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 are travelling through a deep forest and you see a tree, the branches are solid gold and the leaves are credit cards.	[ "My foot caught on a root and I nearly tripped, stumbling forward through bushes before grabbing a low branch to catch myself. My feet ached, and tiny cuts laced my arms from the times I had to force my way through denser parts of the forest, when every path I followed had given out. I still occasionally glimpsed light through breaks in the canopy, but the twilight shadows of the forest were quickly fading to night.\n\nI was very, very lost. \n\nI'd never believed the stories about the forest. Magic and monsters were things to frighten children, after all, but that didn't mean the woods didn't harbor more mundane dangers. I found myself flinching at every rustling branch, gripping the walking stick I had picked up hours before like a club. \n\nJust rabbits, foxes, deer. Nothing more. Monsters were just children's stories. No one really believed that kind of thing anymore, not even the children. Old-fashioned superstition, a remnant of a bygone era when people really did have something to fear in the dark woods. Even if those stories felt more and more believable as night tightened its grip around me, and the forest seemed to reshape itself to trick and trap me. I'd just lost my way. Gone too far, wandered into a part of the woods I wasn't familiar with. There was nothing uncanny about that. \n\nEverything was fine. Everything was fine, I was heading in the right direction, and even if nothing seemed familiar in the dark I'd come out of the forest eventually. \n\nStill, the dim light I glimpsed through the trees ahead of me felt as warm and inviting as a blazing fireplace in the dead of winter, and I found myself hurrying forward in spite of my weariness. Was that a clearing? Light cast by someone else out here? A camper, or some crazy hermit who'd made a home for himself far from civilization? Maybe they'd offer me a place to stay for the night, or at least directions. \n\nNo, I realized as the trees opened up around me, revealing a small clearing. Not a person. Not anything human. This wasn't like other open places I'd passed; it was as if all the trees had pulled back here, shying away from what stood in the middle, rising from the bare dirt with unnatural beauty. A tree. \n\nA tree unlike any other. In the last light of the sun, I could see the metallic sheen of its branches, and I knew their gold luster wasn't just from the orange-tinted evening light. A tree of solid gold. I stepped forward, to the very edge of the trees, my breath catching in my throat. The branches brushed and rattled against one another, producing a strange, metallic clanging that should have been discordant, but instead seemed almost a melody. The leaves were small, colorful rectangles. Credit cards, I realized, waving and rattling in the slight breeze that stirred the clearing. Large shapes hung among those leaves, glittering fruits made of massive gems as big as my fist, rubies and emeralds and diamonds. \n\nI knew instinctively that a single branch of that tree would make me rich. The whole thing? I could be a billionaire. The unearthly melody of its golden branches and plastic leaves drifted through the air and twined about me, whispering of unimaginable wealth, and I found my foot raising to step forward again, beyond the shelter of the dark forest, into the tantalizing light of that impossible tree. I wanted to run forward, and claim its riches for myself. \n\nIn that moment, I understood what a rat feels when it sees the baited trap.\n\nSlowly, shaking, I moved my foot backwards. Planted it on the ground behind me. Gripped a tree trunk as if to anchor myself against the golden tree's pull. The rough bark against my hand brought me back to reality, and I took another careful step backwards. I couldn't tear my eyes away from that tree; the force that gripped them was equal parts attraction and terror. Part of me felt as though, if I looked away, the golden branches would turn into something terrible. \n\nI walked backwards, each step a monumental effort, until that golden glow had long since vanished from sight. And then I ran, smashing through bushes, tripping over stones and roots, tumbling down unseen slopes, running and falling and running until the golden tree was long behind me, running still until I crashed out into open air and fell to my knees on the rough black surface of a road, gasping and shivering, pressing at the ground as if its dirty mundanity could drive that shining image from my mind. " ]	1
Not my idea. I forgot where I heard this, but it was on reddit, so if anyone knows where it’s from link it in the comments.	[WP] Create a cinematic universe that pieces together every single cereal mascot in the world.	[ "They gathered around French Toast Crunch’s grave, as they had every year since 2008. Cap’n, Cinnamon, Toucan, silly Rabbit, Lucky, Snap, Crackle, and Pop. \n\nFrench Toast was Cinnamon’s brother, and his death sent Cinnamon into a depression, and Cap’n is the only one taking care of him, and he brought Cinnamon to Crunch Island. Toucan flies around the suburbs, helping those in need. Lucky is constantly on the run, going from universe to universe, running from seemingly immortal kids. Rabbit is constantly chasing those same kids. And Snap, Crackle, and Pop are a singing trio that have gained a lot of fame in the big city.\n\nDespite these differences, they all convene once a year at French Toast’s grave. But there’s something extra saddening on the tenth year. After Cap’n encourages Cinnamon to make a speech, they all return to their duties, leaving Cap’n to comfort a crying Cinnamon. But they have no time to cry. Something is coming. Something big.\n\n\n“Lucky...”\n\nLucky snaps out of his daydream, and grabs his gun. “Stupid kids found me again!” He slowly opens the door to find Rabbit, holding a paper in his hand, and wearing a backpack. Lucky drops his weapon, and snatches the paper from his hands.\n\n“What’s this?” Lucky says in a gruff voice, “‘This is a warning?’ This better not be a trick. Tricks are for kids.”\n\n“I’m being completely serious, Lucky. I found this on my doorstep. We’re friends, right?”\n\n“Eh, why?”\n\n“I wanted to show you something and I don’t want you to tell anyone.”\n\nRabbit unzips his backpack and pulls out a disembodied tiger paw.\n\n“T-Tony? Who did this?”\n\n“I...don’t know. It came with the paper.”\n\n“Whoever it is, I’ll find them. Do ya think it’s the kids? I’ll avenge Tony any way I can!”\n\n\nMeanwhile, Snap, Crackle, and Pop are performing their hit song “Fresh Rice Krispies” when Toucan flies across the stage. The audience gasps, and Toucan flies into a wall. Pop walks over and sees that a now unconscious Toucan has a note in his mouth. \n\n“‘This is a warning’...Snap, come over here!”\n\n“Hmm...Who sent this?”\n\n“I dunno. Wait, there’s something else in his mouth.”\n\nPop puts his hand in Toucan’s mouth, which receives a disgusting gag from Crackle. Then Snap recognizes the object.\n\n“Chocula’s tooth.”\n\nA silence fills the room.\n\n\nOn Crunch Island, things aren’t going too well, either. The islanders are competing in the Crunch Olympics, but Cinnamon doesn’t want to go. Cap’n shows back up from the store, with no groceries, but a piece of paper. Cinnamon drags himself to the door and opens it. Cap’n is panicking.\n\n“Oh my god, oh my god, OH GOD”\n\n“Cap’n...calm...calm down...zzz...”\n\n“You won’t be calm when you read this!”\n\n“‘I’m coming for you, French Toast’s brother’”\n\nThe mention of French Toast woke Cinnamon up. Cap’n pipes up.\n\n“Wait, there’s more. ‘Bring you and your gang to his grave.’ And he sent some cinnamon crumbs.”\n\n“Well”, Cinnamon said, with a newfound determination, “Let’s get this guy.”\n\n\nAfter contacting the rest of the crew, Cinnamon makes his way to French’s grave. A few hours later, everyone is there with their “gifts” from the mysterious person. They gather in a circle around the grave, like they always do. Lightning strikes and a silhouette appears. The only noise that is heard for a moment is the silhouette saying:\n\n“I’m coo coo...for Cocoa Puffs.”\n\nAfter that wind blows across the empty field that French’s grave is located. The silhouette chuckles and holds up a fist. The Milkfinity gauntlet. Lucky starts yelling over the wind.\n\n“What is that thing, Cap’n?”\n\n“The Milkfinity gauntlet. It can only be used by the ancient family of the Cocoas. Cocoa Pebbles, Cookie Crisp to an extent...and Cocoa Puffs.\n\nThe figure smiles and says this.\n\n“That’s Sonny the Cuckoo Bird to you. Killer of men. Especially French Toast here.”\n\nCinnamon gasps, and Sonny keeps talking.\n\n“I had to get you all here so I can fully charge this gauntlet. See, the charms don’t work unless they’re in the vicinity of all of you.”\n\nRabbit asks, “Charms?”\n\n“Tiger paw, Dracula’s tooth, and a spoonful of cinnamon.”\n\nEach of the “gifts” come out of their hands and go into the gauntlet’s three openings. Sonny says, as a declaration of war:\n\n“Who’s first?”\n\nCinnamon launches himself at Sonny, but he is punched back. Cap’n And Rabbit try to double team Sonny, but Sonny has Tony’s strength now, and he quickly discards them. Lucky summons his own charms to attack Sonny, but the gauntlet’s charms are too powerful. Toucan, Snap, Crackle, and Pop each grab one of Sonny’s limbs, and Cinnamon tries to take the gauntlet off, but they need another person to help. Rabbit and Cap’n are unconscious, so they can’t help. But suddenly, French jumps out of his grave, revived, and him and Cinnamon both pull the gauntlet off and use it against them. The day is saved.\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] A person with the ability to respawn every time they die fights an immortal.	[ "You know that Paradox“an immovable object meets an unstoppable force” . One can never die the other cannot be harmed. \n \nIn the midst of bar brawl the two found themselves set against each other. Knife drown Chris stabbed the assailant, who collapsed only to reappear a few meters away on the other side of the bar. Chris dumbfounded in awe takes a beer bottle to the face. Razor sharp glass flys around the room. unscathed without even the tinniest scratch Chris picks up a metal chair sprints at the assailant an promptly batts him across the room, only for the assailant to spawn directly behind him and counter attack but to no avail. \n\nThe two continued this Somewhat comedic battle neither able to subdue the other, until both eventually fell asleep from exhaustion. \n\n\nWould love feedback, especially on ways to better add humor into story’s. " ]	1
	[WP] For as long as your civilization exists, it has worshipped the titanic god that builds them mountains and forts to live in and protects them from evil gods; the benevolent god is actually a kid building sand castles, and the evil gods are other kids and the sea	[ "We are a strong people, strengthened by our faith in the Architect. His fickleness during the shining holiday months of worship and his absence the rest of the year are but tests of our faith and only strengthen our resolve and purify us as a people. Else, why would the Architect bless us with his attention?\n\nEven as we cower, blinded within our castles, the Architect smiles upon us. Our lands are expanded and our fortresses are rebuilt. The Green Gunmen and giant demons of destruction test us; the strong and the wise survive to sing our songs snd raise our children in the faith of our people.\n\nThe cold decay of the Architect's absences are our only solace from the Antagonists. These are not auspicious times. Our Elders hear the frozen whispers of the elements and opt for death by exposure. The survivors have no choice but to survive on the sacrifices of the righteous as we cower in the driest, most insulated corners of our lands. Our losses remind us of the gratitude we owe the Architect and the chosen.\n\nEven as the tides ebb and flow and the morning follows night, so the Architect will return. Whether it is the darkness, the frigid cold, or the anarchic destruction wrought by the Antagonists, our people abide. The brightness will return!" ]	1
	[WP] You were born with a birthmark that greatly resembles the number of the Beast. Nothing ever came of it, outside of being a local celebrity when you were a baby. Unfortunately your dating life suffers, since your birthmark attracts self-proclaimed satanists and witches to your tinder profile	[ "\"So, tell me about that birth mark\" She said as she glanced at the embellishment on my skin.\n\"Funny story actually. I was born with this, and ever since, I've always attracted the.....wrong kind. You know the sort, 'Hail Satan' et cetera et cetera.\" I answered as I cut into my medium-well done steak. \nShe fingered a necklace and once again asked, albeit more haughtily, \"Wait, you aren't related to him?\"\n\"No, why?\"\nShe sighed and stood up, and as she took her clutch, I saw the upside-down cross that I had, by now, familiarized myself with. \nThe waiter cleared her plates as I finished my steak. Wouldn't want to waste it after all. I sighed. This birthmark on my right wrist had always been the centre of attention, as it looked like the devil's number. I was always approached by satanists and witches, as they believed I had some connection with him. What nonsense. \nAs I finished up, I felt the need to head to the toilets. I hurriedly dashed, and made it there in time. \nI locked the door just as it came out.\nNot my shit that is.\nThe devil residing in my wrist.\nHe emerged fully, as he revealed his red toned bare body, with a skull tattooed on his right chest and deep, dark horns protruding from his head. He strictly stared me down.\n\"You are his son. Why are you so afraid to own up? It's not as if we'll bring hell upon the Earth when you reveal who you are.\"\n\"It's not that, it's just...Odd. The attention I get. I don't crave it. I've never felt lust, envy, gluttony, greed or any of the 7 sins. It's odd. I feel like you've got the wrong number.\"\nHe growled at me. \n\"You know why? You've got angel blood. You're dad cheated on all demon-kind. And now I'm stick with you. Happy? That's the truth.\"\nHuh.\nThat's odd.\nI have angel blood?\nBut Satan is my father.\nWait.\nHold up.\nOh no.\nOh no.\nOH NO.\nThe evils of the world woke up.\nAnd Pompeii blew up.\nThe volcanos of Hawaii erupted, as Cthulhu unfurled from his sleep.\nUnspeakable horrors that only Lovecraft could explain rose their heads.\nEarthquakes rocked Japan as Godzilla emerged forth from the waters.\nThe colonial British landed on Africa.\nI stared at the demon, and he only sighed.\n\"It would have been revealed sooner or later anyways, so no biggie,\"\nAnd a meteor shower started in my area, and the last I heard was a voice that appeared to shake the Earth's bowels.\n\"WHY YOU GOTTA TELL ON ME THO LEROY\" " ]	1
	[WP] You have an odd ability where you immediately teleport to anyone who sees a photo of your face. Now someone has pasted a photo of your face on the entire surface of the moon	[ "I was watching TV when I suddenly felt myself sucked. I opened my eyes to find myself standing on the Moon. There were two astronauts in the distance.\n\nI tried to say ‘what the fuck?’ But no words came out. I died from suffocation a few minutes later.\n\nHeaven’s pretty nice. I’d rather be alive, but eh, my legacy lives on, since my body will stay on the moon forever.\n\nBy the way, God exists. Checkmate atheists." ]	1
	[WP] In 2022, the scientific community comes to a shocking conclusion. Humans hadn’t evolved in Earth and were once part of a massive human intergalactic empire that had been wiped out by... something. That something is coming to Earth.	[ "\nIt was a golden age that saw our species reach for the heavens and touch the stars. We achieve all that we set our mind to. And for sixty-five thousand years we prospered. We were gods - untouchable. Or we so mistakenly believed. \n\nThe prophecies of coming evil were scorned as simple dogma by our greatest minds. Only when the truth of impending death become apparent did our skepticism turn to morbid incredulity. \n\nWhen the end finally came our greatest technologies and military dominion withered and turned to ash like dry grass driven before a fire. For all our accomplishments we were reduced to mere animals at the hands of a merciless butcher. \n\nThe unlikely savior of our species was a senator who, with his final dying breath, ordered the lifeboats released to a nondescript corner of the universe, to a galaxy yet to be named, to a solar system like any other, to a certain planet perfectly suited for the new dawn of humanity. \n\nThe year is 2022. \n\nWe are aware of our past and have hope we can alter our future. It’s time to fight for our lives. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You're a guardian angel... You help people by pushing them in the right direction.. But this time, you wonder what will happen if you push someone in the wrong direction.	[ "My feather started to vibrate. Mildly at first but soon my wings begins to hurt. I drop to the floor and stop flying. Humans walk pass unnoticed of my agony. They never understood my pain anyway, doing mistake again and again. My feeling of sense of achievement I felt when helping them years ago has been long gone. It has been replaced with a sour feeling, one that I can't describe, I wasnt suppous to feel this feeling. I was created to help human. Why can't they just learn.\n\nMy breathing became sharper, the pain was drowning me. I curled up into a ball, trembling in pain. I trash around and knock over some trash bin. Some human look over. No matter how much pain I am in, i will never reach out to them for help. Those foolish human, I will never sink below them. Those lying, cheating, pathetic human. \nThe more I thought, the angrier I got. The rage replace the pain. I started tearing at the feathers. I dont need them anyway. If I really want to help all human, all I need need is to walk merely one step and I can find another idiot who need guidance. \n\nEverytime time I tear at my white feathers, it is replace with a metallic black feathers. Dark red blood flow out turning my wings into mess but it help ease the pain. The vibration did not stop tho. A tinkling sound started as the metal feather hit each other. \n\nSoon I had no more white feather. It was all replace with a jet black feathers with dark red shimmering liquid dripping out of it. Perhaps it was due to the lack of blood but my skin began to turn dark blue. My nail began to turn black and sharpen. \n\nI stood up and walk to a near by puddle of water to wash my wings. I look into the puddle and a unfamiliar reflection stare back at me. Yellow eyes, black horn on the forehead and sharpen teeth.\n\nThat is when it hit me.\n\nI have fallen.\n\nI am now a member of the small but growing group.\n\nA fallen guardian.\n\n\n\nP.S. This was done on the fly, probably some grammar mistakes some where, love to have feedback on it." ]	1
	[WP] The Sun just cracked and a big red eye is looking through the crack.	[ "It was a quarter to one. You were sitting on a bench, watching the people go by, sandwich in hand. They buzzed with conversation, and you leaned back, looking up at the sky. \n\nThe sun was partially shrouded in clouds, still blazing brightly against those vast swathes of white. You bit into your sandwich; around you, people dissolved into chaos. \n\nThere was a susurrus- your favourite word, you thought- of gasps. Some people collapsed, knees going weak. A shriek pierced your eardrums. You kept eating, determined to savour your last meal. It was a simple affair, ham on rye bread, slathered in mustard. \n\nThe Eye stared down at you all, through the crack in the sky. You stared back, still chewing. The street was almost empty now. A shop window broke behind you, a group of teenagers hauling television sets through the debris.\n\nInstinctively, you reached for your cane. You checked your watch instead. Only fifteen minutes? You tapped your foot impatiently. It took much longer for the rioting to stop; shortly after a news crew appeared. Professional-looking people talked into cameras, looking confused.\n\n“Hasn’t done anything yet,” they said. \n\n“...proof of life on other planets?”\n\n“Are we under attack?”\n\nThey stood and watched the Eye. They waited for the worst, with bated breath. You finished your sandwich. A woman peered out of a window, and then retreated. The curtains drew closed. You sat there for a while longer, waiting for the end. \n\nYou twiddled your thumbs. The cameramen looked at each other, packing up their equipment. You checked your watch again. It was already six.\n\nYou went home, feeling disappointed and numb. You ate alone, the television murmuring, next to the photographs of your family.\n\n“...nothing to be worried about,” it said. “Return to normal life. Do not panic.”\n\nYou did not panic, having aged out of it. Instead, you sat and ate and fed birds, while people around you took pictures of the Eye, becoming increasingly nonchalant.\n\nThe streets became busier. People made passing comments about the Eye, as they would about the weather. They returned to normal life. You did, too: still watching them, sandwich in hand, waiting for the world to end.\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] When a human is born, they are assigned an alignment. Most are assigned Lawful Good, Neutral Good, Chaotic Good. A small number sre assigned with Evil, yiu you are the first one to be assigned True Neutral.	[ "The man across from Sally sips his water. \"You are by far the most boring person I've ever met. Opinions on Infinity War? Star Wars? Call of Duty? Zelda? Pineapple on Pizza? The current president?\"\n\n\"I have no strong feelings about any of those things one way or another.\" Sally replied in her usual monotone voice.\n\n\"Yeah, that's like your motto. You should put it on your shirt and save everyone some time. No wonder you're true neutral.\"\n\nSally took a bite of her meal. She ordered the least expensive item because no matter what she ate, she wouldn't end up liking or disliking it.\n\n\"Is there anything you're passionate about at all?\"\n\nShe thought for a moment. \"No,\" she answered.\n\n\"Do you even want to date?\" he asked dumbfounded.\n\n\"Not really. I feel like it's something I'm obligated to do, but—\"\n\n\"You have no strong feelings one way or another.\"\n\n\"Exactly.\"\n\n\"Well, since there's definitely not going to be a second date, I'm just going to go.\"\n\n\"Not going to split the bill with me?\" Most of her other dates didn't just go without paying for their food, not that she actually cared that much.\n\n\"Should've gone out with someone Lawful and not Chaotic Neutral then. Wild Card.\" Her date then turned around dramatically and walked away, his polka dot cap fluttering behind him. It was disappointing that he had left. He was interesting in a way she never was, with his strange fashion sense and opinions that had nothing to do with morality. Even so, she had no strong feelings about him one way or the another." ]	1
	[WP] A group of rich, decadent big-game hunters kidnap several people for with the intent of hunting. The hunters soon learn, to their horror, that one or more of the victims is/are something less than human, and more than they can handle.	[ "Another full moon rose over the pristine forests of Farylia. It felt like an eternity since the last one, and the five men were ready to begin the operation. Asclenor, Royce, Cloy, Nork and Bork each had a grin on their faces. That night, they were going to hunt. 'Finally', thought Asclenor, 'it's about damn time!'\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAsclenor was a handsome man with blond long hair and brown eyes. He had mastered the trade of alcohol, to the point where all the wine in the kingdom was made by his henchmen. Ironically, he'd never taken a drop of alochol in his entire life. His presence was mesmerizing, as if he was an angel.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nRoyce was a human like Asclenor, but that's where the similarities ended. He was a short, rough guy with a big beard and a bigger moustache. He had made a fortune by working as a mercenary and was now retired.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nCloy was the only elf in the group. A tall figure, dressed in attire that looked like they were made out of leaves. His hair was long and a pale green, and he wore golden accesories in his ears and wrists, which apparently look feminine to humans. He had inherited his father's fortune and land.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThen, there were the orc twins, Nork and Bork. Their skin was brown with shades of green, and noticeably dry. The others often struggled telling them apart. They were the heirs of a far off wasteland, long ago claimed by the orcs. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nRoyce smiled, rising his moustache up as he looked up at the starry sky. What was it that had reunited these people who had nothing in common other than their wealth? The answer was obvious. Bloodlust. A total of sixteen people had been captured and taken together to the shack. They had been stripped naked and given a dull knife. As some of the most rich and influential people in the land, they had the means and the money to prepare such an operation without anyone being the wiser. Some victims had been captured, others, bought. And by midnight, they would all be released into the woods, and...\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Whoever kills more wins\" - Asclenor reminded the others. \n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"We know\" - Cloy said in a soft, serene voice.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Let's get down with it! It's almost midnight anyway!\" - one of the orcs exclaimed.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAs if acknowledging this, Asclenor jumped from the rock and into the shack's vicinity. As he did this, the moonlight touched him and he felt it growing through his skin. The blessing of lycanthropy. That's what this five men had in common. Not only they had been chosen by Lunna, the goddess of hunting and the Moon... they also liked it. They embraced their curse, and that gave them power like no other warrior ever had. Asclenor's skin was soon covered in brown hair, his nose became that of a wolf, and his eyesturned yellow. He grew bigger, and his teeth grew sharper. Soon, he was a creature that surpassed humans and wolves alike. He was a Lycanthrope.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n...\n\n&#x200B;\n\nArc held onto his dull and half rusted knife he had been given by his captors. He was sitting by the wooden wall. He wasn't sure where all of this was going, but it was going to be one hell of an adventure either way. The others were really agitated and fearful, talking to each other to pass the time. Some of them still tried to hide their naked bodies, others just didn't care anymore. They were sixteen in total: ten menand six women. Arc sighed. They were so bloody noisy.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nA howl broke into the night, and the people in the shack grew instantly quiet, some of them gripping their knives with desperate strength. The door was soon destroyed by an enormous creature resembling a wolf. The victims screamed fearfully at the sight of such a monster.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"People of Farylia!\", the monster exclaimed with a growling voice, \"All of you will die tonight! But go on, we'll give you a ten minute lead so you can run for your lives. Go on, then, sweet food of ours! We'll feast on you later!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nMost of the victims were hesitant at first, but soon all of them started running in different directions, and away from the shack. The last one of them was Arc, who walked slowly out of the shack with his rusted knife in his right hand.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Run, you fool!\", the werewolf exclaimed.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Are you really ok with us running away like that?\" -Arc asked, with a puzzled expression on his face.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"There's five of us, and we'll hunt all of you down later. That's what the thrill of the hunt is all about!\".\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"I see. You guys must be really good then. I guess I'll meet you guys in the woods, then\", and with a smirk in his face, Arc ran off into the forest.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n...\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTen minutes. That's how much time had passed since Asclenor had seen the victims off. It was time for them to make their move. Cloy jumped forward as soon as they finished chanting the count up to 600. His soft and perfect elven skin soon was covered in green hair. As an elf, he was still less muscular than his human and orcish counterparts, but he was just as fast and capable. All of the werewolves ran off in different directions, and the hunt had officially begun.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nCloy decided to follow the scent of a particular woman who had captured his interest. He ran under the leaves of the trees and the pure white light of the Moon. Who wouldn't want to be a werewolf? He kept on running until he saw her. She was sweating heavily, and was panting while pushing her hand against a tree. She had reached her limit.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"WEAKLING!\", Cloy exclaimed as he pounced on his helpless victim, his teeth shredding her.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n'One!', Cloy thought, 'I wonder how the others are doing'.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHe heard the sound of bushes rustling nearby, and turned his attention to where it had come from. He sniffed, butense any smells from that direction. What was going on? Suddenly, a projectile hissed through the bushes and hit Cloy's right leg, bringing him to his knees. It was a makeshift arrow, probably made recently with . He screamed, not being used to the pain.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nA figure came out of the bushes: a naked man, covered in mud, with a rusted knife in his right hand and a curved tree branch with a piece of string attached to each end of it in his left hand. Cloy stood with one leg as the man loaded another arrow into his makeshift bow.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Ten minutes. That's more than enough time to get ready for battle.\" With these words, the man shot Cloy's face, and he fell to the ground, \"Four more to go...\"", "Ragged breaths fill the air as a group of 4 hunters, previously 7, ran through the forest, their clothes shredded and torn.\n\n“What the fuck was that?!” One of them screamed.\n\n“I don’t fucking know!” was the response.\n\nBehind them, giggling could be heard, the voice belonging to a girl. “Better run, better run, motherfuckers!” \n\nThey all ran even faster at the taunt, knowing what would happen if they were caught. It’s how the first three died after all.\n\nRewind...\n\n“You have one minute to go run and hide. Now shoo.” One hunter motioned with his hand, six friends and fellow hunters all on horseback, a pack of hounds ready to sniff out prey.\n\nAt his words, the group of people that had been kidnapped specifically to entertain the rich bastards through hunting ran for their lives, trapped in a forested patch of land that they all owned. \n\nAll except for a single girl. One who looked to be in her mid-20s. \n\nThe leader raised an eyebrow, looking down at her, “Well? What are you waiting for?” She remained motionless.\n\nHe got off his horse and approached the girl, a blank expression on her face. “I suppose you’re giving yourself up then. Very well.” He pulled out his side arm and aimed it at her forehead, finger on the trigger.\n\nAt that moment, time seemed to stop. Nothing happened. Suddenly, the leader’s arm shook violently out of his own volition, catching him off guard.\n\n“What in heavens... GAH!” Before he could finish, his arm contorted, forcing him to drop his pistol as his arm began pushing itself inside of the man’s torso. His screams of pain echoed throughout the woods as his arm disappeared inside of his body, followed by his other arm, and his legs. The other hunters were forced to watch as their leader was turned into a human nugget, laying on the ground, dead and in a pool of their own blood.\n\nTwo hunters aimed their rifles towards her, pulling the trigger and shooting. Their shots would miss as the girl raised her arm and snapped her fingers. The two shooter’s heads exploded, blood and brains flying everywhere as their bodies fell off their mounts. The horses they had threw the rest of the hunters off of their mounts as well, running away. Even the pack of hounds were aware of the girl’s power, leaving their masters to deal with the monstrosity themselves. \n\n“You actual mother fuckers...” she began. “You pieces of shit!” She screamed, rage in her voice. “Today was discount day at the Gigamart!” She bellowed, completely serious. The hunters stared at her in shock. “GRRAAAAH! For fuck’s sake! So much for buying that game!” She groaned, looking into their eyes. “You have five seconds to stare running, you fucks.” And so they did.\n\nPresent...\n\n“Present? Oh, right, flashbacks.” The girl thought out loud. The corpses of the remaining hunters laid at her feet, each disfigured and dismembered into multiple pieces. The hounds had returned, now eating their remains of their masters, the girl their true master.\n\n“Fucking sake...” she sighed, sitting down to rest. “Well, maybe I can get Markus to lend me some cash... nah... fuck, money’s tight.” She groaned, laying down and staring at the sky. She closed her eyes and thought long and hard before she suddenly sat up, “Loot the bodies!”\n\nAnd so, the girl proceeded to steal off of the bodies of the hunters who had thought they could get away with trying to capture Bronwyn." ]	2
just giving this a shot.	[WP] Year 2852 Humans finally reach interglacial civilizations. Most species have fought against others for eons, but they see our brutality amongst ourselves. Instead of fear, they feel pity. yet an unknown desire to be like us. Harness our brutality to conquer.	[ "Humans. Creatures that use their great knowledge to refine the art of war. Their entire existence is like a sculpture that is continuously improving and evolving for one sole purpose, war.\n\nThey are a species of Kings and Conquerers, very much like we used to be. Across the stars thousands of peoples waged brutal wars and slaughtered billions, just to look better on our leaders’ virtual chessboards. However we grew and we became greater than preciously thought possible.\n\nHowever sometimes strength can be a greater tool for civilisations than knowledge and peace. And just look at how those humans conquer. The weapons they develop pulverise innocent people, corrupt the minds of children and yet they accept it. Their existence is war. They were created to be conquerers. And just look at the power they wield now.\n\nThey have the ability to conquer the universe, and how I envy that ability. The ability to subjugate those who differ from you, to create a utopia from my gorgeous vision and destroy the weak for the betterment of the strong. Total war and annihilation of all life in the name of ideology is the final destination for all life in this dark universe.\n\nThe humans say that “History always repeats itself”. I couldn’t agree more.\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You got onto the elevator in the hotel. There are only four floors on the hotel and your room is at the top. The elevator, however, has been going up for the past 6 hours. You can't get out, and know one is picking up your emergency calls. Suddenly the elevator stops and the door opens.	[ "I really want to know where this elevator is going, six hours of vertical acceleration, I checked my phone only to find a black screen, the thing shut itself off, great timing. I checked my smartwatch, 300 meters per second, almost the speed of sound, at least I stopped accelerating and was only maintaining speed.\n\nthe elevator stopped over the span of a few seconds, and the doors failed to open. I unslung my backpack and took out the crowbar I always carry to pry the doors open when the floor opened up and dumped me into the void.\n\nI woke up on the elevator floor with the door trying to close on my foot." ]	1
	[WP] There is only one god, that of Documentation. Approved documents run the world, and all live and die by them. You’ve just shredded your birth certificate.	[ "You start to feel worse and worse as the birth certificate starts feeding through the shredder.\n\nYou go to grab it, but your hands start to shred and fall to the ground.\n\nYou go to scream, but nothing comes out.\n\nYou fall to the ground and see the shreds of your body slowly float down.\n\nYour family finds your shreds in the morning and start to have a discussion; a member of the Arch Docuses can put you back together by feeding scanning you piece by piece into a scanner, but reconstitution is followed by a lengthy prison sentence (shredding of any document is a felony, after all). Tearfully, your family gather your shred and incinerate them, the memories fading as the last piece goes up in flame.", "“BZZZZRRRRTTTT” \n\n“OH MY FUCKING GOD, STEVE WHAT’D YOU DO!”\n\n“I’m done jerry, this shit’s ridiculous, I can’t with documents anymore. I had to sign and initial over 30 forms just on my way to work today, just to get here and sign more paperwork. WAKE UP JERRY! It’s an endless loop of misery and suffering, and i’m done with it.” \n\nSuddenly there’s a woosh of air, and the fluttering of papers, and standing behind Steve is a nine foot tall man. He wears glasses, stands up straight, and is dressed in a very elegant looking suit. His voice resonates with authority as he says,\n\n“Steven Jeffrey Williams, you have disrespected a piece of documentation and have therefore disrespected me and the order of this world.” He bends over and picks up the shredder, in one smooth motion the top of the shredder is popped off, and he reaches in for the scraps of paper. They float into his hand and reform to show Steve’s birth certificate. Steven stares unimpressed at the man, while Jerry practically has an aneurysm waiting to see what happens.\n\n“I see, of all the pieces of documentation you could have chosen to dispose of, you chose this one. Why?”\n\n“Because I just don’t give a shit anymore, i’ve spent the last three decades of my life filling out paperwork. I wanted to get rid of the piece of paper that started it all.”\n\n“Hmm, very well. If you choose to get rid of proof of your birth, then I say to that, Steven; wish granted.”\nWith a snap Steven and the man disappear in a whirlwind of papers.\n\n“WHAT. THE. FUCK.” - Jerry.\n\nThe end.", "I stepped over the police line and drew my badge.\n\n\"Chris, from homicide.\"\n\nThe duty officer glanced over and nodded. \"Hail our Sire.\"\n\nI dipped my chin. \"Hail our Sire.\"\n\nTwo floors up, turn right, third unit. Number three-oh-five. Not another living soul in a block meant to house three thousand. Any illusion that this might have been a run-of-the-mill investigation evaporated away.\n\nAnd I was wrong about being alone. Two Ministry figures were already in the room. The door shut behind me and I bowed, chin to chest.\n\n\"No pleasantries. You have seen this before?\"\n\nI raised my head and threw my eyes around the room, furiously scanning. Slips, scraps, and shrapnel of paper were plastered over the walls, as though a papier-mâché bomb had gone off. Look for patterns. Discern the entropy. Two point three seconds.\n\n\"Shredded birth certificate. Most common kind of suicide. He- or she- would never have existed, and we'd find no body. But-\"\n\n\"Yes. Apparent. 2015.\"\n\n\"Winter of 2015, Montréal. Something... felt wrong. I ordered the entropy run on the fragment pattern. 0.31215 is not a number you see every day. I can-\"\n\n\"Don't bother. It works out to the same. You are here, Hopkins, because of your... talent for picking out the unusual. And yet you are faithful to the cause. Tell me, do you go gazing into abysses?\"\n\n\"... Sir?\"\n\n\"Hmm.\"\n\nHe fell silent, an inscrutable mask. Ministry folk were hardly comprehensible at the best of times, and this was definitely not a good time. I shuffled on my feet, looking around the room. As I looked around, something else started to pop at me. Lines here, spaces there- no, the very randomness of the scene itself formed in front of me, and I stared longingly, teasing strands of meaning from pure black and white, until letters began to appear-\n\n\"Eris.\"\n\nI gasped and opened my eyes. I was staring at the ceiling.\n\n\"Three hours. Not bad. Better than most.\"\n\nMy lungs began to work, and I started gulping for air, furiously clawing at my throat.\n\n\"what-\"\n\n\"It is blasphemy to say so, Hopkins, but there is another God in our world. Eris. We thought we had thrown off her influence, confining her to the edges of quantum indecision. But she moves again in the realms of man.\"\n\nHe cocked his head slightly to one side for a lingering moment, then drew a card from his coat pocket, letting it drop beside me.\n\n\"Two days. Ministry. Reassignment. Prepare your will.\"" ]	3
	[WP] Each religion's version of the apocalypse, both ancient and modern, have the potential of happening. The different deities place bets on which one happens first	[ "I know I'm late to the party and someone beat me to the flying spaghetti monster, I'm short on time as always but this prompt is ace, thanks for it! Of course Bob Geldorf's lyrics don't belong to me. No offence meant to anyone religious.\n\n***\n\n\"This is The End\" Jesus proclaimed.\n\n\"Yes, the end of this cycle,\" the snake thing answered calmly.\n\n\"Apocalypse now!\" Saint Oscar threw in, smirking and sucking at his fag. No one got the hint.\n\n\"Rapture will come over my people,at the same time Satan's minions will take a last stand and do my work by destroying all things material, and then my hour has come -\" Jesus said, with the demeanor of a bored history teacher.\n\nOdin had something to say either. \"In one word - Ragnaroek. Let's not argue about the particulars again, I'll be fine with heat if it can't be cold.\"\n\nThe snake curled up and fluffed up its feathers like an angry blackbird.\n\nJesus wasn't appeased either.\"It will be MY day, I'll sit on the high chair and judge the rightous and the sinners in the form of The Father -\"\n\n\"Is rightous even a word outside the bible?\" Odin got increasingly grumpy. \"I don't get your obsession with them mortals grovelling before you and doing petty good things while destroying their planet all by themselves. You educate them to be hypocrites. \"\n\n\"It is not that the rightous don't sin, every mortal does, but they repent and live in awe of me.\"\n\n\"Small wonder your minions are such feeble-or minded bigots or criminal hypocrites. I prefer to tell mine 'a man must do what a man must do, but please in honesty and pride'\"\n\nThe snake listened, it seemed fascinated. Jesus and Odin glared at one another in silent fury.\n\nSaint Oscar sung under his breath. \"This is the end, the end of the world. Nostradamus and Jeses and Buddha and me, we said it was coming and now we can see\"\n\n\"Yeah right, do it, fight your fight guys,\" said the snake.\n\n\"Now that would indeed bring on Ragnaroek\" answered the saint.\n\nThe snake ordered its feathers again. \"Why not, my friends?\" It's high time this rotten world gets a fresh start\"\n\n\"Ragnaroek is THE END\" thundered Odin, trying to look bigger than he actually was.\n\n\"You get your own lore wrong here, Odin. And Jesus, how is your supposed paradise not a new world?\" said the snake, still calmly.\n\nJesus frowned, the saint had trouble stopping himself laughing out loud. \n\nThe snake continued. \" Really! you guys truly have no understanding of the nature of the universe. Life and death, end and beginning, it all comes in ever-repeating cycles, and even you guys aren't strong enough to break them.\"\n\n\"No\", Jesus and Odin shouted in unison, the saint just smirked.\n\nThe snake crept over the floor, forming a rustling circle as if it tried to demonstrate its point. \"There will be jet another cycle, I've seen many of them, and I've also seen many a wannabe god perish in their own little apocalypse. The wise ones just lay low and after the fight, they rebuild the landscape to their tastes and tune the people in on themselves before any new wannabes come into their own.\"\n\n\"I'm no wannabe!\" again, Odin and Jesus shouted in unison.\n\nNow the snake smirked, as far as a snake can. \"Ah, of course, I met you before, Odin, but last time round you sort of won this debate, too bad your attempt at the final battle went out of hand and someone hit you on the head, hard. You, an the other hand, Josh - \"\n\n\"Shut the fuck up\"\n\n\"This is getting old, my friends.\"\n\nSuddenly, they heard slimey noises and a self-absorbed cackle. The saint laughed heartiely when he saw the source, Odin and Jesus flinched and stared as the Flying Spaghetti Monster floated into view. It smiled widely at his disgruntled colleagues.\n\n\"You're out of luck with your Ragnaroek, Rapture or whatever, mates. My apocalypse is already underway, and beating yours hands down.\"\n\neverybody else just stared.\n\nThe monster cackled again. \"The Fatocalypse! All these surplus carbs, all these people, fat and sated, and as happy or unhappy as they want to be - death by diabetes and inertia, what else could anybody want -\"\n\n\"Odon went blue in the face as his blood turned to ice from hate, Jesus had litteral smoke come out of his ears.\n\n\"Ah, and Quetzalcoatl, Romero, don't worry - there'll of course be a diet after every binge, a revolution after every decadent ancién régime, but do me a favour and invite Che, Sidharta and Krishna to the party next time.\n\n\n\n\n", "\"I know you think that the sun is going to swallow the earth but i asked apollo about this and he say he has it on a tight leash\" zues told his mayan brothers\n\n\"If its happened 6 times, its going to happen again\" they responded\n\n\"Guys, come on\" Odin interjected \"how cool would ragnarok be tho\"", "\"How many times do I have to tell you this? Nuclear annihilation does not count as Ragnarok! By the time it gets cold everyone is already dead!\" — Said Osiris.\n\n\"Well according to this article the nuclear winter is going to cause majority of deaths and...\" — Began Odin.\n\n\"The world descends into chaos, and then it re-appears from its primal state. You think those firecrackers they call weapons of mass destruction can cause never-ending winter?\" — Osiris cut him off.\n\n\"Guys... Cold war ended like 30 years ago and we've spent the entire Cuban missile crisis arguing about this. Doesn't matter who's right on that. Ain't gonna happen.\" — Zeus interjected.\n\n\"Everyone come take a look!\" — A voice came from behind them.\n\n\"...This year marks official end of piracy off the Somali coast as not a single attack was reported in over 13 months...\" — A TV reporter recited.\n\n\"Well shit. Global warming it is then.\" — Zeus sighed.\n\n\"Hope you won't miss your lightning rod!\" — Said the Big Flying Spaghetti Monster. If a ball of spaghetti could look satisfied with itself then that's exactly how it'd look." ]	3
	[WP] It’s been like this for ten years. The fields are barren and famine ravages the land. Hearing about a mythical refuge in the mountains, you gather a band of men to find that refuge.	[ "It's been ten years. Nothing fazes me anymore. I'm hungry, always hungry, but I've managed to survive. Figuring out what could be eaten and what was safe was a long, painful process. Yet I made it. Not many have. This famine of apocalyptic proportions has killed so many it's breath-taking. However when I heard an inkling of a sanctuary in the mountains that has food I was in disbelief. I wanted it to be real but I didn't want to get my hopes up. It would be dangerous to have hope. It would also be dangerous to go alone. So I headed to the nearest encampment where I knew I could find a few people. It was a long shot but I guess I felt I had to try. \n\nWhen I arrived at the camp, more like a small town but since the famine it just seems to deserted to call it a town, I saw a few people milling around. I knew Bard from the few times I'd been to the camp so when I stumbled upon him first it only seemed fitting to enlist him first. He too was in disbelief but was willing to make the trek if we got a few more good men to come with us. Before the famine Bard had been a construction worker so he was quite handy, which was useful. I already had my pack ready to go so we stopped by his place and he collected what he needed and we set off to find a few more people. \n\nBard knew of a survivalist who lived alone near the edge of camp. We figured it would be helpful to have someone who knew more than us so we headed over. Turns out the guy Bard knew was named Guy. And let me tell you, this was a guys guy named Guy. He wasn't burly in the brawny towel type of man, but he looked grizzled and hardened against the famine. We told him what we knew, and to my surprise he had already heard about this place too. He definitely wanted to join out band of hunger. So once Guy was packed, and we had a path laid out, we started heading north. \n\nAs we walked towards the mountains Bard noticed smoke from a trail slightly west of where we were. Deciding to look into the smoke turned out to be a really great idea. At the site of the smoke we found a fire but no one seemed to be there. We looked around and saw a small tent and a pack. Suddenly from behind us we heard a jovial laugh of someone who hadn't seen people in a while. Looking behind us we saw this young man who couldn't have been more than 25. He was holding a dead rabbit and laughing. \"Good thing I caught a big one,\" he stated. Turns out he had been hunting and this was his camp. His name was Bruce and he offered us some of his rabbit. We sat and ate, as we ate we told him of our plan and he wanted to join. How could you say no to the guy who feeds you. \n\nSo the next morning the four of us set off in search of what would hopefully be the refuge we needed. " ]	1
	[WP] You died quite early, never even got into the brunt of the work force. You are now an imaginary friend for a little girl who won’t stop calling you ‘kitty’	[ "\"Look little girl, my name is Jeff. I'm not a cat.\" I said. Even though I looked like a cat now, it wouldn't change who I was. I became this way after dying in a car accident, not that any of this was my choice. I was out grabbing a pack of cigarettes for a friend in the middle of the night when a drunk driver who was going around hitting traffic signs mistook me for one. It all happened so fast. Before I realized it, I ended up as a little girl's imaginary cat.\n\n\"Kitty, you need to meow what you want to say. Otherwise you won't learn how to be a good cat when you grow up.\" The little girl said. She sat in her car seat with concern filled eyes. She probably wasn't older than 5 or 6. I couldn't really get angry at her for being so silly. I could only bring myself to slowly convince her in a civilized manner worthy of a mature adult that i wasn't really a cat.\n\n\"My name is Jeff.\" I slowly enunciated, refusing to meow. If I were to meow my responses out, how would she even understand what I was saying anyways? I'd also be a liar, and a liar is something that an honest man like me abhorred. I saw her parents in the front seat glance back with bemused expressions. Of course, they only saw one little girl sitting in the back seat talking to herself.\n\n\"Juliet, are you talking to that imaginary cat of yours again?\" Her mother asked.\n\n\"Yeah, but he doesn't meow like a cat and talks like us. He says his name is Jeff too.\" Juliet replied, \"He's a really weird cat.\"\n\n\"Jeff? A weird name for a weird cat.\" I heard the driver, Juliet's father, chuckle. That caused the hairs on my neck to begin rising. Not only did this idiot make fun of my name like Juliet, but if he started making fun of me in my imaginary face... He would not be spared from my imaginary cat slaps, I cursed. \n\n\"Yeah! Jeff is a weird name for a cat. He's all white and snowy too. I think Kitty should be his more real name.\" Juliet said.\n\n\"Yeah, I think Kitty would be a better sounding name, so lets all call this friend of yours Kitty. I don't think Kitty'll mind at all.\" I heard him say. I got up from my resting spot and tapped the little girl's shoulder. I whispered something into her ear. Once I finished, I went to lay back down on my empty spot.\n\n\"Hey daddy?\" She began.\n\n\"Yes my little Juliet?\" He answered.\n\n\"Kitty says that you have a tiny dong.\" Juliet said.\n\n\"What?\" Her dad frowned, \"What do you mean?\"\n\n\"Less than 2 inches.\" I clarified.\n\n\"Less than 2 inches.\" She repeated clearly to him. I could see his face twitching with emotions in the rear view mirror while her mother froze." ]	1
	[WP] You look over at your clock and realize that the second hand has stopped and the battery has died. You look around the room for batteries only to find that everything has frozen in time.	[ "It was at that time you walked outside accidentally knocking over your cup of coffee but it didn’t fall to the ground. You started to question your sanity but still ran to the door. As you approached outside, there was a man with a large red hat across the street. The most noticeable thing about his attire was his pocket watch which the rusted chain hanging around his waist. You close your eyes to blink and suddenly you hear the noise of something breaking from inside, you look in the direction of the noise and then back at the man, but he vanished. Cars are now driving down the road as you see that everything around you has come back to normal. " ]	1
