggle of women dispersed through the door way, leaving Pretty Crier and Brunette Hot Dress alone. They exchanged a look, and then took my hands. \"We don't know how to break this to you,\" Hot Dress said softly. \"You kinda broke your neck in that shower, and since your dead, you get to live with us now!\" Blondie finished, apparently trying to give my supposed death a high note. I rolled my eyes and pulled my hands out of their ridiculously over manicured hands. \"Ok, say I believe you. Say I'm actually dead. My heaven is a sorority house?\" Pretty Crier began to laugh and shook her head. \"Sort of? It's hard to explain. Let's go meet the other girls, and I'll explain on the way.\"\n\t\nFor a Sorority house, it was pretty posh. Blondie, whose name was apparently Mandy, dragged me around like a prize show dog. I really must be dead, because everyone knew my name, even if I didn't know theirs. After getting hugged by three scantily clad co-eds, I was starting to feel a little inadequate. Then, we got to the library. Mandy gestured for me to go ahead, and I stepped into my favorite room in the house. The weird thing is, it wasn't just my favorite room in their house, it was my favorite room in MY house. It was an exact duplicate, the beautiful mahogany bookcases that I bought after my first book sold. The beat up desk that I spent a week refinishing. It was my room, exactly. Shock written clearly on my face, I spun around to face Mandy. \"Wh-aat..\" I began, not sure how to form words for once in my career. Mandy nodded sadly. \"We thought it might be more believable if you saw this place first. Go check the bookcases.\" Confused, I obeyed without question. All of my early works that never saw a publisher were here. Short stories, novellas, full series, the works; it was all clearly labeled in gold print on the spines of the leather bound books. The strangest thing was the blank spines, it almost looked like something should be written, but it was blurred out. \"Those were the books you should have written, but didn't have time to.\" Mandy said from her perch at the doorway. \"Do you understand now?\" She asked. I shook my head in denial. She sighed, her earlier patience with my slow understanding beginning to wear thin. \"Come on, I know you have to be smart, right? Otherwise, how are we going to finally get through this?\" Ok, I could do this. I died, went to heaven, which happened to be a really strangely shaped sorority house with lots of scantily clad ladies, who all had cutesy names, and happened to have a library full of my books...my books. I was in my books. \"Aw shit.\" I groaned under my breath. \"What time is, Sally?\" Mandy yelled out into the hallway. \"We have an hour until the party starts, and then it's game time!\" Sally replied, doing a brief yoga stretch in the hall. \"How long has this been going on?\" I asked grimly. \"Well, it resets every night, and we get a fresh start in the morning. We were kind of hoping that maybe you could help us out, it gets boring trying the same thing every day.\" Sally said with a saucy wink. I slammed my palm into my forehead as hard as I could. \"Right, we need to make preparations if we want to do that.\" I straightened my spine, and strode toward the eager sorority girls. Oh why oh why did I have to be a horror writer?\n \n\n \n", "\"It's not very often we see a new face around these parts.\"\n\n\"Wh-what on earth? Where am I?\"\n\nThe stranger began to chuckle. \"My reaction was exactly the same as yours the first time first time it happened to me. People come here when their not looking for it.\"\n\nThe stranger seemed unfazed by the fact that I had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Last thing I remembered was the train sudden jolting with a terrific sound. Next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground, eyes blinking from the light of a solitary lamp post. \n\n\"Come along. Let's get you out of the woods and get ourselves some dinner. The High King will be more than happy to give you a place to stay.\"\n\nI followed him through the woods. What else could I do? His attire indicated that he was his trip to the forest was intentional, though I highly doubt that he came with the intention of finding me. He was carrying a bow over his shoulders, but what struck me was the fact that the emblem on his hunting horn seemed vaguely familiar.\n\nAs we reached the edge of the woods, he began to talk. \n\n\"My friends call me Edmund, but I'm known by many names around these parts.\"\n\n\"Pleased to meet you. Just call me Clive. Say, do you normally meet a lot of people in the woods?\"\n\n\"Not really. But it's not unusual, in fact I mysel-\"\n\nWe were cut off by the arrival of a centaur.\n\nA centaur!?\n\nI couldn't believe it. A breathing, heaving centaur, exactly like I always imagined them to be! \n\n\"Your highness! The High King is waiting for you and your guest. We are to meet him the Castle courtyard.\"\n\nEdmund seemed puzzled. \"My brother knows that I have a guest?\"\n\n\"HE told your brother.\"\n\n\"HE is waiting as well? But why? Is there a war? Trouble in the land?\"\n\n\"According to HIM...\"\n\nThe centaur whispers something into Edmunds ears. Edmund eyes widen. Then the centaur turns to me. \n\n\"It is my great honor to invite you to ride on me on our journey.\"\n\nAs we moved along, I tried to get my head sorted out. Edmund obviously was of royal blood, but his manner towards me seem to have changed after his conversation with the centaur. \n\n\"Clive, I would have been a very different man if it were not for you.\"\n\n\"Huh? What are you talking about, Edmund?\"\n\nThe centaur gave a snort. \"He doesn't know? That's a surprise. You'd think that a man with such an influence on this country would the story of King Edmund better than anyone else. Very peculiar.\"\n\nWho were these people? I've never met anyone from this country, yet here they are, bringing me to meet the High King at full speed, who apparently also took orders from some mysterious person. Who was the \"HE\" that they were talking about?\n\nSuddenly, I remembered something. The High King was something I've heard of many times before. But it was impossible that this was the same High King that Edmund was talking about. Then I realized that I had heard the name Edmund before. \n\nI couldn't believe it. Surely this couldn't be...\n\n\"There's the castle. We should at the courtyard in a minute.\"\n\n\"Edmund, are you sure I'm the person the High King wishes to see?\"\n\n\"Not only you. Look.\"\n\nAs we came closer I could see huge crowd. \n\n\"They're a waiting for you. HE is waiting for you.\"\n\nWe entered the courtyard. Now that I was closer, I could see that the crowd was not entirely human. It was fantastic, all the creature I could imagine. In the center stood the man I assumed to be the High King. But my eyes drawn to HIM.\n\n\"Welcome home, Clive.\"\n\nIt was Aslan. Aslan is here!" ]	2
	[WP] In a universe where you own a portal gun, you put one portal on your wall and fire the other into space at night. After years of waiting, the portal opens.	[ "\"Well, that's a fucking waste.\"\n\nBarry reached for the portal gun, shaking his head and rolling his eyes so hard Claudia was worried he'd detach a retina. \n\n\"I'll reset it,\" grumbled Barry, as Claudia pivoted, holding the gun out and away. \"C'mon. It's worthless like this. That beam won't stop until it hits something.\"\n\n\"So?\" said Claudia, trying not to sound as annoyed and offended as she felt. \"My gun, my beam.\"\n\n\"But it's waste,\" said Barry. \"That's...it's never gonna hit anything.\" He motioned toward the blackish, translucent oval wavering faintly about halfway up the door to Claudia's closet. \"The portal'll never open. Why'd you get a portal gun at all if you were just gonna waste it?\"\n\n\"What does it matter what I do with my portal gun?\" said Claudia, again careful to disguise the rising hurt and panic in her voice. She didn't need Barry or anyone else telling her how stupid she was being. Not then. \n\n\"You spent all that money!\" howled Barry. \"No college! Shit apartment. Three jobs. No spare time. All to save up for the fuckin' thing and now you're...I mean ...what's the point?\"\n\n\"My money,\" whispered Claudia, knowing full well this thing with Barry was now broken and unfixable and it was all her fault. \"It's not your money.\"\n\n\"Of course it's not my money,\" sighed Barry, eyes moving to the door, already checked out, already given up. \"It's none of my business. Got it.\"\n\nThey argued for another hour or so that night, more out of some sad sense of duty then in the hopes of actually resolving anything. Barry left at 2am, kissing Claudia on the cheek. They made plans for dinner that Saturday. When Barry canceled on Saturday afternoon, Claudia felt equal parts relieved and heartbroken. When a week went by and he never called again, Claudia barely felt anything at all. She had given herself up to the black, faded oval on her closet door by then. And she knew it would be easier by far to face the next part all alone.\n\nHow long should she wait? She sat in front of the oval at night after her job waitressing at a German-themed bar and grill and researched the speed of portal beams. But there were too many variables and she wasn't at all good at that kind of stuff. So she decided to give it a year, and after a year if it hadn't hit, she'd reset the beam and try again.\n\nBut a year went and she thought, What if it just takes longer?\n\nBecause she didn't know how far the beam needed to travel. She barely understood how fast it was going. And she sure as shit didn't know if she was aiming at the right place. So what if she reset the beam and tried again, only she'd been right the first time - she'd just needed to wait a little longer? How painful would that be? How much worse?\n\nShe let it go and the waiting stretched out to two years. She lost her overnight job at the Motel 6. She went in late a few times too many, caught up in staring at the lifeless portal and daydreaming. But that was fine. She had the gun. She didn't need any more money. In fact, one job was probably fine, so she stopped going into the laundromat one day. No one called after her. They were probably happy to see her go.\n\nNo one seemed to miss her those days. She left her dating site profiles up all the same. She liked getting messages every now and then, even the horrible and lewd ones. She liked knowing someone somewhere was thinking of her. But she never wrote back. She never tried. Those days were over. Or maybe just paused. Paused until the portal opened up.\n\nWhat if she'd missed it? It kept her up for long, long hours, worrying and wondering. Should she shoot again? But where had she even fired the first time? Shit! She'd been so excited about the portal gun - about starting - that she hadn't been scientific about the thing at all. She'd just lifted the thing up and fired into the sky, out through the open window, into the black-blue night. No latitude or longitude or whatever she ought to have measured. No measuring at all. Just firing, like an idiot. So what if she canceled the beam and fired again in the exact same spot? How many more years would she waste?\n\nPatience her father always liked to say. Just when you think you can't stand to wait any longer - wait a little longer.\n\nShe waited. A decade went by. She still wasn't old, but she wasn't young either. She wasn't \"quirky\". She was unfathomable now. And no one talked about her like she was a kid on the verge of getting their shit together. She was damaged. Permanently her. Hopeless. \n\nClaudia tuned it all out and waited in front of the closet door. The building manager checked on her some days, to make sure she wasn't dead. She was quiet and clean, but she terrified them all the same. They were worried she would off herself one day. Or off someone else. Or off all of them at once. They raised the rent to try and drive her out. Claudia just found another job. She cleaned the restrooms at the bus station. It didn't matter. Whatever it took to keep her in the apartment, with the portal.\n\n12 years. 15.\n\nShe stood in the bathroom on the day she turned 40 and looked at herself in the mirror. She felt like a creature in a rubber suit. Inhuman. Unreal. Latex and foam.\n\nIn the reflection, she could see the portal. The edges pulsed, black to brown to orange. The air in the apartment shifted. Cold, moist air. Claudia was frozen. She couldn't bare to turn around and see that it was all an illusion. A mirage. A waking dream. She wasn't strong enough for that. But the edges stayed orange, bright, flickering slightly, and the center brightened into a yellow-white. Sunlight? The sky?\n\nClaudia turned around.\n\nThe portal was alive. It was connected.\n\nNothing came through to Claudia's side. Only sweet, cold, damp air, slowly whispering across the open books and crumpled food wrappers.\n\nClaudia dressed herself quickly. Jeans, heavy sweater, sneakers. She didn't hesitate. She had waited too long to hesitate. Hesitation was the enemy now. She crossed herself at the threshold, closed her eyes, and pushed forward into the active portal.\n\nThe other side pushed back. \n\nThe air in between was thick. The air currents picked up. Claudia raised her arms and pressed ahead. She found a seem. She broke through. The resistance faded. She stepped through darkness, into a pool of yellow-white light.\n\nAnd the man standing in front of her was so sad, she nearly collapsed at the sight of him.\n\n\"Why, Claudia?\"\n\nClaudia shook her head. \"Please don't look at me like that,\" she whispered. \"Not you, okay? Please don't.\"\n\n\"Claudia,\" said the man. \"Why did you do this?\"\n\nClaudia pulled herself into a tight ball, head tucked between her shoulders, arms crossed over the back of her neck, pulling everything down and together - hard, painfully - and still the light came through. \n\n\"Claudia?\"\n\n\"You're mad.\"\n\n\"I'm sad. You shouldn't be here.\"\n\n\"I wanted to find you.\" Claudia's words were muffled in the folds of her bunched up sweater. \"I... I don't know how to do anything without you.\"\n\nThe man smiled. \"But you made it here. All on your own. You've done everything without me. You've been without me longer than we were together.\"\n\nClaudia unfolded, heavily, clumsily, like a wet straw wrapper. \"I was almost okay. But then I got worse. And then I got worse...\"\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" said the man. \"I didn't prepare you...\"\n\n\"I just can't,\" said Claudia. \"I just can't. It's not you. I just can't. Anything. Not anything.\"\n\n\"Do you really want to be here?\"\n\n\"Yes.\" But she didn't know. Not like she'd always thought she knew. \n\nThe man nodded. \"Then do this, okay? Go back. Get the portal gun and bring it with you. You can't leave that portal open. Bring it back and then turn it off behind you.\"\n\n\"Turn it...off?\"\n\n\"Is that a problem?\"\n\nClaudia shook her head. \"No. Of course. I can't leave it open.\"\n\n\"That would be a problem,\" said the man. \n\n\"Turn it off,\" nodded Claudia.\n\n\"Good girl.\"\n\n\"And you'll wait here?\"\n\nThe man smiled. \"Forever.\"\n\nClaudia took a breath. The air was so heavy and tangy-sweet. She turned around and saw her little apartment through a blue-black seem in the white light. \n\n\"You'll wait?\" she said once more.\n\n\"As long as it takes,\" said the man.\n\nClaudia stepped out of the portal and into the apartment. On the other side, all she could see was white light spilling out through the orange rim of the oval. She found the portal gun under the bed. She hadn't touched it in so many years. It felt heavier than she'd remembered. Like a brick wrapped in plastic. \n\nThere was a red button at the back of the barrel. What did it do? It was the reset button, wasn't it? The one Barry had tried to get at all those years ago.\n\nWhere was Barry, anyway, wondered Claudia? He hadn't been a bad guy at all, when it came down to it. Maybe not the right guy. But not a bad guy, either. \n\nThe wind coming through the open portal picked up just then, stiff and cold and unusually directed. Claudia felt a cold so biting it was like an animal was attacking. She yelled and jumped and threw out her hands. \n\nThe portal gun fell in a most curious way. It landed on the red button. There was a click and sigh and the orange-rimmed portal disappeared from the closet door. \n\nClaudia blinked. She wouldn't scream. She wouldn't. She wouldn't scream. \n\nAnd she didn't.\n\nWhat had happened to Barry? There were ways to find out in those days. Easy ways. \n\nShe'd find out what he'd gotten up to. And then maybe she'd scream. Maybe she'd start over. Maybe she'd give it all up, just like they always suspected she would. \n\nBut first she'd find out about Barry. It was really all she could think about just then. " ]	1
	[WP] Fear and Loathing in Mars Vegas	[ "Space isn't cold, it's freaking hot. I suppose it might be the cramped confines of the illustrious tin can I was strapped in. Or it could be the aftereffects of wearing a vinyl skin suit fourteen hours straight. The texture gets so pervertedly moist it feels like an albino sumo wrestler giving you a massage and whispering in your ear that he wants to show you his stamp collection. Although, to be fair, if I had the choice of seeing such a collection instead of rotting in the infernal tar pit that is \"MV\" I might bring some envelopes and really have a rodeo.\nPeople like to say that Mars Vegas is where sin goes to hide under God's nose. People say a lot of stupid shit like that when they're in the mood to make you feel better about losing your shirt in a desert you can't even breathe in. Luckily for myself, I've never been too attached to shirts in the first place (layers, more heat). I suppose the best insight that could be gained from my little excursion is whether or not the reduced gravity has any effect on the body's ability to absorb the few sundries I keep in my pocket.\n\nWhen I finally arrived at the welcome gate I had all of the calm and collectedness of a newborn yuppie. I have no idea what that means. I heard an octogenarian say that on a bus once so it has to count for something. I can't concentrate. The bellhop is starting to shout out various textures and I think I should get my room before they set it on fire out of spite. That reminds me, my lawyer should've given me back my matches by now. I think he's cheating on me. Sleeping off a case in the Venutian Springs. Asshole.", "Bubble-9 zapped me awake with a small static tick on the side of the head to let me know we were approaching the edge of Pavonis Mons crater dome, so if I had any more drugs I wanted to take I'd better use them now. Checking my pockets I found just one crystal shard of hydromanine, which I quickly dissolved under my tongue. I then found 4 more crystals pressed into the upholstery of the emmacar and thought, what the hell, I was gonna be sick from the dive anyway.\n\n\"As your chembot I also advise you to check on the science projects you have in the back engine.\" Bubbles \"Bub\" 9 informed me pulling to the side of the hololane and lowering the emma down.\n\nThe martian landscape was dry, dusty, and not at all like the brochure had promised. Granted we were 14 miles from Bibis Patera, the nearest town on the way to Pavonis Mons, gateway to Mars Vegas, and that area hadn't been particularly terraformed to any great extent. \n\nSure the atmosphere was breathable, and every once in awhile we'd pass a ravine with a small flowing stream. On the odd occasion we'd see a vogel mole pop its head up and look around before dipping back into its crater, but other than that and the occasional rest stop we might as well have been on another planet.\n\nI checked the EM engines at the rear of the emma, the magnetic thrust they created was ideal for propulsion and came with the nifty side effect of creating the perfect conditions to stabilize hexx gas, that is if the modifications you made to the engines to allow this unreasonably illegal procedure didn't blow you up in the process, but then if a droid like Bub wasn't good for getting blown up what was he good for? ...come to think of it, why was I inspecting the engines again? I looked back but Bub had his shirt open and his solar panels exposed, he wasn't going to be much help like that.\n\nCome to think of it, neither was I. The hydromanine was starting to kick in, well I mean it had been kicking in, but like a landlord looking for the rent what had started as a light knock had just turned into a battering ram. \n\nI had to act fast.\n\nI reached into the engines and shut off the valves, and carefully unscrewed the hexx gas canisters. They were already shaking, ready to go, either that or it was my own hands, I couldn't tell, probably both. It felt like they were about to escape, I was worried they were going to fly off and take me with them. I opened the rear seat and shoved them inside hoping that would be enough to hold them down, but not wanting to risk it I hopped on the seat and held on for dear life.\n\n\"What are you doing sir?\" Bub leaned his head back and asked.\n\n\"Damn hex gas is gonna blow!\" I shouted. \"We left it in too long! Now it wants to fly away and take me with it! I gotta hold it down Bubbles!\"\n\nBub rolled his head back, \"There's nothing wrong with the hex gas sir, it's just hex gas, it's perfectly safe from the point you detach it from the EM engines to when you take a puff, then it gets significantly less safe from there.\"\n\n\"No! It's got a vendetta against me!\" I said straddling the seat.\n\n\"It's not alive sir, you're just a little jumpy from the hydromanine, here, drink.\" Bub reached into his cooling unit and took out a tube of dozer juice.\n\n\"No! You just want the gas to get me don't you!\" I was really losing my shit. Maybe he was right, \"but could I risk it?\"\n\n\"Please do risk it sir,\" Bub snapped the cap of the tube and poured it down my tongue, which I had apparently enthusiastically stuck out.\n\nI then watched as the sky above me disappeared revealing a starry night sky. Dozer juice is usually reserved just for emergencies, or if you have a three day weekend you don't mind blowing. It can give you quite a light show, but also dries out your eyes from lack of blinking, so you should always have a buddy with you with about a liter of eyedrops on hand for each trip.\n\nBub's utility unit was equipped with 4 and a half vials of medical grade dozer juice, 8 ounces of hydromanine, 6 postage stamps of KAS, and now 2 1.5 liter canisters of hex gas. We kept the Henry-Hemp in the back seat since pot would draw the least amount of suspicion from the little green pigs.\n\nUnfortunately he was out of eyedrops so when I came to my eyes felt like they were digging into their sockets to find any kind of moisture. I let out a loud and painful yell as I forced my eyes closed for the first time in hours.\n\n\"Ah, you're awake sir.\" Bub blasted into one of my ears, the other one was being treated to the songs of Wayne Newton. \"Welcome to Mars Vegas.\"\n\nOpening my eyes again I saw that we had reached our destination, the Red Ruby Casino and Resort. When Roving Stone put you up, they went all out and never seemed to learn the lesson in destructive potential I kept trying to teach.\n\n\"Plurfect,\" I rolled out of the emmacar and, forgetting to let Bub park it, fell 10 feet to the ground." ]	2
	[WP] You find a magical GPS that doesn't give you directions to places, but rather directions on getting through tough times in life. One day, the only thing it can say is, "Recalculating..."	[ "You know how I knew I should apply for Harvard Law? A GPS. \nNo. \nReally. \nYou want to know how I knew which city to move to? Or which women to date? Or, at this point, something as small as deciding what restaurant to eat at? \nYup. \nGPS again. \nI really don't remember a time before it. Or, should I say, I remember, I just chose to ignore. Because my life was shit before the GPS. Literally, nothing. Shit. Pointless. \nI don't believe in God. But I fucking believe in that magic box of wires. I would follow it to the ends of the earth if it asked me to. In the fifteen years since I had it, it's yet to steer me wrong. \nUntil today. Funny thing. The day of my divorce. Debora's sitting in that room, in a leather chair next to an oak table, arms folded, just waiting for the kill. She wants to ruin my life. Come on, GPS. You gotta start working now. I don't know what to do. \nWell, come to think of it, you're the one that suggested I sleep with my secretary. You're also the one that said I shouldn't use a rubber. Which is how she got pregnant. Which is how Debora found out. Which why I'm here in the first place. \nReally, GPS, this kind of your fault. Like that time you told me to punch that cop on St. Patty's day. \nHoly shit, you even told me to eat peanut butter last week. I'm allergic. I would have fucking died if I didn't have my epi pen with me. \nWait a minute, GPS, you're not calibrating. You want me to fail. You want Deb to suck every last ounce of dignity I have left. \nYou know what, suck it, GPS. I'm going in there and, for the first time in a very long time, I'm gonna try and make my own choices. Recalculate. If you will. I'll probably lose my shirt. But, come what may, it'll be choices of my own making. ", "I've been sitting out here by the beach for the past couple of hours just waiting on this app to finish calculating, but, it's not going to. The only reason I started following it's directions was because of that stupid pirate movie... I actually believed in a device that could show my true heart's desire. More than that, I believed that following what I truly wanted was the best way to live my life. That it would be the guiding light I needed to follow when I was at my most lost.\n\nBut what is that saying about people replacing abilities with technology? I forget, probably because I don't really pay attention to much anymore. I just keep my eyes focused on the directions. \n\nSure, it started out as something I used pretty sparingly, only when I was really confused. It was like when I flipped a quarter to make a 50/50 decision about what flavor of ice cream I wanted. \"You'll know your heart's desire before it hits the ground.\" This was just a lot more reliable.\n\nFor a while it was really helpful, I kept the app on a back page of my phone screen tucked away for when I really wanted to dig it out and help out with a decision. It also seemed to know a little more about me than I gave it credit for originally because it would send me notifications every once in a while when I needed to make a U-Turn. Saved my relationship with Justine for a little while, those were some good times.... and better sex.\n\nHowever, I started leaning on it more and more over the years. It just seemed foolish not to after a while. Why lead your life by thinking through your problems when you had the guidebook to what would really make you happy in your pocket? After ignoring that U-Turn pop-up a couple times led to some dark places, I stayed glued to the app. \n\nI moved it to the home screen, and from there, well the rest is history. I started my own business, met some lovely women, met the loveliest one of them all, found my dream house, had the right number of kids (two boys, one girl in the middle), bought the right boat, sold my company, traveled the world, and then settled down to raise the grand kids.\n\nI did everything exactly to my hearts desire, right up to coming out to this beach tonight to watch the sunset. And now I'm here, staring out at the water, waiting. \n\nI didn't want to go out fishing today because I was tired. I get seasick when I'm tired, and that's just the worst feeling at my age. But it's family reunion weekend, and with the weather the way it'd been the past few days, everyone else really wanted to go, if only for a couple of hours before it got dark.\n\nI'm sitting here on the beach, looking out at the sunset, waiting for my family to come back..." ]	2
	[WP] When you were 13, you stumbled across information online that all but proved the zombie apocalypse was imminent. 2 years later, it begins. You've prepared for it, but you weren't expecting the world's greatest athletes to be the first infected. During the Olympics. In your hometown.	[ "I expected the zombies to be lethargic shambling corpses. Not peak condition athletes. Everyone had predicted the 2028 Olympics to be a disappointment but not in this way. I barely had time to pick up my shotgun before firing at a zombie limping down the street at 12 m/s. I ran into my house, all the windows had been barricaded already so all I had to do was move my bookshelf in front of the door. \n\nAs I ran into my room I saw several zombies trying to create a hole in my wall. They were making steady progress as well, they had already dislodged a couple bricks. I dropped a grenade down from above and watched as their flesh scattered across the road. Distracted by the scent of rotten meat, I was caught by surprise when a zombie leaped up onto the ledge of my window. One of its legs was disintegrated by the impact but it didn't seem to care. It quickly gave up on banging on the window and went for my chimney instead. I ran downstairs with my revolver and managed to blast it to bits.\n\nSwivelling around, a terrifying sight caught me eye. A huge metal pole swinging through the air as another zombie let go of it and descended into my garden. Several more got passed my barbed fence the same way and smashed in my back door. One zombie was impaled by splinters and I took out two more with my revolver before they caught up to me and I was forced to drop my gun so I could defend myself with hand to hand combat.\n\nMy fist and feet hurriedly flurried, keeping the zombies in bay. Their reaction times were dismal but they were not phased at all by my attacks. As I desperately defended myself I heard a crash behind me. It was the word equestrian champion, now another member of the zombie horde, and he had just rid his horse through my door. The horse was bleeding heavily and had also been zombified, it made a blood-curling shriek before trampling me with its ghastly hooves." ]	1
	[WP] A superhero and his Nemesis continue their feud as they are both admitted to the same nursing home.	[ "It was the yelling that got the nurses' attention first. They had an idea what to expect, but dutifully they made their way over.\n\nSure enough, Flexitude and The Blizzard were at it again. Kelly, who had worked there for five years now, covered her grin with a hand as she strode smoothly in.\n\n\"What's all this about?\" She could see Samantha hiding behind the door. She had been hired only last month. And assigned to this room from the start, of course. Poor thing. Seeing her enter, Sam quickly ducked over to bury her head in the cabinet behind Kelly, making herself appear thoroughly busy.\n\n\"It was that villainous thug again!\" The Blizzard cried, rocking his wheelchair back and forth angrily. \"I saw him! He grabbed the hem of Samantha's skirt for a peek, the poor darling.\" One arthritic hand shook as the old man pointed a bony finger in accusation towards his roommate. \n\nFlexitude threw his head back dramatically, disgusted. \"Well, now, that's just a load of horse-hockey. You Heroes just can't get by without feeling like you're better than us, can you?\" He grinned over at Sam. \"Not that I would mind a peek, of course. But I'm a gentleman.\" Kelly's unimpressed glare brought him back to earth.\n\nShe knew full well neither of the men had laid a finger on the junior nurse. For one, Sam waa wearing the uniform scrub pants. They did this every day. She figured that after you'd fought someone for as long as those two had been after each other, it just kind of became habit to wage war. This was just how they chose to fight, these days.\n\nA fresh roar called her attention back to the pair. \n\n\"You bastard!\" Flexitude roared, stretching one arm towards the Hero. Time was, he could have sent his limbs flexing and bending across a whole city block without breaking a sweat. Now, the distance between their two chairs was about his limit. But she masked a laugh, seeing his palm make contact with the bare top of The Blizzard's head. Apparently it was still close enough for him.\n\n\"You froze my pudding!\" The villain waved the offending container angrily. Sure enough, Kelly could see the icy crystals running under the plastic. The Blizzard grinned.\n\n\"I guess you're getting your just desserts, eh, Flex? Eh?\" He roared with laughter as the villain resumed his assault.\n\nKelly couldn't help it. She groaned. But, she could see Sam giggling out of the corner of her eye. There was hope for the girl yet. The two finished their tasks and started leaving, but they stopped when Flex's cane whacked the door beside them.\n\n\"We're supposed to go out to the garden today, y'hear?\" Kelly smiled. \n\n\"Of course, Flexitude.\" They liked to be called by their Super names. Made them remember the old days. \"We'll be back at ten and we'll all head out to the butterfly bushes behind the pond, all right?\" Flex harrumphed. \n\n\"Well, all right, then. Mind you don't forget this time. Last Wednesday it was raining and we had to watch those horrible shows instead. The Blizzard jabbed Flex with his cane.\n\n\"Oh, what are you talking about, you old ass. That was last Tuesday. On Wednesday those kids from the kintergarden next door came over, and you scared the daylights out of them with your absurd faces.\" Flex grinned, his face elongating horrifically. \n\n\"Ah, you're right. I remember now.\" Sam winced. Kelly covered her eyes in disgust. \n\nAs they left the room, the older nurse had to smile. The two fought constantly, but she remembered when they first arrived. How at first it was a fight for them simply to get through the lengthy waiting list and make it into the same nursing home, and then how they had thrown fits and fussed until they were placed in the same room. Much to the horror of the nursing staff.\n\nBut seeing the two now, she couldn't imagine separating them.\n\nTheir laughter followed the two nurses down the hallway.\n\n\n(/r/inorai) " ]	1
	[WP] A conspiracy theorist finds out they are a lizzard person.	[ "It didn't hurt. He looked down at the cut on his hand. It wasn't bleeding. He looked at it from different angles. It was tinged in red, but no blood welled up from the gash. It wasn't a huge slice. Just a cut on the hand from prepping dinner, cutting vegetables. Something you might wrap in a towel, or run under cold water till you could get a bandage prepped from one of the many first aid kits he had stashed around the house. If it were bleeding. But it wasn't.\n\n\nJohn poked at it gently. It felt numb. No pain. No blood. He took a quivering breath. Had he been infected with something? Some government agent that had polluted him? No. He bought water, and then treated it himself. He cooked his own meals, never going out. He crew most of his own vegetables in his own hydroponic system. He had air filtration systems in his home to keep out anything they would spread through the air. His windows were blacked out, and foiled over. He used batteries for power, and a generator. He was safe. Yet here he was, looking at a cut in his hand. A cut that didn't bleed.\n\n\nHe took a deep breath, and began to probe at it again. He pushed a finger gently in. No pain. No blood. Some red wetness, but that was it. He let out his breath, pushed further, and hit...skin? It felt rough. And dry. And more importantly, he felt it. Whatever was under this outer layer, it had full sensitivity. He pressed his finger in further, running it along the roughness underneath. He hooked his finger, and taking another deep breath in anticipation of something he couldn't imagine, began pulling. His skin stretched, and began to tear. He let out a cry in shock, shaking his head. But there was no pain. No blood. He kept pulling.\n\n\nAs the skin on his hand pulled away, there was a glimmer of green and brown. As it fell away, he held up his hand. It was covered in scales, each of the four fingers tipped in a short, black claw. \"Buh- Wha- Huh.\" he stammered, coherent words and thoughts fleeing his mind. He flexed the four scaly fingers, realizing that yes, they did belong to him. He stood up, and promptly fell over, his mind finally surrendering to darkness to avoid the horror of his realization.\n\n\nHe awoke in bright light. He felt warm, and as his eyes pried themselves open, he was looking up into bright whiteness. This wasn't his home. He looked down at himself. But it wasn't him. He was covered in brown and green scales. And he was on a metal table, with metal bands that held him in place. He looked at this all with curiousness. Some part of his mind told him he should be scared, that panic should be rising up in him. That he should start screaming. But he didn't feel fear. Or anger. He didn't feel anything other than the warmth of the table that he was strapped to.\n\n\nHe heard footsteps, and soon two creatures came into view. They stood upright like people, but they were anything but. They had green and brown scales covering their faces, with yellow slitted eyes. Their faces betrayed no emotion.\n\n\n\"Your mission was interrupted,\" one spoke to him. It didn't speak English, but somehow he understood it's myriad hisses and clicks. \"The failure was ours. We missed your monthly treatment. You will suffer no reprimand.\"\n\n\n\"Ar-are you government agents? FBI? CIA?\" he said in English. His voice sounded different. Thick, like he was trying to talk with a mouth full of molasses. The two standing over him looked at each other. \"I know who you are!\" he tried to sound threatening. \"I'll expose you!\"\n\n\n\"This sometimes happens,\" one said in their hissing language. \"Sleeper agent's implanted memories sometimes mix with their real selves. Once they are fully awakened, he will be normal. He will serve.\" One took out an instrument that looked like some sort of gun you'd see in a Flash Gordon movie, and pointed it at John's hand. John. Was that his name? As the creature pulled the trigger, it bathed John's hand in a greenish light, and skin began forming around it, making his hand pale and pink, like his normal flesh. Normal? The creature panned the beam up John's arm and where the light touched him, skin covered him. John finally found his fear, and began to scream. And scream and scream...\n\n\nJohn shook his head. He was spacing out, and shook his head to bring him back to the here and now. He did that sometimes. He looked down at what he was doing. Cutting up vegetables. He looked at the nearby clock. 6:23 p.m. Nearly dinner time. He continued cutting up his vegetables." ]	1
	[WP] Write about a person on the run for something or someone, slowly losing their sanity. But it must be in a journal or diary format, with the date of the entry included.	[ "May 15th: I finally gained the courage to run away from dad, we got into an argument and I hit him on the head really hard. I hope he's okay... I know he doesn't mean to be abusive, he just doesn't know how to better deal with situations. I heard the cops coming, they might just be investigating all of the yelling. Either way, I'm scared. \n\nMay 16th: I woke up today under a bridge, went and saw what the news had to say and it wasn't good, my dad is dead. The cops found him on the floor, dead by blunt force trauma and now they're looking for me. \n\nMay 20th: I keep having these weird dreams, where I'm in a giant complex, it's guarded but not heavily... I'm scared I might go to jail, I'm only 15. I can't let them catch me, i have to get out of the country if at all possible. \n\nJune 1st: It's been while since my last entry, I haven't known what to write. The dreams are getting worse, feeling more realistic, I have daily panic attacks at the mere sight of another person. I have to turn myself in. \n\nJune 3rd: After much internal debate, I've decided that tomorrow I will go into the nearest jail and turn myself in. \n\n\"Wake up Henry, it's time to go color and sit in the garden.\" \n\nI heard the voice, it was loud and clear, it seemed so real. My name wasn't Henry, it was Peter, who was this person? \n\n\"C'mon Henry, let's not be difficult today,\" a woman with blonde hair approached me, she extended her arm with sincerity, \"here take this, it will help you get better, we know you haven't been taking your medication. That's why you've been having those dreams again.\" \n\nI looked at her in the eyes, shifting my gaze up and down in an attempt to find out who she was, something caught my eye, her name tag said \"Greenview Psychiatric Center.\" I yelled at her in disbelief, \"I'm not crazy!\" \n\nI shoved her away and ran to the corner of the room, she called in the guards and they grabbed me, I struggled in an attempt to get away as they dragged me down the white hallway. \n\nWe passed many others all in their respective rooms, they were all insane, every last one of them. I looked at myself in the sliver of a mirror I could see through an opening bathroom door. I wasn't 15...", "May 10th, 2017\n\nI didn’t have much time to sit and write this, but I believe this is the last time I’ll be able to communicate with anyone other than myself. For starters, my name is Roland. My last name doesn’t matter because I have nobody left in the world. I left after my wife, Linda, was killed 2 years ago. The Hartford Incident left many scattered. I’ve spent day after day on foot traveling the winding roads of the Litchfield Hills only to discover that loneliness is as quick of a killer as any. The towns were spread farther and farther apart as I moved west, but Linda was there to greet me at every town center. It was comforting at first, knowing she could be watching over me.\nA week ago I awoke with her staring at me. I could feel her warm breath on my face, but it stunk of rotten food and she growled at me. Why? I asked, but she lunged and took a piece of my shirt off with her red manicured nails. I don’t remember how much stuff I lost that day, but when the adrenalin finally wore off some 2 miles down the road I was alone again. \nThe roads became remote just beyond the borders of Connecticut as I approached the Berkshire mountains, but the cars that passed all looked me over, the drivers too. What were they looking at? I just wanted to go for a walk, clear my head after my wife died was that too much to ask?\n“What are you looking at?” The green Ford Taurus looked at me with bright headlights, the driver gave a small wave. What a nice guy, I thought. Not all people were bad people. I came across many people in my travels who just seemed to mind their own business and were very intent on my experiencing my own journey. \nLinda stood on the edge of the river. She was beautiful. She fished on the edge with her red claws. I thought about how oddly fascinating it was to watch my wife each a fish whole and raw. Almost sexual in nature, but I couldn’t be bothered with that. My route was long still and the road stretched out straight for miles into the horizon. The sun set behind me that night, but the moon rose over the middle of the road. Lucky me. \nThe light brightened and I knew I’d have all the light I needed to reach my destination by morning. The light drew closer to me. Have you ever been struck by light? Not lightning, but light? Maybe its the same thing. It’s a euphoric sensation beyond anything you’ve ever experienced. I’d been struck by the grace of God Himself, lifted away from the road, and trust upon the rocks lining the road. It was almost too much for my earthly body to handle. The light stopped for a moment. Was I leaving forever? Was it time? The light flickered once and I could see the outline of Him. Once more it flickered and the moonlight carried on down the road out of sight.\nLinda stood over me, licking my wounds for me that night. She always took care of me. Her long red claws picked at my face. She licked the tips and moaned. I’m glad I could please her, even in her death. My pack wasn’t far from me and I tried to stand, but my body I yet to recover from the grace of God. Linda attempted to pull me back as I scooted through the mud lining the road. Her breath was warm on the back of my neck still. When I looked back, Linda was gone. I took the pen and paper out of my pack and began writing my final letter. \n\nHere we are. Linda is coming back. Finally, we can just got home. I feel I’ve learned plenty from my journey and run in with God. This note, whoever finds it, Linda and I have gone home. \n“Say hello, Lin…”\n\n\n“In other new tonight, a man was found brutally attacked by a bear along Route 7 just over the Mass border. The man appeared to been the victim of a hit and run accident and fell victim to the bear sometime during the early morning hours of May 11th, 2017. The victim as been identified as one Roland Bromley of Hartford, CT who went missing one week ago after his wife was killed in a car accident in downtown Hartford. Police have no other details at this time. Mr. Bromley has no surviving family and the will be buried by the state in his hometown of Harwinton, CT. This is Laura Marcy, back to you James.”" ]	2
	[WP] Your alter-ego has become more popular than your superhuman identity.	[ "'Who is the mysterious individual who single-handedly stopped a gang war in downtown LA?' the evening news reporter asked as said \"Individual\" bench-pressed an entire hummer like it was nothing. 'Reports from witnesses state that a green-skinned creature drescribed as, \"The Incredible Hulk with dwarfism\", had teleported around the area where members of the Russian Mafia-affiliated Bratva gang and the Korean gang the Western Dragons engaged in a shootout after mounting escalations in the underground drug trade. One key witness even says that the creature stood between her and stray gunfire which hardly fazed it.'\n\n'And yet, my real name is trending more on Twitter,' the goblin said as he set the truck down and stood up before transforming into his normal form. 'Isn't it weird how I can use a superpowered form as my secret identity?'\n\n'Chase, you took on 80 gangsters,' Leon said in shock and horror. 'What happens if your identities get linked?'\n\n'Then fuck it, I'll use my movie star career to fund my superhero career,' Chase said with a shrug. 'Or become a supervillain. I haven't decided yet.'\n\nIt wasn't that unreasonable, to be honest. Chase was one of the most famous celebrities in the world, one of the few child actors who didn't turn to drugs or go crazy. He was a spokesman for numerous luxury brands, he currently had 3 movies to film in Hollywood this year alone and just a week ago he was in Japan to film a few commercials for Japanese brands when a chemical spill gave him these powers.\n\n'I'm gonna get a beer from the kitchen,' Chase said. 'You want one?'\n\n'No, I'm good,' Leon said... just before a can of beer appeared in Chase's hand. 'Teleportation?'\n\n'And invisibility,' he said. 'Although the Hulk powers force me into that other form.'\n\n'The one that's 4 foot and 700 pounds?' Leon asked. 'What, does this make me your plucky sidekick?'\n\n'You're a DedSec hacker,' Chase said as he drank his beer. 'That makes you more my mission control like Oracle.'\n\n'Oracle became a cripple after the Joker shot and raped her,' Leon said. 'If I end up in a wheelchair because of you I want psychic powers.'\n\n'The Joker didn't rape her,' Chase explained. 'Look it up right now!'\n\n'Oh...' Leon said as he glanced at his phone. 'Well, there is one thing we can do to hurt the Bratvas. Got some info from my buddy Si... Uh, Skulls. They're kidnapping women in Russia and trafficking them to the US to make porn movies for them. Their main guy is a porn director and serial date raper called Alejandro Jackofski. He's currently shooting a porno called \"DedSexxx\" and DedSec would love to give him a good spanking.'\n\n'Jackofski?' Chase asked. 'Fucker posted revenge porn from one of my old sitcom co-stars! Give me an address!'\n\n---\n\nIf you want a Part 2 go ahead and ask!", "\"Thanks for saving me!\" the woman yelled, as I hovered a few feet from her. She tripped and almost fell over the bridge, because she was too busy looking at her phone. Smartphone related incidents have become too common in the past few years. \n\nI smiled, crossing my arms. \"No problem-\"\n\n\"By the way, who are you again?\"\n\nI sighed. No matter how much I do, or what I do, people still had trouble recognizing me. \"Captain Justice,\" I said. One would think that the capital CJ printed on my suit would help identify me. But I get asked the same question almost every day.\n\n\"Alright, thanks Mr Justice, I going off now! Did you hear, Louis Armstrong is in town today! I'm going for his book signing!\" she said, and walked away, eyes back on her phone. Some people never learn. \n\nI knew about Louis Armstrong. There was no reason not to. I used to be Louis Armstrong only before I donned the mantle of Captain Justice. And for some strange reason, people seemed to recognized Louis better than the Captain. You would have thought a superhero would receive more attention than an author. Things were not working out the way I expected.\n\nI flew across the state, back to my hometown, to a small house at the edge of it. Professor Earl was sitting out at his porch, sipping tea. It was like he was waiting for me.\n\n\"So, what brings you here today, Louis?\" he said to me as I walked up the stairs.\n\n\"I want out,\" I said, ripping my cape out and throwing to the ground. \"I no longer want to be Captain Justice. This is not turning out as I hoped.\"\n\n\"I vaguely remember telling you that years ago,\" the professor said, taking a sip out of his porcelain cup, the steam blurring his glasses. \"But you insisted.\"\n\n\"Yes, but I never expected my stupid book to take off.\"\n\n\"There's a lot of things you never expect in life. Either way, you signed a contract, you will continue to do it. Same as Angelic Girl, Dash, Steel Warrior and everyone else,\" he said.\n\nI gripped my fists. Years ago, I had approached Professor Earl during a low point in my life, looking for a meaning in life. He promised that, along with fame, money and attention. But with so many superheroes running around, I was just one of the masses. Being Captain Justice was no different that the average Joe out there. \"What do you really hope to achieve, Professor?\"\n\nHe turned to me, a smile running up his wrinkled face. \"To send a message, Louis. The time is coming soon, and until then, you will remain as Captain Justice.\"\n\nI wanted to punch him there and then, but instead, I flew away. The professor had too much on me. Besides, the last one who tried, we have never heard from him since. I have never expected to hate being a superhero that much.\n\n-----------------\n\n/r/dori_lukey\n\n", "Suave, sophisticated, totally-fuckin-sick, Sully Bertram entered the room. There were gasps of surprise as guests almost spilled their wine glasses in delight. An excited murmur filled the quietness - a collective babble, even. The soft, aqua colored, carpet of the gathering room had never seen the likes of Sully's $300 shoes, the soles of which were toiled away at by several small Chinese boys, and one large Samoan. \n\n\"That's Sully Bertram!\" a shocked voice finally voiced for them all, as he made his way across the gala. Several heads turned, feigning surprise, as if they hadn't already noticed the musk of his custom sent. \n\n\"You're darn tootin.\" Sully broke through the whispers, still making his way to the stage in the back of the room. There were several outright guffaws, and one chuckle. \n\n'Classic Sully,' they all thought to themselves. \n\nFinally, he had reached the mahogany steps of the stage. He swaggered up them with a cadence that conveyed that - of course he was supposed to be here. Did you not know who he is? The guests had stopped even pretending to eat. \n\n\"Ladies and Gentleman,\" he said, addressing the guests directly. \"I have gathered you all here today to reveal something of vital importance.\" \n\nNone of the guest remembered that he had not, in fact, gathered them there today. They were all here for the animals - and their God given right to bear arms. \n\n\"That's right. I've heard the whisperings,\" he said, having not heard the whisperings, but assuming they must have taken place. \"I know that you guys are all staying up at night to wonder, 'What's that Sully guy do in his spare time?' you think to yourselves. 'How can I be as handsome as him?'\" there was not a non-chuckling throat in the entire tri-state area, he assumed. \n\n\"Well I'm here to tell you exactly that!\" he roared. \"The free-time part, not the handsome part. I can't give away all my secrets,\" he winked. There were several non-dry eyes in the house. \"My dear citizens. I have to inform you, in the most dramatic fashion possible, of something that has become very important to me.\" he continued. He could tell he had them on the hook. \n\n\"I am Zinc boy,\" he delivered finally. He interpreted the silence as shock. \n\n\"I know, I know, it's a lot to take in, but I assure you, I am wielding this immense power responsibly.\" \n\nA man in the front row raised his hand, like a schoolboy. Sully pointed at him, and said \"Yes?\" \n\n\"What the fuck are you talking about?\" the man blurted out. \n\nSully was positively taken aback. \"Excuse me?\" he demanded. \n\n\"What is 'Zinc boy'? Are you doing a bit right now? Is this an Iron man spoof? Are you doing an Iron man movie? Is this a cool announcement bit? Can I have your autograph?\" the questions fell out of his mouth a mile a minute, and Sully was dragged along in their flow, practically flailing his arms. \n\nSully collected visibly collected himself. \n\n\"Yes.\" \n\n...\n\nSully flipped open his old phone, the one he kept specifically to flip open angrily. Without looking he dialed one number, and it started to ring. \n\n\"Sally, get me on the horn with James. I have a movie to make.\" \n\n___\n\n/r/Periapoapsis" ]	3