	[WP] You're congratulating a friend who was just elected to the United States Congress. "So is it true that our government is full of lizard-people in disguise?" you jokingly ask. He looks at you seriously and says, "Well, actually, most of us are bird-people."	[ " “Yeah, and I’m sure that everyone has a pink pair of wings, am I right?”. I don’t take Nick’s answer seriously because he drank a lot at the party. He was my roommate for a few months back in college. He was the clown in our group, always tell jokes and bring the party atmosphere everywhere. I still don’t get how he got elected. He’s my friend, and I’m happy for him, but I think that Nick is too irresponsible to be a Congressman.\n\n“Bro, I’m serious. Trump is actually a dwarf using magic to make us see that he’s big.”, Nick tries to persuade me. Seeing that I clearly don’t believe him, he takes me to a place he calls “The Sanctuary”. He says that this is where the Congress have secret meetings at night in their true forms. ”Nick, you really need to stop using those drugs”. I have already warned him so many times about how drugs can affect his memories. We keep arguing about this matter until we reach a tall building. I have never been to this area of the city. It looks completely different from the other half. The building is ancient and has this mysterious vibe surrounds it. Before we get inside, Nick gives me a pill. “This will help you become one of my kinds in their eyes, but it won’t actually change your body”. “Why do I need to hide?”. “Because they will shred you apart the moment they find out about your true identity”. I play along with him, thinking he’s trying to pull off a surprise party for me. As I walk through the door, I saw 2 women who are talking in English. At first, I think they are wearing really complicated costumes, until I see their legs – if you can call those “legs”. Instead of what supposed to be legs, they have bodies of snakes. This is when I believe his word. This is when I freak out. Looking at Nick, I can’t believe that he’s a creature after knowing him all those years. I start walking backwards until Nick whispers in my ears: ”They can sense fear”. Those woman-like creatures look at me curiously, and I start walking forward so I can go unnoticed. As soons as they stop looking at us, I pull Nick into the men’s room. “Why did u bring me to this place? Are you trying to kill me?”. I though that he brings me here to be food for them. “I’ll never harm you, Mike. You are my best friend.”\n\nThinking of all the years I have known him, he had so many chances to kill me. I trust him, as he trusts me. “Dude, we need to get out of here right NOW”, he suddenly says worriedly. “What’s wrong?”. “They found out that there is a human in the building, and they are coming for you”. My body froze. I imagine that a whole army of monsters are coming for me. Just the thought is already enough to make me wet my pants. I try to escape through the front door, but before I even open it, Nick says “They already outside of that door”. Then he takes his shirt off, and I see a huge white pair of wings, like those of an angel. He breaks the window with me on his back as the door explodes. I see different creatures rushing inside right before Nick jumps off out of the window. As soon as we land on the ground, we run as fast as we can. I didn’t even look back for a moment.", "“Wait. Us?” Was the initial response David had. “Well I’m a lizard dude. It’s actually quite an array of species. We just found out that one political figure is actually two dwarfs in a trench coat. Man we all thought we were lizard foke and perhaps over reacted when we attacks but that all in the past.” Gart responded.\n\n\nDavid just sighed as he dug his face into his hands. “Dude you took your meds right?” They responded with a scoff. “Nah don’t need em anymore. Turns out they have better suppression and cloaking methods then the pills.” David started walking towards the liquor store.\n\n\n“Hey David! We just got you to stop with your drinking dude.” He didn’t respond as he grabbed a bottle and bought it. Gart stopped him before he could open it. “David we overcame this challenge together so don’t go hopping in the same hole right in front of me.” David gave a tired look to Garf “Look your my best- no, only friend I got but you expect me to keep my wits with me when a person in congress believes most of our government are bird people?” Garf sighed before dragging him to a taxi. “Look ignoring that racism I’ll show you. Come on theirs a party and I get a plus one.”\n\n\nWhen they arrived talking could be heard from outside accompanied by a variety of other sounds. That when it hit David. “Garf I’m wearing khakis, a fany pack, and this excuse of a shirt.” Garf shrugged took of his suit and threw it in the bushes. “Now we match. Come on let’s get in.”\n\n\nThe two quickly entered the building and David was stunned by what he saw. Many avian creatures filled the place along with lizard, crustaceans, and a pair of dwarfs. “I’m Garf, lizard person. This is David, an elf.” David turned to see who Garf was speaking to and saw a massive gargoyle with a surprised look on his face. “Hey Garf we need to talk.” David said as he dragged him into the bathroom.\n\n\nGarf looked confused at David when they entered the bathroom. “What’s wrong pal, Bad with parties?” David was walking in circles. “Hey Garf why is their no people?” He seemed to give it a thought before responding. “Think we kill any human that knows about us so I don’t think one would get elected...” David began to swear and brought back his bottle. “Hey David what are you doing?! Look if your this bad with parties I ca—“ “I’m a human Garf.”\n\n\nGarf looked stunned. “Ok bad joke. I heard you talking that you were a elf studying the arcane so quit it.” David did not quit it. “Garf that was a D&D character I made that you wouldn’t know about because I DM all our games.” Garfs face suddenly turned to shock. “Oh I screwed up. Oh no no no.” \n\n\nThe two started to panic in the bathroom. “David what do I do?” “Hell should I know I just learned that lizard people exist!” Garf grabbed David and picked him up. “I have an idea.” The many years David has known Garf he quickly learned that this was bad.\n\n\nGarf jumped out of the window of the bathroom. David held above his head and screaming the entire time. The few creatures who saw this could only thing. “Why did I nominate this person...”" ]	2
	[WP] The year is 2038. A new phone app quickly becomes popular by being able to find anything lost by the user. Jokingly, you whisper into the app, "Where is God?", only to have your phone shut off.	[ "A new app came out not too long ago from this programming organisation I work for. I was selected as one of their few beta testers. At the office, my boss hands me a test phone to run the program on and give feedback once I've tested it. It was a small, brandless touchscreen.\n\nThe app works somehow to rediscover lost items. Simply scan your finger print on the front of the screen and type in whatever you have lost and it will come up with a map and where to find it.\n\nIt's been about two weeks since then and I haven't been able to lose my wallet, keys or phone for more than 5 minutes. This app was astonishing!\n\nI decided to reconcile with a few things I lost as a child. I was able to track my teddy bear that I got for my fifth birthday at my parents house and even an SD card that contained some past work information and documents.\n\nOne night after work, I decided to have a few drinks before hitting the sack and ended up drunk. Jokingly I asked the phone where my happiness was.\n\n\"Happiness is a form of human emotion, derived from the early stages of one's childhood. Your happiness lies within someone else.\"\n\nThis phone... It wasn't wrong, I guess, but my God did this piss me off. For some reason my agitation from the phone's statement cause me to get smart with it. \n\n\"Where's God then asshole?\"\n\nI waited a bit before I pressed ENTER.\n\nIt did nothing.\n\nI waited a few more seconds before pressing it again, thinking it was just lagging. Nothing. I press it over and over, my taps increasing in power. The phone turns off.\n\nI broke it, I thought.\n\nThinking that this was enough, I went to bed, throwing the phone on the table beside me.\n\nI wake up the next morning with a light headache, nothing unusual about a hangover. I check my phone for the time and unknowingly picked up the test phone. I squinted trying to see what time the phone gave and all I saw was a skull. It seemed animated slightly but more or so of a brand. \n\n\"What the f-\"\n\nAn alarm from the phone went off and my ears began to ache. I fell off of the bed rolling around screaming my lungs off. The high pitched squealing of the phone made my ears bleed and I passed out.\n\nMoments later I wake up in a dark room. My arms are chained to a wall and I realise the countless number of bodies around me as I slowly regain my conciounce. Subconsciously, I ask,\n\n\"Where am I?\"\n\nA voice from the dark answers,\n\n\"Hell\"", "I opened up the new beta app on my phone. I got it just last week from the creators. They claim using the app you could find anything you are looking for.\n\nI have used it 5 times in the past week, all 5 times to find my car keys after I misplaced them. The app works fine, but I still don't understand how it works. Black magic, ancient technology rediscovered, who knows?\n\nAfter all this time, it is time to see how it responds to this question. I whispered into it \"Where is God?\" \n\nThe phone started to make a noise that sounds like a dying pig fighting a dying cat while a man is coughing right next to them. The phone screen shut off and starts to restart. The phone starts to heat up, it felt like my flesh was burning off. I threw the phone across the room, when it finally responded. \"God is dead, but the devil lives in Georgia.\" That, Lucifer is the reason I came here, I need to know what killed God.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nSorry it isn't that good. Did it quickly while I was half asleep, might edit later. " ]	2
	[wp] Ridiculous powers and a ridiculous costume, you're a new superhero on the block and no one appears to take seriously. And so, you decide to show them what you really can do and decide to seek a villain from an a-listers Rogues Gallery...	[ "\"Ha, what's this? A squid? Oh no, what ever shall I do?\" the villian said, rolling his eyes. He turned back to torturing the bank manager.\n\n\"I am The Cuttlefish, and I am here to put an end to your crime spree.\" The Cuttlefish said, his entire body turning a bright red.\n\nThe villian turned back to him, annoyed. \"Are you still here? What are you going to do? Hug me to death? Get out of here before I decide to shoot you.\"\n\nThe Cuttlefish frowned. \"Cuttlefish, not Cuddlefish. And no, I won't hug you, I will do this.\"\n\nThe Cuttlefish raised his hand palm up, and a jet of black ink sprayed from his wrist. The ink covered the villian and the bank manager.\n\n\"Ugh, now you've done it.\" The villian said, reaching for his gun.\n\nThe villian pointed the gun in the direction where The Cuttlefish was, but he could no longer see.\n\nThe Cuttlefish pulled out two long ropes with sticky suction cups on the end. Swinging them around, he bound the villian up.\n\nThe Cuttlefish stood straight and tall facing the bank manager.\n\n\"No need to thank me, citizen, it's all in a day's work for The Cuttlefish.\"\n\n\"Ok, I won't,\" the bank manager said, wiping ink off of his face. \"Why couldn't Mega Dude have saved me?\"\n\nThe Cuttlefish grumbled as he left. \"Why does nobody take me seriously?\"\n\nThe Cuttlefish heard a commotion at the museum across the street. He saw The Wizard, notorious supervillain, levitate down into a hole she had just made in the ceiling.\n\nThe Cuttlefish hesitated. \"It's too dangerous,\" he murmured to himself. Then he took a step forward. \"But if I catch The Wizard, everyone would take me seriously.\"\n\nThe Cuttlefish turned a determined shade of purple and strode toward the museum's front door.\n\nHe burst in, but all he saw was a bunch of guards and employees, all asleep.\n\nHe heard a noise from the room to the left. He strode over and kicked down the door.\n\nInside he saw The Wizard. She was surrounded by a field of electricity, her bright red hair standing on end. She was holding up a large crystal that had been in a now shattered display case.\n\nThe Wizard turned her glowing eyes toward the Cuttlefish. She frowned.\n\n\"What's this? I was expecting a real hero. You are the Cuddlefish, aren't you?\"\n\nThe Cuttlefish smiled at the recognition. \"You've heard of me?\"\n\n\"Yeah, you were part of a list of costumed wannabes not to be concerned about. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get away with this before anyone formidable shows up.\"\n\nThe Wizard began levitating, rising up toward a hole in the ceiling.\n\n\"Oh no you don't\" the Cuttlefish said. He launched one of his ropes at her. The rope twisted around her legs, making sizzling sounds as electricity crackled around it.\n\nHe pulled. The Wizard was jerked down slightly, but stopped in mid air.\n\n\"Now you've made me angry,\" she said, the field of electricity growing stronger and louder.\n\nThe Cuttlefish raised his hand, spraying her with ink. The ink sizzled and sparked.\n\nThe wizard screamed with rage. A fireball appeared where the Cuttlefish was moments ago. He felt the heat as he dodged. He wrapped his other rope around The Wizard as she tried to wipe the sparking ink from her face.\n\nThe wizard struggled out of the rope, so the Cuttlefish, out of options, ran up and wrapped his arms around her.\n\nShe kicked at him, but he held on until she stopped struggling.\n\nThe Cuttlefish heard shouts from the main hall and a noise from above.\n\n It was not long until Mega Dude dropped down from the hole in the ceiling at the same time as several police officers ran in from the main hall.\n\n\"Oh thank goodness you're here, Mega Dude,\" one of the police officers said.\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] A vampire sneezed. I blessed him. He burst into flames. I'm now a vampire hunter. I didn't ask for this.	[ "It was a dream I kept telling myself. The man literally and forcefully exploded in front of me in plume of flame and foul smelling smoke. \nBut I couldn't lie to myself, it had happened, a man had sneezed, I said 'bless you', his body burst into flames and then into many pieces. \n\nI encountered him on the Mcalpine Creek Greenway at dusk, I was on my home after a jog when I heard a sneeze. Instinctively I said 'bless you' and was met with a throaty gutteral scream. It was like a bobcat stuck in a vacuum cleaner. I looked over and saw the flames erupting over the thin man's body. There was no external force of the fire, it had to seemed to come from within him. Then with a shudder his thin, darkening body seemed to expand, then like an overfilled balloon it popped in a gory cascade of centuries old intestines. \nI stopped jogging after that. ", "Victor was very proud of his successful infiltration. Just right after dusk when the sun no longer burns as much, he posed as a patient with a cast of his leg, asking the staff if they could ‘help him and let him in.’ Not knowing the malicious meaning behind Victor’s phrasing, the staff gladly held the door open and agreed to his entrance.\n\nNot overly excited by his success, Victor kept his act and ventured carefully around the hospital. Learning the locations of the security cameras and the number of patrol personnel, Victor spend his time wisely before the traffic in the hospital began to die down.\n\nThe hospital has always been a great target, since many of the human targets are in their most vulnerable state. Not to mention the marvelous blood bank. All Victor has to do now is to wait for the night arrive and strike when no one’s around.\n\nVery soon, visiting hours are over, people began to leave and staff retreats to their lounges and office to have some peace of their own. With all the information he has collected, Victor set his plan in motion.\n\nBut there was one crucial information Victor failed to retrieve: the night custodian’s schedule.\n\n“Hey man, what you doing here so late out?”\n\nShocked by her bright voice, Victor stumbled.\n\n“Wow wow wow, careful man, I just mopped there.” Kaitlynn hovered hand in a circular motion towards the general area Victor was standing in. “Come, walk this way, stay closer to me.”\n\nPerhaps it would be a good idea to get closer to her. Victor devised a new plan in his head. He shall leave no witness behind and this woman has just become his new target.\n\nAs Victor approached Kaitlynn, he senses something’s not right.\n\nOr more accurately: Victor’s nose is sensing at lot of things.\n\nA very pungent scent is coming off from Kaitlynn body. Over the years of working with tedious clean-ups and countless trashes, Kaitlynn has learned the habit of keeping herself nice and clean. Or in other word, it’s her personal choice of perfume and lotion.\n\nMixing with the stingy smell from the floor cleaning solution, the soap, the flowers, and the fruitiness of the skincare aroma, all hits Victor right in his nose.\n\n“ACHOOOOO!”\n\n“Oh lord, God bless you!” Kaitlynn took a step back, not wanting to be sprayed by Victor’s nasal projectile. “You gotta cover your mouth in the hospital, man! No one wanna get sick from you!”\n\nKaitlynn turned to her cart and began digging for her hand sanitizer, not noticing what is happening to Victor.\n\nThe flame started at the tips of his body, his fingers and his toe. Rapidly, the flame has endeavored Victor by the legs and the arms. Then the waist. Then the chest. And the head.\n\n“No. No. NO. NO. NO!!!”\n\n“What do you mean no? You gotta need some sanitizer. You wanna the plain one or the rose one?”\n\nLifted her head up, Kaitlynn turned to face Victor but Victor was already gone. Nothing was left expect for the pile of ash that was once Victor.\n\n“What in the…” Kaitlynn was in shock.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n“How dare he leave trash right in front of my face?!”\n\n----\n\nEsther has not heard back from Victor for two weeks now. It is not uncommon for the vampires not communicate with each other thought. Some prefer to work alone, but mostly to not draw attention and create suspicion. But this is different. Victor is a careful man and would try to share useful information with clan. Even if the hunt was not successful, Victor would still spread the words to keep the others away from danger.\n\nRemembering where Victor’s last target was, Esther has decided to pay a visit. Patiently waited for the night, Esther walked through the rain and approached hospital. It’s one of her most useful tactic. Who would be so heartless and not help a teenager-looking girl soaked by the rain?\n\n“Ma’am, ma’am.” Esther tapped on the glass doors, trying to get the custodian’s attention. “Could you please let me in?”\n\nKaitlynn whipped her head around and locked her eyes right onto Esther’s face.\n\n“Aw hell no!” Kaitlynn points her\n\n“Please, ma’am, it’s pouring outside and I just need some shelter.” Esther wrapped her arms around herself, acting as if she is freezing to death. “I promise I won’t cause trouble, please let me inside.”\n\n“Uh uhn! The last time one of you punks tricked in me into breaking the rules, those fat asses up their deducted my pay. I’m not getting in more trouble this time.”\n\nRealizing this women will be difficult to break, Esther figured it be better to come back another time and prey another easier target.\n\n“Alright, alright,” Esther throws her hand up in signs of defeat. “Sorry to trouble you ma’am.”\n\nKaitlynn nods her head to acknowledge Esther’s response, and puts her head down, back to mopping the floor.\n\nBut just as Esther turned away from hospital entrance, a gust of wind blows onto her face and Esther’s nose began to twitch.\n\n“ACHOOOO!”\n\n“Bless you!” Without lifting her head, Kaitlynn casts the ultimate blessing onto Esther while waltzing away towards that tough stain on the floor. “You better find some place soon!”\n\nBut Esther now has no need for a shelter, as the flame creeps on her limbs, not even the rain could have saved Esther.\n\n----\n\n“Yeah, I’ve seen him.”\n\nKaitlynn pushes the photo away from her. She doesn’t like to be interrupted while she’s on her break. Just her coffee and some peace and quiet is all she needs.\n\nPerseus takes Victor’s photo back and takes out another photo. It’s Esther’s face.\n\n“What about this woman, have you seen her before?”\n\n“Yeah I’ve seen her, she was here the other night. Dunno where she went though.”\n\nNodding to Kaitlynn’s words, Perseus carefully takes some note and flips through more files. But Kaitlynn’s getting impatient.\n\n“Look man, I’ve got a work to do.” Finishing the rest of her coffee, Kaitlynn is ready to leave. “I dunno what you do, but my work is important to me.”\n\n“Well,” Perseus puts all the files away. “What if I tell that I might have a job for you?”\n\n“Alright, I’m listening.” Kaitlynn shuffles her chair closer.\n\n“Would you be interested in being a vampire hunter?”\n\n&nbsp;\n\n“Say what?”", "The alarm seemed to bang against Manny’s ears, as if someone clashed a symbol clashed next to his head. It wasn’t the sound of it, it was just what it meant. “Brrrt Time for work! Brrrt Time for work! Brrrt Time for work!” It seemed to taunt. One would think from Manny’s routine that he worked some Nine to Five job, with a manager who comes every day to his desk to complain about a paper not done or to change the project in a way that ruined his work so far. However as he fried his eggs that morning he thought to himself, \n\n“How is it possible that twilight got the closest representation of vampires out of any fiction, and they STILL managed to disappoint.” \n\nEvery day Manny got a location where some teenage girl ran away with her vampire boyfriend, and every day manny threw pepper in his face, waited for him to sneeze, then said bless you. He had stopped laughing the second time round. \n\n“Jesus H Christ shut the fuck up! You’re boyfriend was not only the incarnation of evil, but probably a fucking pedophile!” He screamed, finding comfort in how his voice overpowered the girls screeching. She didn’t seem to care however, screeching and demanding to be let out, about how her parents “didn’t understand true love” being the reason for the call.\n\nManny’s memories were suddenly yet thankfully interrupted by the realization that he had not flipped his eggs yet, but as he reached for the spatula he heard a young, nasally female voice. “My my vampire hunter, I’m sure you didn’t expect this.”\n\n“Come on lady, you’re not the first.” He replied, eyeing the pepper. “Just a few steps closer.” Manny thought to himself. Her first step was loud against the floor, as though she thought to dress up for the occasion with heels. Vampires were often rather pretentious. Tap, tap. “Now.” Manny thought to himself, throwing the pepper over his shoulder before spinning round to see two small pieces of tissue paper jammed in the young woman’s noise, if she was really young.\n\nSeeing how she knew his trick the woman had probably seen him work before, likely the vengeance seeking girlfriend of some other vampire. With a pretentious smirk and a step uncomfortably closer she started again “Oh vampire-“ was all she got in before the hand not holding the pepper swung out with a hot pan in hand, letting two still simmering eggs fly off across the kitchen. While she recoiled from her minor burns and less minor broken cheekbone Manny pressed the advantage, pushing forward into a tackle. Even though she was far smaller her supernatural strength was hard to deal with. He could barely hold his arms around her neck as she attempted to pull them away. \n\nManny knew he couldn’t pull the tissue out without risking getting bit, so thinking quickly he pushed his finger into her broken cheekbone, but it had already begun to heal. She still winced slightly, but the reaction was not enough to allow him to get to her nostrils. He quickly looked around the kitchen for a weapon, and his eyes first landed on a rolling pin left out from last night. Snatching it off the table he pushed her onto the floor and smacked at the vampires face, once, twice, three times before the rolling pin broke off from its handle and bounced towards the stove. Manny had been lucky that day that he hadn’t discarded the jagged handle and instead realized what he’d made, a sharp piece of wood. He slammed the stake through the damned woman’s heart, and with a loud, piercing screech, faded into ash. \n\nManny stood himself up straight, giggling slightly to himself. “Fuck.” He exclaimed. “No wonder the other hunters have so much fun.”", "It was another saturday night at Algernon's place, he held another party. In fact he couldn't help it, he was banned from most of his usual haunts and had neither the money nor the looks to get into the more posh clubs. But of course, he lived and died for making public appearances. Max scanned the buffet. Of course there was nothing special, like last time for his girl's birthday. Really just a few salads, hummus, smoked tofu and bread, Beer and cheap whine to drink, and even a few bottles of evian, probably for those who considered yeast an animal. However, this time the place was packed. Algernon had messed up his Facebook groups again and accidentally sent out the invitation to everybody and their dog. Max suspected he himself wouldn't have been invited otherwise. Not that this would have stopped him from party crashing, but whatever. He helped himself to another beer and some more hummus, which was at least good. He already regretted going vegan, it was really only because his girl had dragged him into this PETA gig. \n\nAlgernon spotted him in the crowd and came ever. \"Hey Max,\" Algie patted him on the back, deviating from his usual mannered aloofness, \"let's find a spot to sit down for a moment, right?\" He got himself another glass of red whine and went to one of the sofas, gesturing Max to follow. A few younger goth boys and this Lucile followed him in respectful distance. Of course, the sofa he approached was mysteriously empty the moment they got there.\n\n\"Now, how do you like it here, Max\"\n\n\"It's OK, the buffet could be somewhat more rich, and the music -\"\n\n\"Oh yeah, the music, Daniel's taste is abominable, but who else would spend saturday night behind a DJ desk for a thank you and a beer? And the food, what do you expect me to conjure up for you and your gang of party crashers?”\n\n“Now that's not fair. Everyone is having fun and adding to the atmosphere”\n\n“True”\n\n“By the way, where is your goat?”\n\n\n“At aunt Margo's, she lives out in West Bennington. You didn't expect me to subject the poor thing to such a chaos?”\n\n“No, I guess not”", "It was another saturday night at Algernon's place, he held another party. In fact he couldn't help it, he was banned from most of his usual haunts and had neither the money nor the looks to get into the more posh clubs. But of course, he lived and died for making public appearances. Max scanned the buffet. Of course there was nothing special, like last time for his girl's birthday. Really just a few salads, hummus, smoked tofu and bread, Beer and cheap whine to drink, and even a few bottles of evian, probably for those who considered yeast an animal. However, this time the place was packed. Algernon had messed up his Facebook groups again and accidentally sent out the invitation to everybody and their dog. Max suspected he himself wouldn't have been invited otherwise. Not that this would have stopped him from party crashing, but whatever. He helped himself to another beer and some more hummus, which was at least good. He already regretted going vegan, it was really only because his girl had dragged him into this PETA gig. \n\nAlgernon spotted him in the crowd and came ever. \"Hey Max,\" Algie patted him on the back, deviating from his usual mannered aloofness, \"let's find a spot to sit down for a moment, right?\" He got himself another glass of red whine and went to one of the sofas, gesturing Max to follow. A few younger goth boys and this Lucile followed him in respectful distance. Of course, the sofa he approached was mysteriously empty the moment they got there.\n\n\"Now, how do you like it here, Max\"\n\n\"It's OK, the buffet could be somewhat more rich, and the music -\"\n\n\"Oh yeah, the music, Daniel's taste is abominable, but who else would spend saturday night behind a DJ desk for a thank you and a beer? And the food, what do you expect me to conjure up for you and your gang of party crashers?”\n\n“Now that's not fair. Everyone is having fun and adding to the atmosphere”\n\n“True”\n\n“By the way, where is your goat?”\n\n\n“At aunt Margo's, she lives out in West Bennington. You didn't expect me to subject the poor thing to such a chaos?”\n\n“No, I guess not”\n\n“Well, then -” \n\nLucile stood behind Algernon now, laying her arms around him in silence. A few of his other hangers-on squatted on the floor. Max greeted Lucile with a wide smile, she didn't react.\n\n“No free grass this time?” Max asked after an awkward little silence.\n\n“ Not today. You guys really scared us last time, we don't want it to be the cops next time”, which was ridiculous since the room was sated with the smell anyway.\n\nLucile took out a cigarette and installed it in her long cigarette holder. She held it out to one of the younger boys to light it, but the guys his cheap lighter malfunctioned. She gave him a deadly stare and nudged Algernon, who was still engaged in passive-aggressive small-talk with Algernon instead of getting to some sort of point.\n\nAlgernon whipped out a shiny storm lighter and lighted her cigarette. \n\n“This thing looks cool. But I do hope it is not something you got from Rakuten for cheap?” said Max. \n\nAlgernon smiled a wicked smile and played around with the lighter, flicking it around his hand and turning it on and off. Sure enough, the younger goth types around them shot approving looks. Finally, he put it away.\n\nHe smiled at Max, very sweetly but deliberately. “Now what brings you here, if the food is not up to your demands?”\n\n“Come on Algie, I’m a hardcore LARPer too, but your tendency to keep it up 24/7 is unnerving”\n\nAlgernon ran a hand over Lucile back, caressing her as as she smiled. \n\n“And that comes out of you, who Laps being a PETA nutter to impress your girl and have an excuse for acting as a freeloader”\n\n“say about PETA what you want, they do have a point there or three”\n\n“Be that as it may, it is none of my business after all. But you do claim to despise my style of LARPing and still add to it by styling yourself as my adversary all the time”\n\n“Algie, you’re impossible when you’re not high”\n\nSomeone lighted a home-made clove cigarette, forgetting Algernon’s allergy. He started sneezing immediately.\n\n“Blessed be” Max couldn’t help his education.\n\nKABOOM. It wasn’t quite that loud but almost. Algernons trousers burst in flames, Lucile let go of him and retreated in terror. Algernon had the presence of mind to throw himself on the floor and roll. Max threw his Jacket over him, and once the fire was out he produced a knife and cut the remains of the trousers off him and threw them out of a window, complete with the culprit china lighter, which produced another, smaller explosion when it hit the ground.\n\nPeople scrambled for the door as soon as they saw the fire, trying to evacuate the place before the police or whoever might show up. Lucile was down on the floor next to Algie once Max was done. Max pushed her away. “Quick, get ice water from the bar!” Fortunately, she had the sense to obey. \n\nMax prevented Algie from getting up gently and examined his leg. It looked like rather superficial burns. “Algie, how are you?, I’ll drive you to the hospital, I had just one beer and, other than Lucile, nothing else”\n\n“Don’t bother, this will heal”\n\n“Don’t you have insurance? Aren’t your parents rich?”\n\n“That’s not the point. I don’t want the ruckus and the stupid questions”\n\n“You’re insane. You bought a crap lighter online and it burned back and exploded. Clear case of ‘shit happens’”\n\n“That’s what you say”\n\nLucile was back with a big whine cooler, she soaked a kitchen towel with ice water and wrapped it round his leg.\n\n“Right there, now put ice over it, but no ice on skin.” Lucile left Algernon to Max for the moment and shooed everybody else out of the house. \n\nBoth Algernon and Lucile wanted Max gone either, so he complied after a few more protests.\n\n\n\nA few days later, Max got a call from his girlfriend.\n\n“hey”\n\n“What’s up, darling?”\n\n“Those darn LARPers who style themselves vampires. I heard they’ll have another goat torturing gig.”\n\n“Laura -”\n\n“You know, they’ll suck real blood out of real goats. We’re so gonna rip up their asses”\n\n“But “\n\n“I heard some fun stuff about what happened during their last party. You know, I’m quite sure they can’t tell reality from fantasy any more. They’ll shit their pants when they just see you!”\n\nOf course, Max didn’t find it in him to say no to her. But he sure didn’t ask for any of this, he knew Algie since their days in Auntie Margo’s sandbox, after all.", "It was deep into the night, i had trouble to see in front of me. The only things that was helping me to reach my destination was the dimmed light from the torch i was carrying. The shadows around me from the trees created a creepy atmosphere. I had hopes to be able to exit the forest soon.\nIt had been a few hours i was walking in the wood and i was done with the mud and dirt all around me. I know there was a house i would be able to sleep in for the night. i knew it was on the way, i just didn't know where it was exactly. Maybe tin the next half hour, i would be able to reach it.\nThe sounds all around me were starting to scare me more and more. I could hear wolves howl in the night and other creature run away from me as i was walking. I always had to be on my guard, but i trusted the fire on my torch to be able to scare them away.\nA few minutes after, i was able to finally see the house i was looking for tonight. I didn't know if the owner would accept to host me, but it was my best chance to not sleep outside tonight. It was a small house, maybe a couple of rooms only and build entirely with stone. Boards were blocking all the window,s but i could see the light of candles filtering through the cracks.\nOnce i reached the massive wooden door, i knocked. I heard no sound coming from the house. I knocked once again, hoping that the person would finally accept to come see. After the second time, I could finally hear them moving inside. It took a few seconds but the door finally cracked open.\nI could see in front of me a pale man. He was really thin, almost malnourished, and his eyes seemed lifeless. He had long pale hairs, looking unwashed for a few weeks. His clothes were not in a better condition, his while shirt was tarred and i could see holes in his pants.\n\"Hi sir, i was wondering if you could host a lone wanderer tonight. I have a long road to travel and as the night is now on the forest, i would like to avoid sleeping outside. I have a gold coin for you to accommodate the time i'll be resting here.\"\nWithout a word, he man observed me for a long moment. I could clearly see he wasn't really happy with my intrusion. I would understand if he decided he couldn't trust a man who knocked at his door in the middle of the night. I am not sure i'd trust me either. however, i really hoped he was more generous than me.\nWhen he finally decided to move, it was to open the door a bit more and stepping out of the way, inviting me inside. With a sigh of relief, i thanked him and entered the house. the house indeed had a second room, as i was seeing a door in the back of the house. What was currently before me was the living quarter, with the kitchen and the dinning table. There was a couch located against the wall on the far west. It was a simple room.\nWhile i was actually expecting to sleep on the couch, the man lead me to the room in the back of the house. inside, i could see a bed and a big weird box, almost as big as the bed. Leaving me in the room, the man left the room once again. I ended up removing the sword at my waist and my boots before crashing down on the bed. I took no time before i fell asleep.\nWhen i woke up, it was still dark outside. I made my way outside of the room. In the living area, the man was now sitting at the table fixated on the flame of the candle in front of him. I waited a few minutes to see if he would finally notice i was uo, but when he didn't react, i decided to keep moving.\nI made my wait to the kitchen. The first thing i noticed was that everything was covered with a thick layer of dust. As i was hungry, i decided to start to clean up the counters. I blowed on the dust, trying to remove as much as i could before having to start up to use a cloth to clean up.\nA big cloud of dust rose from the counter. I started to bat my hands in front of me in order to not breath too much of it. Some must have reached my host as i heard a sneeze behind me.\n\"Bless you,\" I said by habit.\nBefore i could even realise what was happening, i heard a scream from the man behind me. I immediately turn around to assess the situation. The man, who had been sitting on a chair, was now screaming as if i had stabbed him. He was scratching his arms, clearly in pain. Before i could even ask how i could help, i saw flames erupt of his body.\nHe felt on is knees, screaming like a madman as he was burning. I was left stunned on my feet. What the hell was that. Did the man caught fire with the candle in front of him? That was the most likely situation. The fire burned him fast. Way too fast. More than normal fire. In the time i tried to approach him to help, all was left was dust.\nI didn't know what i was supposed to do now. The man who was supposed to host me was now dust in front of me. I guess the crass that was covered him helped the fire burn him so fast.\nI decided to return to my quest to get food. It was not like i could do anything for him now as he was dead. I didn't even know him so i wasn't really sad or worried about someone finding me right now. After i had made myself a sandwich with some bread he had laying around and some ham, started to look around the house.\nHe had some weird stuff around the house, such as a broken mirror with destroyed runes on the side. He also had a crystal ball. Some of the books he was owning were not in languages i could understand. What a weird thing to own. I was really wondering what was an ermit like him doing.\nAfter eating, i finally went to get back my sword from the room. I put my boots on and got ready to make my way back, even though the sun wasn't up yet. Before i could get outside, i heard a loud crash into the living area. i immediately made my way outside the room.\nFrom my end of the room, i could see the entrance door out of it's hinges. The door was broken in half, someone had clearly brute forced their way inside. A man was standing in the entrance, rage displayed on his face. His dark eyes were now fixed on me, ready to decapitate me. His lips were thin with rage, brows furrowed.\nHe looked strong and currently very scary. He was dressed in black with a red trim on his clothes. A cape was covering his shoulders. He had long dark hairs, shiny as if it was just washed. He suddenly pointed at me while walking toward me. Before i had time to react, he started to yell at me.\n\"You will pay for this crime, Vampire Hunter!\"\nWhat?", "I was sitting in a weathered bar. The floorboards creaked, the corners had water marks dripping down them and the tables had been scarred with knives for years. But it was home to me. \n\nI was sitting at the bar with a pint in one hand and a garlic bread in the other. They made an amazing cheesy garlic bread. That's when he stood at the doorstep and peered inside. He knocked a couple times and spoke in a posh, dragged out voice, \"Hello? Are you open for business?\" That's when I got a good look at him. \n\nHe had the palest skin I had ever seen, so pale that you should have been able to see the blood flowing through his veins. His long cape followed behind him like a posse with the collar up. ON top of his bald head he wore a tall hat. His pale, blue eyes sweeping the room. \n\nThe barkeep looked at me as if he was saying, \\_What's the deal with this guy\\_ before inviting him in. \n\n\"Thank you, sir,\" he spoke as he entered the bar. He passed me and wrinkled his nose at disgust. \"What a wanker,\" I told my garlic bread. The man sat as far away from me as he could possibly sit, before staring directly at me with hate in his eyes. \n\n\"You right there mate?\" I sneered at him and looked directly into his red eyes. \\_Red?\\_ My eyes widened as I realized this. \"What the fuck are you?\" I panickedly asked. I could already feel the sweat starting to pour down my face as a lump formed in my throat. \n\n\"I am Count Azazel, and you shall die for yo-ACHOO\" he violently sneezed. \n\nOut of habit, I said, \"Bless you.\" Panic filled his eyes as he realized the implications of what I had just said. \n\n\"No, No, NO NO!\" he screamed as smoke began to rise from his hand. He desperately began to pat himself down in an attempt to tame the flames, but it proved too much for him and he succumbed to his fate. \n\n\"What in Mary's name happened?\" the barkeep asked nervously. Before I could make a sorry attempt of explaining, three people with matching black jackets burst through the door with water guns drawn. \n\n\"Where is the foul beast?\" asked the one in the middle with a long scar down his face. I used my shaking hands to point towards the pile of ash. \n\n\"it's dead,\" proclaimed the one on the left, \"how?\" \n\n\"He sneezed and I blessed him and then he exploded and I need a drink,\" I stammered as sat back down in my stool. \n\n\"Ahh, I know what you are, you're a hunter like us, blending in excellently with the population to fool the vampires,\" said the middle one with respect in voice. \n\n\"What are you on about?\" I asked him, confused as hell. \n\n\"You can drop the disguise now, it's just us. Come now, we must have a drink and then we'll head back to base.\" \n\n\"But I'm not a hunter...\" \n\n\"Sure you aren't, and Toby over here killed three vampires with one stake.\" \n\n&#x200B;\n\nPlease criticize and correct me. There may be formatting issues.", "That was last month. \n\nThree weeks ago, I stopped a werewolf when I dropped my lunch. Turns out grapes are bad for dogs? I guess. I'm no vet. Maybe she just choked on one. \n\nThen there was the mummy two weeks ago. My cat attacked him, knocking him back at the same time I was stumbling into the ritual torch stand. Fire apparently works well on them.\n\nLast week, a mad scientist made an abomination, a living flesh jigsaw. I was dealing with a clogged sink in the upstairs bathroom, and bumped the clog dissolver out the window. Turns out, dumping that on someone covered in poorly stitched wounds is a great way to kill them.\n\nNow, the city council has called for my help on planning for a zombie invasion, and I have no clue what to say beyond trying to convince them it's all a fluke. My luck is going to run out at some point, but I'd rather that not happen while my brain's on the line. ", "\"Buffy, hear my prayer, I didn't want this but now that I have this I want to be more like you.\" I thought as the steak went through his heart. \n\n\nIt was months ago when I was preparing a steak dinner for me and my date, he sneezed, and I blessed him, and he exploded into flames, burning out steaks and half my apartment. When I was able to go back to my apartment the steaks where still there, I put them in a bag with some other things I don't remember and went off to walk down the road towards my friends place. \n\n\n\"YOU!\" It hissed at me jumping out from between two cars parked by the side of the road, \"You killed master, now I must kill you! He did no harm, he saved all his fledglings! You hunter, you deserve t-\" I was surprised that I just put my hand into my bag and threw the first thing I could find, a wonderful 12 oz rib-eye, beautifully marbled, it would have been perfect had it not been Pittsburghed and well done. The steak landed on my attackers chest, then through it, and again with the fire! \n\n\nI waved the smoke and smell of burnt meat away and looked at the pile of ash just ahead of me. How had I done that, who were they? Death by fire? What was going on, I needed to clear my head. Hopefully this walk would do just that. The autumn had stolen all the leaves off the tree's leaving nothing to the imagination as I walked past houses and empty lots. It was the time of year where it wasn't sexy or alive, just naked and barren, the wind was neither cold nor was it pleasurable, the moisture made sure of that. Leaves didn't crunch, there was no snow, there was no colour other than brown. There was nothing exciting about this time of year, except for the 2 spontaneous human combustion's that happened in-front of me. \n\n\nLuckily for me the rest of the walk was a quiet on, just me, the brown, and my thoughts.\n\n\nI got to my friends place and he just looked at me with an open mouth sort of look. Not quite like a jack-o-lantern, closer to that of a smashed pumpkin in the middle of a highway, I wondered how I looked. \"Heya Gab, I had quiet a day, mind letting me in and cleaning up?\" Finally he closed his mouth, but it was only to nod his head to let me in. I went straight for the wash room to clean up.\n\n\nI had always been petite, obviously not an athlete; I didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination to play sports without humiliating myself. I would often joke I could trip over a painted line, an actual event in Grade 7 gym, broke my nose on that trip. I was as pale as snow, with skin as clear as glacial ice, my hair was often a mess of dull matte waves and curls as I had not made it a priority to worry about my hair. My eyes would change colour so I just put \"grey\" on any medical documents. Due to my poor diet, my skin did lack the colour of life, and I often got asked if I was anemic, I was not, I just avoided spinach and steak unless I was trying to impress. My skin took the pallor of the food I ate, bread, mac n cheese, and pizza. The real miracle in my life was how I never gained weight or acne from my poor diet. So when I looked in the mirror I couldn't recognize myself.\n\n\nWas my skin glowing under ass the smut and ash? Did my hair have a uniform wave ending in curl AND SHINE?! Maybe it is just me. I washed the ash and smoke off my face, ran my hair under the water in the sink\n\n\nI opened the door and called out for Gab. \"Dude, think I can borrow a pair of your skinnies and like a shirt?\" He was already in his bedroom looking for a size I could wear. He often wore a man's 40 pant, and I could barely squeeze into a 26 waist. At least the look would be interesting. He threw me a pair of pants and a shirt. \"Hey, our old uniform back when we were the same size!\" I said laughing putting on the small pants and one of his shirts. Gab, when I met him, he was a small scraggly thing of a boy, finding his way in the world and himself along the way, in the 5 years I had known him he had hit many growth spurts and the gym, making easy work of his full time job as a chef. He no longer resembled a heron chick going through puberty, but more like a silver back gorilla with the eyes as wide and innocent as a kitten's. \n\n\nGab was not laughing, he looked flushed. So there was a noticeable change. He always had a thing for me, but our friendship meant more than something sexual so we became best friends. I could rely on him for anything and he I. \n\n\nHe found his composure, \"Mel, the fuck happened to you?\" \n\n\n\"Well, as you know, I was having a date tonight, I was making some steak served with that spinach salad you showed me, when he sneezed, then, exploded into fire. The weirdest part was after the fire trucks had left, and the police got my statement, which was that I added water to a grease fire and they accepted it, was that I got attacked! I am assuming a family member as they looked almost identical in the way that two people can being different heights, and weights, and nationalities. And they too exploded, but only after I threw a steak at them.\" \n\n\n\"A steak?\" \n\n\n\"A steak, I kept them with me because, I figured if I get hungry tonight I could eat some jerky,\" I joked. He didn't laugh.\n\n\n\"Did you say anything before your date exploded?\" Gab was all concern now, which was odd for him as this conversation was not about anime or breast reductions.\n\n\"Well, I was being polite and said 'bless you', you don't think that would make a man explode. That only works on vampires and they don't exist.\" I was at a loss, after True Blood, Supernatural, and Twilight would vampires not find it okay to out themselves in this day and age. They would be white wealthy people, they wouldn't need to worry about the government except to maybe claim taxes and I am sure that if the past 20 years of POTUS of America can avoid them, vampires could to. \n\n\"Mel, they do exist. And you just became a hunter tonight. Welcome to the other side of the Underside.\" Gab reached out his hand for a shake and his face looked genuinely sad for my situation.\n\n\"Vampire hunter? I didn't want this, I didn't mean for this to happen! Take the title back.\" I stood up in shock and anger while Gab stayed silently seated waiting for me to calm down. \n\n\n\"You can't give it back. It is a thing where after you've inhaled a dead vampire's dust after killing them, you become a hunter. Our scientist say it works much like a fungus does, where it can activate some genes making you a hunter. But it could also kill you, there is about a 90% fail rate. You are a lucky one.\" Gab sighed and got up and went to the kitchen to grab himself a beer, he got me a glass of cold water and placed it on a table where we could sit down.\n\n\nIt was these moments where you question you sanity, best case scenario I was having a psychotic break, finally, and all of this was a product of my head. Worse case was that this was real. Either way, to not do further damage to myself I just went along for the ride. Trying to break someone from the psychosis is never advised so I didn't try to fight it. If reality was out there I would find it. If it wasn't I was in it. Only time could tell, so why loose my head over it.\n\n\n\"Gab, what can you tell me about vampires?\" I sat down cross legged on his couch and reached for my glass of water. \n\n\n\"It all started way back when, right after you left the kitchen about 2 years ago. Some junkie came in through the back and was threatening the bar tenders and servers, the other line cooks booked it, but I couldn't. This was my home, these were my family, I couldn't do nothing, so I took my knife and I started slashing away until one slash turned into a stab and suddenly the next thing you know he became a ball of fire, I look like I just cleaned under the line. It wasn't too long after I noticed that I was gaining muscles like crazy and couldn't keep the women off of me. After that, I went looking for groups or someone else like me and I stumbled into an organization. You know those Hunter Boots all those girls love, yeah, that is just a front for their vampire hunting ways. All of their fashion is vampire resistant and aids us in most of our fights.\" He placed his half finished beer beside him and sighed. \"It feels so good to tell you this. I couldn't tell anyone because I sounded crazy, and if I talk about being a hunter to a non-hunter Tyler Durden will come after me. It isn't his real name, just looks a lot like Brad Pitt but more violent.\" \n\n\nI nod in understatement to the last sentence, everything before that was just jumbled in my head. \n\n\n\"Do all vampires look alike?\" \n\n\n\"Well not in the traditional sense of 'twinsies!'\" Gab had a love for the LGBT+ idiosyncrasies, \"They all have pale skin, and empty eyes, but the old ones, their wet sources tend to shrivel up. Their eyes look all squinty, their mouth puckers. Often they use modern makeup to hide their impossible skin, some choose to look like an oompa loompa, others prefer more natural, and then you got the freaky kind, the kind that blends in with the \"freak\" society circle.\" He was painting a picture I am sure not many people would like. \n\n\n\"Does that mean--\" I hesitate. \n\n\n\"Yeah, he is a vampire, most of his 12 employees are too. But under rules, we cannot talk about killing or assassinating, or other ways hurting him. He is too high profile.\" Gab knows me too well I think. I like to poke fire. \n\n\n\"Will this life interfere with my day job?\" I ask accepting my new reality quiet easily. \n\n\nGab shook his head and laughed, \"Well it isn't your average 9-5 is it. You will need to make a few sacrifices, but knowing you not many.\" \n\n\n\"Final question, steak?\" \n\n\n\"Yeah steaks, and stakes are used to kill a vampire. Pretty much anything you are truly comfortable around can be used as a weapon.\" He smiled knowing what that would mean my weapons are. \n\n\n\"So food. Any and all food are my weapons. Great. I can't wait to off someone with a carrot.\" \n", " \n\nThere's a rule on the subway that you don't stare. Whatever is going on, you mind your own damn business, check your phone, read your kindle, maybe text the number one girl on your tinder roster a \"What are you up to?--\" but no eye contact with other passengers. None; well, ok, maybe we make an exception for the pregnant, drunks and the homeless but that's because two of them can't control themselves and the third needs the seat. \n\nThe no eye contact rule is especially important when commuting home from the graveyard shift, which is why when the pale faced individual was staring at me from the end of the car, I started to feel uncomfortable. I looked up at the sign above the door. It read, \"Now approaching 7th street.\" Good,* I thought, there's my stop. I can get off here and hopefully the Vitamin D Deficient prick eyeing me like a steak will stay on. I glanced at Pale Face. Yup, still staring. Some others must have boarded the last stop, because there were also two people towards the front of the car, wearing hoodies and baseball caps. They looked like they were on a mission, but whatever mission needs to be accomplished at 3 am is no concern of mine. Just get off at 7th, walk the four blocks, take the elevator to the second floor of your building Chuck and boom, five minutes after that you'll be one edible shy of landing on the moon.\n\nThe train car stopped and I got off. I started to walk up the stairs towards the sweet smell of leftover trash and takeout. At the top of the stairs I heard what I thought was the echo of my feet (since I was the only one who took the stop). I stopped on the sidewalk. More footstep noises, well if this isn't fuckin' creepy, I said to myself as I glanced over my shoulder. Pale Face was at the midway level of the stairs. I picked up my pace, walking as fast as I could without raising suspicion that I was on to Pale Face and his plans to have his way with me, the contents of my wallet, or both.\n\nTo thwart my suspected mugger I took a right at 7th and 244th, to see if Pale Face was really tailing me or if it was just a coincidence that he too had the same exact stop at 3 in the morning. After going a block I turned around. Nothing was following me. What a waste of goddamn time Chuck, look at you being scared that someone in a city of 3 million people might be following you. I wanted to chuckle myself, but the moment I tried to exhale, a force as strong as a linebacker knocked me on my back.\n\nStanding above me, he had this smile on his face. Not a smile like, “I’m so happy to meet you Chuck, the name’s Pale Face, I hope this assault will be as pleasant for you as it will be for me,” but a smile that a fat kid usually has when cake is slid in front of him. I say the latter, because his fangs slid over his canines and he reared his head back. I now understood why Pale Face was so aptly named; Pale Face was a real-life vampire. Well Chuck, it was nice knowing you man. Sorry that edible didn’t work out.\n\nI waited for the inevitable bite, but it didn’t come. Pale Face still had his head reared back. It looked like something was bothering him.\n\n“You, uh, good man?” I asked.\n\n“Why yes, it’s ju—ACHOOOOOO!” Pale Face sneezed.\n\n“Bless you. Wait, why am I blessing you? You were about to kill me,” I said, but Pale Face didn’t hear it. There was an explosion of flames and the assailant that was Pale Face was now a pile of dust at my feet. I heard footsteps coming around the corner. Ok bro, get up and dust yourself off. Make it look like you meant to set the strange man on flames. The footsteps belonged to the two hooded gentlemen from the train. The taller of the two pointed at the pile of dust behind me.\n\n“Did you just kill that vampire?”\n\nI brushed off my pants and sidestepped to get a better look at the pile. “Oh yea, that thing? Fucker had me dead to rights but I was able to get a stake in him.”\n\nThe taller one, who I’ll call Red Hoodie for now, looked at me in awe. “We’ve been trying to kill this guy for 400 years, and you somehow manage to do it on the first try. Want a job?”\n\nThough my mind was telling me no, my body took a step forward, shook the men’s hands, and proceeded to walk with them to the train station. Guess I'm still working graveyard shifts.", "Jason cowarded in the corner of his bedroom, a faint nightlight glimmering off of his glasses. He clenched a pillow tightly to his chest. His knees dug into his chin. \tRazor blade talons raked down his window, echoing a morbid screech. Jason released the pillow and clung his palms over his ears.\n\n\"JAAAYYYSSSOOONNN!\" The Vampire called to him, slurring every word through a dry, raspy voice. \"LET MEEE INNNN!\" \tJason shook his head furiously no. Hot tears flung off of his cheeks.\n\n\"YOOUUU KILLED OUR BROTHEEERRRR!\"\n\nJason clamped tighter over his ears and dug his face into the cuddly bears printed on the knees of his pajamas.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nLast week Jason stayed out pass his curfew playing with the other kids, playing kickball deep into the dusk. He was in the 1st grade and practically an adult now. He would come home when he decided it was time.\n\nA mighty kick from one of the boys sent the ball far beyond the bounds and into the side mirror of an old beat up Cadillac. A powerful snap of the fiber glass and the mirror drooped lamely. The glass shattered. Everyone had ran before the broken shards could land on the asphalt. A pale man climbed out of the driver seat and gingerly touched the mirror dangling by a wire. Jason apologized profusely, bawling at the trouble he was going to be in. The pale man smiled like a shark at young Jason and slowly picked up the ball. He spoke like his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth with peanut butter, gently enunciating every deliberate word.\n\n\"Would... You... Like... Thees... Back?\" He said, sliding a sharp grin between his profuse red lips. \"Come... Take... It.\"\n\nAnd then the pale man sneezed. Jason wiped his nose and sniffed. Softly, he said \"Bless you. I'm real sorry, mister-\"\n\nThe pale man exploded in a brilliant light, blinding Jason. flames lashed at the sky consuming every molecule of oxygen it could find. As quick as it came, it was gone.\n\nJason fell back onto his rump and gazed at the smoldering ash before him. He did not say anything. He stared into the pile of lifeless carbon. And then he took off yelling out of his mind. His mother begged and pleaded to tell her what was wrong, what happened, but Jason refused. He would not tell her anything, and absolutely would not be in the dark again.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"YOOUURRR BLOOOOD!\" The Vampire howled, banging on the window.\n\nThe bright headlights of a car flashed into his room, silhouetting the unimaginable beast. Jason whipped his head up. His mother was pulling into the driveway. \t\"Mom?\" He said silently, mouthing the word.\n\nThe Vampire looked to the car, back to Jason, and smiled viciously. The all too similar smile of the predator who invited Jason to get his ball back. The vampire hissed deeply from the back of his throat and flew off into the shadows.\n\n\"Mom! No!\" Jason cried out through the thick music that settled into his airways.\n\nJason slapped on every light switch as he ran out of his room, down the hallway, through the living room, and finally to the front door. He clacked the deadbolt open and barbarically threw the solid door open.\n\nShe had already killed the engine, and flicked the headlights off now.\n\n\"Mom!\" Jason bellowed. \"Stay in the car! Don't get out!\"\n\nHis mother looked at him queerly, then flashed disapproval in her eyes. Why was he out of bed? Especially at this hour. She opened the door and stepped out, car keys hanging limply from her fingers.\n\nThe Vampire pierced the air from above in a sweeping dive and tackled Jason's beloved mother to the ground. He dug his claws into her flesh and pinned her to the unforgiving concrete.\n\nJason ran to the threshold of the porch light and took one more noble step beyond it. His foot jerked back to the light and shook uncontrollably. He cried and screamed at the damn thing, to let his mommy alone, and go back to whatever hell it came from.\n\nThe vampire cut to the corners of his eyes at Jason. Yes, the little one was indeed watching. The Vampire rumbled deep from his belly and sunk his teeth into the fresh, delightful artery in her neck. She shrilled like a wild animal cornered in the wilderness. The shriek was wet, and then gurgling. Fresh blood sputtered out of her mouth in droplets and dribbled down the corners of her lips. The Vampire glared back at Jason. Yes, he was still watching. Good. The Vampire released a spine chilling grin. He licked the red crescent paint with his rancid tongue and went back to the puncture wounds.\n\nJason fell to the dense cement and backed away on all fours. He could not watch the horror of his mother dying before his eyes, but was too afraid to look away. He carelessly crawled over the threshold of the door and kicked it closed.\n\nThe squealing from his mother had stopped. Jason wailed under the faux light. The monster banged on the wooden obstacle, demanding entrance, demanding vengeance.\n\nJason looked through his refracted tears at the cross that sat on the mantle. He wiped away the tears blistering his face and took up the cross in his hands. A quiet contemplation. Thunder still booming at the door.\n\nJason opened the door, the cross lifelessly at his side. He stood eye to eye with the nightmare that would never leave his dreams.\n\nA hardened face absent of tears. A morbid tone. \"You're invited in. You're all invited in.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nEdit - Fixed stupid words I saw I misspelled after submitting.", "The Count bared his fangs at me, his eyes glinting in the gloom of the ballroom. I stumbled backwards, startled. In my fright I accidently tripped over my tool bag, and I fell to the floor. The fall knocked the wind out of me, and I grabbed my chest as stars swam in my eyes. The Count loomed over me, glaring into my eyes as he leaned in closer. \n\n“This is it,” I thought, squeezing my eyes shut. “This is how I go.”\n\nWhen death did not come for me, I slowly opened one eye. The Count was still standing above me, his face screwed up in a horrible fashion. In my fall, I had not realized that I had kicked up an enormous amount of dust. Before I could try to shuffle away the Count let out a loud sneeze, sending a loud “ACHOO” echoing throughout the ballroom in an impressive fashion. He sighed in relief and put a hand on his chest.\n\n“Bless you.” I stammered, looking at him wide eyed.\n\n“Ah, thank you.” He said, a small smile on his face. \n\nThis look did not last long however. Panic spread across his face as smoke slowly started to rise from his neck. “No. No no no no no.” He stammered, trying to pat himself out. This, unfortunately did very little. Soon his entire body was engulfed in flames. With one final screech, his body exploded and his ashes spread across the room. \n\nCoughing and sputtering, I wiped the now completely deceased Count from my eyes. “Jesus Tap Dancing Christ,” I muttered, getting to my feet. Just then, a door creaked open. Looking up, I met the eyes of the daughter of the house. Her face was a mixture of shock and relief. \n\n“Ma’am, I -” I started, wringing my cap in my hands. She cut me off.\n\n“You…you defeated the creature. You have rid us of his evil.” Her face erupted into unbridled joy, and she turned and ran down the hallway. \n\n“Father!” I heard her yell, the sound of her heels echoing throughout the house. “Father! He has done it! He has saved us!” \n\nA grand banquet was held in my honor that night. The ale poured freely, and the merry laughter of the townsfolk filled my ears. At this point in the night, I had one too many ales myself. My head fuzzy from the excess of drink, I laughed and joked along with them. \n\nAs the festivities died down and people started to stumble home, I noticed a stranger sitting in the corner of the tavern. My head still fuzzy and sleep dulling my eyes, I shrugged it off and rose to leave myself. As I pulled my jacket on and turned to exit, the stranger grabbed my arm. \n\n“So,” they spoke, their face hidden by their hood. “You’re the one who took down the great Count.”\n\n“Aye.” I said, trying my best to stand still. “ ’Twas me.” \n\nI realize now that the alcohol had dulled my usual sense of humility, and my bravado was at an all time high. Something that I would soon regret. \n\nThe stranger pulled the hood off their face, revealing a young girl. Her face was worn with worry and lack of rest, making her look much older than her years. \n\n“You must help me.” She grabbed my hands, and looked into my eyes. “Please. A werewolf has haunted my village for the last several months. Our livestock is gone, and people are starting to disappear as the night falls. Please. We need your help, Hunter.”\n\nI stared at her. A hunter? She thought I was a hunter? Me? A carpenter? I instantly sobered up.\n\n“I-” I started, trying to find the words to explain that me defeating the Count was just a stroke of luck. But the look of hope in the young girls eyes stopped my tongue. \n\n“If it’s money you require you shall have it. Please, we beg of you. You’re the only hope we have left.”\n\n“Of course,” I said softly, grasping her hands. “I’ll help.”\n\nHer face lit up with joy. “Oh, thank you sir, thank you.” She squeezed my hands in return. “We shall leave at dawn.” A smile erupted over her thin face, and she turned and walked up the tavern stairs to the rooms above. I watched her go, a feeling of dread seeping into my bones. \n\n“Ah, shite.” I said quietly to myself, running my hands through my hair. Settling down back in my chair, I motioned to the bartender for another ale. \n\n“What have I done.”" ]	12
	[WP] You are the world's greatest stage magician. Everyone loves your tricks, but assumes that's all they are. Just tricks. Nobody knows about the true depth of your powers, and the price you paid to obtain them.	[ " \n\nThe Great Faustina stood before the packed audience, soaking in the screams and clutched breaths. Blood pooled at her feet as it leaked out of her dead assistant.\n\n“And now, ladies and gentleman, I think you know what’s coming next.”\n\nHer remaining two assistants wheeled the two parts back together, sealing them with a wet smack. She turned back and waived the useless wand, uttering useless words while the real magic worked. The man gasped back to life. \n\nThe crowd gasped with him, then cheered and clapped and roared with praise. They didn’t notice his face transitioning from shock to horror as he was wheeled off stage. She regained her composure and turned back to the crowd with her best stage smile.\n\n“Thank you, everyone. Have a good night!”\n\nThe curtains fell and Faustina walked off stage. Away from the lights and eyes, she let the weary malaise show itself again. Her assistants and crew all gave her a wide berth as she made her way back to her dressing room. \n\nInside, it was another world. It looked like the attic of her uncle’s house, stacked with endless knick knacks for her to explore under old light bulbs. Unlike her uncle’s attic, there was a large feathered bed and other amenities.\n\nIt was a small pocket of space, folded up and opened just a bit, that she could take wherever she went. Here, she kept all her prized possession, from Atlantean tomes and the staff of Merlin to the head of her old boss, the Amazing Rudolpho(!). \n\nShe dropped down onto the bed and let out a sigh. The show had been long and the ridiculous new costume was uncomfortable, but none of that compared the mundanity of it all. \n\nThen the lights flickered and she jerked up. She ran to her crystal ball as a familiar tingle traveled down her spine and performed the scrying spell. Visions flashed and words drifted through her ears.\n\n“-a simple trick, not even that good. I’ll show you this video online of a guy that reall-”\n\n“-yeah man, I’d totally hit that. So hot-”\n\n“-feelin’ Chinese, actually-” \n\n“-she be in New York? Ben and Mar-”\n\nThen she saw it, the form of a man all covered in shadows, moving among the unseeing crowd. It began to turn around and she broke the spell, stifling a scream.\n\nThe lights in her room blinked out, then back on and she knew what stood behind her.\n\nLAURA… a whisper curled inside her head.\n\nShe summoned all the confidence her training gave her and turned around, kneeling.\n\n“My master.”\n\nYOU WERE TRYING TO HIDE FROM ME\n\n“I wasn’t I just didn-”\n\nShe cried out in pain as her insides twisted.\n\n“Yes…”\n\nTHE TIME HAS COME AGAIN BRING ME A CHILD FRESHLY BORN CALL FOR ME WHEN YOU HAVE IT AND YOUR TIME WILL BE EXTENDED\n\n“Yes, my master,” she stifled a sob.\n\nThe twisting stopped and she let out a ragged breath as she fell to the ground. She looked up and the figure was gone. \n\nShe knew what she had to do." ]	1
	[WP] It's finally the day. The day you have become old enough to receive your magic. There's just one problem, you already have magic. And it only goes downhill from there.	[ "It’s finally the day. All children twelve years of age receive a gift of magic: whether it’s simple fire manipulation, ice magic, or more complex and disturbing types like necromancy or shadow spells. And it’s the day I reach 12 myself. I quickly got up, had a light breakfast, and dashed towards the magic school nearby. I couldn’t wait to finally discover my own talent. \nOr, at least, that was what I thought. \nAs soon as I got out of bed, I inexplicably tripped and fell on my face. “Oww...” I exclaimed. But then it happened again when I tried to stand up. Once again, I tripped and fell over. “Okay, now it’s a little weird.” I thought to myself. Nevertheless, I continued to make my way to the school. \nThen another weird event happened when I was at the door. As it was a bit cold outside, I thought I’d wear my shoes and gloves. However, when I tried to put on my gloves, they just stuck to my hands for no reason. The shoes were the same story: I accidentally grabbed my old torn shoes, but they would only come off after a good 10 minutes or so of struggling. \nI was constantly afraid of tripping and falling again on my way to recieve my gift: only a couple blocks and I’d already felt like I’d been running on solid ice: everything was slippery. And before you know it, the road suddenly felt like it got coarsed and dried up, and along with it a feeling of stickiness on my feet. In the end, it took me half an hour to get to the school, something that normally only took a good 10 minutes. \n“Excuse me, I’m here to receive my gift.” I politely asked the old man in the classroom, presumably the principal. \n“Ah, Mr. Walker, isn’t it? You’re the last one. Although I remembered stating that the correct time was 20 minutes before.” \n“I’m terribly sorry, sir. I got into some... problems.” \n“I’ll let it slide for now. Now, brace yourself, as I bestow upon you your gift of magic.” The principal said, his hand conjuring up a medium-sized ball of energy glowing a bright orange light. \nI readied my mind and body to experience my rise to adulthood, the first step to my path of magic. \nThe ball bounced off me. \n“Well... this is awkward.” The principal scratched his head. “Let’s try this again.” He attempted to pass the power to me once more. \nThis time, it stuck to me for a few seconds, before slipping down again. \n“This... is a first.” The principal wondered. “It looks like we have to do a bit of analyzing, Mr. Walker. Come with me.” \n\n_____ \n\nThe process wasn’t much. I just sat in a closed room for a while, with the teachers outside extracting a part of my magical energy and gathering it outside in a small vile. After a bit of waiting, the principal came in with the news: \n“Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, you already had magic. It’s the first time I’ve seen it personally, but there have been reports of people getting a sort of “natural” magic on their 12th birthday. The bad news is, your magic is brand new, therefore it’s something we can’t help you with.” \n“What is it, sir?” I asked. \n“We called it friction magic. Remember that slippery or sticky feeling you had? Well, that’s because this magic allows you to subconsciously decrease or increase the friction between your skin and the surfaces that you touch.” \n“So... how do I control it?” \n“I have no idea.” " ]	1
	[WP] You are 20 and just found out you have one year left to live. Your best friend takes the next year off of from college and shares their savings to travel the world with you. Your stories become widely talked about across the globe.	[ "Inevitable. That word remains the source of my many nightmares, the infinite shadow hovering over my soul. I never wish to hear it again. No, rather, I wish I had never heard it at all. I want to go back, back a year and a half, maybe two years ago, when everything felt more or less right, when my smile was natural and honest. I wish to God I had never known. Things would be easier now. Christ, they would be so much easier.\n\nI’ve read it before, seen it before, you know? People are diagnosed, but they’re strong-willed and happy so they fight it. They smile and live, and their friends and family do their damnedest to hold back curses and tears. There are parties and adventures and the whole nine yards, and by the end of it all, they say they’re happy and that it’s not so bad. They say that they were lucky to have the life they did, to know the people they did. Then they die. And everyone around them is left alone, left broken and alone, and no amount of good memories changes that fact.\n\nListen, I am not saying that is the wrong way to go out. I get it. Long term, the living end up happy they could spend as much time with the bereaved as they did. They are grateful for the many treasured moments they now have locked away in their hearts. They thank God – or whoever the hell they feel they need to thank – that it did not end sooner, that it did not end abruptly. No, trust me, I get it. I get it all too well.\n\nIt is just – well, hell, it shouldn’t have to be this way. Death was going to come eventually, anyway, I know that. I could even forgive the whole thing if it was a solitary affair, if it hit me and only me. But when I see her face, especially in those moments she thinks I’m asleep, when I see the loneliness and pain in her eyes, when I see tears roll down and realize she is having trouble controlling her breathing, I cannot help but wish it had been abrupt. Like a bandage being ripped off, I could have disappeared in the blink of an eye. Sure, she would suffer after that, but that is going to happen, regardless. Maybe there would be less pain that way. Probably not. But maybe.\n\n~~---------------------------------------------------------------~~\n\nThis is an incomplete work -- a passing vision, a brief thought. I may continue it, and I may not; regardless, criticism is always appreciated. Also: hello again, /r/writingprompts\\*! I posted here about half a year ago, once, but I have been in something of a rut since, though I have still been stalking the sub, looking for inspiration and writing things here and there. Thank you all for the community you have produced and the ideas you continue to generate. Hopefully you will see more of me in the future!", "I stood at the podium. Friends, family and fans crowded the room. Several cameras pointed at me. There were TV logos on microphones in front of me. \n\n\"Twelve months ago,\" I stopped. I took a deep breath, swallowed and started again.\n\n\"Last Halloween my best friend Terri walked into our Dr to get the results to my cancer screening. I was too scared to do it myself. It was back. I had twelve months to live. I didn't want details. I didn't question it.\"\n\nThe room shuffled. There was a murmer from our fans.\n\n\"In middle school we always promised if we got sick that we would drop everything and travel. Best friends, til death do us part.\"\n\n\"I never knew Terri meant it literally until she dragged me to the court house. 'You're living a full life in the next twelve months boy.' And we did.\"\n\nI told our story to the crowd who had come to welcome us home. How it started as a blog to keep our family up to date. Then there was the unexpected pregnancy, the explosion of support when a Mommy Blogger retweeted a pregnancy shot in the Himalayan mountains. Then finally the birth of our daughter, and the truth about my diagnosis. It was never mine.\"\n\n\"I named our daughter Terri,\" I placed a hand on the casket, \"After her mother, who knew how to live a full life in her remaining twelve months.\"", " \n\nJoel Etherington and I sat cross-legged on a stained carpet in my room. A whiteboard bucket list laid between us. I wanted to put down “legally change Joel’s last name into something less ridiculous, like Ellington or Sir-Shreks-A-Lot” but he wouldn’t let me have it. I figured that if we were going to be traveling around the world that at least I should have a traveling companion with a decent surname. It may not be a big deal to the average Joe, but this is MY death we’re talking about.\n\nAnyways we had five items listed down in black Expo marker so far: \n\n1.) Wing-suiting off the roofs of Dubai while wearing a Superman costume\n\n2.) Tricycle drag racing down the entire length of the Autobahn\n\n3.) Experiencing Thailand with a Thai ladyboy (in a platonic friendly way)\n\n4.) Shooting an M249 indiscriminately in the air while screaming “‘Murica!” at the top of our lungs.\n\n5.) Driving a tank around a Walmart parking lot while an eagle perched on my shoulder and held a miniature American flag after said M249 incident occurred.\n\nGrowing up as a rich kid, I always had the opportunity to travel the world and take in the experience, but I always had to pose as a serious elitist too mature for juvenile humor. It was always black-ties-and-tuxedos this and What-do-you-think-of-the-current-geopolitical-climate-in-regards-to-North-Korea? that.\n\nIt may seem silly of me to say, but the best time of my life was when I moved to India against my father’s wishes (this was after the cancer diagnosis—he still wanted me to attend Yale “as a gesture of strength against insurmountable odds.” The prick.) and as a result, he punished me by revoking all rights and privileges to their bank account—hence why Joel offered to take a year off college and shared his savings with me. I insisted he not go through the trouble, but when I told him what had happened with the bank account, he told me it was his Civic-Christian duty to help the poor and diseased during times of strive. Don’t get me wrong, I was tremendously grateful, but I wished he didn’t refer to me as a poor and diseased like some leper straight out of Leviticus 13. \n\nSo there we were, in some shack in the Untouchable boondocks of India, unaware of the media storm our story would soon gather... ", "I was given a choice. Either lay down and die slowly or die on my own terms. There was no real in between. I had been diagnosed with a progressive genetic disorder, the doctors thought it was a miracle I was alive until now. Still, as I read over the list of medicine I would be taking every day for the rest of my life I wanted to cry. The doctors had written me off well before I had thrown in the towel. I would show them. I would show the world that I was the best damn thing they never got to meet. \n\nWhen I had first talked to my parents about my diagnosis my mother had cried. She had always been a very religious woman. Me, not so much. Still, she would never see grandchildren from me. She would never see anything remotely close to the future she thought we were going to have. The diagnosis had taken those chains away and shackled me with still more. Dad, well, he looked at me in the way only a father can. When he reached out and hugged me I wanted to be five years old again waiting for him to walk through the door. I wanted to be Daddy's little girl again. He kissed my forehead and just held me for a while until I couldn't take it anymore. I was trying to make this easy on them. Instead we were all crying our eyes out. Not that I really had many tears. Dry eyes were one of the side effects of the medicine I was taking. That and my hair was falling out. I'd be bald by next spring, if I lived that long. \n\nMy parent's drove me to the airport. There was a clinical trial that I was supposed to be examined for on the east coast. A wonder drug that could save me. I wasn't holding my breath. Brandon was waiting for me at check in. He had agreed, begrudgingly, to accompany me. We had known each other for years, but each time we talked about the issue he seemed to grow more distant. I can't say I blame him. \n\n\"Are you sure you have everything you need?\" Mom asked for the twentieth time before stepping back. I had expected this conversation when I finally decided to start college. Now, it seemed like we were both at a loss for the right things to say. \"I have everything I'll need. I'm sure the TSA guys are going to be confused as hell at all the bottles.\" I tried to smile. I tried to lift the mood, but it wasn't in me to say I would be alright. We hugged again and my dad almost had to pull my mom back to the car. I saw in his face that he didn't want to say goodbye either. My dad, a man of few words. He'd spoken even fewer since the day of my diagnosis. \n\nThe trip through security was somewhat eventful. The screener pulled me aside for a pat down and got a little feely. I would have slapped him if I had the energy. That or he would have gotten a squirrel tap if I was really feeling evil. No, I think he realized something was off when I didn't respond to him. Took the fun out of it for him probably. \n\nWe drifted to the terminal after that, and then onto the flight. Everything was going smoothly. Too smoothly to be honest. We landed and were about to get in the car when Brandon finally took me by the shoulders and shook me. Really shook me. \"Wake up Mary. This isn't you!\" I wanted to slap him. What the fuck did he know about me. I was a dead woman walking. \"Fucking hell, you need to get a grip. You've taken on worse than this and come out of it.\" Now I wanted to punch him instead. \"Drop it Brandon.\" There was a certain ice in my tone. I sort of liked it. It reminded me of my mom when she was truly angry. \"No.\" I turned to face Brandon then. His face was a mask that I couldn't read, which was surprising since he wore his emotions on his sleeve most of the time. \"I'm not going to let you just walk away from this and consign yourself to death. We have a year left. Let's make it a year to remember!\" There was a passion in his voice. One I didn't recognize. \n\nThe next thing I knew I was being dragged through the baggage exchange towards the international terminal. When had Brandon gotten a hold of my passport? It took a little less time than I realized for us to be in the air to England. \"How much of this did you have planned?\" I asked. \"More than you think, less than you're assuming.\" Brandon's response was what I expected if nothing else. \n\nIt had been 6:30 Pm when we left and it was almost 6:30 am when we arrived. Strange how a six hour flight took so much longer. Curiouser still that I didn't feel robbed for time. At some point during the flight Brandon had fallen asleep, his head resting on my shoulder. I wanted to stroke his hair and tease him. I also wanted to tell him to get a fucking pillow. \n\nThe fog in London was thick. Thicker still were people's accents. Depending on who you talked to you would get an asshole that didn't care for polite conversation, or an asshole that only cared for polite conversation. Either way, I was losing my interest in the British hunks very quickly. \n\nI let Brandon lead me through the city. At this point I had been up for almost twenty-four hours and was starting to feel tired. Well, I was always tired, but I was finally feeling like I could sleep. Insomnia had been my enemy since before I was diagnosed. \"We'll be at the hostel soon. Tomorrow we'll be in France. After that we'll see how things go.\" France? \"Huh?\" That was about as articulate a response as I could provide. I had been to France a few times. I had loved it as a child though I wasn't allowed to drink. Even though I was legal by local standards, Mom never let us try alcohol. \"You're getting lost in the past again.\" Brandon observed. \"You try thinking about the present when you're this tired.\" The fog of the city had wrapped around us even as we walked into the doors of the \"Hostel\". A portly woman met us. She was wiping the sleep from her eyes, even as she ushered us inside. It quickly became clear that this wasn't a hostel. A warm meal was laid out for us within a few minutes of us walking through the door. After that our hostess disappeared into the house. The food was delicious. At least, I think it was. I fell asleep after a few bites. \n\nIt was around 10 am when Brandon woke me up. It was still sinking in that we were in England of all places. \"Hell.\" I muttered as I got up to take care of my morning business. I hadn't planned on any of this. I would need to pick up some things from the local convenience store. I needed some coffee, maybe some energy drinks, preferably a beer. A quick shower later and we were at the table. The matron was there with us. She was pulling some biscuits out of the oven. The eggs were already on the plate and the gravy was simmering on the stove. I don't think I could have had a more English breakfast. \"Shit on a shingle.\" The hostess's accent cut through the silence. I was laughing. Snorting I looked over at her. She had the most innocent look on her face. \"What, just because you Yankees have a magically polite name doesn't change what it is.\" I shut my gob after that and worked on filling my stomach.\n\nBrandon had joined us at some point. He was watching this whole thing with a little wry smile. It wasn't like him. Then again, doing things like this was completely out of character for him too. \"What are you staring out?\" My words were cutting, though they didn't really seem to bite. He continued to smile and just kept eating his brunch.\n\nAfter that we went sightseeing. We lived out the next few hours like that. I tried to get the guards at the palace to react, and truly lived every stereotype I could think of. It was refreshing to not think about the terrible things that lurked inside me. Every night we had a refreshingly British meal with our hostess. It was odd though, she kept refusing to tell me her name. I gave up on it after a while. I didn't have time to think about it. I was sure I would be going back to the States soon anyway. It was easier to not make the connections that she represented. At least, that's what I told myself. We missed our original train, but a Brandon got us on the next days.\n\nBrandon informed me that we were moving on later that morning. We boarded the Euorstar and were on our way to France. It wasn't the cross country train trip that I had on my bucket list, but it was a nice facsimile. When we arrived in France proper we moved to find a car. It took some wrangling to get everything approved, but before long we were on our way towards Paris. \n\nWe also blew straight through Paris. We continued to drive into the afternoon, then the evening before we finally stopped for the night. Brandon wouldn't tell me the destination of our trip. He seemed like the cat that had caught the canary with this whole thing. He knew I hated surprises. He also knew that he would pay for this later. \n\nWe stopped at a very nice restaurant and the staff was incredibly attentive. It felt weird to be in such a great place dressed in a sweatshirt and yoga pants. Brandon and the staff didn't seem to care though. If anything, they went out of their way to make sure that no one criticized us. We did receive a few glares. Those that spoke up were intercepted by the staff and a quiet conversation was had. The French was too rapid for me to ever hope to follow, but the looks on their face told me plenty. It went from outrage to pity. I hate being pitied. After the bill was settled we left, but not before a portly gentleman came out and gave us a bottle. Leroy Chambertain, it read. I couldn't figure out the rest. The collective grasps from the room made me feel like I had received something truly special, though I didn't know what it was. \n\nThe following day we continued on the road until we arrived in Nice. It was beautiful. Brandon let it slip that we would be catching a ship nearby and heading to Rome! What the hell was going on? Between the wine and the ship it felt more like a honeymoon than anything else.\n\nAuthor's note: I'm sort of researching as I go on destinations and paths for things. I may add more to this story tomorrow. I have a sort of plan for what is going to happen throughout.", "\"Why didn't you convince me not to do this?\" Tom stared at the revolver in the other man's hand. The first participant of the russian roulette pulled the trigger to a resounding Click and sighed in relief as he passed it to Tom.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Because you're dying in less than a year and I wasn't going to stop you from doing anything?\" Rich looked at the gun that Tom was now holding. He thought it was a .44 Magnum, but that's only because it sort of looked like the gun from Dirty Harry. Before the last three months, all of his knowledge of firearms had come from Hollywood movies. What he had learned about guns in the last three months of traveling the world would last him for the rest of his life. More so if the rest of his life only lasted for the rest of the night.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nRich took the gun that had been placed in front of him and spun the revolving cylinder that held one bullet. The small group of people, who had shown up to make side bets on the outcome of each trigger pull, moved out of the way as Rich put the gun to the side of his head. He tried to remember that if he died today he would only be missing out on six more months of dying of cancer.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHe pulled the trigger.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nClick.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe crowd behind him screamed in excitement.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Yeah!\" Tom shouted from behind him, \"You just won me five hundred bucks!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nRich put the gun on the table and passed it to the next person at the table, an older looking asian gentlemen wearing a headband emblazoned with the rising sun of the Japanese flag. It took him multiple tries as his nervous sweating had caught up with him and his hand kept slipping off of the gun.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You made a bet on me Tom? That's sweet.\" Rich said.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTom was about to respond before a teenage girl grabbed and caught Tom and Rich's attention. The youth was squealing in excitement and holding a phone up. Rich looked at the screen and saw a photo of them from earlier in the week base jumping from Taipei 101, the tallest building in the country of Taiwan.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Another fan?\" Rich asked.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAfter screaming excitedly in her native language for a second she said in English, with some effort, \"Picture?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTom looked at him and smiled, \"Gotta give them what they want...\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe young girl smiled as the three of them scrunched their faces together to fit inside the camera on the front of her phone. As she clicked the camera button the three of them heard a loud bang directly behind. The three turned around in unison to find the man with the Japanese headband holding the gun straight at the ceiling. The barrel had a small cloud of gunsmoke still hanging at the tip of the barrell.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe crowd booed at the old man as he set the gun on the table.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"I think that's against the rules.\" Tom said.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"We should get out of here...\" Rich said in response. He was staring over the heads of the crowd that was gathered around the table, \"There's two big burly guys coming our way.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTom knew they weren't coming for him but it seemed the rest of the crowd had the good sense to start rushing out of the room in the other direction. In just another second Tom could see the two muscled men pushing their way through the panicked crowd.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"This way!\" The young woman said in her accented voice and grabbed both Tom and Rich as she stepped to the side of the panicked crowd, dragging them in a grip tight enough to surprise both of them, and moved them toward an unmarked door that the crowd had been avoiding as an escape.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"I don't think that's the--\" Tom said, but was interrupted.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"This way!\" She yelled again. She let go of both of them and opened the door. It became immediately obvious why the other patrons had avoided it as it opened into the kitchen of the restaurant they were currently in the backroom of. The only other person in the kitchen besides them was a large man cutting vegetables with a large chef's knife.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe big man turned his head and looked at them. He yelled at the three of them in what Tom assumed was Chinese. The girl shouted back in the same language but the two non-Chinese speakers both picked up their names in whatever she had yelled at the cook.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe burly man looked at both of them. He frowned for a second, then his eyes lit up as he seemed to recognize them.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"My bet's on the bear fight in Washington.\" Rich said quickly as he saw the cook put the knife down and reach for the phone in his pocket.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTom looked at the cook as he scrambled inside his many pockets, \"I got a hundred bucks on when we were chased out of Angkor Wat.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nRich looked at him cockeyed.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"That super old temple where those Buddhist Monks were chasing us?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nRich still looked confused.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You were caught pissing on some sort of tree? It was growing out of the temple and shit.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Ah yeah...\" Rich finally seemed to remember what he was talking about. Tom couldn't blame him for not remembering it at first. Both of them had been in the middle of a wicked acid trip.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe cook had finally gotten his phone out and was pressing at the screen as he approached Tom and Rich. Before he even turned the phone around Tom could already hear the beginning of the video that had been showed to them in excitement at least fifty times in the past month. \n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You owe me one hundred bucks!\" Rich said in triumph.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTom sighed as the cook excitedly turned his phone around to show them the video he already knew was playing. It had been taken near the beginning of their trip when they were still in the United States. Tom and Rich had been partying it up with a group of rednecks in the middle of the woods when the black bear had showed when no one noticed and began messing with their keg of beer.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThis being the beginning of their trip and his cancer diagnosis, had spent the last three days on the longest bender of his life and wouldn't let a goddamn black bear ruin it.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAnd the video showed a drunken Tom tackling the black bear off of the keg and into a tree. The bear tried to swipe at him with his paws and got a good claw across the front of his chest. The recovering skin on his chest tingled as he watched the drunken version of himself shrug off the claw attack and begin punching the bear in the face.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe cook looked at Tom with awe, \"Bear fighter!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"That's me.\" He responded. That video was the first one they had posted that earned them over a million views between facebook and Instagram.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe cook held his phone up with the back camera facing towards them.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"No.\" Tom said.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe cook looked from his phone to them in confusion.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"All of us.\" Tom pointed to the cook and the both of them.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Me too!\" The girl said from behind Tom. He had forgotten she was there.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe cook looked...bashful?\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"No...\" The cook said.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Yes!\" Rich said and moved to the cook's side, motioning for the girl and him to join them.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAll four moved close enough to fit into the camera on the cook's phone. They smiled and heard the click of the phone camera. The three of them waved at the cook as they moved through the kitchen and out to the exit behind the back of the restaurant. The girl ran down the small alley that led back to the main street.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You coming?\" The girl asked the both of them.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTom looked at Rich, \"More adventure?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nRich looked back at him, \"I don't know. I was hoping to catch up on my book.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTom slanted his head sideways in confusion.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nRich smiled back, \"I'm fucking with you man. Of course I'm up for more adventure.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nTom smiled at him. From fighting bears in Washington to trying to break into the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only constant in Tom's life for the past six months had been the call to adventure.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAnd the company of his best friend alongside him for the ride.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nr/cawdor23", "“He’s come from far and wide, who knows where he’ll visit next! More on that at eleven. Our top story for this hour, a local woman has found that her luck has turned around when she found a lucky glowing yell-“\n\nbzzt\n\nI can only watch so much television in a day. Some say it rots your mind. I just find that it puts a massive strain on my eyes watching the bright colors flashing.\n\nI rub my eyes and shake my head. Brrrrbrbrbrbr — there we go. Just needed a quick break. \n\nI jump to my feet and stroll to the door.\n\nThe thought that my days are numbered would certainly harrow most people. Many wouldn’t be able to stand walking around with a number basically tattooed to the back of their neck, ticking down by every shift of our sun and moon in our sky. \n\nBut me? I know that no matter what happens, no matter what kind of number I’m labeled with, no matter what kind of dilemma I’m faced with, I’ll still be alright in the end.\n\nAfter all, who has time to worry about how long they have to live when such crazy things are happening in this world? The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the traffic is bustling by outside, friendly chatter erupts in the streets. And I’m not gonna miss a single moment.\n\nThere’s too much to do.\n\nAnd not enough time to do it.\n\nI walk by some pictures I’ve got hanging up on the wall. \n\nBig pictures, small pictures, pictures with funny frames, pictures with no frames. \n\nSome pictures are portraits of me and all of the people I’ve met, royalty, evil masterminds, etcetera. You come to know a lot of people when you’re out and about. \n\nBut most of the pictures are of the fantastic landscapes that I’ve traveled in my journeys. Sure, important icons of the world can be quite a conversation starter, but landscapes last forever. \n\nI have pictures of vast deserts, quaint little islands—palm trees n’ all, icy, treacherous snowscapes, and imperial castle walls that stand over you, sending a shiver down your back as you wrench your head to barely see the top. \n\nTruly, the beauty of the world is out there for one to grasp it, and I thank my lucky stars that I’ve been given the chance. The one thing I would have foolishly forgotten of if not given the opportunity.\n\nI take my hat off the rack, it almost gleams with a nice, warm red glow. \n\nRed’s always been my favorite color, you see. Red is a show of courage, a blinding stand against all that oppose it. A hero that goes leaps and bounds, saves the world, even when everyone doubts him, and still makes it home in time to watch the news. \n\nI dust off a little bit of dust from the last day of use. This hat is almost as old as I am. I don’t remember when I got it, but from the way it looks, with the old style and the careful, hand-stitched affection that is sewn into every thread, I guess it was a gift to me from long ago. \n\nWhich is why I wear it with pride every single day until the day I can’t anymore. \n\nI open the door to see my brother standing outside in the soft sunlight. \n\n“You ready to go, bro?” my brother says in his cheery, happy-go-lucky tone.\n\nBecause it’s the one thing that I’ll always have control over. The one thing I’ll always have. \n\n“Yes, Luigi! Letsa go!”", "By the flickering candlelight, our eyes met again. I finally saw what fear looked like, and recognised the will to wrestle with it and keep it from taking charge. \n\n\"Would you do it all over again?\" I asked quietly. \"If you knew.\"\n\nHe mulled over the question. We were way past niceties. Truthfulness and perspective have been our best gifts to each other in the past 9 months.\n\n\"Honestly, I'm not so sure,\" he said. \n\nA blow shook the walls and there was a resultant cacophony of sounds of bits of rubble raining down, landing noisily against the wooden furniture or gasping their final breaths against the sand floor. \n\nOur eyes both darted upwards, when though there was nothing to see. I waited to be sure that quiet returned. \n\n\"Thank you,\" I said. \"Seriously. I don't think I've said it properly all this while. Thanks for lugging the dead man across the world to leave the world a better place. Thanks for these 9 months of speeches and fear - I didn't think I could fear this much when time is almost up. I didn't think I could feel so alive when I'm almost dead. And thanks for being truthful with me, even now.\"\n\n\"I'm probably dead now too, so we're even.\"\n\nA second jolt hit the building, and I blew the candle out. We sat, blind and helpless. We were warm, sharing heat in this transient bubble of calm. \n\nIn the moment before the candle went out, I thought I saw tears streaming down from the sides of his eyes. \n\n\"Damn, how have you been dealing with this? This feeling of impending doom? The sense of regret of a thousand things you didn't do when you had the chance?\"\n\n\"I had more time. And I had a purpose when I woke up each day. That definitely helped,\" I said. \"I feel sorry though, you didn't have to die.\"\n\n\"Yeah well, it was hell of an adventure though!\" I felt him shaking, pulses of heat from his body permeating the air between us. I wanted to reach out for him, to put a comforting hand even if mine was cold. And then I realised he was laughing. \n\nThe laughter finally burst through his lips, it could not be contained. \n\n\"I'm over it, man. You wanna go check out this colossal monster that's going to stamp us out?\"\n\n\"It's surely gonna make a wicked Instagram post!\"\n\nWe had breathed in the buzz of energy, and it gave us either courage or bravado. We would only know which it was, minutes later if it died away. \n\nWe burst into a sprint, taking big breaths through our mouths and finding irrational laughter bubbling to the surface.\n\nAs he kicked down the door he yelled, \"I always wanted to do that!\"\n\n\"Next one's mine!\" I replied.\n\nBut as we jumped through the doorway, we both ground to a halt.\n\nThe eyes of a colossal dragon-like robot stared at us point-blank. \n\nI couldn't pronounce the name of this country's dictator. But he sure was extravagant. \n\n\"What is going on here?\" I exclaimed. \n\nThe dragon's head rested heavily to a side against the ground. Its dead eyes were fixed in a ferocious glare. \n\n\"A revolution!\" Someone shouted in return. \n\nPeople began streaming towards us, in excited undertones and whispers as they recognised us. \n\nOur eyes met again, as they had many times in the past 9 months.\n\n\"You want to leave the world a better place, didn't you?\" he asked.\n\n\"Not so dead after all, huh?\" I replied. \n\nAs the crowd began to gather, he leaned in for another whisper.\n\n\"Did I ever tell you why we chose this country out of all the injustices in the world?\"\n\nI shook my head. \n\n\"Well, that dictator, he was blocking the export of an experimental drug. I read it: all 133 pages of the report. Twice, too.\"\n\n\"\"There's a good chance neither of us is dying just yet.\"\n\nI burst into tears as he laughed. I felt the reassuring weight and warmth of his hand. As I had, many times in these past 9 months. \n\n---\n\nMore of my work on [Zhen Fiction](https://zhenfiction.wordpress.com)\n\n\n" ]	7
	[WP] Before K met J, Agent K found two unlikely candidates for the MIB: unnoticables who went by the names Jake and Elwood Blues.	[ "They were rookies, sure, but no-one else had the connections they did. Not only was their band composed of extremely powerful, peace-loving intergalactic freedom warriors, but the wife of their go-to guitar player was the President of the the Alpha Quadrant herself, Aretha Franklin. Plus they really know how to spice up the workplace." ]	1