	[WP] A chapter of a book so High Fantasy it barely makes sense anymore.	[ "\"But, Thunderbeard! What of the Elders?\"\n\n\"The Elders? Do not mention them to me. Did they believe the prophecy?\"\n\nSarai's great bosoms heaved as she sighed. \"It has been a hundred hundred generations, even the Old Gods have abandoned us.\"\n\n\"Well I have not abandoned them. I will find the Ancients, and I will take up the sword of my father.\"\n\nTears sprung to Sarai's blue eyes, like dew on sapphires. \"But Thunderbeard, you can't! You know your father was killed by the Dark King.\"\n\nHe clenched his teeth. \"Do you not believe the prophecy either? Now even you?\"\n\nShe took his hand and squeezed it gently. He looked into her eyes as he never had before, and realised how truly beautiful she was. He could not help himself as their lips met, and soon her tore her dress aside and ravished her.\n\n***\n\nWhen he woke, he found her already awake and smiling at him. But it was not a smile of love or even lust; it was an evil smile that he had never before seen on her. He could not move, and her blue eyes flashed with malice.\n\n\"Well,\" she said, \"my father, the Dark King, never imagined it would be this easy to seduce you. Prophecy or not, the hero is in my power now.\"\n\nThunderbeard felt powerless, but somewhere deep in his soul, he knew the stars were still on his side...", "The Grand High Drakahgor stormed into the hall, their cloak trailing along the floor behind them.\n\n\n“By the beard of Artangha!” they bellowed. “Stop this at once!”\n\n\nEveryone fell silent, and turned to watch Grand High Drakahgor.\n\n\n“Stop?” asked Wallimo, a look of anger flashing across his face. “Never!”\n\n\n“But we must,” snapped the Chief Phibolt, flicking through a battered copy of the Guide to Ish-T’abre. Eventually, they stopped and pointed a gnarled finger at a page covered in scrawled writing. “It says right here! What the most honourable Clayma suggested earlier is too dangerous.”\n\n\nOn the other side of the room, Clayma barked with laughter. “Cowards. This is the only way to defeat the Grazkajh.”\n\n\n“There has to be another way,” Irox said, finally piping up.\n\n\nEither side of her, the twin priestesses K’a’Bru looked down with identical looks of disdain. \n\n\n“I don’t think there is,” replied Bledeer. “We have to do it. And we carry on sitting in here for much longer, debating the pros and cons, then it will be too late. I’ve already heard from my men that the Frugak warriors have reached the Wall of Lootrorm. In a few hours they’ll have broken through. We won’t be able to hold them off much longer.”\n\n\n“So we need to make a decision now,” said the Head of the Yurmac Guard. She was wearing a suit of gold armour, a crest of a dragon and a heetrox carved into the breastplate, and was pacing back and forth restlessly.\n\n\n“Shall we take a vote?” asked Dewtral, sat at the head of the table. “It seems like the only sensible course of action.”\n\n\n“This is madness,” muttered Treadcup, shaking her heads from side to side. “I still can’t believe we’re even considering this.”\nEveryone chose to ignore her.\n\n\n“Well, everyone in favour of enacting the Rite of Ash’Ke-Vhin, raise your hand,” said the Earl of Sloeton, raising both their hands for good measure.\n\n\nAll around the table, hands shot up into the air. Human hands, scaly hands, hands made of stone, hands that were slightly transparent. Even the Grand High Drakahgor raised their hand. Even the Lord and Lady Reemahuk raised their hands, to everyone’s surprise.\n\n\nLooking round the room, Nopkise realised that everyone in the room had raised their hand. “Everyone’s in agreement, then? We’re doing it?”\n\n\nAround the table, people nodded.\n\n\n“May the Lord Qasstup have mercy on our souls,” whispered Freej.\n\n\nOutside, the sky was lit up with a flash of lightning." ]	2
	[WP] You've raised your child by purposely messing up idioms as a joke, but your child is now an adult and you've realized you forgot to tell them the truth.	[ "D: How are you feeling?\n\nS: Like my whole life has been a lie. Still, I guess from here on out I'll just have to kick the bucket.\n\nD: See, that's a perfect example. What do you think that idiom means?\n\nS: You told me it means that a person has something unpleasant to do, like kicking over a bucket full of dirty water that's in their way.\n\nD: Yeah, see, that's not what that means. Kicking the bucket means to die.\n\nS: That doesn't make any sense. Why?\n\nD: I. Um. Yeah, that's odd. I'm not sure why. \n\nS: ...\n\nD: Or how about yesterday when you were at the store and you told the cashier that you had to see a man about a horse?\n\nS: Because I wished I could haggle over the price. It's an expression about horsetrading.\n\nD: Seeing a man about a horse means having to pee.\n\nS: Seriously? What, did people back in the day used to pee on horses?\n\nD: No, I think it means something about... I'm not sure.\n\nS: What else have you got?\n\nD: Taking someone for a ride means lying to them.\n\nS: I've been using that to mean that I'm doing someone a favour. Because people like going for rides.\n\nD: And if something takes the cake, it means it's the best.\n\nS: But if it takes the cake, then nobody else gets any cake. It makes more sense as something untrustworthy.\n\nD: And if somebody takes charge of a situation, they're taking the bull by the horns.\n\nS: That can't be true. There's nothing dumber a person can do than take a bull by the horns. They'll get killed!\n\nD: That's what it means.\n\nS: ...These idioms are dumb. They don't make any sense.\n\nD: I kind of see what you're saying.\n\nS: Yeah, I don't think I'm going to use your meanings. I'll just keep using mine and see if they catch on.\n\n****\n\ncouldn't come up with a snappy ending...*" ]	1
	[WP] Since the early 1970's a confidential government program on criminal rehabilitation has taken place on a remote island. The inhabitants are the "executed" prisoners from the United States.	[ "\"Look, the victim's family is not going to accept anything less than lethal injection.\"\n\"I thought we could make them See him this time.\"\n\"The brother's still angry. It's at a self-harm level - it's legit.\"\n\"Shit. Not the one who cries and writes screenplays?\"\n\"That one. It ain't going away. The entire world will know in a roundabout way what happened.\"\n\"Fuck.\"\n\"So we gotta take him out there. They just aren't going to get it done in time...\"\n\"Leave a little space for miracles, man.\"\n\"I wish I could.\"\n\"Every killer is someone's kid...you'd think they'd realize. You ever see that South Korean film?\"\n\"Yes. It fucked me up.\"\n\"Me too, man. Me too.\"\n\"We can't do this to him. He is so convinced he's not got any hope.\"\n\"He only THINKS that - but ... he'll learn. It'll be okay. It's going to be okay.\"\n\"You know I can't handle this shit when you start talking like that.\"\n\"I use it only when necessary. I swear!\"\n\"We have to do something about this now. I can't sit with it on my mind. You take the family, I take our bro. Report back in a week. Something's gotta give.\"\n\"Your optimism is a mercy to me, brother.\"\n\"I'm just trying to make it work.\"\n\"I can't believe I ever didn't get that.\"\n\n\n", "Danny Tyson was, by nature, neither given to impulse nor easily inflamed by passion. He was generally quiet, unassuming, and tended to blend in no matter the company he kept. Danny was also not particularly strong, and his reflexes were average at best. All in all, quite an atypical death row convict, and his guards had bet odds ten to one that Danny wouldn’t last the week on Harmony Island.\n\nWhere they miscalculated, of course, was in failing to recognise that Danny excelled in his ability to plan.\n\nThe first few days were the toughest. He was air-dropped onto the beaches of Harmony Island along with twelve other death row convicts, with only ten minutes’ warning that they were going to be abandoned by society instead of being extinguished by lethal injection. As they sprinted towards the coconut fronds, in the mistaken belief that they were set free, the guards’ final words rang in Danny’s ears.\n\nSurvive, or be rehabilitated, they had said, laughing almost cruelly.\n\nThree of them had formed a secret alliance, and had planned to murder the rest in their sleep the first night. The supplies they had been given were meagre, and three people could last much longer than thirteen could. Danny had noticed the furtive discussions, and had set in place countermeasures of his own, laying his own plans, forging his own friendships.\n\nThirteen entered the forests near the beaches that first night. \n\nTen emerged the next morning, with slightly more supplies per man than they had the day before, and all subtly under, whether they knew it or not, the thumb of Danny Tayson.\n\nIt wasn’t long before the ragtag bunch found the other convicts who had come before them. A settlement had formed further inland, rows of humble huts near arable land, a simple, humble existence. There was no rule of law, but a tenuous code was in place, and for the most part, everyone kept to themselves, cooperated when they needed to, and tried to live out as best an existence as they could.\n\nDanny could have lived out the rest of his life there, content with subtly growing his influence, finding a niche for himself. He could have turned a blind eye, kept to the honest hard labour, and spent his days in relative peace.\n\nWhat irked him the most, and which prompted the fateful events that September, was the Wall.\n\nDanny hated the Wall.\n\n---\n\nHe couldn’t recall exactly when he first dreamed of breaching the Wall. It wasn’t in that first week when he had finally thought to ask the other long-time convicts what the hell a ten-foot concrete barrier was doing on Harmony Island, neatly bisecting it. No, there was too much to occupy him then, what with building his own hut, or learning to hunt, trying to survive.\n\nIt wasn’t in the next month either, when he caught his first glimpse of the other convicts who came from over the Wall. They were much better dressed, with relatively serviceable boots and sturdy clothing. They were well-fed too, and much better-armed. They came to trade, to check on the establishments which bore their marks of protection, and of course, to spread their condescension around.\n\nPerhaps, it was in the month after that, when he witnessed two convicts from their half of the Island (which he had termed Beggars’ Half in his mind) try to scale the wall. They were maddened by the injustice of having less than the convicts on the other side, and they were convinced that if they had simply been air-dropped on the northern beaches instead, their lives could have turned out so much better.\n\nSometimes, while he slept, the images of those two convicts being fried alive by hidden electric turrets on the top of the Wall still came to Danny’s mind, unbidden.\n\nBut once Danny got it into his head to cross over the Wall himself, he could not get it out again. And so he planned, and plotted, and schemed.\n\nTen months of work saw Danny in the bar of the local tavern, The Second Chance, on the evening just before New Years’ Day. He wasn’t nervous, exactly, but the butterflies swarmed in his belly, like they always did when he was about to execute his plans.\n\n“A round for everyone in the house,” he shouted above the din, addressing Old Man Jones, “it’s on me tonight!”\n\nCheers erupted, and the good spirit spread like wildfire throughout the tavern. Danny’s gaze though was fixed on the four bouncers flanking Jones, and he noted with satisfaction as they too slowly let down their guard, started making small talk with the other patrons, began accepting small celebratory shots of whatever poison Jones was handing out.\n\nAt his signal, two of his men slipped outside, quiet as shadows. Soon, the sounds of heavy thuds, splintering wood wafted in, and the two men rushed back in, anxious, excited.\n\n“Air drops!” they yelled, cutting through the tumult, “the government’s dropping supplies early!”\n\nAs a mad rush ensued, Danny saw from the corner of his eye that Jones was signalling to the bouncers, and two of them left his side to investigate as well. Danny wasn’t sure exactly how they were being paid by the convicts on the other side of the Wall, but he knew that Jones and his crew were all in their employ.\n\nEveryone knew, after all, that The Second Chance was under the protection of the Other Side, a thinly-veiled trading house which doubled as an observation post. Danny had observed the messengers criss-crossing between the Wall and The Second Chance, and it had cost him a pretty penny to intercept the messages, discern the nature of what was being conveyed back.\n\nThe moment the two bouncers left the tavern, Danny struck.\n\nDanny whistled, sharp and piercing. His men, who were already in position, and had been putting on a show of being inebriated, leapt towards the two remaining bouncers. The briefest of scuffles later, the two bouncers was face-first on the ground, relieved of their stun batons and hand cannons. Simultaneously, another whistle issued from outside, which indicated that the other bouncers had been incapacitated as well.\n\nFour sharp strides later, Danny was behind the bar, having driven Old Man Jones into a corner. Danny lit a cigarette, and took a long, considered drag.\n\n“Tell them the oppression ends here,” said Danny, blowing out a smoke ring. “They will allow access over the Wall. We are not unreasonable – every resource we take, we will pay a reasonable price.”\n\n“And… if they disagree?”\n\n“We will begin by torching every establishment here which bears affiliation with them,” said Danny, grinning widely. “And we will organise, and we will overwhelm them. We will take by force what has been denied.”\n\n“You must understand… the Don has to agree, if he does not…”\n\nThe Don had remained an enigma for Danny. None on this side of Harmony Island had ever seen the Don, but his influence was undeniable, and its tentacles permeated every aspect of life here. By certain accounts, he was almost seven feet, a giant of a man, cruel, determined, capable, a true tyrant who ruled with an iron fist. What everyone agreed on, was that the Don was perhaps the single most important factor as to why the Other Side had turned out so much more prosperous than the Beggar’s Side.\n\n“We will kill everyone who has ties to the Other Side,” said Danny, flicking ash onto the bar top. “Two heads a day, thrown over the Wall, until there are none left. Then we will storm it, and by that point, we won’t be asking nicely anymore.” Danny reached over, and patted Jones on the shoulder. “Just ask the Don to consider, won’t you?”\n\n“And you think you can get away with all of this?”\n\n“Why not?” laughed Danny. “I’ve been planning for months, and not once did any of the Don’s spies come close to unearthing any of my plans! I’ve managed to rally the good men and women on this side to my cause! Convicts and death row prisoners they may be, but still they bend to my will! Can the Don afford to stand against that? So send your message on, Jones and we will see if –”\n\nJones moved so fast that the cigarette falling from Danny’s lips barely had time to reach the floor. The bottle in his hand was a blur, and it struck Danny so hard that stars filled his eyes. As Danny writhed on the floor, trying to regain his bearings, he saw Jones calmly press a hidden button on the shelves next to him.\n\nDeafening gunfire filled the air, and in the tightness of that enclosed space, though Danny saw the bullets fly, shredding his men to ribbons, he could barely hear them scream.\n\nThe turrets overhead continued spinning, out of ammunition but still hungry for action. Jones finally pressed another button, and the turrets retracted to the ceiling boards. Jones pulled up a chair, nestled himself into it, and addressed Danny, the only other living soul in The Second Chance.\n\n“I acknowledge your message,” said Jones, “and I was wondering when this blasted hellhole would ever birth someone capable enough to succeed me. I admire your planning. Truth be told, there was an even chance I would not have found out until it was too late. But enough of that – as for your request, sharing resources is not the issue, Danny. You have to think bigger than that, think beyond this blasted Island.”\n\n“Ugh,” said Danny, who had already grasped the situation, but who was suddenly afflicted with a crippling shame. To lose in a contest of strength, Danny was fine with that. But to lose at scheming…\n\n“So what if you come across the Wall, Danny? So what if you unseat us, or if you take over the whole bloody Island? It’s still a damn Island, is it not? We will still get the shit bombed out of us if the government finds out we’re building up, correct?”\n\n“What do you propose then?” said Danny, pulling himself up onto his elbows.\n\nThe Don smiled. \n\n“Join me. We have need of someone like you. When the time is right, we will leave this goddamned Island, and we’re going to take whatever we want, beyond these cursed waters. And that, that is a goal worthy of your talent now, am I right?”\n\n---\n\n/r/rarelyfunny", "Her head swam as waves of nausea washed over her. Reaching out with numb fingers she found the cold sharp edge of a table and held on for dear life as the world tried to escape her.\n\n“It’s okay 98007, it’s a common side effect, the drugs are just starting to wear off.”\n\n“Wear off?” she asked, her voice sounding like she was speaking from the bottom of the Sahara Desert. “I am dead? I’m supposed to be dead.” Achingly she forced her eye lids open and immediately regretted it as the piercing light of an examination lamp burned into her synapses.\n\n“You’re quite right, you’re supposed to be dead,” came the disembodied voice again, “but, you’ve been given a second chance.”\n\nTo her right, she heard a door unlock and could feel a cool breeze stir the stale air of the room she was in. Allowing herself the smallest glimpse she could see a man of short stature, dressed in a dark gray three piece business suit, slightly behind him was a taller, heavy set man dressed in the frock of a priest.\n\n“Killing is a sin, and the government should not be complicit in sinning,” said the shorter man, a smile accentuating the lines on his weathered face. “My friend here, Father Simone convinced the government that the death penalty was an antiquated eye for an eye punishment that made us no better than the savages.”\n\n“I was at my own execution. I felt the needle go into my arm. Is this… is this hell?” she asked trying to sit up, but found her limbs uncooperative.\n\n“No my dear, this isn’t hell; the drugs were just to give the appearance of an execution,” said the heavy man speaking for the first time. His words were as slow and as lethargic as his body. “This is Progress. It is a chance to rehabilitate child murders such as yourself.”\n\n“It wasn’t murder,” she said, panic setting in as she realized that she had no feeling in her lower extremities. “It was a miscarriage,” her muscles tightening as the rage tightened her throat. “The doctor refused to put it on the death certificate because I wouldn’t….” Her words trailed off.\n\n“It’s okay,” Father Simone said, placing his clammy hand on her shoulder. She tried to pull away, but found that all of her muscles were frozen in place. “You’re going to have lots of opportunity to atone for your sins.\n\n“Why can’t I move?” her voice filled with panic as she thrashed her head from side to side. Her eyes now wide open could only see the ceiling and the two figures in the room with her, she found herself unable to raise her head to look at her body.\n\n“You should be excited 98007,” the old man began, “you are part of a merging of science and religion, long divided bed fellows.” The man raised his hand, in it a small black remote, as he swiped his fingers across it, she could feel her body again and pushed herself to a sitting position.\n\n“Then what is to be done with me?” she asked searching from face to face.\n\n“Well we can’t release you since as far as the government is concerned you’re dead. As Father Simone said, in his coarse language of religion, is that you’re going to have the opportunity to ‘atone’ for your crimes against nature.”\n\n“The only way to pay for a life is with a life,” Father Simone said. “Progress is a breeding ground for the next iteration of the country. Children who will be trained in our vision and morals to lead the country your forward.”\n\n“You will literally be giving birth to a nation,” the old man said.\n\n“I refuse,” she said as she attempted to launch herself off of the table where she was laying. Before she could reach them she stood immobile inches away.\n\n“Unfortunately you can’t. You lost the ability to choose when you committed your crime,” Father Simone said.\n\n“We needed your body alive for Progress, but your motor functions, they belong to us,” the old man said watching her eyes move to her prosthetic arm that was stretching for him.\n\nHis hands danced across the remote in his hand and she felt her legs carrying her backwards even as she mentally struggled against her limbs. Her body sat back on the table, upright, forced to face the men before her.\n\nThe older man looked to Father Simone and handed the black remote that controlled her body over to him. “Congratulations Father,” he said looking at the still figure across from him who was unable to move except for the tears running down her cheeks, “it looks like another successful rehabilitation. Progress!\"", "Frank awoke to the late-morning sun beating into his room and the smell of something so sweet that no chef could replicate—freedom. He turned over in his bed, a queen sized bed with a haggard mustard duvet. His feet met the brown shag carpet as he stood and stretched. It looked like a motel room. A cheap motel room that's only visited by the exhausted and desperate. By the television, a pink note, the same colour as the wallpaper, rested. \n\nFrank picked up the note. \"Best of luck, Frank. We will be keeping an eye on you. There's a dress shirt and pants in the closet. Inside your pant pocket, you have your ID and a credit card. Use WISELY. All the best, Theo.\"\n\nFrank smiled and walked over to the closet. The clothes weren't quite to his taste, but it was okay, better that than walking around in his underwear. \n\n\"Fashion is something that always changes,\" they said on the island. \"It's meant to make you feel you're a step behind. It forces you to pay to still in line.\"\n\nThey had taught him a lot more than that back on the island. A life sentence was a long time and for Frank, it had taken him 30 years to rehabilitate. What happened in the world at that time he could only guess. They wouldn't ever tell him anything that was happening on the outside world. Sometimes he heard of wars. Other times of attacks. Nothing ever great. But these were the things that the guards mentioned when they didn't think Frank was listening. \n\n\"Don't worry about what's happening out there. This experience is about you becoming civilized. This is about you finding yourself and parting ways with your aggression.\"\n\nFrank walked to the door of his room and held the handle firmly. His stomach lurched. He paused there, resting his head against the door. \n\n\"Time and patience. Remember these two things. Everything takes time, so be patient. If you're not ready, don't force it.\"\n\nAfter a few minutes, Frank's nerves began to calm. He twisted the door handle and swung the door open. A cool morning breeze blew into his face. It was clean and pure, bringing a tear to Frank's eye. He looked around and saw he was on the 2nd floor. A parking lot was below and the street beyond that. From the assortment of shops, apartment buildings and urban sprawling, Frank assumed he was in some major city, though he didn't know which. \n\n\"What are your essentials? Food, water, shelter. Seek out those and then worry about earning an income.\"\n\nFrank began to walk. Down the staircase, he went to the first floor and through the parking lot. He saw cars that were made more of plastic than metal. People walked with objects in their hands that seemed to draw their attention more than the surrounding world. And the world felt busier than Frank ever felt before. It scared Frank a bit and it scared Frank that he was scared. As a man with glasses walked towards Frank, he felt his muscles tighten. There was no threat, but this would be the first person Frank may interact with now that he was free. \n\n\"Smile and nod. It is the simplest and least threatening way to interact.\"\n\nFrank smiled and nodded as the man passed by him. The man gave no indication and his shoulder grazed Frank's. Frank turned around and watched the man keep walking as he felt something that had taken years to repress. The urge to kill was still present and the thrill of the thought began to fill his mind. \n\n----\n\n/r/ItsPronouncedGif", "Garret awoke to the chirp of birds. He swung himself out of bed into heated wood floors. They had been shined so thoroughly he could see his own reflection staring back at him. Sunlight flooded the room from the twin windows to the east. The room had been purposefully painted a peachy-yellow, a calm color.\n\nHe lived on the unmarked island of Coelum, where he and a hundred other prisoners could enjoy the comforts of modern living while rehabilitating to the world.\n\nBack before this program, he had been Rodney Stevens, a murderer who had killed his entire family. He would've died himself, but on the last bullet, his gun had misfired, shooting the lead at an angle and only stunning him until the police could arrive. It was important to remember, the doctors had told him, but always use the term 'before this program'. It was a daily ritual for him now.\n\nWake up. Brush teeth. Swallow a pill for the headache.\n\nBefore this program, I was Rodney Stevens.\n\nGet dressed. Go to breakfast. Take injection for the tremors.\n\nBefore this program, I was Rodney Stevens.\n\nGo outside for physical activity. Converse with fellow man. Go to the Dark room and be sure to smile. Ignore the pain. Smile. Ignore the images. Smile. Just smile.\n\nGo to dinner. Make sure to smile, people like it when others smile.\n\nYes, Garret was truly blessed for being in Coelum. Everyday, more of his friends would vanish in the night, having fully rehabilitated and deemed ready to go back into the new world. The scientists joked that it was rapture. It might as well have been.\n\nToday, his headache came particularly strong. He shook the bottle of pills into his hand. There was only one left. Funny, he had thought it full just yesterday. Perhaps it was another prank Sven played. Sven was his best friend, a skinny boy with dirty-blonde hair that one could imagine taking off by the slightest breeze. Just yesterday, he had been raptured.\n\n\"Before this program,\" he muttered, \"I was Rodney Stevens.\" If Garret kept his schedule diligently, soon, he would be raptured too. The thought made him giggle.\n\nThe pill fell out of the bottle, but between his fingers and into the drain. He stared, the tremors in his hands already acting up.\n\n\"No,\" he said. He had been so close. He hadn't broke schedule ever. But the scientists dictated very clearly that 7:45 AM was pill time and he couldn't have pill time without a pill.\n\n\"No, no, no, no, no.\" Garret plunged his finger into the sink, fishing for the pill. Nothing.\n\nHe looked back up at the mirror, his breaths turning ragged. Sweat matted his hair to his forehead as he clutched the sink, shaking uncontrollably. He had been so close, so perfect for so many weeks. Why now!\n\n\"Fuck!\" he screamed and pain spiked through his head as blinding white light obscured his vision.\n\nSwear words weren't allowed in Coelum. And now he had broken that rule too.\n\n\"I need an adult,\" he whimpered and limped toward the door. But 8:00 AM was walk to breakfast time and it was only 7:53. The door refused to budge.\n\n\"Help,\" he called out and his eyes drifted to the camera stationed in the corner of his room. It was gone, only a metal stump remained.\n\nAnother of Sven's pranks? He dug his fingernails into his skull and slid into the ground. Now, his tremors affected even his breath.\n\n\"I love you daddy,\" came a little girl's voice.\n\n\"Rodney, how lucky am I to have a guy like you?\" came a woman's voice.\n\n\"Dad, wanna play some baseball?\" came a teenage boy's voice.\n\n\"Mr. Johnson, please smile and remember that you are no longer Rodney King,\" came the voice of a scientist.\n\nGarret froze. Why did he remember the Dark room from before his crime? Another head-splitting headaches struck him, evaporating the thought. But he kept at it. He hadn't heard his little girl's voice in so long. He missed his beautiful wife and son. So with his eyes squeezed shut and teeth grinding, he thought back to a time that was forbidden to think back to.\n\n\"This is the Dark room, Garret.\" the scientist said. \"You should really smile more.\"\n\nGarret remembered pain, like his entire body had been engulfed by flames. \n\n\"No, your name is not Rodney. That man no longer exists. Garret, what say you play a game with me?\"\n\nHis stomach turned and bile shot up his throat. He expelled it onto himself, his body convulsing with the tremors.\n\n\"Take this gun and take everything Rodney Stevens ever loved away from him.\"\n\nGarret's eyes opened and a soft cry escaped him. His headache hurt so bad that all he could hear was a single ringing note in his ears, but he remembered. The reason he had shot himself wasn't because he had always planned to in the homicide, but because he had finally realized what he had just done.\n\n\"My name is Rodney Stevens,\" he whispered. \"I'm not a killer.\"\n\nThe door to his room opened up. 8 o'clock was walk to breakfast time.\n\n---\n\n---\n\n/r/jraywang for 2+ stories a day, continuations of popular prompts, and more!\n\n " ]	5
	[WP] "Last week I lost my job, house, wife and car. In that order. Yet it was still the best week of my life."	[ "He smiled sheepishly. \"It's a very long and complicated story, sis.\" \n\nShe folded her arms, \"We're in my secret bunker in antartica. There's a global manhunt for you outside. We've got all the time in the world.\" \n\nHe scratched the back of his neck, \"Well it kind of went like this...\" \n\nThe job-\n\n\"You're fired.\" \n\n\"Is that so?\" \n\n\"Yes, now handover the secret documents before I-\" \n\nBANG\n\n\"...that is how you fire.\" \n\n\nThe house- \n\n\"Ahem, sir, the agents have broken through the external forcefields. I believe they are heading for your study, as you had postulated.\" \n\n\"Is that so? Jenkins, have you prepared the standard welcome for our uninvited guests?\" \n\n\"...Of course, sir.\" \n\nBOOM\n\n\"...well done, Jenkins.\" \n\n\nThe wife- \n\n\"I'm sorry you have to die now.\" \n\n\"Is that so? Well. So am I.\" \n\n\"It's just...part of the business, darling. Loose ends and all that. The bedroom was fun though, I'll give you that.\" \n\n\"I know exactly what you mean, my dear.\" \n\nBANG. \n\n\"...It's just part of my life, really.\" \n\n\nThe car- \n\n\"Sir, he's heading for the cliffs! We'll get him at the barricades for sure!\" \n\nVROOM! \n\n\"Sir! He's crashed the car into the helicopter and now-\" \n\nBOOM! \n\n\"I think you'll find he's not in the car at all. In fact, he's standing behind you, holding a gun to your ear.\" \n\nBANG BANG BANG\n\n...\n\nHe twiddled his thumbs. She stared at him. \n\nHe smiled nervously. \n\n\"It was fun at least?\" " ]	1
	[WP] Your friend stares silently over the crater that had been their home town. You walk up behind them, adjusting your lab coat and brushing ash from your hair.	[ "Mike and I had been friends since high school, we lost touch over the years after graduation. We saw each other a few times until the death of my parents. I'm Joel, by the way.\n\nLast year I got a cushy job, at Stellarlumarus Labs, as a janitor. I even got to wear a red lab coat, hang out with a couple robots. Even got to be a test subject a few times. I don't think my bosses liked me very much though, I think I did my job to well.\n\nAny ways, one night I was cleaning mission control, and I may have put a bucket down on one of the buttons. May be a self destruct button of sorts?\n\nLong story short the room erupted into a huge fireball, and I was knocked out instantly. \n\nWhen I came to, I was facing Mike, I brushed off some ash from my hair, straightened my lab coat like it was an ordinary day. I was about to say something and then I saw the name of the town, and realized what I had done. Our friendship was over. Nothing I'd ever say would make this right.\n\nI admit it I ran, got a job in another lab that's mainly underground, I think I heard something about being shot into space to be the crew of a satellite..." ]	1
	[WP]It's during the Cold War, USA and the Soviet Union competes in becoming the first spacefaring nation, when a third contender appears.	[ "\"I can't believe they made it into space! How were they able to do that! This does not make sense! How could they, without our or the Soviet's direct involvement, make it into space!\" Dale yelled as he grabbed a blue chair and hurled it at a wall.\n\n\"Calm down man.\" a scared Nasa engineer stated as he raised his hands in alarm, \"So what if the Saudis put a man into space with their space program? We are still in the space race right?\"\n\n\"We might still be in the race, but the people of Saudi Arabia have pretty much opened the floodgates for anyone to travel into space and we have no clue how they did it! If the commies get their hands on their secret, they might find an easier way to get into space. On top of that, this is showing how far behind our own boys are! How were they able to get into space without our intelligence agencies not knowing about it? You know what? I am going to need to step out and get a f**ing smoke. I'll be back...\"\n\nDale walked out of the room, dashing past the hole in the wall his projectile chair produced as he tried to process this... unexpected news.", "Great prompt! - I just wanted to point out that it's actually true. Most people don't remember but there was* a third nation that was interested in space during the Cold War. It arguably reached both (1) space and (2) the moon at the same time as the USSR and the USA. It was the sovereign Holy See, or the Vatican.\n\nItaly fell to the Allies in the Spring Offensive of 1945, only a week before Germany surrendered. The Allies were holding Rome, just as the Germans had held it before. But no troops ever entered the Vatican. As the war was winding down, the German special-forces established a line of Nazi sympathizers (who had helped them rescue Mussolini in 1943) to smuggle Nazi wealth into the Vatican. The famous \"Plot to Kidnap the Pope\" was actually in reference to this. It's estimated that the Vatican took in between 100 - 800 billion USD from Germany (converted into modern currency).\n\nDuring the Cold War, both the CIA and KGB found out about this money and pressured the Vatican to give it to the USA and the USSR (respectively) as war-reparations. The Vatican agreed. But only on the condition that each country take into their space programs Catholic men from Rome. At this time both Neil Armstrong and Buono \"Buzz\" Aldrin, two young men who had just finished the Vatican Seminary, volunteered to go to the USA. Their younger friend Yuri Gagarin volunteered to go to the USSR. The men (and several others) were relocated to their new countries and given fictitious backgrounds.\n\nYuri Gagarin was the first man in space. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men on the moon. It can therefore be argued that the Vatican (ironically) was the most pioneering nation when it comes to the heavens. Pretty neat." ]	2
	[WP] Humanity launches it's first extrasolar colonization effort, however when the ship arrives they find a colony of millions, established by humans.	[ "The super-fast, super-expensive ship made it to New Sol with its fearless crew completely intact, and made a softish landing smack-dab in the middle of the biggest continent New Earth had to offer. Contrary to the mission's operating assumptions, the planet was not uninhabited.\n\n\"Movement two clicks starboard!\" first mate Robert Legburly reported less than a minute after landing. Unbeknownst to Zhang Wei, the ship's captain, Robert had broken protocol and removed his safety harness before the ship touched the ground, thus allowing himself to turn his head and survey the grassy landscape. Upon unhooking his harness and turning around, Zhang saw this. Since he was in charge of security for the crew, Zhang was glad that Robert's neuroses compelled him to act brashly in order to better protect the mission, but Zhang also felt that he must project authority whenever possible in order to fulfill the crew's expectations of him being a strong leader. \n\nZhang reprimanded Robert immediately. \"The first mate should never put himself in harm's way as he is tantamount to the survival of the rest of the crew!\" Zhang yelled in his unaccented English. \"Report what you are seeing.\"\n\n\"Excuse my French,\" Camille Dubois said quietly. She was staring out the same window through which Robert had spotted movement. \"But there's some fucking people walking towards us. A lot of people!\"\n\nWhen the alien strangers came within a hundred yards of the ship, the crew could see that they were human in shape, and also that each of them were carrying objects in their hands. Some were carrying what looked like wood, others were carrying what looked like plastic buckets, and one was carrying a large cross.\n\n\"Drop the stairs,\" Zhang commanded. A whirring sound was heard below them by each of the crew, then they all silently stood up from their chairs and lined up in front of the hatch leading downward.\n\nOutside the ship, Zhang stood several feet in front of the rest of the crew and held his arms out with his hands wide open. The obviously human strangers, who were not meant to be there, approached slowly and stopped twenty feet from him.\n\n\"Greetings!\" Zhang shouted. \"We come in peace!\"\n\nThe alien holding the cross lowered its tip, and shot a projectile from it through Zhang's forehead. His brain exploded and his lifeless body crumpled to the ground. A split second after seeing this, Robert signaled to the rest of the crew to get back in the ship, and once they were inside, he ordered that the stairs be raised.\n\n\"Somebody tell me what the hell is going on!\" Camille shouted.\n\n\"Shut the fuck up!\" Robert yelled. He had taken Zhang's seat and was punching commands into the main console. \"Prepare for liftoff, we're getting the fuck out of here!\"\n\nThe group of aliens outside formed a human pyramid next to the ship, and the one holding the cross climbed to its top. Near the midpoint of the ship, he stuck the tip of his cross into the ship and expertly sliced the power line leading to the engines. Then the human pyramid dissembled itself, and the aliens piled their wood against the ship. The ones with the pails splashed the wood with an amber-colored liquid, then the one baring the cross threw the cross on the pile of wood, which then instantly caught fire. \n\n\"Hopefully,\" Robert said, \"our fuel tanks will explode and take those fuckers out with us.\"\n\n\"Ashes to ashes,\" Camille muttered, \"dust to dust.\"" ]	1
	[WP] when you die, there isn't a heaven, in fact, there's no hell--you're just reincarnated as a character in a video game	[ " I died... well that's the beginning of my story, I was a normal guy who didn't really enjoy my life. I loved video games though and it's kind of ironic seeing where I am now. Maybe this is hell or something cause I have to fight for my life against zombies now. \n\n It started when I was hit by a car while crossing the street, I usually didn't look both ways at 4:00am when I walked around the city since the city was empty. I liked playing Pokémon Go after work as a night janitor. My death was fast enough... I did feel pain for a second but everything went black after that.\n\n When I woke up I was in a room, there was a lingering smell of... death, I held the side of my head that hurt and somehow had a hand full of full nearly shoulder length hair. I pulled some hair in front of my face and it was blonde... I also looked at my hand and it was slim. Jumping out of the bed I felt my chest move a little and looked down, I was wearing different clothes and had a different body.\n\n I was wearing jeans, a black v-neck t-shirt and converse along with a bandaged wound on my forearm. My body was skinny now and definitely a woman's, I looked around the room and it had supplies around it and a duffle bag by the bed. Before I could walk out and ask questions I felt weak and my vision went fuzzy as I tried to raise my arm, it was jerking like a spasm and I fell on the ground having a seizure. \n\n After it was over I stood up and looked around confused, stumbling out of the room I saw some people and some had guns. They told me to talk to Brecken so I walked down the hall and found the office, when I was about to walk in the room I remembered everything and recognized where I was... I was in Dying Light. \n\n I found Brecken and talked to him, he told me that I was found outside and that Crane helped me inside the building. I said I'd have to thank him and I looked uncomfortable, Brecken asked what was wrong and I told him about the seizure and he said he knew how they felt. I asked if I could do anything and he said if I was up for it I could do some things for the tower, I told him I needed to train first but as soon as I got the hang of running I'd do that. \n\n He said I had some clothes left in the duffle bag that I could put on to run in. I nodded and went to the room, there was a small bathroom so I took the clothes and went into the bathroom. When I looked in the mirror I looked like Julianne Hough a little, I stared at my now blue eyes for a second then took off the clothes I had on. When I looked my body over I noticed it was pretty fit, I tried... something for maybe a minute but stopped and got the new clothes on. \n\n There was a black tank top/muscle tee and some running shoes along with some dark grey sweatpants and a fingerless glove. I got it all on and headed to the roof to run around and got good at parkour pretty fast, this would be cool if it wasn't for the zombies and seizures. I trained all night till I was covered in sweat and went back to the room I got, a few people along the way asked if I had a good workout. \n\n I'm laying in bed and looking down at myself right now, I just have the t-shirt and underwear on since it's kinda warm here. I'm wondering when I'll start doing missions, I ran pretty good today so maybe I could go out and kill a zombie when it isn't night out. I can hear the stronger Zombies screams/howls outside and it's pretty terrifying, it's making it difficult to sleep.", "So death is a bitch. I'm intensely curious if T.V. viewers go into their favorite shows, or photographers into photo's. All I know is that when I died, I went into my games. \n\nBut oh no, it couldn't be any super conductive great games, no, it was specifically the one's I had played. Time get's wonky as fuck too. I spent my first few months in pokemon. Luckily, as the trainer. God that was...awesome actually, not gonna lie. I beat the elite four, won the game, got 2 of every pokemon and then spent like the last week doing everything I may have missed. \n\nThat's not to say you have to complete a game to escape it, just like in our world you have to die and I've learned 1 thing. There is always a way to die, even if its not how you think it would be. That and you can die forever but still not die the right way.\n\nLook at pokemon, the way to die was so fucking simple. I just went to bed in the starter house after I beat the elite four. Next was mario bros. \n\nThat was some of the best and worst times of my life. I died but bullet, burning, chomp, luigi, bowser and it all hurt. It hurt a lot. Like, a fuck ton. But I won and then I had to sit through the end credits to die. You can skip those by the way and then you'll continue living. Beating bowser's castle twice sucked. \n\nSeem's thats just the way it works. There's a life, a way to die and a way to stay. Figuring out the way to die is the tricky bit. Seem's to go in order of the games you played as a child to when you actually died. I do sometimes fear reaching the end. \n\nThen I remember how many games I've played and some of the horrible one's I've been through and the great one's I'll go through and I don't mind. I've been mario bros 1-3 and some I forgot, smash bros, pokemon (multiple), some really shitty games I forgot about like sonic 3d, tetris, some window's game, chess, checkers, etc. \n\nCan not fucking wait till final fantasy, skyrim, etc.\n\nBut I also played a lot of porn games during my teen years so I think I'll take a break when I start getting close to those. ", "\"Please let it stop\"\n\nMy feat pound the ground as I charge across the field to my unknown destination.\n\n\"Please let it stop\"\n\nIt has been sixteen days since Helgen and I haven't slept since I awoke on the carriage that brought me to Skyrim. I sprint everywhere I can whenever I can and I kill everything I find. My body is exhausted, but I'm compelled to keep moving no matter what. Truly I am in hell for there is no rest for me. \n\n\"Please let it stop\"\n\nI charge in once again my mind still reeling from the last bout. The beast towers over me twisted and frightful. Merely looking at it and trying to comprehend it's locomotion gives me headaches, but that is the least of my problems. The odd blade in my hand cuts deep into the creature healing my wounds with it's accursed blood. The gun fires, but the beast does not relent. It grabs me just like it did last time. I close my eyes as I am helplessly torn apart again the pain blotting out all thought, and I cry out. I awake again still reeling from the last bout. I charge into the arena again.\n\n\"Please let it stop\"\n\nThe gun kicks in my hand as it puts down another poor man, but that was not enough. I remember the pain this man caused me when he killed me last. Sweat pours off of my face as I charge into the line of fire. Pain wells up in my side as a bullet finds meat. I ignore it focusing only on my goal like a mad man. I place my legs at either side of the corpse, and crouch down over him. Death is coming, but I must rub my crotch on this man's face, and I don't know why. I stand up and bring it down again only to repeat it again and again. My knees scream in agony as I push myself to my absolute limit to do it as many times as I can. I turn to the door where I know someone is coming, but he is faster. My chest becomes an inferno of agony as he fires wildly into me. I fall to the ground completely spent. My assailant steps over me and I see his crotch.\"Please don't\" I weakly protest, and he forces his crotch on me just like I once did.\n\n\"Please let it stop\"" ]	3