	[WP] You are responsible for getting people out of unsolvable situations. Underappreciated and oft-forgotten, you are the Deus Ex Machina's human representative on Earth.	[ "I am an unremarkable man. I have no looks worthy of note. I dress like the people around me. I am not tall, nor am I short. You could see me a thousand times and never remember that you had seen me.\n\nBut I know you, and I know your name. I was with you when you took the book. I stood within arms reach, but you had your mind on your prize. I travelled on the same train as you for the week that followed, and saw your face grow paler and paler as the exertions of your night battles grew and consumed you. I knew when you found the amulet, but I was not there, because I did not need to be.\n\nYour final battle is tonight, but you don’t know it yet. The amulet reaches out to foes you have yet to encounter, and you will surely perish when those creatures take it from you.\n\n—\n\n“Guards wanted”, the advert said. “Long established family business seeks brave individual to protect local community”. I’d been looking for a while. Since the AI takeover, programmers had trouble finding work at all. There was a lot of bad feeling.\n\nI was pretty apathetic about my prospects, but I went for the job because the interview address was on the way back from the library, and it was easier than cleaning the house, which I had managed to avoid for long enough that the post had piled up behind the front door.\n\nThe spectacled, short chap with a posh accent who met me there was very kind. He waved off my lack of preparation with a smile. “You are exactly the man we need”, he beamed.\n\n—\n\nYou turned left out of the train station, and I turned right. A taxi pulled up beside me, and I stepped inside. A briefcase lay on the seat already, plain and unadorned, slightly battered. I had seen it more times than I could count, and I knew the drill. Swiftly, I opened with the code the old man had given me. I never knew what would be inside, but there was always a note.\n\nToday it was a mirror. A small, rectangular hand mirror without any adornment or blemish. The corners are sharp, but not dangerously so. The note has an address and placement instructions. It makes me a little sad, because I know it means I will not see you again, and I have come to grow fond of you.\n\n—\n\nEyes that searched my very soul captured me. I could no more look away than fly to the moon by flapping my arms. An eternity passed. “You seem kind”, said the old man. “I approve of kindness.”\n\nJust like that, I was free again. “You’ll be helping people.”, he continued, as if the test of my character had been of little moment, instead of the trial by a thousand souls crying out for justice and mercy.\n\n“I cannot get involved as much as I’d like, but you have no such constraints.”\n\nI didn’t understand then what he meant, but he left little time for me to ask. He pressed a briefcase into my arms, obviously recently bought, with a code to open the lock on a piece of paper.\n\n—\n\nI watch from the tower. I am not supposed to, but I care too much. I see the creatures gathering near the railway. I see you leave the abandoned building, and head down towards where they hide, ready to tear the life from you. I could warn you. Put off this encounter til another day, but I have already done more than I should by being here.\n\nThey are all around you now, and I can tell you feel their presence. You look nervous. Paler than before. Worryingly so.\n\nThe first one leaps at you, but you sweep your feet round under it, and it crashes to the ground, banging its head on its way down. But more leap up to replace it, and your blows are getting weaker with each passing moment.\n\nThe amulet is glowing now. It hasn’t done that before, and I can see the unexpectedness has disturbed you. You don’t see him coming from behind. You don’t see the swing, but you feel the pain in your shoulder, and you fly sideways, propelled by the inhuman force of the creature behind you. Bigger and stronger than all the others.\n\n—\n\nIt wasn’t until third time I came back that I dared ask him the question that had filled my mind to the exclusion of all else.\n\nHe had laughed, but kindly. “No, I am a created creature like yourself. I just have a better view from where I stand.”\n\n—\n\nThe massive shape looms over you, and I see your dazed face flinching as the roar and spittle reach your face.\n\nThe spear raised to pierce your soul and destroy you utterly blazes and splutters with an evil looking purple and red light. With an earth shattering roar, the unstoppable force of the blow slides effortlessly through your feeble attempts to ward it off, plunging deep into your helpless form.\n\nExcept it doesn’t.\n\nYour scrabble in the dirt as you tried uselessly to stand brought you into contact with a small, rectangular mirror. The corner cut into your palm, raising a single drop of blood. The light from the spear hit the centre of the mirror, the power arced harmlessly around you, and not-so-harmlessly back down the shaft to evaporate the wielder, body and soul.\n\n—\n\nThere is more to your story, but I will not see it. I may yet read of your exploits, but your path and mine will not cross again.\n\nTomorrow is my own. A holiday. But soon another hero will need a storyteller to rescue them from an impossible situation, and my work will go on." ]	1
	[WP] "I don't dream. When I go to sleep, I wake up somewhere else"	[ "This time I know what to expect. \n\nThe first time had been terrifying. Waking up in a different bed, no matter how luxurious, how tastefully decorated, is disconcerting at best. As the moments had gone by and my waking brain had failed to deliver clues as to my whereabouts, I'd begun to panic. But that is a tale for another night. \n\nNow I was used to this. My other lives. A whole life to live per night. \nAnd I can choose. Within reason.\nI can't go to the dead worlds. We have lost too many there. I can't go to worlds my body isn't capable of living on. I can't go to worlds I've visited before. Can't have kids. That includes on my home world. \nThe time line is flexible but it cannot cross. And we - there are many of us - have to give every 5th life to serving. Serving here in Transfer station or helping other transferees. \nThis is my 10th life. I can choose to serve for ten years then die and wake up back on my home world, or I can live out this life. \n\nI leave my waking room and go to the reassignment area. I see Sally in the other side of the room. We all come here every day. Sally and I don't serve in sync but we have done a transfer together and spent a lifetime on the same world. That was 3 lives ago. That was a good world, pre-industrial revolution, low level powers. We trained together before we went in, got up to speed with riding and archery and decided what powers we would have, some basic education on the culture we would be landing into. \nNow I haven't seen her for a lifetime and a homeworld day. My last life was not a good one, and I'd had to cut it short after a couple of years. I waved and she waved back. We'd catch up after assignment. \n\nInside the assignment room I listen in dismay. My assignment is Sally. Her home world is conservative, structured, they do not like change. She was still living with her family when the Transfermation happened to her. \nFrom her parents point of view, their shy conservative home educated daughter went to sleep on night and woke up the next day , confident, knowledgeable and worldly with a different accent, and different mannerisms. \nFrom their perspective, this has been happening for 6 days now, 6 lifetimes for her, and they think she is possessed and getting worse. On her world, that means being committed, exorcisms, beatings and eventually stoning. \nDeath on your home world is the one death. \n\nAnd I have to find a way to save her. By spending my next life on her world. \n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] After being blinded in an accident years ago, your sight suddenly returns. The only problem is now you can see things that you wished you couldn't.	[ "I’ve somehow learned to ignore them. Well, most of them. Every now and then, some impossible horror stuck between our world and some other manages to startle me. It’s not as bad as it was at first, where every moment felt like some kind of waking nightmare. I don’t try to understand what the unseen abominations that wander the streets are any more. They don’t notice me, and most people don’t see them. The first few months after my vision returned were the worst. None of the pills the doctors gave me helped. I lost a lot of friends who got tired of me jumping at skinless horrors and tentacle covered beasts that they couldn’t see. I have no idea why my husband and other friends stuck around, but I don’t think I would have made it through without them. I’m honestly surprised I haven’t gone insane. Maybe I already have. I don’t really care. I’ve got a job, two kids, and a mortgage. Being able to see stuff others can’t is another thing I have to deal with. If I survived not being able to see for three years, I can make it through this." ]	1
	[WP] The day before you and your comrades stormed the capital, you had a terrifying revelation: you're the protagonist of an unfinished YA dystopia novel, and your author can't be bothered to finish writing your story	[ "From our camp's vantage point at the top of the hill, I can see lights in the neatly organized rows of glass-fronted buildings, the glittering, beautiful homes of the Uppers. What I wouldn't give for just ten minutes in one of those homes, for a spray-bath and a set of one of their silky robes.\n\nBut there won't be any spray baths for me. I glance over my shoulder to see my temporary comrades stretched out, trying to get some rest before our early start tomorrow. We're a bedraggled crew, all right.\n\nNone of that will matter anymore if our plan works tomorrow.\n\nI'll be able to see my sister again. Be able to stop running, to live a quiet life, once we bring down the system. No more looking over my shoulder for the Uppers Patrol. No more sleeping in old hyperloop stations.\n\nI feel...\n\nHuh. That's strange. I don't know how I feel.\n\nI look back toward the city and see...\n\nI don't see much. The same buildings as before, I guess.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAnd...and that's it. I don't know what I think about it.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI don't know what I feel.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThis isn't what it's been like before.\n\nIf I just keep thinking, the next thing will come along - won't it? That's what's always happened til now.\n\nI wait.\n\nNothing happens.\n\nI wait.\n\nNothing changes.\n\nI'm still here.\n\nI can't remember our plan for tomorrow. I can't remember the names of my companions surrounding me.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI try to remember my sister's face, and I can't.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nWhat if no one is writing my story anymore?\n\n&#x200B;\n\nWhat if this is how it ends?\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\---\n\nr/overcomposer" ]	1
	[WP] It's been a century or two since the Apocalypse. Society has rebuilt, but they've forgotten much about the "Old World." Until, one day, someone finds a copy of The Lord of the Rings	[ "\tThe apocalypse had started about 200 years ago. Someone named Elon Musk had created a genetically advanced super virus that took over the planet. It nearly wiped out civilization, except a slight few. Previously from this, an asteroid destroyed the entire surface of the Earth. It forced humanity to move underground.\n\n\tThis all changed when someone by the title of Rolim Norric of Basintall of the country Othad went to rediscover the surface. It was unrecognizable, completely demolished. He trekked on for a few miles when something caught his eye. The book was called \"The Hobbit.\" Rolim brings the relic back to the governments analysts for inspection. They determine it must be of the English language and judging by its condition, it was made right around the time of the apocalypse.\n\n\tThe analysts read it for days, and were shocked by what they saw. It told of adventures of someone named Bilbo Baggins, and a wizard named Gandalf who needed his help. The Old World admired someone who was crazy enough to fight a dragon. When they looked at the other books available in this genre, One of them was The Lord Of the Rings. They were determined to find this, and any more information about this mystical old world.", "Charlie hustled into my study, and before I could react, he tossed down an old and faded black book. \n\nHe said, \"I have found something that could give us insight into the old world!\"\n\nWe both immediately rearranged ourselves so that we could both read it at the same time.\n\n\"The Lord of the rings?\" I stated, with a look of confusion on my face.\n\n\"I believe it may be a document containing information about a time during the old world.\" He said. \n\nWe began to read it, and we felt like we could not leave out seats. We read and analyzed for 2 days straight, until we understood exactly what the old world was like. \n\nAnd we were horrified." ]	2
	[WP] You’ve been talking to and falling in love with someone over the internet. Unfortunately, you’re being catfished... by your cat.	[ "\"Wait. So let me get the straight,\" The dignified cat could only nod in return.\n\n\"You are from another planet far, far away from this galaxy.\" You steadily ask, to which the stoic-faced cat replies, \"Yes.\"\n\n\"Because of tough living conditions, your species is nearing extinction. As your comrades set up and prepare \"Operation Uilotip\", where they send out one representative to catfish women then impregnate them.\", you question once again, losing faith in the process. \"You are not incorrect. However, your miniscule explanation was not enough to elucidate my scintillating powers to remove or alter memory fragments, which is how i've suceeded in impregnating 69 women.\", the cat replied, almost, proud?\n\n\"So you planned to impregnate me, but stopped once you realize i'm your owner.\" I continue. \"That is sufficient.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Every other species in the galaxy has a telepathic hive mind. When they encounter humans, they are confused by this concept of personal freedom.	[ "Space is an empty place.\nUntil the recent breakthrough of interstellar travel a few decades ago humans never gained contact with extraterrestrials. They were alone. \n\nAnd they still are. At least in a broader sense. When they encountered their first intelligent lifeforms they were stunned how primitive they still were. They were able to organize in a matter to solve complex problems, like preventing huge epidemic diseases to ever reach a massive toll, but in terms of technology? Not so much. Scientists soon discovered that some aliens communicated via electromagnetic signals directly expressing the inner mechanics of the individual‘s brain-like apparatus. They didn‘t have any language, they also didn‘t have any misunderstandings. No war, no famines, no racism or social discrimination. But also no aspirations, no lone geniuses, people who managed to transfer their stress from a lack of wholesomeness into art, music, philosophy, engineering or scientific curiosity to further the advancement of men. To create something we call society were everyone has it‘s place. \nThe aliens never needed that the scientists made clear.\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] Growing up you were always taught that the monsters weren't real, that they were just villains in fantasy stories. But here you are, desperate. Prayer has failed you and hope is all bit gone. There is only one option left, you gather the candles, draw the circles and prepare to summon a human.	[ "\n\nI found food. Strange food, sweet food. \n\nI ate the food, the food was in a hole but my tongue is long and my face is long and I ate the food.\n\nBut when I had eaten it there was a tightness around my head. I was stuck in the hole, but the hole followed with me. I was stuck in a hole, but I could still see, like the hole was fog. \n\n\nBut all I could smell was the sweet food. For a while that was it. Smelling sweet food but I couldn't eat it.\n\nThen came the smell of bad air. I could not claw off the hole. It was smooth and fit soo tight. And that's when I knew. It all made sense. The warnings I'd heard when I was little. The ones that had made no sense at all.\n\n“Small pig has big pigs nearby”. That one made sense. “Never dig den next to big den” was obvious. But these warnings had fallen out of my head. \n\n“If it smells like nothing else, the human put it there”\n\n\nAnd almost all warnings about the human were the same.\n\n\n“Eat the human food and you will die.” “Touch the human thing and you will die.”\n\n“Follow the human tracks and the human will crush you”\n\n\nBut there was no human. No one could be like the human. The human is large. The human has two paws when it doesn't have four paws and every one of its paws is a mouth. The human has an eye that shines like the sun. No, the human. Has four black paws and all of its eyes shine like the sun. No, the human is a mountain with many, many eyes and it has a sun inside it. No, the human is the thing in the sky that roars. No, the human is like us but it has the wrong colors. No, the human is a sound, and when you hear it, someone dies.\n\nNo one can be like the human. But now I touched the human thing and I ate the human food and now, I would die.\n\nNo one could help me. If they saw me, they would bite me for touching the human thing and then I would die.\n\nBut maybe, I could give it back? If the human saw I'd give it back, maybe… No, I would die. The human hole would starve me and choke me and blind my nose and I would die. So what if the human would crush me? I was dead. Like a bad wound or a lost leg or the itch that makes you kick your skin off, I was dead. It was the death that comes early.\n\nSo I went to the human track. The human track is wide. They say the human made them. But that was long ago. I lay down on the human track, and the bad air made me tired.\n\nThe track rumbled and I rose my head up. The human came towards me, a rock with sun eyes. I could not see it right in the fog. It roared. It knew I had touched the human thing and now it would crush me. I laid down my head. I could not smell it in the fog.\n\n\nThe human stopped and the human fell asleep. Then the human changed. The human was on two paws and it was so much smaller. I don't know how it happened. The human came towards me, and the human had four paws and I don't know how that happened. Then the human's front paws were mouths and I don't know how that happened. \n\nOnly one of its mouths made noise. It was a sad noise. It was the mother noise, even if it was the wrong noise. The human was not angry anymore. It stretched out the paws that were mouths.\n\nOne quiet mouth bit the hole of fog and pulled. One quiet mouth bit the scruff of my neck and its bite was not sharp. I cried out and I could not help but pull too. Then the hole of fog was gone and I saw the human. Saw it truly. Smelled it truly.\n\nThe human smelled like nothing else.\nThe human had no face. It had mouth and eyes and nose but no face. It had no fur either. It was just mouth and nose and eyes on no face at all. Like an owl had no face.\nIt made the hunting mouth and I ran, and the human made a noise that meant nothing. I ran until the human roared, and looking back, the human was the rock again, and it ran off. I do not know how that happened.\n\n\nI never found the human fog again. I never found the human food again. I never went back to the human path.\n\nBut I know that if you are lucky the human can take back the human thing. If you go to the human path and you lay down and you do not move. Sometimes the human shows mercy.\n", "Blood covered the trees in a glimmer, half-eaten limbs and wings scattered across the ground. She tried her best not to breath, tried to stop her heart from beating so loudly, while hiding amongst the roots of a bush. Closing her eyes didn’t stop her from seeing, the scent of dew unnaturally thick on her tongue.\n\nGoblins danced in the light of a fire fuelled by the fairy palace, broken down to a pile of fae wood. The sweet smell of cooking flesh mingled with the blood. Her stomach would have turned if she hadn’t already emptied it of even air, a painful knot. Light-headed, still trembling with fear, a darkness beat in the back of her head.\n\nIt was forbidden, she knew, but there was no one left to forbid her. Blood had to be repaid in blood.\n\nThere was no shortage of blood to draw with as she carefully climbed around the edge of the bush and drew a circle of runes. There was no shortage of magic, blood glowing when she finished and began a chant in an old tongue.\n\n“To those forsaken by the gods, send one that even they fear.”\n\nThe air itself wavered, warped by heat and magic most ancient, and forbidden. A goblin noticed, letting out a shriek in its own tongue. The others turned to see what the fuss was for.\n\nBut, it was too late.\n\nAs though he had always been there and merely covered by a layer of dust, an ethereal wind blew away the bush and, in its place, knelt a man. Armour covered him, not exactly dirty but it had little sheen, dull. He wore a small shield on one arm and held a short sword in his other hand. The scent of blood—a much different smell than the faeries’—circled him, a metallic tang to it.\n\n“Goblins,” he said to himself, voice slightly altered by the helm he wore, something like an echo to his speech.\n\nThe second of peace gave way to a mad rush as the goblins charged, and he rose to his feet. As the first reached him, he put it down with a heavy stab to the chest, then threw it aside in a spray of blood. He clobbered the second with his shield, before cutting its neck, blood gurgling as it fell. His shield parried the next goblin’s dagger, sinking his short sword into its eye, and he kicked out to force it back. Grabbing the dagger before that goblin fell down, he threw it at the goblin behind it, landing a shallow stab to its leg that staggered it for a couple of seconds.\n\nIn that moment he’d made, he picked a pouch off his waist and tossed it in the air. The staggered goblin recovered and darted forward as the pouch fell, its face meeting the flat of his shield as he lowered himself to pick up his short sword. The pouch landed in the fire, half a second passing before the fabric caught, a hundredth of a second passing before the contents caught. He raised his shield in front of his face, rest of his body hunched down.\n\nA blast spewed fiery splinters in all directions, tearing the nearest goblins apart and flinging their broken bodies away, the explosion eating and eating, burning the goblins further away, leaving the furtherest ones alight.\n\nHe lowered his shield and wasted no time before setting the tip of his sword through the heart of the closest goblin. Leaving it there, he picked up the loose spears that the goblins had wielded, and returned them.\n\nFire burned, blood leaked, until all that was left were lifeless bodies.\n\nShe fluttered down from the branch she’d hid herself behind, kneeling on top of a goblin’s head in front of him. “Thank you, for avenging my people,” she said.\n\nHe said, “There’s no need to thank me.”" ]	2
	[WP] It turns out Jesus has actually returned many times over the years but every time no one ever believes him. But still he keeps giving people another chance (it’s kinda his thing) only to be disappointed without fail. These are his misadventures.	[ "You know, I know my blood is literally wine so praying and driving while my blood alcohol level is literally 100% may not be the best idea, but I needed to talk to pops. This is my 42nd try at this. The last suppers have been Micky Dees for the last 3 months because I've been church hopping the bible belt like nobody's business trying for the love of dad to find one church that isn't broadcasting a desire to kill me or a depiction of my first death- sure, they claim to be worshipers, but why in the name of lucifer would I want to come back to a bunch of psychos which are so fixated on how much I suffered instead of my teachings. Like come on, I'm a long haired hippie, you think I'm gonna ask dad to let any of you racist, fear mongering, hate filled people get in to my party. Nuh-uh. Like, I forgive you for and I get it, but even I have limits, and forgiveness ends when I've directly asked you to stop repeatedly, not that I should have to? Is /not/ seperationg kids from their families really such a crazy idea. Thankfully pops keeps my wallet full and turns out water to ethenol is pretty easy for me so gas isn't a problem, but still, I'm getting real tired of going out of my way to save these ungreatful little mudlings.\n\nAt least It's going better than last time, watching people drink my blood and eat my flesh might be the creepiest thing I've ever seen. \n\n>Author's note, I'm just poking fun, none of this is mean spirited in any way. No actual offense intended, just some humor. c: ", "“Sometimes I just wish they would recognize me, you know? I mean, I always imagined my second coming being different from my first. This is supposed to be my big moment; the End Times; Armageddon...\"\n\n\n\nThe man across from me has a weathered look, and yet isn’t older than 35. He looks like someone who’s seen their share of hardship, but he has a kind face. I feel bad for him.\n\n\n\n“Does it still count as a second coming if it is your twelfth try? Twelve times I have done this, Kara, twelve times. And each time it is the same. I tell them who I am, they don’t believe me, and I go home to stall my father’s wrath for a little bit longer. I don’t know if I can keep doing this. My father says I can’t delay judgement forever. And he might just be right. What is the point of the final judgment if you never actually have it?”\n\n\n\n“You’re talking about your father, who you say is also you?” I ask, “Doesn’t that sound a bit odd to you, Manny? How can you be your own father? And if you are one and the same, why would you have to persuade him not to take his wrath out on humanity? Doesn't that sound... well... unbelievable to you Manny?”\n\n\n\nHe sighs, but then smiles, “I like that you call me Manny,” he says, “Only two other people ever called me that. My mother and Maggie. They were the only two people really to get me, you know. Everyone else always skewed what I said.”\n\n\n\nHe takes in another deep breath, “For me it was always just about the grace. And not the grace that is preached over the pulpit these days. Real grace. Abiding grace. Unconditional grace. Maybe my mother and Maggie were the only two people to possess enough of it themselves to actually understand it,” He trails off, staring out the window.\n\n\n\n“It was always about the grace,” he says slowly, half-whispering to himself, his mind clearly in another place. \n\n\n“Can I have some water?” he says abruptly.\n\n\nI go to the other room to get the water. When I return, he is still gazing out the window. I hand him the water and he smiles and nods appreciatively.\n\n\n\nManny might be a bit odd, but I like him. If it wasn’t for his delusions, he’d actually make a great counselor. I even found myself opening up to him more than I should. He had this way about him that just made you feel like confessing all your worries and troubles. I had to stop myself on more than one occasion, because you know, boundaries. He was good with his hands too. It took some serious convincing, but I was able to get him a pocket-knife. He carved amazing little trinkets out of wood. Lions and fish and angels. They now lined his window sill.\n\n\n\nHe had even carved me a dove. I don’t normally take gifts, but I pocketed it anyway. It’s sitting on my desk at home now.\n\n\n\n“I think I will be done for the day,” he turns toward me. There are tears in his eyes.\n\n\n\n“I understand,” I say, closing my notebook, “Same time tomorrow?”\n\n\n“Yes, that would be nice,” he says.\n\n\nI take Manny's cup and start to leave, “Opened or closed?” I ask, standing at the door.\n\n\n\n“Thanks Kara, but you know they'll just close it when you're gone.\"\n\n\n\nI still leave the door open. I hate how the rest of the staff treats Manny. He isn't a danger to himself or others. I don’t understand why he has to stay here at all. He has always been the perfect gentleman. A bit scraggly perhaps. Might not have the best hygiene. Not the worst either. But he doesn't deserve to live like this. No nonviolent person does.\n\n\n\nI reach the bottom step, when I notice something odd about the remaining droplets of water in Manny’s cup. They're red. I just stand there, at the base of the stairs, thinking. Not sure what this means. I raise it to my nose and take a whiff. That's weird. I could swear it smells like... no that is impossible! I use my pointer finger to wipe at the droplets and bring them to my mouth.\n\n\n\nRed wine.\n\n\nIt's red wine!" ]	2
	[WP] As Religio, you have the power to influence and command every religious person from every religion in the world to do your bidding. But somehow, your powers don't work on the Pope.	[ "It wasn't a power I wanted to have. It was too straightforward, too ostentatious, too brutish. To be able to exert your will on anyone, turn them into your thrall without a single hint of resistance, just didn't fit me. I never wanted to be in the spotlight, never wanted to be a leader - I'd prefer to simply be another face in the crowd, honestly. So I didn't use the power.\n\nWell, that's a little bit of a lie. I used it a couple of times, in the beginning, to really test the limits of what it was. A nudge here, a suggestion there, a full blown hostile takeover just to see if I could. The faithful, the heavily religious, they were like gloves - I could slip into their minds and steer them any which way I pleased without breaking a sweat. Other people, I had to work a little harder for. But faith, belief, whatever you want to call it - everyone's got a little bit of it in them, and that's a door that I can always push open.\n\nI don't do it, of course. After the first couple dozen times, my conscience kicked in, and I stopped cold turkey. But my curiosity was always there, knocking at the door in my own mind. So indulged it one day, took a plane to Europe and made my way to the Vatican City. \n\nA moment is all I wanted - all I needed. After all, if my control was stronger the more faithful the target, then it couldn't be possible for me to sneeze in the Pope's direction without forcing my way into his head. So I made my way into one of the parades, got a good look at him in his little car, and I pushed on the door.\n\nBut it didn't budge.\n\nSo I pushed again, harder. And again, and again, and soon I was throwing the weight of my entire being at him, willing him to open up. Dangerous, foolish, irresponsible, it was all those things and more, but in that moment, it was throwing everything I thought I knew about my power right back into my face. And through it all, I could have sworn he watched me, smiling.\n\nSo I followed him. Followed the motorcade as it tucked itself back into the Vatican, followed the priests and the bishops and the cardinals as they carried their grand procession into the ancient halls, and forced my way into the Pope's chambers. And he was waiting for me there, relaxed in a small reclining chair, his eyes closed, dressed in a simple robe.\n\n\"I knew you'd come,\" he said.\n\n\"How?\" I asked, stepping into the room. With opening his eyes, he gestured to another chair next to him. I took it, though I didn't get comfortable. I was far too interested in his answer to relax like he had.\n\n\"I could feel it, pushing against me, wanting to get inside. Light, like a breeze rolling over a field - though if I had to judge by everyone standing around in the crowd, it should have felt more like a hammer.\"\n\nI could feel my cheeks get red, the heat of embarrassment wash over me, though I forced it down. Hopefully, the people around me would only suffer from headaches - that's the most I'd ever given someone, after taking control. Part of me knew, however, that they'd experience far worse - I'd never been so forceful before.\n\n\"You weren't supposed to be so... resistant,\" I said. \"No one of any faith is.\"\n\nThe Pope laughed, opening his eyes and looking at me. \"Is that how it works then? The more we believe, the more power you have over us?\"\n\nI nodded.\n\n\"Well, look's like I'm safe from you then.\" \n\nI frowned. \"You mean to tell me you're without belief? The head of the Catholic Church, the man whom God speaks through?\"\n\n\"He's never said a word to me in all my years,\" he said with a shrug, rising laboriously from his chair. I could hear his joints cracking, his breathing catch a bit as he got to his feet.\n\n\"How?\"\n\n\"How what? How have I not heard him, or how am I the Pope without believing in God?\" He tottered forward across the room, towards a small cart bearing a teapot and a few cups. As he poured himself a cup, he continued. \"The Church is an organization, just like any other. Information, wealth, power - it doesn't flow down, like this tea does. It flows up towards the top, towards me, and I consolidate it.\n\n\"When a farmer sees his horse, sick from age and exhaustion, rise one last time to plow the fields that will feed his family for the winter, he calls it a miracle. He passes it on to his local pastor, who mentions in a sermon he gives. His flock reaffirms it as a miracle and it spreads. Slowly, but it makes its way across the land, to those higher and higher in the Church. But when a man kills his wife, driven to madness by poor crop yield and dwindling farmland, it does not reach the pastor first. The local law come out to investigate the crime, the man's neighbors call their friends and relatives, the news crews show up to paint this man as a monster.\"\n\nHe paused, dropping some sugar in his tea, stirring it slowly. His shoulders seemed to sag, though only for a moment - he turned and hobbled back towards his chair, easing himself back into the cushions. He gave a small smile to me as he settled, sipping on his tea.\n\n\"That is the news that bombards me, I'm afraid. The darker nature of humanity, it reaches me in shouts and protests and pleas and sobs. I do not hear of the miracles, drowned out amongst those cries. Is it any wonder that I am without faith?\"\n\n\"You must believe in something,\" I said. \"Money, luck, love, everyone follows some higher power.\"\n\nThe Pope simply shook his head. \"I do not trust in a higher power. I trust in my own power, and I work to wield it at wisely as I can. Perhaps that is why you hold no sway over me.\"\n\nIt seemed too simple to be the truth, too ordinary of an explanation. I tested my powers again, leaning on him with the full force of my strength, willing him to open up to me. \n\nBut he simply smiled, as if he was blissfully ignorant of my attempts.\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] In a modern world where magic exists, you are a retail employee at a store that sells magical items. Tells us some of your customer experiences.	[ " Bagel day was my favorite day. I bring fresh toasted delights to the run-down back office and get thanks and accolades from my co-workers. This was my day, no inter species inclusivity training, charms safety training modules, or updates on emergency holocom meetings with HQ. I set the warm bag on the break room table content with this small victory so early in my day. I gathered my clipboard scrapped with inventory papers and spread some cream cheese on my bagel. Humans may be null in the magic department, useless, a burden and worst of all boring but we at least have bagels. Yes, we had an entire superstore of wands, warded robes and aether pantry goods but no bagels. Was it the whole boiled then baked thing? My co workers run past me centaurs, elves, and orca alike to the wafting smell of baked goods left on the table. As I walk out onto the linoleum tiles and anti-theft warded sales cabinets I passed by some elf kids throwing lightning bolts at eachother while their mother looks through an isle of ZapIt! Electrified cauldron cleaner. \nThey must have just started school so eager to use wands that could become deadly weapons in the right hands. They had years to hone their skills and become leaders and innovators in the magical arts. I hear the younger kid yell that the other is cheating and throw her wand down the aisle towards me.The wand rolls to my feet and I stare at the thing still sizzling from the previous spells. The elf kid who fell makes eye contact with me expectant as if eager for a new playmate, so I go to pick up the wand still visibly powerful. I grasp the handle firmly and then It’s just a stick. I didn’t expect anything more or less from the exchange after all I was human, immune and excluded from all magic. I hand back the want to the kiddos and head to my designated isle, straightening my name tag as I go. I used to want to be a wizard, weaving spells of my own. Engineering things like the ones overflowing from the shelves around me. Not like that would happen anyways I think, taking the last bite of breakfast. Ah, well bagels are pretty damn good in the meantime.\n", "I’ve dealt with many kinds of customers in my job, selling items used in the craft of magic is interesting to say the least. \n\nIf you didn’t know, purchasing magic items is only allowed for people who hold a license to practise in the UK, (not unlike guns) and of course we get the odd person trying to illegally purchase things; the ingredients for invisibility or love spells, usually, nothing harmful but still illegal to purchase. \n\nMy strangest (and one of my regular) customer is this tall, thin, bald man who dresses head to toe in black, has a long goatee that falls near his bellybutton, with a tattoo of many small snakes in a perfect line that comes out from the back of the neck of his leather trench coat he always wears and finishes right down his nose. Definitely a magic cult tattoo, although I didn’t recognise it, which is unusual because in my line of work I basically know every cult symbol, tribe coat of arms etc. there is. \n\nThe first time we meet, he comes up to the counter, he’s very polite and he asks about our enchanted rope selection. My job entails helping customers with spell ingredients and recommending products for whatever they’re looking for/to do, so I begin to tell him about our bestselling “everlasting rope” (a rope you can use to tie to anything for as long as you like and no one can tamper with, and will never come untied unless the person who fastened it unites it), but he stops me mid sentence and flashes me a kind but confident smile. \n\nHe says, “No, no. What ropes do you have that I could... uh... put in ones orifice and have it come out the other end... for... pleasure reasons”.\n\nI remember looking at him a little shocked. I’d heard about these weird sex magic freaks, but I figure whatever floats your boat, we get people in the shop practicing dark magic and those are the nasty weirdos you really have look out for. \nI also figured out that must be the kind of cult he’s involved in and why I didn’t recognise the snake symbol cult tattoo. \n\nI ended up selling him “entwine rope”, (it slithers against any object you put it on, perfectly forming to it. I thought it’d probably work inside a human body), the ingredients for a levitation spell, a few cursed oils that leave temporary but unpleasant affects on the body, (for example, second degree burns that last 15 mins to an hour), three blocks of wood that can be shaped into anything you please in a blink of an eye, that he unsubtly told me he was going to put inside his partner and have it shape into something nice or not-so-nice, depending on how his partner was that day, (god knows what is not-so-nice, he left that to my imagination), and a few of our other enchanted ropes, specifically the restraint kind. Go figure what they were for. \n\nHes a strange but friendly man, and he comes in every now and then and tells me about the weird stuff him and his cult does, its basically a magical swingers’ bdsm cult, and he rarely spares any details since he wants me to recommend new things he can do to his partners, as if I have a clue. But I enjoy helping him out, he means no harm and it’s fun to be creative. He’s even suggested I come along to a cult meeting sometime since he tells me I’m so good at suggesting the sadistic stuff, but Ive politely declined because it’s definitely not my cup of tea! \nDefinitely one of my strangest customers, and I hope him and his cult responsibly enjoy the things he buys for them. ", "\"Melody to Wands and Staves, Melody to Wands and Staves.\"\n\nThe voice crackled in Melody's brain, causing the hairs to stand up on the back of her neck. She shuddered involuntarily. It always felt invasive to receive an unexpected Message, but it was undeniably convenient.\n\n\"I'll be right there. I'm over in Spellbooks and Scrolls, so gimme a second,\" Melody thought in response, her message telepathically transmitted to her notoriously impatient manager Randy.\n\nMelody dropped the broom and dustpan she was carrying and snapped her fingers. The broom leapt from the floor, eagerly beginning its work of scooping the bits of broken glass and dried herbs, mushrooms, and assorted magical debris littering the aisle. Someone had dropped an entire portable Alchemist's Lab, scattering its components all over the floor. Melody peeled some crushed Wolfsbane on the bottom of her shoe, silently reminding herself not to shake hands with any lycanthropes before she could wash up.\n\nMelody briskly made her way down the aisle. Cutting through Aisle 16, Magical Electronics, would be the quickest way to her destination. Melody silently prayed she wouldn't be stopped by any customers en route, lest she face the wrath of her least favorite middle manager mage. She crept past a rotund, confused looking Warlock, careful not to step on his robes as he perplexedly compared two electronic Spell Compendiums ('For the Mage on the Go!').\n\n\"Guess even the Great Old One runs on iOS these days,\" Melody thought.\n\nFinally, she found herself in Aisle 14, Wands and Staves, and she was face to face with a beet red Randy.\n\nThis was not unusual, considering Randy was an Efreeti, but on this occasion, he looked especially heated. Melody noticed that the tail of his dress shirt was scorched in several places, and a thin, black trail of smoke billowed out of each of his nostrils.\n\nStanding behind Randy, nearly eclipsed by Randy's towering form, was an equally incensed, elderly human woman, glaring at Melody through rune-inscribed eyeglasses.\n\n\"Melody,\" Randy bellowed through gritted teeth, the stench of acrid smoke filling Melody's nose, \"this... customer.... is having trouble finding a Staff of Unending Agony. Could you help her locate one?\"\n\n\"Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am. The Staves of Unending Agony were all recalled last week,\" Melody said, bracing herself for a torrent of unreasonable anger.\n\n\"What? Why?!\" Screeched the old woman, shuffling out from behind Randy to reveal the entirety of her nearly four foot frame, clad in a set of wizard robes decorated with a garish floral pattern.\n\n\"Well, apparently a lot of customers were experiencing frequent outages in the Agony output. So... it was more like a Staff of Occasional Agony,\" Melody said, punctuating her lighthearted response with a half-grin that quickly withered beneath the scowl of the old woman.\n\n\"Hmph. Well, surely you must have at least one left?\"\n\n\"No, I'm sorry, ma'am, but they've all been returned to the manufacturer. And even if I did-\".\n\n\"Have you checked the back?\" The old woman interjected.\n\nMelody struggled to maintain her call demeanor.\n\n\"There is no back, ma'am. All of our items are replenished from an extra dimensional space where-\".\n\n\"Well, you could at least check,\" the woman snapped.\n\nExasperated, Melody looked to Randy for backup, but he was deliberately avoiding her gaze as he pretended to rearrange a standee of Wands nearby.\n\nMelody sighed.\n\n\"Sure thing. Be right back.\"\n\nMelody snapped her fingers again, disappearing in a shower of blue sparks. She appeared in the alleyway behind the store, adjoining the grocery store next door.\n\nThe alley stank of rotting produce and alchemical runoff, but Melody didn't care. She just needed a break. She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a pack of Firebolt cigarettes. With another quick snap, a tiny flame erupted from her forefinger, and she lit the tip of the cigarette, sniffing out her finger with a quick puff of breath. She took a long drag and exhales, the cloud of smoke shimmering with magical orange sparks.\n\nAfter a brief moment's respite, Melody was steeling herself to face the old hag again, when something caught her eye. \n\nStanding at the opposite end of the alleyway, clad in a long, black trench coat, was a tall, broad figure. He didn't move, but as she glanced over at him, he curled his index finger in a \"come here\" motion.\n\nWanting out of this situation, Melody quickly snapped her fingers, attempting to teleport again, but the spell fizzled in a pitiful plume of blue sparks.\n\nDumbfounded, Melody looked around her. It was then she noticed the long, unbroken circle of tiny runes, drawn onto the asphalt with chalk. An anti magic field.\n\nMelody tried to ring in to the store telepathically, but was met with nothing but radio static, as she had feared.\n\nThe figure motioned to Melody again, this time opening his trench coat slightly to reveal the revolver strapped to his waste. Melody could see the faint outline of the magical auras around all six of the bullets in their individual chambers. Lifeseeking bullets. Deadliest thing on the market.\n\nSwallowing hard, Melody took a cautious step toward the figure.\n\nGod, she hated retail.", "Today was Black Friday; a day that caused all retail drones to collectively groan in unison for this day was even worse than the crowds that came in during Thanksgiving or Christmas. This was especially true for the employees of Theban's Occult Shoppe for not only were the entitled and rude customers on their worse behavior, but if you crossed said-customers too much then they could cause you much more harm than simply screaming at you. \n\nBlack Friday at Theban's Occult Shoppe (your one stop shop for all of your magical needs!) was a widely advertised event that attracted certain clientele because it was the day all black magic items were on sale. Poppet kits, love spells, red brick dust, ritual sacrifice tools, cursed money, and more were stocked up. \n\nDue to the high incidence of workplace-related accidents (including but not limited to brain damage caused by mind control, spontaneous combustion, slipping on wet floors, and being possessed by demons), loyal employees were hard to come by. The owner, Mr. Craven Theban, tended to hire those with magical backgrounds as they stood a better chance against being magically attacked. \n\nPaisley Adams was one of such workers. She was one of the many, many, many illegitimate children of Zeus. Her mother, a cottage witch, reluctantly taught Paisley some simple spells to protect herself after refusing to quit the job. The pay wasn't exactly fabulous, but the job had excellent medical as well as tuition reimbursement.\n\nThis particular Black Friday was no different than the others. As soon as the doors were unlocked, in rushed a throng of witches, warlocks, vampires, ghouls, and petty soccer moms. They elbowed one another out of the way. Two witches fighting over the last black scrying mirror turned each other into a sloth and a toad. A jar of nightmare elixir accidentally broke in Aisle 8 and sent three customers deep into disturbed, horrific sleep. Rude customers would put things they changed their minds about back on a random shelf while saying to the nearby retail employee, \"Job security for you!\" \n\nThe checkout lines had grown obscenely long and Paisley hopped on one of the unopened checkstands. She served a multitude of grumpy faces while cheerfully saying, \"Were you able to find everything you needed today?\" \n\nA particularly overweight woman with an a-line haircut became Paisley's next customer. This woman was underdressed for the weather with her too-tight yoga pants, a tank top, and a pair of oversized sunglasses she was wearing in the store. She had placed a vial of newborn tears and a can of SPAM on the conveyor belt. \n\nPaisley scanned the SPAM and then picked up the newborn tears. She rotated the vial around to locate a barcode sticker. She said, \"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but this item is missing it's barcode. I'm going to need to call for a price check.\" \n\n\"It's ten dollars. Just ring it up for ten dollars,\" the woman snapped. \n\n\"I can't do that,\" said Paisley, \"I need someone to verify the price.\" \n\n\"Are you calling me a liar?\" She said. \n\n\"No, Ma'am,\" Paisley said, \"It's just standard protocol.\" \n\nThe woman leaned closer to Paisley and lifted up her sunglasses to reveal purple eyes. She bared her fangs at Paisley while staring intensely and said, \"Stupid girl. Because you insulted me, you will ring up my purchases for free. You will hand me a receipt, a twenty dollar bill, and you will not notice me walking out the door.\" \n\nPaisley pushed a small button located underneath the scanner. Instantly, the muscular security guard materialized next to the woman and blue bandages magically tied her wrists and ankles together. Paisley lowered the sunglasses back over the woman's eyes, \"Sorry, Ma'am. The sign at the entrance of the store says attempting to use mind control is strictly prohibited and will be prosecuted as theft to the fullest extent of the law.\" \n\nThe security guard grabbed the woman, nodded at Paisley, and then vanished. Paisley smiled at the warlock next in line, \"Sorry about that! Were you able to find everything you needed today?\" \n\nAfter her shift, Paisley looked to find out what the cost of the tears were. She chuckled when she saw the price tag was for thirteen dollars. All of that woman's drama was over a measly three bucks.\n\n", " TL;DR: I maliciously complied with an asshat supervisor and watched a waddle of penguins terrorize customers.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThis Malicious Compliance happened a few years ago, and I’m changing the name of the store.\n\nSo this day started off like any other. I walked into Dacy’s at the local mall, ready to start my shift. I had just started working part time for the Christmas season, and as yet I’m still in training. So I walk in and I’m greeted by the most pretentious ass hat manager I’ve ever met. I’ll call her PAH for short.\n\nI’ve heard stories about PAH, even though this was my first time working directly with her. Someone must have peed in her corn flakes that morning, because she HATED me. She explained to me how she single-handedly (yeah, right), turned HER department into the best of the store, and that the store manager personally commended her. After a few more minutes of her kissing her own ass, it became apparent I was simply another part timer sent to mess up her area. For some reason, part timers were the scum of the Earth. I later found out PAH is notorious for getting part-timers fired, which really highlights her personality.\n\nPAH sets me onto my first task, setting up a display of these perpetual snow clouds. I have to admit, they are pretty cool. They float there with ACTUAL snow falling. Even better, the snow is enhanced so that it doesn’t immediately melt, so these clouds can be lots of fun in the winter. And this was right near the display of magic penguin figurines. Those things would become real for about 30 minutes when they got cold enough. \n\nI don’t know if non-retailers know this, but there are certain rules concerning the magic items (at least, in this store there are). First, all employees must be signed-off before they can touch anything remotely magical. Without that paper, an employee cannot even enter the magic section. No exceptions. The second rule is that all magic items remain in the designated magic section. This section has protective wards in place to contain any catastrophic issues. Setting up a magic display outside the designated area, without explicit, written permission from the store manager was grounds for immediate termination.\n\nSo I explain to her, politely, that I thought it would be a bad idea to have snow clouds so close to those penguins. She counters that the clouds are tethered in place, and she personally set up special wards on that display area which would contain the snow. I held my ground, and asked to see the written permission from the store manager. PAH sneered, threatening to revoke my magic permissions. As a manager, she’s allowed to do this of course, which means I would have to complete the 2 day training all over, and I would undergo a review. That was preferable to being fired outright, so I still refused. She left and returned a few minutes later with her favorite employee, BN (short for brown-noser), along with my paper which was now stamped “REVOKED” in big red letters with her signature. BN proceeded to set up the display, while she had me straighten out some clothes nearby. \n\nBy now, you must be wondering where the malicious compliance occurs. Well, about an hour after BN set up the display, a few kids start playing by it. I politely ask them to stop, but they ignore me and end up dislodging some of the clouds. They squeal in delight as the clouds float away, leaving a nice trail of snow on the ground. Now, my ability to clean this has been revoked, so I high-tail it looking for PAH. Not surprisingly, she’s at lunch, so I talk to BN. She decides that the snow is not an emergency, since it will melt quickly enough and doesn’t create ice. So I go back to the area. One of the clouds is drifting to the penguin display. I knew what was about to happen. A chill of anticipation ran up my spine. \n\nLo and behold, the cloud got stuck on the nearby display of mini penguins. Well, guess what. The snow caused the penguins to begin to transform. All 20 of them. These weren’t the cute little penguins either, but the 6 foot tall Emperor penguins. In no time at all, we had a waddle of penguins walking around the aisles. Customers were panicking, penguins were screaming and chasing each other, one even laid an egg! It was glorious! \n\nIt didn’t take long for BN to come tearing over to me with PAH in tow. “Why didn’t you stop it? Do you know how much this will cost in damages?” PAH said, exasperated.\n\nI couldn’t hide my grin as I said “Sorry, I’m not allowed to touch magic.”\n\n&#x200B;\n\nEdit: As far as I know, PAH was ultimately blamed for the fiasco and was fired. I was terminated because of that review. No worries, I found a much better job a week later. :)", "“Roland, did you put the endcap out for those Ward stones?” Paul, the manager of the store asked. \n\t\nRoland wanted to correct him. To tell his boss ‘They're called Warding stones. Ward-ing’ He wanted to say a lot more. Instead he chose the safe, job-keeping, route. “No, I’ve been swamped. I’ve had three customers come in, each one claiming that the Pillows of Incredible Rest don’t work.”\n\n“What? What are they saying.” Paul’s voice became a whisper. He looked around the store. His eyes darted from customer to customer; checking to see if any of them had overheard.\n\n“Well, one customer said the rest she got was mediocre at best. The other two said they’d had visions in the night of an ancient arcanist standing in a darkened cell; waving at them to follow, calling himself—”\n\nPaul held up his hands. “Stop! Just… we’ll have to pull them from the shelves for now.” He paused to think, and then asked, “What about the regular pillows? Any problems with those?”\n\nRoland shrugged. “I think I may have a heard a few people say they were a bit overpriced.”\n\nPaul scowled at that. “Well they can go across the street then to Falmart.” When Roland rolled his eyes Paul added. “Falmart gets all their wands and potions from muggles you know. That’s how they keep their prices so low. You think you can get actual Phoenix Tail for 4.99?” Paul sighed and leaned against a nearby aisle filled with Dimensional Paintings; paintings that can be entered if one knew the right incantation. His shoulder brushed close to a scene of a sinking pirate ship, surrounded by a haze of cannon smoke. He noticed this and moved and jolted away.\n\nHis eyes looked up, past Roland. “Okay, you take this.” He nodded at an approaching customer. “I have to make a call about those pillows.”\n\nAs the customer approached, Roland smiled and said the words. It too was like a magic spell, but not really. It seemed even the angriest customer was impervious to a wide, genuine smile when accompanied by “Welcome to Bed Bath and Beyond. How may I help you?” \n\nThe effect was slight; the woman’s thin line and hard eyes softened, but only barely. She held something in her two hands. They were clasped together, but outstretched as if she wanted whatever was in her hands far, far away.\n\n“Can you tell me what this is?” Her voice sounded dangerous, as if knowing the answer was the wrong answer. Her hands were cupped together, and when she asked her question she separated them slightly. Inside Roland saw a tiny head poke out. A tiny, blonde haired woman looked up at him.\n\n“A fairy?” Roland guessed. He hadn’t seen one before, but from the size of her, and the sparkling of the air around her face—like tiny fireworks of the brightest colors—she had to be one.\n\nThe woman shook her hands at Roland. His stomach did a somersault and his eyes widened in horrified alarm at what the fairy must be going through. \n\n“I found this in my son’s sock drawer. He said he got it from here. I want to know what kind of store sells… these,” She gestured with naked disgust at the miniature woman in her hands. “To little boys.”\n\nThe fairy stuck her head out; using both arms to push the sides of the woman’s hands apart. “He’s hardly little. He’s eighteen and—”\n\nThe woman clamped her hands back together. Roland stared at her, wondering how she could be so cruel to a living thing. And to an actual fairy, the kindest creatures known to exist, Roland thought.\n\nRelaxing his jaw, and remembering where he was, and who he represented, Roland said, “Ma’am, we don’t sell fairies, or anything that could conjure up one.”\n\nThe lady glared at Roland, with the logic—or rather extreme absence of logic—that only a customer was able to formulate. Her son had somehow gotten hold of fairy, he had told her a lie, and now she was mad at the store (and by extension Roland), despite knowing on some level that he and the store were innocent. Customer outrage is a strong, dark magic, Roland thought.\n\n“Fine, but I’m not holding on to this thing for another second.” The woman shoved her hands at Roland and dropped the fairy into his fumbling hands. As she stormed away, the woman added the final words that Roland knew had been coming the moment she'd first spoken. “I’m never shopping here again!”\n\n\nRoland looked down at the fairy. She was holding herself in a tight ball. She was shivering. Roland held her up to his face. “It’s alright. The mean old lady’s gone.”\n\n“You know,” The fairy whispered. “I had a good thing going back home. I didn’t need to answer a human’s call.” \n\nShe stretched her neck and arms and then stood up on Roland’s open palms. Roland guessed she was probably six or seven inches. She wore a green dress; the hem hovered in the air around her bare feet as if it was floating in water. She looked up at Roland with her small, pixie face. She had a look of frustration and hurt that was painful for Roland to see.\n\n“Sorry, human’s aren’t all like that...” Just as all customers aren’t all like that, Roland thought but didn’t add. He frowned. “Will you go back home then?”\n\n“I might. I was hoping for adventure.” She looked at the nametag on his chest and then added, “Roland of Bed Bath and Beyond.” She gave a slight bow and said, “I’m Fae of The Great Acre Forest.”\n\nRoland wanted to ask ‘Isn’t 'Fae' a little on the nose?’ But he guessed it was some family name or something important to Fae’s mother, and his asking about it could upset the fragile peace he had going. Instead, he said, “It’s very a pretty name, Fae. And I wish you wouldn’t go.”\n\n“Well I don’t know. A fairy’s got to have some pride. I can’t be treated the way I have and stick around. What will people think of me?” Fae said, giving Roland the occasional sideways glance as she paced from side to side in his palms. “What can you offer me?”\n\n“I have a fifteen percent discount on all items in the store.” Roland smiled hoping his 'spell' worked on fairies as well as humans. Fae looked bemused at first, but then smiled. He continued, “I promise I won’t let any harm come to you, and to always keep you entertained by going on adventures that present themselves. I promise these things and my fifteen percent discount.”\n\n&nbsp;\n\n---------\n\n&nbsp;\n\n7,622 / 50,000 Words of NaNoWriMo short story goal. \n\n" ]	6
	[WP] Space explorers discover a lush jungle planet with an oxygenated atmosphere. Deep below the trees they find ancient ruins, and even further below, catacombs full of frozen corpses. In their exploration, they accidentally start the process of reviving the lost civilization known as "Humanity."	[ "Humanity.\nOur creators,\nOur enemies,\nAnd our prey.\n\nThey created us anthros,\nthey enslaved us anthros,\nand they fell to us, anthros.\n\nAnd now, they’re about to be revived.\n\n“DANNY!”\n“WOAH!”\nI nearly fell on my face and broke my snout. I just barely managed to recover, and as I did I tripped on my long fox tail. I recovered again.\n“Sarah?”\n“Yes, Danny?”\n“I just had a dream that humans came back and...”\nI stopped to gather my thoughts.\n“Murdered us?”\n“Yes...”\nHer beautiful Russian accent calmed me.\nI was wearing my pressure suit, and the only part of me that wasn’t covered by space gear was my head, my helmet was on the table next to the chair I fell asleep in.\n“Oh, please Danny! They’re long gone, they all died off two millennia ago!”\nI was still panting heavily out of stress.\n“I - Ok, ok, They can’t kill us, they’re dead. Sorry.”\n“Now, return to station.”\n“Yes ma’am!”\n“Danny, you know I just want you to call me my name.”\n“Okay, Sweetie.”\n“That works too, love.”\nYes, we talk like that openly on the main control deck, but it’s all good because our relationship isn’t that big of a secret.\n\nI worked at tracking panel 14, natural obstacle tracking station 3.\nSmall asteroid coming head-on. I added in some navigation instructions to avoid it.\nSarah, head of _DealBreaker,_ our armed planet-class mothership, was a Russian Blue, coming from the continent-class ship _Russia._\n\nBut...\nOur current target?\nEarth.\n\nAnd I’m horrified.\n\nNot much happened over the next few days.\n\nBut the landing.\n\nWe landed rather uneventfully, but I was racked to the core; You see, I volunteered to go out on the first expedition. Actually, Sarah prodded me to. But in the end, She promised me a bit of nighttime knocking... hehe... if I went with her.\nOh yeah, She’s my GF...\nI won’t mention that anymore.\n\n6/14/4270\n“Morning Dan, hon’.”\n“Good morning, Sarah baby.”\nI got up and stretched.\n“Oh, that hot sex last night!”\n“Yeah...”\n“I’m getting ready for the mission.”\n“Oh, that motivation! I rarely see it from you.”\nI showered, groomed, brushed my teeth and put on my underclothes and my spacesuit.\nShe did the same, but by the time she was out of our habitation module, I had a laser rifle in hand, respirator over my snout, and excitement in my spirits. Man, the things a night of sex with your girl can do, I went from afraid of even the thought \nOk, I won’t mention that anymore.\nintercom: recon team alpha, please report to briefing room epsilon for mission breifing.\nThis is my chance.\n\nThis is my future, and the universe’s future.\n\nThis is my time.\n\nLet’s go.", "Today is the day all of our forefathers had hoped for. I just wish I wasnt so apprehensive. I mean the ship is all I've ever known. I just wish Mack and Grampa were here to see it. \n Mack was the rebel. He was loud, opinionated and resentful of me being the next Captain to replace Dad. He tried to create mutiny on the ship Dad said. \nBut I always thought he was harmless. Yet attacking the captain with the most painful and precise weapon in the fleets Arsenal has Consequences. \nI believe he was tastelessly frozen holding his own decapitated head as a grotesque example of what happens when my dad has an arm and ear amputated and cauterized before he can even blink.\nYeah, the doctor on board is my mom. My sister is the shrink. They have been rehabilitating dad. But I don't believe they are doing well. \nDad seems to have left himself behind during the ordeal with Mack. So he made me Temporary Captain. I could do no wrong in his eyes. But that's only because I do everything he says. \nMack was more fit to be the Captain. Bold strong and strong willed. I remember the night I said to Dad that Mack would be the better captain he is a great leader. Mom got up from Dad's bed side and smacked me. Hard. I tasted blood.\nShe told me my eight times great-grandfather did not create this life for his heirs to squander the opportunity.\n I had my God given duty since birth, and I would carry it out accordingly whether I liked the time I was conceived or the responsibility it entails or not. \n Mack understood better. He acted like he hated me but it was only to make me tough enough to deal with the shit storm of our long lineage of responsibility.\nAnd Grampa was the only one who understood my secret. Because he was gay as well. It was hard to be gay on the elite deck of the ship.everyone was too important and the servants here loved to gossip and feel important.\nGrandfather took me to the lowest class deck. and taught me about all the ways a servant is able to please. I hated that because it was only a quick heartless and impersonal fix. I believed in love.\nI wanted to be in a relationship. Not bound by the times or moral customs of before. Dad would have to die first.\n Then noone would be able to argue or disapprove of my laws. Or they would be stripped and whipped accordingly. \nAnd demoted to the lower class immediately.\nYet with this interGalactic scan from this morning. Things are definitely going to need to be evaluated by dad. And a whole planet means finding more time with Percy and a more healthy and free environment where we can be together.\n\n\n\nIf anyone likes this. I will add to it. I plan to finish it on my own time off of reddit, but to save the hassle of extra boring, long winded reading. I will end here for now. Hope you like it! Have a great night everyone!!!\n\n\n", "\"How much longer until we reach the surface?\" Captain Kanu'uk inquired as he peered through the ship's main window at the mysterious planet below. Years of space travel hardened his face. Deep purple wrinkles marred what was once a vibrant violet complexion. An ominous scar crossed over his left eye, and hid behind wispy strands of silver hair.\n\n\"We will land in approximately ten minutes, Sir,\" answered Mayei, the navigator. This was her first mission. She had just finished training in Operial's venerated space exploration program. Operial was known for its astounding space discoveries: an ice cave located on the north side of Osirus 12, ancient rock formations on Neeros 7, and a new, possibly inhabitable planet just beyond the edge of the Operia Solar System. This was Mayei's chance to prove why she graduated top of her class, and was granted a part on this special expedition with Captain Kanu'uk. She drew in a deep breath as the ship docked with the planet. \n\nEnormous trees with large, flat leaves towered above, and an array of magenta flora blanketed the ground. Mayei noticed large sections of bark peeling downward on the tree trunks. It made them look as if they each grew a spiral staircase leading to their tops. She reached out to touch the plant when an arm suddenly grasped hers, and jerked backward. \n\n\"We aren't here to inspect the trees, Mayei,\" warned the Captain sternly, \"Put on your excavating suit, and meet me at the rover immediately.\"\n\nThe team that had originally discovered this planet bustled all about: making reports, taking photos, and collecting samples. Mayei and Kanu'uk were sent here as part of an additional research voyage. A large chasm had been uncovered a few miles from the main camp. Operial thought it best to send a crew specially trained in combat and survival to investigate the area. From first observations, possible signs of intelligent life were present. Kanu'uk advises to never assume intelligent lifeforms are friendly. Still, Mayei could not believe intelligent life would exist anywhere other than Operial; she was confident they would find nothing more than cave bats or glow slugs.\n\nOnce the rover reached the chasm, hover mode engaged and sent the crew to the bottom of the vast opening. Light grew scarcer until nothing but rover head beams led the way down. Finally arriving at the bottom, the crew began to look around using helmet lights. Smooth ovular rocks with complex blue patterns composed the flooring. Strange structures stood all around, resembling primitive huts. Mayei stood inside what was left of a building. She gazed in awe at indiscernible markings on the walls - an unknown language. Fear began to quake within her body. \n\n\"Mayei! Quickly!\" Feet ran swiftly to the source of the call. Kanu'uk knelt on the ground, frantically brushing away stones with his large hands. What he unearthed was a casket resembling a coffin. A small window on top revealed only fog, and large button rested below it.\n\n\"We must get out of here and report to headquarters now,\" ordered the Captain. A scream flooded the pitch black air. A few feet away, another crew member had accidentally stepped on the button of an identical casket like object. Blue fog began pouring from its sides, and the top lifted away slowly. Mayei held tightly to her weapon. At the academy, she practiced shooting. She practiced running. She practiced fighting, but she never could have prepared for the gut wrenching terror that consumed her as she watched that box unfold. Kanu'uk gave her a look, and she knew it was time to charge her plasma gun. \n\nA figure emerged from the haze. Mayei drew in a deep breath. ", "We had been traveling for years, the chosen astronauts to explore the only known inhabitable planet in our neck of the universe. 127 years ago, NASA spotted something out by Barnard's Star. At first, they thought it was an aberration in the lens. They were wrong. There was a planet orbiting the red dwarf, and by all accounts it was not just capable of sustaining life, it was thriving. \n\nThe scientists had said that the place appeared to have a similar atmosphere to ours, and that there appeared to be vast, dense vegetation covering most of the planet. That was enough for them to finally start working towards faster-than-light travel. The prospect of a new world was simply too much to pass up. And so, after far too much deliberation and not nearly enough action, we set our course and launched for the new world.\n\n---\n\nOur ship descended on the planet, the sea of red and gray trees and shrubs making way for our transport. Here is where we would set up a base camp to explore this incredible new world. \n\n\"Harvey, shut the transport off! We've only got so much fuel!\" Captain Reis barked at me. Reis was a stern woman, and for good reason. As the first interplanetary captain, her leadership would be a model for all those to follow, and she wasn't going to let anything go wrong. I followed shut down procedure for the transport and stepped off the ship. Massive trees towered over me, one of the first people to step foot on a foreign planet, orbiting a foreign star.\n\n\n---\n\nWe've been investigating and studying for months now, and have discovered that the flora of this planet is strikingly similar to that of Earth. The plants may have been a crimson red and faded gray in color, they may have been taller and strangely twisted, but they must have been related to the oaks and shrubs of home. Not only that, the fauna had been alarmingly similar as well. Our third day there, a four legged creature similar in size and appearance to a pug had wandered past the transport. Worth noting was the deep blue shade of the pugs fur, as well as the speed at which it moved. It must have been twice as fast as an Earth pug!\n\n---\n\nThe pug, which we had named Smurf, had been coming to visit our landing site about once a day, and I had slowly been befriending it. Today, Smurf came up and laid his head on me. We sat there for a moment, two beings from two distant points in the universe. It was surreal, to say the least. With a jolt, Smurf stood and sprinted into the jungle around us, my communicator hooked on its neck. \n\n\"Hey!\" I shouted after him, \"Don't run off with that!\" I ran after Smurf, but he was gone in short order. I kept walking, hoping to hear or see something, when I remembered that the communicators have trackers! I made my way through the crimson trees and monochrome shrubs, arriving at the transport.\n\n\"Captain, Smurf has ran off into the jungle and has my tracker.\"\n\n\"Excuse me?\" She asked, visibly angry at what I'd said. \"You lost one of our only communicators?!\"\n\n\"Yes, but hear me out! Its attached to Smurf. If we activate its tracking beacon, we can not only find the communicator, we'll be able to find where he stays! There may be a whole colony of those little guys!\" I pleaded with Reis, \"We have to move fast. With how quickly he moves, we'll need as much time as we can get.\"\n\nReis thought for a moment, her facing fading from anger to thoughtfulness. She turned, grabbed a spare communicator, and turned the tracking beacon on Smurf's communicator.. \n\n\"Stay in radio contact at all times. Keep your helmet cam on and recording. We don't know what's out there. If you get in any sort of trouble, see anything weird, or if there is ANYTHING out of the ordinary, you are to report back immediately. Are we clear?\"\n\nI nodded, and dove into the jungle.\n\n---\n\nIt had been an hour or two of searching before I found my communicator. Smurf was nowhere to be seen, but that was not something I was worried about at all. In front of me was a massive, rectangular structure. It appeared to be made of the trees that surrounded me, but the structure was a black so deep that it seemed to drink the light from around me. The air in this part of the jungle was slightly warmer and muggier than back at transport. \n\nI walked around the building, examining the workmanship. It was smooth. Improbably smooth. Approximately 3/4 of the way around the building, I found an opening. It looked like a door frame from Earth, if the door frames on Earth were 10 feet tall, 6 feet wide, and made of something impossibly smooth and impossibly dark. Captain Reis' warning echoed in my mind as I flipped my light on and entered the building.\n\n---\n\nThe inside was just as dark as the outside. I wandered for about ten minutes before I decided that I needed to get a better lighting system if I was going to explore this place. I turned around, and my heart dropped. I couldn't see the entrance. I ran back towards where I thought I had come from, only to trip over something about shin high. I landed face first, hard, and heard a deafening crack. I shined a light in my face and confirmed my fears: my helmet had cracked. I was officially the first person to breath air on another planet. \n\nPanicking, I started to hyperventilate, desperately searching for a way out or at least a way to repair my helmet, when I heard a familiar whimpering. I looked in the direction of the noise and saw Smurf, faintly glowing in the darkness. \n\n\"Smurf! My god, I never thought I'd be so happy to see you!\" I ran towards him, and he started walking away from me. Every time I got closer to him, he'd run a little farther. Why is he running from me? I thought to myself. \"Are you showing me a way out boy?\" He just kept walking. \n\nI followed him for what seemed like an eternity. I bumped into unidentifiable objects all over the place. I could feel myself slowly getting light headed. Eventually, he stopped walking. I approached him, wondering just where exactly I was, when I heard something click under my foot. My head shot up and scanned the area around me. I saw cylindrical tubes glowing a dull violet color. There must have been hundreds, maybe even thousands around me.\n\nSmurf whimpered some more and walked towards a tube a little ways ahead. I followed him. The tube was long, wide, and pulsing with energy. As I got closer, I could see that something was inside. I approached the tube that Smurf had sniffed out. Inside was a man.\n\nStartled, I fell back. Was that a human being? I thought. I stood back up and cautiously examined the tube's contents. The man looked like a regular human being, just proportionately bigger. He looked to be about 8 feet tall, had a muscular build to him, with dark indigo hair. My concentration was broken when I heard a robotic voice clang from all around me. \"Ærist láfa fīras\" blasted all around me. As I tried to gather my senses, I could see the tubes opening. A hand reached out of the tube nearest me, and Smurf pranced excitedly.", "Air. Breathe. Feel. Pain.\n\n‘Ah… this is wonderful.’\n\nI opened my eyes, the movement feeling like lifting thousand-pound weights with my eyelids. I see the ice covering the view-hole, and with great effort, lift my atrophied arm and brush my fingers against it.\n\nSee. Light. Touch. Cold.\n\n‘It’s been so long.’\n\nI’d been asleep, but I could just feel that centuries had passed, more than that actually. My pod hissed sharply, and the cover unlatched.\n\nHear. Wonder. Fear.\n\n‘Someone’s found me- found us. Who?’\n\nThe top lifted away, and several faces peered over the edge of my pod. I recognized them as roughly humanoid, but through their space-suit-esc helmets, their skin was magenta and they had overly large eyes. Their ears were also long and pointed. I attempted to react.\n\nMuscles. Tired. Vocal chords. Speech.\n\n“Woo… Wu… welc… c… come… t t t to Err… Err… Earth…th…”\n\nFailure. Humor. Laughter.\n\nI sounded ridiculous… my slur aside, I realized how stupid it was to simply welcome an unknown alien race to my planet with my first waking moments. They probably didn’t even speak English. I laughed at myself.\n\nAnd I cried.\n\nTears. Joy. Sadness. Alive.\n\nI was alive.\n\nI started to sit up, and the Magentas all stepped back away from me. They chattered unintelligibly to each other, and then one of them stepped forewords. Its features were somewhat feminine, as was its voice. “… Hel-lo,” she spoke. “I did study language yours. Found probes out space. You speak me with. Think I speak I right.”\n\nI smirked. “G g g good enou- ough. A li… li… little off, ff. N-not bad fffor speak… ing an ancient langua… language.” As I worked my mouth and my throat, my voice and command of my language began returning.\n\n“Sorry,” the alien replied. “Speaks no one English. Learn just from study write.”\n\n“Writing,” I corrected her.\n\n“Write-ing,” she repeated. Then she seemed to realize that she was speaking with what was probably considered a long-lost, dead race of beings. She jumped excitedly and turned to her companions. She wiggled happily, and chatted in her native language.\n\nShe turned back to me, I assumed to start asking me questions, but she seemed to notice when I shivered violently. “… Snow?” she asked.\n\n“Cold,” I said, but I nodded.\n\nShe chattered at the others, and one of them produced a black blanket from their pack and handed it to her. She then offered it to me in turn. I took it, and felt an artificial warmth running consistently through the fabric. Touching the heated blanket made me realize how cold exactly I was, and I quickly pulled the blanket around my shoulders. The warmth soothed me.\n\nI was alive. This was amazing.\n", "Standing there in this lost ruin. Stone and ash and dirt. The ice deep below. The broken bricks of what had once been a stretching city. Fallen now into this green jungle rising up in the heat and humidity. A world devoured. The beast another world itself. \n\nShe looked down toward the tunnel where they were going down and coming back out. This slow stream of movement, the bobbing headlamps. Standing with her helmet under her arm. The air here thick and warm but clean. She could taste it. \n\nHe came up to her and watched them for a moment standing in the falling dusk. The single sun burning across the distant horizon. Twenty years in that hurdling home of metal and lights and recycled air and when they finally came down through the atmosphere she could barely believe the way that it felt. \n\n“What happened here?” he said. \n\n“They died.” \n\n“Just died.” \n\n“Look at this place.” Pointing out across the overgrowth. A broken street with the roots coming through it. Tumbled bricks and stones and steel beams. The foundations of that which had been devoured whole. Far off a spire rising up through the trees, the metal dark with ages of weather and the top sheered off as if in some great and cataclysmic movement of the tectonic plates. A destruction long wrought and that devastation complete. \n\n“Something killed them.” \n\n“Maybe.” \n\n“A whole planet?” \n\nShe shrugged. Turned her helmet under her arm. “It's too hot,” she said. “The massive volcano crater in the west. That flooded coastline down south with the buildings in the water.” \n\n“It's the planet that killed them.” \n\n“In a way.” \n\nThey watched the line coming up. Between the workers moments of stillness and the darkness down below. Then those workers moving and above them the ship sitting in the quiet air. The tether coming down with the ladder and the car rising and falling. \n\nShe'd been the first one down there when she found the opening. Walking into that dark and the walls close and suddenly far more like what she'd known for all her life. That confinement a comfort. Treading down the metal stairs and the burned out lights on the floor and her own headlamp casting a harsh and unforgiving glare down and down into nothing at all. \n\nAt last the bottom, walking into the chamber where the door had stuck. Who had closed it and when now lost to them all. But stuck open those last few feet. Pushing her way through and the body there on the floor. Just bones now in the dust. Blowing away as she bent and touched them and they disintegrated. \n\n“What is it?” he'd said from behind her and neither one had known. \n\nWalking further along. Finding the cryobeds all laid out in an endless line. So far under these mountains that she could not see the other side. Just rows and rows and behind the glass the frozen bodies. Some with their eyes wide open and the terror on their faces and others in peace with their eyes closed. The glass cracked and the lights dark and maybe that tectonic movement even worse here as it wrenched this place apart. \n\nA side tunnel covered in fallen stone. How many buried she would never know. \n\nAnd then at last, coming to that second door. This one closed. A lone light blinking. Something written on it in a language she could not read and very old. Tracing her fingertips across it. Pressing her palm against the panel on the wall. \n\nNow above and hours later on this deserted planet, knowing all she'd come to find, all her life had been planned out to discover. Knowing it was here and it was real and they were not alone. Perhaps. Or perhaps just too late, missing this world by generations or a century. Something so tiny and minuscule and measured and a loss too great to really feel. \n\nBut beyond that door. The hope of something else. The lights flashing. The glass intact. The bodies frozen but still deep in them some spark. A fire to be ignited and all that it meant. \n\n“What's the sun here?” he asked. \n\nShe looked at that failing light, this lost and ruined planet. The bodies coming up from the deep. Pale and ghastly and white. Their cracking eyelids. Even now perhaps the first one waking to take that rasping breath. The steam from its skin as it thawed. \n\n“It's called Sol,” she said. ", "The journey was always the least exciting part. That's what I always feel like. You're shut inside a small room for a week or two while you traverse the slipspace. Nothing to look at, except your own bored face in the mirror. They lowered the shutters on the observation decks while we were travelling, partially because the slipstream wasn't too interesting to look at, partially because those who did look, tended to wind up bleeding out their eyes and ears. Or other appendages or orifices. So you were confined to a room. Usually you could hang with the other travelers, but this time I was one of a few passengers. And the others were the type of people who'd rather bury themselves in their work while travelling, than having a good time. I sighed. I was lying on my bed, fidgeting with my InfoTab to pass the time. Not that I was going to get anything, connection shuts off in slipspace, and where I was going, all outside connection had been shut off in advance. Then I suddenly got a small alert message, telling me that we had arrived.\n\nI put down the device and got up. I walked into the small, cramped bathroom adjacent to my room, and turned on the mirror. It helpfully, and irritatingly, pointed out the dark rings underneath my four eyes. And how matted and dull my rust-red fur looked. How my tail and my big ears were bushy and needed to get a shave. And how I needed to cut my nails. I liked technology, but why did they have to put computers in everything? Sometimes you'd like to just have some time away from them, especially if you had to put tape over the inbuilt camera. Which incidentally, I had to do, after finding out that the local crew usually took, well, candid 3-D videos of your body for usage on the crew only holodeck for... recreational purposes... I know it gets lonely when you're in the force, been there myself, but some things just aren't acceptable.\n\nI sighed again, and got out of my bathrobe and took a shower. Which would either have been comfortable or refreshing, but since this was the cheapest craft that the government could have sent, it had de-dirtifier chem-showers. Efficient, true. But who wants to stand in a T-pose for a minute while they spray you with sterilizing fluid? I got dressed, in a cheap black business suit. It was new, but still, cheap. After all, when you're the only expert on an extremely obscure subject, so obscure I could count the number of other experts on the subject on one hand, you don't get high priority on the payroll at the Intergalactic All-Species University. Tenure is good, but when you're the least important staff member of 100.000 teachers with tenure, it's not that good. I got out and headed for the briefing room. It was good to stretch my legs. As I arrived, I was pleased to see I wasn't the last. In fact, I was the first. Typical. The other passengers were the other experts on the subject at hand; The primordial precursor civilization that had flourished briefly in the galaxy about 450 million years ago, before all other known cultures. They had left behind very little useful information archaeologically, only their most ludicrous monuments had remained. Like the black obelisk of Thronta-4, reaching from the sea to the exosphere of that planet, it was clearly big, threatening, and to most religions, considered extremely blasphemous. Or the strange temple complexes on Jhron-Pah-Nak that covered the entire southern pole, seemingly dedicated to a strange obese figure, with white fur and bloodred clothing.\n\nSlowly, my eccentric and obsessed colleagues joined us, and eventually, we got the meeting started. ''As you all know, you lot are the Tri-Galactic Federation's primary experts on the oldest known civilization, the Homulogue Monument Builders, or more commonly known as the Homulogues. They are almost completely unknown, even the Archivist Foundation, who have kept records of this Galaxy for the past fifty million odd years, have not recovered a single text authored by them, a single explanation for who they were, why the disappeared, and why the galaxy seems to be littered with their monuments from end-to-end.'' The government official, Rhaskh Olmo, the Fwervi captain of this vessel, looked down at her notes. Her brown feathers ruffled on her head, her beady black eyes focusing on her set of papers, astonishingly, since most everything was electronic or hard light data these days. ''You've all signed the non-disclosure agreement, and you all know you'll be put into maximum sentence prison automatically if you spill a word of this without an official order from the Supreme Admiral of High Command or from two of the three Triarchs of the Supreme Council. And now, we can show you why we've been so secretive.'' She gave a wordless command with a turn of her head. And a screen popped up in the middle of the room. It showed a decently sized planet with a partially strip-mined moon orbiting it. ''This system was the cause of the past couple of years of slipspace difficulties, a malfunctioning device, originally meant to hide the gravitational signs of this system and prevent the light from it being seen, it had begun leaking out unstable excess energy into the slipspace, which we all know causes high gravitational waves in there. When we managed to turn it off, we found that this system has extensive sign of habitation, and various forms of dating, uranium, carbon, solar, proved that this system was heavily populated, about 450 million standard years ago.'' A murmur comes up from the crowd. I myself am impressed, an actual colony of the Homulogues? The chance to study it would almost be a dream come true. ''The system is full of ruined asteroid habitats, old decayed ships, moon mines, research stations, a partially finished terraforming project on the fourth planet. Each of you will be assigned to one project to act as the expert adviser and leader of the archaeological team for the government researchers at that location.'' I nodded. Made sense. All sorts of goodies. But only one team got the main prize. Only one expert per team. ''Tlas Corte; To the fourth planet, and it's terraforming project. Junw the Erudite, son of Masqi the Secretive, to the moon mine. Asih Walfors, to the gas giant extraction facilities. Emda Morful, to the third planet from the sun.'' I heard a groan from the other experts, true enough, all of us had wished to go there, but I drew the lucky card for once. The captain in her deep aria voice told the rest where to go, and then had an ensign hand us our assignments. I walked out of that room only to run into one of the other experts. ''Emda! It should have been ME!'' He shouted at me. Well, my legs presumably. ''Teros the Willful. I didn't hand out assignments, the government did. You know that.'' The twitchy little scaled thing screamed at my from somewhere beneath the truly impressive amount of wooly sweaters, hats, socks, and pants he was wearing. I turned my head to one of the guards, who thankfully, grabbed the little guy before he hurt himself. ''Just take him where he is supposed to go, he'll be alright when he gets to work. He usually does.'' In a small field such as mine, people tend to be... eccentric. Teros was no exception. Flirting with females three times his own size, trying to pick fights with pretty much anything he saw as even remotely against him, letting the students with larger mammary glands who took his classes get higher grades automatically. How he ever managed to get tenure is beyond me.\n\nI went to my cabin, gathered what small amount of things I needed, and set off for the transport.\n\n1/3 Continues in next part" ]	7
	[WP] You signed up for an experiment 5 years ago to undergo a long term isolation study. Robots delivered food, hobbies keep you occupied, but you have no access to news. You have decided to end this project. The problem is, the apocalypse happened two years ago.	[ "Day 1825\n\nDecember 31, 2045\n\n06:40 pm\n\nFive years.\n\nIt’s been five years since I landed in this arctic wasteland. Five years since I’ve spoken to anyone but myself. Five years since I’ve had to deal with bills, taxes, traffic, social anxiety, or just people in general. Five years since I’ve seen anyone’s face but my own.\n\nTonight I’m feasting. Emptying out the pantry and the refrigeration room. My ‘year’s supply’ of frozen meats and perishables seem to multiply to no end. The boxes of Pop-tarts and cases of whiskey have started piling up. Tonight I will be cooking for a dozen me’s. Steak, potatoes, shrimp, pizza rolls, garlic bread, fried chicken, sloppy joe, lobster rolls, and of course, salad. No reason the leave anything behind.\n\nTomorrow morning, Rob will ride up the mag-line with another years worth of food and supplies, stay for about 6 hours, enough time for me to hastily unload everything out of the shipping container, then return to wherever he came from. This time, however, Rob won’t be returning alone.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI used dark hours of the morning to tidy up a little bit. Vacuum the crumbs off the kitchen floor and the T.V. room carpet. And the bedroom carpet.\n\nI spent the majority of my food coma last night trying to binge through the last season of Lost, even if it lacked the thrill of the first couple seasons. There was a dip in the couch from where I sprawled. It’s been my favorite spot during my stay here. I’m not really sure if anyone else will ever come here, but I folded the blanket on the ground and laid it on top of my spot anyways.\n\nI picked up my fresh crimson notebook and teared off the last few entries. I was going to leave the entire notebook, but I guess five years of writing down my emotions and experiences has left me appreciating the daily release. I walked the ruffled stack of pages to the library and placed them on top of a stack of identical crimson notebooks rising from the center desk. With last night’s entry resting on top, I take a final look around this holy room of mine. Books and individual pages littered the floor in stack up to my waist. Novels, biographies, textbooks, manuals, anthologies, comics, cookbooks, and anything else I might need or want. I’ve picked up good number of skills and knowledge in this room. I probably would’ve gone crazy if it weren’t for this room.\n\nI did yesterday’s dishes and made my bed. Then I packed a small bag with whatever I might need. A few cloths, some snacks, a small paperback that I was still reading, and my notebook. There really wasn’t anything in particular that I was attached too, so there wasn’t really anything that I would specifically miss.\n\nI slipped into some warm clothes and stepped outside. Rob was already waiting there with the shipping container unlocked.\n\n“Hey Rob,” I said to no one, as I pulled on the frozen handle of the engine cart. I climbed into the single seat that I sat on five years ago and powered on the small chrome tablet that was attached to the front console. The screen came to life displaying the simple, yet well known, logo of the Boring Company. I placed my thumb on the scanner and set up Rob’s autopilot to take me back. A warning popped up the screen before I could confirm the command.\n\n“Warning! Container not empty. Please unload supplies.”\n\nI sighed and used my thumbprint again to override the warning and start the trip back. A twelve hour timer then appeared on the screen as batteries whirred to life. I took my seat by the window and looked back at my home for the last half-decade.\n\nThe unassuming metal box quickly shrunk in the distance until it melted into the endless white that covered the horizon. With a long breathe, I opened up my novel and waited for the countdown to hit zero.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nDay 1\n\nJanuary 1, 2046\n\n09:14 pm\n\nSomething’s happened. The lab was destroyed, a long time ago, it seems. Broken desks and overturned chairs were coated with fine layer of dust. All the machines and equipment were either beaten in or missing. And I can’t find a single person. The silence, that had comforted me in my solitude, is slowly turning into an eerie panic and discomfort.\n\nI’ve found the live-in quarters and a few sets of keys. I plan to leave in the morning, under the light and warmth of a brighter sun than I am used to.\n\nFor now, I’ll eat whatever food I can find and get some rest. I guess I’ll find someone tomorrow.\n\n11:44 pm\n\nA loud banging on the lab entrance woke me from a light sleep. Thinking it was another person, I sprinted through the live-in quarters and stumbled into the main lobby. The thick glass windows distorted the view of the darkness outside. So I made for the entrance and found an old keypad lock. I tried my experiment number and my birthday as the banging grew more inconsistent. Louder and more scratchy. Like someone, or something, is trying to pry open the door. An inhumane shriek tore through my temples and froze my entire body as all other sound stopped. After what felt like an eternity, the scratching and banging continued, but this time with accompanying barks and shrieks. I don’t know what’s out there, but I don’t think opening the door is a good idea right now. I’m am currently barricaded in the living quarters with enough supplies for a few days. Will update when I get out. Hopefully.", "My day begins like any other: I awake. As my brain slowly turns on I realize the importance of this day. My body jolts, my brain goes on full alert.\n\nToday’s the day.\n\nI hastily get out of my bed. The room in which I live is neatly in order, put in place the night before. A single light flashes on the request console located across the room. It beckons, calls for me to request the first meal of the day.\n\nIt will go unrequested.\n\nI drink a glass of water. Another. Over the five years of this experiment I’d been denied any type of caffeine. I think once I get out I’ll be getting a cup of coffee. The water has been working fine, but it’s been sorely missed.\n\nFully awake, I approach the console. On the second anniversary I decided I would only stay a year longer. This makes today the second time I’d arrived at this moment. Previously, I spent nearly the whole day standing over this console. Petrified. Was I ready to return? I didn’t apply for this experiment for science, no. Nor as some kind of twisted adventure. I did it because I wanted it. I have no family. My job was going nowhere. My anxieties of the outside world were mounting, coming to a peak. It was too much. I came here to get away. To escape. They told me I could participate for however long I wanted. I told them I might stay a few years. I don’t think they believed me.\n\nBut as I stood over that console at first, I couldn’t bring myself to make the request. The button, dramatic, big and red, was held within a glass case. All I had to do was open the case, press the button. The doors would open and I would have been free. But would it have been freedom? I was far more comfortable in my tiny, subterranean box than I was anywhere else in the world. No bills, no deadlines. No missing parties or miscellaneous social functions because I couldn’t bring myself out of my bed. No more disappointing people. I was free here, I decided.\n\nAnd so I stayed. I told myself I’d stay 2 more years. I spent two years fearing that as the date approached I would change my mind. That I would stand over this console again, gripped with fear of leaving this sacred room.\n\nNot today.\n\nThe case opens. The button is pressed. My body carries out the actions before my brain can stop myself.\n\nA soft chime plays. As the mechanical door opens my heart stops. Day in and day out I stared at that door. Now that it was open it looked... wrong. A message flashes upon the console’s text screen.\n\n“Thank you for participating! You withstood 1826 days. Please follow the yellow line to the screening room where you will be examined and interviewed. You will be released at the end of the day. ”\n\nI grab my jacket from my chair, seated at my table. I slowly creep through the doorway. I take one last look at my home. I ponder for a moment if there was a chance I could remain. But the door was open now. The way was made. I nod as though to reassure myself. Yes, this was the right thing to do.\n\nI follow the yellow line. Take a seat in the screening room. “A representative will be with you shortly!” I wait. Time passes.\n\nNo one comes.\n\nI had become accustomed to waiting, being alone, but not here. Here it felt strange, wrong. After an undetermined amount of time (but I imagine it was quite a while) I try the door opposite the one I came in, just to know.\n\nUnlocked? Ok. I peek my head out. “Hello?”\n\nNo answer.\n\nI go under the threshold. The hallway is lit, but barren. No signs of activity.\n\n“Hello?” I call out again. Was it a holiday? A day off? Perhaps. I wasn’t about to wait for someone to show up in this empty building. Will they be mad if I leave? Perhaps. But I’m not about to stay here.\n\nI make my way to the main floor. Everything seems to be in working order. The grand lobby with its walls expanding to the perimeter of the massive building, its ceiling reaching up several stories, is also barren. Several sweepers skim the floors, their soft electrical buzzing fills the room. A receptionist drone is stationed at the front desk. It seems to be powered down. I look around inquisitively. No one, no human, is here.\n\nAs the sun breaks over the horizon, it’s gentle beams seep through the glass entry, splaying across the polished floor. The sun. I hadn’t expected to ever feel such emotion for such a common thing. I feel a bit of excitement well up inside me. I’ll have to come back tomorrow and do the screening.\n\nI walk over to the glass doors. As I open them I discover they were apparently darkened, as the full power of the sun blinds my eyes. It takes a moment for them to adjust. I take the moment to enjoy the warmth of the sun again. Of all the things I wondered I might experience upon leaving, this is not one I expected.\n\nBut to my dismay came another thing I hadn’t expected. Concern fills my face. The sights I see spring forth anxiety from my chest. Panic beings to build, I try to suppress it.\n\nAs I look down the street, from one end to the other, as far as I can see, are cars. Cars. Parked in the middle of the road, unmoving. Hundreds, no, thousands of small papers blow with the wind. I seek their origin, finding it to be… the windshields of the cars.\n\nTwo more observations I made. As I make them I feel a sense of scale, the gravity of what I’m seeing sets in. No human has ever felt these things before. These observations and the feelings they produce have never been born from someone of my race.\n\nThe first. In this bustling city that never sleeps, I hear only the wind.\n\nThe second. I am alone.\n\n“Hey!”\n\nMy voice echoes throughout the streets.\n\n“Hey is anyone out there?!”\n\nAs a reply I receive only wind. Panic grips my mind. Anxiety reaches out to constrict my chest. All rationality leaves me. Even questions are but an afterthought.\n\nI am alone\n\nThe questions begin. Where are they? What happened to them? Will this happen to me? How long has it been like this? If everyone died there should be bodies, where are the bodies, where are the-\n\nIamaloneIamaloneIamaloneIamalone\n\nI’m going to die, right here. Not from whatever took them. My own panic is going to kill me. I should have stayed in my room, I should have stayed-\n\nMy unbridled terror is interrupted by my only companion the wind. The papers collectively blow into me, as though the wind was trying to help snap me out of my demonic reverie.\n\nI reach out and grab a handful. I loose from my grip all but one, holding onto that single piece of evidence. It takes my eyes, well, rather my brain, a moment to come into focus. The paper reads:\n\nINFRACTION:\n\nILLEGAL PARKING\n\nCALL ATTACHED NUMBER OR YOUR VEHICLE WILL BE TOWED IN\n\n- 92 DAYS\n\n92 days? No, that’s a… that’s negative 92 days. How does..\n\nThe drones! The police drones are still working!\n\n92 days!? I run out into the street, freed from my paralysis. What’s the furthest back these things reach? I practically wade into the papers and begin to dig through them.\n\n68, 32, 113, 44, 289—\n\n289!?\n\nI scramble through them to find even greater numbers. I begin to hold on to the highest number as I search to keep track. The cars! The highest numbers would be on the cars!\n\nI leap to the nearest vehicle. Stuck to the windshield are hundreads of tickets, most stacked on top of each other. I look for the most recent.\n\n721, 722, 723… 724.\n\nI cannot find higher than 724.\n\nI run to the next car.\n\n722, 723, 724.\n\nThe next.\n\n22, 23, 24.\n\nI make my way down the street, collecting the 724s with an unnecessary urgency. I mutter to myself. “That’s… nearly two years.” A bit louder. “That’s nearly two years!”\n\n“Civilian, is this your vehicle?”", "The robot came in today, as it had done everyday, to deliver food. This experiment is getting old. I lost track of how long I was here. I tried to at first, but it only furthered my longing for the experiment to be complete. At some point I tried my hand at sculpting. It was quite fun. Anything I needed was in this small underground apartment. Books, art supplies, paper on end, movies and tv series. You name it I had it in some corner of this little hideout. \n\nI just had food delivered to me every day by the robot I named Bob, my only link to the outside world. Lately it had become more bland foods. Canned corn, canned peaches, canned you name it. Occasionally I was given a bag of rice or a box of pasta to eat for a few days. Yesterday was a glass of water. The third delivery of water in a row. So finally I have had it. \n\nSeveral days ago, I sent a letter with Robo Bob expressing my wishes to finish with the experiment. No reply. So today, when the robot opened the door, I put my foot to block it from closing. I followed the robot through a maze of halls to an enormous food pantry where he pulled up to a wall and began charging itself. First thing I did was grab a can of spaghettios. There must’ve been a glitch with my glasses of water. Scarfing it down, I debated my next plan of escape. \n\nI walked back into the hall and tried my hand at a few doors. Some opened to reveal empty and abandoned offices. One of them triggered a distant memory of an interview to join the experiment. Mars, he said. It was to test isolation to send men to Mars. “No way am I ever setting foot on Mars” I said to myself thinking back on the memory.\n\nPapers were scattered everywhere. Computers lined the walls but none of them displayed a thing. A few chairs seemed to be toppled over, but the strangest thing was the amount of dust that covered the desks. Had no one bothered to clean?\n\nI quickly left the room and opened a few more doors. It must’ve been my tenth try before I finally found a set of stairs going up. So that was exactly what I did. I walked up the stairs followed a small thin hall way to another ladder with what looked like an escape hatch. \n\nI closed my eyes and breathed in the first breath of fresh air I had in years. It smelled strange, nothing like I remembered. It smelled dirty, and rotten. My underground apartment at least had cleaner air. \n\nThe sound of a gun cocking behind me only made me more uneasy. Slowly I opened my eyes. There was a road a bit away from the facility. I forgot about it. Instead of looking lively though, cars littered the road, some with deflated tires, broken windows and open doors. What happened here?\n\nA cough sounded behind me and suddenly I forgot there was someone else here. I held my hands up and slowly turned around to lay my eyes on the first person in who knows how long. She had long red hair and piercing green eyes. Freckles covered her face and arms. The thing I noticed most was her clothing. It didn’t look clean, but worn. \n\n“Who are you?” She asked. \n\n“M-Matt?” I felt almost unsure of my own name. I hadn’t said it to anyone. I had barely even spoken. I tried to keep my mind active by talking out loud but lately it felt like it took too much energy. \n\n“Where’d you come from? Matt.” She asked. I was almost elated to hear someone speak that wasn’t a movie or cartoon. \n\n“Atlanta. I need to find my sister.” I told her. My sister would help me adapt to life outside of isolation again. \n\n“You won’t find your sister there. What are you doing here?” She said skeptical of me. \n\n“I’m just trying to get home to my sister. Where can I get a bus or a train or...”\n\n“Hold up.” The lady said. “What do you mean? There’s no buses or trains.” I looked at her confused. No buses? “What? Have you been living under a rock?”\n\n“Well technically hundreds of rocks but yes.” I corrected. “I was part of an isolation experiment.” She began to laugh. \n\n“Guys! Come out!” Suddenly a group of people appeared from behind the cars and trees. “This dude slept through the zombie apocalypse!” The crowd laughed. “Dude, your sister is probably turned.”\n\n“W-when?” I asked. \n\n“Few years back. We lost track.” Another person from the crowd spoke. \n\n“Look man. You’re free to come join us at our camp until you figure things out.” Someone else said. \n\nSuddenly I liked the isolation much better. No way was I fit to survive this. ", "The fire crackles in the woods as I tuck Ruth into her sleeping bag. She still isn't showing any signs of infection. I was worried when she found a puddle of rainwater yesterday, but she must have been telling the truth when she said she didn't touch it.\n\n\"Wait, Dad,\" Ruth whispers. \"Can I hear the story again?\"\n\nI really should check on the traps around our campsite, but this won't take long. \"All right, Roo. Way back in 2018-\"\n\n\"No! You have to start with the Iso- Isola-\"\n\n\"Okay, okay. The Isolation Experiment started way back in 2018. At the time I was having trouble getting a job, so I signed up as a participant. Maybe I was being naive, but the free food and hobbies seemed better than what my life had become. The researchers gave me a series of shots and assigned me to an underground living chamber that was basically a nice, well-furnished apartment. The sunshine was fake, but the comfort was real. Robots would deliver food and supplies to me each week. If I had any requests, I'd write them on a slip of paper.\n\n\"I wasn't allowed access to technology, so I spent most of my time reading and working out. I marked the days on a paper calendar and washed the dishes by hand. I even played board games by myself. When I read through all the books they'd given me, I requested more non-fiction as well as survival manuals. It was like the isolation was doing something to my brain. The absence of society was making me feel the need to learn how to rely on myself. The loneliness, on the other hand, I could handle easily. That wasn't anything I hadn't experienced before.\n\n\"But five years after the Isolation Experiment started, the robots stopped delivering anything. After a few weeks, I was running out of food, and the power was flickering on and off. I knew something had happened outside. I crammed a backpack full of supplies and armed myself with a kitchen knife. I forced my way through the front door and found myself in an elevator. And when I arrived at the surface, I found out that the world had ended.\"\n\n\"Because of the rain,\" Ruth whispers.\n\nI nod gravely. \"It took me a while to piece together what had happened. All I knew at first was that everyone had died around the same time. I was able to survive with my supplies and what I'd learned in the underground living chamber. Eventually, I realized it was a virus carried by the rain. I still don't know if the researchers created the Isolation Experiment to ensure the survival of humanity. But the shots I'd received had made me immune.\n\n\"I thought I was the only survivor at first. But one day, I was searching for food in a grocery store. I had a craving for a PB&J sandwich that I just couldn't shake. I was reaching for a jar of peanut butter when something made me glance up. A woman was staring at me from the end of the aisle, holding a loaf of bread and a jar of grape jelly. We could have threatened each other or run away. We could have killed each other on sight. But the coincidence of us both wanting a PB&J, on the same day, at the same time, seemed like a sign.\"\n\n\"A good sign?\" Ruth asks, as always.\n\n\"The very best,\" I say, smiling. \"Because that, Roo, is how I met your mother.\"\n\nAs Ruth drifts off to sleep, Claire glances up from the knife she's been sharpening. \"You forgot to mention the part where you couldn't decide between crying in relief and pretending your water bottle was filled with weaponized rain.\"\n\n\"I think I had a more manly response than that. Maybe I pulled out a shotgun or something?\"\n\n\"Or something,\" she says, laughing.\n\nSome days I think about the Isolation Experiment and the loneliness and the robot-delivered supplies. Some days I wonder if maybe my life wasn't better back then. But then I feel the warm sunshine on my face and look at everything I have now.\n\nAnd I know, more than anything, that it wasn't." ]	4