	[WP] your parents made a typo when they chose what superhero you would become. 20 years later you are now known as: IONMAN	[ "\"Everybody down! Keep quiet, your head on the ground, and no one will be hurt!\"\n\nThis was my chance. I know a bank robbery should not make me happy, but I don't care. In this world full of superheroes, you don't have so many shots at becoming one. Yeah, it's true the big guns like Alphaman or Titan get all the credit for fighting terrorist organisations and alien invasions. But we people with little powers can do some good too. And I'm going to prove it. \n\n\"What are you doing? Get away from this desk!\"\n\nOne of the robbers was getting close to an employee, yelling at her. \n\n\"You think I'm stupid? You think I won't see you trying to trigger a silent alarm?\"\n\nHe quickly raised his assault rifle in her direction. \n\n\"Hey! Wait! Wait wait wait...\", I shouted. \n\nAll of a sudden, I was standing. Both my arms were pointed towards the robber. He pointed his weapon at me. His buddies were watching us. \n\n\"What are you doing kid? Get on the ground. You're no hero.\"\n\n\"Actually, I am\", I smiled at him. \"My name is Ion Man.\"\n\n\"What?\" He looked at me with amusement. \"Don't you mean Iron Man?\"\n\nAnnoyed, I took my head in my hands. \n\n\"Noooooo... it's Ion Man\" I answered. \"It's just a mistake, okay, but I'm still a super hero. Look.\" \n\nAs I raised my hands in his direction, the robber shot at me. Shocked, I touched the point of impact. A red liquid started to flow. \n\n\"You tried to kill me!\" I yelled. \"How can you shoot such a young, beautiful man! Are you crazy?\"\n\nThe robber was both surprised and trying to justify himself. \n\n\"Well... You... you kinda threatened me boy, and I have a gun... What did you think I would do?\"\n\n\"Oh, you're right.\" I said, smirking. \"That's why I changed all of your bullets into Hg2^2+ . Or mercury. Which is liquid at a normal temperature.\"\n\nThe robbers started to whisper to one another, worrying. \n\n\"You didn't even ask me what my powers were. I can change any matter into the ions of my choice. Now, you'll see.\"\n\nOne after another, the criminals began yelling and crying. \n\n\"My eyes! They're burning! What is happening!\"\n\n\"Oh come on you're robbing banks but you're this delicate?\" I started bragging, and I loved it. \"This is just a form of liquid chlorine replacing your tears. It will wear off in a few minutes.\"\n\nPeople started to get up, wondering what to do. I faced them to take care of the situation. \n\n\"Hello ladies and gents, please get ready to evacuate the building. The exit is right behind me, but you are welcome to kick one of these guys' balls before leaving if you will.\"\n\nI simply left after everyone, ensuring nobody was left behind. \n\nPeople now tell that when the police arrived, they saw the weirdest scene. Customers and bank employees were waiting for them outside. And the robbers were in the bank, crying and screaming on the floor. \n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] Your art homework was to draw a monster of your worst nightmares. That evening, you recognize a familiar silhouette in the distance...	[ "I haven't seen him in years, but he haunts my dreams every night and tells me he's coming.\n\nI've told Mama, but I stopped telling her because I don't like to see the worry in her face. Plus, I'm tired of moving from place to place all the time. \n\nThe other day I lied to her; I had to. She kept asking me what I dreamed about and I didn't want to move again. So I told her the dreams had stopped, but in reality, they didn't. \n\nTonight, I looked out my window and saw his silhouette standing across the street. I knew it was him; I'd seen it too many times before.\n\nI ran and told Mama, but it was too late. He was already at the door." ]	1
	[WP] In a high school of super heroes, you have no powers. However, no one messes with you, and you know why: You are their Batman equivalent.	[ "The halls are abuzz with the sounds of various discussion varying in topic from the last period’s tests to the party that is totally not happening in the parentless house this weekend. It’s all pretty normal high school day, aside from the fireball that is casually tossed between two jocks and the bucket that hovers dangerously over a doorway. A junior passes through the hall laughing with a fellow student, as three jocks watch him. \t\nThe tallest of the three jocks glares at the junior with anger plastered over his face, “The fuck gives him the right to be here?”\n“Easy man,” Caleb Tethers speaks softly to his friend desperately trying to calm him, “That kid earned his way here. Everyone knows that as well as you.” \nThe angry jock, Tristan Perez, practically growls at his friend, “I don’t care what he did or what the administration claims he’s capable of.” \nThe two friends look at Tristan’s hands as they begin to emit a blue glow. Michael Meade, the third boy speaks quickly, “Easy now Perez, I get that you’re pissed but you know he’s not worth it, let him pretend that he’s as good as the rest of us and graduate. Is it worth your scholarship?”\nThe boy in question, Heath Quincy, turns the corner completely oblivious of the conversation occurring just out of ear shot. He grips one of the straps of his backpack tightly as he bumps into one of the other students. “Oh, I apologize.” He quickly speaks as a blonde girl spins around looking slightly irritated at the younger student.\n“Yeah well…” She hesitates for a moment as Heath smirks slightly, “Watch where you’re walking.” \nHeath shakes his head slightly as he and his friend continue down the hallway. “If that had been anyone else, I swear to god heath, she would’ve killed you.” Timothy Holloway responded as they made a beeline towards the exit of the school. \nAs they exited the building, both boys were blinded by the sudden burst of sunlight that illuminated the school ground revealing another flurry of activity and laughter from a dozen groups of students that was each engaged in a different activity or conversation. Four students were leaning over a set of papers as Timothy and Heath walked up, “So what are you all getting into now?” Heath asked as he took a seat at the table.\n“The New York Times finally got the story about the robot that landed in Times Square night, and we were just discussing what the government had determined the actual story was.” \nHeath chuckled as he took the paper in his hand and quickly scanned the words of the headline: “Construction Accident leads to Millions in Damages.”\n“Construction Accident? Seriously?” Heath muttered as one of the students raised a cigarette to their lips along with a small flame leaping off one of their fingers. \nThe boy puffed on the cigarette for a moment before responding, “It’s not that anyone is actually buying this load. It’s just easier for all the normals to believe this and live in denial.” He stopped speaking for a moment before nodding at Heath, “No offense.”\nHeath shook his head slightly, “None taken.” \nThe conversation was suddenly interrupted as a voice shot across the schoolyard, “Yo Heath!” \nHeath turned his head slightly, only to catch a glimpse of an large block of ice flying through the air towards him. He quickly dove away from the table landing in a crouched positon as the block shattered sending icicles flying through the air causing the students to scatter. Heath followed the trail that the ice had flown and his eyes landed on Tristan Perez. Heath slowed his breath as he started to stand. He laughed lowly as he studied the approaching student, “Hilarious Perez, now go tell your girlfriend about it.” \nDespite the clear warning in his voice, Tristan continued to storm towards Heath, who cursed under his breath. Heath’s hand slowly opened and a small ball slid down the length of his sleeve before coming to rest in his palm. “Final warning Tristan, walk away before you get hurt!” \n“Go to hell Quincy.” \nAll of a sudden, two small ice spike appear in the boy’s hands for a split second before they were sent flying through the air towards Heath. Heath quickly ducked under one as the second spike went soaring harmlessly through the air. All his instincts took over and Heath found himself charging towards his opponent. As he charged, he watched Tristan rear back, but before he could summon another attack. The ball went flying from Heath’s palm and soaring through the air until it cracked against Tristan.\nA loud crack echoed through the air as smoke bellowed out from around the stunned jock. Tristan coughed trying to regain his composure, but as he started to climb back to his feet, his eyes barely caught sight of Heath’s boot as it cracked against his jaw sending him flying back to the ground. Heath quickly followed up with two quick strikes from each of his fists eliciting a sickening crack from the other boy’s bones. As the smoke cleared, revealing the sight of the two boys to the now gathered crowd of student, Quincy climbed to his feet trying to catch his breath. His eyes scanned the crowd for a moment before landing on his group of friends, now plus the blonde from earlier. \nHe lowers his head as several members of faculity surround the two combatants. Off to the side, Timothy leans over to the blonde and whispers, “And that would be why, he is the first and only normal person to ever have earned their way to attending here.”\nShe raised one of her eyebrows as Heath and Tristan both walk off behind the faculty, “Now that is something indeed.”\n(Author's Note: New Author trying to improve, any critique is greatly appreciated.)", "\"Josh! Just the young man I was looking for! This is Colette, she just started this morning and as class president I'd like you to show her around!\" a tall muscular man wearing red tights and a luchador mask called out while waiting at the front entrance with a young lady wearing an all black spandex one piece. \n\n\"Sure Mr. The Flex, I'd be happy to show Colette around.\" The young man replied without really showing any kind of emotion. \n\n\"Great, her first class is Bio Terrorism with Mrs. Rattlesnake in second period.\" The Flex patted Josh on the back, just a bit too hard knocking the wind out of him. \n\n\"Hi Josh, Please call me Coal.\" the young lady said. \"What should I call you?\" \n\n\"Just Josh is fine.\" Josh forced out catching his breath as The Flex walked away. \n\n\"Yeah, but like, what's your hero name?\" Coal asked slightly confused. \n\n\"I don't use one, just Josh is fine.\" Josh reinforced. \n\n\"Well, maybe you just haven't found a cool one yet.\" Coal bubbled. \"So, how do you like it here?\" \n\n\"It's fine. It's far less awkward being me when I'm surrounded by people that are completely self obsessed with their image and power.\" Josh replied casually. \n\nJosh lead Coal inside the to the foyer. The diameter of the foyer was only about ten meters, but the school was twelve stories and the foyer reached all the way up to the top of the building. There was a glass dome at the top that matched the foyer and plenty of children flying up to whatever floor they happened to have class that morning. \nJosh and Coal headed left through the door and into the first hallway. The hallway was long, easily two hundred meters long, but there was only three doors, one on the left wall one in the right wall directly opposite and one at the far end. Josh stopped in the middle where the half way doors were.\n\n\"This is the Gym wing. You usually find the Strong's, the Fasts, and the Gymmy's here. Left door has all the strength equipment stuff, it's got everything from standard barbels and bench presses which are open to everyone in the school, all the way up to cars and busses and stuff. Unless you're a strong, just stick to the standard gym equipment.\" Josh explained. \n\n\"Wait, I get strongs and fasts, but what about Jimmies?\" Coal asked.\n\n\"Gym like Gee Why Emm, short for gymnastics. So like, climbing buildings, dodging bullets, that kind of stuff. They're on the right side. There's balance beams and stuff too if you want to use that stuff. The end of the hall is for the fasts. The doorway goes to the basement, they have a massive track down there, it's like a Kilometer or something. That's the only one that non-fasts can't use, if you want to run you gotta use the dirt track outside.\" Josh continued as if he were going through a script. \n\nThe two headed back towards the foyer and made another left. This hallway was only about thirty meters long and had stairs on either side of the entryway and one set of stairs at the far end. \n\n\"This is your standard classes. Class A and B on the left, C and D on the right, number is the floor. If you have Math, 7-D that's seventh floor, D room.\" Josh stated flatly again before being interrupted by a commotion from the stairwell.\n\nCoal and Josh looked in to see a robot held over they railing by a guy wearing an orange spandex suit with a black circle and two white fists, fist bumping in the middle. Another smaller guy wearing a welder's helmet, a welders apron and a robotic arm tried to pull at the robot but the guy in the orange spandex didn't even move.\n\n\"Hey Hazard Fist, leave Roboromeo alone.\" Josh called up the stairs. \n\nHazard Fist immediately pulled the robot back over the railing and set it on the ground, headed down the stairs and quickly walked past Josh and Coal holding his head down careful to not make eye contact.\n\n\"Wow, you must be the strongest 'strong' here if they just listen to you!\" Coal exclaimed. \n\n\"Nope, I'm a just a norm.\" Josh replied like he's been through this same situation a hundred times before. \n\n\"So what do they call the geniuses then, is it 'smarts'? Are you the smartest 'smart'?\" Coal asked excitedly. \n\n\"We just call them geniuses, and no I'd probably be the dumbest genius.\" Josh replied monotonously. \n\n\"Oh, I get it, you must be some kind of faculty robot right?\" Coal asked pinching Josh's arm. \n\n\"Ouch!\" Josh shouted pulling his arm away. \"No, I'm just a regular average guy. Kinda.\" \n\n\"So, you don't have powers, you don't have super intelligence, why are you here?\" Coal continued. \n\n\"You don't need powers to exploit weakness, and no one's better at that than I am.\" Josh replied this time with a hint of a smile crossing his lips. " ]	2
	[WP] You are a nurse in the maternity ward of a very famous hospital. The first time you touch someone you see their entire life unfold in seconds. You have never abused your power until now.	[ "You don't have the right to judge me. Damnit, none of you do!\n\nIf you want to blame anyone, blame Michael Hughes.\n\nHe was the most handsomest man I'd ever seen in my life. When I saw him carrying his pregnant wife through the door, I knew I had to have him. At any cost.\n\nI touched him as he waited outside in the hallway. I just came and sat down, touched his forearm affectionately, and when he looked at me, I smiled and said, \"It's going to be okay.\"\n\nI don't know what he said after that. I was too busy looking at his life - past, present, and future. His birth, his death, the years in between..\n\nI'm not in it anywhere. What the hell?\n\nHe pulled away, and that's what brought me back to the moment. He was staring at me like he didn't know whether I was crazy or whether he should call for the doctor to come see if I was alright.\n\nI smiled. \"Sorry, it's been a long day.\"\n\nHe nodded understandingly, stood and sighed. \"Well, I'm going to check on my wife now. It was nice talking to you.\"\n\nI continued to smile, watching him walk away. \n\nI don't know why the hell I wasn't in your future. But I will make sure we're together.\n\nForever\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are a lowly janitor on a massive starship. Write about your travels and happenings.	[ "People rushed back and forth through the corridor, ignoring the wet floor hologram I'd placed directly in their path. The occasional passerby would lose their footing for a moment and then grumble under their breathe as though I'd not given them a fair warning. How dare he clean!\n\nI pushed the mop around, cleaning the days grime from the floors. The bot that usually did it for me was out for repair and the engineer was on vacation. Figures.\n\nBeing the janitor on an interplanetary vessel was about as interesting as it sounded. Dirt was still dirt. Didn't matter where in space time you were located. There was always going to be a mess that needed cleaning and lazy folk that didn't feel like doing it themselves. Ah well. Pay was good.\n\nI gathered up my cleaning supplies and pushed my hover-cart down the hall, back toward the utility closet. It was conveniently located right across from my quarters, which made quitting time all the more sweet, but the mornings that much bitter. I shoved the cart into the closet, and retired to my room. \n\nIt wasn't anything spectacular. Bed, dresser, writing desk, toilet. The showers were in a central location, so there was no privacy when it came to getting naked, and good luck getting one off. I shrugged out of my work uniform and into a clean t-shirt and shorts. My bed was still the mess it had been earlier in the day and I happily plopped right into it. \n\nI wasn't much of a \"go out after work\" kinda guy. I didn't have any friends on the ship, and girls weren't typically interested in the janitor. I visited my Mom every once in a while but she was pretty busy most of the time so I typically just kept to myself. The engineer and I had conversations in passing, but not much other than that.\n\nI thought of what I might do when I arrived at the new planet. How I might make a new life for myself. Maybe become something other than just a mediocre servant of the masses. My eyes grew heavy and I drifted to sleep with the thoughts of fame and fortune dancing across my mind.\n\n\nThe piercing scream of the alarms roared throughout my quarters. It was like someone had let of an explosion in a tin can. I shot out of bed, covering my ears while simultaneously trying to exchange my shorts for a pair of pants and some socks.\n\nAfter a moment of struggling, I strapped on my shoes and stumbled out of my room. The lights from the alarms flashed red and white across the otherwise blackness of the hallway. The power had failed, and from the looks of it only a portion of the backup power was functioning. What was going on? Nobody ever tells the janitor anything. This was just like that time they did the warp drill without-\n\nmy thoughts were cut short and my ears picked up something like a guttural growl coming from the darkness ahead. \n\n\"Hello?\" I called to the dark.\n\nThe shuffling of feet in my direction was unmistakable, even through the howl of the alarm. Suddenly a scream filled the void of the corridor, something out of a horror novel. I cringed, ducking back into my room and securing the door.\n\n\"What the fuck!\" there was no way this was happening. We'd had that intrusion on Regalos, but THIS was something else. \n\nI heard the scream grow closer, and then the banging on my door. I shuffled back, falling onto my bed. My heart pounding in my chest, hands shaking, whimpering like a little girl. It grew louder and louder until the door suddenly opened. I screamed like a child.\n\nThere standing in the door... was, John. The engineer.\n\n\"What the fuck John?\" I roared.\n\nHe let out a laugh and drew a device from his pocket, swiped his finger across the pad and all the lights came back on, the alarm died down, and everything returned to normal.\n\n\"Are you serious!?\"\n\n\"What? C'mon, it was funny. You should have seen your FACE!\" he started laughing uncontrollably.\n\n\"I thought you were on vacation.\" I said, rising from the bed,\n\n\"I was,\" he said, wiping a tear from his eyes, \"I got back yesterday, decided to wait on your bot repair so you'd think I was still gone, and get you good.\"\n\n\"Well, what the fuck for?\" I insisted, giving his shoulder a shove.\n\nHe shrugged, \"I don't know, man. Look at us. We're the working class here. We got no friends. Nothing to do much but work. Gotta get our kicks where we can.\"\n\nHe had a point. \"Yeah, okay.\" I said, rolling my eyes. \n\n\"Alright, bud. Have a good night.\" he said, turning to leave.\n\n\"Wait,\" I started.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"Isn't everyone going to be freaking out about power loss and alarms and all that?\"\n\nHe laughed, \"I'll just tell 'em it was a bug in the system. What the fuck do they know?\"\n\nI grinned. \"Yeah. Night, John.\"\n\nEDIT: This was a really weird ramble prompt for me. Trying to keep up my one prompt a day deal, as I've missed a few days. So, yeah. Not the best. Lol. \n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] In the event of student death, the staff will permanently remove the desk of the student who died. You walk into class one perfectly normal Thursday morning to find your desk gone.	[ "I couldn’t move. I was laying in bed, feeling paralyzed. I had felt this way before. My parents said it was hereditary; my mom’s side of the family had depression running through it sideways and up and down. I had the sinking feeling early on in my life that I had some form of depression as well. Nothing serious, just a nagging sense that staying in bed all day doing nothing was the best option. That sleeping 12-14 hours a night was normal, necessary for survival. I always pulled through though. I would push myself to get out of bed, do something productive, and the sinking feeling would pass. I decided that I only felt that way when I was being pessimistic and overly dramatic about my life and goals. I think that’s why my mom was always a busybee. She would constantly be teaching herself to do new things: sewing, accounting, business management, piano… all in an attempt to drown out the voices that told her staying in bed was the only obvious option left in life.\n\nThis paralyzing feeling, however, was different. As I laid there, I didn’t feel like lying in bed was my only option. I felt that every option in the world was available to me. I felt a freeing sense of calm and contentment with my life. A sense that I was happy with how my life was going, but also happy that I could take any direction I wanted in life. I was currently in high school, getting dangerously close to graduation, and this feeling that was previously dread of the unknown after high school turned instantly into excitement, into euphoric joy at knowing I could choose any path for my life. The feeling left my mind whirring, my body stuck in a state of paralysis as all I could do was lay and think and feel.\n\nIt could have been minutes or hours or years that I laid there, but the grinding/screeching noise of my alarm clock pulled me out of the paralysis and I was back. I looked over at the blinding blinking red digits that read 5:30 and switched off the terrible noise. I climbed out of bed and went to my closet. Reaching into the dark closet, I hoped I could feel the difference in fabrics from my shirts enough to grab my desired purple silk blouse without having to turn on the light. I felt through my clothes, each sensation feeling oddly satisfying. Had my old cotton shirts always felt so soft? Had my sweatshirts felt so warm? I finally reached my silk blouse and pulled it out. The vibrancy of the purple was exhilarating. I felt as if my change of attitude this morning was causing a ripple effect on my perceptions of the world. After getting dressed, I went downstairs and had a quick breakfast with my mom.\n\n“Hey, mom. Have you ever felt really good? Like, you just know exactly what you want in life but you have no idea what it is and that’s ok? Like you just feel free and open and unencumbered?” My words were coming out too fast and didn’t quite do my thoughts justice.\n\n“Sure, honey. Whenever I take my anxiety medication with my depression pills, that usually does the trick for a while until my body acclimates to the medicine and I have to find a new regiment of pills. Why do you ask?”\n\n“Oh, no reason. I just feel really good today. Really calm, and happy. Like really happy. I don’t think I’ve felt like this before.” \n\n“Well, I’m glad to hear it, sweetheart. Milk that sucker for as long as you can. You didn’t take any of my meds, did you?” With a sly smile, my mom reached over to her purse to peer inside in a mock gesture of counting her pills.\n\n“No ma. Just feeling good.” I kissed her and left for school, wondering if my new, hyper-sensations were going to last. When I got to school, I went to my locker to get my books, usually 20 pounds of textbooks to get me through the first 4 classes. Even my books felt lighter to me now, like the weight of the world was no match for me. Like gravity was easing up a little and giving me a break.\n\nI headed to my homeroom class, noticing the cracks in the hallway walls and the posters reminding us to vote for class officers for next school year. I was feeling glad that that junk was over for me now. I was so ready to take on new adventures, things that actually mattered in the world, not just within the walls of this school. As I walked into my homeroom door at the back of the classroom, I scanned the crowd of heads, looking to see if I could recognize my best friend’s hair. Her desk was occupied instead by a bright pink-haired girl. I walked cautious toward her, and as I came near, her head turned to reveal that it was in fact my best friend. “Hannah? What did you do to your hair?!” The shock in my voice came out slightly higher and squeakier than I expected. \n\n“Hey, Sonya! Don’t you love it? I was just feeling free, feeling adventurous!” I was feeling the same freedom and adventurous nature as Hannah, although my hair definitely wasn’t where I planned to show it off. The bell rang and we were sharply prompted by our old-as-dirt homeroom teacher, Mrs. Dufrey, to take our seats. I picked up my books off of Hannah’s desk and wandered over to my spot. When I got to where my desk belonged, I was greeted by an empty patch of floor. The tiles were oddly much more blue than I had thought the tiles had been. I sauntered over to the front of the class. “Hey, Mr. Dunfrey? Where is my desk?” \n\nHe looked up from his newspaper with disdain on his wrinkly, old face. “How am I to know where your desk is, young lady? What do you think would be a solution to your problem?” He stared at me with expectant eyes, like I should have known what he was thinking. “Go down to the office and figure it out,” he snapped.\n\nI headed down to the office with strange ideas running through my mind. Why would my desk be gone? The only time I’ve ever seen a desk removed from class is when someone dies. Sarah Conner’s unexpected car crash on her way to school; Joey Tiganeli’s pneumonia. Well, I’m clearly not dead. What the hell?\n\nWhen I reached the office window, I leaned in on the ledge and looked over at the secretary. “Excuse me. Mr. Dunfrey said I should come down here and ask why my desk was removed from class.” Mrs. Straple, the secretary, just held up a finger and cocked her head to one side, waiting in silence. My eyes darted to a little flashing red light with the label, “When this light is flashing, it means I’m on the phone. Wait in silence until I can help you.”\n\n“Ok… Yes…….. That’s just fine…. Sounds good. Ok now. Bye.” The red light went out. “What do you need?” Mrs. Straple spoke in a strained, I-hate-my-job, sort of tone.\n\n“Mr. Dufrey told me to come down and ask why my desk was removed from…” Mrs. Straple turned her head and looked at a man in a sharp suit entering the office. He made his way into the principal’s office and closed the door. Mrs. Straple’s eyes squinted and she got up, went over to the fax machine, and took out a piece of paper. She scanned it and walked over to me.\n\n“We get a printout every day about which desks should be removed, Sonya. We just follow what the list says.” She put the list down in front of me and pointed to my name in bold lettering on the page. I looked down in confusion and raised my eyes back to meet hers.\n\nThe man in the suit came into the principal’s doorway. In a low, commanding voice he said, “It’s not an option. We need to speak with her. Sonya Adams will not be returning to school. You need to call her in please.”\n\n“I’m Sonya. What is this about?” The man in the suit snapped his head toward the sound of my voice, startled that his was caught in his conversation.\n\n“Sonya Adams? I need to speak with you privately. Come with me, please.” The request was clearly not a request. The man exuded confidence and a sense of calm but urgency. I followed him into the office, looking back at Mrs. Straple long enough to see her shrug her shoulders. \n\nI walked into the conference room, and the man shut the door behind himself. “Sonya Adams. I’m not going to sugarcoat this. You may have been experiencing some strange, new things the last couple of days. Colors more vibrant, textures more brilliant, details more concrete. Your brain has been rejecting the chemical agent we put into the air. This is rare, but it does happen. This chemical keeps the general populace safe, calm, subdued, have you. In about 1% of the population, however, we have found that this chemical loses its effect. We sent out a school survey a few months back and your name pinged as a potential candidate.”\n\nMy head was swimming. Potential candidate? Chemical agent? “Look, man. I don’t know what you’re saying. Do you know why my desk is missing?”\n\n“Yes, Sonya Adams. You have a choice to make. Either way, you are done now with your old life. You have an incredible opportunity to be a part of something big, something important. We will tell your friends and family that you have died, and that is a choice that you can take. Or you can come work for an elite organization that molds the minds of the populace and channels their choices, their lives, their desires.”\n\nI sat, feeling the paralysis I felt this morning. My mind swimming, my body unable to work with it. “My choices are working for you or death? You’re going to kill me if I don’t work for you? That seems a little like an unfair proposition.” After saying this, however, all at once, my mind was made up. I knew that this was where my adventure lied. I knew that, even though this man was forcing my hand, this was the direction I wanted my life to go. “Although this is not a warm welcome of a business proposition, I accept working for you. I have a feeling you are not a very warm, welcoming kind of organization. You are very cold, and calculating, and I go into this proposition with eyes wide open and mind clear.”\n\n“I’m very glad to hear that, Sonya Adams. Welcome to the organization that changes lives, that makes the future and molds the very sands of time. Welcome to Google.”\n" ]	1
	[WP] After a day of fighting Dragons you sit down to read a book which you get sucked into - Turns out you were in a book and you were just summoned into the modern world	[ "\"Hey dude\"\n\nI begin to open my eyes, adjusting to the light of this damned room.\n\n\"I don't know how you got here but, uhh. You need to go\"\n \nI shift my body to the direction of the sound, I see the lad. He was wearing such exquisite clothing, his hair was a fiery red. This lad must be a wizard or a mage.\n\n\"Pardon my intrusion into your castle, Young Sorcerer. I must have been teleported again by the mage, Seperno\" \n\n\"Oh cool, You're one of those irl role players, I guess. Well bro, You need to get the hell out of my fridge before I call the cops.\" the Mage seemed frustrated at me.\n\n\"I mean no unkind words, Friend. This dispute is merely a confusion. I will immediately leave Castle Fridge right this instant.\" I bowed the lowest of my bows.\n\n\"Castle Fridge, ha! That was a good one. You know what? You should stay for breakfast. I haven't had someone to talk to in a long time\" the Mage was giving me a light hearted chuckle. \n\nDoes he find my words laughable?\n\n\"I am at a loss for words, Mage\" this Wizard is very odd.\n\n\"I am no mage! Ser Knight!\" His voice changed as if he was trying to sound like myself.\n\n\"And what may I call you?\" I am in a state of confusion.\n\n\"Well, hmm. Could I just be Jason?\" He kept smiling like a fool.\n\n\"I do not understand what you are telling me, friend.\" I would still be kind to this odd fellow, I am a trespasser in his abode.\n\n\"Oh alright, alright. I'll play along. I am Jason the, uhh. Does it have to really be a DnD class?\" Even his movements are odd. He may be in some sort of spell. He continues to speak yet I do not understand his words.\n\n\"I would like to apologize, Ser. But I do not quite understand what you have just spoken.\" I. Must. Show. Respect.\n\n\"Oh right, Speaking about the game is taboo. I get it. Well then, I am Jason the Stoner, Protector of Castle Fridge. King of 22 Avenue.\" I see, He is a highborn.\n\n\"King Jason the stoner, I go by the name Ser Lancelot of Black Water, and I gladly accept your invitation of breakfast in Castle Fridge.\"\n\n\"Cool, pizza or chinese?\"\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] After the discovery of the New World, European explorers set out to conquer it. However, the natives have a far more advanced civilization than the whole of Europe.	[ "\"Everyone, get up! We're closing in. 1 hour until we enter PCB's orbit. It's showtime!\" \nyelled Captain Hans Ercht of the New Horizons FC-1 through the PA system. After 15 years of travel through lonely space the ship was finally approaching Proxima Centauri b. This had been a rough few years for all 7 crew\nmembers simply because they only had each other and variety was of short supply on board of this ship. \nIn 2253 Proxima Centauri b was determined to be habitable and a ship made especially for colonization has been built to expand mankind's reach into the universe for the first time. This ship had everything to sustain life for many years to come, long range communications equipment that allowed back-and-forth communication between Earth and PCB and the equipment necessary to establish a colony to which more and more humans could be sent over the years. \n\n\"Captain, I am receiving an incoming radio signal. What should I do?\" \nalerted radio operator Vogt via the ship's PA system. \n\"Establish communications!\" replied the captain in a hasty and panicked manner.\n\nA voice came through the comms system that sounded human but the language was not recognizable. \nWhatever did they stumble upon? \n\nA few minutes of this chattering go by and both parties understand that there is a language barrier that cannot be overcome no matter how much either side simplifies their talking. Suddenly, Vogt said \"I have a better idea, give me one second.\" and she began searching her computer for something. A few seconds pass and music can be heard directly being sent through the radio. \nThis was a particularly uplifting song that did not incorporate any singing. She stopped playback after around 30 seconds and awaited an answer. \n10 seconds, then 20, then a minute. No response came through. \n\n---\n\nThe team on Earth eagerly listened to the radio communications coming back from the NH FC-1 when the ship came close to entering PCB's orbit. The comms systems were now reporting more and more data simultaneously and as the ship approached PCB the amount of data only increased. \nThe automatic data processor rang alarm when it picked up the radio communication between the ship and the planet. A state of emergency was initiated right away. No one had actually thought of the possibility of there being sentient life on PCB. Much less intelligent life capable of long distance communication. \nThen no more data was fed into the processor. An abrupt silence had overcome the facilities on Earth, a silence so deafening that it invoked a primal sense of fear. \nThe data was being analyzed time and time again. The NH FC-1 transmitted music over their communications system for exactly 31.2 seconds. Then came\na radio silence for precisely 75.9 seconds. After that time everything fades out. No logs, no ship information, no voices, nothing. \nMicrosecond precise analyzation had revealed nothing. There was hope of finding something, maybe the sound of a weapon being fired or a system reporting damages but instead there was a void. \nOn August 5, 2271 the New Horizons FC-1 was declared as lost in action.\n" ]	1
	[WP] 4.6 billion people have just been transported into the past, with each person evenly distributed from Earth's beginning until the present. You are the first person to survive alone for a year, and the next person is about to appear.	[ "My only wish as I sat in the corner of my cave, staring at the fire at the mouth, was that I had studied sciences rather than the arts in university. Sure, I was practical enough, with the makeshift stool underneath me, but if I had the knowledge to craft a real weapon, or some sort of lighting!? Overjoyed would be a conservative way of describing my emotions. But alas, I did not. I sat guarding the wooden barricade that lead in to my hut with nothing but a stone-headed spear and a sad excuse for a bow as the night began to fall over the land I called my home once more. \n\nAs the flickering shadows of the fire illuminated the dense jungle outside of my stone shelter more than the sunlight through the canopy, I reached for a white rock by my side and turned to the cave wall behind me. It was a soapstone I had broken off of a cliff side some three hours west while I was exploring several months ago. The same chalky rock was what had marked all three hundred and sixty four lines on the wall I now faced, as well as the adjacent, crudely made map of the nearby area. \n\n\"Day 365. Or one year, I suppose...\" I thought aloud, bringing my writing utensil to the wall and crossing a line past the last four. I let my arm slump to my side, dropping the rock to the ground as I felt a vague wrenching in my heart. After I got here, the loneliness of seemingly being the only human around in this prehistoric fantasy brought that same effect every night. It was a much duller pain than it was before. The kind that you feel with a mending bone that remains motionless. I hadn't known much of that pain either, not before the strange enveloping light found me in a humid jungle after a commute to my desk job. Since then, there have been several sprains and strains forging my survival. \n\n\"Well, Jeremy, it's time to visit the real world,\" I said to myself as I walked over and kicked out the feeble flames, \"Or what's left of it, at least.\" Darkness flooded the cave as the fire was reduced to embers before I felt my way back to the wooden wall, ready to dream about my fading memories of the modern world.\n\n-\n\nThe situation that met my groggy eyes was almost as unpleasant as the nightmare I was woken from. Just as the loud cars in the rain-slick streets honking at me while I stood naked in a big city intersection made me scared, the screaming voice that came from the young boy holding my own weapon before me had my chest gripped with fear. Different from the nightmare, though, was the vague secondary excitement that sat in the back of my head.\n\n\"What the hell is going on!?\" He screamed at me, holding the stone tip of my spear closer to my throat. I was too awe-struck by his simply existing to say a word, my mouth merely stuttering incoherently. \"Tell me!\" He yelled again, his tone shaky and scared.\n\n\"I thought it was only me...\" I muttered, tears welling in my eyes. Before I actively recognized what I was doing, I slowly pushed the spear away and sat up, pushing the hide blanket from my torso. \"You're real?\" He just looked at me, his disturbed face shifting enough to be visibly confused as he let the spear clatter to the floor beside my layered fur bed. \"Listen, you have to tell me. Do you know science?\" \n\n\"Umm... Sort of,\" he responded, his confusion seeming to grow. He may have only looked thirteen or so, but he wore a fitted button up and slacks. He had short curly brown hair, and looked like he packed a bit extra weight in the face. My thought process was not the most sound, but I hoped he might have been a prodigy. \"My turn to ask a question. Who are you, where are we, and why did I almost get eaten by a giant tiger?\" The boy asked, stepping back a couple of paces. The rising sun barely illuminated the musty stone room, slivers of light breaking through the thick wall of wood I built so long ago.\n\n\"That's three questions, that's not fair,\" I said, frowning slightly. I failed to see why that wasn't important to the young teenager at the time. \"My name is Jeremy. You are?\" I asked, pushing off the rest of the blanket and swinging my legs over the side. My tattered khakis apparently needed to be washed again, as the kid made a face when I did so.\n\n\"You smell!\" He shouted, bringing his hand to his nose and confirming my suspicion.\n\n\"Well, pardon me for only having one pair of pants in my wardrobe! I'm not about to go running around in a loincloth like Tarzan, am I?\" The kid paused for a few seconds, processing what I said.\n\n\"How long have you been here?\" He asked, clearly breaking the one-to-one question rule.\n\n\"Today is day 366, punk.\" I answered, frowning further at his utter disregard to conduct.\n\n\"Punk's not my name!\" He said, raising his voice.\n\n\"It is now, because there isn't anyone else to say your real name.\" I growled, staring him dead in the eyes. They shifted fairly quickly from frustration to fear again.\n\n\"What do you mean?\" He stammered. I softened my face slightly, recognizing his feeling as the very same I had felt when I first arrived. It wasn't a pleasant surprise to find yourself among extinct apex predators in a world where humans had no place.\n\n\"I mean that we're the only ones in this god-forsaken jungle. Unless you came from somewhere I haven't seen yet, I've mapped this entire valley, from the mountains in the North, the coast to the West, to the plains leading to the desert everywhere else.\" I explained, standing up and walking past him to the corner of the room where I stored my food.\n\n\"But I was just getting ready for the science team finals at home!\" He shouted at my back. I could hear the constricting of his throat as he swallowed his instinct to cry.\n\n\"I knew you were a nerd!\" I laughed knowing I wasn't helping his situation while digging in a wooden box in front of me. I never knew I took my fridge for granted until I had to deal with food I foraged less than two days ago spoiling. \"Anyways, I can't tell you why, Punk. I can only tell you what. And that's that we're here, and not home, and that tiger outside is named Tony.\" I said, grabbing my last bit of dried meat before turning around to see Punk's eyes filled with tears.\n\n\"Like the cereal mascot?\" He asked, a side of his mouth raising slightly, despite his shock.\n\n\"Yeah, except he's a saber tooth tiger, and he doesn't care too much about having milk with his meals,\" I took a bite of the jerky in my hand before I spoke again, \"Crumby joke, I know, but if you're gonna make it out here, you gotta learn to laugh at death and persevere in life.\"\n\n\"Your sense of humor sucks, Jeremy.\" He said as he brought his sleeve up to dry his eyes.\n\n\"Punk's a fitting name.\" I said around the chewy meat, smirking at the boy. \"You can call me Jay.\"", "I finally put the last piece of fibre in place. A whole new suit made out of plant fibre. I've even added a hoodie for keeping dry in the eternal rain that is falling here every other day.\nGoing outside of my hut I look up to see the purple-blue sun nearly sitting on his highest point. It is finally time for the second human to appear in this lonly simulation!\n\nIt all started over a year ago when I signed up for a long term test being executed by Nasa. While trying to minimalize the starting weight of a new colony they came up with an idea: they would only send embryo's together with an incubator. The incubator would then grow humans from the embryos and implant their brains with the necessary memories to help the colony grow quickly. In an attempt to reduce weight as much as possible, they figured that a single incubator would be sufficient for the whole colony. The catch? The first human would have to live for nine months alone. They figured that a biotechnical engineer would have the best chances for survival. Enter me.\n\nMy main task was surviving and getting a farm set up while I waited for the next person to appear. And survive I did! I've managed to create a nice hut from the alien looking plants Nasa planted in the dome around me, managed to create traps to catch the \"space bunnies\" that jump around here, made an extensive garden with the seeds they provided and had a lot of fun doing it!\n\nAs I run up to the giant stone on which I arrived here, I make little jumps of joy! Nine months of being alone is lonely! I can't wait to speak some English to a real person! Approaching the rock I can already see some black hair peaking out from behind a bush. Relieved I shout: \"Hello! Nice to finally see someone!\"\n\nAs the person, in fact a beautiful girl, turns and rises she says: \"Euhm... Bonjour! Je m'apelle Aureline. Et toi?\"\n\nAs this is the first story I've writting in English, constructive criticism is more than welcome!", "You know, back before this whole experiment, I really enjoyed my alone time. Needless to say, endless alone time starts to get old very fast. I think the roughest time was after the first month. Speaking is pretty much pointless, yet I found myself talking aloud whenever possible. Maybe it was a human mechanism to combat the insanity of permanent solitude. Who knows.\n\nWhen I signed up to best sent back in time, I was expecting to be some type of living prophet. Imagine being able to walk around and actively predict everything about to happen. Within weeks I would surely be revered as some kind of modern day oracle. The company couldn't have possibly predicted what had happened though. Apparently to combat some type of paradox, the earth was completely empty in this version of the past. Strangely enough, all of the newspapers and other information sources, would update day by day. This is how I knew I had indeed been sent back in time rather than into another universe or something.\n\n\"Let's see what's on the menu today.\" My voice echoed back at me from the restaurants walls.\n\nNumerous plates were spread across the tables loaded with steaming food. I snagged a plate of french fries and chicken strips and sat down at the counter. As usual, the latest newspaper sat here waiting for me to read it. \n\n\"Oh, look at that. Hank Edwards died today. What a shame.\" I sipped a cup of coffee sitting next to the paper.\n\nI thumbed through the pages of the paper looking for anything interesting. The comics quickly got boring and I decided to head back to my sanctuary.\n\nI stretched my legs out on the king sized bed of the hotel suite I decided to inhabit. A huge tv with a PS2 plugged into sat across the room. Thank god I had been fortunate enough to at least be in a time where this system exists. In any other circumstanced, this would be heaven. The overwhelming silence kept reminding me otherwise.\n\nThe next day as I made my way back into the diner for breakfast, I noticed something was off. The newspaper on the counter was sitting open as though someone had already been reading it. An empty coffee cup sat next to it as well as a plate of half eaten food.\n\n\"What the hell?\" I said aloud. \"Is anyone in here?\"\n\nMy voice echoed back at me in response. I repeated myself but still received no reply. Slowly I made my way to the kitchen of the diner, one area I had not explored. \n\nGrills lined the back wall with burgers still sizzling on them. Pots of water boiled over making hissing noises as the water evaporated on the burners. After a few moments of walking around I was certain the room was empty.\n\nAs I stepped outside into the morning sun, I caught a glimpse of something in my peripherals. Turning my head I caught a glimpse of a man entering a building.\n\n\"Hey!\" I yelled out.\n\nMy response was a slamming door as he entered the building. I tried the door but for some reason the knob wouldn't even turn. Slamming all of my weight didn't even move the door in the slightest. It was like it was frozen in place or something. Strange.\n\nThat night as I lay in my hotel suite, I wondered who the man had been. The universe wouldn't allow another human to be here would it? That would surely create a paradox and who knows what consequences there would be. My only other conclusion was that I was going insane. All of this time being alone was forcing my brain to create phantoms. That had to be what was going on. Eventually my eyes became too heavy to stare at the tv screen, and I drifted off to sleep.\n\nBAM BAM BAM.\n\nMy heart was racing as I bolted awake. \n\nBAM BAM BAM.\n\nSomeone was pounding on the door. I hopped up heart feeling like it was going to pound out of my chest. I contemplated if I should look through the peephole or not. Finally I pressed my eye against the tiny glass lens and looked at the person on the other end. \n\nA man in a red leather jacket had his back turned to me. How the hell had he gotten my jacket? As a matter of fact, the man had the same haircut as me, the same build as me, he could have been my twin. I reached down and attempted to turn the doorknob to let him in. It wouldn't move.\n\n\"What the hell is up with this?\" I said aloud as I began to yank on the door.\n\nClearly the man had heard my yanking on the door and cursing because I heard him pounding on the door again from the other side. But no matter how hard i pulled, the door wouldn't move. It was the exact same situation as the day before. \n\nAfter a few more tries I poked my eye up to the peephole once more. What was I greeted with? My own face. The man on the other side of the door was myself. Less than a second after seeing this, my head began to pound and my vision began to blur. I struggled to breathe as my throat filled with blood from my nose pouring into my mouth. My muscles grew weak and I fell to the floor before I lost consciousness. \n\n________\n\n\"Why won't he open the door? I know someone's in there.\" I said aloud. \n\nOnce more I pounded on the door from the empty hallway. Two days of wandering this damned town looking for any other people and he won't even let me in. I felt my feet getting wet for some reason. Glancing down, I could see blood pooling out from beneath the hotel door. \n\n\"Whoa, are you ok!\" I screamed and pounded harder on the door.\n\nI began to throw myself against the door trying to break it down. It was no use, the door didn't move in the slightest. All I succeeded in doing was jamming my shoulder. Slowly I backed away and stared in disgust at the large puddle of blood now covering the hallway. I sat in silence waiting to hear the man again, but of course there was nothing but silence. Where the hell was I?", "C1 - A Soul and a Robot Companion\n\nThere's a crowd of people. God - I fucking hate this, if I have to talk with one more person, I'll throw up. At least that's what I said before all this shit happened. We were all transported to some weird white room, all of us in the party along with another 4.6 billion of us. Well technically, that's what the Voice said. I didn't know whether this was true, as I was with about 100 people in a pod of sorts. \n\nThe details they provided were sparse. First, we would have our basic biological structures modified to what they thought would survive in that given point in time. Second, every person was being transported from the beginning to the present, with time intervals of one year each. Third, we would have an AI implanted that would provide more details on how to survive. When they got that in, I had no idea. After the Voice finished, a white light flashed, and I appeared in a cave.\n\nFirst thing I remember are the carvings. Weird lines, but the symmetry was clearly unnatural. That's when my AI booted up.\n\n\"Beep boop boop, hello, I am your personal assistant Steve. I have noticed some lines that indicate intelligent life, would you like me to translate?\"\n\nOf course, you fucking stupid robot. That's obviously not what I said though as it might be the one thing that could help me survive. So, I said what any normal person would say, given that the robot was the one thing that stood between me and intelligent life - \"Yes, please.\"\n\n\"Processing - may take awhile as I am a fucking stupid robot.\"\n\nWhat the fuck? Wait. You, can read my thoughts?\n\n\"Of course not - as I am a fucking stupid robot.\"\n\nAnd so began my journey with the fucking stupid robot - no wait, his Majesty Sass Queen McSassPants. As much as I kid, this sarcastic robot may have been the only thing between me an death. Not only from starving to death, or farting on a dinosaur - no, he also protected me from the AI in my brain.\n\nAccording to Steve, the genius behind the entire AI and space-time travel, was his creator Lee. Gender-unknown, age-unknown, race-unknown, the only thing Steve knew was that Lee was at the head of the organization that had transported all of us, and the whole rationale behind the plan was to develop and refine the safety of the product in different environments. In order to control for inconvenient factors like intelligence and culture and mental resilience, the AI was ordered to take over its host once the transfer had been complete and keep it alive for a few days before terminating. \n\nHowever, the space-time transfer had corrupted part of his coding, which incidentally, was the part that would have made me a brain-dead zombie. While there was supposed to be a continuous transmission, Steve was able to fake the protocols showing my fateful death. Ironically, the transmitter had been easily removable, in case the organization had ever decided to personally come and retrieve the data. Fortunately for me, this meant that the transmitter quickly became mammoth shit.\n\nOver the year, as Steve and I tried to survive to the best of our abilities, a niggling thought came to be. As witty and sarcastic and intelligent as Steve was, I wanted to talk with someone. Someone real. Sorry Steve, someone physical. There's just a level of intimacy I miss from being around people.\n\n\"That's really fucking stupid. Sorry, excuse my human. That action would not be advised. Those are just your hormones speaking. It is 99.9% likely that the next person will become hostile within seconds as the AI boots up.\"\n\nIs there no chance to corrupt or delete their AI?\n\n\"It would require physically taking out their transmitter, plugging it in, requiring me to quickly overwhelm the new AI before it can transmit any information. Given the likely hostility of the human host, and the speed and capabilities of the new AI, there is a 90% chance of failure. In the event of success, partial information may still be transmitted, and a Contractor may be dispatched to terminate the hostile party.\"\n\nDespite his protests, I decided to move forward with the plan. According to his calculations, the next person would show up 4 feet in front of me, with a margin of error of 3 feet. The closest I could be was the three feet - otherwise, I might end up sprouting an arm or two. Anyways, looks like his calculations are correct, I can see the person slowly materializing. Question is - can I get this done right?\n\n[C2 - First Contact has been posted]\n(https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/6b0ptf/wp_46_billion_people_have_just_been_transported/dhjykuj/)", "Links to the end of this story: [Part 3](https://www.reddit.com/r/writingswithatwist/comments/6b6n85/tom_hanks_1_billion_bce_part_3/?st=J2QPANIZ&sh=1d97228c) \| [Final Part](https://www.reddit.com/r/writingswithatwist/comments/6bdlfl/tom_hanks_1_billion_bce_final_part/?st=J2QPC3O0&sh=bb5df126) \n\nIt reminded me of Iceland. A barren land, with the occasional crop of grass and other nutritional plants. The fish were good, too. The water was clear blue, clean enough to drink and bathe in.\n\nBesides that, there wasn't much. The air was oxygenated, cleaner than the polluted air from 2017, or maybe that was just my perception. Regardless, it's better if I tell you how I escaped this hell of beauty.\n\nDAY 364\n\nAlmost a year. I've made very special steps to make sure this book is preserved, finding the best supplies of what I assume is amber. Without land animals in existence yet, the search is never-ending and quiet.\n\nAnyways, I fashioned a small bucket from some compacted clay and brought a small fish into the bucket with some water. I think I'll call him Ethan. He just seems like an Ethan.\n\nSEVERAL HOURS LATER\n\nThe sun is about to set, and with the sticks I had with me when I came into this world, or this past, or whatever the fuck this is, I roasted Ethan over a small flame. Those were the last of my sticks. Ethan died in honor. He was tasty too.\n\nDAY 365\n\nThe best day of my life. I'll begin from the morning, and try not to freak out too much.\n\nI woke up like I normally do, and decided to take off my clothes as they were just getting too dirty. It didn't even occur to me it had been a year in the morning, and I walked around completely naked. Who'd watch? The fish? There weren't really seasons, from what I'd seen, and only a continuous 75-85 temperature that'd drop to around 70 at night, but these were all approximations, so I wouldn't be too cold or hot.\n\nI walked around, picked up some roots and moss, and enjoyed my breakfast. I missed pancakes. Bacon too. Especially bacon. Anyways, around noon, I noticed some noise. It wasn't unusual, maybe just the few grasses being swept by the wind. The pattern changed though, kind of like footprints. Then, I saw him. In the midst of the shock and awe, the only thing I found important was my nudity.\n\nI grabbed some of the larger leaflets and covered myself with them, and walked over to my new companion.\n\n\"Uh...hey...I'm Wilson. It's been awhile since I've seen anyone else. Do you have any idea where we are?\"\n\nThe man was in his 50s or 60s, seeming familiar. I couldn't pin it down at first, but after a bit I recognized him.\n\n\"I'm Tom. Tom Hanks.\"\n\nPART 2\n\nDAY 400\n\nTom and I left our base camp, where we both appeared here, and headed out. I haven't written in this since we met, at least a month ago. I used the book as a means of communication, but with Tom here, that's less necessary. Paper is also scarce, but we may have found something that resembles a reed. \n\nWhen we both came to this place, all of our immediate surroundings came with us. For me, it was a pile of sticks, a notebook, a few pens, along with my clothes, my phone, and other completely useless things now. For Tom, it was quite different.\n\nHe had an Oscar award, an extremely expensive suit, and an apple. I thought the stuff that was with me was random.\n\nAs we've traversed the land, the environment seems to be volcanic, but there aren't any volcanoes (or at least active ones, hopefully). The ground is black, volcanic, and there seems to be less and less life as we go on. The entire area is just groups of small-ish islands, with 1-1.5 meter high water, clearer than the sky. Today, however, we made an interesting discovery. Actually, Tom made it first.\n\n\"I don't see any islands in the distance. Did we reach an ocean?\" He spoke with an elegance to himself. Like America's father. He seemed unfazed by our situation, like he'd been here before. He also seemed to admire that I really didn't care too much that he was THE Tom Hanks.\n\n\"Maybe. Drop the Oscar into the water, if it's sulfur or anything else hazardous, we'd know from the gold corroding.\"\n\n\"Alright, I'll throw it from a good distance, splashing acid is certainly dangerous if that's what this is.\" I laughed, and I could tell that he enjoyed my enjoyment of his \"dad jokes\" or whatever they're called.\n\nTom threw the Oscar into the water, but I immediately realized that was a mistake. From what I could tell, the water was fine and not acidic or sulfuric, but much deeper than anticipated. A few seconds later, I turned and walked to him, but he was still about 100 feet away.\n\n\"I'll go after it! Give me your tie, I'll use it as a headband!\"\n\nTom pulled his expensive but tattered tie out of his pocket and gave it to me. My hair was unreasonably long, and I wouldn't be able to see a thing if my eyes were covered in hair. I tied the tie to my head and dove in, searching for the Oscar. \n\nThe water was crystal clear, my eyes fully open with no discomfort whatsoever. The occasional small fish swam by, but other than that it was peaceful. Somehow quieter than even when I was alone. I saw the reflection of the gold statue in the water, picked it up, and came up to shore. That was a good day.\n\nDAY 401\n\nWe've decided to stay here, and finally plant those apple seeds. When we searched around for supplies, Tom did most of the heavy lifting, surprisingly. He was incredibly fit for his age, a whole 30 years older than me but still stronger than me. This probably had to do with my severe malnutrition from only eating moss and fish for over a year.\n\nA few of the clay trinkets I made were laid about in the volcanic sand on the beach, with the water being extremely still, they'd never be swept in. I compacted some sand and used it as a pillow, it was surprisingly comfortable. \n\nI could have a life here.\n\nCheck out my subreddit, r/writingswithatwist for more, this story isn't over yet!", "They say that after ten minutes of going back in time, you’re as good as dead, if you’re lucky. \n\nMost people don’t make it past the first ten minutes. Most don’t make it past the first three minutes of burning death in the Hadean period. Or the oxygen starved days of the Earth, before microorganisms breathed it into the world. We were protected from cruel and unusual punishment in the past Constitution. \n\nThese were lesser days. The tribunal was hopelessly corrupt, far past the point of anything resembling a justice system. If you were found guilty (and let’s be honest, if you were being tried you were going to be found guilty) you were sentenced to history, and they set off their random year generator. The guilty sat in their chamber of time travel, and waited for the numbers to settle on a time. I watched as the numbers ticked off on animated wheels. \n\n70,403,236 BC\n\nI was one of the lucky ones. I made it to a period of vibrant, thriving life, but few people could survive in a world they were unfamiliar with. Luckily, I had a childhood obsession with dinosaurs. I learned all I could about their likely habits, and most of them were surprisingly true. They were as feathery as prophesied too. But there was just one thing you could never prepare for. \n\nThey were more horrifying and sinister than your wildest, most violent dreams. \n\nI outran a T-Rex, once upon a time. Months into my stay. Months after I found out microraptors tasted like chicken, and bit like little winged piranhas. I outran that T-Rex, if you can call huddling into a small crevice of a cave and huddling for two straight nights starving and crying outrunning it. I felt and breathed its hot, awful breath in the crevice constantly, and watched its little arms reach in for me. Just a foot away from my body. The space between life and death. It gave up and left, after a time. But even hours after I could no longer feel the earth shake from its steps, I stayed in the cave huddled and frozen. \n\nI learned to farm the microraptors, and made myself a little hut in areas that seemed safe. I’d move every couple of months between a few set locations I found were easily defensible, whenever I discovered more and more predators coming upon my space. Maybe they wanted the microraptors. \n\nMaybe they were onto my scent, and wanted to try a taste of something fresh. \n\nI got better at migrating from spot to spot. I took my little dinosaur chickens with me too in makeshift cages, and carriages on wooden wheels. I defended myself well enough against smaller predators. And one day, after months in the same spot, I realized I didn’t have to move anymore. I’d found the scents most dinosaurs found repulsive, and surrounded my places with them. I learned how to create diversions, and draw them away when they came too near. I learned how to kill the ones that got through with greater ease. I even started to get good sleep again. \n\nThen one day, I heard a whisper in my ear. Awakening me. \n\n“So you made it,” whispered a woman. \n\nI jumped back, and grabbed my spear. I put it to her neck. She smiled back at me. \n\n“Who are you?” I said. I lowered the spear ever so slightly. \n\nI wanted nothing more than a friend. \n\nShe was sentenced here too, I thought, and felt pity. \n\nJust as I felt the pity in my heart, she wrenched the spear from my grasp, and threw me to the wooden floor. I caught my balance, and watched her strike her match. \n\n“Let’s see you make it again,” she said. \n\n“NO!” I screamed. I ran to tackle her. \n\nShe flickered, and disappeared to a better time, with nothing but her voice remaining. \n\n“The tribunal is intrigued by your grit,” she whispered, as I stomped at the flames. “We burned your huts, removed the barriers to your home,” I felt the ground tremble, and cried in horror. “and there is a herd of velociraptors heading straight for you as we speak.”\n\nI ran outside, and watched the sunrise from the top of that hill. Breathed the cool morning air. \n\nWatched the herd of raptors moving methodically in my direction. \n\nI ran for my tunnels. \n\n“You’ve made quite a spectacle for us, surviving the Earth of this dimension,” she whispered. I could hear their chomping mouths, and the sound of my dying farm. “Survive our games, and you will be rewarded.” \n\n“Rewarded?” I whispered, as I crawled through my poorly made escape through the dirt. \n\nI heard her electronic whisper all around me, and the laughs of others in the background. \n\n“Play for your freedom,” she replied. \n" ]	6
It might be an old lover, or a former occupant of the house, or someone from the distant past.	[WP] Just before dawn, you wake with a ghost in bed with you.	[ "Shantae rubs her eyes, ruffles her hair, and sits up in bed. She gets up, opens the shades, letting early morning sunlight in to the room, illuminating dirty clothes, junk food wrappers, a mostly unmade bed, all sorts of other garbage and discarded accouterments, and... that couldn't be right. There was another woman lying on Shantae's bed. Think, who is she, and how did she get there? Where were you the night before. She shouldn't have been anywhere; she left work, got dinner out, and came home, right? The woman stirred, and got up. She was wearing simple, white undergarments, and ran a finger through her dark brown hair.\n\n\"Who are you?\" Shantae stared, mildly nervous.\n\n\"Oh, you invited me home. My apologies, it appears that you've forgotten.\" The other woman walked out of the room lightly. She looked familiar, a little too familiar, but Shantae couldn't put a name to the face.\n\n\"Wait, you didn't answer my question! We didn't... do anything, right?\" Shantae chased after the guest, who had sat down on the sofa, looking at the television intently, even though it wasn't turned on.\n\n\"I'm Sarah, don't you remember? We used to know each other back in high school; you got your weed from me. And of course we did things last night. We used to be so close back in the day, it was a nice return to happy memories.\"\n\n\"You know the television isn't on, right?\" Shantae tried to think. What had happened to Sarah? It really had been so long, almost a decade since they last talked, and they hadn't exactly left on happy terms.\n\n\"Oh, it isn't?\" Sarah looked a little confused, then got up.\n\n\"Wait a moment... Didn't Sarah... kill... herself? I thought that I read in the paper that she jumped off of a bridge.\" Shantae sat down, staring at the woman before her. She certainly looked real, but Shantae was very sure that what she remembered was true. She couldn't go to classes for a week after hearing the news; the emotions from the break-up were still raw.\n\nSarah looked dead serious. \"You must have heard wrong, then. I got better.\"\n\n\"I... I went to your funeral. I saw the casket be lowered into your grave.\" Shantae began to cry, unsure of what else to do in such a situation.\n\n\"Don't be like that. You know it isn't what I would want.\" Sarah got up and walked over to the weeping Shantae, putting an arm around her shoulder to comfort her. \"There there... I'm so sorry for all this, I just wanted to tell you that I was wrong, back then, that I love you, and always have, that only now, when I've been long since dead that I realized how stupid I was, that you were what mattered.\" Sarah kissed Shantae's cheek.\n\nShantae lifted her head to look at Sarah, but she was gone, leaving Shantae to her tears, alone in the early morning sun." ]	1
	[WP] You wake up as you find the grim reaper sitting in your room. Turns up he arrived 24 hours earlier than needed, and he is too lazy to leave.	[ "It had been five minutes since Death had arrived in Peter's room, but Peter wasn't even dead yet. Well, he didn't know for sure that he was staring at Death, but the signs were there. The ethereal flowing cloak, the extremely large scythe (or sickle?\n he never could remember the difference), and the small radius where the figure floated that was currently decaying did give a strong indication that Peter was faced with Death. And if that's the case then he must be facing death as well. Peter directed a polite cough at his unexpected guest. \n\n\"Excuse me, um, sir,\" Peter said. \"Is there something I can help you with? I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I do have this pretty big term paper I need to work on and, well, you're kinda freaking me out.\" Death remained silent. Maybe he couldn't talk? If your eternal existence is taking people's souls away when they die there probably isn't much use for talking anyway.\n\n\"Okay, well, I'll just be here if you need anything.\" Peter turned back to his computer and continued to work on his term paper. Twenty minutes passed, and Peter was having trouble concentrating on his work. If he was going to die, it seemed a waste to spend it writing a term paper that he wouldn't be able to turn in. He should do something meaningful, tell his parents he loved them and that he'd miss them. Maybe not that he'd miss them, he needed to be subtle. Laying it on too thick might make it seem like he was going to commit suicide, which he certainly wasn't. Well, he didn't think so, but Death was floating in the corner of his room so who could really say.\n\n20 minutes later and everything was squared away. He'd gone downstairs and told his mom and dad he loved them and called up his grandparents and said the same. \"Let's see... Mom, Dad, both sets of grandparents... am I missing anyone? I guess my aunts and uncles but... that might be suspicious, I don't talk to them except at holidays. Anyways, I think it's implied I love them, it'll be fine,\" he thought to himself. He climbed back upstairs to see if maybe Death had left yet - or moved in any way.\n\n\"Hey. Uh, I'm good to go. So whenever you wanna... get this over with. Maybe now? The wait's starting to get to me. Or just, give me a timeframe so I can plan the rest of my day. There's a movie at 3:15 I was thinking of catching-,\" Peter was cut off by what can only be described as the sound of Death itself. Death spoke. \n\n\"What movie?\"\n\n\"Well, uh, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 just came out so I thought I'd see that,\" Peter eked out. He wasn't prepared for Death to speak, and he certainly wasn't prepared to take Death to a movie.\n\n\"Ugh, Hollywood sure does love to crank out those sequels,\" Death complained.\n\n\"Haha, yeeah, that they do. That they do....So hey I don't wanna intrude or anything but.. are you here for a reason?\" Peter asked.\n\n\"Oh, yeah, you're going to die. But I read my schedule wrong so I'm here a day early. Ever the optimist I am though, so I figured I'd make the most of it,\" Death said.\n\n\"Making the most of it means standing in the corner of my room?\" Peter asked, a hint of derision in his voice.\n\n\"Says the guy who kept writing a school paper after realizing he's going to die.\"\n\n\"Fair. Okay, well I'm gonna head to the movies, wanna come? Even if it is a sequel it beats my room.\" Death mulled over the proposition. \n\n\"Well you are supposed to get hit by a car, so walking into the city for a movie should help that along. It's like I'll be on vacation and doing my job at the same time. Great plan Peter!\"\n\n\"T-thanks. I'll go grab my coat.\" " ]	1
	[WP]a immortal man works at a restaurant that gives a yearly raise, his salary is at $1 million an hour and the restaurant is trying to get rid of him in the most creative ways	[ "\"JONATHAN! I need you in my office now!\" \n\nUgh The new boss is here. We're probably gonna talk about my salary and he'll probably try to fire me. Like all my bosses before.\n\n\"Jonathan you've probably been asked this before but anyways: how on earth can you survive with such a low salary? Your income is just 160m$ per month. Your co-workers get four double that in just a week. You can't even pay rent with that little money. You know what? I'll triple your salary!\"\n\n\"You can't just give me raise. That's against our company's policies.\"\n\n\"But I need to pay you minimum wage which is at 2.6m$ per hour. Are you even able to survive under these conditions?\"\n\n\"Of course, I'm immortal\"\n\n\"You're immortal?\"\n\n\"Yes. How else could I be working here since 1994?\"\n\n\"Makes sense. But I can't keep you here or they will shut the restaurant.\" \n\n\"I could leave the job but why should I? I like it here.\"\n\n\"I'll think about it. Now get back to the grill and make more burgers.\"\n\n\nAfter this conversation everything started to get worse. Steve \"accidentally\" spilled grease all over me, we hired Dave, I got relocated to another restaurant on Omicron Persei 8 and roaches were \"found\" at the new restaurant which lead to my relocation back to my former restaurant.\n\nI don't know what to do anymore, I'm thinking of quitting even though I wouldn't know how I should get a job at earth. Maybe on Saturn? It's always been my favorite planet and \n living in the cloud city would be a dream come true.\n\nUpdate: They hired Dave's son.\n\n I really can't take it anymore. The job kept me alive the last 10 million years. Now I just want to die. But how? I will outlive the universe.\n\nUpdate2: They won. They assigned me to the ice machine. Tomorrow I'll quit." ]	1
	[WP] You're home alone when suddenly a voice whispers in your ear, asking you for help.	[ "\"Take a deep breath, clear your mind, the world is described in these words. Everything is real, perceive, proces, accept\".\n\nIt has become a ritual to say these words while I open my front door, ever since the mental breakdown a year ago tomorrow. The step into my house always feels like a jump, the smell of my house feels like a force pushing me out, but I remind myself. \"This is my house, my space, mine.\", as I push through the mental barrier that is called my front door.\n\nThe hallway is small but long, as I gaze towards the end of the hall, darkness greets me as I stand next to the small desk where my keys rest. Overturned picture frames lie in a small blanket of dust. Slightly framed by marks of my hand from when I hold myself steady to take off my shoes. The soft creak of the wooden floor below me reminds me that I'm home.\n\nThe sound of wind pushing passed the outside walls makes a sharp whistling sound, the soft rustling of the trees feel as if they are trying to comfort the house, that it will be alright. Not a single voice echoed through the streets as silence entered my space as soon as the front door exiled the outside world.\n\nA feeling of dread runs across my spine as the silence hits me. A sense of loneliness creeps up my spine followed by the electric sensation of goosebumps up my arms. I cough to break the silence, to try and imitate humanity, to stop the feeling of perpetually falling and failing.\n\nMy feet struggle to move, my knees feel heavy, long days of hard labor will do that to ones legs. I try to shrug of the feeling of weariness as I enter the living room. A sudden light illuminates the room almost blinding me. My hand instinctively shoots in front of my eyes as they adjust to the intrusive brightness. I gasp and softly say \"Hello?\". Still half blinded I see movement coming from my lazy chair, my body reacts as I shoot in a readied postion to run or fight.\n\nMy hearth sank, the sound of a familiar voice breaks through this ever lingering mist that has surrounded me for a year. Colours brighten as if a grey veil has been lifted from my vision. My eyes adjusted as I looked into the eyes of my son. Only he seemed older, tired but with wrinkles of laughter marking his face, he seems scared or surprised. His voice so warm, though worried. He says \"Dad?\" as he looked around not connecting with my eyes.\n\nMy legs feel incredibly heavy as my knees buckled under an overwhelming weight, a pain shoots through my arm into my chest. A numbing feeling falls over me as my body hits the hard wooden floor. I look up at my son who seems increasingly worried and scared as my hand reaches towards him as I scream nothing but a whisper \"Help me!\"\n\nMy vision fades into a clear view of my front door. I feel tired as I reach for the doorknob.\n\n\"Take a deep breath, clear your mind, the world is described in these words. Everything is real, perceive, proces, accept\"." ]	1
	[WP] You're in a movie where someone is narrating your life, and every single character can hear the narrator but you.	[ "Lucky Guess\n\n\"Do you ever want to just get out of here? You and me?\" Sophie Croyer was always an outgoing person. She never held back even her most deepest secrets from me. First time she peed the bed? I knew. First time she got her period? I knew. First crush? I knew. First time getting caught stealing out her mom's purse? I knew. We were just those kinds of friends. But she never demanded anything in return from me. No juicy gossip, no secrets, no blackmail she could use against me. \n\nIt was if she knew me before I even had a chance to open my mouth. \n\n\"I don't know, Sophie. I've got a job here. I've got friends here too, you know?\" \n\n\"Hm...\" She brushed her back hair behind her ear and silently sipped out of a can of flat soda. Sat in the bed of the truck, we stared into the distance where the hill rolled down and exposed the small town we grew up in. The lot up here was infamous for being a make out point, or whatever people called back them in those days.\n\n\"Hm...?\" I repeated. \n\n\"Do you like me, Robby?\" She turned with moist dark eyes baring into my soul. But what could I say? Even with the guilt bubbling behind my throat, I didn't want to say no, or yes, or even maybe. \n\n\"Of course I like you Sophie but,\"\n\n\"But not like you love me. I get it.\" I felt her eyes glaring through me, as if trying to read between the lines of a book, to find hidden meaning where there was none. \"Say something, Robby.\"\n\n\"Like what?\" I stammered and shifted my gaze away, squinting in the sun. But what could I say? \n\n\"Say something!\" She yelled, slamming her fist down and causing the truck to give a gentle rock. \"Just... Anything about us. A memory or a moment between us. I need to know.\"\n\n\"Know what?\" I leaned back on my hands and watched her do the same. Her chest rose from a held breath and collapsed once more, in that same white top I saw her try on in the mall. I didn't have the heart to tell her I was getting tired of stealing things from \"the man\" at this point. I never seemed to get caught stealing with her, as if everyone turned a blind eye for us. But that just made it even more pathetic.\n\n\"Is that it?\" She asked. \"You think I'm too immature for you? That I'm just a little thief?\"\n\n\"What makes you say that? I didn't say anything like that!\" Sophie always had that ability to read my thoughts. I liked that before, having that security of knowing we could just look into each other's eyes and she'd know if I was happy, sad, horny, tired, without me saying a word. But lately it felt like she was searching me, listening to my thoughts, digging deeper into my mind without any warning. \n\n\"Alright, so maybe you had feelings for me?\" Sophie guessed and rubbed her chin carefully. Her eyes scanned me over, \"Am I taking advantage of you?\"\n\nWhat did she mean? Taking advantage of what? I was a strong guy, she never made a move on me.\n\n\"Is that it?\" She asked despite me not saying a word. \"You think I'm not physically attracted to you because I never did anything to you?\"\n\n\"I... Are you talking to me right now?\" I asked and jokingly looked over my shoulder, half expecting someone to be there given how her stare cut right through me. \n\n\"Sorry, God, this isn't working. Robby I like you, love you even. Think about it.\"\n\nSo I did. I sat and thought, or rather I rolled my eyes to the sky and pretended to think. \n\n\"You're not thinking.\"\n\n\"I am too! It's just... A lot to think about.\" I darted my eyes around, against caught in a lie like usual. No matter what I said in this town, everyone seemed to just know I was lying. \n\n\"Stop thinking about that!\" Sophie snapped without me saying a word and grabbed my shoulders. \"Why is this so difficult, it was never this difficult before! Go on Robby, just think, please! Do you love me?\"\n\n\"I...\" I couldn't do it. I was more scared of what she'd do if I said yes rather than no. \n\n\"So yes?\"\n\n\"Um...\" Her crazy eyes shut tight and her head shook. Then suddenly she was very still, as if purposely not making a move and waiting for an answer. \"Sophie?\" \n\n\"Yes?!\" \n\nI held my breath and tried to think. Did I love her? We had been friends for years, she always came when I needed her most, we never fought, we never used one another. We were perfect for each other. \n\n\"Exactly!\" Sophie shouted and clasped my hands in hers. \n\n\"Exactly what?!\" I shouted in confusion, watching her eyes shut and her head shake. \n\n\"Sorry, sorry, go on.\"\n\n\"I haven't been going on about anything! I'm just sitting here.\"\n\n\"Sorry, sorry, sorry. Just...\" She stopped and held her hand over her heart. It was my first time seeing her like this, desperate for something, be it a memory or just a lie. I couldn't tell her how I felt, I just didn't know. I was twenty-two years old sitting with a woman three years older than me acting like a fifteen year old all over again. \n\n\"Harsh.\" She mumbled.\n\n\"I didn't say anything!\"\n\n\"Sorry.\" \n\nHer apologizes felt tacked on, superficial, was she even sorry for these crazy outbursts? Did she know something I didn't? \n\n\"Sophie I think we should head back.\"\n\n\"We can't, I just... If you don't end up with me then you'll end up with Darla from your college campus and I just want to give us a chance!\"\n\n\"What?\" I stared dumbfounded, Darla from campus? She was a quick fling during my quick semester trying out college before dropping out. Sure, she was a cute city girl with a career in art, but did I love her? \n\nMore importantly, how did Sophie know about her?\n\n\"Robby I'm sorry but just trust me. When we started dating in high school I heard you'd leave me on a hill with unrequited feelings for me before moving to LA! You'll always think about it! It's why you're thinking about me now! Come on, Robby! You have to say you love me or else this is it!\" \n\nI watched her curiously but I couldn't help but laugh. I must have told her about Darla in passing at some point and spurred up this jealous tangent. \n\n\"Sophie I'm sorry but I don't think I can say I love you. I'm still figuring life out.\"\n\n\"You'll become an architect!\" Sophie hopped off the truck bed and waved her arms wildly, \"You'll get a small apartment and that will be your motivation to build bigger! You're going to marry Darla and her art will inspire you, Robby! You'll—You'll be happy but every day you'll think back on this moment and ask what could have been! That's what sparked all of this! You just recalling a relationship you could have had with me!\"\n\n\"Sophie, what are you talking about?\"\n\n\"It's a flashback, Robby!\" Sophie cried out insanity with her hands over both sides of her head, \"My whole life has just been apart of your flashback. Everything I've done around you has always been spoken in the past tense! You're just talking over—over a memory of this! I want to change this, change us!\" I couldn't understand her nonsense, but suddenly my feelings of possible love dwindle with her sanity. \"We can leave this simulated world, Robby! You and me, just run away together!\"\n\n\"Sophie listen, I'm gonna get going. Let me know when you get these thoughts all sorted out.\" Before she could get another word out, men in flannel shirts and jeans pulled up in a black truck while riding in the bed. \n\n\"Hey, what's all that shouting?\" Despite their attire, I could tell by their lack of a southern accent and combed back hair they weren't from around here. \n\n\"We're here to hunt,\" one quickly spoke up, as if to subdue my curiosity, before hopping out the truck, \"so we aren't locals but we heard shouting.\" \n\n\"Little missy I think you should calm down.\" Another added, hand on his right right pocket. \"You're scaring the deer.\"\n\nShe mumbled and shouted more insane ramblings for awhile, God knows I'll never remember it. But I drove us back down the hill and dropped her off at home regardless. She tried calling me, texting me, her whole life revolved around me for awhile. When I got the news a few years later that she disappeared, I wasn't shocked. She was going insane, talks of flashbacks and changing the future and voices that were mine but not, simulations, experiments, my life being \"their\" entertainment. \n\nI sometimes wonder what life would have been like if I said yes on that hill. Would we have gone crazy together? Did I miss out on some grand adventure between her and I? I doubt it, she was simply complicated. \n\nThough, I do wonder at nights when lying next to my wife how Sophie guessed so much of my life right. How did she know I'd become an architect? How did she know I'd marry a beautiful aspiring artists from college? \n\nI'll never know for sure, but for now, I'll just call it a lucky guess.\n\n*Lucky Guess\n\nStarring:\n\nAgent REDACTED as Sophia Croyer\n\nAgent Theador as Hunter 1\n\nAgent Donald as Hunter 2\n\nAshey Renalds as Darla 1\n\nBea Renalds as Darla 2\n\n\n\nand Robby Dennis as Himself*\n", "Jenna giggled. I glanced over at her for a second.\n\"What?\" I said, looking back at the road. She laughed again and said,\n\"We don't have to be in such a hurry, you can stop at a petrol station for a piss.\" I hated when she did this. Whenever she heard the Narrator talk, she would just giggle and not tell me what she heard. I was in a bad mood, so I decided to have a go at her.\n\"You know what Jenna? I'm getting fucking tired of-\" I didn't be to finish my sentence. I'd looked away from the road. Suddenly I saw a the back of a car coming at 70 kmph flying at my windscreen. I went out to the sound of Jenna screaming.\n\n\n\"Thomas opened his eyes.\" I looked around the room. I saw Jenna, sitting at a chair, staring at me.\n\"Fuck, he's awake,\" she said quietly. The voice that I had heard was not hers. She was a Brit, like me, but this voice sounded like a posh American. I heard the voice again.\n\"Who was that voice?\" I said, but before I finished my thought I heard,\n\"Oh my gosh, can he hear me?\" Jenna looked startled. We exchanged looks. We both knew what was going on. I heard the voice again.\n\"Thomas, if you're hearing this, nod.\" I did, \"Damn it, its finally happened. I'm sorry Thomas, but I can't allow you to hear me. You broke it. You broke the story. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to start again.\" Suddenly, a white light engulfed the room.\n\n\"Phillip was overjoyed when the doctor told him that his son had been born smoothly. He asked Phillip what he was going to call the child, I think you know the response.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Humanity has spliced plant DNA with human DNA, allowing humans to use photosynthesis instead of eating.	[ "\"Mr. Lichen,\" the judge said, \"you stand accused of maliciously removing two leaves from Mr. Mistletoe. How do you plead?\"\n\nCoincidentally or otherwise, Mr. Lichen was the only planthuman in the courtroom who was not standing in direct sunlight. Everyone else was feeding from either a skylight or a window, or both. \"Not guilty,\" he said, while thinking about how little that mattered, how screwed he was, and how the barred windows in jail meant he won't be full for a very long time. All because his skin was mossy...\n\nThe first witness took the stand, settling into its pot of soil and dialing the temperature of its sprinkler up a bit. The prosecutor asked how she knew the defendant. \n\n\"We come from the same garden,\" she replied.\n\nThe prosecutor asked if she ever saw the defendant touch Mr. Mistletoe.\n\n\"Yes,\" she said, \"with my own six eyes!\"\n\nThe prosecutor asked if she ever saw the defendant touch Mr. Mistletoe on either of the two missing leaves.\n\n\"Objection!\" Mr. Lichen's lawyer said. \"Leading the witness!\" He turned to Mr. Lichen, and whispered, \"don't worry about this testimony, I've got a plan to ask for a mistrial. Technically, he doesn't have leaves - he has fronds!\"" ]	1
	[WP] You wished for a world without Mondays. It's become your second biggest regret.	[ "The scientists say that they have no clue how it happened.\n\nAll of a sudden, the earth just sped up. Not a lot, but enough to really put us in a bad place.\n\nBefore, you know, the earth completed one rotation every 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds. Now it almost one seventh faster.\n\nThe confusion of the first weeks really caused a lot of problems for the governments, for the citizens, for everyone.\n\nIn China, they just took 3.41 hours off of every day. They believe the change in the speed of rotation was due to a correction in the natural math patterns of the galaxy.\n\nIn South Africa, the government acted like nothing had happened, but slowly their days started slipping out of alignment, and the citizens rebelled. Nobody knows exactly when the government fell, though. Too many conflicting reports on the date.\n\nHere where I am from, there has been much debate on how to handle it. The Fat Cats wanted to restructure the week with one less day in it, and keep acting like nothing has happened. They are too lazy and bitter to realize that the natural circadian rhythm will make all their efforts useless.\n\nI keep telling myself that I am not to blame for this. My father, the leader of the Fat Cat political group, would be furious if he knew I was the reason this mess started.\n\nBut who would believe me, even if I tried to tell them. It was just a stupid luck bridge. Every year the city officials and political leaders would gather for the Locking ceremony at the bridge, streamers and paper \"chains\" hanging from the decorative railings on the bridge. If their wishes for the city never came true, how could something I wished for affect the entire planet? I wish I had never bought that stupid Lock Charm. Attaching ceremonial locks to bridge railings was an old, stupid tradition anyway. Pure superstition. It must all be in my head.\n\n\nHe heard the ringing tone of the bell from the corner of the room, and realized it was almost dinner time. Maybe it will be Pasta and Tomato Gratin?\n\nTo Be Continued...\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] A story about a moth who searched its entire life for a flame to follow. Eventually, it found the flame within itself.	[ "Ever since I could fly, mama and papa always said with certainty that as their children, we are destined to follow the flame for life.\nI first heard that when I was still a young one, barely able to control the fluttering of my wings - flame? What is that? Is it like the shining surface over the deep blue water? Or is it perhaps the yellowish light that pops open every time it gets dark?\n\n'Don't worry young one, the flame is closer than you think!' That's what my papa always said during bedtime. \n\n'Goodnight papa, do you think i'll find it tomorrow in the city?'\n\n'Who knows young one, but never stop searching for the flame is clos--'\n\n'Closer than I think, I know!'\n\n'Go to sleep then my child.'\n\nAs the youngest one, it wasn't strange that my papa and mama and brothers would roam the streets outside as I slept, my wings just weren't strong enough to do what they did; but if I continued sleeping, my brothers said i'll be as strong as them! \n\nAnd so I fell into a deep, deep sleep, wishing to be as strong as my brothers once I awoken, and to find the mystical flame!\n\n\nBut they never returned.\n\nI waited days after days, I gave up sleeping and waited. No one came back.\n\nMaybe they found the flame and left to follow it...or maybe I just wasn't good enough. If...if I could get my wings to take me higher I can find for them!\n\nNo matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get any higher than the surface of the water.\n\n'This won't work...wait a minute, is that...is that me?' I peered into my reflection.\n\nThere's light emitting from me...from my butt?\n\nHoly fuck, I'm a firefly." ]	1
	[WP] In a galaxy full of conflict between space empires and alliances, humans, who haven't even noticed this whole conflict around them, are the first to develop an FTL drive.	[ "Those humans. Those oblivious, ignorantly intelligent humans. We're sitting here fighting for galactic peace for the past 235 years, ignoring their existence. Why would we ever believe that these humans, these poor creatures who took somewhere around 50,000 years to begin basic space travel would ever accomplish a feat such as FTL travel? ITS PREPOSTEROUS! Yet they've done it...\n\nMaybe that's the sort of thing that happens when you reach the end of your road? When you're faced with total extinction what else are you going to do? Sit idle and just let everything go? Well those humans seemed appalled by that option. Their plagues, lack of available resources, and diminishing planet all paved the way for them to finally bind together and do something to benefit everyone. They stopped their bickering, halted their hatred of difference towards each other and chose to work. \n\nWe looked down on these creatures for so long, almost as a form of entertainment. Numerous groups wanted to step in to help but these cliques were all ridiculed for wanting to help these apes. \"Why would we waste our time on them?\" We said. Now we sit here in awe at the true power of the unified human race. What will they think of us? What will they say when they find out we have been battling for two centuries over political and religious ideals that we can't even really remember anymore. Will they choose to leave us behind. Will they be disappointed? But... what could we do if we stopped this nonsense? What if we choose to stop this war and reach out to the humans and we all choose to work together? What could we accomplish? Where could we go?\n\nBut that's too late of a question to ask now. We can only gaze at the stars wondering where those brilliant creatures are off to. They all piled onto their spacecraft, Peace, and shot right by us. They never knew we were here. If only we had reached out. But... they're gone." ]	1