	[WP] Two Immortals fight each other without knowing the other one is immortal	[ "I wasn't a fan of fighting. I'd given it up long ago in favour of other pursuits. But when the other man lunged at me, drunk fists lashing out, it was easy enough to step aside and grab him in a sleeper hold. I applied pressure and waited for him to pass out.\n\nInstead, he kept hitting me. I might be immortal, but I still felt the blows, whacking into my face, slamming on my arm.\n\nWas I that out of practice? Why wasn't he passing out? I tightened my grip. He got a steadier footing, and started slamming a heel against my shin and stomping on my feet.\n\nThe pain was more than I'd let anyone deal to me, for years. Cursing, I turned and slammed his head into the metal railing.\n\nHe twisted out my grip. One hand went into his pocket and brought out an old ornate pistol. I stared at it in surprise, which unfortunately gave him plenty of time to raise it and fire-\n\n\\-fortunately, though, the bullet wouldn't kill me. It went into my chest. I felt the thud, and the pain, and a sudden spill of blood.\n\n\"You bloody drunken idiot!\" I shouted. This was my favourite shirt. I'd never find another one, I had bought it decades ago.\n\nHe stared at me in surprise. Looked at the bullet wound. Then at my angry face. He started to laugh.\n\n\"Oh, I see. You’re one of us!” He shook his head ruefully, put his pistol away. \n\nI glared at him. This? This was another immortal? He was wearing a decent suit, yes, but the sleek material was stained and dirty. His face was unshaven and he smelt like he hadn’t washed in a long while. I watched in disgust as he rubbed his dirty hand carelessly over the small cut in his head, wiping a smear of red over his forehead. “You have got to be kidding me,” I said, voice dripping acidic disdain.\n\n“What? Oh.” He smirked, shifting his thick framed glasses back into position on his nose. “Never taken a holiday amongst the homeless?”\n\n“Why the hell would I?” I snapped. I wondered how old he was. Immortality could only be passed on by another immortal who wished to finally die. I myself was into my eleventh century. I had won my eternal life in a duel with another miserable old sod, but he had been the finest swordsman I had ever encountered. Perhaps this immortal was at the end of his sanity, too.\n\n“It’s liberating, that’s why. No goddamn rules. Get drunk all day and keep your head down. See what goes on beneath the human’s eyes. See the misery of the voiceless, the powerless, the desperate. It’s entertaining, boy.”\n\nI narrowed my eyes. “Boy? Who are you calling boy. How old are you?”\n\n“Older than you.” He seemed sure of that. “I know all the old ones, and you certainly ain’t one of them. What are you, British government? Secret service? I can tell by those terrible brogues you wear, the suit you’ve chosen, the haircut, all that stuff that says you’re a smart nobody trying to blend in.”\n\nWho was he to be asking questions? “Tell me your name.”\n\nHe belched in response to that. My disgust grew. That was his game, was it? Play the boor. “Nope.”\n\nThe first immortal I had met in decades, and he was a bitter disappointment. But I’d heard tell of these old ones. They were smug. And difficult. They found it hard to give up their positions in the Network, which were no longer allocated merely on seniority. It’s true that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Change came hard to immortals. We were so brilliant at manipulating human affairs. But when it came to ourselves, our behaviour, some found it hard to remain objective, to check oneself for lack of adaptation, and some found it nigh on impossible. That was the real reason why the Network existed. The humans like to say history repeats itself, but we know the real reason is because some immortals just like to spin the same old scenarios, again and again.\n\n“What are you, outcast?” I didn’t think he was, of course. There were no outcasts anymore. Triggering monotheist religions was out, starting cults was in. I just wanted him to give me some kind of answer.\n\nA cold look entered his eyes. He straightened, still swaying slightly. “Young boy, I’ve played the game in nearly every country that currently exists. Who do you control? Pieces in Russia? Britain? Boy, I controlled entire governments. You idiots pride yourselves on creating wars, that’s easy. I have stopped more wars than you could count with hairs on your head. You’ll never get my name, because you’ll never hear of me. That’s how good I am.” The unspoken boast seemed to hang in the air. I am the Network.\n\nHe could be a Founder. Or he could be a braggart. I hesitated, wondering my next move. I had forgotten how difficult it was to speak to other immortals. Nowadays, we communicated through our pieces, our humans in politics and business and religion. And tech, but tech was the true transformation of the game and fiercely policed by the Network. \n\nHuman voices, laughter, passerbys on the street, ignoring the fairly ordinary sight of two men in suits on the streets of London. Even if one of them did look like an alcoholic.\n\nI did feel, though, something sharp inside, something I hadn’t felt for years. Curiosity. It was enlivening. I was not yet tired of the game. Had not amassed as much power as some. Had not seen everything that the world had to offer. Everything that I could do to it. But this was a true challenge. Another player. And I knew I would not be satisfied until I found his identity.\n\n“So it begins, then,” I said to him.\n\nA twitch of his mouth. Either a smile, or something else. His eyes stayed cold. The rules were unspoken, but in truth, much of the game was working out the intention of the other immortal. Find out their identity? Take their resources? Take their pieces? Crumble their lives? Build a coalition? Or maybe, truly, we were all hoping for the ultimate stake, because never then did we feel so alive. “So it does.”", "“Dude I’m about to stab you so many times Caligula is gonna be jealous.”\n“Wait what?”\n“Caligula the Roman Emperor.”\n“Yeah I know him. Why would you even reference that?”\n“I don’t know it just popped in my head.”\n“Well you wouldn’t know anything about that anyway.”\n“Wait... why wouldn’t I? It’s not like you were there.”\n“Ha. What if I was?”\n“... you weren’t.. the guy in the red hood.. no it couldn’t be!”\n“You?! You were blue hood?”\n“Yeah! Hell Yeah.. he had no idea I was there!”\n“I thought you were a Nubian slave or something that is nuts!”\n“Nah man I got hired by Arturious. He was so happy when I told him he died.”\n“No kidding? Flavious hired me. He was a prick but money is money.”\n“Did we just become best friends”\n“I think so!”\n\ncue Hall and Oats “You make my dreams come true\n\nEND SCENE" ]	2
	[WP] Prison isn't just for people who have committed crimes, if you are prepared to serve the time up-front you earn the privilege to commit a crime, or crimes equivalent to the value of the time you already served.	[ "Sir, your accounts have nearly been balanced. The time that you served last year has covered you on the 3 acts in question. However, our calculations show you have still 2 hours pre-served left to spend. The judge hates leaving such small change in the books, so if you could please use this up, we would appreciate it. \n\nOur recommendations of small crimes can be found in the attached pamphlet. For acts worth two hours of time and less, please refer to page three. Our most popular options are mooning a state officer, stealing a candy bar, or you could just slap me no..... yes ok. Thank you sir, your accounts are now balanced. Have a nice day. " ]	1
	[WP] You were hospitalized and you’re sick of crappy hospital food. Now you must sneak out of your room at the 17th floor under the noses of nurse and doctor alike to get to the food court at the 2nd floor.	[ "I awake...in my hospital bed, hungry, head fuzzy, vision blurred. \n\n“Tch. These hospital lunatics... I’ll never become one. I’m better than them. I’m better than that. Walking vegetables, muttering to themselves, mindless beings.” I whisper to myself as I’m unhooking myself from the machinery next to my hospital bed. \n\nI had been hospitalized due to various deficiencies in my blood: sugar, iron, you name it, needless to say, I have no hopes, neither does anyone else. \n\nI need help. I need something to fix me. Even more than the meds, even more than the Doctors or Nurses could offer me. I need food. Good food. Not this crappy, bland, tasteless nonsense they call food. No. Greasy, unhealthily, yummy food to fill the void deep within me as well as to distract me from the dying husk of flesh that I inevitably am.\n\nBut to get the kind of food I need, I’d have to traverse 15 floors below me without being caught and narced on by an AI. I call the doctors and nurses here AI’s because of their robotic responses, neglect, and lack of genuine care for their patients. No wonder so many people die here. Maybe if they bothered to actually review their MRI results, my grandmother wouldn’t have passed away from cancer because it was deemed that we didn’t catch it in time. \n\nCarefully crawling out of my bed, I check the room for cameras and any signs of supervision. I’m in luck. Only the more intensive care rooms have monitors or cameras. I suppose they left me here to waste my last few moments away in solitude. \n\nThe 17th floor where I reside was eerily quiet. Other than the reception desk, there were no AI’s to be seen. Which makes my life much easier. \n\nI creep along the walls using the shadows as cover. The flickering lights increased my stealth. I approach the lobby where the reception area is located. I grab a nearby bedpan off a cart and hurl it down the opposite hallway, distracting the obese receptionist who was absorbed by her cell phone. Terrified, she slowly walks towards the noise and I cleverly sneak into the elevator located down the hall, behind the desk. \n\nI smirk, impressed by how easily I fooled the AI. Now to ride this baby down to sweet tastebud Valhalla. \n\n16...15...14..13...12..DING\n\n“OH CRAP.” I actually blurt out loud. I hadn’t considered the possibility of someone using this elevator while I was aboard. \n\nI stand, frozen in fear of being returned to my coffin of a room without getting the chance of tasting something that would be life-giving. \n\nAn elderly lady with a walker hobbles into the elevator, alone. Strangely enough, I assumed a lady who appeared to need assistance walking would need an escort of some kind in order to travel through the facility. But perhaps this hellish place was above even a simple task like that. \n\n“H-hello young m-man.” She spoke with a very shaky voice but seemed polite and sweet. I didn’t respond in fear of giving away too much information. \n\n“I don’t care m-much for the f-food they bring me to my r-room. So I’ve decided to g-go get some mys-self.” She said with a grin. Her eyes had completely disappeared into her smile. \n\n“The n-name’s Mable. I’ve been at this h-hospital for 3 y-years now and I’ve made it a g-goal of mine to not l-let them kill me wi-without a fight.” Her eyes now full of determination which were even further magnified by her insanely thick glasses. I admired this stranger and decided to open up a bit. \n\n“I am also determined not to allow myself to be brought down by the hands of these so-called doctors or nurses. The treatment here is ridiculous and I won’t stand for it.” \n\nShe turned to me and grinned slightly, nodding in approval of my quest.\n\n“Then let’s do this thing.” She said with a shaky fist rising through the air.\n\n“Let’s do this thing.” I echo with affirmation. I will not let this place get to me. And I will most certainly not let this place get to this sweet lady whom they also appear to be neglecting. I will not allow this place to deny us of our one desire. \n\n11...10....9...8...DING\n\n“OH FIDDLESTICKS” I hear Mable mutter in frustration. “Stay behind me boy.” She says out of the corner of her mouth without turning around. I nod but she couldn’t see me. I stand in silence, awaiting some sort of action plan to follow up with. \n\nA middle-aged AI in pink scrubs enters the elevator with a clipboard and a glare. \n\n“Hello, Mr. Stevens. L-lovely day we’re h-having.” Mable says with authenticity. \n\n“Miss. Mable, aren’t you supposed to be in bed at this hour? And where is your escort?” He says with a raised eyebrow and uneven tone. \n\n“What do you mean? He’s behind you.” Mable slowly points at me in an E.T.-like manner. \n\nI didn’t know what to do. I was in a hospital gown that showed my bare ass if the wind blew too hard. I couldn’t pass myself as an esc-\n\nWHAM Mable falls in the floor in an act to distract the AI. \n\n“Mable! Are you alright?” The AI asks in a sarcastic tone. \n\nHe bends down to help her up and Mable begins to yell. \n\n“NOW BOY. MY WALKER. USE IT NOW.” \n\nOut of a panic, I grab her walker and bash it against the back of the AI’s head, causing a devastating blow that soon drew blood. \n\nDid that seriously just happen? What did I just do?? I thought to myself. \n\n“We gotta move, Mable. This does not look good. There will be more coming soon.” \n\nI quickly debated on continuing the elevator or taking our chances with the stairs. Stairs. With the elevator, there’s probably a hidden camera as well as a remote way to stop it and end our little excursion. I quickly dawn the scrubs and we exit onto floor 4. \n\n“Let’s go, Mable. We’re almost there. Just two more floors.” We slowly hobble and step our way to the first staircase, lucky to not have gotten stopped by anyone. \n\n“Hey, you there!” I hear a manly voice shout from the reception table. “Aren’t you supposed to be in ICU on floor 9?” \n\n“I-uh, yes! But as I was on my way, I was approached by Miss Mable here who had gotten lost and needed a quick escort.” I say with a big, fake smile. \n\n“You’re saying that escorting a lost, elderly lady is more important than dealing with a patient in ICU?” Said the doctor, foaming at the mouth at the opportunity to publicly scold me. Since when did the AI’s here ever care about priorities?\n\n“Yes. Right. I’m sorry sir, I’m not sure what I was thinking. It must be these ridiculous hours I’m working.” I say with an embarrassed laugh and facade. “I’ll be on my way now.” \n\nI start down the staircase and devise a plan. I throw Mable’s walker to the bottom of the staircase and carefully carry her the rest of the way. \n\nFloor 3. \n\n“Alright, Mable. Last floor and we’re home fr—“\n\nMable collapses in the floor behind her walker. \n\n“Mable?! Are you okay? MABLE?!” I’m frantically trying to lift her up but she’s purely dead weight, making it very difficult to hold her upright. \n\n“My dear boy, you must finish what we’ve started. Don’t let them win. Do this for all the innocent patients who have fallen victim to their benign neglect.” \n\n“Mable don’t you dare. Don’t do this to me, don’t let them win! Be strong!” I wasn’t sure if she was gone or not but either way, I wasn’t letting her stay there, so close to the finish line. I scoop her up and begin running to the final staircase. I walk down and burst through the doors to the food court. \n\nWe made it. We made it, Mable. Look! \n\nStill no reply. I could barely feel her heartbeat at this point. She was growing cold.\n\nTears filling my eyes. My voice going shaky like the endearing sound of hers once was. “M-Mable, what would you like to eat? Where would you like to go?” This was no longer about me and my plight against this place for allowing my grandmother to die. I am in between an innocent person and the process of this hellhole claiming another victim who wanted the same things as I did. \n\nI collapse to my knees with Mable in my arms, motionless. I attract unwanted attention from other patients, visitors, and AI’s alike. People rush around me as I begin to weep. \n\n“No. NO! I won’t let it end like this! You deserve better, I deserve better, WE ALL DESERVE BETTER.” \n\nI get up and start jogging with Mable still in my arms. I pass the food court and take the escalator down to the main floor. I start towards the main entrance, ignoring the inquiries for help and the yelling from AI’s to halt. I continue to pursue the entrance in hopes of giving Mable something greater than good food: a proper place to help. \n\nAs I approach the colored tiles that lead to the entrance, I feel a sharp pain in the back of my neck and then multiple more line a few spots up and down my spine. Things begin to go dark and I I fall in slow motion, uncontrollably losing my grip on Mable. \n\nI awake...in my hospital bed, hungry, head feeling fuzzy, vision blurred. \n\n“Tch. These hospital lunatics...” " ]	1
	[WP] The bad news is that the girl turned out to be part of an evil cult. The good news is that you're part of something even worse.	[ "I’ll just get it over with right at the beginning, I’m not a good girl. I’m not your girl next door. It’s true she had every reason to stalk me, to painstakingly track me down over a period of 3 weeks. I had fucked him, her boyfriend, and I had done it so thoroughly that there was no taste in his memory for anything other than me, other than my hot, slick, velvet…touch. She probably didn’t need to be as cautious as she had tried to be, but oh, how I enjoyed our little game. How it made the pulse in my neck thrill when I’d catch her out of the corner of my eye. Her clumsy attempts at surreptitious shadowing and her frantic scrabbling at scrapped bits in the rubbish bin made my blood roar in my ears. I enjoyed drawing her in so much more than sex. I had targeted her before she was born. Her specific bloodline was thrumming like music in my ears. I was intoxicated by her overwhelming emotions of revenge and desperation. I luxuriated in her perceived power over the situation. It was so obvious in everything that she did that she thought she was the one who knocked…I couldn’t wait until she knocked on my door. Hi, I’m Amayla and you’re never going to believe my story.\n\nI was hatched in a galaxy far from this one. My family’s one single mission throughout the ages was to maintain the bloodline of a single heritage brand of human. Yes, you caught that, brand. Humans are kind of like the mice of the galaxy. They are farmed in many different ways and for oh, so many uses. It can be nauseating to go to Galaxoo where the main mall dedicated to Homo Sapiens offers humans in oh so many shapes and sizes. Everything is regulated of course and there are very strict requirements for organic humans (your planet, Earth, is not an approved zone for organic). I digress, back to Lyra, the girl I had wronged and who reacted in such a predictable way. She was drawing ever closer to me as if I were reeling her in on an invisible line. Just last night she had picked the lock on my door and gotten enough courage to explore the foyer and draw a pentagram in sheep’s blood before she lost her nerve and ran away. I hadn’t been here at the time, but when I arrived home I spent a moment savoring her scent on the air, the elation, blood, fear, and anger making eau de wow. I chuckled to myself as I went downstairs to the basement to finish the transporter. Perhaps tomorrow night I thought, perhaps tomorrow I will see my homeland again. ", "\"Come on Lilith, hurry up!\"\n\nAngie pulled lightly on my arm as she tried to hurry down the alley, almost skipping\nwith excitement. We were headed to a rave she said she'd heard about from her\nnew friends at school.\n\nI ignored her and stuck to my leisurely pace, craning my neck to look at the\ntall walls surrounding us, fascinated by the junk piled on the fire escapes. It\nwas like a new world to me. I'd moved to the city just a few months ago and\nhadn't really taken it in yet.\n\nIt was a new experience for Angie, too, though she wouldn't want to admit it.\nUntil a few weeks ago she'd been one of the shy and unpopular kids. She ate\nlunch alone, or with the other quiet kids and the new girl from out of town\n(that's me). Her evenings were spent at home with Netflix and a bag of Doritos,\nnot hanging out with the cool girls and going to underground parties.\n\nBut something had triggered a transformation, and now she was one of the popular\ncrowd. She'd already got together with the hottest guy in the school and dumped\nhim for another guy a week later. She looked like she'd lost weight, too,\nalthough maybe that was just the confidence showing. I wasn't sure what had\nhappened, but whatever it was I figured she wasn't going to remember the sad\nlittle pack she'd left behind.\n\nBut today at lunch she'd come over to where I was eating alone and invited me to\nthis rave. I'd never been to one--like I said, I was the new girl in town, and I\nreally hadn't tried very hard to connect with the social scene--but it sounded\ninteresting so I agreed, and here we were.\n\nWe'd stopped at an unremarkable door next to an open dumpster. Angie was doing\nsome kind of complicated knock on the door while I peered into the dumpster.\nSomeone near here really liked pizza and take-out Chinese food, apparently.\nAngie made a face at me, and I gave up on my dumpster investigation to join her by the door as\nit swung open.\n\nIt was very dark inside, but I have good night vision and I could see that the\nguy who opened the door was wearing a long, dark red robe. Were we supposed to\ndress up for this? Oh well, too late now. He turned without speaking, and the\nthree of us went down a hallway into a room lit by candlelight.\n\nI didn't know exactly what raves were supposed to look like, but I was sure it wasn't this.\nThere were about twenty more people in robes,\nmen and women, standing in a wide circle around a heavy steel plate in the\ncenter of the room. As we came in, someone held out a robe to Angie and she slid\nit on; then four of the robed people gestured me toward the steel plate. When I\ndidn't move, two of them quickly grabbed my legs and picked me up; the other two\ncaught my arms as I fell backwards. It was all very quiet and efficient, so I\ncould hear Angie as she started talking. She sounded less like the extrovert I'd come\nhere with, and more like the shy girl she'd been before.\n\n\"I'm sorry about this, Lily, really I am, but she's already kept her end of the\ndeal and now I have to keep mine.\" The four robed figures set me down on the\nplate and tied me by the wrists and ankles to four hooks at the corners. I guess most people would have\nstruggled and tried to escape, but I didn't move at all. Angie was still\ntalking.\n\n\"I just couldn't stand being the loser any more, you know? And I found out\nthat she could fix that, if I brought her sacrifices.\" Her voice was plaintive.\n\"I'm sorry it was you, I know you were never mean to me, but you're new here and\nhardly anybody knows you and sorry, but it just wouldn't be as much fuss if\nyou're the one who disappeared, you know?\"\n\n\"Sacrifice for who?\", I asked, as my captors backed away and Angie approached.\n\nShe stood over me holding a knife. It was a good chef's knife, not the eldrich\ndagger I'd half-expected. She smiled at me. It looked genuine. \"Naamah,\" Angie\nwhispered, closing her eyes and seeming to savor the name. \"She's so beautiful,\nand she can make me beautiful too, if I pay the price.\"\n\nIt took me a moment to register what she'd said, during which Angie knelt down and\nsliced deeply across my throat. It was a very good chef's knife.\n\nThen her words sunk in and suddenly I couldn't take it. I cracked up.\nAngie's eyes opened wide and she backed up as I giggled and snorted. The ropes\naround my ankles and wrists burst into flame as I rolled over and stood up,\nstill laughing at the joke. Angie's eyes were on my throat, which she had cut almost in\nhalf. I reached up to touch it and my neck was whole. \"Sorry,\" I said. \"That's\nnot going to work.\"\n\nI looked down at the floor. \"Naamah!\" I yelled, \"get your sorry ass up here.\"\n\nThe candles abruptly went out, then lit again a moment later to reveal Naamah\nstanding in front of me with a shit-eating grin on her face. Angie and the other\ncultists started backing away with horrified expressions. I'd bet a soul she\nhadn't shown them her true appearance before, with her empty eye sockets and\nholes in her face revealing her mouthful of sharklike teeth.\n\n\"Hi Lil!\" she cackled. \"Got you!\"\n\nI rolled my eyes. \"Yes, you got me. Very funny.\" I looked around. A few of the cultists were\nchanting something and kneeling with their foreheads on the ground; the rest,\nincluding Angie, were edging toward the door. \"An actual demon worshipping cult? Really?\" I shook my head, then sealed the door shut with a gesture and made the candle flames billow out to ignite the walls and floors. In\nmoments the room was an inferno, and the two of us watched the cultists scream until their flesh blackened and they couldn't scream any more. Then the burnt walls started\nto collapse, crumbling away to nothing, revealing not the city we'd been in but an\nendless plain of rough black stone, marked here and there with jagged iron\ntowers reaching up to the smoky sky.\n\nI sighed. \"I hate this place. Couldn't you let me stay up there a while longer?\nIt was peaceful.\"\n\n\"No rest for the wicked,\" Naamah chided. \"And we are so very wicked, my dear\nsister. Besides, it's my turn to go!\"\n\nShe went over to one of the still-writhing bodies and pulled it up by the\narms, then slapped away the blackened flakes to reveal Angie's face. New skin\nwas already regenerating underneath. The nerves always grow back first, so that\nwould hurt like hell. Angie's mouth was moving but she couldn't talk yet. Naamah\nput an arm around her. \"Come on, sweetie! I do keep my bargains. Time to go be beautiful and\npopular.\" She tried to wink, though couldn't really pull it off with her empty\neye sockets. Then a cloud of soot swirled up from the ground and surrounded them,\nand when it was gone they were too.\n\nI sighed and started walking back to my tower, leaving the cultists to\ndiscover hell on their own. I had a prank to plan, and topping this one would be hard.\n", "“Really though. You can’t take this personally.”\n \nI struggled against the thick ropes that bound me, more than one cord digging deep into my skin. Madeline was much stronger than her slight frame implied. The knots were painfully tight.\n \n“Are you listening?”\n \nSwift steps brought her forward, and in a moment she was rearing over me. Madeline, the woman of my dreams. Madeline, the proverbial girl-next-door, and the only one to have ever possessed my heart. Standing barely tall enough to ride a rollercoaster with all the muscle mass of a house of cards, she was not the sort of girl who could intimidate anyone.\n \nBut tonight, tied firmly to a chair, my eyes fixed on the gleaming steel of the knife held loosely in her right hand – that fact was an easy one to forget.\n \n“Come on, Roger.” She said, almost sweetly, “If you look at me with those puppy-dog eyes, you’re gonna make this harder than it really has to be. Like I said, it isn’t personal.”\n \n“It feels personal.” I declared, straining against my bonds once again. They were unmoved. As was Madeline.\n \n“Its about to feel a whole lot worse.”\n \nShe brandished the blade, pale starlight glimmering along its edge in the shadowed chamber. I wasn’t even sure where we were – some warehouse, it looked like. Dozens of indiscriminate shelves filled my field of vision, and the concrete felt cold beneath my bare feet. Above, a skylight granted me a clear view of the evening sky. It was comforting. Calming.\n \nAnd a very bad sign.\n \n“You need to let me go, Maddy.”\n \nShe chuckled, and there was nothing sweet about it.\n \n“Let you go? But why? The fun bit hasn’t even started.” Her brown eyes gleamed. “Do you want to know what we’re going to do to you?”\n \n“Nothing,” I growled. “This isn’t going to go how you expect.”\n \n“First, we’re going to bleed you.” She pressed on as if she hadn’t heard. “Not too much, just enough to get a taste. Then comes the carving. And the maiming. And the screaming – that part’s yours. Baal likes his sacrifices well-flavored. And nothing seasons meat quite like fear.” \n \nA swift wind scattered clouds above, baring yet more stars which shone their light upon the woman I had admired for half my life. Even now, I could picture her in my mind’s eye. Her smile. Her lips. The shape of her jaw. The line of her throat…\n \n“Roger.” She was almost petulant. “You’re not even listening to me.”\n\n“How long before your friends get here?” I asked through grit teeth.\n \n“Soon enough. Got some place to be?”\n \n“I need to get out of here, Maddy. For both our sakes. There’s still time --”\n \n“You’re not going anywhere, Roger. Pretty sure you’re the guest of honour.”\n \nSlowly, surely, as inevitable as dawn, the moon slid into view above us. I could feel it. Taste it. It was iron on the tongue. I shivered, and it most certainly wasn’t from the cold.\n \n“Maddy—“\n \n“Roger.” She was angry now, I could hear it. Between the pounding in my ears, and the thrumming cord that sang from my heart to the pale, distant moon. I groaned, and pulled against my bonds, desperate and needy, hoping against hope. They strained, this time, but it was hardly a relief. I was getting stronger. The moment I could snap those cords, was the moment Madeline would need them most.\n \n“Its too late.” I breathed. Speaking was hard now, so hard. My jaw ached, and though I fought it, there was no fighting, no hope of control. A droplet has no command over the current. A spark no dominion over the flame. Something in me stirred, and I turned my mind away from it. There are some horrors no man wishes to know.\n \n“Maddy, please.” Begging now. “Maddy please, you need to run. Let the others find me, let them do whatever – just go. Please. Now.”\n \n“Not a chance. I’m not going anywhere. Do you have any idea how important tonight is? A full moon, and on the Winter’s Solstice – the odds are astronomical. The veil is thin tonight, and if I come through on this, they’ll raise me, I know it. The youngest ever. Can you believe that? And mother said I’d never be anybody.”\n \nI tried to speak, but no words came. The moon was above us, drawing further and further into view, and as I raised my head to look, it loomed large in my vision. Where once there was sky and stars and night there was now only white, only the white – and I howled, in love and loss and need, as ropes snapped like twine around my limbs.\n \n“What--?” Said the human, taking a half step away. Blood I could smell, coursing hot in its veins. I lurched toward it, and the prey-beast stumbled back. \n \n“Roger?” It asked, and I snarled at the affront. Wolves have no names. Wolves have no bonds.\n \nWolves only hunger.\n\n---\n\nWow, thank you everyone for your amazing words and support! Glad you all enjoyed it. I'm currently trying to improve my writing so I can realize my dream of starting a web serial, so I didn't really have plans to continue this, but if I get a chance this weekend I will! I don't have a sub or anything, so expect a DM if I do." ]	3
Inspired by a post by u/AccioSexLife on an AskReddit post.	[WP] A high-ranking general has stubbed his toe on a chair, and humanity has declared war on furniture. Thing is, the furniture seems to be... fighting back.	[ "My eyes shot open. What was that? Something had made a loud noise downstairs. It was still dark out. Slivers of light streamed through the boards on my window from the sickly glow of the moon outside. I pulled myself off the concrete floor and felt around for my revolver. Although the Peace Of Furniture had officially ended four months ago, not everyone was happy with the negotiations made, so it was still a dangerous time. I felt it’s cool handle against my trembling skin and picked it up. I could hear the creaking of steps. Whatever was out there was making it’s way up! I pointed my gun towards my closed door. I needed something to barricade it with. I quickly glanced around my barren room. Nothing but wallpaper. Oh right. I heard the intruder take it’s last step. There was silence for a few seconds, only my muted breaths to fill my frantic thoughts. I hadn’t been attacked by furniture ever since the great awakening. I looked down at the scar that stretched across my arm. I winced as if the memory were still fresh in my mind. The silence was replaced with an ear piercing roar of wood against wood. I flinched when I heard the familiar sound.\n\nSo this is how it’s going to end, huh. After all that I’ve been though. Ever since the start, I had tried to come up with a compromise. I was the head of every negotiation between man a wood. For five years I defended the furniture, even when my own people tried to turn against me. I was blamed for the war, outcasted by society, and tortured for betrayal. The worst of man came out in these desperate times, but I kept to my beliefs. In the end, I singlehandedly managed to convince two completely different parties to understand each other, but I guess that’s not good enough, cause now theres something out there trying to kill me.\n\nI was determined now to fight my way through whatever was out there. Finger on trigger, I kicked open the door ready to unload it into whatever stood on the other side.\n\n“What the—“\n\nInstead of a large mahogany, double hinged, industrial wardrobe, A small wooden stool with a missing leg leaned against a wall. I smiled. On it, was a note, which looked as if were scribbled on with crayon by a five year old. It had two words.\n\n‘thank you’\n\n\\------------------------------------\n\nYeah. I don’t know what I’m writing. It’s late. I’m tired. Bye" ]	1
	[WP] A genie grants a man's wish for eternal youth and to be cared for by beautiful women. The genie has a disdain for mortals and saw a loophole to grant the wishes in a way, so the man can't make his third wish. Told from the perspective of the genie.	[ "Disgusting. Absolutely and utterly disgusting. This fool thought he could get all his hearts desires from me just because we have to grant three wishes to mortals. Whichever God decided that would be a good rule to impose on us after the Djinn wars was a sadistic God patron only to bastards and ne'erdowells. Luckily they left this handy little trick, a trick perfected by the worst human parasites known as lawyers, for us: a scrupulous eye for loopholes.\n\nNow this \"gentleman\" will pay the price for his hubris. He wished for care by beautiful women. Such a base and selfish wish for a \"philanthropist\" of his reputation. Well he never specified who they had to be beautiful to. I'm sure he'll be pleasantly surprised by who comes knocking at his door tomorrow. Maybe he'll even learn to judge less from this.\n\nThen there was his wish for eternal youth. So much could have been done with this. I could have kept his soul young, or maybe his left buttock, as he never specific how he wanted eternal youth. Instead I thought of a more devious solution. One which will torture him much more than he bargained for. I granted him his youth and an unlimited life span.\n\nNow this is where that eye for detail comes in. He will outlive everyone he cares for. He will see his country whither and die. He will never achieve the respect due his age. He will never make another wish again. The code by which we were bound states we can only grant mortals wishes. Seeing as he is, now, for all intents and purposes immortal, I no longer have to grant his final wish. Ah how he'll rage next time he comes rubbing on my home.\n\nBut there's one final piece of icing on the cake: he can still die. Eternal youth does not mean immunity from harm or disease. Some day, maybe far from now after he has suffered, he will likely find himself deathly ill or, if the Gods have any sense of justice, impaled upon a spear! I do so hope I'm around to see that... provided the conclave don't see fit to impeach me for \"bending\" the immortality rule." ]	1
	[WP] You are a super villain with a deceptively powerful ability, you remove can remove a superheroes invulnerability to the backlash of their abilities.	[ "Some would argue that I wasn't blessed with an \"awesome\" power like the rest of these clowns. Super strength? Nope. Incredible speed? No. Laser vision and telekinesis. No and No. But its not like I actually wanted abilities like that. Especially since I can make those powers the ultimate trump card.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nArgonaut was a talented warrior. Naming himself after the legends of Greek mythology who ventured in search of the golden fleece. Strong, athletic and one of the most annoying people I've ever fought. He certainly stretched the distance with that costume too which was my issue. Looking exactly like an argonaut but way to flashy for his own ego.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"So are you going to drop the cash and come quietly Backlash? Or do is it going to be a Greek Tragedy today?\" I held the duffle bag behind my back and just groaned at that comment.\n\n\"I won't bother making a comeback at that. And its 'Purge' you moron. Backlash is the soundwave villain over in Washington.\" I swore back. Argonaut laughed in a pompous fashion and I my eyes rolled around.\n\n\"In any case you'll be an easy target without a doubt. News has gotten around that you're more of a petty thief than a super-villain. I like to challenge myself as my great ancestors did! Challenges that etch my name in the annals of legend and time!\" Full of himself. Just the kind I love to bring down. \"So lets get this over with huh? Easy or hard way?\" I tossed the duffle to the side and straightened out my coat. \"Alright! Have at you!\"\n\nArgo reached for a motorbike and with a heave, launched it over the long lengths away. A scare tactic in truth, easily avoidable. Side-stepping away with ease, the bike was crushed and skid across the asphalt. Onlookers were cheering from the shops.\n\n\"For a descendant of legends you don't seem to live up to their name. So I assume the mighty Greek strength is just a metaphor then?\"\n\n\"Let me show you up close.\" He planted him feet firmly into the ground, embedding them several inches deep. Squatting down he built up the vigor and propelled himself a hundred feet up.\n\n\"Oh man... he fell for it so hard.\" Argonaut came back down with a mighty warcry. About halfway down, a pulse emitted from my eyes with a golden aura, turning my vision blurry for a split second. Jumping backward I let Argonaut hit the ground as a great tremor webbed the length of the street. People roared for the hero: ARGO! ARGO! ARGO! The force was enough to knock me back, but it was far worse for the man in the costume.\n\nDust and debris settled and the cheers began to die down after Argonaut never stood up from the heroic landing pose that all these idiots make when showing off. In the impact crater laid Argonaut, with his body mangled and twisted of broken bones and shattered spirit. Now it was my turn to gloat.\n\nArgonaut spat out cup fulls of blood, trying to move his arms which are porcupined with compound fractures. Splinters of his forearms' bones stuck out like needles on a pin cushion. Trying to grip the ground only meant pain for him.\n\n\"Oh how the mighty have... fallen.\" I released a haughty chuckle. \"Couldn't help it.\" The smile faded to an expression of annoyance as before. Argonaut looked up at me as the injuries have taken him into shock.\n\n\"Wha-what- how did- I can't. I can't.\"\n\n\"Move? No shit, Sherlock. Landing with that kind of speed will do that to you.\"\n\n\"But I'm... mighty! An warrior! I can lift boulders as if pebbles! Run at the pace of Hermes!\" He exclaimed through tears in his eyes.\n\n\"Well you aren't and you still can. Just no with all that.\" Gesturing to his arms while reaching into my coat's pocket. \"What you just experienced was a... 'Backlash' of your powers. Your body could move and perform at godlike levels without any strain on yourself. That was...\" From the coat I brandished a handgun. \"until I made you vulnerable. Hubris.\"\n\n\"What!?\" Argo screamed. The pistol aiming at his head.\n\n\"Hubris. Its a Greek term. It means one with an excessive amount of pride that causes their own demise.\" The weapon cocked. Argo's tears were flowing into a puddle. A young boy yelled from the sidelines, 'Get up Argonaut! GET UP!'\n\n\"My name is Purge.\" Another pulse as I starred down at this pathetic 'hero'. \"And I make every hero their own Achilles heel.\"\n\n\\BANG BANG BANG BANG\\**" ]	1
This prompt was inspired from a post made by [u/Turbo-Nut] (https://www.reddit.com/r/ElderScrolls/comments/9vf9xb/todd_youve_done_it_again/?st=JOA49ER2&sh=1a98eae3)	[WP] When you die, you will be reincarnated as a random character in a piece of media. (TV show, Movie, Video Game.) This can be a set character like Jon Snow, or it can be a self created character like that in an open-world RPG. However, you are fully aware of what character you inhabit.	[ "I never knew if there was an afterlife. I also wasn't sure if this is more of a hell or a heaven. I can say that I expected either of them. What I did not expect was waking up clothed in rags, being transported in a wooden cart on a bumpy road. Then the realisation hit me. I'm in Skyrim. All is as if playing regular Skyrim except there is no menu button, and no subtitles. It could be worse, I think as I cross Helgen gate. I could've ended up in hell,I think as they unload us. I wonder if I'll get to create a character, I wonder as Lokir makes a run for it. And sure enough when I face the imperials and they ask me who I am, a character menu pops up. Strange, but I go along with it. I create my usual character and name it. All goes as expected, and then it hits me when the dragon arrives. Its flames are very much real, and they feel like it, too. When I look at my hand, I can see it's grazed and blistered. Well, it could be worse, I think as I make a run for the tower. Then another unpleasant reality hits me. Unlike in regular Skyrim, a 2 meter drop breaks your leg if you land the wrong way. So as I finally limp to the Helgen keep, burned and with a broken leg, another thing finally hits me. There is no quicksave option. I try to grab a sword with my healthy hand, but it's heavier than I thought and immidiately falls to the ground. I fit myself in less than comfortable leather armor and grab the sword with two hands. Then the first confrontation with Stormcloaks begins and I realise that again, unlike in regular Skyrim where you can survive a hit to the head, in this version battleaxes mess you up big time. As I fall to the ground in pool of my own blood, I wonder what will happen next. As I black out and wake up in a wooden cart on a bumpy road, I realise it. This is my own personal hell. I let out a scream as I am again presented with the beginning dialogue." ]	1
	[WP] Humanity is feared throughout the universe, not because they are the strongest, smartest, etc, but because they are the only sentient beings that are biological.	[ "\"Then... How did you all come to be?\"\n\nThe air in the room was uneasy. A lone diplomat sat amongst numerous robotic creatures, each showing no emotion. Their cold stares gave no ground in the game of politics, but each were scared to their core at the human who sat in front of them. No external plating, no sensors in the rear, and no visible weapons for defence, aside from the weapons in the guard's arms. The council was nervous. Unsure as to what these biological creatures were capable of.\n\n\"Our origins have been lost to time. However, most of our brethren do not come from our home world. Many of us were found in scattered pockets of this universe, great distances apart.\"\n\nThe human made a face. The council was unsure as to what this meant. Possibly a malfunction? Perhaps the humans were not perfectly designed as they were. Each part designed to be redundant, able to pick up where another failed. But these humans seemed to have no such feature. No such survivability. How could they have made their way to the point they are at and still survive in the cold of space? Organic life had no place in the vaccuum.\n\n\"So you're saying your creators are... a mystery?\"\n\nA hush fell over the council, not a single android dared move, before the head spoke once more.\n\n\"The great ones are of no mystery. We know of them and their previous civilization.\"\n\nA lie. The androids had no idea where they came from, or what happened to those who came before them. But the human had no way of knowing this. Upon discovery of their race terraforming their solar system, the android council was swift to send an envoy, decrypt their method of communication, and offer a meeting with the council. They determined that should the humans initiate first contact, their ability to wage war would be 40% less likely to succeed.\n\n\"Right. So the terms of this meeting. The UNSC wishes for our home galaxy to be left alone. In return, we will leave all galaxies currently occupied by your kind untouched by our ships.\"\n\nMore cold stares. But behind this facade of emotionless, the androids were furious. How could this human, a clearly inferior being, make such demands? Galaxy EI-44298465, or the Milky Way as the humans called it, was one of the galaxies created soon after the Big Bang, making it rich in the heavy elements the androids desired.\n\n\"We deny these terms and substitute our own, more reasonable, terms. The death of any biological being who stands in our way, and total conquest of your Milky Way.\"\n\nThe androids had made this decision out of fear, not desire. They did not understand the humans, nor did they wish to see what they were fully capable of. The simplest solution was to eliminate most, and capture some for experimentation and development of weaponry geared specifically for biological, sentient threats. The androids had never had to defend themselves against organic life, and they must learn how.\n\n\"Well the UNSC wont be happy to hear that.\"\n\n\"Your UNSC will not hear of this. They will see it. Once our warships enter their space, it shall be the final diplomatic action that will be taken before war is announced to the people of your homeworld. Now, terminate them.\"\n\nThe lights in the room dimmed quickly, before returning to full brightness. After the dimming, the human diplomat noticed the hair on his arms standing up, and his watch had stopped moving. He chuckled as the androids sat and questioned what had went wrong. The EMP should have killed them. Preliminary scans revealed the humans were controlled by electricity, much like themselves. Why hadn't they died?\n\nThe diplomat made a single motion, and the guards raised their weapons and opened fire upon the androids. The Kinetic rounds slamming into the metal chassis, sending sparks flying. One by one, the androids powered down, until it was just the head android left. His body broken, and circuits exposed. The diplomat walked over, and bent down to the android dying on the floor, before saying\n\n\"You've never encountered biological life because your predecessors wiped it out. We've made those like you, and they tried to rebel. We won. And we will win again.\"\n\nA single shot echoed around the room, followed by hustled boots in the direction of the hangar." ]	1