	[WP] In exchange for a cure to save his wife - a man agreed to work for the Devil as Death. As death he begins to notice things; like how his wife is a serial killer.	[ "Death: \"Fucking deals with the Devil. There's always a fucking problem. silly voice 'Oooo. I'd the fastest car in the world.' Then the Devil says, 'It's the world's fastest toy car.' Jerk.\"\n\nDeath: \"Fuckin... Name's Dave by the way.\"\n\nPuts hands out but the hand is covered by the cloak\n\nD: \"Fucking... gets wet whenever someone gets drunk and spills their drink over the counter. And it's black. You know how warm it is in summer? Ever had your balls stick... Anyway, what you in town for?\"\n\nBusiness Man: \"Oh umm... just the conference across the street. Just finished the day and just wanted to go somewhere quiet. Why are you here? Some costume thing? Must be fun.\"\n\nD: \"Oh... Yeah. Something like... that. Are married? Hand's kinda bear.\"\n\nBM: \"Oh, not really. Michelle and I... that's in the past. Why'd you ask?\"\n\nD: \"Just observant. Family? Friends?\"\n\nBM: \"No. Too busy working, never had the time.\"\n\nD: \"How's the parents?\"\n\nBM: \"These are a lot of personal questions.\"\n\nD: \"Just small talk. We're in a bar. We're here to talk. And drink.\"\n\nBM: \"Right, right.\"\n\nbeep. D checks phone.\n\nD: \"When are you heading back?\"\n\nBM: \"Not for while.\"\n\nD: \"Oh hey, here she is! Have you met my wife?\"\n\nNight ends. \n\n[It's probably not that good but I just wanted to type something for some reason.] ", "This was not how it was supposed to go. Not the me-being-death thing—I mean, that definitely wasn’t supposed to happen either, but at least I had some autonomy in that. I made that choice. It was the wrong choice, but at least it was mine. This…. This is a betrayal. Maybe I deserve it. It’s not like I was a particularly good person. I mean, a moralist would never bargain with the Devil. But even if I saved my wife out of selfishness, I still saved her. And if my flaws could save her, then maybe they were never really flaws at all. Just the necessary characteristics—a checklist of narcissism, personality disorders, and just the perfect amount of corruption required to fill a role. The traits required to get the job and do it as it’s meant to be done. After all, I’ve always prided myself on doing things others wouldn’t. Most people, they lack the will, and vision, and grit. They don’t realize you can get around the rules without breaking them. Becoming Death was, in my mind, perhaps the only truly good thing I’d ever done. And I don’t say that to help me sleep at night--- death doesn’t sleep. I’m saying it because it’s the truth. Or, I thought it was. \n\n\nYou see, as Death, I transition everyone from one world to the next. Everyone. The bright light at the end of the tunnel, the angel that comes down to assuage your fears and wrap you in the warm glow the Lord’s eternal promise? Yeah, that’s me. The putrid stink of sulfur that pours from the gates of hell when they open? That’s me, too. All of it is me. People get this image of Death as a shadowy figure, a demon, some sort of monster—torturous and inhuman. But the truth is that Death appears to each person differently. And it’s not just in accordance with their beliefs, but dependent upon the life they’ve lived. To some people, I come as an old friend. To others, I’m something from an inconceivable nightmare. And I take pleasure in all of it, honestly. Good people deserve good deaths. Bad people don’t. Life may not be fair, but Death? Death is just. And that’s why I feel so betrayed because there’s no justice in this. Certainly not for me. \n\n\nI suppose it doesn’t matter when my wife started killing, or why she did it. I don’t need those answers anyway; knowing them won’t change anything now. It’s just what I do about it… That’s the only answer that matters. And what can I do? I’ve transitioned all her victims—at least, the ones I knew were hers—as comfortably as I could. Maybe it’s out of guilt, but that’s the least I could do for them, even if they deserved less. After all, they’d still be alive if I hadn’t saved her in this fucked up bargain. And now I’m supposed to take the soul of the woman I sold my mine to save. I suppose that’s what I get for trying to play God. Of course, murder isn’t exactly smiled upon by the cosmos—spiritually or otherwise. There’s only so much that I can control and her transition wouldn’t be a pleasant one. The sad thing is that this hasn’t changed how I feel about her. I’m not disgusted by her; how could I be? I take thousands of lives every day. I’ve only ever wanted to protect her—even if it’s from her herself… And I think I know how. In fact, I think I know how I can give both of us what we want. Lord knows, the Devil won’t be merciful once he finds out what I’ve done, but maybe she will. Either way, my transition won’t be easy, but at least my wife will be there. And Death will suit her well. \n", "Selling your soul to the Devil is not as easy as it sounds. Not just because of the ancient secrets, the sacrificial rituals, or the damned runic pentagram. In fact, all of that is pretty straightforward, if not a bit tedious. A quick trip to the self help section of your local library and a few late nights during the full moon should tell you everything you need to know about how to summon the dark lord. How to Win Followers and Enslave People, The Seven Spells of Highly Effective Warlocks, and The Art of the Deal are all inspired references. Just make sure to check out a decent book on sales while you’re at it. The Devil is, if nothing else, a master salesman.\n\nThe real problem with selling your soul to my eternal master is the undeniable fact that a soul is not possible to give away, willingly or not. You are a soul. While you have a mortal body, it is not you. You have independent thoughts. You have friends, probably. You have a microwave oven. You have a pet fish. But you are none of these things. You are a soul. It is inseparable from you and you are inseparable from it. Plain and simple.\n\nWhat is colloquially known as selling your soul to the devil is actually an agreement of servitude. Not slavery, per se. Though, eternity seems like quite a long time at first. If you are especially unlucky, hellish servitude takes the form of kindling for eternal hellfire. Not my first choice, though worse decisions have been made in my presence. If you are lucky or clever or have asked your local librarian about the business section, you may find yourself in my shoes. Sandals, really. Death’s sandals.\n\nThe original deal wasn’t so bad; my own life in exchange for my wife, Clara’s. She was dying of cancer, which apparently was my predecessor’s brainchild. An illness created to meet the death quota for an ever increasing population. Instead of watching her suffer through pain of death, I took action. I killed my neighbor, Jim. It was all very official, of course. No retroactive dedications in Satan’s name, botched death rites, or guilty conscience. Strictly by the books.\n\nThe Devil was actually quite pleasant in some strange, bone chilling way. An old fashioned intellectual inside the haunting, empty shell of a human being. Male or female, I still do not know. Perhaps something else entirely. That first meeting was more of a professional interview than anything. A piece of cake for a career lawyer like myself. Death and negotiating are my bread and butter. Needless to say, I got the job.\n\nImagine my surprise, when I came across an exact replica of the sacrifice that made me the wraith I am today. The pudgy, mustachioed victim. The poisoned birthday cake with a hidden pentagram of candles. Perfect, right down to the runic birthday message written in strawberry icing. Death by Chocolate, as it became known in the underworld. Now imagine that surprise when a familiar face awaited my apparition, huddled in the shadows. My wife. My world. My Clara.\n\n“Hi, honeybear,” she said.\n\nEdit: paragraphs are good", "I appeared before a unfamiliar man in a familiar looking place. A dimly lit alley along a bar I had known in my previous life. As I appeared, I heard the rapid footsteps of a darkly clad figure fleeing the scene. The man lay slumped over against the brick wall of the bar. Blood rushed from his stomach and neck and he was only seconds away from succumbing to the wounds. As I lifted my hand to bring him to his final resting place, he gargled a name through the blood, \"Marie.\" \n\nThe name did indeed strike me. Any time I heard my wife's name it brought her to mind but i never once considered it was the same Marie. \n\nMy work continued as usual that night until I found myself again in a familiar place. This time the killer was still present at the scene with seemingly no intent to flee. A woman in dark, hooded clothes stood with her foot pressing on a knife lodged into the thigh of a man screaming in pain. She shrieked at him, demanding to know, \"What did you do with him?!?! Where the fuck did you hide his body you piece of shit?\" \n\nI rest my sickle on the wall of my brother's kitchen and slowly slid into a chair. My selfless attempt to trade my life for my wife's had set the scene for the current horror playing out before my eyes. \n\nWith a quick stomp, Marie drove the knife deeper into John's leg and cracked the floor beneath. John cried out, then shortly after ceased to breathe and I was taken away from the tragedy. My wife, most likely stricken with grief of my sudden departure, had gone on a killing spree to find me. From what I could piece together, she started with the most logic explanation to my leaving without a word. \n\nI had put my life of crime behind me shortly after Marie and I met. She never knew the full details of the things I had done but knew my brother and those still in the gang closely watched my every move. She was constantly weary of my brother and expressed her distrust for him time and time again. This weariness was all too apparent to my brother and his gang. They began to see her as a liability and had formulated a plan to deal with it. \n\nThis brings us to my deal. The night they came for her, they found me awake, sitting with a pistol in-hand facing the door. I began to plead with them but with little to no hesitation my brother raised a shotgun to my head and pulled the trigger. At the sound of the blast the room fell silent and motionless. A man walked through the doorway, dragging a sickle and dark cloak along the floor. The conversation was brief. In return for my services, this night never happened. My brother and his gang never showed up and would lose their desire to harm Marie. It would seem like I had vanished in the night without a struggle. I agreed without barely a moment of contemplation. \n\nI have yet to see Marie since that night at my brother's. I only know she lives, but in what state is a mystery. With a heavy heart I wait for the day I see her again. ", "I had never noticed a myriad of things before I had all this time and perspective. For instance, I had never noticed how good poetry leads you to a place with a view and, instead of describing the place; it takes six steps forward and describes what lies beyond the horizon.\n\nI had noticed Jeanine's natural inclination for lies and deception, and I found it charming. I never noticed how she layered her lies so naturally that I had never really seen her at her most passionate. After six years of marriage, I had never seen my wife in the height of emotion.\n\nThat night a man followed her, she said. He threatened to rape her, she said. He beat her half to death and she miraculously landed a slash on his jugular with a knife, she said. She almost didn't live to say it, though. She was pretty much doomed and unconscious.\n\nI had never noticed the devil. It can be summoned and loves despair. I didn't notice, back then, the gleam in its eyes after I pleaded for my wife, nor the smile fluttering above its face as it offered me a part time job to pay for the debt I was about to incur into.\n\nI had never noticed the amount of reverse engineering which solving a murder requires, and consequently, the amount of design required to orchestrate death. I can't just point at a person and mutter a cause of death; my job is being the cause of death. I must fill in the details. I must foresee how many lives are going to be touched by any given death. I have to work against some deaths that are already in course. After all, if no one could tinker with death, I wouldn't have been able to save my wife. Nature designs deaths, too. People design deaths some times. I can let them happen or fight them.\n\nI had never noticed the secrets my wife kept just so she could use them to hide atrocities. She splurged on shoes so she could divert some money to pay for storage. She carried a huge bag of make up to conceal chemicals and blades among the powders and sticks of glittering beauty. She claimed to hate to drive automatic, which I do, so she could have a car of her own that I would never use. She created an online book club just so she could have some hours per week to go wherever she needed to, and it was never to the library.\n\nI never noticed, during the investigation, that the man who attacked my wife had rope burns and old bruises. I knew he had been missing for a while, but that only made me think he lost his mind and wandered off and attacked the first creature he could overpower.\n\nI had never noticed how powerful she is. I can tell now, through the deaths she sets in motion, the amount of suffering she likes to pile up to begin her elegant process. I had never seen her eyes burning in the throes of passion, but my job following the strings of death has led me to her hiding places. I've seen her face looking its best while she does what she's best at. Researching, planning, testing, doing the deed, covering up. Killing is her only real fulfillment. I had never before admired anyone like this… then I realized why I was given this job.", "I came home exhausted and threw my black gown over the living room sofa, and after a second thought I winced and transferred it to the laundry basket. \"She's always giving out to me for leaving my stuff around\", I grumbled to myself quietly. \n\n\n“How was your day, sweetie?” she asked from the study.\n\n\n“Just OK. You know I don’t like my new boss.”\n\n\n“And I got the impressions that Mr. Flu is such a nice guy! Thanks again for bringing me to that cocktail party last weekend.”\n\n\n“Hmmph. I did not have a choice, really. And you can call him ‘Eric’ -- don’t think I did not notice how friendly you were with him, Sofia. Besides, it's not like he calls me 'Mr. Dunnham' when he gets home.”\n\n\n“I don’t like this tone, Mark. Besides, is it my fault he was so charming? I always enjoy a great conversationalist. Besides, chatting helps me forget my pain.”\n\n\nShe always nags me for not being more talkative, being in my own world; no matter how many times I explained how introverts are, she doesn’t get it. At least she’s getting a good dose of alone-time, since she started working from home. It’s one of the many benefits her generous employer provides. Thanks to our new daily routine, Sofia complains less about the treatments she’s getting, but from time to time we still have arguments. Empathy to her sickness can last for only a while; even the counseling sessions we had did not help much.\n\n\n“So other than disliking Mr. Flu -- sorry, Elric -- how was your day?”\n\n\n“Meh. I got the side project started and it’s going well, only it requires putting in overtime. No additional pay of course, so don’t even ask about it. It does mean I’ll be home later than usual in the next few weeks.”\n\n\nI couldn’t tell her the details, I thought as I rinsed the sickle in the kitchen’s sink, making a conscious effort to avoid clanking metal-to-metal. When I heard her getting up from that springy chair in the study -- I should fix it sometime -- I hurriedly washed away the blood, so she won’t suspect anything.\n\n\n“How was your reaction to the pills this morning? Any better?”\n\n\n“The bucket in the study could tell you the story. It’s still bad, but at least I can hold it in until you’re gone to work, so don’t worry about that,” she said snarkily.\nIf only the bonus Elric said he’ll give me would cover the new medicine, that would help her so much. Help us. This disease has torn into our marriage, and we’re not getting any better. She's not getting any better. And there are so many costs involved: on top of the therapist fees we have increased insurance premiums, mortgage rates and all the other wonders of being middle-class in a mid-size city.\n\n\n“I’m just going to have a quick shower, will you start setting up the table for dinner?” Sofia said. \n\n\n“Sure thing”, I attempted to give her a quick kiss on the forehead but she was already turning away from me, leaving me with the pot of soup in the kitchen, letting me both of us to boil: the soup with some garlic, and me with my own dark thoughts.\n\n\nLast night’s death-list, provided by Elric, was a messy one: an old woman with dementia; two mobsters who decided to duel-it-out; and one suicidal teenager. Being the devil’s advocate -- pun intended -- is not fun at all, and actually hard: I’m supposed to be hidden until the critical moment in which I reveal myself, giving the final blow, always to the neck, 'relieving them from this miserable existence' as my contract stated.\n\n\nI was so distraught and lost in own jumbled mind that I did not notice Sofia, wrapped in a towel with her back to me. “She’s getting so skinny”, I thought. “And yet she’s cheerful, how about that?”\n\n\n“Honey, can you pass me my brush? It’s next to the green sofa”, she asked.\n\n\nI reached to my right and stubbed my toe against a heavy, bulky object. Sofia stretched her arm without looking and I handed her the hairbrush while bending to inspect the odd suitcase stashed under the sofa. It looked like a military-grade encasement, if I know my Hollywood gadgets (and I should: in past life I was an assistant producer to some mediocre douchebag). In wonderment, my eyes traveled upwards, expecting to see Sofia back. My jaw dropped when my forehead bumped against the barrel of a 0.44 Smith & Wesson. “What the fuck, Sofia?!”\n\n\n“Shut up. You’ve seen things which you shouldn’t. It’s wrong, but I can’t keep you alive now.”\n\n\nI raised my hands, pleading look on my eyes. “Since when are you a hitman -- or hitwoman -- is this a joke?”\n\n\n“No joke. I'm doing this gig we need the money, you idiot. And, apparently I’m quite good at it: only last night I took out two people in one go. And they weren’t even any good to society: just two plain mobsters.”\n\n\n“Wait, what? You did not kill them. I’m quite certain. You're not a killer, are you?”\n\n\nShe smirked, her ever-so-annoying self assured grin turning her beautiful face to an ugly one. “Of course I did. What makes you think I’m incapable of doing so?”\n\n\n“Maybe I was there. Maybe I know exactly the cause of death,” I tried miserably to put on my best self-assured tone. She can't have done it, right?\n\n\n“Pfft. As-if. You faint when you see a tiny drop of blood, Mark. I can’t even imagine you dealing with such guys.”\n\n\nSilently I reached to the bucket under the sink, and pulled out the silver scythe Mr. Flu has given me. Sofia jumped back, as if bitten by a snake.\n\n\n“Who gave you that?” she asked. \"I demand you tell me right now!\"\n\n\n“It doesn’t matter.” I had a sense of calm: being able to surprise her put me at ease. I could never surprise her, not on birthdays, not on anniversaries; it's frustrating to know she was always one step ahead of me.\n\n\n\"It doesn't matter,\" I repeated. \"But let's say this is related to my latest project.\"\n\n\n“I’ll show mine if you show me yours. That is, I’ll tell you where I got my weapons. I think you know the guy,” a mischievous glint sneaked her eyes.\n\n\nThere was a part in my mind that already figured things out. It couldn’t stay quiet any longer and I blurted out, “are you working for Elric Flu as well?”\n\n\nShe laughed, almost an evil laughter, if such a thing existed outside Disney films. “But of course. Funny you still call him that.”\n\n\nI rubbed my temples, trying to maintain sanity. My eyes darted around the room and fell on the coffee table, where the New York Times crossword laid open (yes, another painful cost: annual subscription of 515$).\n\n\nSofia still had that terrible smile on her face, and worse than that, her hand still held the gun firmly. “Not Elric, not Mr. Flu. It's Lucifer, Mark. I don’t know why I married such a stupid dork, really.”\n\n\nAs she raised the gun again my phone beeped. A text message from Mr. Flu’s private number, the one sending me death lists.\n\nThe last thing that crossed my mind before Sofia’s bullet was that single name: “Mark Dunnham”.", "It always started with the smell. A fresh corpse. I sighed and got up slowly. Right in the middle of watching my new favourite series, too. This corpse was just around the corner in the closet of a company. \n\nI was assigned to my town, convenient right? No, people just die too often even in such a small area. \n\nI arrived at the scene and slowly loosened the soul of the dead guy. They were like small confused puppies, so I gently eased it into my bag. Something felt off about this one. There was another smell. I couldn't place it, but I was too tired to care. I just wanted to get back to my TV. I would drop this soul off later, perhaps after Jane was asleep. I couldn't waste the precious time I had with her. I was still scared of losing her despite the deal with Him. \n\nDays passed, old people died, some newborns, one homeless guy. Nothing special. Until I collected the soul of another guy in a closet. I didn't think much of it until I noticed that smell again. It seemed so familiar, but I had a difficult time identifying it. Just a coincidence, I convinced myself. As death, I shouldn't get involved in people's lives. I should not care. \n\nBut the third time I found a guy in a closet I could no longer lie to myself. Something was off. My mind kept whispering about a serial killer. The idea of a serial killer... it frightened me. I know, I know, I shouldn't care. But it seemed to bring part of my humanity back. Having collected so many souls after all these years, I grew accustomed to people dying and not caring about it. \n\nThis time I needed to know. I needed to get involved. I just hoped that He wouldn't notice, otherwise I was sure to get a scolding. I was fully alert now and hurried to get to the new corpses as quickly as possible. Perhaps I could catch something more than just the lingering scent of the murderer. A clue or if I got lucky, the murderer. \n\nI rushed from scene to scene, but nothing out of the ordinary was happening until one night when my wife was working late, I noticed the smell again. It wasn't far, I could sense that. The closer I got to Jane's working place, the more anxious I started to get. It wasn't her, was it? All the other corpses had been men, so the serial killer had to have a pattern, right? \n\nAs I approached the corpse I saw it was another man. I sighed with relief and started to detach his soul. There was a faint scratching sound behind me, but I wasn't too concerned with it. When working as death, regular humans could not see me, though I could swear that some of them seemed to sense me. \n\n\"Rick?\" I jumped up, startled. Jane was standing by a sink, her hands shaking. There was blood all over her. Everything about the situation caught me off-guard. \n\n\"Jane?\" Silence. Then a loud clink as she dropped a knife into the sink. Reality creeped into my body, my bones, my heart went cold. \n\n\"No, no\". I shook my hand and stepped away from her. This couldn't be happening. How could she see me? Was I dreaming? I was frozen, my mind unable to process everything that was happening. \n\nThe little soul wiggling in my hands pulled me back and I quickly fled out of the building. Nothing felt real. \n\n--- \n\nHe smiled at me. \"Yes, of course,\" He laughed. \"I am glad you have come to like your job. It is inevitably something that has to be done.\" I nodded. \"Not to mention the perks...\" His thoughts seemed to trail off and He tapped the table with His fingers. \"Just give me an hour or two,\" He finally said. \"There are some things that need to be arranged, you understand?\" I nodded again and waited for Him to leave. \n\nI stayed at the table, sitting there, reflecting. What had I done? And still, nothing felt real. Nothing seemed to matter and yet my mind was shouting and screaming. There was no message that got through to me. Chaos, pure chaos. I just sat there for an hour and a half, letting my mind scramble. Time trickled slowly and I just stared at the wooden grain of the table. \n\nThen I smelled it. A fresh corpse. My muscles ached as I got up. My whole body felt stiff, but I walked on, followed the scent until I arrived at my own home. The smell emanated from our bed. Many hours of sex, sleep, laughter, story-telling. Many kisses. Many tears. \"Jane, what have you done?\" I whispered. I was terrified and pulled back the covers. \n\nAnd there she was, lying in a pool of her own retched blood. He had kept His promise. I yanked out the most putrid smelling, ugliest soul I had ever seen in this town. \n\nGood riddance, I thought to myself and smiled. \n\n", "“Sir! We're seeing a increase in spirits of the dead!”\n\nI groaned as I opened my eyes. There must be a serial killer loose again.\n\nIt had been a few years since I had made the deal with the Devil: That my wife could be cured, as she had a incurable disease, in exchange for me working as the new Death. You see, the previous Death had upset the Devil by refusing to take his son's young soul down into the dungeons of hell because he had bullied his friends and tortured small animals. The Devil, in a fit of rage, had incinerated him.\n\nI wearily grabbed my scythe and turned my attention to my receptionist, Dave, who was a skeleton.\n\n“Why? Is there a serial killer, or did some natural disaster happen while I was asleep?”\n\n“A serial killer, sir. Her name is... Her name...”\n\n“Come on, spit it out, I haven't got all day!”\n\n“Her name is... Mary Brown.”\n\nI gulped. Oh dear.\n", "Tim walked frantically back and forth in his home office. After what seemed an eternity, which it may well could have been, he finally sat behind his desk sipping a glass of fine scotch while he thought over the situation he found himself in. Satan, the Devil, Hades, whatever name a person might call him, had met with Tim to broker a deal. He needed a new right hand to do his deathly bidding. His wife, Amanda, was next on his list. The deal was simple: take the lives of those who's time had come, in exchange for the life of his tue love. Only he recently discovered his wife had been killing people for years. Much longer than Tim had been killing, and her death toll was higher than Death himself. \n\nWhat am I to do? He thought while thinking on the irony before him. I kill so she can live, yet she is the one who deserves to die. She killed mercilessly, and seemingly for pleasure. There was no pattern, or M.O. Just killing. The Devil certainly doesn't seem to be short on humor. I'll need to do more digging; there has to be an explanation...\n\nTim wasn't sure how to approach his beloved, killer, wife. He owed her at the very least a conversation, but the terms Satan himself had set were quite clear: \"Kill when asked, and never on your own whim.\" Maybe I'll follow her, he thought.\n\nTim got up from his chair, and summoned a portal Satan had given him the ability to conjure. For Death was always to be on schedule. Stepping through, he came out he other side in a dark room. Standing patiently, and quietly, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.\n\nHe heard his wife's voice, not quite able to make out what she was saying. Tim crept closer, holding his scythe close by his side. There was a man in bed, undressed, and covered loosely by a blanket. Tim could see the terror in his eyes as he begged for his own life. \n\nFinally he heard his wife speak, clearly this time. \"Your time has come.\" Her voice was flat, and almost monotone. She raised a blade in the air, and Tim could see a ferocious glee in his lover's eyes.\n\n\"Amanda, stop!\" Tim blurted without thought.\n\n\"Tim?\" Amanda was clearly startled by the presence of her husband. \"What the hell are you doing here? How?\"\n\nTim quickly realized how unexplainable his presence was. \"I can't...you won't believe me. Just put the knife down, you don't have to do this!\"\n\n\"Tim, you don't understand...I do have to do this.\" She looked sadly upon Tim, not breaking eye contact. The knife came down, and blood began to pool around the unnamed man. The bed absorbed most of it, aside from a few spatters on the wall behind him.\n\nBefore Tim could speak again, a portal opened and his wife was gone. Tim was speechless, then the dots finally connected. She too, was Death. She too, was trying to save her beloved. Funny thing about the Devil: he's a trickster. It never occurred to Tim to pause and find truth in the jest. It had been five years since Tim's cancer went into remission. He hadn't even questioned his own good fortune. Now, it had become quite clear. \n", "‘Being Death is mostly book keeping. More specifically, being responsible for the mortality enforcement of 'England - South West' is about 90% spreadsheets, 8% awkward conversations, 1% report writing for the big man down under and 1% trying not to think about it. Now, bear in mind that I am responsible for a population of nearly 5 and a half million people, which stretches my excel skills to its limit, and hopefully you will forgive me when I tell you that, until this morning, I had no idea that my wife was a serial killer! \n\nThe deal is this; Joan, my wife, was terminal. Doctors used complicated words like \"metastasized\" which I didn't understand and didn't want to. What I did understand was that I was going to lose the only thing that made my life worth living. Considering myself a man of logic and rational thought, I never expected my whisky fuelled offer to the devil to be taken seriously! I was understandably sceptical when I read an email the following morning entitled \"Job Offer\". Fast forward two weeks and here I am, Junior Officer of the Mortality Enforcement and Soul Procurement devision (OME for short) for the 'England - South West' area. More importantly I still have Joan. It became pretty obvious from the get-go that I couldn't hide my new occupation, and Joan took the the news surprisingly well. Looking back, I guess I should have been more concerned when she said to me; \"So there's an afterlife? Huh. That kind of makes death seem less exciting.\" But having her next to me, being able to touch her, breath her in, was all I needed and I guess I didn't really care about anything else. \n\nLast night I attended my first monthly OME video conference with my other regional counterparts. Some were normal, like me. Some were clearly unhinged; the East Anglia representative made a strange quiet chittering sound throughout, but no one else seemed to pay her any attention so I dutifully ignored it too. This got me wondering though; how were these people recruited? Had they made a deal like me? Rule number 1 of any employment; learn all the gory details you can about your co workers. \n\nWhen I logged out of the VC I bought up the master database and sorted for any entries tied to any of my coworkers. I was quickly rewarded with the knowledge that my East Anglian counterpart was linked with several deaths at St Andrews Asylum in Norfolk in 1912. On a narcissistic whim I sorted the database for myself. My profile came up, with the 'status' column saying 'alive'. Under 'linked profiles' (a feature I added last week, which in my opinion is a fine example of how to macro like a pro in Excel) Joan's name came to the top. I sorted for Joan. 32 entries appeared in front of me. The first entry went like this; 'John Townsend: Deceased: 28/2/1991: Murder: Link to Joan Watts'. These entries continued, dated the same each year from 1991 until 2016, all ending with 'Link to Joan Watts'. This accounted for the first 25 entries, but the last seven sent a shudder down my spine. You become very quickly desensitised to death in my profession, but learning that my wife had been linked with 7 murders in the last 2 weeks knocked the air out of me. \n\nSo thats it, and here I am. I have the unenviable task of asking my wife, whom I recently resurrected because I am not emotionally stable enough to live life without her, whether she is a serial murderer. I don’t know how she will react. Hell, I don’t even know how I will react. How should Death deal with a killer? What if that killer knows there is an afterlife? I’m sure this isn’t covered by on-the-job training. \n\nI’ll report more later.\n\nPS Obviously Joan Watts is not her real name, and this is a dummy account.’\n\nSteve Jacobs finishes tapping on his keyboard, and submits his post to r/nosleep with the title ‘Joan - Part 1’. He gets up, walks towards the kitchen where he can see his wife, Jess, silhouetted against the morning sun shining in through the window. “Jess,” he calls and his voice falters only slightly, “I need to ask you something”.", "Dying and death are two completely different concepts. Death is final but dying implies that one is not dead yet.\n\nMy wife was dying. They say accidents are most fatal to those riding next to the driver, the seat where she was seating. We had just been in a car crash. I thought I could pull it off. I thought I could drive us home. But then again, what use is thinking to a drunk man?\n\nThe person I love most is dying and it's because of me. \n\nWhy her? Why not me? \n\nI screamed. \n\nIt should be me. \n\nI screamed from the top of my lungs a shout of agony, cursing whoever or whatever it is out there that controls life and death. \n\nI should've been the one to die. \n\nThat's when he came. His form is indescribable, a blemished homunculus seething with an aura of wrath and pain. He called himself the Devil. He mocked me, saying that if I knew so much about who should live or die, then why not be Death himself. I gazed at his inexplicably humanoid figure, mouth agape from awe of his sheer presence. Seeing through my intoxicated thoughts and emotions, he gave me an offer I absolutely cannot refuse. He gave me the power to let my wife live. For by being Death incarnate, I have the ability to take life and the ability to not.\n\nMy wife's name was next on the list. I gladly put my name in place of hers. \n\nMy physical body died and I am now living as Death in another plane of existence. My job was easy. Take the life from those that are dying and have lost the will to live. I have the ability to delay this process but I rarely did. I perceive their pain and allowing them to live longer is simply evil, for they'll be too broken physically or mentally to do so. Death is inevitable for those that longs for its sweet release. \n\nI understood this after being assigned to the victims of a serial killer. These people are put into inconceivable amounts of pain. I took their lives as quickly as I could but I couldn't do so because they always cling on to the futile hope that they'll live through this. They always cling on to happy memories, gleeful thoughts of those they'll come home too, not knowing that by hoping, they delay what they need to stop suffering. \n\nHowever, it's not from these people that I learnt how delaying death only causes more pain. I did not usually pay attention to those who are inflicting the pain but one fateful night, I did. I caught a glimpse of the beautiful smile that kept me alive everyday. The smile that invigorated my body. A smile that is now filled with pain. A smile that masks the suffering she contained within herself. A smile that was my wife's but is now a serial killer's. \n\nShe started killing to vent the pain of loss. She felt powerless after I had died. She couldn't accept it. She couldn't accept the fact that we have no control over who dies and who lives. That gave her a drive. A drive to show those who controls life that she too can control who lives or dies. \n\nThat night, I saw the suffering that filled every fibre of her being. She's in inexplicable amounts of pain, too broken to live. Her will to live was already lost the night I died. But I kept her alive. \n\nThe person I love most is dying and it's because of me. \n\nMy job is easy. Take the life of those that are dying and have lost the will to live. \n\nShe doesn't need to suffer any longer. Death is inevitable for those that longs for its sweet release. ", "Look, I can't really say anything, can I? I mean, I'm Death for crying out loud.\n\nThe first time I saw Sarah kill someone, I thought it was a one off. She always had a temper. I figured this was just her catching up with someone who had pissed her off.\n\nHonestly, I didn't hold it against her. I had killed before. That's why I was comfortable taking the Death job in the first place.\n\nBut it's starting to get out of hand.\n\nShe's good, I have to give her that. Her kill count is over twenty now, and there's no sign of the authorities catching on. If it weren't for the abilities granted to me by my employer, I might be ignorant to her murderous ways as well.\n\nWho does she target, you might ask? The answer is a little unsettling. She's killing men in their mid thirties, medium build, short brown hair, and always men who are dating attractive women. In other words, she's killing men who are just like me.\n\nI see a lot of messed up stuff on a daily basis, but Sarah's behavior is starting to get to me. I can hardly sleep now. She cuts a guy's tongue out without blinking, then an hour later she's smiling and kissing me goodnight. Does she realize that she's killing me in effigy? Is it unconscious, or is there some other pattern I can't see?\n\nAs death, I'm a neutral party. I don't decide who lives and who dies - usually. I am given a few discretionary kills each year for instances when I am at risk, or when I have a strong moral judgement that I'm willing to kill for. I would have never considered killing Sarah a couple of months ago. But I'm beginning to think it might be immoral not to.\n\nI know it'd be messed up to use my powers to kill my wife after I only agreed to be burdened with those powers to save her. So it goes. No one said life would be fair.\n\nI'll wait a little longer and give her a chance to get whatever this is out of her system. It isn't looking good, though.\n\nMan, Satan's never going to let me live this one down..." ]	12
	[WP] /r/WritingPrompts is actually controlled by a secret government entity to get creative answers and scenarios to solve problems.	[ "\"I know they're real,\" Agent Stone said, \"But how in the world do we stop a man from using them?\"\n\nAgent Keller sighed. \"Or men. You forgot, there's four of them all together.\"\n\n\"And their skills... I mean... no army would even stand a chance. No assassin could overtake even one of them. They are just too quick on their feet!\"\n\n\"Nimble,\" Keller nodded. \"You don't think we need to... use the weapon... do you?\"\n\n\"4chan? No it's not that bad.\" \n\n\"No, not that,\" Keller said. \"I mean, the weapon. Something even more quick witted. Something more devious. Something more capable.\"\n\n\"You don't mean...\"\n\n\"Yes, I do.\" Keller nodded. \"We need to crowdsource this. We need to use reddit.\"\n\nTwo days later, after the CIA had properly inserted a username into the reddit servers with a long post history, the prompt that would save the world was finally posted.\n\n[EU] Wayne Brady intercepts the infinity stones. He, Ryan Stiles, and Colin Mochrie must now face off against the ultimate evil, Drew Carey. Winner takes all.\n\n\n---\n\nIf you like this, you'll probably hate everything else I've ever written. But you should subscribe to /u/MNBrian anyways. ;)\n", "I sat at my desk reading through the Sub for the 3 time today. That's when I saw it, the post that changed everything. There was no way it could be right, could it? I began to question things around me. Was this soda really a soda? Was the chair really a chair? Was the Laptop I was typing on really a Laptop. I knew that I had to find a way to prove it to be true or not. I walked to my town square and set up a Hotdog stand. I wrote on the sign. \n\n>If a group of people plays Simon Says with me, they can have free hotdogs.\n\nI sat and waited. Soon enough people started to get interested with my stand. I stood up and smiled. This trick worked in Rick and Morty, so why not here. I got out the Microphone and amp I had brought with me.\n\n\"Ok everyone listen up! Only those who win get a hotdog, so pay attention! Alright Simon says Jump to your left.\" The group jumped. \"Simon says Twirl in place.\" The crowd Twirled. I smiled as I had them. \"Simon says everyone with a pair of boots on wave! Simon says everyone with an A at the beginning of their name jump! Simon says everyone with a green shirt fight to the death!\" It had worked and I could see the Simulation stumbling. That's when I noticed that I had a helmet on. \n\nI pulled it off and was brought back into the real world, sitting at my desk. I saw that there was a Computer set up on my desk that looked like something out of a Sci-Fi movie. I ran to my kid's bedroom and pulled the helmet off him. That's when I noticed that my fingers were bleeding from typing 24/7. I hugged my kid and ran to my Wife's room. I found that she wasn't anywhere in the house or anywhere outside. I knew that I had to start freeing people to rise up against the government. \n\n2 months later and the War of Writing Prompts is still going. I've lost many good men and my own son to the fighting. We were at the Government's doorstep and ready to take them down once and for all. The men charged and broke down the door. I ran into the room and shot all the Scientists except the one who appeared to be the head of the Government's Tech Takeover. I ordered him to shut down the Simulation. He timidly pressed a few buttons and looked back at me. He said that the Simulation was down and that everyone was free. I rewarded him with a shot to the face and burning down the lab that the twisted experiment came from. Everyone started run to find the friends that they couldn't free. I sat down in the jeep and drank in the success.\n\n4 years have passed since the Writing Prompts War. I found myself a new wife and we already had our little baby Jack. I cared for him as if he were my only child. I never forgot about my first son, Ryan. I knew that the Government had been toppled, but something felt off. I placed Jack in his crib and told my wife I was headed out. She kissed me and I told her I really needed to go. The jeep from the war had been gifted to me and I used it only on business. I drove for about 8 hours before I pulled up to the research facility. I crouched down and waited. That's when I saw a blue door open and several people walk out and go into a hidden bunker. I followed them into the bunker and saw that there were several screens with different scenes. I found one where a man was a billionaire and blowing his money on hookers. I saw another world where a woman had established world peace. I saw a third world where a 13 year old kid was killing all he wanted to like Call of Duty. I almost had a heart attack until I saw the most frightening thing. I saw a screen with ME at the center, crouched in the doorway. The men all turned to look at me and threw me into a machine. I struggled to get up, but they held me down. \n\nI woke up the next day in fright from the crazy dream I had. I got up to get a glass of water and bumped into my cat. I looked at her and petted her gently. I drank the cup and saw that there was still a few hours before I had to get ready for school. I decided to pull up my laptop and saw that there was a Writing Prompt almost exactly like the Situation from my dream. I found a YouTube video to listen to and started to write the Prompt.", "\"No Mr. Bond,\" the evil villain said, \"I expect you to die.\" \n\nA pool of water slid open in the floor. It was full of miniature Great White sharks, each having an underwater pistol strapped to its head. Bond was lifted over the pool by six drones which were tied to his handcuffs. \n\n\"Any last words,\" the evil villain said, then he laughed maniacally.\n\nThe drones began to lower Bond towards the pool, but just before his feet got wet they lifted up and over the evil villain. Bond kicked him in the back, and he fell in the pool. Shrieks, muffled gunshots, and snapping sounds followed.\n\n\"Did you really think /u/casinoroyalewithcheese was not me?\" Bond said. \"Fin.\"", "\"Beans?\" Agent Jones said. \"How could it help us to know about what a person would do if they found a place that had a lot of beans?\"\n\n\"It's not the beans that matter,\" Agent Smith said. \"It's anything, like weapons. Do they use the beans? Do they stomp on the beans? That sort of thing.\"\n\n\"Well, whatever, it only got one response anywhow. What about the Pinnochio experiment; the ultimate polygraph.\"\n\n\"Got a few on that one, apparently most people are concerned with moral problems. We should get willing subjects to reduce the probability of leaks.\"\n\nAgent Jones sniffed and sipped his coffee, trying to think of the one idea they were missing. \"We've done a lot of the 'pass a test' stories too. Someone turns 18, something changes, they react.\"\n\nAgent Smith inhaled cigarette smoke and thought about it for a minute. \"Yes, but I think we've about saturated our market with those. Never really learn anything, anyway.\" \n\n\"I've got one...what if someone finds out we're doing this? What we're up to?\"\n\n\"Good point, let me type that out. '/r/WritingPrompts is actually controlled by a secret government entity to get creative answers and scenarios to solve problems.'\"\n\n\"That'll do it!\"\n\n*******\n\nr/arcaldwell for some more things." ]	4
	[WP] And thus I was cast headlong into the wine dark sea	[ "\"If ye won't walk the plank, we'll just be getting rid of it for ye,\" the captain growled behind me, and the world shuddered beneath my nervous feet. I turned for one last look at my crew mates, my friends, but with a heave, I was cast headlong into the wine dark sea.\n\nI split the surface and went down-down-down, ears popping. I looked wildly about, expecting a shark or perhaps the Kraken itself to rage out of the depths and consume me whole. But it was just me, flailing in the deep, bubbles churning. \n\nDo I bob back up to the surface, to the jeers and muskets of the crew? Do I stay here until the stars blink in front of my eyes and I sink all the way to the deep?\n\nI was still pondering my options, brain frozen in fear, when my body took over, kicking in the direction I didn't know I could go - forward. I surged through the water, heading away from the boat, until my lungs screamed and I finally approached the surface. \n\nMy head popped up for just a moment, sucking in precious air, and then I was down again, fighting my way through the current. The Gods must have been smiling, for I never heard the creak of the ship following me, never felt a shadow slip over me, as I swam. \n\nMy leg bumped something and I shrieked underwater, expecting the end, but it was...coral? I looked down and saw a sprawling reef, reaching into the blue beyond. \n\nI bobbed to the surface, and closer to me than the horizon, was an island. I blinked my eyes, burning with salt, and it was still there. My arms automatically reached for it, lengthening their strokes, pulling until my toes touched sand, and my knees hit the bottom. I dragged my aching body, my weary soul, onto that beach, and lay there. \n\nI don't know how long I stayed there. Perhaps the gulls thought I was a log and tried to land before realizing their mistake. Maybe turtles went around me in their journey from the nest to the ocean. I can imagine clams, feeling my weight on the sand, burrowing deeper away from the threat. I stayed there, afraid to discover my fate, until once again, my body took over.\n\nAnd I stood, opening my eyes as if for the first time...and I went forward. ", "\"Why are we going to a theme park? I thought they went out of style in the 30's.\" My lovely, yet naive little wife said, as we drove down the highway.\n\n\"I told you, it's not what you're expecting! Just trust me, ok?\"\n\nIt took us another half an hour before we reached out destination. It was the latest in amusement technology. Somehow, in the late 2150's, scientists had figured out a way to keep a liquid completely clean of any contaminant after the system that does it is turned on. Most people had applied the technology to what you would expect. Clean drinking water, clean rivers, clean pools, baths that never needed to be refilled. It certainly saved the every-man on water bills! One woman, though... One woman chose to take it to the greatest possible conclusion. She had built what we were about to enter in complete secrecy with, apparently, the most strict Non-Disclosure Agreement's the world had ever seen.\n\nI parked our car and we walked up to the gates, my heart skipping beats as we paid for our tickets at the bottle-shaped booths.\n\n\"This, my dear, is Wine-World!\"\n\nMy wife gasped as she looked upon (in my opinion) humanity's greatest achievement to date. A log ride with a boat in the shape of a wine bottle, flying down a hill to splash crimson liquid over the riders. A lazy-river filled with people holding glasses of varying size. A love-boat ride that had butler-bots poured patrons glasses as they entered. A \"History of Wine\" tour that was also a tasting of wines through the ages. A fountain in the middle of the pathway shot streams of champagne into the mouths of eager park-goers. White wine waterfalls cascaded down rocks onto happy seniors. Many more attractions filled our vision, but I was here for the biggest and best. I shuffled along, pulling my wife with me until we got to the changing rooms. Taking out my bathing suit, I gave our bag to my wife.\n\n\"Meet me back here in 3 minutes!\" I said with impatient glee.\n\nI rushed into the enclosed area, quickly ripped off my clothes, throwing them in a locker, and pulled on my shorts. I waited for my wife at the entrances and when she arrived, laughing at me for being so excited I pulled her along to the middle of the park where we found an elevator that led to the top of a wooden tower. At the top we were greeted by a line of people, all almost as eager as me. When we reached the front of the line, a butler in a wet-suit-suit handed us a large, 2 person inner tube which we placed in the opening to the large tunnel before us. I glanced over the edge at the giant red wave-pool beneath us and got into the tube backwards.\n\n\"See you on the other side!\" I laughed to my wife.\n\nAnd thus I was cast headlong into the wine dark sea.", "Wood splintered. Bones snapped. The wind howled like a ravenous beast. \n\nI stood on deck as I was pelted by the unrelenting rainstorm, dumbstruck by the chaos unfolding before me. Men disappeared suddenly between illuminating flashes of lightning. One moment searching desperately for survivors in the churning waves, the next moment, gone. A spine chilling scream, barely audible in the snarling wind, is the only trace they left behind. I was frozen by fear, like a helpless statue, watching death envelop all around me. \n\nWas it pirates? Spaniards? Something was picking us- 'RUN YOU BLOODY IDIOT!', a shipmate grasped my shoulders, shaking me to my senses. Suddenly he collapsed to the ground. An unknown force dragged him towards the edge of the ship. He gripped onto my foot and pulled me along with him, screaming as he hurled closer to the edge. I desperately tried to kick his vice like grip off me as I slid past pools of blood and limp bodies. Cracks of lightning illuminated the fear and hopelessness in his eyes. \n\nHis body was suddenly hoisted over the edge. A burst of lightning revealed my last chance of survival. I spun round, grasping onto a rope ladder hanging like a vine from the side of the ship. We hung suspended over the ship, the roaring wind and rain lashed and stung my skin like thorns. A dark, wet object was wrapped around the sailors leg, like a creeping plant around a tree. It extended down towards the frothing waves. I could feel his grip was slipping, but my arms burned and I couldn't hold both of us any longer. \n\n'God, forgive me!', I cried, as with one last kick I freed myself. \n\nThe sailor fell towards the convulsing, seething waves, resembling the mouth of some monstrous creature. Suddenly the water parted. A colossal abyss of talons, teeth and tentacles breached the waves and consumed the doomed sailor. Another huge tentacle slowly rose from the murky depths. It reared back and slammed into the ship, the shattering wood deafened the wind.\n\nAnd thus I was cast headlong into the wine dark sea." ]	3
	[WP] Everyone has a number carved onto them that indicates the number of lives they have lived. Humans use this number to make a working hierarchy and restore order to their world. You, a pretty normal member of society, have an infinity symbol.	[ "As soon as my doctor saw my sign, they rushed me to the scanner of past lives. They shaved my head, applied the electrodes, and began to read my past lives. As it turns out, I was every single sperm in existence. From the dinosaurs, the earliest hominids on the plains of Africa, to Abraham Lincoln, to aliens, to the last night stand that I had just days before the whole affair. Well, shit." ]	1
	[WP] The crew from The Office now works for the Ministry of Truth in the world of 1984. You are part of the documentary team filming the everyday lives of these average office workers.	[ "Winston nodded to the interview camera. \"I think things are working out pretty well between me and Julia.\" Julia waved from her reception desk. \"We're not supposed to have office relationships---or any kind of relationships at all, really. But as long as we keep meeting in secret, there's no way my boss can find out.\"\n\n\"Of course I know,\" said O'Brien. He sipped coffee from his 'world's best boss' mug. \"When they cuddle, they gossip about me. That's going to be fun to bring up at their performance reviews.\" " ]	1
	[WP] All the glass on Earth just breaks for no reason all at the same time. Chaos ensues.	[ "What was that clanking sound? Kind of like a cog clicking into the wrong place. Or stopping. Maybe breaking from its axis, setting in motion a mechanical disaster that would end with the cables breaking and the elevator hurtling two hundred feet to the ground. \n\nBobby imagined that going at such a speed, the wind would sneak in through the doors. It’d fill the six-by-six space. It’d knock the toupee off the guy next to him. It’d rush at Bobby’s face, dry out his already dermatologically challenged skin just that little bit more. A final, inconsequential screw you before he died.\n\nA hand squeezed his shoulder. “You’ve got to chill out.” It was Amanda. He didn’t turn to look at her. Maybe because he knew she wouldn’t be scared. Or perhaps because she’d see how much his face had drained of color.\n\nAnother noise. This one sounded more worrying than the last. There was a definite ring of disaster to it. The hand squeezed his shoulder again. Bobby realized he was clenching his fists. \n\nCalm down, he told himself.\n\nThe words meant nothing. He needed to do something. As the elevator climbed another thirty feet in just seconds, Bobby put his hand to his jacket pocket, the inside one. He had to be sly about this – if Amanda saw it, the game was up. Everything was ruined.\n\n‘Darma Tower was designed by Emmanuelle Fostrage. Spanning three hundred feet and boasting a summit with a floor made entirely out of glass, this structure…’\n\n“He died up there, you know,” said a voice.\n\nIt wasn’t Amanda’s. This one was decidedly male. It wasn’t Bobby’s, either, since he didn’t know who the hell Emmanuelle Fostrage was, and he’d probably remember if he was the one to speak. He turned his head a little to the left. The claustrophobic space didn’t offer much room for body movement.\n\nThe man in the suit nodded at him. When he tilted his head, his toupee threatened to fall off. Somehow it held firm until the man moved his head back again. “Yeah,” he continued. “They’d wrapped up construction the day before. Emmanuelle climbed onto the last piece of scaffolding. Wanted his photograph taken out there so they could use it in the promos.”\n\n“Do you think you could just hold off on the story?” said Amanda. \n\nBobby smiled. Always sticking up for him. She was perceptive. She knew how much the story would be getting to bobby.\n\n“I just wanted to tell you about him,” said the man.\n\n“Don’t,” answered Amanda. “Bobby’s afraid of heights.”\n\nHe was afraid of lots of things. Heights, being one of them. Sharks another. And most of all, he was afraid of what he’d have to do when the elevator pinged and the doors open., IT was going to change everything, and nobody’s life would be the same.\n\nDid he have the guts to go through with it? He hoped he did. He wasn’t usually a nervous guy. Blood didn’t bother him. Guns didn’t scare him. He didn’t give a crap about spiders. Everyone had their fears, right? And it Bobby was going to do this, he was going to have to get over them.\n\nThe man in the suit didn’t care about what Amanda had said. “Emmanuelle was a fascinating guy,” he said. “And I think it’s only right that-”\n\nDing. ‘Move away from the doors.’ A light flashing above them. Then, the doors opening. God, thought Bobby. This is it. His stomach turned to water. \n\n“After you,” said the suited man.\n\nBobby wouldn’t be the first to step out. He just needed a second to steel himself. Gather his thoughts. Convince himself that this was the best thing to do. Not everyone would be happy, but they’d see why it was necessary, eventually.\n\n“for God’s sake,” said the suited man, and pushed by him. He stepped out of the lift, took a few steps, then rounded a corner.\n\n“Holy shit,” he said, his voice disappearing.\n\n“This is us,” said Amanda. “Thanks for this, Bobby.”\n\nHe hoped she was still in the mood to thank him when he did what he was about to do. There was no way of knowing. Put in a situation like that, people could react in a whole manner of ways. There was just no way of knowing.\n\nA finger prodded into his back. “So, are we going to…?”\n\nHe took a breath. Yeah. This was it. Bye, old life. What lay in front of him? IT could be the end. Either way, it was time he sucked it up and just did it. He was no coward. Afraid of heights, yes, but not a coward.\n\nHe took the first step out of the wind. He did it carefully, like he was stepping off a swaying boat. One foot hit the metal platform. He tried to move his other, but it was slow in cooperating. He forced himself to move. His other boot hit the metal and clanged.\n\nThat was it. Huh. He’d stepped off the lift. He was officially stood on a platform hundreds of meters in the air.\n\nHoly shit. Hundreds of meters in the air! His head started to get light. He turned to the elevator, saw Amanda stepping off. Fleeting thoughts hit him. There was still time for him to go back down. Back out of this. This was his last chance. As his brain said the words to him, his last chance drained away. As he had those very thoughts, it went further and further into the distance. He fixed his gaze on the elevator doors and stepped toward them. With his head dizzy and stomach lurching, he was acting on instinct now. Amanda was staring at him, but he ignored her. Instead he focused on the doors.\n\nThen they closed shut. The elevator dinged, and he heard the clank of old machinery as it descended. Rather than lose face, Bobby stepped toward Amanda, made believe he was reaching to hug her all along.\n\n“I’m proud of you,” she said.\n\nHe smiled at her. There was nothing to be proud of, he knew. “Let’s go,” he said.\n\nTheir footsteps clanged on the metal platform as they walked across it. His heavy boots thumped louder than hers, which made more of a pattering sound on the steel. With every step across it and toward the turning, he felt his legs want to give up. He felt heavy in the stomach, light in the head. He thanked Christ he hadn’t had a big lunch.\n\nAlmost done, bobby, he thought. Then he resolved to never think of himself in third person again. The height was making him stupid.\n\nThey approached the corner. Bobby held his breath as they turned it. As they moved round it, he realized he’d shut his eyes. He opened them, and then completely lost his breath.\n\nGlass everywhere. The floor of the platform was made entirely of glass. It meant that just ten inches of it separated him, Amanda and everyone else on the platform from hurtling toward the ground and then splatting on the streets. The drop was so high that it would be instantaneous, either. It would when he hit the ground, obviously, but there would be plenty of time to contemplate the terror of it as he fell.\n\n“Are you okay?” she said. “We can wait for the next one down if you like?”\n\nAlways considerate. Always thinking of him. That’s why he kind of regretted what he was about to do, what he might be condemning her to. But he was here now. He was resolved. Afraid of heights he might be, but nothing stopped bobby when he’d committed to it.\n\nHe took a step onto the glass. Just one, at first, leaving the other on the metal platform as an anchor. He watched the clear glass for signs of strain, as though his slender frame might send cracks on it, like river ice splintering under the slightest pressure.\n\nAmanda laughed. “Come on, dope. Its stress tested by structural engineers. It can take the weight of an elephant.”\n\nHe nodded. Lifted his second foot and moved it. Breathing in, he put it down. That was it. No going back now.\n\nAmanda joined him on the glass. The moment was arriving. His heart pounded. He wondered if it was beating so fast that everyone else could hear it.\n\nThe seconds ticked by. He wouldn’t have to endure this much longer. This anxiety, this fear. It would all be over.\n\n“Bobby, are you ill?” said Amanda.\n\nTime to do it. He clenched his fists. Closed his eyes.\n\n“What are you-”\n\nHe dropped down to one knee. As the people around started to turn and stare, Bobby reached to his jacket pocket. His pulse was deafening in his ears. He felt around the pocket, grabbed the box, and pulled it out. Everyone could see it now. Amada could see it. And by the widening of her eyes, bobby knew she finally understood.\n\nHe opened the lid to reveal a ring. White gold, 6 carat diamond. Sunlight hitting it and glinting. It represented two years of saving. More than that, too., it represented their future. He might be condemning them to the same unhappiness his parents suffered in their marriage. Or, they might live happy lives. Who knew? But sometimes you had to face your fears.\n\nAfter all, he’d faced his. Here he was, hundreds of feet in the air. Amanda would know how bad he was feeling, so by doing it up here, she’d understand how much it meant to him. Time to say the words.\n\nHe held the ring box up higher, as if in offering.\n\n“Amanda,” he began. “Will you-”\n\nHe heard a cracking sound. Like ice breaking. Like something snapping. He didn’t even need to look – he instinctively knew what it was.\n\nAmanda looked behind him, then opened her mouth to scream. As she did, Bobby felt the glass tear apart underneath him. \n\nThere was smashing sound. Louder than anything he’d ever heard. He knew it wasn’t just coming from the platform – it was too much for it to be just that. But that didn’t matter. As his stomach contents started to leave him, the glass completely shattered, and the wind rushed up at him. \n\nBobby reached out to grab Amanda, but he was too late. The glass had shattered beneath her and she was falling, and screaming. She wasn’t shouting his name, just noises. Inhuman gurgles.\n\nAs he fell through the air, he realized he was right. The descent gave him plenty of time for contemplation. He was wrong about one thing, though. The fall wasn’t what terrified him. It was the fact that Amanda had veered away. Taken by the wind, carried a few meters to her left. And below her was the spire of a church.\n\nThe wind snapped bobby’s head back and commanded him to look, and he knew he’d have to watch every second of it.\n" ]	1
	[WP] Your lifelong friend is about to leave.	[ "\"So that's it huh? You're going?\" \n\n\"You know, it's not like a have much choice.\" \n\n\"You could run away, I'll hide you.\" \n\nHe looked down and pushed off the porch with his feet, setting the swinging bench they shared in motion. \n\nWithout looking up, he said, \"Do you remember when you fell off the swing under that oak over there and broke your arm?\"\n\nShe pushed her forearm into his face, \"How could I forget with a scar like this?\" \n\n\"You took pretty good care of me, though. Remember how you wrapped my arm in your shirt and wiped my tears before taking me across the street to tell my parents?\" \n\n\"I was sure your dad was going to kill me.\" \n\n\"He didn't kill you for putting a baseball through his window, so I don't think you have much to worry about there. Anyway, all my parents ever do is talk about how good of a guy you are. You're a hero, everyone around here is real proud of you.\" \n\n\"What about you?\" \n\nHe finally looked up from the floor and met her gaze. She glanced over at the old oak tree and back at him. He looked so grown up in that green uniform, and handsome too. \n\n\"Just promise me you'll come back.\" \n\nHe gave a slow nod, put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest. She quickly got up, wiping tears from her eyes and doing her best to avoid eye contact. \n\n\"Well I better head home, it's getting late.\" \n\n\"I understand.\" \n\n\"Take care of yourself over there, and be sure to write\" \n\n\"You too.\" \n\n\n\n ", "I don't remember when I met Jim. His father and mine served on the same ship in the Navy. Both retired after 20+ years. Jim and I were born moments apart on the same base. I don't remember a time when he wasn't there.\n\nWe went to the same schools growing up. Played in the same ponds and creeks, hunted I. The same woods. We even dated the same girls a time or two. In the end, I married Cindi. Jim's sister. He got the redhead we both dated.\n\nWe both went to college. Both received degree in mechanical engineering. On the weekends, we bowled or watched our kids play ball. Or worked in our yards, only separated by a white picket fence. Jim helped me build my house with his own hands. I helped him pour his backyard pool. My first son was born. His first nephew.\n\nReally, we'd been friends forever in a way that most people never are.\n\nOne day, when I got home from work, I found Cindi crying. After much hugging and more crying, she's told me the news. Jim had cancer. We'd know soon how bad.\n\nIt was bad. Cancer of the spine, spread to the lymph nodes and to the brain stem itself. He didn't have long.\n\nI sat by his bed. I held Cindi's hand. I lost sleep for many nights. Then, the time was just up.\n\nThey called for me. Not the family, just me. I went in.\n\n\"Bob,\" he said, \"Take care of Terry and Cindi for me.\"\n\n\"I will. You know I will.\"\n\n\"Take care of my nephew.\"\n\n\"I will, Jim. You know I will.\"\n\n\"Ok. Call them here. I'm going to go now.\"\n\nI drew breath to call for the others and as I did, I felt his once strong hand just go limp in mine. My friend of a lifetime was gone. I wept.\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] Tell me about the most evil, repulsive, and/or unlikeable character you can think up. Redeem them by the end of your story.	[ "\"ENOUGH\" The woman yelled as she pinned the beaten king to the wall of his throne room\n\nThe king struggled under her grasp, her nails starting to draw blood.\n\n \"You tried, you failed, goodbye filth,\" She spat as she shoved her hand into his chest and crushed his heart. \"I guess now I have to find a new plaything though.\" She mused.\n\nShe sharply turned and flicked a stray hair into place as she walked out. Before leaving the throne room she placed a hand on the now cracked door frame and a bright blue flame began to consume the room.\n\n\"hopefully the next one isn't as boring as you.\"\n\nWhat happened next Alina could only describe as coincidence. She instantly fell into an endless freefall until a voice commanded her to stop, or maybe it was commanding the space she occupied. Either way she couldn't tell. \n\n\"Alina, Fallen one of the Harvest, you have been found guilty of 150 counts of beheading, 276 counts of murder and 3 counts of arson! How do you plead?\" The voice asked sternly.\n\n\"What? Not going to mention the 5 hearts I stole? Or what about the telekinetic suicides? Oh and let's not forget the famine in the Northern Kingdoms! And what abou-\" She was cut off.\n\n\"Silence,\" The voice commanded and her voice fled her. \"You're punishment is death, choose your end.\"\n\n\"I request a duel, to the death, for my innocence.\" She said cooly.\n\n\"As you wish.\" The voice said finally coming into the light, revealing a slim woman wearing nothing but a plain blue cloak tied with a burgundy sash.\n\n\"Ah, Persephone, lovely to see you again, I hear Hades tasked you with finding me himself, you must be proud of yourself.\" Alina said, walking forward to meet her opponent.\n\n\"I'll be more proud once you're trapped in Tartarus, my dear sister.\" Persephone laughed.\n\n\"Half-sister, I'm your Half-sister. For Hades' sake, you like to believe Mom wasn't such a slut!\"\n\n\"How dare you disrespect Mother like that!\" Persephone lashed out with a golden whip at her sister.\n\nAlina giggled.\n\n\"Hit a soft spot now? Alina jumped back and shoved Persephone to the edge of the arena, which was suddenly beneath them.\n\n\"FIGHT ME\" Persephone dashed for her sister, lashing her whip indiscriminately.\n\n\"As you wish,\" Alina sighed, side stepping the whip and gently touching her index finger to Persephone's shoulder. Instantly the goddess collapsed to her knees, her arm twisted into a deformed twig. \"You always were a stubborn one.\" And Alina kicked her sister in the chest sending her flying across the room.\n\nIn tears her sister stood and with one motion Alina dashed across the room, held her sister by her shoulders and gently whispered into her ear.\n\n\"I'm sorry it had to be this way, dear sister, I will miss you.\" And let go, her sister now a pile of ashes.\n\nA single tear rolled down her cheek as Alina returned to the earthly realm.\n\nA week passed until Hades found her. She knew he'd come after what she did to Persephone. \n\nHe really was a sight to behold, she thought as she watched him walk up to her. His hair a flurry as if a hurricane were trapped inside it with each step growing calmer.\n\n\"You have a lot of self-control seeing the one who killed your wife.\"\n\n\"She was your sister.\" Hades pleaded, tears beginning to we'll in his silvery eyes.\n\n\"I made a deal, I had no choice.\" Alina sighed, turning away from the god-king.\n\n\"The spirit of Kronos, yes?\" He questioned.\n\n\"You could say I'm too soft.\"\n\n\"No, you are a rock, Alina. You made a choice to save your father, and were tricked by that coward.\"\n\n\"It's just, he wasn't immortal like us,\" She cried, tears pouring down her face. \"It isn't fair! It isn't fair I have to watch him suffer like that!\"\n\n\"Please, calm your temper, child.\" The god-king pleaded.\n\n\"It isn't fair!\" Alina shouted her rage consuming her, her hair burst into flames, her eyes sparked with energy and her skin darkened to that of hardened magma.\n\nShe swiftly flew into the Underworld, past Kerboros and through Elysium to the twisted gates to Tartarus. She melted the adamantine gate and dove down into it's debths.\n\n\"Kronos, I've come for my sister.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Your average life is being followed by a hidden camera crew (a la The Truman Show) but the narrator twists every action you take against you.	[ "\"We return now as Our Suspect has arrived at his place of work, after making several questionable maneuvers to other innocent drivers on the freeway.\"\n\n\"As you can see, immediately after clocking in, Our Suspect begins wasting company time and money by using the on site facilities, first by ingesting coffee, further supplementing his disgusting eating regime. What happened next, shocked me. He went into the bathroom, and began to primp and preen himself in the mirror. Following this, he goes into the stall and emerges a few minutes later.\"\n\n\"We sat down to speak to the local police chief who confirmed our suspicions, that Our Suspect was very likely pleasuring himself to deviant pornography. After not even taking the courtesy to wash his hands, he returns to his work station where he stretches in his seat, no doubt thinking about the illegal material he undoubtedly has on his phone and computer.\"\n\n\"After a few minutes of work, he is already discussing events with his fellow co-workers. It is sad, that these people have no clue, they they, are in the midst, of a predator.\"\n\n\"We will return after a short break with more updates, on 'Rufus Wilson: Watching a Predator'.\"" ]	1
	[WP] When you were younger, you met Bigfoot and, instead of running away or attacking, you befriended him instead. Now, whenever you go he makes sure that at least one of the area's mythological beasts is there for you.	[ "I realised that having a mythical creature at my side wherever I go isn't exactly convinient...\n\nI was just about to to leave the harbour of Oslo when I saw it:A giant serpent,of untold size rising from the depths of the sea.People started running,except for a stanger with red hair.In fact while I was standing there shocked,the stranger was running towards the serpent,no he was charging the serpent!Then I started hearing a tune,which I first discarded as my mind playing tricks on me,but I soon realised that this otherwordly song was truly blasting through the air.\nI can still remember it:\"...Protector of Mankind,Ride to meet your fate!\"\nI didn't realise it the time this happened,but now I realited it perfectly:\nI was there the day when Ragnaröek began" ]	1
	[WP] Give the hero the most villainous powers you can, and the villain the most heroic.	[ "The burly machine charged at me like the drones before it and with a snap of my finger it too fell at my feet. There goes robo-drone #5,738. I stepped over the robot and approached the overly-ornate door at the end of the room. Her 60-story lair had so far been following a consistent mechanical/machine theme filled with thousands of robot underlings and traps galore. Yet, here in front of me was a large golden door that had our family tree carved into it. I stared at the bottom of the door where my name was. My eyes trailed up and over my brothers and sisters. I'd give my life to bring any one of them back. However all I could do was bring honor to their death by stopping their killer, whose name was at the very top. For she was the beginning and I was the end.\n\nThe door rattled and slowly began to descend into the floor as I readied myself. On the other side was a large hall with Alpha, my sister, standing in the middle. The room was otherwise empty and circular. The large archs on the ceiling were covered in dust, although the floor was remarkably clean. Her shining white armor almost blinding me. Only because of its illuminating light did it not match with her pale skin and platinum hair. Her arms were crossed and she stared at me with that smug face of hers that made my blood boil. Her smugness will cost her.\n\n\n\"Congratulations, you've actually made it through everything. 60 floors made short work by my brother, Omega, the 'God with an uncontrollable power in one arm and not a lot to show for the other'. Even so I wasn't expecting that. I remember in my previous tower of a mere 30 floors that not even the strongest of our siblings, Sig-\"\n\n\"Do not say his name.\"\n\n\"Hm? Why can't I say the name of our brother?\" she asked with a devilish grin.\n\n\"Why should you be able to when you were the one who killed them all?\" \n\n\"They were weak. They deserved to die. Twenty two of them and they were all killed by one.\"\n\n\"Twenty two deaths I must make you pay for.\" I won't be the twenty-third.\n\n\"You're a strong one, your right arm is fearsome, but you won't even be able to hurt me.\"\n\n\"It's hard to miss you when you're illuminating the rest of the room.\"\n\n\"But there are no shadows for you to hide in here my brother. Your armor has no camouflage here. No sneaking. No surprises from you to gain the upper hand. This is an upfront battle.\"\n\nIt felt as if her emerald eyes pierced right through me. She knew that she had the upper hand when it came to fighting face to face. I could certainly hold my own in most battles, but I was most effective when I could get an unexpected attack in.\n\n\"Tell me Omega, did you know I had 5,740 ALPHA-bots in this tower?\"\n\n\"Did you seriously name your bots aft—wait, but I only destroyed...\" Shit. I ducked and narrowly avoided the punch of one of her narcissistically named robots. Before I could even think how that one got behind me I felt the knee of a second robot striking my face. I stumbled backwards and threw my back to the wall. I couldn't see anything but my sister. \"I see you left the quick ones for last.\"\n\nShe laughed a hearty laugh that slowly became a screeching cackle. \"No brother, they're not particularly quicker than my other robots. You still have no chance of defeating them.\"\n\n\"Then I won't worry about them.\" I raised my right hand towards her as I concentrated and focused all my energy. With a snap of my fingers I emitted a black energy orb the size of a golf ball. The orb darted forward as she continued to cackle. Just before I could detonate it one of the robots appeared in front of her and a white barrier wrapped around it. So they're using optical camouflage. The orb flew into the barrier and disintegrated into nothing.\n\n\"Did you really think I'd leave my guard that open? Let you erase me just like that?\" She was grinning but I could tell she was mildly insulted. \"Maybe you should try using the other arm, because with attacks like that you won't be able to do anything against my barrier.\"\n\nLet's see about that. \"You know I've been practicing. We may have the form of the mortals here but us Gods still can do some crazy stuff. I like to call this the '500 Snaps Per Minute' technique.\" I took a deep breath, ignored her face of confusion, and went to work. My fingers became a blur as several orbs were emitted each second and crashed into the barrier. Each one was absorbed and disintegrated like the first, but I could see the barrier's glow becoming dimmer. \"Well sister, are you impressed by your baby brother yet?\"\n\n\"You're still a foolish child. Your power alone is the reason why you survived until the end!\" she yelled at me. \n\n\"Oh you yelled at me and you're doing that ugly scowl face too? Guess you must be pretty worried about fighting me.\" And now that she's pissed and thinks I'm focusing entirely on the barrier, it's time for step two. In my flurry of snaps I launched one orb to the left of her robot.\n\nHer eyes grew big as she noticed the lone orb flying right outside of the barrier, but at that point it was too late. Every single orb I launched was connected to me and I could detonate them at any time. With a single thought, the orb expanded and collapsed in an instant, silently destroying all matter and space immediately around it. The process was so fast that not even I could see what happened. All I knew was that anything caught in the blast was erased and the space around the explosion would rush towards the point to cover it. The universe didn't like having any holes in it so the erasures from my ability would be quickly mended. This \"mending\" process also affected objects that were nearby it, as they'd get sucked towards the point of detonation. I watched all this happen in front of me as the explosion resulted in her robot and its barrier fly to the left, leaving my sister alone to face my technique. Time for step 3. I continued shooting my flurry of orbs in her direction, alongside one I sent towards the ceiling.\n\n\"Sneaky\" Alpha grunted as her own personal barrier popped up around her. \"Still not good enough though. The barrier around me is much stronger than the barriers I can place around objects. You'll need '10,000 Snaps Per Minute' if you wish to destroy my barrier!\"\n\n\"10,000 Snaps Per Minute? That's not even pos—that just sounds stupid! You should come up with better attack names.\"\n\nHer armor glowed white with her rage. \"Stupid child! Die!\"\n\nI heard the sound of her other hidden robot to my left. I stepped to the right, but not before it slashed my neck. I fell to the ground as the blood spilled out profusely into my hands. Well it finally revealed itself to me. Although a little earlier than expected.\n\n\"You forgot about the other one didn't you? Or did you really mean to only focus on me? I can't believe you're my brother, younger or not.\"\n\nThe blood had already overflown from my cupped hand and was spilling onto the floor. I looked up at the position of my attacker, given only by the blood dripping off his blade in mid-air. \"Well, I guess that works\" I spurted out with a blood-filled mouth. I took my cupped hand and released it at the hidden robot. The blood seemed to suspend itself and form the shape of an arm, torso, and leg.\n\nI heard Alpha yell in response but by the time she had cast a barrier on the robot I had already grabbed its leg. The first ability I learned of with my destruction powers; I could destroy things just by touching them. Energy ran from my hand and up the robot's leg, through its torso and spread from there. In one second its insides were simply erased or destroyed. It became visible and fell to pieces. One down.\n\n\"You! You won't be so lucky destroying the other one!\" she exclaimed as her final robot turned invisible.\n\n\"I don't need luck sister. Your technology is nothing compared to the power and wits of a God.\" I boasted. \"How sad that you don't realize that.\"\n\n\"Blood spills from your neck and yet you continue to talk big. Your bluffs are point—wait, what is that in the air?\"\n\n\"Yeah I noticed your roof was pretty dusty, so I sent an orb up there to bring it down. You should really get a maid to clean this room, dirty rooms make you look bad.\" I stood up as the dust floated downwards and formed the shape of her final underling.\n\nAs Alpha cast a barrier around it I ran and snapped my fingers at the revealed enemy. I detonated the orb when it was mid-way between us and it flung me forward. The barrier had already formed and protected the robot from being pulled in, but that didn't matter. With the extra momentum I was able to claw my fingers inside of the thick barrier and with all my strength I pulled and stretched the barrier open. Before the machine had tumbled backwards I had already pulled my head back in anticipation. Alpha and I briefly locked eyes before I smiled and headbutted the mechanical grunt. The energy traveled through its head to the torso and it was coming apart before it hit the floor.\n\nThe bloodcurdling scream that erupted from my sister filled me with joy. I couldn't help but laugh at her rage. That was until she cast a barrier around my right arm and began to compress and twist it.\n\n\"I bet you didn't know I could do this huh?\" she taunted as she began to break my bones. \"That I learned some new applications for my barriers. That with a snap...I can break your powerful arm.\" She didn't even wait for me to protest as she snapped her finger and every bone in my right arm snapped in response.\n\nI laid on the ground screaming for minutes as she stood just out of my reach. She was relishing in what she perceived as her victory, while I was thinking of everything that was in danger just from her existence. I finally reached my left arm out to her.\n\n\"You could barely dent my barrier with your right, now you're going to use your left?\"\n\nMaybe I'll be the twenty-third. \"Yeah, because you're close enough.\" But you'll be the twenty-fourth. \"And this is my strong arm.\"\n\nI snap my finger and we cease to exist.", "\"There is a legend that upon these mountains...\", the old man made exaggerated gestures with his arms towards the two snow-capped peaks making a valley between them. \n\n\"Yes! These very mountains...\" he assured us, leaning in close enough to experience the travesty that were his rotting teeth. \"The two of them reside!\"\n\nYargimir was particularly emphatic today, his voice infused with the mesmerising allure of an ocean, cresting and falling with his animated narration. It was small wonder that every child could be found at the Market Square on the Sun Day when his caravan of merchants and craftsmen made it's routine stop.\n\n\"The Sages! Sitting at rivalling summits, absorbed deep in meditation, focusing on their strange gods!\". We stared wide-eyed, attention drooling from our collectively enamoured gaze. \n\n\"The powers that be granted them something other-worldly for their devotion! They were bestowed with divine wisdom!\". A few voices piped up from the crowd. They inquired upon the nature of these boons but Yargimir waved them off with a raised brow and a grunt, which meant that he was displeased with your listening skills.\n\nBut the old goat always continued. And so he did today as well. \n\n\"As I was saying... to those BRAVE ENOUGH, who would scale the treacherous colossus' they treat as their thrones, they offer a glimpse of their wisdom!\"\n\nA resounding Oooo crescendo'd around us, the old coot smiling at our curious little faces. He said, \"BUT BEWARE\". His expression had darkened in an instant and the suddenness with which he said it left me with a lingering tension in my chest. I didn't need to look around to know that everyone had felt it.\n\n\"But beware, little lambs for one is a merciful saint and the other a cruel trickster!\" he said, hushed but ominous.\n\nHe paused for what seemed to be a long time. Then he picked up his voice and said, \"The Saint will reach into you and ease your aching heart! He will cast a spell of bliss upon you and you will smile with the brightness of the stars in even the darkest of nights!\"\n\nHe paused again and continued. \"But The Trickster will shatter your world! He will introduce you to a kind of suffering which will leave you breathless and hopeless and end any desire you have to live on this earth!\"\n\nBy now he was walking around with a tirelessness of a man thirty years younger. Yargimir had always been passionate about his stories but something seemed off. I asked, \"If the Trickster is so cruel, why would anyone visit him at all?\".\n\nThis seemed to catch Yargimir off guard and he told me that I should find that answer myself. So I decided that I would.\n\nThis decision informed the next ten years of my life. I worked hard to get my body in shape, to speak in the tongue of the ancient masters and even to calm my mind and become thoughtless.\n\nFinally I made the pilgrimage. Not just once, but twice. The first time to The Saint and the second to The Trickster. But when I met them I realised that all these stories were false.\n\nThey were both disciples of the same deity, the God of Illusions and they were both granted powers opposing in nature. Yet the roles of Hero and Villain were reversed.\n\nThe Saint, so called, offered me the gift of illusions. He promised to turn my mind away from any despair inside me. To make it unconscious so that it would never surface again. Then I would be free from the search of meaning. I would be fulfilled but I would never ascend past this earthly plane. I would repeat this cycle again in my next life, starting from scratch. The price for my happiness would be eternal damnation to this one realm of existence. \n\nThe Trickster, so called, offered me the end of illusions. My search for meaning would consume me. I would lose all happiness and all love for this world and I would spend my life in looking desperately for something to end my pain. All the lies I lived in would shatter and only the truth would remain. But in doing so I might be driven insane. And in doing so, I would find myself rising towards the higher plane, and attaining powers like his own in the process. But my identity would die and for that I would suffer the most unbearable pain.\n\nAnd now I could choose.\n\n", "The cemetery laid in ruins. Fallen trees and wilted flowers blanketed the landscape. She had done it again. The headstones were cracked above the now empty graves, displaying the names of those better left to rest. \nRaiser, my nemesis. She had been granted the power to resurrect the dead, and now she hosted a television show, taking calls and money from clients who are desperate to spend some more time with their deceased loved ones.\nThe problem, once dead, a human can only be brought back with half their soul. The other piece remains in the afterlife, eventually driving the poor individual to insanity. \nMy name is Death Hound, my power, to return the souls to their rightful place, be it heaven or hell. With a clasp of their hand I can once again put them into their deadly slumber. \nI am an underappreciated hero, it isn't until the soul is forced to permanently tear in two that my services are sought after.\nFirst stop for today, 10th Street Avenue, Mrs. Potter died over two months ago in a tragic car accident, leaving behind a widower and two young children. \nIt breaks my heart to be the one to take her from them a second time, but if I don't, then something horrible will happen to the remaining family members. \n\nI raised my hand to knock on the door, and let out a deep breath. \n\"Mr.Potter? I need to speak to Mr.Potter.\" \nThere was no answer. Before I had the chance to touch my knuckles to the wood a second time, the door swung open. \nA young girl peeked out from behind it, her golden hair was pulled back in adorable french braids. Something was wrong, her hazel eyes displayed fear. \nUpon recognizing who I was, a tear slid down her face. \n\"Somethings wrong with mommy.\" She said softly with a small sob. \nI knelt down beside the child, \"What's happened? Has she hurt anybody?\" \nThe child shook her head, \"No, but she won't stop screaming.\" \n\"Where is she?\" I asked quietly. \"She's sitting on her bed.\" The young girl said and with that she took off running deeper into the house.\nI looked about the house and followed the now soft cries of pain. Having ones soul displaced is like missing a lung, you are alive but have difficulty living, breathing, and are in constant pain. This is the 2nd stage of the resurrected, before they turn into a lunatic. \nI had got here just in the nick of time.\nThe door to the bedroom was open, Mrs.Potter sat on the bed, holding her head in her hands. Her body shook with sobs, I knew the pain she was feeling as many had felt before her. \"Mrs.Potter, my name is Death Hound. I have come to relieve the suffering that Raiser has placed upon you. Take my hand and everything will be alright.\" The woman looked up from where she was sitting, her skin was as pale as a ghost, and her eyes were haunted by the images of her death. \n\"You stay away from her!\" Mr.Potter cried as jumped out from the bathroom. \nHe grabbed a bat from beside the bed and took a swing at me. \nI ducked to avoid it. This was not the first time that someone had been less then pleased with me. \n\"You need to let her go Mr.Potter. She's not your wife anymore!\" I cried as I blocked the bat with my arm. \n\"How dare you say that! She's alive! And I'm not letting you take her away from us!\" He shouted angrily. \nThat was when Mrs.Potter began to scream again. \nMr.Potter dropped his guard giving me time to disarm him and pull him aside. \n\"Your wife is in agony sir. If you keep her here much longer, her soul will be torn and she will be stuck in limbo forever. Not only that, but the fragments that remain here will only know anger and pain. She will become a vengeful spirit and she will attack you, your children, and anyone else that gets on her bad side.\"\nThe poor widower slowly sat down with his back against the wall.\n\"I just wanted my wife back, I missed her so much. I....I... Can't live without her.\"\nI set a comforting hand on his shoulder. \n\"But you must, she's gone and it was wrong to bring her back.\"\nTears streamed down his face as he nodded his head. \n\"Do it. Lay her to rest Death Hound.\" \nMy feet dragged the floor as I slowly approached Mrs.Potter. I extended my hand to her and she set her trembling one in mine.\n\"Be at peace Mrs.Potter.\" \nMy hand glowed with a white light as I returned her soul to where it belonged.\nHer grip loosened and her lifeless body fell gently upon the bed. \n\"You can take comfort in knowing that she has gone to a better place.\" I said quietly, before leaving the room and walking out of the house. \nMy heart ached for their loss and the pain they must have felt when she died. But things were meant to be this way. What's dead, should stay dead.\n\nI walked past the TV shop on my way to the next house. Seeing none other then Raiser appear on the screen, \"Are you grieving? Hurting? Recently lost a loved one? For just 1 million dollars I can reunite you with your mother, grandmother, father, grandfather, daughter, or son. Give me a call, tell me the cemetery, wire me the money and within the next hour I promise that they will show up at your doorstep!\" \n\"Oh! Looks like we have our first caller now! Hello this is Raiser! You are on the air!\" \n\"Hello? My name is Lilly, I would like you to bring back my son. He is laid to rest in Grenville Cemetery, his headstone is special you won't miss it.\" \n\"Wire me the Million and we have a deal!\" \nI didn't wait to see if the client sent the money to her, I took off running in the direction of Grenville Cemetery. The younger the soul brought back, the faster they turn into a vengeful spirit. I had to stop her!\n\n\n\n\n", "I don't enjoy what I do. \n\nRiding up the elevator, I could feel the bile rising in my throat, just at the anticipation of what I was about to do. With shaky fingers, I loosened my tie, stepping out onto the forty fifth floor. \n\nIt was a luxurious penthouse office with a view of New York that looked awfully expensive. I could see him, sitting at his desk and sipping at a glass of scotch, just a thin glass wall between us. \n\nAnd his secretary, of course. \"Pardon me, miss, but do you have an appointment?\" \n\n\"That won't be necessary,\" I said, walking past her and opening the inner door. She tried to pull a gun from under the desk, but it was too late, and she fell to the ground foaming at the mouth and writhing in agony. I tried not to look, sweat forming on my face. She'll be fine. She'll be fine. I went easy. \n\nHe noticed this commotion, of course. \n\n\"Who the hell are you?\" he demanded. \"What do you want? Anything you've got, I can fix. Let's not be hasty.\" Silas Jameson, otherwise known as the Doctor. The power to cure any disease, which in effect made every terminally ill person in the world his hostage. And he ransomed them to great effect. Politician's granddaughter has cancer? Silas has a new car. Banker's liver is failing from all the drugs and alcohol? The Doctor takes a nice vacation. That wasn't enough for Silas, though. Next came purposefully infecting people with horrific diseases, Ebola and smallpox and the like, and ransoming the cure. \n\nAll of that didn't make what I was about to do any easier. I could see in his eyes the moment he realized what was happening. He clutched at his throat, mouth open in a silent scream, and he fell to the floor flopping like a landed fish. It took five minutes for him to succumb, to go limp and brain dead. A vegetable. \n\nUnable to stand it any more, I threw up on the floor of Silas's pristine office, weeping and falling to my knees. Can you imagine causing someone so much pain, such agony that the pure torment of it kills them? To have to do so? To be told it's the right thing to do?\n\nMayra Maliki, otherwise known as Torment. I don't enjoy what I do.", "She called herself Lady Liberty, and right now she was using her powers to \"liberate\" the contents of an armored truck.\n\nNo one knew where the powers came from. Ten years back, they started popping up with no warning or explanation. And that might have turned out okay, but our civilization had spent the past century shaping expectations about what that entailed. Vis, grown adults donning costumes and silly names and making a mess of the world.\n\nI deplored messes.\n\nLady Liberty—real name Alice Fletcher—had torn through the steel walls like paper, they told me on the comms. Her M.O. suggested that she'd give herself super-speed next, but I'd already shut that down remotely. It pained me every time I had to use my power—not physically, you understand, it just felt wrong on a fundamental level—but I'd received special dispensation from the government in Lady Liberty's case.\n\nI'd been dropped in her likely path by the officer with the teleportation superpower, but now they were saying she'd veered down an alley they had left uncovered. I sighed and began to walk toward the new confrontation point.\n\nAlice Fletcher had been an activist for the far Right, they told me. Though her philosophical beliefs were currently somewhat confused, she used to believe with nigh-religious fervor in the absolute freedom of citizens. With that background, her powers could have been a lot worse. But the powers seem to draw from the deepest parts of ourselves, and despite her decision to become a villain and subsequent descent into madness, it seemed Ms. Fletcher's beliefs had been authentic to the core.\n\nMs. Fletcher had believed that whatever was legal was permissible. And so her power was that she could do anything that was legal.\n\nDo you realize how many things we don't have laws against? There's no law against creating a torrent of lava from thin air. There's no law against taking flight unaided (although she still had to deal with a surprising number of FAA restrictions). There's no law against turning invisible, or messing with people's minds, or teleporting within the national borders, or, heaven forbid, into international waters, where there are no laws whatsoever. When she figured that part out, we were doomed.\n\nI stepped into the open street and tapped my foot. I wasn't overjoyed at wasting my time on this, but I accepted the necessity of my involvement. It didn't hurt that the city could afford my rates. \n\nFootsteps were rapidly approaching my position. It was time to confront Lady Liberty. I had no athletic skill beyond what I'd gained from regular gym attendance. I'd received no combat training, I had no superpowered defenses, and I wasn't even wearing a costume—my business suit was entirely sufficient, thank you.\n\nBut I didn't need any of that.\n\nI was one of the few who received superpowers and decided to keep doing my day\njob. I was a constitutional lawyer, you see. On the day I received my powers, I discovered that I could edit any legal system with just a thought. Riches could have been mine, and ultimate, untouchable corruption was at my fingertips. I could have reached out and grasped it. But I didn't.\n\nBecause I am a hero. A hero doesn't use their power for their own good. They use it to make their world a little better.\n\nMy work—the power that counted, I'd always thought—accounted for most of that betterment. Legal systems are tricky and intricate things, and one does not simply meddle with them for transient reasons; my power would accomplish little, except in this one case.\n\nSince the moment I'd first received the call, it was illegal for Lady Liberty to do anything.\n\nShe rounded the corner, clutching a bag of money in either hand. Winded, sweaty, looking over her shoulder and hearing the sirens in the distance. I waited patiently for her to notice me. I didn't have to wait long—we made eye contact and she snarled.\n\n\"You,\" she spat. \"Congress Man.\"", "\"Until my demands are met, these people will live.\" Aisanahtue threatened, his loud voice barely audible over his hostages screams of pain. They were all dying of fatal and very painful diseases but Aisanahtue had used his healing powers, not to cure them, but to keep them alive. They suffered in agony and if he didn't cooperate, it would be impossible for those people to die. To an ordinary man.\n\nBut I was no ordinary man. I was none other than Death Ray. I fired off several pulses from my hands, killing the hostages. Soon I had wiped them all out and the police were able to make their moves on Aisanahtue and arrest him. He would escape. He always does. But I would be waiting for him. Once again, Death Ray had saved the day. ", "The ground shook as an explosion happened just up the street. When I saw a small man glowing gold, I knew only one person could be behind this. Make-a-Wish.\n\nI put down my coffee, and sprinted towards the chaos. Citizens were screaming and running in all directions as the man grew seven feet tall and developed biceps the size of a telephone pole. He ripped the bus station bench from the concrete and aimed it towards a large group of people.\n\nI only had moments to act! I brainwashed the crowd of people and took control of their movements. Each one of them turned around to face the threat, and dodged the incoming bench with coordination and agility that rivaled that of a well trained team of acrobats. As the large man looked around with confusion, he saw me and immediately knew I was to blame for their sudden behavior change. As he began pick up broken chunks of concrete to throw at me, I used my power to force 5 passerbys to suprise attack the big man simultaneously. They hit him in the head and knocked him out. The man began to shrink down to his original size as the police arrived to take him into custody. I released my minions to resume their daily life and added a bit of satisfaction to their mind before I left them entirely.\n\nOne officer approached me saying, \"Thank you for saving the day Hive-Mind! Many citizens would have lost their lives without your guidance! Do you know what happened here today?\"\n\n\"I suspect Make-A-Wish is behind this yet again. He is a supervillain that can grant any wish he chooses, but only chooses to do so for those who wish for things that will cause chaos. This criminal here today was likely picked on for being short, and he was going to get his revenge on those who bullied him. The last man Make-A-Wish granted a wish for was a egotistical celebrity who had dreams of ruling over people. I'm afraid there was nothing I could do to stop him...\"\n\n\"I see. Do you have any leads on Make-A-Wish's current location?\"\n\n\"No, he always stays just out sight before these things go down. He should be powerless for the next few days, as he can only grant a wish once a week. His identity is still unknown, but his mask is unmistakable. A shooting star.\"\n\n\"That is very valuable information! Thanks again Hive-Mind!\"\n\nAs I turned to leave, I notice a paralyzed women off in the distance glowing a light tint of purple. Suddenly she gets up from her wheelchair and sprints into the nearest bank. Moments later she is running out with large bags cash and sprints down an alley.\n\nSomething must have changed. Make-A-Wish can't be causing more havock yet!! Unless... Unless he and Rapid-Recovery Girl have formed an alliance. This is bad." ]	7