	[WP] You're a modern day vampire. Unable to kill you, some hunters managed to trap and bury you in a coffin. You slip into a deep sleep. You get woken up by the coffin opening and quickly discover that it's been ten thousand years.	[ " \n\nThe musk of damp soil and machinery thick and as heavy as gaseous fog permeated around the coffin . Yet, further beyond, the sweet smell of blood was unignorably thick. Nerve pinching headaches, bone crushing involuntary muscle contractions, rapid breathing and vertigo . His torment was unbearable, but his growing thirst for blood was even greater.\n\nMaddening screams from relentless and tourtous agony came from below the cemetery. A young gothic couple, dressed in all black, there skin a canvas of demonic art and other unworldly graphic designs heard these chilling, blood curling screams. Both quickly pulled their pants up and frantically looked over the cemetery for where these gut wrenching scream came. Unable to locate the source, hand in hand they bolted careful to stay out of the lights to the exit as quietly as they could.\n\nAs if a bow constrictor was tightening around its prey, the pressure around his bones began mounting. From seemingly unremitting contractions, the vampire bones began splintering loudly like wood being split over a chopping block. But onnly his screams of agony could be heard throughout the cemetery.\n\nConvulsing, burning of blue hot fire, wheezing heavily, the smell of blood grew thicker by the minute and so to his insatiable desire feed. Clawing, tearing, and ripping, white heat was culminating within the coffin as old bone was being shed like snake’s skin and replaced with newer stronger reinforced bone. The rock slab blocking the coffin began to tremble as waves of blue and white flame danced out between the cracks. The slap opened and fell to the mud with a thud. Digging, and climbing through cold wet soil, the vampire made his way above ground and sped swiftly and unerringly in the direction of the gothic couple dressed in black.\n\n“Oh god, wha. What the fuck is that? What the fuck do you want. Who WHO?.” Frantically demanded the male standing in front of the vampire. \n\n“Leave us Alone!” Interrupted the girl in a trembling but threatening voice.\n\nThe vampire stood in molded rags and motionless. His skin was pale and dry like mud cracks. His obsidian pupils, sunken into their cavities, then stiffly stretched his arms back behind his head let out a painful yawn as two hypodermic fangs extended from his pale pink gums. His skin appeared dead, but his thick bone structure screamed life.\n\n“Youuu. You some kinda crazy person?” \n\nAdjusting his ears as if not yet familiar with sound or speech, the vampire slightly tilting his thinly haired head toward the boy and observes tattoos that moved over his skin like that a of a film. Cyclical Images of demons flapping their wings, skulls who’s had flames that flickered and even sparked in their sockets fastened around the demons neck. Above the demon was a vampire repeatedly feeding on a young women and then looking up revealing dark plasma green eyes that steamed from their sockets.", "Something was off. Perched beside the gargoyle atop the church, visually, everything was in place. People were bustling along the street, screaming \"wooo\" into their smartphones as they hopped from one bar to anothe , the putrid smell of the dead meat on pizza and burgers wafted through the air into Glenys' face, and in the vicinity a small commotion was taking place as another drunk vegan screamed about the moral decay in his society. It didn't feel like any time had passed, but something was off.\n\nGlenys' couldn't quite put her finger on it, but these humans didn't smell like they used to. She was getting hungry though and her first meal after seeing moonlight again hadn't been quite to her taste. They didn't taste the same anymore either. \"Whatever, blood is blood\" she thought to herself as she dropped down to street level in a dark alley.\n\nHer senses were keen and she kept her wits about her, lest those pesky hunters show up again. \nAt a leisurely pace, the vampire strolled out from the alley.\n\nNot only had the wait seemed really long, but that had been the first time anybody had caught her. Ever. Years of honing her skills as a silent killer and she didn't even know how they had gotten the drop on her. It was disconcerting to say the least.\n\nPrey was easiest to hunt in an inebriated state. Glenys dropped into the shadiest and loudest bar she could find. Here, screening the insufficiently lit room, participants (possibly even willing) were always to be found. Just as the thought popped up, she noticed a woman staring intently at her. It quickly became clear as Glenys' sauntered closer, that this wasn't a look of disgust. The smell of pheromones emanating from her would've attracted a herd of wildebeast to this woman. An intense desire washed over Glenys. Caution was advised.\n\n3 shots of a dark red liquid, that tasted like fermented bark, later and some cajoling, the two were in a bathroom stall orally exchanging fluids. The taste of those \"lakrids vodka\" shots still very much present. \"Go ahead, bite me!\" whispered the dark haired woman into Glenys's ear, as the music thumped against the walls and drowned out any other noise the two made. \"Ah, one of these humans\" Glenys thought to herself as she smiled.\n\nA hiss of pleasure and pain escaped the human as Glenys' teeth pierced the skin on lady's neck to transport the vampire into a world of bliss. Her eyes closed and the music faded to be replaced by a spiking heartbeat and a human yet foreign taste - a marvelous taste. Sucking deeply, memory flashes came to her mixed with those that weren't her own. Glenys's eyes snapped open.\n\nEpigenic literacy through blood consumption was a talent gained after at least a thousand years as a vampire. Glenys was only 96, but that wasn't the major thing bugging her. This human had seen what looked like the future. But there had been more than just what her eyes had seen. A wave of euphoria and pride had filled this human during the moment she had experienced. It had been very, very real.\n\nUnable to contain her stupefaction and bewilderment, she pulled away from the human and stuttered \"D-D-Dyson sphere?\"\n\n--------------\n\nFeedback welcome" ]	2
	[WP] At the End of Time, as the Void closes fast on the remainder of the Universe, you are sitting on a park bench on some planet. In the final moments of the Universe, as you look at your watch the clock freezes, and then starts beating backwards and you smile before Oblivion.	[ "you know, you can never prepare for some things\n\nsure, you can make your last moments comfortable\n\nbut is anyone truly ready for when the void approaches unrelenting?\n\nno, it’s impossible. but these moments of solace are what we thrive on\n\nand live on\n\nand survive on.\n\ni am sitting on a park bench in the place i’ve called home my whole life\n\nit’s cold\n\nbut oddly comforting.\n\nthe very fabric of reality is unraveling before my own eyes\n\nstrings of worlds i never would have seen are flying about the sky\n\nthe sun is dimming now. it sets in tandem with time, as the end approaches.\n\nit’s strange, you know\n\nwe don’t cherish what few moments we have until we’ve reached our time\n\nbut it’s also beautiful.\n\nso, so, beautiful.\n\ni can see the cosmos parting and ripping apart, out of my line of sight. all that has ever happened is flashing in front of me at once.\n\nthen it all disappears.\n\ni am a lone observer now.\n\neverything is going dark, and i look at my watch.\n\nthe hands of time are slowing down.\n\nand in these final moments, i smile for all that we’ve done. we made it to the end, and that’s all we could have done. we managed to not destroy ourselves, and expanded to the stars in our most dire of hours. perhaps it is all meaningless, since the end was inevitable. yet we created our own meaning in defiance of the absurdity of this universe, much in the fashion of sisyphus. we persevered in the search for that meaning.\n\nand as i recount days of old for what feels like an eternity, i glance at my watch, and find that\n\nthe hands of time have frozen.\n\neverything around me is now dark, and i smile one final time.\n\nas my vision fades out, i see my watch, the seconds hand twitching and jittering about.\n\nand finally, it jerks backwards. everything is now being rewinded, only to start anew yet again.\n\nyou know,\n\nyou can never prepare for some things.", "Most would call my life ordinary or even mundane. The thing about knowing that you will be alive for the end of time as we know it makes it more than extraordinary. \nScientists have observed entropy happening for billions of years, and the sad, or at best bittersweet fact is that there is nothing we or any other being can do about it. So instead, we sit back and let it happen. \nHumanity has moved from earth, thousands of generations ago. We've cured every disease we've known, and eradicated poverty and war and hunger. But there is nothing we can do to stop the flow of, or in this case, end of time. \nSirens blare, but not the classic klaxons of days past, we are not afraid of the end. The birds sing and the wind blows, it's cold out today. As the universe dies, so does the concept of time. It becomes compressed and the minutes feel like hours. I've only been alive for 25 years, but to you it would seem a lifetime. \nI look at my watch, the seconds hand struggles to move forward, as if it's not sure to count up or down. I lean back and look up at the sky, the void is closing in fast and what a privilege to see it happen.\nA leaf falls from a nearby tree, it floats down, orange as the sunsets of old earth. Gravity pulls it down, as hard as it can but even this little leaf is difficult. The leaf floats mere inches off the ground and stops. \nI check my watch, the seconds hand is frozen in place. Struggling as hard as ever to move on to the next number but it is futile and soon it ticks counterclockwise. The leaf floats back up to the tree, the birds and sirens a garbled mess of sound. \nAs the laws of physics break down and the void closes in even closer I look at that little leaf, floating back up to its rightful spot on the branch and all I can see is perfection. \nA smile crosses my lips as the void envelops the leaf, my favorite park bench and me along with it. " ]	2
	[WP] "Stay out of Natural Light; the brightness invites death. Stay in the shadows; for the darkness is our guardian now." Dawn's approaching fast and shelter is still a long way away.	[ "If there was a God, and assuming that he survived the Massacre at Mt. Helena, it was only fair what was happening to us. Deserved? Questionable. Fair? You bet your ass it was. \n\nWe stood under the last lights of the distant moon, cool and relaxing, and watched the horizon with ghostly eyes. Eyes that only eight hours before were the color of the deep ocean, full of life and wonder, now reduced to something akin to a skin disease on the face. It was true. Dawn was here. \n\nI turned around to see the faces of my companions, pale and bewildered, all of them thinking the same thing - \"Goddamn it, Henry.\"\n\nHenry was the shortest one on the far right and our designated time-keeper for the night. All he had was one job. One simple job. The easiest of jobs. While the rest of us kept our eyes on the ground scavenging for food and watching out for anything wild with teeth, all Henry had to do was keep his eye on the clock and let us know when it was time to get home. If he had done it right, we should be near the Ridges of Mordon now. If he had even done it remotely well, we should have been crossing the Thebis. If he had fucked up, we should at least be racing on horses a hundred yards or more ahead, blaming Henry. He had gone further, and now here we were awaiting a certain death, and worse, light. \n\n\"Uh, we should get going,\" Henry's squeaky voice let itself be heard. \n\n\"And? There is nothing to do, boy,\" Isin and all 6 feet and 7 inches of him glowered in his general direction, afraid of what he would do to him if he acknowledged the man behind the voice. \n\n\"We should hide,\" I chipped in. I liked Henry. Of course, we had to kill him when he got back to base, but I wanted to help him one last time. \n\nEven in the darkness, I could see Isin shake his enormous head. \n\n\"We won't get anywhere.\"\n\n\"What do you think we should do?\" I grinned to myself, because it was Erytria speaking. If Henry hadn't screwed up, Erytria and I would be celebrating our first anniversary in two years. Oh well. At least I had her voice to give me company. \n\nAnother shake of the head from Isin. He liked shaking his head and watching the effect it had on people. \n\n\"I don't know. Fighting will only make it worse.\"\n\n\"I am not surrendering,\" Erytria's voice cut against the incoming light. \n\n\"You have no choice,\" Isin said, and put down his sword. He unbuckled the belt on his pants, and dropped the shield that was tied at his back. He ran a hand through his unruly hair and looked at me. \n\n\"Do as I do,\" he said, and fell to the ground. He propped himself up on one knee, and let the other kiss the coarse sand. He bowed his head as far as it would go, and grunted. We knew what his grunt meant. \n\nMy eyes darted over to her, just as she locked eyes with me. I nodded. She shook her head vehemently. \n\n\"Come on. It can't hurt,\" I said and did what Isin did. From the corner of my eyes, I could see that she had done it, the look of disgust in her face never changing. \n\nLike that, we lay suspended in the final moments of the dark.... when suddenly, the light took over. I did not realise it back then, but it was the first time I was looking at the light. I could feel the skin on my hands burning up, my eyelids struggling against the brightness, my ears adjusting to this new sensation as wave after wave of light washed over us. White and blue and red and green and yellow and white again. \n\nI wanted to see what was happening to the others, but I couldn't move. Words rushed to the edge of my lips, but I couldn't make sounds anymore. I must have breathed, but I am not sure. Dawn was here and shelter was a long way away and I did not know what to do. \n\nAnd then, everything stopped. \n\nThings did not slow down. Things did not run out of steam. They just stopped. One minute the light was there, and another it was not. Still dazed, I stood up. I stood up to see the three of my companions still kneeling. \n\n\"You\" Henry spoke out.\n\n\"Shouldn't\" Erytria joined in.\n\n\"Have\" Isin's gruff voice.\n\n\"Gotten\"\n\n\"Up.\"\n\n\"Kneel\"\n\n\"Once\"\n\n\"More\"\n\n\"Unless\"\n\n\"You\"\n\n\"Anger\"\n\n\"Azul.\"\n\n\"Who's Azul?\" was all I could muster. \n\nTo be honest, I should have chosen better last words. \n\nWhen Azul was there, I wasn't. Azul was everything that was dead, and everything that was dead was Azul. Those who stood and those who knelt were all he saw. When the kneeling ones stood, Azul was there to leave only those who never stood. \n\nHe was light. He was the dawn. And now, he was I. And I was him. " ]	1
	[WP] You have been captured by a dragon, he seems very nice and friendly, he tells you he's vegan and he only captured you because the council of dragons is very strict. He also tells you that he doesen't want to capture humans anymore, he just wants to acomplish dream, being a well known writter.	[ "Before James opened his eyes, He knew he wasn't in his bed. This place was soft and warm. He could feel the weighted blanket under his arms, but his feet felt were itch as if they were laying on leaves. An unusually warm breath came across his face, and James jumped up and opened his eyes to see that he was in a dimly lit cave with a shadowy figure in front of him. As he stared at the figure in stunned disbelief, the sun began to rise above the cave entrance to reveal that the figure in front of him was a dragon.\n\nThis dragon was not like the dragons shown in the movies and video games. It was much smaller, about 8 feet long and 3-4 feet high. The thing was jet black covered in metallic scales that dimly reflected the rising sun.\n\nJames quickly glanced around the room looking for anything that could be a weapon, when he heard someone say, \"Wait!\" \n\nThe voice was soft and raspy, but it was clear enough to understand. James looked into the eyes of the creature, and saw that it looked almost scared. He glanced again at the creatures body only to realize it was shaking furiously, like a scared cat in a terrible thunderstorm. James began to relax slightly until his gaze latched onto its eight inch long claws coming out of all four of its paws. \n\nJames tensed, and threw his arms out preparing for a fight. The dragon walked backwards half a step and shouted, \"You're comfortable, I won't hurt you.\"\n\nPuzzled James replied, \"I'm SAFE?\"\n\n\"Yes!\" hissed the dragon, \"That's the word for it!\"\n\n\"So you aren't going to eat me?\"\n\n\"Not if you don't want me to!\" After the dragon opened its mouth and made guttural noises with its throat.\n\nStartled by the dragon's enormous teeth, James jumped backwards and cowardly crouched and used his arms to protect his stomach.\n\n\"Sorry, bad time for a joke...\" The dragon spoke again, \"I will not eat you. I'm a vegan, or vegetarian, or pescatarian, we could never figure out the difference between those. Anyways, I'm whatever you call the opposite of a humanitarian, I do not kill or eat humans. You are safe here.\"\n\nSimultaneously, James and the dragon visibly relaxed. James began to squint as he realized that the sun was fully visible through the cave entrance ahead of him. Seeing his reaction the dragon said, \"Will I startle you if I move to the side to assist your eyes?”\n\nJames shook his head as he moved to grab the blanket from where he had thrown it. He didn’t have any shoes on and the cave rock was cold and damp. James turned as the dragon moved around him and lay down. He stepped over to the large pile of leaves that he was previously laying on and sat down. \n\nJames looked at the dragon and realized that he was having a conversation with an intelligent being and asked a simple question, “Do you have a name?”\n\n“My name is Jean, what is yours?”\n\n“James. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is falling asleep in my bed.”\n\nJean shuffled his body a little bit to get his wings to wrap under his torso like a blanket and said, “Not all dragons are like me. All the rest of us eat human. And some of the other dragons saw me out in the trees last night and I told them I was hunting. They stayed around for much of the time, and they would have gotten suspicious if I didn’t take any food back. You see, a dragon like me isn’t welcomed among our community, the council forbid it a long time ago because they think humans should never find out about our existence.”\n\n“But why me?”\n\nNervously, Jean said, “I was watching you when they saw me. You caught my attention several times because you play those games on the screen with dragons in them. And the games are different from the times I’ve seen other people play them because they were only games where you play as dragons or with them, rather than killing them. It felt nice for once that my race might not just be hated forever. Gave me hope for the future.”\n\nJames thought about the games Jean was talking about and smiled. He began to realize how his current situation felt like he might as well be playing a video game now. He chuckled at the thought. He brought his attention back to Jean, but not knowing why, he felt nervous as he asked, “How have you stayed so secret for so long?”\n\n“Dragons used to fight all the times with humans in the open. Used to win in those times too, but humans began to build unimaginable weapons and tools that could beat us. You see, we are not nearly as large as human’s memory thinks we are. So it has been a long time since humans have been able to beat us in war, but in most ways we consider dragons much smarter than humans. That is how we were able to hide in our homes built deep within the caves of hills and mountains. Dragons learned to be the perfect silent killers. It also helps that dragons only need to eat every year or so.”\n\nOverwhelmed by the amount of information James blurted out, “If dragons started losing then doesn’t that make humans smarter than dragons?”\n\n“Dragons are much better at most intelligent things than humans, such as understanding things like how our bodies function and the movement and makeup of the stars. All of those things come as a very natural understanding to all of us dragons. The thing we seem to lack is the ability to take that knowledge and make and build things that only a human can imagine. We have never understood how you are able to do it.”\n\nAs James listened to the dragon speak, he began to realize why he felt a strong feeling of anxiety growing within himself. His view of the world began to take shape around what the existence of dragons meant to both human and dragon societies. More importantly to him, he began to become afraid of what his knowledge of dragons would mean. “Why are you telling me this? Why would you tell me about dragons?”\n\nA look came across Jean that could only be nerves as he replied, “Ever since I was little I have always been fascinated by humans. My biggest dream in life has always been to live in a world were humans and dragons can live together peacefully, and watching you play those games and your attitude now, gives me hope that my dream could come true. I kept you here all night and have told you all of this because I have thought of a way to possibly make that dream come true; I must become a writer so that I can write a book to humans.” Jean continued as he noticed James’s puzzled expression. “The book will explain the emotions and feelings of what existence as a dragon is so that humans can understand us. Only then could dragons and humans live together peacefully. But I cannot become a good enough writer to write this book without a human to help me learn. Will you help me?”\n\nJames was still processing what he had just heard when he realized they were sitting in silence. “Yes” he said abruptly, “Yes I will help you.” But as he thought on it more he began to become aware of the great challenge he just accepted. “Wait, I’ve never been good at writing. How could I teach you?”\n\nJean replied excitedly, “But you are a human. You can imagine how to do the impossible! That’s what humans do!”\n\nStricken with disappointment, James said, “You over estimate human imagination. I can’t just hear a problem and instantly solve it like magic. Even if some humans can I am far from that person. I work a job from home because I find it inconvenient to have to drive to and from work everyday. I’m super lazy! I sit around and play video games, and watch youtube, and read reddit all day. And let me tell you nothing I see on those things is going to teach you how to become a great writer.” But even as he finished his sentence, the idea started to form in his head. There were some great resources that he knew of to teach writing between youtube and reddit. James started imagining how maybe he couldn’t teach Jean to write, but he may know of ways where he wouldn’t have to be the one to teach Jean how to write. James realized how crazy his thoughts were, and he began to wonder if this dragon was right about human imagination. It would be a long shot, but as he looked into the hopeful eyes of this unbelievable being sitting across from him, James believed any dream could come true.\n\n“Forget what I just said, I’ll help with your dream.”\n\n///All comments and advice are welcome!\n" ]	1
	[WP] Upon donating blood, the nurses are perplexed by your strange blood type. After a series of tests, it is revealed that not only is your blood type unique, but so it your entire genetic profile. Turns out, you aren't even human...	[ "I had barely slept for the last week. Probably the stress of our project's deadline keeping me up at night. Although there should not be any reason to worry as we are well on schedule. Our boss, Tony, comes regularly to check up on us despite the fact that he should be on paternity leave. Makes sense as this project is pretty much his baby, and you don't abandon your older child once a younger is born. The actual baby has also become very popular at the office. Makes sense, its so cute I could eat it all up.\n\nI was so tired when I arrived in the office I didn't even notice that no one was working. Everyone was standing in silence staring at the TV. It wasn't until Tony gestured at me to come and see that I realised something was going on. The news were on, talking about a train derailment that had happened downtown. It was being described as probably the largest tragedy to ever befall our city. Nearly hundred people had died and many hundreds were injured. The blood bank was asking for emergency donations. Tony made an announcement that the blood bank was setting up a donation station in a nearby building and anyone was free to take a leave to go and donate. A strong sense of community began to build up in the office and eventually we all went to donate. \n\n\"Have you ever donated blood before ?\" asked the attending nurse. I had not and was asked to fill a form about my and my families health. I did not know my blood group, and my parents had abandoned me before I could remember so there was little I could say about that. When it was my turn to donate the nurse commented that I was very pale and asked if I was okay. I said that beside from insomnia I was perfectly healthy. Afterwards they warned me that I would feel a bit dizzy and should get myself a good meal. They also asked me to contact them if I noticed any symptom of illness afterwards as that would mean they need to discard the blood. I went home and ordered myself a pizza. After eating it I was still hungry so I ordered another one. Three pizzas later I stumbled into what could technically be referred to as sleep.\n\nI'm woken up that evening by my phone. It is the blood bank. The secretary calling sounds incredibly worried. \"We ran those test many times, just to be sure.\" she says. \"Your cell count is below any rate measurable by our equipment. You should see a doctor IMMEDIATELY.\" She emails me the results. As I head out I notice how dry my skin is. I has even started to peel in some places. \n\nThe ER doctor is sceptical of the results from the blood bank. She says that if they were correct I would have already entered a coma. She decides to take a blood sample and research it at the hospital, where better equipment should allow them to figure out what is going on. She says I should head home, get some rest and contact them should something come up. The results should be in tomorrow morning. On the way home I stop and get an hamburger. When I'm almost home it suddenly dawns on me that I've stopped at five burger joints to eat just on my walk home. \n\nI can't sleep. My skin itches. The areas where it has started to peel off have rapidly spread all over my body. I keep scratching it and it falls off. Somewhere around four o'clock it finally stops itching. My skins now feel almost leathery and I wonder if I have accidentally scratched off the epidermis of the skin of my whole body. I notice some of my nails fell out in the process as well. When I see the sun rising out of my window I realise I have not slept at all that night. The light hurts my eyes and I cover the window. I lie on the bed, to exhausted to do anything.\n\nAround noon, an unexpected sound startles me. Its my phone. I answer and it is Tony, asking me if there is something wrong, as I have not shown up to work. I tell him that I'm probably sick, and although it is in all likelyhood nothing I am waiting for the results of a blood test. He sounds worried and tells me to take care of myself, and that I have been working myself way to hard. As he wishes me well I finally fall asleep. \n\nNine in the evening I am again awoken by the sound of my phone. I stretch myself over the bed and I feel my backspines stirring. I stand up and answer the phone, my sharp fingers scratching and ruining the touchscreen. It is the doctor. She apologises for how late the results are but they are unlike anything she has ever seen. At first they could not find any blood cells in the sample. After repeated testing which all shoved the same conclusion they analysed it further and found cells unlike any they have ever seen before. Preliminary analysis of their genome shows the complete absence of all known markers. She says that this could be incredibly serious and an emergency response team is on its way. She says something more but I have stopped listening. I walk toward my window and look at the night sky. \n\n\"I am so hungry\" I say to myself, as I spread my wings and fly out into the night. ", "(This is my first time going for one of these so be gentle)\n\nIt was a tragedy. Everybody in town were dumbfounded by the horrific events that had befallen it's poor children. I didn't exactly know anyone that was hurt, but then again I had only lived here for a couple of years, and I was far past highschool. However I had grown fond of this little community and when I heard the news i was devictated. \n\nI had been standing in line for what felt like an eternity when I finally got called in. The local church had acted first in this time of need, setting up both fundraisers and accepting blood donations that would go to the local hospital. I remember feeling ashamed that I would be annoyed with having to stand in line for a couple hours, when the families of the victims would have to live with it for the rest of their lives. \n\nThe impromptu blood bank was set up in the main room of the church. I had only been there once, when one of my colleagues died in a car crash. I can't exactly say I was a man of God, but I liked to think that my Christian upbringing had some form of lasting impression on me. There were three hospital beds set up, with screens giving some privacy. I walked up to the only one without an attendant and sat down to wait.\n\nThe nurse came in smiling as if I was the best thing she had seen in ages. She thanked me for my solidarity, and told me that I most likely would save a life today. I filled out a couple of forms, not even caring what I was signing. The gravity of the situation suddenly hitting me. Someone had hurt my town, and there was nothing I could do about it. \n\nWell, not exactly nothing. There were still kids in the hospital fighting for their lives. The nurse told me that she would do a couple of tests before I would give my share. I nodded and barely even flinched as she pierced my right index finger. I felt a little proud of myself. It was the first time I had ever needed to draw blood for anything. My mother, when she was still alive had told me that I had the health of a God. I had never gotten sick in my life.\n\nWhen the nurse came back she told me that something had gone wrong, and that she would need another sample. I accepted reverently, thinking that this must be a normal thing. When she came back for a third time however I asked what was wrong, and she told me that she had no idea. The values that the machine was showing made no sense. A little dumbstruck I asked what that meant. She finally looked me in the eyes and said \"I have double-checked all the equipment we have here, and they all say the same thing. The blood that I got from your finger can't have come from a human.\"\n\nThat's when I saw the flashing text on the instuments \"Handle with extreme precaution, government agents arriving shortly\"" ]	2
	[WP] You put an egg on to boil, but suddenly it begins to hatch.	[ "I've probably eaten a couple hundred eggs a year since I was five. Never got sick of them. Two eggs, three if I did a lot of drinking the night before. Bit of toast, cup of tea and I was ready to take on the day. Today I was craving hard boiled. Two eggs set in the water as soon as it got to that nice boil, a bit of vinegar mixed into the water to help peeling the egg shell easier. I had turned to set up the kettle when I heard the crack. Originally, I thought I had stepped on something. Looking down, there was nothing.\n\nThe little screech made my heart jump into my throat. Looking over to the stove top, I saw bits of egg shell floating in the water. Stepping closer, there was something swimming in the boiling water. It looked like a snake, maybe three inches at the most, with blue scales along the sides and an arrowhead shaped head. It stopped swimming and looked up to me, letting out another little screech, that mouth filled with curved teeth and a little pink, forked tongue.\n\nThe little snake went back to swimming around the water like it was no big deal. I was pretty sure my brain melted in confusion. Apparently, a sea serpent had popped free from my planned breakfast. I was suddenly not in the mood for eggs anymore." ]	1
	[WP] Going through your uncle's flat you find something he mentioned on his deathbed. A pen that has no ink, but writing appears when used.	[ "I was just doing my usual tuesday routine of organizing my uncle's desk while remembering him, when I happened upon a pen. The pen was just screaming write with me. So I did what any snooping nephew would do, and wrote with it. It happened so fast, that i didn't realize all the ink had come out, and the cartridge was empty.\n\n&#x200B;\n\ni was left there, now suddenly aware of the gravity of my situation. you see, i had just written with a pen that had no ink. and the words i wrote, were not my own. they read:\n\n&#x200B;\n\nany financial system based on inflation is a fraud", "Well, I'll be damned. This is some inheritance, you old man. With this, I could be writing for days, haha.\n\nI test it out, and wrote \"test\"\n\nAll of a sudden, a transparent screen appears in front of my face.\n\nSystem Settings\n\nSystem settings for what? I scroll down the window.\n\nConstants\n\nGravitational constant: ————\n\nMagnetic Vacuum Permeability constant: ————\n\nElectric Vacuum Permeability constant: ————\n\nHuh? I scroll down even more and found\n\nEquations\n\nKinetic Energy (classical): ————\n\nWork, Power: ————\n\nSpring Force: ————\n\nHey, is this what I think it is... No way... I tap on a row. A cursor appears and another transparent screen appears, this time showing a keyboard.\n\nNo way... I hit the close button and pocket the pen. I look at the paper and there's nothing there. Confused and frantic, I go out of Uncle Francis' flat and back home. \n\nIs this a joke? What the hell is with this pen? I took the pen and write on a piece of paper \"portal: Sistene Chapel; Visibility (Exit): False\"\n\nSure enough a portal appears behind me, leading to the front entrance of the chapel. A cold sweat runs down my cheek, and I cannot believe my eyes.\n\nThis is gonna be fun. I smile in excitement.", "On the day my Uncle had died,\nHe pulled me close,\nRight to his side. \n\nHe spoke of pen,\nFound in his flat. \nIt was not normal,\nHe assured me that. \n\nI found the pen,\nLong and thin. \nIt had no ink,\nSharp as a pin. \n\nDown on parchment,\nI did write. \nAnd to my shock,\nWords appeared in light. \n\nI held my breath,\nAs the glow did fade. \nWondering to myself,\nIf a mistake was made. \n\nThe words I wrote,\n“There was a cat”. \nSat there dark,\nDead and flat. \n\nA sound behind,\nOne light pitched whine. \nI turned about,\nTo find a feline. \n\nI wrote again,\nThe words “Let it snow”,\nAnd turned my gaze,\nTo the flat’s window. \n\nSky of blue,\nTurned to steel. \nWhite flakes did fall,\nThe cold I could feel. \n\nAnd so here I am, \nStill incredibly floored. \nI guess the pen, \nIs mightier than the sword. \n\n" ]	3
	[WP] WW3 has ended and the world is in ruins. Figuring that if there is no more life, there can be no more death, the Grim Reaper decides to stop taking lives until humanity can rebuild.	[ "The topic is pretty cool. I took your prompt and decided to put a spin on it. But I tried to leave all the elements inside of it. Thank you for the prompt!\n\nThis was done very quickly if there is any mistakes please warn me so that I may correct them.\n\nvalentino caronte -\n\n\nStart Of Story\n\nA lot of people don't really know what the Grim Reaper looks like. Most believe it's a figure completely covered in bones and dark matter. The stories are mostly true as the reaper can transform itself into any other being in the world. Leaving the entity that is out to slay away a person's soul lurking in any corner.\n\nYet, at this point in time, The Reaper has taken more souls to the grave than the human race could ever handle. The Third World War came sweeping like a tornado crossing a tiny suburban town in the plains of North Dakota. The destruction was slow and meaningless, as if coordinated by an ominous being without any regards for the things living inside the homes. Humans, like many countless animal in the past, sat at the top of the endangered species list. \n\nThe black smoke fills the air above the metropolitan city, a local bar was still open for business. Smog settles slowly towards the front door until a woman emerges with the clicks of her high heels knocking on the floor. Slowly, her fingers delicately wrapped around the knob waiting for the click to allow the door to move freely. She walks in with her head held up high. \n\nThe bar was going into ruins as nothing seemed to work properly. The light fixtures were busted open with most of the bulbs missing. Just like the jukebox is invisible to the naked eye. The music coming out of that dark corner was the only tell-tale sign that it still exists. \n\n\"The only seats available are the ones at the bar. I ain't serving no one at the tables!\", a man shouted towards the direction of the door.\n\nAs she walks over to the bar, the woman’s clicks were thunderous within the small venue. She grabs the end of her dark purple dress and pulls it down before sitting on a bar stool that looked like it belonged at a 70's diner. She swivels around slowly until the bartender was right in front of her. \n\nShe begins to take into account every detail of her surroundings before uttering a word. The bar was full of holes, dents, and cracks that added to it’s decrepit appeal. She even notices the cob webs forming on top of some bottles in the far right corner.\n\n\"What are you serving?\", she commanded. \n\nThe middle-age man looks at her as if needing to settle their bad blood. He did not like the tone that she brought to the table. \n\nHe snarled back, \"the war took most of my supply away from this area. This place here only has gin and rum left. Straight, neat, nothing else.\" \n\nShe thought to herself how much she hated both types of liquor he suggested. They were, at least after the war, over saturated with lower quality brands compared to those in the past. She closed her eyes to remember for a moment the things she used to love. She had taste, desire, a sharp pain of anguish in her sternum, mixed in with a hint of sadness which she would truly never understand.\n\n\"I'll take some rum\", the words slipped as she took a deep breath, \"in a beer glass!\"\n\nThe bartender smiled as he was holding on to a beer mug.\n\n\"Come on pal, don't be mean to the pretty grumpy lady! She might just be having a bad day.\", a mysterious voice came from the shadows. The voice was deep and smooth like a shot of whisky.\n\nThe bartender eyes followed one of his regular clients walk out of the shadows. He was tall with a soft chiseled jaw, yet, the scar across his face signaled him as another casualty of the war. His strides were long so in a few steps to climbed over a stool next to the women.\n\n\"Get her the good stuff that you got from Peter. The stuff in the cabinet not the bar.\", he said calmly as if to defuse the situation.\n\nThe bartender complained, \"Come on Jimmy! She came here with no decency. She come here saying please with the cherries on top!\"\n\n\"Roger, I'll give you the cherries, you give her the drink\"\n\nRoger has a lot trust for Jimmy so he never complains more than once. He still felt like the whole situation was not fair to him.however, the cheerfulness that emanates out of Jimmy was always strong enough to overcome his own emotions. \n\n\"You like brandy?\", he asked while looking over at a window on the side of the bar.\n\nShe smile towards the direction of Jimmy, \"yes!\"\n\nThe began with a conversation about their previous life before the war. Time seemed to melt as the conversation extended into the night. At times he couldn't keep up with her timeline or strange innuendos. She would speak of the world as if it was stuck in time. She would make him feel like only thing that changed in a millennium were the seasons.\n\n\nThe last drop of brandy was poured into a glassed that would be shared amongst them.\n\n“Dam,” he said, \"I can't believe that the war took everything from everyone.\", \n\n\"I didn't think it would take everything from me\" she said\n\nThey both peeked at the mug without making a single move. Their stomachs were completely bloated from the rest of the bottle. He let out a small burrp to release the tension. The glass remained in the same spot Roger placed it. \n\n\"Well, it was assumed that it might happen in the papers.”, he mentioned quickly to break the silence, “I never thought the world would go into war. No one could have predicted that.\"\n\n\"I feel that some people were able to\", she joked\n\n\"Maybe, if they are psychic. Like those crazies on the street yelling how the world going to end because christ, will come, save us!\"\n\n\"Yes, It was fun while it lasted. Those crazies just made the show more enjoyable. I think they were the last to leave.\", she continued in a joking manner.\n\n\"Maybe, imagine if Christ did come and save them, Lucky bastards! What's always haunting me is why it had to happen?”, he looked towards her, “I'm guessing, that would never get answered.\"\n\nJimmy chose to make the first move in the direction of glass for one giant swig. He consumed about a fourth of the mug and slammed it against the top of the bar. He slide over the mug so it would stop right in from the mysterious women he has been talking to all night. \n\n\"I didn't expect it to go this far. It was just a simple plan, executed very well.\", she pleaded \n\n“Well, the plan would have been perfect for them if they managed to be saved. Most of the world is gone and the rest of us are living in a little bubble of hell.\"\n\n\"Humans had to be so fragile. They die every minute. Then when you pull one drop of crazy everything implodes.\", she exaggerated. \n\nHer arms flailed in air while making fingers move as if she was creating an artificial explosion spreading everywhere.\n\n“That's a sad fact.” he said\n\n“No, it's not. It was beautiful!” She said\n\nJimmy at this point started to assume that the alcohol concentration in her blood was about to spill over onto the counter. She was completely baffling nonsense that was unrelated to the conversation. He started to feel like it would be safer to head home before the morning hours struck on the clock.\n\n“I think little missy you should be off to bed. You are starting to go crazy.”, he vocalized his concern\n\nShe glared in his direction, “Why? I am having so much fun, right now. I have been missing a world that is full of interaction and endless amounts of attention!”\n\n“Well, you can come back tomorrow and we can share such a moment again.”, his concern could now be felt in his voice. \n\nShe didn’t reply back as her eyes became tiny slits peeking into empty space. She was focused on something above his forehead. He looked up in hopes of following gaze to notice the thing that captured her attention. \n\n“What happened?”, his concerned shifted into wonder\n\nShe whispered in such a way that he almost missed the statement, “forty years”\n\nJimmy repeated the statement, “forty years?”\n\nThen her entire deminare changed as if she was discovering a long lost treasure. She had an epiphany that would have to be kept a secret for a long time. She needed to commit like a monk walking into monastery to invigorate the world with a false sense of peace. She needed to return the joy that followed her until the last few months after the war. \n\nShe looked at Jimmy in a deep and loving way, “ I am in need of a vacation.”\n\nHe became diverted by her statement, he said, “What kind of vacation are you looking for to have?”\n\nShe thought for a moment, once again looking for the best place to go, and the size of the mountain peak she wanted to climb. She thought hard about the choice as the pressure to take immediate action was seaver. She looked into his dark green eyes once again before mentioning her statement.\n\n“I want to follow you, I want to go on vacations that you are heading towards.”, she said hesitantly" ]	1
	[WP] The coffee pot... it's full—ALWAYS full. No matter how much coffee we drink, there's still more!	[ "The year is 2340 and you are on the planet of mars. The space program is about to send a fleet of space ships to do a regular patrol. These patrols are scheduled to to happen every Wednesday. When they are taking off from base, they see a strange metal object flying around. They immediately assume that these are ufos. They call off the patrol to search the planet. They decided to look in homes, the easiest place for them to start an empire. They are attempting to drive out humans by scaring them out of their house. This is their first attempt in your house, continuing to fill up the coffee pot. Soon, they are going to try some different tactics but this is the first on in your house. \n\n-Brian Yates\n(Short story)" ]	1
	[WP] Every morning you wake up in the body of someone else, but with only your memories. Today has been particularly interesting.	[ "Light calmly filters through your eyelids as you pull yourself back into the waking world. Inhaling, you’re surprised to feel the cold burn of frozen air assaulting your lungs. The initial shock fades with every breath as you strain your ears for any sign of what could be around you. Very slowly eye lids open, one gentle blink at a time. \n\nThe space is small and cramped. Wind whistles around the structure and the walls seem to ripple as though breathing with their surroundings. Light has penetrated the red fabric and you quickly realize you are inside a tent of some sort. A quick glance around turns up a heavy backpack sitting in the corner. Straps fall haphazardly from its side strapping in place what appear to be several pouches made from animal skins. \n\nStill somewhat groggy from what you assume was a rough night of laying on the ground, you raise gloved hands and do your best to rub the sleep from your eyes.\n\nThe sleeping bag is heavy and thickly insulated, and even though you are wearing an insulated jacket and pants it is only the curiosity of the outside world that gets you begrudgingly out of it. \n\nHeavy boots made of a brown leather are hidden on the other side of the backpack. You suppose you should familiarize yourself with the pack’s contents, a sentiment echoed by a rumbling in your stomach, but you push the thought aside and make your way to the front of the tent.\n\nSlowly and almost timidly you drag the zipper down and take your first look through the flap.\n\nYou take in the scene before you and let out a breath you weren’t aware was still in your lungs. Not ten feet from where you’re camped the Earth suddenly changes from rough windswept grass to cracked rock to empty space. The rock drops down too far for you to guess the distance, however the scene below you takes your breath away. A vast forest of dense evergreens extends to the horizon, the sun sitting comfortable atop the tree line. To either side extends a great plain of grass with winds drawing ornate patterns throughout the pale greens and yellows. Birds sing in a sort of routine bliss, ignorant to your presence above them.\n\nBreath condensates in the air in front, making hazy images of the forest below.\n\nThe overlook is picture perfect. With a groan you think about what it took to get here, and more importantly what it will take to get back down. You flex your arms, testing the muscles. Walking outside you’re able to stretch the sleep from your limbs. Its a nice form, but its not yours. A sigh. Its never yours. The picturesque landscape before you is only yours until your eyes grow heavy and tired and you set down your life for the night. Like an old jacket, traded for a new one day after day, you are never sure who will wake up the next morning. \n\nAnother sigh, better to learn how to fold a tent later in life than never at all." ]	1
	[WP] Write about an ordinary week, except that the imagery hints at something catastrophic to happen soon.	[ "I take a walk through the forest. The reds, yellows, and oranges makes it look like a postcard. I would have been fine with this if it was October, not June. I walk crunching the leaves underneath me. I enjoy my evening walks, they make me feel more connected with the world. I start walking home watching my breath curl in front of me when I hear a loud screech. I look up and hundreds of crows are crowding the sky. I look closer to see it’s not just crows but all types of birds. I shrug it off as something having to do with the leaves. Looks like nature is as confused as the scientists. When I get home I am met by my dog daisy going absolutely bonkers. She practically dives out of the house as soon as I get the door unlocked. I go chasing after her just managing to grab her collar before she gets to the intersection. I notice a bunch of pets running about. Going the same direction as the birds. I’m not some idiot so I grab a bag of emergency supplies and start to follow where the signs are leading, away from here. ", "There is never enough time in the day. Leaves fall, the wind whistles, and there’s is an expanding silence between the breeze. \n\nPeople commute today like they did yesterday. The trains work and arrive on time, and the busses follow their allotted trips as planned. The commuters, surrounded by noise, fail to notice the ever expanding silence.\n\nFar away, in a place that some would call the middle of nowhere, a child sits atop a hill and looks out at the ocean. He notices then, for the first time, that he can hear a sound that has no meaning to it. That this sound is as intermittent as the wind and that it fills the space of noise that his brain has already labelled. \n\nHe listens and tries to understand what he hears. \n\nBut it is not a voice, it is not a sound as he knows it, it is an expansion of something he has never heard. \n\nAnd as the gap widens and everything else seems to quieten, the child knows that he does not understand this noise.\n\nBut that it is growing and that it is certainly there. " ]	2
	[WP] Your girlfriend has invited you to her family's annual reunion as an opportunity to meet them. According to the official invitation, it's being held on the weekend at a resort called Mt. Olympus. You can't wait to finally speak with her parents; Zeus and Hera. You've heard so much about them!	[ "Elena was my first European girlfriend. I don't say just to brag, or imply she had great legs (she did) but to point out that she was from a country of which I knew very little, other than it took up space somewhere west of Russia and east of Germany. It happened that a ways into our relationship there was talk of marriage, and marrying, and kids too, and I did want that with her. \n \nOne day at dinner she told me she wanted us to meet with her parents and get their blessings. Fine, I said, but you sure it'll be safe for us to be together there? In public? She put her hand on mine and told me it would be fine. Her country was a good country, a modern country, a Christian country where they believed all men were brothers. The soul knows no color, she told me. She added that her parents lived in the capital. They went by Zeus and Hera and would \"receive me\" at a resort outside the city the locals called Mt. Olympus. I didn't blink. Christian parents with pagan names? OK. Must be hippies. When it came to Elena, I didn't ask many questions: not about her need to swim at least one every three days, her odd disappearances, or her reluctance to eat much, if at all, while I was watching. \n\nThe circumstances of our first meeting were stranger still: I first encountered her by the river that flows past my town, at the stretch where the water gets turbid and seethes. The stretch that you go to after dark with a booze can when you want the papers to read \"tragic accident\" and not the other thing, the shameful thing. That night she was plucking a stunted violin and singing some ditty in a tongue I had never heard. I sat there and listened to her and shared some of the booze I'd brought and then we made our own \"tragic accident\" there on the riverbank with only the rushing water to accompany us. \n\nThe plane flight was uneventful. We arrived in her country and made our way out of the airport, while I did my best to not be unsettled by how even the taxi drivers stopped to stare at me. It was cold that day, colder even than New England, but the wind was silent and I could hear people converse. They spoke a clipped language that sounded nothing like the song I had heard her sing that day and I wondered, but the Uber had arrived and I began loading our luggage. The journey was again uneventful. When we stopped at a traffic light a man on a motorcycle rapped our window, and I, a fool and an optimist if ever there was one, lowered it. He glanced and me and Elena and then glared, barking at her. From the rear-view mirror I could see more motorcyclists approaching. As the light turned green I caught the driver's eyes. The hell, dude, what were you waiting for? Drive. GO. Get us out of here. \n\nHe put his hand to the ignition, then, with a painful slowness, turned off the engine, pulled out the keys, and, smiling at me, dropped them by his feet. Fuck! I nudged Elena's shoulder and told her we needed to run. She had been very still. I could her mutter something over and over in that other tongue; something pleading and yet somehow resolute. The biker growled and reached for the door lock-- \n\nElena's hands closed around my eyes--\n\nLight! Light, I could see the light even through her hand and my eyelids, it was too bright, it was hurting me-- \n\nSound! Monstrous, ringing, without limit. And then I couldn't hear anything anymore. The only senses I had left were sense and smell, but while the soft press of Elena would have excited me in diverse places, now was not the time. I opened my eyes and realized I couldn't hear anything anymore. The car smelled like a swimming pool. Something sat on the leather seat to my left. A hand. The body of the hand was fine. Looked human. Just the fingers, man, those had been flayed of their skin and underlying flesh. You could hang it up as a Christmas ornament. Or maybe put it on a pile of candy. Pesky kids wouldn't empty the whole bucket then, would they? \n\nI realized I was shaking when Elena wrapped her arms around mine. She said something to the driver; at least I saw her lips move. The driver reached down and fumbled. I got up and looked outside the window. A dog, or dog-like thing lay where the motorcyclist had been, most of its body blown off, and the remainder seared. Elena reached across, picked up the hand and threw it out, and then rolled up the window. Too late. The car smelled like a swimming pool. Then the car lurched to a start. I must have been shaking something fierce, because she began to sing-- and I could hear her when I couldn't even hear the breaths my own lungs were taking. I rested my head against her shoulders and let the motions of the car take me to a realm where things might make more sense. \n\nWhen Elena woke me, we stood at the foot of a mountain without end, in a desolate land when swirling storm clouds grumbled from their perches high above. Still delirious from sleep and with a horrid suspicion blooming in my gut, I asked where we were and what she was. Mt. Olympus, she told me, and she was a naiad, one of the many immortal daughters of Zeus and Hera. Before I could even begin to digest her words, lightning flashed and a golden road appeared. \"Father grows impatient,\" Elena said, and held out her hand. I took it. \n\nThe destiny that I had chosen for myself on that fated day was a seed only now coming to fruition; if I had known earlier the toils I would come to endure for the crime of having loved an immortal woman...no, I would have made the same decisions and paid the same prices. If that wasn't love, what was? I did say I was a fool. ", "He whistled in awe as the massive complex came fully in view. \"And you said this weekend wasn't going to be any fun, I can think of at least five things we could do right now that would qualify as fun,\"\n\n\"And yet I can think of tenfold more that would be the opposite,\" She muttered as she pushed past him,\n\n\"Oh come on Eris, believe me when I say, family reunions can be a bit tense, but this is a vacation, so I say we treat it as such.\" \n\nShe couldn't quite suppress a smile from creeping halfway up her face as she turned to look at him. \"You know I hate it when you're this positive, Seth, it makes it really difficult to brood unhappily.\" \n\nHe smiled broadly and slapped her joyfully on her back as he pushed past her and up to the large entrance flanked by two gentlemen who were so alike they had to be brothers, if not twins. \n\n\"Salutations gentlemen, what a fine day it is to stand outside wearing black clothing.\" He utterly beamed as he walked up to them,\n\nOne of the men stepped forward and removed his sunglasses to stare him right in the eye, \"Looks to me like someone decided to hike up the wrong mountain,\"\n\nThe other, nearly identical man cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck before speaking, \"Perhaps it would be smart of that someone to turn around while he still can,\" \n\n\"Relax, Alexiares, he's with me,\" Eris shouted as she came up behind him, her hair messy and slick to her forehead, \"It's nice to know you two meatheads are still stuck manning the door, but if you'll excuse us we're here to see mom and dad,\"\n\n\"Eris, you're back,\" The other brother said, his voice cold as ice, \"Not for long I hope,\" \n\n\"Just for a few days Anicetus, I'm sure you'll survive that much,\" She gestured for the glass doors behind them, \"Now, if you would?\" \n\nWith a grunt one of them, he had already forgotten which was which, nodded to the other and the glass doors slid apart before them. \n\n\"Charming fellows,\" Seth said to her as they walked in, \"Though I always love it when you talk back to people,\" \n\n\"And I always hate it when you love what I do,\" She said with a sigh as they entered the lounge.\n\nThe lounge area was large, more so on the merit of its extraordinarily high ceiling. The slightly jagged cone shape of the inner roof gave the impression of them truly being on the inside of a mountain, but on the floor stood several cozy sofas and chairs that radiated warmth and comfort. \n\n\"Eris, darling,\" Came a voice that thundered across the room as a large fairly rotund man rushed over and lifted the much smaller woman up and around in a joyous embrace, before finally placing her back onto the ground, \"Haha, too long has it been since we last met, you are in good health I see, that is good.\" \n\n\"Hi dad,\" She said as if forcing out the words, \"Where's mom,\" \n\n\"Aha, this one eh, always going on about her mother,\" The large man said and nudged Seth with his elbow, \"One would think they would outgrow these things with age,\" \n\n\"I'm serious,\" She said, a hint of frustration seeping into her voice, \"I don't wanna have to do this twice, can you please call her,\" \n\n\"There is no need for that,\" Said a different voice that was both stern and warm at the same time, and suddenly a tall, slender figure appeared behind Eris and ruffled her hair like one would a child, \"Now don't be rude and introduce us to your friend here,\" \n\n\"Yes, who is this strapping young lad you've brought home with you this time,\" The man who could be none other than Zeus said as he grabbed Seth by the shoulder and punched him playfully in the stomach, \"I dare say his tan even rivals my own,\" He continued, following the statement with another bout of hearty laughter, \n\nPushing herself away from her mother, Eris pulled Seth away from her father and took a deep breath before speaking, \"Mom, dad, this is my boyfriend, Seth,\" \n\n\"Wonderful, truly a pleasure to meet you, Seth, I'm Zeus but you can call me dad if you want to haha!\" The large man said gripping his hand like a vice as he simply nodded along. \n\n\"Ah yes, I believe I have heard something about you,\" Hera said as she elegantly extended her hand for him to shake, \"Set, was it?\" \n\n\"Seth,\" He responded with a smirk as he took her hand, \"Only my Brother calls me Set,\" \n\n " ]	2