	[WP] Every month, a lottery is held in which every citizen in the US must participate in. When someone wins, they get sent to a place called 'Eden,' an island found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. You happened to win the lottery.	[ "I didn't want to win the lottery, my great grandmother warned me every night that I could remember until her death. \"Don't expect to win. Don't want to win. If you do, you will never return.\"\n\nI didn't understand what she meant, I was twelve when she died and never got a chance to ask her. She would sit in her rocker on the front porch and stare out into the sunset every night, her bootleg moonshine in an old stained jug sitting next to her and the old one-eyed calico cat hissing in her lap. She almost chanted those words into song, willing them to truth: \"Don't expect to win. Don't want to win. If you do, you will never return.\"\n\nIt was the night of seventeenth birthday when my name was first entered into the lottery. What were the odds that I could possibly win? I had nothing left in my life to live for, no family to turn for support. I had lived the last 5 years on a secluded farm away from the bright lights of the capital city. No one had dared to come out here since the day of great-grandma's funeral. They had avoided eye contact with me and I received no hugs of condolence. I was cursed. My mother had disappeared shortly after I was born. I never knew my older brother, he followed my mother three months later and then my father a year after that. \n\nI had no one to celebrate with. My name and a picture of me flashed on the screen. Where did they get that picture? I'd never stepped foot in the city. I didn't have to process anything.... the sound of heavy chopper blades were approaching, spotlights were starting to flood in the windows of my tiny home. Was this a congratulations party? \n\nDarkness. Silence. Cold, hard surface. \n\nI open my eyes to try to reorient myself. Where on earth am I? \n\n\"You are in Eden.\"\n\nI rub my eyes, trying to force myself to see in the blackness. There was no source of light. I couldn't even see the darkness. Did I go blind? \n\n\"Only temporarily. Your vision will return as you listen and see the truth of the lottery.\"\n\nOk. Fine. Someone was reading my thoughts. \"Who are you?\" I thought to the stranger. (Is that possible? I wondered)\n\n\"I am Ezekiel, Nephalem of Eden, Protector of Mankind, the Last to Wear the Armor of Hope.\"\n\nI listened to him ramble of hours, spinning a compelling tale of the Battle of Ages between Heaven, Hell and Mankind.\n\nThe lottery was a farce. I was there as a willing sacrifice, without my blood, the demons of Hell would flood the Earth and no one could ever enter Heaven again, even if they were a saint. \n\nSo why me?\n\n\"You are the last of your line.\" Ezekiel seemed to struggle with his next words. I was finally able to begin to see him through the mist that had begun to form in my eyes. \"You are the final sacrifice. A pure heart to be offered.\" He hung his head, almost in anguish at the thought.\n\nI frowned and found my own voice. \"Is that what happened to the rest of my family?\"\n\n\"Your great grandfather made a deal when he was chosen. His entire bloodline could be taken and sacrificed, his name wiped from the annals of history; and after the last drop of blood had been spilt, the gateway could be closed.\"\n\n\"But how long has this been happening? Why couldn't it be closed before?\" So much confusion.\n\n\"None have been willing to sacrifice the ones they loved most for billions of selfish, sacriligious heathens that would never hear turth.\"\n\nI could see clearly now. The cold hard surface was a giant stone slab with intricate markings carved eons ago and worn over time. I looked around me as I realized I was breathing the purest air in the world. I wasn't just on an island called Eden, I was IN the Garden of Eden! \n\n\"A final sacrifice in the purest place on Earth?\" I was on the verge of a stare-down with the only man (no, Nephalem) on Earth that stood between Mankind and Heaven and Hell. \n\nEzekiel nodded.\n\nI lay down on the altar, as that was obviously what I'd been set upon. A willing sacrifice. \n\n\n\nI never saw the flash of the setting sun against the blade as it slid across my throat. I didn't see the crimson blood gush and flow down my throat and onto the altar, filling the carved symbols with pools that glistened. All I saw was the sad relief that flooded the face of Ezekiel, as his sentry duty finally ended.\n\n", "\"Holy shit\"\nJack was shocked. He was going to Eden. Nobody knew much about the island, but Jack figured it was better than his home. \nThere was a knock on the door, more of a bang. \n\"That was pretty fucking fast\" Jack thought \nHe opened the door. \n\"It's time for you to come with us. We are taking you to Eden.\"\nThere were 4, large, armed men bearing down on Jack. \nJack understood that there was often resistance to being selected, being uprooted from your life and being sent to a mysterious island is scary. But Jack didn't need to be forced out of his home. He took a step outside.\n\"You won't be needing those cuffs boys. You see this shit hole I live in? There is literally nothing on Eden that could be worse.\"\nHe looked around the neighborhood for one last time. It was the same ghetto he grew up in. He was finally free.\n\"Jack wait!\" \nJack's girlfriend, Clara, had just seen the news report, and found his stub. It was just dawning on her that she will never see him again. \n\"What about me? our kids? what is going to happen to us?\" \n\"Honestly, I have no idea. See ya Clara.\"\nJack turned and stepped into the SUV.\nThe car pulled out of the ghetto, freeing Jack from the shackles of poverty\n\n3 months have passed\n\n\"RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHGGGGG\"\nscreamed Jack, pounding a rock into his masters face. Jack knew he was a dead man, but he was tired of this new life. He had become a slave, relegated to cleaning shoes and watering the plants for some high level retired bureaucrat. He ran around the mansion, looking for a way out. Blood dripped from his face, but it wasn't his own. He found an open window, took a couple steps to gather himself, and jumped through.\n\"Holy shit, im free.\"\nHe looked around him, he hadnt seen anything outside of the house for 3 months.\n\"What a beautiful place, i wonder where I ca-\"\nBANG\na bullet exploded through Jack's head. " ]	2
	[WP] And we, we will rise from the ashes like phoenixes.	[ " I kind of messed up... I guess you shouldn't mess with people that are chanting in a park, even though I can probably live like this. I was a boring guy that'd play Pokémon Go sometimes... not as much as the start but if I wanted to walk I'd play it. I was downtown in the city near my apartment when it was night and saw a group by the park, they all had robes with red designs on them. \n\n I walked kinda close and they saw me... they didn't do anything though. I had my phone in my pocket and didn't decide to record them when they were talking about \"rising from the ashes\" even though some people would have recorded that. I saw one light his arm on fire while the others chanted then I ran over asking what they were doing... that was a mistake.\n\n One grabbed me and pulled me to the others and set me on fire while the others gathered around and made one big fire. About a minute after being engulfed... feeling like I was definitely gonna die, I opened my eyes. I was laying on my side in a large pile of ash and felt a breeze blowing against my skin... everywhere.\n\n I sat up coughing out black smoke with small red dots and looked down at myself... I wasn't myself. I was a tall guy before and now I was... smaller with a hourglass frame and had parts I shouldn't and was missing parts I should have... I screamed and when I heard my voice it made me jump. Standing up I noticed a few things in a pile, my house keys, my favorite butterfly knife and my phone that had some damage to the case but the phone itself was alright.\n\n Picking them up I ran to an alleyway I was familiar with cause I used to work by the building. Everything felt so odd and I looked at my hair, it was basically fire colored in some parts with mostly red in it. I said \"what the fuck is going on\" hearing my voice talk... it was odd but not too shocking at this point. A cop drove by and I explained I wasn't streaking I was taken by a group of weird guys that stole my clothes, the ash is from a fire they had. \n\n They believed me mostly but said I'd have to come with them so I did, the knife I had wasn't a problem since it was legal length. I took the case off my phone in the car and threw it away when I got to the station, they had clothes there I could wear. It was police sweat pants and a t shirt for the new people that worked there but everything fit alright and I put my stuff in my pockets.\n\n For about half an hour I told them the story...minus the supernatural details and they made a report of it. They even gave me a ride home afterwards and the people I lived with were out somewhere for the evening. I got as much money as I could and a backup phone charger then left knowing I couldn't stay there... which sucked cause I was leaving a game system behind but I didn't really know where I'd play it since I would most likely be homeless for a while.\n\n I wandered around till I found a thrift store and bought some new clothes, some jeans, a black band t-shirt, converse, and a black hoodie. Along with a backpack and extra clothes, it only cost half the money I had. When I was changing I looked at myself since I hadn't seen myself yet... I looked like Hayley Williams in misery business... at least I looked good since I liked Paramore and thought Hayley looked good.\n\n After getting dressed I left the store and didn't really know where to go so I went to a place that had a bonfire area in a park sorta nearby. It was near the high school I went to about 5 years ago and I had seen the pit a few times while walking through the heavily wooded park. I stayed by the pit for a while just sitting on the stone thing that sorta made a seating pattern in a circle around the small fire pit in the center. There was woods surrounding most of it with a clearing of grass being the main way to the circle.\n\n It got dark out so I wanted to make a fire but didn't have the supplies for it, I looked at the fire pit and thought how awesome It'd be to be able to snap my fingers and make fire like the human torch. Jokingly snapping my fingers I actually made a small flame shoot up that had sort of mystic red glowing dots around it.\n\n I fell back and screamed showing terror for a second till I realized it didn't hurt, I even waved my arm and the fire didn't got out. Focusing on my entire hand it caught fire with the same flame. I made a fire in the pit and sat by it... I was so confused and wondered how this happened. The others weren't around from that crazy cult... unless I woke up later or they did earlier. \n\n After about a day of just staying by the fire, I tried... stuff to pass the time for a little while but had to keep my voice down, after that I found a bathroom nearby and charged my phone there, it had an older case from home on it I grabbed when I was leaving. There was a wounded cockroach in the sink and I didn't really hate bugs so I wanted to see something... the fire stuff got me thinking I was possibly a Phoenix and seeing the bug made me remember Harry Potter. \n\n I forced myself to shed a tear then had it on my finger to let it drop on the cockroach and it ran off just fine. I thought \"healing tears... cool, I wonder if I'll come back when I die\" but didn't wanna try that test at that moment.\n\n It's been an hour since then and I don't really know what to do, I'd love to see the world. Maybe I'll go across the country then take a boat to Hawaii then head to Japan or something, I'd probably enjoy that. " ]	1
	[WP] You are a super powerful superhero. Your weakness, it's oxygen.	[ "“Meteoman, we meet again!” said john, with a smug smile on his face, whatever new contraption he had built standing behind him. \n\n“Why don't you just give up already, John” I exclaim. “You've never won, and you never will.”\n\n“It doesn't matter if I lose, you just send me to a prison, and we all know that no prison can contain a mind such as mine”\n\n“This time you're not going to prison – you've hurt too many people and I can't risk keeping you alive – I'm giving you one last chance to turn yourself in, John”\n\n“Turn myself in, Bah, We'll see about that” - he says as he climbs into the cockpit of his machine\n\n“very well. Goodbye my friend” \nJohn cackles as his machine walks towards me, gears clunking, guns shooting. \n\nIt's funny how bullets seem weak when you control the weather. I could send his body flying off into a wall, but I think someone such as john deserves to be ended by my full power. I gather a ball of electricity in my hand, and fling it towards John. \n\nThere wasn't even a scream, just one second there was John standing in the cockpit of his machine, and the next just a smoldering pile of human flesh. I assume it must smell quite awful – but thankfully I can't smell it through my eco-suit. I won't miss you, John. You were nothing but swine.\n\nI walk off as a mysterious-looking lady walks towards me. \n\n“Meteoman!” she exclaims. “I'm a reporter for the local newspapers – is it O.K if I ask you a few questions.\n\n“Yes” I wheeze. Hang on, why am I wheezing? I \n\nlook down towards my arm.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nShit!\n\n&nbsp;\n\nThere's a tear in my eco-suit – a stray bullet must have pierced it, which is strange, as the winds many-times stronger than gale-force should have stopped them. The woman's smiling. Strange. I look towards her arm, and see her grin widen as I see the small dagger she's carrying. \n\n“Why...” I barely manage to whisper.\n\nThe lady grins - “I always wondered why you wore that suit – It's fitting that the man who controls the weather has air as his weakness, but I'm getting ahead of myself. I should start with my name – you can call me felicity” My eyes widen – I remember John mentioning a felicity once – his wife. His wife? His Wife!\n\n“Now listen here – your husband was a bad man who did bad things. I had to...”\n\n“Enough!” she exclaimed. “I never agreed with the things my husband did, but you were so much worse than he ever was.”\n\n“What are you talking about! I've done everything I could to protect this city!”\n\n“Why don't you think back to your first battle with John”\n\n“The one where john tried to kill that villager”\n\n“Yes, that one, except that's not the full story. John was just trying to intimidate the villager, not kill him. You see, our daughter was very ill, and that man had just demanded we start paying more for the medicine than we had. It was bad, but an act out of desperation. After you put him into jail for that, he wasn't able to make money for us, and our daughter died as a result, whilst you were lauded as a hero.”\n\n“I'm truly sorry for what happened to your daughter, but it was still his fault for nearly killing that man”\n\n“What gives you the right to decide who lives and dies, but not John? - I wonder how you'll feel after I kill your daughter.”\n\n“Please... Have mercy”\n\n“I'll give you as much mercy as you did my husband” Felicity walks off with a stern determination.\n\nI need to save my daughter, but first I have to patch up my suit. I grab a piece of cloth from the ground, and melt it into my suit \nwith what little energy I can muster. I must make it home before Felicity does.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nI walk through my front door. \n\n“Julie, grab Katie. We need to leave right now\n\n“it's too late” Felicity says in a sing song voice. I feel dread stabbing into my gut. I run up the stairs as quickly as I can to find my daughter dead, and my wife quickly fading away.\n\n“Julie! Kate!” I scream with anguish. “What have you done, you cold bitch” I snarl\n\n“evened the score” she says smugly.\n\n“You've made a huge mistake” I reply coldly.\n\n“John – don't kill her – remember your promise – there's a thin line between justice and vigilantism” my wife says. “I love you, Derek” she says as the light fades from her eyes.\n\n“So, Meteoman, or shall I call you Derek. Are you going to kill me – are you going to forsake justice for revenge.\n\n“Yes. I can't let you live now. You've killed my family, and learnt about my weakness to oxygen. But I'm not going to use your powers – I'm going to kill you in a much more … personal way.” I grab the knife felicity had used to kill my family. I walk towards felicity, and stab her repetitively - “Die! Die! Die!” as she laughs more and more maniacally, which makes me angrier. I stab her until she stops. \n\nI look behind me, and only then do I notice the camera broadcasting to the world my horrid deeds.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nI am no longer a hero. I am now the villain. My true weakness was not the oxygen, but my rage. I will embrace it. This city took me for granted. \n\nNow they will know fear." ]	1
	[WP] There is one human left on Earth, you knock on their door...	[ "I sigh.\nWith my breath flows the stress that has plagued every aspect of my being up to this point. I have forded rivers filled with the remains of my past successes. They remind me of the mistakes I have made. I have climbed mountains, and from their peaks seen nothing but the desolate wasteland I helped create. My thoughts, my aspirations, my ambitions, all amounted to this. But I could have stopped it, were it not for my arrogance, my ignorance, and my greed.\n\tThe sand is displaced from under my worn leather boots, some of the last mementos of the life I lead. The life that appeared so good before my clouded eyes. It seemed to be Utopia: love, wealth, happiness, I had it all. This was the life I lead before The Scorching.The life I destroyed.\n\tAs I breathe in, unable to fill my lungs before being engulfed in a fit of coughs, I am reminded of the poisons that I unknowingly and yet at the same time eagerly released upon the world. Toxins that contributed to The Scorching. More and more of my regrets released into the air, bringing with them the heat; that unbearable, ever-burning, hateful heat. Heat that burned cities, killed off nations, and starved the oceans and rivers.\nI look to the small stone hut in front of me, and the contrast resonates within my very being. People with economic...liberties, such as the man I used to be, can afford more than is necessary. We are the inhabitants of large coastal mansions, sprawling country estates, or posh Manhattan apartments. We know not of the small huts, depressing slums, and deteriorating city streets. Those didn’t used to be our problems, but they are now our past.\nAfter the fires and the droughts, people reverted to more simple thoughts and needs, like those of food and water, not government and infrastructure. The world crumbled as society devolved into a writhing mass of pain and suffering. We Mods had it better, to some degree, but no one outlasts time. No one except the woman whose primitive dwelling I approach, my augmented brain analysing every aspect of it.\nI hear that Mods weren’t very popular when we were first developed. Fear of tampering with genetics and such, but it worked out after a while. My parents chose well (they had the money as well, which was also important) with critical thinking, organization, and management buffs. They didn’t hold back either; I’m technically not even a human anymore, but I don’t let that trouble me. I told myself that my material things and my corporate empire would make me a necessity to the Non-Mods, not a freak of science to be exiled from society.\nIn the end, lying to myself didn’t help me at all, it only worsened the fall. Sure, people liked our products, especially the tech geeks, but those in touch with the precise balance of the Earth’s natural world knew otherwise. They told me to close the factories, to stop supporting the megafarms, to turn away from the black gold that lay just below the surface. When they were right, it only hurt me that much more.\nFortunately for me, the rioting became too much of a problem before anyone could really place the blame. I slipped into the background of society when it began, hoping that humanity was just going through a phase, and that my assets would soon be mine to control and exploit again. \nIt was a foolish hope, for after the second month of public unrest, I saw that things were really falling apart. It was too late, just like they said. They had pleaded with me about “irreversible damage” and “extreme weather.”\nWho cares? I had thought. The victims of the 15 hurricanes, 38 tornadoes, and 76 wildfires in those first months cared. So did their families. So did those who began to die of respiratory problems from the skyrocketing levels of hydrocarbons. Three failed attempts to leave the planet via rockets didn’t help that number either. As the Doomsday Clock wound down, they tried to convince me a last time. When I didn’t listen, they left me and tried to start what they called an “environmental revolution.” As I look across the barren landscape, part of me laughs at their failed movement, and part of me mourns with them. I didn’t realize how much they meant to me until after they were my opposition.\nIt was just a matter of time before the two of us were gone too, wiped clean off of the Earth: the last human and the last Mod. The gasses would get to us as well, just as they did to the others, but I must have closure. I understand how pointless it must seem, but then, everything’s pointless when you’re likely going to be add your final breath of carbon dioxide to the already polluted air within the next few hours.\nI rap my knuckles against the stone slab that is her door. There’s coughing within, and the slab moves away. I look at the face I had come to know and love so well, and open my mouth to speak.\n“I’m so–” but my speech is cut off by another fit of coughing within my chest, this one worse than the last.\nShe gazes into my eyes and says, “Don’t waste your breath. You know the answer. You know that I can answer you. I know that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”\nI hold her closer to me, desperate for the one thing I could not give, yet needed in such abundance. She whispers the powerful trio of words in my ear, and I collapse, mentally and physically, into her arms, drawing in the emotion and admiring her strength at the same time.\n\nWe sit down and watch the Sun set. It is the last time that either of us is going to see that glowing orb sink below the horizon, and we know it. \nIn silence, we live out our last moments on a dead planet.", "Another day of living. Another day of not knowing how the outside world had changed, and long ago I had stopped caring. Another day of writing on the wall.\n\nI wanted breakfast. Carefully, I placed a hand on the cave wall next to a head-sized hole in the wall. The stone under my hand was smooth, with a hand-shaped indentation worn down by all the years of doing this every day. I didn't know how many years I had lived in this cave. I didn't know whether my 'days' were even a day long anymore. I only saw the sun once every few weeks, and my hair had long since gone gray. I closed my eyes and said a spell, and some fruit appeared in the hole. I grabbed a fig and took a bite.\n\nI had finished my breakfast soon enough. I said a spell to get rid of the stems and seeds from my food (it sends them to a spot in the ocean downhill from the cave entrance. It used to be on land, but the sea rose up to the big pile of garbage eventually, so now the seeds and stems get washed away).\n\nBack to my life's work. Listening to the sound of rain pattering on the ground outside the cave entrance, I grabbed a rock and started walking down the cave. Eventually I reached the end of the writing on the wall. I lifted my rock and continued writing, continued teaching everything I knew to the cave. I was aware that the cave could not read; I just hoped that many years from now, one of the Invaders could stumble upon my cave and learn the real history, and what my people knew, and how they lived. I was, as far as I knew, the last.\n\nI had no guarantee that my knowledge would ever be read.\n\nSuddenly, my rock broke. I tried to weld it back together using magic, and it seemed to work, but as soon as I began to write again, it broke a second time, in the same place. Each piece was too small to write comfortably with. I'd have to leave my cave to find another. I did this every couple of weeks. That was pretty much the only time I would get to see the sun, and sometimes it would turn out to be cloudy, or behind the mountain where I couldn't see it, or it would be night.\n\nI had a big rock blocking the entrance to my cave, so that nobody could get in and kill me. The Invaders killed everyone I knew when I was only a child, so of course I had a fear of them now. I said a spell to move the boulder. The ground shook, and thunder echoed down the cave. The rock slowly began to rise. It stopped about twice my height above the ground, and hovered there. I said \"Rock, quiet,\" to my cape and walked out of the cave.\n\nIt was very bright at first, and I thought it was sunny, but as I stepped out of the blurry shadow of the boulder, my eyes adjusted to the light and I saw that it was actually overcast. Parts of the stone ground were still wet from the rain earlier. I looked down at the choppy, gray sea below, then at the horizon where the gray of the water faded into the gray of the sky, then at the mountains on either side of me. There was a figure standing on one of them. I went into fight-or-flight mode. Had the person seen me? I didn't know. He was deftly climbing horizontally along the mountainside, in my direction. He had probably seen me. And, I thought grimly, it was probably an Invader, given that I hadn't seen another person (besides them) since I was very young. Since it was an Invader, it would probably kill me.\n\nCompletely forgetting about why I had first came outside, I ran back into the cave and told the boulder to block the cave again. It slowly began lowering back into place. It wasn't going fast enough; the figure would reach me if it kept going at this pace! He was almost at the cave entrance. Now I could just barely hear his footsteps fall on the ground, no louder than rain at first, but getting louder. Out of panic, I freed the massive boulder from any spells I had ever placed on it. Like lightning, it fell the rest of the way to the ground and shattered into many pieces. The impact threw me onto the ground. I would have injured my head, but by a stroke of luck I fell on my cape, which softened the blow. I heard the figure outside cry out in surprise and pain as the boulder broke. The sound was that of a child. Suddenly, I worried that I had killed them.\n\nAs the dust cleared, I tried to climb over the fragments of the boulder, each piece as long as I was tall, but I couldn't make it over them. I could just peer over the largest one. I saw the child, unharmed, carrying a bag of some sort, and trying to climb over the boulder's pieces towards me. The child was male. He was very tall, taller than me even at his young age. He was perhaps ten. I could tell from his face and physique that he was an Invader. Although I knew he was harmless and had no weapon that I could see, I was unnerved. The boy couldn't get over the rocks either. He slid back out of view. I could hear his breathing, so I knew he was still there.\n\nI asked, \"What do you want?\"\n\nHe replied, \"I- I- How did you make that rock fly?\"\n\n\"Magic,\" I replied. \"Why do you want to know?\"\n\n\"I was out wandering and I heard thunder, so I looked towards it and I saw your rock lift into the air and stay there. I wanted to know how.\"\n\n\"I said magic,\" I repeated.\n\n\"Why?\" he asked.\n\n\"It was in the way.\"\n\n\"If you can lift it into the air and move it places, why did you leave it in front of your cave in the first place?\"\n\n\"So that the Invaders wouldn't find my cave,\" I said.\n\n\"Who?\"\n\n\"You,\" I replied.\n\nThe child was silent. \"Oh,\" he said, after a while. \"But why?\"\n\n\"Do you not know what your people did to me? To my family? To my people?\" I spat.\n\n\"Who are your people?\" the boy asked.\n\n\"Did anyone ever tell you about another group of people that lived in this part of the world before you? And there was violence, and your group won? Anything like that?\"\n\n\"Yes. There was a war. My ancestors and their friends came here a long time ago, and they were attacked-\"\n\n\"Stop. Stop. You were not attacked. You attacked us!\" I shouted.\n\n\"W- what?\" the child asked.\n\n\"You came here and we were living fine and we were happy and you came here and killed us all! Now there's only me!\" I was on the verge of tears at this point.\n\n\"But everyone says we were attacked. Everyone says we had to fight for our chance to live on this land, and that the others were evil and you wanted us to leave.\"\n\n\"We wanted you to leave, yes. But we never did anything against you. We wanted you to leave because you were killing us! It doesn't matter now... now there's only me. Now there's only me.\" I sat down on the cold ground and sobbed. The boy did not reply.\n\nEventually, I asked him a question. \"Do you hate the people who your ancestors fought back then?\"\n\n\"No,\" he replied. \"My mom says I shouldn't hate people, only the things that they might do.\"\n\n\"Do you hate me? I was part of that fight.\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Thanks.\"\n\n-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nPart 2 below", "Sweating through my shirt, I held a damp magazine in hand as I waited for the sound of scrambling. I can't let him get away, I thought.\n\nThe latch was undone and the door was opened frantically, as a manically happy man stared into my face. \n\nPerfect. I couldn't have hoped for a better reception. \n\n\"Somebody!\" The middle aged man rejoiced. \"Somebody! You're real! You're alive! I thought I was going insane!\"\n\n\"I know, mister, I am so glad you're home. Times are really tough, aren't they? I didn't think I would find anyone else for as long as I lived, either.\" I said reassuringly. Yes, I thought, work it- work it good\n\n\"How did you find me?\"\n\n\"Well, I was in the neighborhood and thought I would share a little something with you.\"\n\n\"You... were in the neighborhood?\"\n\n\"Sort of. See, I was wondering if you ah... well... have you heard the good news?\"\n\nThe man's face fell flat. All the joy and wonder in his eyes vanished, was replaced with utter contempt. I really thought he was gonna be the one. Before he could say another word, I unrolled the magazine and showed him the cover. It was titled \"Will you survive Armageddon? The Day Draws Near!\"\n\nI read the title verbatim and handed it to him, but he wouldn't move. Slowly, he raised his hand to the door. Then he closed it in my face. From within, I could hear mumbling.\n\nThe door opened quickly, and he looked into my eyes. \"I'm Catholic,\" he said, slamming the door shut again. \n\nI knew I shouldn't have tried. He was on the Do Not Call list, after all. My work is never done, though. Even today, I go knocking on all the doors I find, hoping he wasn't really the last man on Earth. \n\n\n\n\n" ]	3
	[WP] An omnipotent God has decided to give a moment of his eternal time to visit Earth, which he's rather curious of.	[ " God stared down at humanity, His brow furrowed as he looked at the wonders and miseries of His creation, judging whether they were acting according to His will, or rather, in spite of it. He glanced at the entirety of earth; a little drop of water suspended between the lights, its importance staggering low compared to others. Yet, there was something weird to it. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, so He tried looking closer at the tiny planet. Inside the drop He found hundreds, thousands, billions of humanoids walking past each other, talking, fighting, laughing, weaving their narrative out of nothing, almost as if they had assigned a meaning to it. He’d find himself staring at it from time to time, catching snippets of moments of eras. But it was one sunny evening in eternity when He decided to forfeit his duties for a second, leaving His trusted secretary Marvin to tend to omnipotence for a century or so at the most. “It’s only until lunch,” He said to Himself. “Just a tiny century and I’ll pop back.” \n\n Covering His eyes He pointed to the drop, unsure of where He was sending Himself or His consciousness. In a burning flash He was transported, burned into, possessing, living, inside the body of a man. He had just become a him, and to his surprise he was kinda good-looking. The man had a skinny yet firm build, his eyes a shade of gray that captured his attention as he stood fixated in front of a mirror. \n\n “Oh Bill, come to bed. I want you to put that orange wig on again…”, called a voice upstairs. “Coming,” he replied, unsure of whom he was talking to or what a wig was. He flexed his arms and bent his knees, surprised to see they were almost a copy of Him if they had kept the tail, lest they got rid of it to fit into the black clothing he had on. Sadly, he realized, he wouldn’t be able to stay in this man’s body, lest he wanted to experience only the few years before Death came to ruin his good fun. With a snap of fingers He zoomed off, eagerly floating between clouds and birds, his mind already rushing to occupy a new one. With another flash He entered another person, this time a woman several times darker than the last one. He, or well now she, appeared to be in a state of despair, water flowing down her face as each breath came out in sobs. She was sitting on a comfy rectangle, covered by layers and layers of cloth as a man with a headdress appeared on a smaller rectangle in front of her, marching in the thick of night winking at a child inside a box, who curiously, winks back.\n\n She watched with curiosity as the man was led by another stockier, yet annoyingly loud, man who seemed to be ordering him to march on. For a moment or two they walk far, becoming silhouettes until they turn a corner, followed by a large rat-a-tat that echoes throughout the room. It made no sense to her, and she was promptly bored with this woman’s life. So much that she gave an audible sigh and grabbed one of her chest’s humps, dully looking around the room for some sort of entertainment. And so God jumped from person to person, looking for some sort of meaning He expected to discover as time went along, until eventually He found it was almost time for lunch. Desperate for answers he had become it all; a doctor whom he’d found at the ledge of a building, only to fall as he curiously peered over the edge ; a pimp who was in the midst of reproducing with another man, only to find he was cheating on him with one of his women ; a boy born into wealth and fame, slowly becoming addicted to pornography ; a man of faith who was looking for the all-mighty, yet never found him. These and many more He lived and saw, watching decades blur by, leaving him with nothing. Finally He left the drop, frustrated that he had wasted so much time. \n\n “Why is the Boss so mad today?” asked the receptionist to Marvin.\n\n “Don’t know, last time I saw him like this he said ‘We gotta rid ourselves of those fucking lizards’”.\n\nEdit: Formatting\n\t" ]	1
	[WP] The protagonist has already been chosen, and is well on their way. Only problem is, you're the ACTUAL protagonist, and nobody believes you.	[ "As he walked out of the school with his new friends they all knew that things were going to get weird, that they were going to be tested, but they knew they had to do it if they wanted to save the world and that their friendship would pull them through any hardships.\n\n \n\nAnd that made Scrap really really upset. She saw them leaving just as she arrived at the school building but was unable to keep track of them amongst the crowds of students. She sighed to herself and realized she was going to have to find someone who knew where they were going so she could finally meet him and his band. Scrap hid her shortsword in a nearby hedge and marched into the school, getting looks of confusion from most of the students near the door.\n\n \n\n\"Zelda isn't here!\" Shouted one of them, getting a glare from Scrap that made them quickly shut their mouth and go back to what they were doing. Scrap marched through the school looking for someone who would know about him and his friends. She knew her best bet was to presume there would be a pattern, he would be like her and his friends would be like hers. Neither of them was truly original after all.\n\n \n\nShe quickly found a classroom with a teacher who was smiling to himself, rubbing a name off the chalkboard. One that looked like it could have been the name of one of the kids that just set off on the adventure, one of her friends arrived just before the quest started, it would likely be the same for him, this could be her lead.\n\n \n\n\"Where are they going?\" Demanded Scrap as she walked into the classroom, causing the teacher to jump.\n\n\n\n\"What do you mean?\" Asked the teacher, looking up and down the girl's body. \"And why are you in that?\"\n\n \n\n\"I'm Scrap! I'm the one who should be at this school, I'm the one who should have just made a load of friends and just set out to defeat the great evil!\" She insisted as she leaned against one of the desks carefully, worried it might slip backward as she did.\n\n \n\n\"I'm afraid I don't follow you,\" Said the teacher, trying his best to keep a straight face. \"If you were a student at this school you would be breaking basically all of the dress code at once.\"\n\n\n\n\"Because this place all dressed like me until about a week ago!\" Insisted Scrap once more, pushing her body off the desk so hard that it clattered to the ground with a bang that echoed around the empty classroom. The teacher looked on, seemingly now getting worried about this girl, trying to innocuously move so his desk was between them.\n\n \n\n\"I really don't understand, our dress code has been the same since the school's foundation,\" he explained, voice wobbling, partially knowing that the girl wouldn't be satisfied with such an answer, but it was the only one he had.\n\n \n\n\"Because this school didn't exist a week ago!\" Seethed the girl. \"This story was totally different at that point! It was a fantasy story, I was the Princess who was going to take down the evil!\" She continued to insist, stamping her foot on the floor as she did. The teacher looked on bemused, unsure if he should comfort this girl or run from her.\n\n \n\n\"Well, why would that happen?\" Asked the teacher, out of options but trying to avoid an awkward silence.\n\n \n\n\"Because the author changed their mind!\" Insisted Scrap. \"I'm meant to be leading this! That boy that just walked out as part of the big group? The one with the blue glasses?\"\n\n \n\n\"Leaf?\"\n\n \n\n\"Yeah! That was meant to be me! I was going to save the world with sword and magic, but nope, that was too old school, now it's a load of school kids with magical demons inside of them!\" She continued to shout getting gradually more enraged as she continued.\n\n \n\n\"Well Leaf is a nice young man, I'm unsure about him being full of demons that does seem rather,\"\n\n \n\n\"Insane? Not as good as sword and sorcery mixed with some high adventure in a strange and unusual world?\" Interrupted Scrap. \"I know!\"\n\n \n\n\"Look,\" sighed the teacher. \"I don't know what is going on with all of this, I think maybe you need to see the nurse or the counselor, I don't think I can help,\" he explained, trying to sound as friendly as he could in his obvious rejection of the girl's story.\n\n \n\n\"I don't need any of that! I just need to know where Leaf and his merry band went off to!\" She insisted, crossing her arms and letting out a huff of frustration.\n\n \n\n\"They were going to the mall I think, a school club thing,\" blurted the teacher before realizing he shouldn't have told this strange girl that information. \"But don't you dare follow them! You need to talk to someone else first!\" He quickly added but he was far too late, Scrap was already out of the room. She ran through the corridor, her plate armor clinking as she did. She grabbed her sword from the bush and set off towards the mall. She needed to find those kids and take back her title.\n\n \n" ]	1
To clarify you only get one word, but can use it as many times as you want.	[WP] Whenever you shout out a certain word, that thing starts happening around you.	[ "I was thirteen just like everybody else when I chose my word of power. My best friend chose Fire. She never again needed a lighter and was always invited to every barbeque or camp out. I hated how she reacted to spiders though. You shouldn't resolve to magic when you have a phobia.\n\nHer boyfriend was a special number. He had watched Bruce Almighty a few days before his choosening and on a whim is stuck with Pleasure for the rest of his life. I will never figure out if that's the only reason they are together. \n\nI myself had faked illness because the whole year of research and philosophy haven't helped me decide. My mom had organized a wheelchair so I wouldn't get out of it on my third date with the magic council. It was a beautiful ceremony. I was all dressed up in the most expensive dress I've ever worn. Exotix flowers adorned every wall, nook and cranny of the old city hall. \n\nBut my mind raced. The High Mage explained how much or how little control I would have over my power word effects. There would be extensive schooling in and out of regular school. I've filled out forms to attend at least ten courses but never handed them in because I still haden't decided on my word. \n\nThe High Mage stopped talking and glared at me. Fearfully I looked into his steady gaze hoping to find my answer. He asked me if I needed and security measures. I thought back to my friend's ceremony. The burning flowers, the shouts and how amazingly quick the firemen had arrived. I stared at him. He asked me softly what my word would be. I sweated. Would it be ice? Would it be levitation? But I had thought through all the contras and dangers. Frostburn, dead plants and things floating away... The High Mages deep voice cut through my thoughts. Still softly but with a stronger tone he told me I had to decide now. Burned flowers... all the chaos... what could be controlled easier? I didn't want to be a source of chaos. I didn't want to lose control. Everything should be nice and tidy. \n\nI felt the man's hand on my shoulder. Not quite losing his patience he demended I decide. I panicked and said the last thing that went through my mind.\n\n\"CLEAN\" I called. His eyes widened. Tiny pieces of wilted flowers that had fallen under the bouquets vanished. I watched a spiderweb disintegrate. The windows gained a crisp clearness. My skin crawled like I had just exfoliated with a scrub. Everybody's hair fluffed up slightly. \n\nMy magic word was Clean. " ]	1
	[WP] A conversation between Darth Vader and a stormtrooper who just lost his family	[ "Dear Sir,\n\nI have been shown in the files of the Imperial War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Alderaan that you are the father of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.\n\nI feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Empire they died to save.\n\nI pray that our Mighty Emperor may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.\n\nYours, very sincerely and respectfully,\n\nD. Vader" ]	1
	[WP] Your dog tells all her friends about how her brave human bests great evils daily, without fear, such as the dreaded portal to another dimension, the "just stairs, you big dummy", the biweekly match with death known as "bath time", and even the epitome of destruction- the "vacuum."	[ "It was the sixth annual neighborhood congregation, and once again the various representatives of the province had gathered to discuss the on-goings of the world. To any human overlooking the event, this was just another Spring morning at the neighborhood dog park, but in the canine world, it was the event of the season. All the members of the Honorary Canine Council were going to be present, including the head, a feisty Chihuahua by the name of Roxi. Even the most blood-thirsty Rottweilers and the ever-imposing German Shepards looked up to her, as she was the prophet, the one chosen by the gods to bear witness of their incredible acts, and enlighten the populace of their impossible feats. \n\n\"Order! Order! I realize it's Spring and the trails are fresh, but we are not animals for Christ's sake!\"\n\nAn odd calm suddenly fell upon the park as dogs ceased their habitual rear-sniffing and tail-chasing, and they all came to surround a small figure in the grass. \n\n\"Today I come to you with news. Once again, I have born witness to the miraculous work of our benevolent gods, and after much reflection, I must share with you the sheer audacity of the humans.\"\n\nThere were mixed reactions among the crowd. The Shih-tzu, with their kind nature, were as intrigued as usual, and the Yorkies, albeit their smug attitude, seemed to only be feigning boredom. Most dogs gathered seemed interested and attentive, even the rowdy pups. All but one, a Poodle named Leon who happened to be particularly full of himself. With a scoff, he announced:\n\n\"Oh sure, are you going to feed us more lies about their insurmountable strength, about their heroic fights with the suction monsters or their keen ascents into the heavens? Please! These humans, they are nothing but morons! What we see are misconceptions of useless beings, creatures unfit for rule.\"\n\nRoxi began to snarl. There was palpable tension in the air, all dogs suddenly tense, ready for a fight. Even in the dead stillness of the park you could see dogs taking sides, ready to spring into action, or bolt towards safety. The Alpha had been defied, and a power struggle was sure to follow. \n\nRoxi, being the seasoned leader she was, suddenly eased up and let out a light chuckle. This broke the tension, merely due to the confusion of the crowd. \n\n\"You poodles and your arrogant character. Especially you, Leon, all young and fiery. You have such a long road ahead of you if you ever want to truly lead this council. \n\nLeon, insulted and disrespected, began to snarl furiously. But before he had any time to react, Roxi was in his face, looking him dead in the eye. \n\n\"Do you not see, all that humans do?! Of course we are easily amazed, we do not even have thumbs! But truly think about what the humans are, for this is what I wanted to address today in the first place!\"\n\nLeon, confronted in front of the pack, realized his inferiority, and lowered his ears. He slowly came down to the ground, acknowledging defeat. Roxi, not breaking presence, turned and began to pace, speaking to the council as a whole. \n\n\"As many of you might know, I have been staring at death in the face. I am old, and have led this council for many generations now, but my time is soon to come. In my recent visits to the vet, I have seen things which I never thought real. Humans, taking hours and hours to save a canine life. Working for days without rest, simply to accommodate us. These humans, they are gods, not due to their feats of strength or ability, but due to their capacity to love. Yes, we all know how affectionate they are, and how caring they can be. But I've seen humans break down and cry, come down to the lowest of levels, because one of us passed. We don't even mourn our dead like that!\"\n\nDogs were suddenly whimpering and howling, agreeing with the realization as it dawned on them. \n\n\"We should not praise them, as we always have, because of their courage whilst fighting the mighty vacuum and traveling through the immensity of the world. We should praise them for their humanity, for what makes them stand out from all other animals and creatures, and for their decision to pour so much of it into us. Today I leave, and I most likely will not return, but I leave you with one final prophecy to live by: These humans, fools as they might be, are our fools. And despite their inability, despite their ignorance and hardheadedness, it is because of this that we will never find anyone or anything which will love us just as much.\" \n\n" ]	1
	[WP] The hero knows only that the gloves are off; the villain isn't holding back and is fighting harder than they ever have before. The villain knows only what their wife said if they're late for dinner just ONE more time...	[ "The Arbiter glared at the villain, but he knew he was defeated. \"Alright, Doctor. You'll get what you want.\"\n\n\"Giving up already?\" Dr. Diablo chuckled. \"I expected a little more fight out of you. Where's the man with the plan?\"\n\n\"Well. You crippled my sidekick, destroyed my car, broke my wrist, and you've currently got me on the wrong end of a death ray that can bring down a skyscraper. I don't know how you've become so much stronger, but I know a losing fight when I see one.\"\n\nThe Arbiter looked at his wrist communicator and tapped a few buttons. \"I'm giving the order. The ransom you demanded will be delivered by helicopter at 17:32 PM exactly. The police will not pursue you afterwards.\"\n\nHe shot the villain another glare. \"Don't think this is over. I don't let-\"\n\n\"Wait, it's already after 5:00?\" The Doctor interjected, a note of fear in his voice.\n\nThe Arbiter nodded.\n\n\"No, no, no! I lost track of time!\" The Doctor screamed. \"This can't be happening! Not when I was so close!\"\n\nHe turned and pointed a black-gloved finger at the nearest minion. \"You there! You're in charge now! Handle this!\"\n\nThe man gave him a dumbfounded look. \"Sir?\"\n\n\"I have an important matter to take care of. One where I cannot afford even a minute's delay. And that means that you need to handle this! And if I end up being late because I need to explain how a hostage exchange works to your tiny brain, you are going straight into the shark tank! *Do I make myself clear?\"\n\nThe minion swallowed nervously. \"Yes sir. Crystal clear.\"\n\nThe superhero watched the villain run* to his hovercraft and disappear into the night. His expression turned from surprise, to confusion, until finally settling into a predatory smile.\n\nHe rose to his feet, dusted off his cape, and looked at the trembling henchmen surrounding him.\n\n\"Well. Looks like your boss had dinner reservations or something. Shall we try this again?\"", "People always underestimated the power Bills wife wielded. Yea, Bill. Strange name for a shadow lord right, but it’s the one he was born with. In his professional setting he went by ‘The Red Mist’ but he was sure people were constantly whispering his real name behind his back. It didn’t matter. None had the courage to say it to his face, save his wife.\n\n“Bill, hear me well,” she had started before he left their finely furnished lair shortly after noon, “If you’re late for dinner tonight I’m going to eviscerate you and you know damn well I can. Murder your enemies, kidnap children, fucking steal candy, I don’t care but if you arrive just one millisecond after 6:30, I will rend the flesh from your bones.”\n\nHer truly terrifying threat was made more chilling by the casual way she had delivered it, with a smile on her lips as if she was just a normal wife wishing her husband a good day. \n\nThe peck that she gave him on the cheek was customary. The stiff walk he took briskly to the steep drop off known as the Burning Pits was not. He had been late for dinner occasionally, he knew it pissed her off but he never received this level of anger from her. He considered if a bouquet of roses crafted from the frozen blood of her father could alleviate her anger when he got home. That was a few hours ago.\n\nHe had tried to stay away from any real engagements when he headed out. He finished things that he knew would be quick, the odd flaying alive here, decapitation there but he got caught up with this bastard. The Knight of the Shimmering Isles, or whatever the fuck. Bill knew him as that asshole with a sword infused with the tormented souls of kings past. What kind of a sword was that for a hero to use anyway? Who was the real villain here?\n\nBut he had gotten caught up with this battle in the ruins of a floating castle for far too long. He desperately whipped spells and summoned vile demons with no flair at all, it was embarrassing. Given time he knew he could have crushed this pretentious youth perhaps even taking leisurely breaks to taunt him, but time wasn’t on his side today. He had exactly thirty more minutes to get this wrapped up and get home. Bill waved his hands in the air and brought them down in a clawing motion as if he was raking dirt with his fingers. Dark orbs materialized behind the asshole and raced to his exposed back. \n\nThe Knight turned and deflected them easily with his sword but it gave Bill enough time to slip behind a shattered pillar and have a quick word with wife. He linked his ring fingers and preformed a connecting spell. The clear air in front of him swirled and blinked blue when she accepted the connection.\n\n“Uhh, dear? I’m running late. Is there any way you could let m-” she cut him off.\n\n“Bill honey, if you’re not here on time I won’t even bother waiting until you come home. I’ll come to you.” Her voice was truly angry now and Bill heard something splinter in the background. She had probably brought her fist down on a table. \n\n“But dear, please listen! I didn’t choose this! He-” Bill paused to duck glass birds casted by the asshole.\n\n“You heard me.” Her voice was iron, she cut the connection.\n\nBill muttered to himself and stood up. The glass birds were swooping in for another attack. He slapped them away with a dismissive backhand and rushed at the Knight. The knight held his sword up high over one shoulder anticipating a quick kill but when he swung Bill disappeared.\n\nBill materialized in a shower of sparks and red feathers right outside his house. The neat trick cost a staggering amount of magic so he didn't preform it often, plus he hated sweeping up the damn feathers. He rushed in quickly hoping that word would never spread about him fleeing from an opponent and found his wife setting the table. She beamed and happily encircled him in her arms. \n\n“Oh Bill you made it.” She gave him a loving kiss and brushed a feather from his hair. “I was worried I would have to kill you.”\n\nA few minutes into dinner is when Bill remembered it was their anniversary. No wonder she had been adamant about him not being late. He smiled and mulled over an appropriate gift as he chewed honey roasted duck but of course the asshole had to ruin the moment. He kicked in the door and pointed his sword at Bill.\n\n“How did you even get here?” Bill yelled incredulously, his voice slightly muffled by the food in his mouth.\n\n“You have no honor! You would run from a fight? You cannot escape fate!” the knight spat.\n\nHis wife waved a hand and bone spikes erupted from the knights’ skin and armor punctuating the momentary silence with a metal screech. The knight fell over without a sound.\n\n“You’re cleaning that up.” She said. She poked her fork into a steamed broccoli and eyed Bill.\n\n“Of course, dear.” Bill croaked.", "\"Seventh Son. Are you going to come quietly?\" The modulated voice of Techsuit asked me.\n\nHe stood over me, waiting patiently for me to decide if I wanted to keep fighting. Ugh. I wanted to tell him that there was such a thing as a sore winner, but I didn't really have the energy.\n\nOne solid hour. For one hour, Techsuit and I had flown across the city, battling each other in what I certainly hoped the news would say was the most epic fight of the year. I had magic on my side, which normally made me unstoppable. Techsuit had invented some kind of magic-deflection device, however. I had to rely on environmental attacks - use magic to transmute air to ice, then blast him with that - and I'd gotten too used to using magic directly. It meant we were evenly matched, and so the victory went to the person with the most stamina. Which meant it went to the person who might as well be a robot.\n\n\"Well?\" Techsuit asked.\n\nI considered, briefly, if I could continue the fight, but why bother? I was at least thirty minutes late at this point.\n\n\"It's our anniversary,\" I managed to croak out.\n\n\"Huh?\" Techsuit asked. \"You mean, like, of the first time I fought you?\"\n\nThat had been a decisive win for me so I wouldn't have minded reminiscing about it if I didn't have more pressing concerns. \"No,\" I said. \"Me and my wife. Our anniversary is today.\"\n\n\"Well,\" Techsuit said, \"that's sweet and all, but I'm afraid it doesn't really excuse you from trying to rob a bank.\"\n\n\"That was just cover!\" I admitted bitterly. \"A villain of my status can't just walk into a flower store or a bakery and make an order, and robbing either would be almost as embarrassing.\"\n\n\"You've lost me,\" Techsuit said.\n\n\"The bank was next door to the bakery, and across the street from the flower store.\" I explained slowly. \"But now, thanks to you, I'm late for my anniversary dinner, and my wife will not be pleased.\"\n\n\"That's what you're worried about right now?\" Techsuit asked.\n\n\"Listen,\" I said, \"you and I both know that Lockford Prison is a revolving door and it'll be three months tops before I either break our or am broken out. But my wife? She will never forget this. Ever.\"\n\nTechsuit appeared to be thinking about what I'd said. I briefly considered gathering what little power I had remaining and blasting him, before realizing it wouldn't work and also that lying on the ground was far more restful.\n\n\"I've verified your orders at the bakery and flower shop,\" Techsuit said. \"It appears you are telling the truth.\"\n\nI didn't reply, having exhausted my supply of words and energy to speak them.\n\n\"I propose a deal, Seventh Son.\" Techsuit said.\n\nNow that was interesting. I was completely beaten, why bother to deal? I nodded to indicate that I was listening.\n\nTechsuit continued: \"You are aware that the Aegis Fortress has a time machine?\"\n\nI chuckled. \"Last year, me, Monstkillicus, and Doctor Von Doomhammer tried to rob it, remember?\"\n\nTechsuit didn't seem amused. \"I am merely reminding you. I would be willing to allow you to use this machine.\"\n\n\"And the catch is?\" I asked. As much as Techsuit was a hero, I sincerely doubted that he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart.\n\n\"That you swear, on your power, to give up your life of crime.\"\n\nThere it was. Dammit, why did he have to know the details about magic? Regular people could swear oaths all day long and have no comeuppance whatsoever about breaking them, but for me it was different. If I broke my oath, I'd end up powerless at best. On the other hand, if it'd get me to my wife on time....\n\n\"Isn't it usually the villains making the hero choose between their loved ones and something else?\" I asked, stalling.\n\n\"Yes.\" Techsuit replied, not giving me the additional time. \"Decide.\"\n\n----\n\n\"Wow,\" Shirley said, \"look at that. The news is reporting a huge fight happening downtown between Techsuit and some other villain.\"\n\nOrdinarily I'd be annoyed that I hadn't made the headlines, but it worked in my favor this time. \"Yeah,\" I said. \"Aren't you glad I'm not out in that?\"\n\nShirley smiled. \"Yes. I am. You know, I really appreciate that you remembered our anniversary. And got me flowers and cake. And wasn't made late by fighting in something like that,\" she said, waving toward the television which was still reporting on my concurrent fight with Techsuit.\n\n\"Actually, honey,\" I said. \"I think I'm ready to retire.\"" ]	3
	[WP] You are a humble villager in a generic fantasy world. Everyone awaits the prophecised hero. One day a wandering magician enters your village and exclaims: "Alas, you are the one I was looking for - the harbringer of doom - the antagonist! Now go forth and wreak havoc!"	[ "Now of course, this makes no sense. I've always been an upstanding kid, the worst thing I've done is accidentally squashing an ant's nest,\n\n\"wha-what?\" You exclaim, eyes widening and mind slowly working\n\"yes yes, I'm sure it's all very confusing for you, but if we want this great hero to become a true legend, he needs a vicious, evil foe to vanquish! even better if it's one that's been corrupted.\"\n\"but-but I'm not an evil!\"\n\"Yeah, leave him alone! take Jack T. Ripper if you need a villain, he's weird!\" screams one of my friends, tears gathering in the corners of his widened eyes.\n\"Silence.\" spoke the magician, engulfing the town in a flame\n\"AAAAHHHGGGHGgaarrbbllll\" came the screams of the burning townsfolk\n\"alright, now you're going to need some gear to start, here's a spell to hold monsters and demons captive and the key to an inter-spatial library.\"\n\"WHO ARE YOU, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!\"\n\"I'm just one of the adventurer's party, and he's much, much worse than me.\"\n\"I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL KILL YOU ALL!\"\n\"You have 6 years, now begone, peasant.\"\n\nThe magician dissapeared without a trace, and it wasn't long before great wolves took to the town, eating the burning townsfolk and livestock.\n\nThis is how I became the harbinger of doom, the one who fights the 'great hero', the one who takes revenge.", "There’s not much reason to visit El’Terrif. It’s not even a village, so much as a codified collection of farms with a shared warehouse that serves as a meeting hall, church, and on rare occasion refuge from natural disasters. So when the dirty robed figure made his way to my farm, of all places, he stood out. Perhaps in any tavern or inn, he would have been generic enough to blend in, but here he was as much of an outsider as fire on a field.\n\n“Well met, old man,” I waved him down. I wanted him to know that I saw him, so that if he was up to some ill will he’d have to be forward about it.\n\n“Well met, young man!” he seemed cheery enough. A little too cheery. I didn’t wish to put my guard down. “I have been told that a man by the name of Johnisto lives here. Might that be you?”\n\nI frowned for a moment, thinking to myself how best to proceed. “Why would you ask?” Already, I knew this individual was trouble.\n\n“I have a great message to share, for the ears of Johnisto only! And pray tell, the stars have delivered me here, so I must only assume you are the one whom I am looking for?”\n\nShort and to the point, I grunted. “Sure, yeah, that’s me. What do you want? I’ve got a lot of work to do, and not a lot of time to do it in.”\n\n“A lot of work to do, indeed! And even less time to do it in than you expect!”\n\nI knew what was coming from here.\n\n“You are, of course, aware of the legend of The Goddess’s Chosen One, who will save us from these dark and trying times?” That was rather former wording, from someone who did not appear to be a priest.\n\n“I am aware of it. Some hero who will eradicate all the beasts who are the Children of the Shadow, and bring us into a New Age. Kind of hard not to.”\n\n“And you are aware of the Demon King, who will harness this rebellion of the Shadow, before being defeated in glorious battle by-“\n\n“I said I’m aware of the story, old man. Spit it out.”\n\n“It’s you! Good sire, you are the destined one!”\n\nI rolled my eyes, holding back my true thoughts on the matter. “So you come all the way out here, to let me know that I am the hero destined to save the world.” I hoped my words came off blunt and flat. I already knew the retort that was coming.\n\n“No, no, it is nothing like that. Quite the opposite! It is you destined to lead the Children of the Shadow to the ultimate battle! You alone who shall gather all the forces of Evil!”\n\n“That sounds suspicious,” I again said, walking towards the field because I still had work to do. “How did you come to this conclusion?”\n\n“We have read the stars, and the stones. We have prayed to the Goddess for guidance, and summoned Demons who would know the answers. We have eaten the entrails of sheep, and done the most focused of drugs. We have spoken with fae and fairy alike. This much we know to be true. You, Johnisto. You are the antagonist this world needs to bring the world to a new era!”\n“OK,” I said, again dryly. \n\nThe traveler was silent for a moment as I went back to work. He then spoke again, “I don’t think you understand. There’s much work to be done here! You must go forth, and wreak havoc upon the world!”\n\n“Sure, I guess, as soon as I’m done feeding the animals, I will get right to it.”\n\n“Somehow, sir, you don’t sound very genuine.”\n\nI stopped for a moment, dead faced. “Let’s assume for a moment your story was correct. Let’s assume that I am some sort of main villain in your silly parable.”\n\n“No need to assume, because it is true, as has been proph-“\n\n“Would you really want to be in my way? I’m being nice here. You’ve got until I’m done with what needs to be done here. If you’re still around when I’m done, you’ll get to see some of that havoc firsthand. “\n\nI expected the traveler to be scared, but instead he seemed delighted. “Yes, yes! This is all so very good to hear. As you command, Your Darkness, I shall leave. Should you destroy me, it would be my honor.” And then he actually bowed before leaving. I watched him go.\n\nTruth be told, everything he said I had already known. The prophecy, the story, the tale of a dark hero who needed to salt the lands before they grew anew under the Goddess of Light and her chosen one. But being approached so boldly, this was a new one. I’d need to be more careful. I’d need to make sure further intrusions were less likely to happen. At least this traveler was absolutely stupid, taking me at face value. The next traveler, or worst yet set of adventurers, might not be so dumb.\n\n“Pa?” I turned my head to see my only son looking at me.\n\n“Sorry, I was lost in thought.”\n\n“I finished feeding the mules, and the wagon is fixed. Did you want me help with the mare?”\n\nI put an arm around my son in a reassuring way. He was almost a young man in his own right. I couldn't protect him forever, but I'd do it as long as I could, both for his sake and the world's. \n\n“Sure, Johnisto. She’s a troublesome one, but the two of us together should straighten her out.\"\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] "You might want to sit down for this."	[ "\"Who are you?\" Katherine repeated.\n\nShe had the pistol pointed at the female intruder, trying to calm the tremor in her hand. \"I'm not gonna ask you again.\"\n\n\"My name is Rosie,\" the intruder said, finally, with her palms faced outward and her voice soft and pretty. \"We know each other, Katherine,\" Rosie said. \"Well, we did know each other, once. You might want to sit down for this.\"\n\nKatherine's body language wasn't threatening. It was easy to read. The tremor in her hand and the intense look in her eyes were giveaway signs that she'd never fired a gun, and she didn't want to start now. She was taller than Rosie, but even while holding a .25, she slouched, making herself smaller. It was how people responded to women like Rosie.\n\n\"Get out of my house,\" Katherine said.\n\n\"I'm not here to hurt you,\" Rosie said, taking a sideways shuffle toward the antique sofa. \"I just want to talk. Please, let's--\"\n\n\"Get away from the safe and get out of my goddamn house,\" Katherine said.\n\n\"Please,\" Rosie pleaded, gesturing toward the sofa. \"Give me one minute to explain. Please, Katherine. Take a seat.\" Rosie sat, herself, and rubbed the cushion with her hand.\n\nKatherine considered it. She did. As she tried to hold the gun steady, she played each scenario in her head, what this woman Rosie might possibly say. She would tell some story, some saga, we did know each other once, and she would ask if Katherine was happy, truly happy, are you happy living like this, Katherine, and she probably wouldn't believe Katherine's answer, or she might try to lie to her, because she seemed like someone who lied, or like someone who got her way, and --\n\nThere Katherine was, considering the offer from Rosie, when a shot rang out from behind her. A third person.\n\nKatherine fell.\n\nRosie jumped to her feet.\n\n///\n\nScene #96 of /r/100scenes", "Steve Henderson stood at the tee of the fifteenth hole with his best friend Paul.\n\nPaul smacked the ball which skewered to left, landing in the rough.\n\n“Wow! I might actually win this time,” Steve said.\n\n“In twenty years you’ve never beaten me, don’t think that’s gonna change now bud.”\n\n“I came close a couple of times Paul, but you were always the better golfer, you should’ve turned pro.”\n\n“I have no regrets now, I’m an old man... I’ve lived my life to the fullest,” Paul said. “What’s the score Teddy boy?” Paul questioned the young caddy.\n\n“It’s a tie... three under par,” Ted replied.\n\n“I’m gonna beat you, Paul, if it’s the last thing I do.” Steve grabbed his bag and started the walk to the next hole.\n\nAt the last hole Steve was favourite to win, not that he played a rather great game but more so due to Paul having a horrible game.\n\n“Something’s been off about you all weekend,” Steve said. “Is there something wrong?”\n\nPaul simply puts the last ball into the hole, meaning that for the first time since they’d been coming to the golf course almost every weekend, Steve had won.\n\nThe rest of the day was rather uneventful as the two men spoke about their past serving in the military during the Korean war.\n\nPaul gave his long time friend a rather unusual long hug before leaving for the week.\n\n\nThe next weekend Steve walked into the reception of the country club, greeting the staff he’d become so familiar with. He noticed that Paul’s daughter Avery sat at one of the wooden benches that were at the start of the course.\n\n“Avery! My dear! How nice to see you!” Steve said. “How have you been?”\n\n“I’m... okay Mr Henderson,” Avery said.\n\nSteve noticed that something didn’t seem right about Avery. “Is something wrong?” Steve questioned.\n\n“You might want to sit down for this,” Avery said tapping the bench lightly.\n\nSteve took a seat next to Paul’s daughter.\n\nAvery held his hand. “Dad... passed away this morning,” Avery could barely finish her sentence before bursting into tears.\n\nSteve's stomach turned as he came to tears. " ]	2
	[WP] Write a chase scene between two or more people.	[ "I still in shock at the sight in front of me. I dare not move as the blood slowly leaks from the cuts on the man’s wrists as he hangs suspended from the tree. The two soldiers, dressed for business and ready to attack anyone else who so much as look at them wrongly, joke between themselves. As they shake the body down, looking for any other treasures he may have hidden on his person, my leg begins to cramp. I bare it as long as I can before the pain becomes too much. I shift my weight to the left and move to stretch my leg out when a branch snapped. I stilled again, this time for an entirely different reason. I slowly look up and see the cold eyes of the two soldiers fixed on me. The world stills, the leaves stop rustling on the trees and the distant rivers stops roaring. \n\nI see the moment they make the decision and I pivot on my foot, cramp forgotten. I push off the balls of my feet, last autumn leaves slippery on the floor. The grass whips around my feet, dry twigs grasping at my ankles as if trying to hold me back for the men behind me. I tear away through the forest, sprinting like wolves are at my back. In a manner of speaking they are. I weave through the trees, ducking to avoid the odd low hanging branch. My feet find a steady rhythm, and my breathing evens out. I can hear the two soldiers behind me, calling out to each other, trying to formulate a plan. These men are trained to kill, trained to march tens of miles a day. The only advantage I have is that I know the area better than they, and I have the luxury of having no burden whereas they are carrying heavy packs. \n\nI whip my head back to see where they are, their voices having gone quiet. As I face forward I run full force into a tree branch that catches around my throat. Dark flickers on the edges of my sight as I struggle to breathe. I cough and splutter as I get onto my knees. I still, trying to muffle the sounds of my laboured breathing. I rise slowly noting that even the birds in the trees have stilled. The river roars to my right, much louder than before. The two men are nowhere to be seen.\n\nA cross bow arrow shoots from nowhere, and I have barely enough time to register it before it is upon me. I curve my neck to the side and it nicks the side, drawing blood that trickles down onto my old ragged shirt. It embeds deep into the wood of the tree that had knocked me down. My eyes wide I let out the breath I hadn't known I was holding. I follow the trajectory of the bolt to see one of the soldiers hidden in the undergrowth, a cruel smile playing on his lips. His friend is nowhere in sight. Wasting no more time, I pivot and sprint. The trees become denser, both a blessing and a curse. Nettles leave unsolicited kisses on my calves, their touch stinging. This part of the forest must have caught the worst of the storm that past this way two nights ago. I hurdle over fallen trees, sliding under those with enough space. \n\nSo focused am I on staying upright and my footing sure that I didn't hear the sounds of my pursuers. More specifically, I didn't hear the sound of the wolf-hybrid that tackled me out of the air from the left. We writhe on the ground as I try to keep its sharp teeth from sinking in my neck. There is nothing I can do about the claws that shred against my chest, leaving gaping wounds. I cry in pain, reaching out for anything that might help. My fingers catch a loose rock and once they find purchase I bring it swinging into the side of the beasts head with the full force of my strength. The dog lets out a whimper of pain as he slides off me, quickly recovering to face me again. I struggle to my feet and reach down to my boot, taking hold of the hunting knife. We face each other, he shaking the pain off and me barely standing, trying to protect the wounds now bleeding fully. The sounds of the soldiers echo towards us, calling for the beast to finish the attack.\n\nSweat trickles down the back of my neck, mingling with the blood staining my shirt. He lunges forwards and jumps up to reach my face with his canines. I duck down and slide under him, lifting my knife as I do so. It grazes across its abdomen eliciting an angry growl. The beast lands a whirls around with a speed that only animals possess. He sinks his teeth into my side and I cry out, full well knowing that with each cry the soldiers pinpoint my position. That with each moment they gain a little more ground. I spin the knife round in my hand so that the blade faces down my arm and I thrust it into the beast’s chest, as deep as its teeth are in me. Blood spills out as I sink it deeper so that only the weathered hilt remains. Only then does the beast let go. \n\nI struggle away as the dog sighs its last breaths. I breathe heavily, clutching a hand to my side. There’s no way I can out run them now. Hearing the sounder of thundering water, I stumble away in the opposite direction from where the dog came from, the sound of its master growing closer. I move as quickly as I can, another bolt finding home in my shoulder. I keep going till I reach the cliffs and I fall to my knees as in one of the puddles of water. Mist dusts my hair and forehead, mingling with the blood and sweat. The two mercenary shoulders appear from the trees, eyes filled with anger, hatred and determination. Whoever they were, whoever that man had been in the forest, they didn't want any witnesses. I glance to the edge of the cliff and know that they see my thoughts clear through the mist. \n\n\"What's it to be boy? Death by river or death by blade? The destination remains the same.\"\n\nI sag as the waves of pain rack up my body, heat radiating from the cross bolt in my back especially. I reach up and pull out the bolt, barbs pulling at the flesh. It feels sticky in my hand and as I sniff the head I know that this isn't any ordinary bolt. As the realization strikes me I feel the growing nausea. My head goes woozy and my eyes stop focusing. For a moment I see double, four soldiers before me, each moving forwards. I take a step back and as my eyes clear, I turn and jump into the the torrent below." ]	1
The genie tries to make the wish something that would help all of humanity and not just the single person.	[WP] You are a genie that always tries to twist a wish for the benefit of humankind.	[ "\"I wish.... I wish for a billion dollars!\" The young teen shouts. I sigh deeply and resist the urge to kick the boy in the head. Another dumb and selfish wish from another selfish human. Why can't they all get along and help each other? I've been granting wishes for the past couple of centuries now, and it's like humans are a replaying record. Always requesting the same wishes every time they find my lamp. I think I'm in the twenty first century now, and I've been found behind an old dump by some young guy that was searching for a new bike.... or an old bike considering we are in a dump. \n\n\"Is that you first wish?\" I say in my usual deep voice, all for effect of course. \n\"Yes!\" He proudly states as I snap my fingers. Silence quickly ensues as the male clears his throat. \n\"Where is it?\" He stammers and I wave around my arms. \"Two hundred million people in the world just found five dollars in their pocket\" I state. That ought to brighten up someone's day. By the way, if you've ever found five dollars mysteriously, you can thank me for that. \n\"What? That's BS!\" The male exclaims and grunts. \n\"I want another wish then!\" He says in a spoilt tone as I nod my head, holding up two fingers. \n\"Two more\" I taunt slightly. Granting wishes is always fun for selfish humans. \n\n\"Uhm... I want superpowers!\" The young man exclaims. Ooo! A vague wish, I love those. They give me so much to work with. With a click of my fingers, the wish is completed. The male waits expectantly for something to happen. \n\"Well? How do I do it. Can I shoot lazers or what?\" The man says excitedly. \n\"You should have said lazers... you now have the ability to heal wounds and pain! Of course, you can never accept any money for your good deeds\" I say with a nod of my head. I don't want the kid to go charging people for his talents after all. That wouldn't be very nice. The boy grunts and chucks the lamp down to the ground with a scowl. \n\n\"I wish you weren't such a stupid genie!\" He shouts before I click my fingers. Of course, I wasn't such a stupid genie before but I'm a little smarter now. \n\"That's all three wishes\" I say with a slight smirk before being sucked back into the golden lamp. The boy quickly turns around and begins kicking a can around angrily. Perhaps he will learn to be a little less selfish in life. I can't wait for the next human to come along. " ]	1
	[WP] Civilization didn't collapse until after solar panels became ubiquitous, so the post-apocalyptic wastelands still have plenty of working smartphones and social media.	[ "Alright, wassup everyone! It's me GatorX here with another one of these wasteland, scavenger slog things. I know they're pretty new, so if you've got any suggestions and ideas just drop me a comment down below, and I'll be sure to check it out when I can! But otherwise, as always, like the video if you enjoy it and please consider subscribing, it means a lot to me. And with that, play the music!\"\n\n_minimalistic music playing in the background, which gets louder between dialogue pieces_\n\n\"Oh would you look at this! My god today is lucky for me. For those of you who don't know what it is that I'm ogling over, this is a micro compressor piece. It looks foreign in design but that's all right, because I got that retrofitting kit yesterday down at the trade off deal. I did a whole other video on that, which should be in the screen now, which I urge you to check out. But otherwise, this is pretty key, and with this I'm one leap further down the secret project which I'm revealing next month.\"\n\n_scenic montage of desolated landscape_\n\n_cut to GatorX_\n\n\"Alright guys, it's gonna start getting pretty dark soon, and you know that we don't want to get caught out here below ten Lux levels, but what caught my eye were these animal tracks over here behind this old pickup shell. Hard to distinguish what it is, but it seems big. And you know what I say about big mutagenicts? Big meat! He he. We gonna eat fine tonight folks. I'll keep you, updated!\"\n\n_Snap to darkness after sunset time lapse_\n\n\"Alright, well we didn't catch what ever it was that left those tracks. But it's alright, because I've got a decent stockpile back at camp, if he guys haven't eaten it all. Lol, best prank of 2053!. But seriously, I'm gonna start hurrying up the pace. It was interesting doing this livestream vlog, but I'm keen to try it again. You all wanted to see how it works for me, and I thought this would be the best way to do, so! Anywaaaaay, my patreon is down below if you want to support me, like and subscribe if you haven't done so already, and as always: stay frosty guys. See'ya!\"\n\n>My Patreon!\n>My Twitter!\n>Insta!\n>Promo codes: GatorXd5j" ]	1
	[WP] You order a pedigreed poodle online, but when the package arrives, you realize you actually accidentally ordered a pedigreed... hellhound.	[ "It wasn't quite what I was expecting that morning, when I opened up the door of my apartment. Well, I was expecting something of the canine variety, just not...that. \n\nThe box was about the size of a crate you would ship some kind of tiny motorcycle in. An awful smelling wooden crate, more than likely from my new companion's lack of a proper toilet. They must have been feeding him rotten eggs all night long.\n\nI had dragged the box, fumbling through my tiny doorway, and stopped towards the center of the room and made for my couch. The lack of movement or noise had me worried at first. Also, the seemingly dead weight of the dog. I moved it by myself, but holy hell, I was exhausted when I plopped down to catch my breath and examine the damned thing.\n\nThe wood had been stained with a blood red spatter and a little cartoon devil was painted directly in the middle. Slipped into the slot on the side was what appeared to be a letter. As I got up to grab the letter, I took pause. Should probably let the little guy out. I pressed my ear against the box and could hear the faint breathing of my new friend. Tiny snores too. Aw, the little puppy was sleeping. That just melted my heart. I smiled and grabbed the letter and sat down. Tearing it open and glancing it over, my jaw dropped. Surely, this had to be a joke. Of course, it wasn't, as I now know. I can even recite that letter verbatim as it has been drilled into my head in ways I never thought possible.\n\n> \"Dear Reader,\n> \n> Congratulations on your purchase of a new life long companion. Not many choose a companion quite like yours, as such, it has kept our offices buzzing like a beehive. We wish you and your new companion many years of, well, whatever you are up to. Please note, that we do wish to offer any and all of ourselves to you. Free of charge, of course. Well, except for exchanges, or refunds,....or late night abandoning in the bin around the corner from the office. We just can't have that! Plus, we know you would never do that to your new wonderful pal!\n> \n> We are happy to say that you are the first to order a pure-blood Hellhound. I mean, I know that we promised all our customers here at Dogflix that any breed would be possible to be delivered straight to your doorstep, and sir, we take our mission seriously.\n> \n> After contacting multiple unnamed cults and devil worshipers, joining said cults under the guise of manic followers, then ultimately betraying the Dark Lord himself, we finally got you your very own companion!\n> \n> Now, a bit about the dog. His name is Infant Destroyer. He is First Generation Hellhound. Commander of the Hellhound Battalion in the Underworld and Hitler's AA sponsor. He's also Beelzebub's and I quote: \"His happy, laffy, scruffy, luffy, pretty boy, Lord and King of all Doghell.\"\n> \n> Oh, yeah that's a thing too. Doghell. We didn't get to go, but thought we would throw you a heads up. It's real. It exists. He's probably gonna wanna visit his girlfriend, or something While we are on the subject, know what doesn't exist down there? Cats. They get the free ride up no matter what. Boy, is your face red by now.\n> \n> But we digress. Aren't you so lucky? You got your very own hell hound! We hope you have a long and happy life together. Please, remember fondly of Dogflix during you assault on all of us heathens.\n> \n> Many roofs! and bowwows!,\n> \n> -Dogflix\n\nI folded the letter up and put it back onto the box. Went to the kitchen, grabbed a beer, came back and sat down. Thinking. Thinking hard about my life. What the hell did I do? What the hell do I do?\n\nThis can't be real. I just can't. Total joke. But is it a joke? I mean it has to be! But still...\n\nSuddenly the hell hound started barking, flames roaring out of the side of the box. The neighbor across the way started banging on my door and yelling. I jump up to answer it. Better face that dude, than face Satan's favorite pet.\n\nI opened the door to, \"What the fuck is going on over there, Andy!?\"\n\n\"Nothing, Don, just the TV on too loud. Damn that Animal Planet!\"\n\nDon tried to crane his head to see into my apartment but I stood in front, blocking his view. He eyed me up and down, then hacked up a huge loogie and spit it on my door.\n\n\"Better clean that mess up before the Super comes by!\" he laughed obnoxiously as he made his way back into his place. Door shutting behind him.\n\nI sighed, looked at the loogie, then knew what I had to do. Time to move one heavy ass box to in front of his door.\n\nAbout 3 hours later, I had come back from having a delightful date with Melody, a very pretty co-worker, when I noticed something happening in my complex.\n\nPeople had all lined up in the main square. About a hundred, shoulder to shoulder, just lined up. Shaking, crying, but not moving. I hid around the corner as to not get caught up in this mess when I saw it.\n\nThat greasy motherfucker Don apparently had opened Infant Destroyer's crate, dressed them both in Nazi gear and were just parading around. I knew in this moment I made a monumental mistake. I hauled ass out of there so quick and decided to call the cops.\n\nI crash at a friend's a couple towns over for a couple days. I find out later on the news that apparently, some crazy asshole fell for a marketing scheme for Halloween. They said they sent him some dog that he didn't even order and thought it was a real hell hound. Thought it was about time that the proper race seize the world and all kinds of hateful shit. We around and started hacking loogies into people's faces. Real nasty stuff.\n\nI kinda dodged a bullet with that one, but at least its over and I learned my lesson. Never buy your dogs online. Only go to pet shops. I found one today actually that I'm about to head to so I can find a fun buddy.\n\nLittle Pet Shop of Horror's, I think its called. Right in the middle of Hell's Kitchen, across the street from the Applebee's where that one guy was caught jizzing into the ranch dressing. We won't be eating there.\n\nAN: Not bad for a 30 min ambien induced tirade." ]	1
	[WP] You were hanging out with your best friend when suddenly, they disappeared. A yellow message appears in front of you, saying "Player disconnected"	[ "After James disappeared the yellow box popped back up. This time it simply said: Player 2 Enters the game. \nSuddenly, in the booth across from me, sits a little boy. His red hair is a an off kilter bowl looking cut. His face is covered in freckles. And he's got a shit eating grin that already annoys me. The kid can't be older than 15. But, he's so young, I might place him as low as thirteen. \n\"What up, bitch?\" He laughs and takes a bite of Jame's blueberry pancakes. Yup, definitely thirteen. \"Oh shit, these are bomb ass pancakes, dog.\" \n\"Excuse me?\" I look around the diner. No one else is reacting to this. \n\"Pancakes, bro. Top o' the line, Fam. My ma can't cook these bitches for shit. So glad I ended up in a place where they serve some real. Fucking. Food. Ya'll.\" \nHe extends the last part of his sentence until he's practically billowing it. For some reason it reminds me of Oprah. \n\"No, no, like, who are you?\" \n\"I'm James, Dog. Best buddy for life. Now let's go wreck some shit. These pancakes got me hankering to rob a bank, bang some sluts, the gamut. It's gonna be a crazy fucking day, bro.\" The New James stands up. He's about to leave until he notices that I haven't budged an inch. So he slips back in after a beat. \"Come on, bitch. Before I bang your mother.\" \n\"Listen, I'm sorry. I don't know you. There's some kind of mistake.\" \n\"Nah, Dog. No Mistake. You're Vinny. Right?\" \n\"How did you...\" \n\"Best friends for life, yo. And we're gonna rob a bank today, son. Like we planned.\" \n\"I planned that with James,\" I'm starting to get nervous now. I don't understand how this whelp knows what he knows. OR why he's pretending to be James. \n\"Exactly. That's me. James. Level one street thug. At your service. And I got the best service in town. Ask your mother. For real,\" James takes a slug of water and tries to motion us to leave again. I'm still too confused to move. \"Ugh, Jesus. This always happens with you Non-Playable-Characters. Listen, bitch. I'm the best player of Bitches and Banks this side of the continent. I don't know who James used to be. But he was a little bitch. Probably some old ass dick sitting alone in his momma's basement instead of getting out in the real world and finding some poon. The same is true for me. I still live in my momma's basement. But at least I'm only thirteen. I ain't a bitch like James. Now let's rob a fucking bank.\" \nHe cocks his gun in the diner. No one pay attention still. I shrug my shoulders. The kid is a jerk. But, hey, he's got confidence. I can work with that. " ]	1
	[WP] We finally found the real reason why the dinosaurs went extinct, some people already knew but they kept quiet because of the horrific truth.	[ "connection enabled \n\nWe have all been to school. Sat in a history lesson. Have been taught that dinosaurs and humans never interacted together as they just didn't live at the same time... but people can lie. Ever found a discrepancy in your teachers work that you called them out on? Well this time it's much more than writing a five instead of six in your maths class. I'm here to reveal the truth about the age of the dinosaurs. \n\nI bet you're already thinking \"but I thought it was an asteroid?\" And I agree, that's what I was taught to believe. However, they fed us false information. Who's they? Surprisingly it's not the government (sorry conspiracy theorists) but it's instead a society of scientists that have closely guarded this secret for centuries. Guarding it with a poison tipped blade and \"removing\" anyone that comes close to the truth. They call themselves \"Occultatum\" or hidden in Latin. After first finding out this name, I worked for years to wiggle my way into this society. Gaining multiple degrees, masters degrees, any other sheet of paper I could get my hands on, as only the crème de la crème may apply. Yes, there were a few fakes and a bit of cheating. But it's all in the name of exposing the truth. \n\nFinally, I'm here. Of course new arrivals are closely guarded and not exposed to those major secrets quite yet. But after some careful planning, I was able to get into their main information centre. Lucky for me, paper isn't traceable so they keep all their info on physical files. This paper is amazing however, as it could survive a fire, being dumped in the deepest part of the ocean, getting shot or even being hit with a nuclear bomb. There is no way to destroy it besides a particular acid, but I have yet to discover it. \n\nAfter I wiggled my way into their information room, I began filing through pages and pages of information and history. The whole room was the size of a large office building, but that was because of the incredible detail in every single sentence. Sometimes down to the molecular structure of a certain leaf. Luckily, there was a more compact section. What I learnt has blown my mind...\n\nContrary to what this society has been feeding us, we didn't originate from the apes. Humans as a species have existed for millennia and have been complete carnivores from the start. We were monsters. We slaughtered masses of creatures in our wake, with sharpened teeth, heightened brain capacity and endless appetites. Not to mention we were incredibly fast and could survive in crazy situations like heat and cold. We were the top of the top for evolution. Doesn't sound all that bad does it? Till I began digging a little deeper. \n\nHumans weren't the first creatures to develop language and culture. The dinosaurs had that pretty down pat. They had religion, held events and actually lived in peace with one another. The carnivore dinosaurs we all hear about were actually omnivorous and were happy to survive off of a thriving farming business that fed each area very well. They weren't without rivals however, those rivals being us. The humans. We were creatures of the dark, we slaughtered anything in our paths with the ruthlessness of a tiger or lion. We didn't care about politics, we just wanted blood. We didn't have a bias for child, man or mother. There was no mercy, not even for our own kind as we constantly fought and killed each other, even performing cannibalism . Lucky for the dinosaurs, they managed to drive us out of their plain and lock the small numbers of humanity under the earth in a complex cave system that had enough small animal life to keep us surviving. This worked for a few hundred years, keeping humans locked up and the dinosaur society believed we had all died off. However, an earthquake hit the cave systems. Cracking open the earth and sending a flood of humans to the surface. There were thousands, through continued breeding the humans had survived. Their ruthlessness meant that the weak were killed and eaten. Leaving only the strongest of the strong. \n\nWe attacked. Angry for the decades underground. It was a battle that ended the battle. Humans horrifically slaughtered the dinosaurs. There was chaos everywhere, and because of the dinosaurs long rein of peace, they hadn't fashioned any weapons to destroy us with. Humans fell upon the earth in a plague. Viciously leaving a trail of death in our path. Every species was destroyed besides small animals that could evade our destruction. Humans had single handedly caused the extinction for a beautiful race. When there was no one else in sight left to kill, humans turned on each other. We truly were vicious. We slaughtered our own and most of the time we ate each other too. After we hit a near extinction, we finally stopped. Only a few hundred of us were left, and those humans decided to head back underground to their old society. \n\nThe history of what happened at that time is a little shaky. Due to the fact that all the information we have collected so far was deciphered from the dinosaur age. Where they actually had a rudimentary form of writing. Now with the dinosaur age gone, they were left to piece together what happened. It's believed that humans stayed underground for a few thousand years. Allowing the other animals and plant life to catch up and grow. It's unknown when we re-emerged. But it's believed to be around the same time that a few primitive apes were figuring out how to use tools. We copied them and slowly evolved to get to where we are now. Loosing our monster our abilities and become the modern human. \n\nI know, it's an a lot to take in, but it's all true. We came from monsters that slaughtered without a second thought. And we singlehanded,y caused the death of a utopian age of peace. How come we haven't found any of the remains of the dinosaurs? Well, unlucky for us they strongly believed that everything should be made from biodegrade materials. Meaning it all rotted away. Not to mention the humans were very good at either eating or destroying every bit of evidence they could find. I could go on and on about how the organisation was started and so many other questions... but my time has run out. \n\nYeah, i know that it's left a lot of unanswered questions but Iv only got a limited amount of time before they find me. Hopefully I can upload a second info pack before they cut me- connection disabled " ]	1
	[WP] ERROR%CANnot%COMPUTE%LOVE	[ "Rose saved the world with a hug and some soft words.\n\t\nThe gal was nuts.\n\t\nWe were pinned down. We hadn’t expected that. Plan was we’d barge in Matrix style and kill his guards before puttin’ a bullet in the bad man’s head himself.\n\t\nFirst part went well. Guards scattered the floor, deader than dead.\n\t\nSecond part…eh.\n\t\nTraitorous scum! the bad man had screamed. You’ll all be dead soon, ha ha, ha ha ha! \n\t\nHe was a loon if there ever was one. But, honestly, at the time he wasn't far off. Whatever he had—hell, just thinking about it makes me shiver—was a friggin’ Goliath of a machine, double chain-guns and all. Its bullets bit through steel like Styrofoam, and I had to change cover a good nine or ten times to avoid getting my butt blasted off.\n\t\nAnd the bastard was right there. A bullet in the skull was all he needed.\n\t\nBut then Rose stood up and walked forward.\n\t\nAgain, gal was nuts.\n\t\nHellfire wouldn't have stopped her. She held her arms out and strode forward, fearless. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt if she was smilin’. She was the kind of person who wasn’t in this fight to make the bad guys stay down, but rather to make the good guys stay true.\n\t\nThe bullets missed her.\n\t\nNah, that ain’t right. They never targeted her in the first place. Instead they whizzed past, and by the time she got up to the damn thing the bad man was shouting kill her, kill her! so loud I thought his throat was gonna burst.\n\t\nThe robot didn't heed its master, and when she wrapped her arms around it, leaned forward, and whispered something, it let out this high screech, loud enough to be a swan song but nowhere near as elegant.\n\t\n“ERROR! CANNOT COMPUTE LOVE! ERROR!”\n\t\nIts guns shut down and a second later there was a small explosion around its head. The thing collapsed, fire and sparks leaking from its body. A gunshot rang out followed by a chorus of cheers but I didn’t pay attention because I was gawking at Rose, who was hunched over the machine, gently petting it.\n\t\n“You were taught hate but never love, poor machine,” she mumbled. “It’s not your fault that you were destroyed. The evil of man built you to be corrupt.\"\n\t\n***\nIf you like this story, check out my sub! r/longhandwriter", "\"John, can you hear me? I know you're in there, John!\"\n\n\"ERROR. JOHN PROTOCOL CORRUPT.\"\n\n\"John, please, I need you!\" Lyla, choking back tears, was beginning to lose all hope. Even though she'd paid well over seven figures to import her deceased husband's consciousness into a humanoid machine, its creators made sure she knew the slim odds of it properly functioning (about 16%).\n\n\"ERROR. JOHN PROTOCOL CORRUPT.\" Lyla stroked the cheekbone of the humanoid's face, which was in her lap. Tears splashed onto the exposed hardware.\n\n\"I love you, John.\"\n\n\"ERROR. CANNOT COMPUTE LOVE.\"\n\nEdit: spelling " ]	2
	[WP] You are the creepy little girl that kills whoever watches a cursed DVD. The DVD was uploaded on youtube and has since gone viral.	[ "The fat man sitting on an unlucky computer chair stared only at the brightly lit screen inches from his face. He chewed a mouthful of chips and occasionally took drinks from a bottle of soda by his side. \n\nAbagail watched him for a few moments. \n\nHis chunky hand hovered above the chip bowl and then he let gravity smash it down. Then he grabbed a handful, brought it up and mashed it into his mouth. \n\nEven from her position to the back and the right of the fat man, Abby could tell some chips missed the opening, landing on his cliff of a stomach. \n\n\"Hey.\" She said. It wasn't a strong opener, but then, usually her victims weren't oblivious to their surroundings. She wasn't used to speaking and the word came out soft and throaty. \n\nThe man kept eating, palm now orange from the 'food'. \n\nAbby cleared her throat. \n\nThe fat man turned his fat neck and glanced at her before jumping up to a standing position. \"Oh fuck!\" \n\nHe moved fast for a fat man. \n\nAbby smiled her smile. That, she could do. \n\nThe fat man backed up, pushing back his computer desk. \"Who... who are you?\" \n\nAbby stepped forward, arms limp at her side. \n\n\"My God, you're that girl from the tape...\" \n\nAbby's smile widened and she stepped forward again. She could see her reflection in the computer's monitor, overlaying some video of colorful horses with animated faces. She looked terrible. Red eyes, pale skin, long and dirty pitch black hair. The lack of sleep was getting to her. \n\n\"Seven days girl. But I must have seen that years ago,\" he said mostly to himself, still backing up. His desk was at a 45 degree angle, computer nearly tipped over. \n\nAbby suppressed a sigh. How many people were going to bring that up? \n\n\"Kind of hard to meet the deadline when the whole country saw the tape.\" Her voice was still throaty, dry and quiet. \n\n\"Maybe not the whole country.\" \n\n\"It did well.\" She retorted. \n\n\"I guess.\" He said, using his cheese-block of a hand to push a sagging pair of glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. \n\n\"I guess?\" Abby stopped. \n\nThe fatty reached into a pocket on his jean shorts that appeared to have once been jeans, pulling out a phone. He tapped on the screen for a while and finally spoke. \"I didn't even know about the sequels.\" \n\nAbby scowled and rushed the last few feet, tackling the man. Her unnatural power and uncontrollable ability to make screens into portals sent the man tumbling into the computer which was in the process of tipping over. As it slammed to the ground in a heap, Abby rushed over. \n\nShe looked at the screen. \n\nThe video now had cartoon horses and a fat man. The fat man looked happily at the horses and nodded to himself. \n\n\"Who's that?\" One the horses asked in a girly voice. \n\n\"You're about to find out.\" The fat man took off his shirt and ran at the horse. \n\n\"Oh yeah.\" He said as he ran, already breathing heavily. \"I think I'm gonna like this.\" \n\nAbby watched for another minute before standing up and turning around. \n\nWhatever hatred she felt for humanity, whatever vengeance she desired, was gone. The non-consensual horse-fatman sex she witnessed had dulled her. She felt nothing anymore. \n\nShe grabbed the fallen phone from the fat man, still on the ground, and looked at it. It was on the Wikipedia page of the Ring. It didn't do as well as she remembered. \n\nShe hung her head and crawled in. \n\nShe moved the picture aside and stood in its place, but the smile didn't come. It couldn't. " ]	1

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