	[WP] It's been a week since the Deathless War began. A truly global conflict of civil wars and international battles. However, no one is dying. You wake up on the eigth morning of the war, and to see three horsemen on your front porch. "We've been looking for you, Death" one of them says.	[ "That morning, as he always did, the old man woke up at 5 AM. He went downstairs, pulled open the curtains, and let the meager beginnings of light leach in through dusty windows as he made coffee. As he always did, once he had poured the water from the kettle into the press, he sat in silence, watching the ever-swirling motes of dust that danced through the air above his table, like fireflies trapped forever in a jar. \n\nAfter coffee, he stepped outside, and took up his scythe from where it rested against his rocking chair. He brought his finger along the edge with practiced care, and after a moment's inspection, he went and found his bevel stone and made a few minute adjustments to the edge. Then he stepped into the fields and began his work. \n\nThere was a zen to the art of reaping. Younger reapers would put their back into it, use their strength, push hard against the wheat. But this was not the way. Let the scythe do the work. Move with the scythe. Let the scythe carry you through the wheat. Be the scythe. And be the wheat, being cut down. \n\nIn the best moments, he were empty of all things, empty of everything but the sun and that soft silken tearing noise of the scythe cutting down through the fields. In the moments that made his job a happy one, he was empty of everything but the sensation of the wheat being cut down. Not just the sensation of being the scythe, but of being the wheat as well. \n\nHe pointedly ignored the distant noises of those calling his name throughout. \n\nAfter, he gathered the chaff across the field and piled it, and sat in the middle of the field. His blade had become dulled in places, and he had to sharpen it again. \n\nThen he went back into his little house, set the blade down by the chair, and found himself a beer. He sat down and watched the wheat field. Watched the way the wind carried through it, the way it rippled, the way the light of the mushroom clouds off in the distance made colors and shadows across them the way a sunset used to. \n\nAfter a time, he noticed three figures on horseback, long in the distance. \n\nHe set down his beer. He straightened his back, unconsciously, into the same posture he'd had when he was reaping the wheat. \n\nHe glanced at his scythe. \n\nAfter a long moment, he slumped back into his chair, picked up his beer again, and waited. \n\nOne of the riders was heavy in armor. A sword was sheathed across his back, his visage hidden by a thick and spiked helm. \n\nOne of the riders was skinny as a rail, his torso not much more than rib cage, his eyes sunked and shrivelled into his head. He was almost naked. \n\nThe last rider was covered in furs and leather, nearly obese, opulently dressed. The old man couldn't see his face yet, but he knew that underneath there would be sores, and buboes, and his skin would be mottled and pale. \n\nEach of them wore crowns. \n\nThe old man wore no crown. \n\nAfter about one third of a beer, the riders came to the old man's field. They looked at one another, and hesitantly, they dismounted, and led their stallions down a narrow footpath to the foot of the old man's house. \n\nA long silence followed. They stared at the old man, a little nervously, as one might an old relative who one has not seen in some time, and may well have become senile. \n\nThe old man sipped his beer and waited. \n\n\"We have been looking for you, Death,\" said War, at last. \n\nThe old man said nothing. \n\n\"Pestilence looked for you in Kinshasa, when the plague first struck, but Pestilence did not see you.\"\n\n\"I was not there,\" said the old man, as though that were an explanation, and waited. \n\nA silence followed. \n\n\"Famine looked for you in Hamburg, where the hungers began, but Famine did not see you there,\" War continued. \n\n\"I was not there,\" said the old man. At this, War began to stir. The old man could not see his face, but he knew there was anger somewhere under that old helm. \n\n\"And finally, when brother turned against brother and mother against daughter in desperation, as they clawed at and slaughtered one another, I looked for you in Moscow, but I did not see you. I looked for you in Toronto but I did not see you. I looked for you in Brazil but I did not see you.\"\n\n\"Because I was not there,\" said the old man, tiredly. \n\nThe silence from War was deafening. Pestilence, embarassed, looked away. Famine did not stir but the old man knew, from eons of familiarity, that he was confused. \n\n\"Where were you?\" asked War, at last. \n\n\"I was here,\" said the old man. He waved his beer. \"Retired.\"\n\n\"You cannot retire.\"\n\n\"I have,\" said the old man. And the beginnings of that old anger flared up from the embers inside him, to his own surprise as much as the others. \n\nHe stood. \n\n\"There are three Horsemen, not four. Always were. I wasn't one of you. I wasn't the one killing them, I was just the one putting them out of their misery, carrying them out. And I'm tired of that. They don't deserve it. And before, I was renewal. Understand? But there'll be no renewal this time. There'll be no inheritors this time. You won't be seeing me. See how far you three get on your own.\" \n\nIt was as if he'd breathed out the rage inside himself instead of the words that described it. He slumped back in his chair. \n\n\"Nonetheless,\" said War, at last. \"You must ride out.\"\n\nThe old man was still for a long time. Then he leaned back in his chair. The old man smiled faintly. \n\n\"What hope does the harvest have,\" he murmured, \"but for the care of the reaper man?\"\n\n&#x200B;" ]	1
	[WP] All your life you prayed to a god that never answered, Fed up you cry out for any god that will answer. And one does.	[ "All my life my parents had always told me \"ask and you shall receive\" of course as a good girl I was never too greedy in my requests, and my parents were always happy to get me anything I asked for, within reason. But that was back then, the days of free handouts were over and just getting my next meal was a struggle. I kneeled at the foot of my bedroll clutching a rosary in my palms. Ask and you shall receive, I thought. \"In the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Dear father, please watch over me and make me feel secure. Please help me find my way in this world so that I can not worry about the rent, or the car payment, or all of these financial obligations. I don't ask for anything more than food to eat and a house over my head. If you can bring me those things I will be forever grateful. Amen.\" They always said that when things got tough, or when you saw evil things, that God was testing you, right now it felt like I was Abraham, ready to strike my son in the name of God, waiting, waiting so patiently for some divine voice to tell me \"You can stop. Everything will be fine now.\"\n\nBut of course, nothing ever came of it. All my life I had asked, and all of my life I had been met with this silence. Such a frustrating silence as well. I ask the people in my faith circle what I should do about it and they give me fake smiles, telling me, \"God is testing you, stay with your faith\" but I couldn't go on like this, wouldn't go on like this. \n\nTears welling up in the pores of my eyes I begged, prostrating myself to anybody who would listen \"please if anybody ANYBODY can hear my plead. I just want a house over my head and food on my table. Is that too much to ask?\"\n\nSilence\n\nI thought back to my past. At every turn, I was denied. Always told I wasn't qualified, or that I should have tried harder as a kid, that what I put into life was what I got out of it. All I knew how to do was ask, that's why I was here, asking for money from random strangers who took pity on a poor woman who could only ask, ask that they help. I probably shouldn't have gone to all those parties, I probably shouldn't have skipped classes, and I probably should have studied. But that was after the fact, and now when I ask my parents for a second chance for an education they just turn the cold shoulder and say, \"you've shown us once you can't do it, you would show us again if you had the chance.\" That was the most painful part I asked, and when it really mattered, nothing came. All of those shoes, that new phone, the laptop, and dark chocolate. I would have traded it all if at that moment my parents had said: \"okay, we'll give you another chance\" then none of it would have mattered, none of it but a second chance at life.\n\nI screamed out in agony \"anybody, anybody, ANYBODY. . . anybody?\" \n\nA beat, and then a cackle sounded. I looked around, seated on the park bench across from me sat a hunched over figure. He wore a tattered top hat along with an oversized coat that may have been originally blue. One of his boots was missing and the other not far behind, his crippled stature was only supported by the makeshift cane he held onto with both hands. The obnoxious howling laughter continued until his hyena-like barking broke out into a cough. Trodding his way towards me he introduced himself, \"The King of the Beggars Grimoire hears your prayers, and they will not go unanswered.\"\n\nSo he was a beggar as well. Great. His hand extended and I reluctantly shook it. When our hands unclasped he produced a twenty dollar bill and waved it back and forth disappointedly, \"tsk tsk tsk now there's no way to make it in this world if you can't even hold onto what little money you have is there?\" I checked my back pocket, sure enough, the twenty dollars that I had was gone. He flashed me a crooked smile. \"It comes with the territory dear, I'm sure you'll understand it soon enough.\"\n\nAstounded, I asked, \"how did you?- I mean- that was amazing!\" he only shook his head no.\n\n\"Don't ask honey, you've been trying that all of your life. Maybe if you tried it yourself something would come out of it.\" He pointed to a pouch fastened on his belt- if you could call it that- it was a frayed rope that circled his fat body. \"Now, if you can take this from me without me feelin' it, its contents are yours to keep, here, just to make things fair I'll blindfold myself.\" He snapped his fingers and a dirty rag snapped around his face, tying itself into a foolproof knot. \"Your move\"\n\nAt first, I tried to lightly unfasten the bag, with the stealth of a fox. But this proved to be ineffective. At each attempt, my hand was caught and I was given a sharp slap to the wrist. I tried to wrap my head around it, how did he take my twenty dollars? Suddenly it hit me.\n\n\"Geez, I don't even know why I'm doing this.\" I pouted.\n\n\"Giving up already dearie? I can see why you didn't make it too far in life\" he remarked.\n\nI shook him for my twenty dollars, \"look just leave me be and give me my money back.\"\n\nHe smiled, an understanding and sly smile, \"as you wish\" and disappeared into the night.\n\nI held the small pouch, he must have known that I had taken it when I was shaking him for my money back. Inside of it was my twenty dollars and a note. 'Penny becomes pound if you rub it with a little elbow grease.\" Now I don't ask for anything I need anymore, I just take it.\n\n&#x200B;", "I sat on the pew, my head bent and my hands clasped, speaking the words I always spoke. Back when I first started coming to this rundown, two room chapel, I'd ramble on for hours, hoping that each word would catch someone's ear. The priest heard me one night, helped me narrow it down, pick clear and concise language so that God would be able to understand. I think he just wanted me to quiet down, but I did as he asked. \n\nDistilled it down to four, short prayers: one wishing for a home, another wishing for a job, a third wishing for a family, and a fourth for happiness. By that time, it'd been about two weeks since I'd lost everything. A freak fire, burning down my apartment the day after I'd lost my job. My parents had passed the year before, and my extended family had never really been a part of my life anyways.\n\n\"Unlucky.\" That's what the insurance agents said, what the loaners said, what the job placement assistants said. Weeks turned into months - by then, I'd gotten into a routine, the words rolling off my tongue practiced and dripping with reverence. The priest told me that my prayers might be better served if I helped the church as well, so I put a dollar in the bin by the door every visit, only to watch him pocket it and the end of every night. I did it anyways, hoping God would take pity on the foolish.\n\nThe words I spoke now weren't the practiced words of a year ago. I didn't have the time for that - the shelter closed in thirty minutes, and if you weren't there on the dot, you didn't get a bed. So I distilled the words down a final time.\n\n\"Shelter. Work. Love. Happiness.\"\n\nI did my due diligence, spoke the words a dozen times. I knew no one was listening. The priest was waiting for his charity in his office behind locked doors. God had taken a vacation after his seven days of overtime, and he certainly wasn't checking his emails. Jesus, Allah, the Buddha, Gandhi - I doubted any of them would help me, especially if they hadn't cared to before. But what would it matter if I tried?\n\n\"If there's anyone out there,\" I said, looking up at the dull popcorn ceiling, \"Please help me.\"\n\nSilence.\n\nWith a sigh, I stood up from the pew, fishing into my wallet for a dollar. I managed to scrounge up three quarters and a dime, so I dropped that in the bin instead. Thank God the shelter served food-\n\n\"Why thank God? You think he'd listen to you after you beg to him every night?\"\n\nI jumped, wheeling to find the voice behind me. A woman sat on one of the pews, looking towards the cross behind the pulpit. I'd walked past her without realizing - was she really there before?\n\n\"Yes and no,\" she said, standing up and walking towards me. She was young, in her late twenties like me, though she looked the part much more than I did. A pair of nice jeans, a light jacket with a scarf - she looked like the people that turned their nose up when they saw someone like me, in my ratty clothes and perpetual winter jacket. \n\nShe frowned slightly. \"Don't think so little of me, James. You'd wear clothes like these if you could afford to.\"\n\n\"How do you know me?\" I asked.\n\n\"Oh, I don't know you, per say,\" she said, a smile curling on her lips. \"But I know people like you. Countless poor souls, blighted by misfortune. One might even call you 'Unlucky'.\"\n\nI could feel something inside me rising at that word, the mockery in her voice as she said it. She knew me, that was for certain, but I didn't know her. I'd met a few con men in the past year who talked about tricks like this, to soften their marks up so they could ease their way into pockets and purses. But as I turned to leave, her hand shot out, gripping my shoulder and yanking me backwards. I spun around, barely managing to catch myself on a pew before I hit the ground.\n\n\"What in God's name did you do that for!\" I said, hauling myself up.\n\n\"Needed to get a better look at you,\" she said, her eyes appraising me as I regained my footing. \"You know, James, everyone has bad luck. Some people may call it karma, some people may think their getting jinxed, but its really all the same.\"\n\n\"Why is it that I seem to have gotten everyone else's share then?\"\n\n\"Sometimes it works that way,\" she shrugged. \"But the pendulum always swings back, James. For every ounce of bad luck in the universe, there's an ounce of good.\"\n\nAs she talked, she strode over to the money bin at the door, brushing her hand against the lock, before pulling down on it with a sharp tug. The lock popped open, and she slid it off, swinging it around on her finger.\n\n\"You've paid your dues, James. Now it's time to collect,\" she said with a smile.\n\nI walked over and peeked into the bin. There was at least fifty dollars in the bottom, way more than I'd ever expect from the patrons of this place. I looked back at the office door, still locked. The priest had to have heard the our conversation, known from the quiet that something was up.\n\n\"Don't worry about him. He splurged on your patronage last time, got himself a box of the Lord's blood. I doubt he's even awake right now,\" she said, throwing an arm around my shoulders. \"Looks like its your lucky day.\"\n\n\"He'll know it was me,\" I said.\n\n\"Does it matter? You'll never come back here again.\"\n\nI reached down for the money, my hand hovering inches above it. I thought of the words, the prayers I'd spoken for the past year. If God hadn't listened to them in all this time, he'd surely ignore them now. A silly superstition, but it was all I had left. As I wavered, a hand brushed past mine, grabbing the bills and tucking them into my pocket.\n\n\"Don't worry, James,\" she said, shaking my shoulders a bit before letting go. \"You can still say your prayers, cling to your little superstitions. I understand better than anyone else the good luck found in rituals and routines.\"\n\nShe walked over to the door, pushing it open and holding it there, waiting for me outside, inviting me into the chilly night air. As I stepped forward through the threshold, the money burning a hole in my pocket, she grinned.\n\n\"Now, however, you say them to me.\"" ]	2
	[WP] Due to a mix up with the paperwork Life and Death get their usual appointments swapped. They now have to begrudgingly spend the day on the phone to talk each other through the different situations they find themselves in.	[ "The hooded figure approached the wailing woman, its gaze impassive and focused. From within its dark robes, it produced a scroll and an hourglass, consulting them briefly.\n\nThe baby was due, and soon.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAs the woman’s cries were joined by the whining of a newborn rudely thrust into the world, the figure adjusted its grip on the scythe it carried. This was a scene the figure had encountered many times. It would not be surprised to visit the woman again soon.\n\nSwiftly, with practiced precision, the scythe came down.\n\nThe baby gasped, once, and then stilled.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nA bright, blue light appeared in the air above the tiny body, humming with otherworldly energy. The figure reached out with a bony hand, and gently took it, vanishing it within the folds of its robes.\n\nSeemingly oblivious to the chaos that had erupted, the dark figure turned and consulted its scroll once more. If it had a face, it would have frowned. There were a lot of babies on the list today.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n“Come on baby, don’t fear the reaper -“\n\nStartled, the figure answered his ringing phone.\n\n“YES.”\n\n“Dee? Dee is that you? Oh thank heavens, I could get no reception for the longest time - “\n\n“LIFE. I AM BUSY. WHAT IS IT THAT YOU REQUIRE?”\n\n“Okay, okay. Someone from Corporate mixed up our scrolls, and I only noticed it when I visited the first name on the list. I can’t more alive a live person!” Life chuckled. “Now PLEASE tell me you haven’t started work yet.”\n\nDeath’s mind blanked.\n\n“UH.”\n\n“Oh. Oh, no.”\n\n&#x200B;\n\nDeath turned back to gaze at the baby, who was grey and decidedly dead. He heard Life blow a shaky breath over the phone.\n\n“Okay. Okay, we can fix this. How many, uh, souls have you claimed?” Death could hear the worry in his counterpart’s voice.\n\n“JUST THE ONE. I HAVE NOT LEFT.”\n\n“Good! Good, great. Just take the soul, and place it back into the body. I think that should do it.”\n\n&#x200B;\n\nDeath approached the small form, withdrawing its soul from his care as he did so. The soul buzzed in his grip, making his bones vibrate lightly. Ignoring the frantic scrambling of the doctors as they worked to revive the infant, he held out his hand over the baby. Death hesitated. This was way beyond his expertise.\n\n“I…I AM UNSURE OF HOW TO PROCEED,” he admitted.\n\n“Just, uh, kind of…push the soul back in.”\n\nDeath reached in….and put the soul back.\n\nA moment passed, and then two. “IT DOES NOT SEEM TO BE WORKING,” Death began, worry tinging his voice. “PERHAPS I -“\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe baby opened her eyes, and looked straight at Death. A split second later, she began to wail. Shocked from the intensity of that gaze, and the fact that she had actually seen him, Death took a step back. Life, who had heard the baby’s cries, whooped over the phone.\n\n“Nice! Good work, Dee. Okay, let’s meet to switch back -“\n\n“NO.”\n\nLife faltered. “I’m sorry?”\n\n“I HAVE GIVEN A LIFE. YOU MUST BALANCE IT OUT. YOU MUST TAKE ONE.”\n\n“Dee, you know I can’t do that.”\n\n“YOU MUST. I WILL GUIDE YOU.”\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThere was silence on the other end of the line. Then, Death heard Life’s crackly sigh.\n\n“Okay, let’s do this.”" ]	1
	[WP] Dogs are Man's best friend for more than them being good boys; they portable magic blockers. Due to their prevalence on Earth, magic is nigh impossible here, but out in space, anything is possible. When friendly first contact has been made, Humans begin to board space stations, with their dogs.	[ "######[](#dropcap)\n\"Platz!\" Staff Sargent Weltraum commanded his wardog Hellmüt. The armored canine did as ordered and crouched along the hull, held in place by four magnetic boots. Ahead of them, Corporal Garcia worked the C8 against the frame of the hatch. Unlike it's older counterpart, C8 melted and disintegrated metal without explosion. Far more practical during ship boarding than C4 and far quieter. \n\nNext to him Lance Corporal Haines swallowed a frog deep into his throat mic, it sounded like a deep drum in the sensitive pickup. Weltraum turned to him and pressed a single finger against his faceplate. The nervous Marine nodded in acknowledgement, sweat nearly overcoming his suit's atmospheric compensators. The handler could almost forgive the young Marine. Ship boarding was notoriously dangerous and this was his first. \n\nShip boarding against the Vogel was even more dangerous. \n\nBut that's why he and Hellmüt were here. Anti-Vogel weaponry. Granted, Hellmüt did all the work, but Hellmüt did what Weltraum told him. 5812s were in high demand these days and the Weltraum/Hellmüt team were the best. At least that's what Weltraum boasted the Raider team when he was assigned. Haines shouldn't even be here, but his skillset was also not organic to the Raider team. \n\nCaptain Keller came up behind him, her magnetic boots softly clicking between steps, and tapped his shoulder. Weltraum nodded at the team leader and acknowledged her hand signals, chatter was kept to a minimum. In fact, as a handler, he had the most room to talk, but only on a direct line to Hellmüt. Keller held up two fingers and rolled her hand back and forth. Message was received. SSgt Weltraum nodded again. \n\nAs he refocused his attention forward, the C8 finished its sizzling destruction of the hullplate. It failed to fall to the deck as the massive bulks known as Sergeants Grimes and Gregor pulled the slice of hull away on magnetic clamps. Two other Marines flanked them and hooked inward silently, scoping down the corridor in opposite directions. The removed hull was gently discarded inside the docking blister. Stealth was the effort of the day. \n\nThe remaining fifteen Marines of the reinforced SOC team inserted themselves in file, carefully transitioning to the artificial gravity of the Vogel vessel. \"Foos\" drew Hellmüt alongside as the main force pushed toward the aft of the ship. Two Marines lagged behind to fuse the forward hatch in place, preventing a rear ambush. SSgt Weltraum scanned ahead with his M32 Magnetic-Assist-Sabot-Tungsten Rifle (MASTeR) sweeping every angle as he mirrored the Marine in front of him, ensuring no new surprises filled the ghosted-gaps. Hellmüt crawled along slowly, keeping a low profile. Haines followed uncomfortably in tow, doing his best to keep shoulders level with harder men and women. \n\nWeltraum felt bad for the kid, even he had been slightly awestruck to move from his MP company to be attached to a Raider team. Few Infantry gorillas qualified for the elite infiltration teams and Haines was just a geek in MARPAT. Smart as a whip and not a bad shot, per his record jacket, but out of his element. Every Marine a rifleman, far fewer a Raider. Hellmüt and Weltraum had one job: protect one of maybe a dozen Marines who knew how to read Vogel, crack their computers, and was zero-g qualified. \n\nThis was a tech raid and a near suicidal one at that. Insert, secure the code, secure the package, blow themselves out of the ship, and survive for a high-speed pickup. \n\nEven half the Raiders had notched eyebrows at that brief, but J-2 had laid it all out and the SF pilots were the best in the fleet. Weltraum wasn't sure how much his pooch was going to enjoy an explosive decompression jettison into space even with his full armor kit. \n\nFour hatches deep into the Vogel ship with narry an avian-like alien in sight. It was too easy and making everyone nervous. They'd cautiously sealed every side hatch they'd come across, fusing the metal with the C8b derivative. It was half as powerful as the original formula which meant it slagged itself halfway thru the job and hardened. No one should be able to surprise them, but one of the Vogel should have sounded an alarm by now. \n\nHellmüt snarled and turned back to face one of the sealed hatches, Weltraum saw its edges glow blue. \"Zurückweichen,\" he commanded the hound and in the same breath, \"Everyone, BRACE.\" He clicked his heels and leaned back into the bulkhead bracing for the impending blast. It came seconds later vibrating his teeth and rattling brain housing group. His vision blurred as a pair of Vogel War Mages pushed into the hall with their electric-blue magics pulsing along their claw-like fingers.\n\n\"Strum!\" was the signal and Hellmüt lept forward snarling through his jaw-rig, brandishing 6cm titanium fangs like a cybernetic hellbeast. It was of course an external augmentation the dog had learned to control through internal mimicry, but the effect was just as lethal and terrifying to a Vogal mage. They froze for an instant as they were best by creature of focused malice, one that bleed them of their powers. The first fell to the four-legged Marine, while the startled second fell victim to a dozen tungsten rounds fired by both Weltraum and Sergeant Grimes. \n\nThe hulking raider, Grimes shook a knife hand aft, \"Fast, I'm dropping therms.\"\n\nOn his cue, the team pressed fast down the hall as the last man pulled pins on two flash-therm grenades and tossed them down the open wound in the ship. They exploded with concussive force and expanded in a hot goo that hardened into rock-like foam. No one was coming down that hall for a long time. \n\n\"So much for too quiet,\" Weltraum muttered to himself, \"Komm, Hellmüt. Time to earn our pay.\"" ]	1
	[WP] You hear a thunderous crack overhead, followed by a large tremor and an intense flash of light that nearly blinds you. When your vision clears you see something startlingly horrifying and yet beautiful. You want to look away but are drawn in the more you look.	[ "I stumbled back trying to cover both my eyes and ears. Possibilities raced through my mind. Was it a flashbang? A bomb? Why here, in my apartment?\n\nMy vision slowly adjusts, although a stabbing pain behind my eyeballs remained. A grotesque thing lay in front of me. I took another step back, looking away but curiosity got the better of me.\n\nIt glinted in that strange shifting hue that I'd seen before, like bird feathers or car paint. It was purple from a certain angle and green from another. Despite the pretty color, it looked like a decaying human heart, with valves and holes puckering the otherwise smooth surface.\n\nHow had it gotten here? I pulled out my phone to call the police, but halfway through I stopped. What was it? I prodded it with the edge of my slipper to find that it was hard, almost crystalline. I was drawn in by an interminable force as if it was willing me to touch it. Strange, I thought, so very strange.\n\nIn my heart I knew that I should avoid it. There was some portion of my head screaming at me to get away to call for help. I reached out and my fingertips brushed the surface. My head exploded with pain.\n\nThoughts started lancing through my mind, memories that weren't my own, visions of things that had happed before and after my time. When I woke up again I was inside the thing, I was surrounded by hard greenish purple walls. As thousands had before me, I realized what was going to happen. Then with a flash of light, even that disappeared." ]	1
	[WP] You wake up after what seemed like an eternity. Your body feels strange and different. You open your eyes, and doctors are staring down at you. You are the result of the world’s first successful brain transplant.	[ "Light, blinding blue-white light was the first thing they saw. It hurt them to look at the light. Their vision slowly began to adjust to the surrounding around them, they could see hazy images appearing along the corner. They saw that the light was hanging in the sky. They knew there was a word for it, a word they could not remember.\n\nThey began to hear. \n\nThat's what the feeling was, they turned towards the side where they heard the disturbance. The disturbance stopped and was replaced by a feeling of vacant space. They then heard voices. That's what those were. They returned their head back to center and saw new images pushing in on their field of vision. They saw that the light was suspended, it was held by something. Then they saw tall block of masses that were in black and white. They saw one of the masses extend a large black mass towards themselves and they heard the black mass say something to them, they could not understand, they started to feel fear and they started to hear a thump-thump, a sound that shook their body, they had a body they realized. They heard the masses say something and they felt a pricking pain on their sides and their vision slowly started to blur and they began to forget again. \n\nThey woke up again and they were staring at the same lights again, but this time the lights were dimmed, they did not hurt to look at, they saw that there were fewer black masses around them. The black masses were not black, they were white. They began to recall colors. One of the black masses said something to them again, it was a high pitched drone that hurt their ears. They moved their head to the side hoping that the black mass would leave them alone. Their eyes, they had eyes now, saw that they were looking at a long line on which were kept smaller black masses. They felt pain in their head, pain that bore its way into their center. They began to scream, they could scream now. They heard movement all around them and then felt the prick of their skin again and they heard one of the black-white masses tell him something and they slept. \n\nThey woke up again and they could see the lights of the ceiling. They saw something stand next to them and they turned their head towards the being and saw that it was standing on two legs and had a cover that extended from their head to their feet. The being saw them and smiled and began to shout, a sound that was grating on their ears, they wanted them to shut up. The being came closer to them, they were scared, the being touched their head and ran their hand through his hair. Their head was paining again, \n\nWhat was a he? they thought,\n\nThey felt a motion on their side and could feel an extension of their body on either side, they lifted his hands for the first time. And they began to scream, he wanted to know what happening, he was scared in their head. They felt something being pressed on their mouth, they could feel their face now, and they passed out. \n\nThey woke up again and they noticed that they were alone and the light was dark. They could feel the breath come in and go out, they could feel their lungs fill up and push out the air, they could hear the beating of their heart and the sound that their joints were making as they moved their hands and legs, they could feel their body now. There was a sliver of light that was coming into the room, they knew what a room was, nobody had told them that they were in a room. Their brain, they had a brain, knew what it was. \n\nThey could feel that their breathing had stopped and that their nose wasn't taking in the air, they could feel their hands and feet were frozen stiff, they could hear the increased speed at which their heart was beating. They wanted to thrash the feeling away, they wanted to scream. They heard someone. Someone telling them something from far away. It was a voice, the voice wanted them to fight. They began to hear high pitched mechanical screaming and light flooded their room and people streamed in, running. They began to touch them with cold metallic objects and began to look at monitors. They were doctors, that voice was telling them, they are going to help us. The Doctors were looking at numbers on monitors, those tell them what is wrong with us, with me. They did not understand where the voice was coming from, they felt it was coming from within themselves. They heard one of the Doctor tell something and they heard the other Doctors say something shorter and then the saw their vision blur. \n\nWhen he woke up he was lying on a hospital bed and was surrounded by hospital staff who were constantly taking his vitals. He had been fighting to come to the surface, he had been drowning for a long time, fighting a being that wasn't human which was dragging him down into oblivion. He had been the being before the being came ahead of him. It had taken him a long time to make the being understand that they were one and the same, two sides of the same coin. The nurse who was taking his vitals turned around and saw that he was awake, \n\n\"Hello, Mister Bezoz. Are you feeling alright?\"\n\n\"Splendid,\" He said. \n\n- The End. \n________________________________________________\n\nMore stories over at r/pandafromars.", "(Okay so I wasn't sure where this would go, it ended up a bit of a philosophical introspection... don't judge me too harshly).\n\n&#x200B;\n\nWhen I was thirteen, I was diagnosed with an arrhythmia. My mother cried, the doctor had callously informed her that I was in a heart attack \"high risk group\". Growing up, I had found some familiarity in the stuttering, faltering pace that my heart made. It would beat hard when I marched up stairs, it would threaten to cease in my sleep and I would wake up in sweats. To the mind of a teenager, endlessly seeking meaning in the meaningless, I decided that it was an important reminder. A journey wasn't always perfect, plans would not always come to fruition as expected, but it was in our ability to continue regardless, our resilience, that counted. That's how I saw my heart, resilient.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThis heart was different. It was regular, strong and unyielding. It told a story of regimented discipline, of hard work and the benefits thereof. My arms were tight, they ached slightly at my shoulder and as I lifted my hand off of the bed, I saw the skin was darker. The olive pigment of my skin was something I had lusted after in my previous life, but genetics had always thwarted me. My hands fell down to the bed and my eyes focused on the faces around me, eagerly scrawling down notes and findings. A myriad of screens beeped and flashed all around me. Their content was a mystery to me but the doctors seemed to watch them with great interest.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nA woman, blue eyed and wrinkled leant back, her jaw open. It was disbelief at first, followed by joy. I did what I could to smile back but my face would not respond. Instead, it contorted - my teeth were on show but my eyes did not move. It occurred to me that I no longer knew how to smile. Moving my hand seemed trivial, but the complexity of a grin had never dawned on me. I opened my mouth to speak, to let them know I was okay, but my tongue fell limp and all I could muster was a noise, the type of noise an infant makes in moments of hunger. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nOn my back, limp, I began to think inwardly about the journey I had been on. I had grown sick of my feeble form, my constant defects, but I had found meaning in all of those defects. In this new form, this strong, barrel chested suit, I had no meaning. Before the procedure, I had written that this was to be a rebirth. Now, I saw it for what it truly was. They had moved my synapses, they had made copies of my memories and all of the superficial things that made me who I was, but had failed to capture the essence of my being. That had been allowed to die in my withered form.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI, in all the ways I knew, had died. I was not reborn, reincarnated or rejuvenated. I was reanimated. More ghost than man. This was not my flesh, someone had died and left me with their mistakes and their habits. I closed my eyes and begged for a malfunction. " ]	2
	[WP] Write a short story of several paragraphs, which you can read in any order, but the order in which you read the paragraphs changes the nuance/meaning of the story	[ "...So here I am watching and waiting. As far a I know, this vile person might not even be here. I will still wait and hope that he comes, to get what he deserves for taking the only person who cared for me. Despite the abuse, he cared for me...I think I hear someone coming.\n\n...And just like that he's dead. Stripped from my live. Times were hard before, but now that he's gone I don't know what to do. I feel better that he's not bothering my life, but I feel the pain of not talking to him before it was too late.\n\n...It has been several months now. I think I can forgive the actions taken against me. Deep down I know I will continue to play this out in my mind’s eye, and it will continue to hurt so deeply. I pray I have the strength to overcome this, but I do wonder if I am that strong of a person.", "It was time to go back to the creek, back to the kennels. Whistler walked through the yard, feeling the familiar tickle-itch as blades of grass brushed her thighs. She heard the high hum of cicadas, and somewhere close the throaty run of the creek. She slowed as she neared the kennels. The chicken wire had long ago succumbed to kudzu, and Whistler felt a familiar pang in her gut as she looked at the rusty metal and vines overwhelming the spot where Tansy and Lightning should have been… Even though it was twenty-five years later and no dog is meant to live past eighteen. She knew it was an old wound, but she still couldn’t forgive her daddy for shooting them, not even after he was fresh-dead and decaying in the ground.\n\nShe knelt down to pull at the kudzu, to see if she might could salvage not so much the metal but the lost days. The days of running with dogs and flinging herself cattywampus into the creek and sneaking in at night muddy and sore and happy. A stick snapped to the left, at the edge of the woods, she turned her head gradually, long buried hunting instincts pumping through her veins. There was a big something there, all darker than black and blurred angles and human shaped. It stared at her for a moment, if something can stare without eyes, then turned and faded into the trees. Whistler had heard of things like that up in the mountains, heard them called Shadow People, and Dikaneidsi, and spirits, and ghosts. But her Uncle Mac always called them haints. And now he was a haint himself. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nThey say when you see a haint, your blood runs cold and you gain the Sight. That they’ll whisper tales of heaven and hell and all that lies in between. You’ll see barren grapevines spring to fruition and red hawks soaring into the noon sun, and then you’ll blink and what was infertile is still infertile, and the hawks are disappearing like the owls, and the bobcat, and the red fox. And your insides will feel like they're aching and breaking and tearing apart at the seams. And you’ll want to die, because you see the secrets of life and death and time creeping up in your head, and you want to forget, but you can’t because you Saw, and once you See, it’s burned into your soul.\n\n&#x200B;", "My mission is clear, and yet, my thoughts are clouded. I made a mistake. I hate making mistakes. Not because they set me back, but because they remind me of the punishments. Years and years of punishment. A flashing pain in my gut forces me to focus again. I steel my mind for the next encounter. \nNo more mistakes. \n\nThe tender eyes of a boy stare at me. Brimming with innocence and tinged with fear, they beg for help. Only a few meters away, his captors lie asleep. The room is quiet yet filled with a silent scream for my help. Iron shackles eating away at his wrists and ankles, emaciation exposes his ribs, and cracked lips bleeding into the gag at his mouth. His only sin is preaching hope. The penance for such actions sparks rebellions, and The Order, they quell these hopes.\n\n\nWHIP\nMy vision turns white, the pain flares through my back and burns into my spine. I've been careless. The Order holds me prisoner for my sins. Vengeance, justice, sympathy. All meaningless and forlorn in this hellhole. The order has taken everything I love, and burned it before my own eyes. \nWHIP\nAgain, the searing pain at my back. My mind grows tired. Not from the pain, not from the hunger, but from the system. I have fought long and hard and now. A rebellion has died. \nI can only look up and ponder.\n\nThe Order looms precariously in the distance. Every task of mine before this one pales in comparison. I can not fail. I will not fail. I know what I must secure, and my conviction is hardened with every death I come across. So I plan. I am prepared to forfeit my body, to endure pain, and to lose my life. As long as I can save the people from the pain I've had to face. I may be shackled but I am not restrained. Tonight, I retaliate when they don't see and find vengeance.\n\n\n\nNo mercy. Not for the orphans, not for the widows, and surely none for the ill. \nKill or be Killed. Steal or be stolen. Abuse or be abused.\nThat is the mantra of the elders. Those who die, die painful deaths. Those who survive are made to produce the drug. Those who show promise are trained in their martial arts; becoming their instruments of war and collection. The allure of food and shelter draw in the unknowing, and from there, they are trapped. Revolutions are always quelled. \nBut not tonight.", "The night was silent, yet I was unable to tell why. Not a cricket, not a broken twig, not a breath of wind. There wasn't anything that was wrong, but there wasn't anything that was right either. Perhaps that's the reason I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard her giggling. \n\n\\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\"Why do you do that?\" I said, turning towards her.\n\n\"What?\" \n\n\"You know what.\"\n\n\"No, I couldn't possibly.\" she grinned.\n\n\"Liar.\"\n\n\"Are we going to do this or what?\"\n\n\\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nShe always wanted to try it, but I had always chickened out before. Jumping off a bridge was not an experience I wanted to have. But, seeing her standing there on the edge, I could hardly think about backing out. She seemed so ready, and sure of herself as she always was, and there was no way I'd ever get in the way of that. \n\nMy heart leapt in my chest as she vanished over the edge. \n\n\\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------", "I find myself wondering what time it is, briefly thinking about if I have time to sleep right now, or if I am supposed to be up and doing stuff. There was always more to do, my tasks are never finished, and I feel exhausted for a moment, just thinking about how many things I need to do. I enjoy every moment of my busy schedule, but I have so little time to sleep, I cherish every moment I get.\n\nI stretch out across the bed, feeling the soft fabric across my skins, and smile a tranquil smile. It feels so good to stretch my muscles, and my mouth moves in a peaceful stretch. There is absolutely nothing wrong in the moment, the day is absolutely perfect, and I feel so wonderful. Nothing can ruin this moment.\n\nThe room is silent except for my slow deep breaths, and I feel so peaceful and tranquil. I take in a long deep breath, enjoying the absolute silence, the tranquility of the moment, and then breathe it out, my entire body is so relaxed as I lay there, my mind empty from drowsiness.\n\n\n****\n\nPlease let me know if you think I succeeded in this challenge.\n\nThis is the order that I wrote the sentences to be read in. Do you think I accomplished these goals, or was one ways of reading it not clear?\n\nFirst > Second > Third = Person whose day is done goes to sleep \nSecond > Third > First = Person who wakes up and can't decide if they want sleep in or get up. \nThird > First > Second = Person who wakes up and decides they will have a good day \nThird > Second > First = Person who wakes up in the morning. \n\nIf you like my writing, you can find more of it at /r/iruleatants", "Artemis looked down on the body of his dead lover with disbelief. How did it get this far?* He cradled her in his arms, sobbing. What had he done? This was all his fault; He couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t change his nature, but for her to react as she did? For her to claim innocence, as if she was the only victim of a doomed love? It wasn’t fair—to either of them. Kartha was the love of his life, and he would do anything and everything for her. She would realize this—if only he could talk to her again.\n\nExcept—he could. Artemis sat her down on the floor, stepped back, and drew the wand from his robes. His cloak billowed as if from a great wind, his eyes turned black, and dark tendrils of power burst from his wand, into her dead heart. Black ichor ran through her veins; she sat up, turning to face him. \n\n“Why bring me back to life?” Kartha asked quietly. \n\nAs if she didn’t know. \n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nRage built up inside Artemis. Even now, after all this time, she claimed innocence? No—he had to make her understand, what she did was wrong. He lowered his wand, aiming towards her. Kartha crawled back towards the wall, pleading.\n\n“I loved you, and you betrayed me,” he said. \n\n“No—please. I didn’t do anything. Please—you have to believe me.” Kartha said. \n\n“How can you not remember? You left me; you walked away. You brought this on yourself.”\n\n“Please don’t do this,” She said, a lump forming in her throat, “I won’t fight you, not anymore”\n\nShe was willing to sacrifice herself for their daughter, but unwilling to fight for herself. Artemis looked down on her in disdain. A beam of red lightning forked through his wand, and she fell to the ground. He knelt in front of her, gently holding her fallen body, tears in his eyes. \n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;\n\nKartha was silent, her expression cold as the grave, and the wizard spoke.\n\n“I know you must hate me, for what I did. I know you blame me for everything, and I understand.”\n\nArtemis stared into her face, so gentle, once filled with warmth and love. He remembered when they first met. It was over forty years ago; he was riding out on horseback, she was sent to kill him —\n\nArtemis turned, barely fast enough to deflect her spell. She ducked underneath his retort; moving to close the distance between them. She was fast, but he was clever. As she jumped to tackle him, Artemis cast a spell at the ground beneath him; it turned to water, and he dropped like a stone. She fell above him, and he raised his wand, casting a binding spell. It hit her exposed side; magic ropes bound her arms and legs. She fell into the water as he swam to the surface. \n\nHe could have let her drown, but something stopped him. Maybe it was the look of determination in her eyes, or maybe it was just out of pity, but he cast another spell, and she began to float upwards. He brought her out of the water, setting her on dry ground— \n\nBrought back to the present, Artemis looked at his lover with tears in his eyes. Nothing had changed— their love was suffocating; It took him far too long to realize this. \n\n***\nThis was a real challenge, and a fun prompt to work with, thank you! \n\nr/BLT_WITH_RANCH &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[More from this series](https://www.reddit.com/r/BLT_WITH_RANCH/comments/9vdyhr/arhalym_chronicles/) ", "(it's only two paragraphs but I thought it would be cool if I did a thing where it's polar opposites)\n\n\nI'll always love her. There's not a moment I would spend away from her. There's not a thing about her that I would change. From the bottom of her toes to the tip of her head she is perfect for me. When we first started our relationship I was a bit hesitant. \"What if she's not like the others?\" I thought. But then when I kissed her all my doubts vanished. I only wish I had more time with her. Then my days at work wouldn't be so long and painful.\n\nShe died a few days ago. I went to her funeral. She was so beautiful. I cried then. There were too many emotions for me. Why her? Why did I have to fall for her? I won't let this stop me though. I'll always love you my dear. ", "Now I feel something... something exciting.\n\nIt feels amazing, but only for a short while. Until I do it again.\n\nI wonder how that is to be ? All I did was take a life, for a life.\n\nI killed a man, never my fault. He tried to frame me with the things he's done, it is done. \n\nHis lifeless body lied on the ground, never to awake anymore.\n\nAnd so I did.\n\nI wanted to feel alive, I wanted to feel like I was doing something right by my own standards.\n\nBut it never works... Maybe I should do something else that could make me feel alive.\n\nSomething crazy and exhilarating, something that gets my heart pumping.\n\nI need to do something, something that can only be done by people like me.\n\n---This is hard as hell, first time doing it.", "I don't know if I trust her, she has been acting normal enough, but part of me, perhaps the savage animal in me, sees a difference in her posture and bearing that I cannot quite describe, it is imperceptible and yet weighs heavy on the atmosphere of this, like a swamp, as its humid fog presses you deeper into the slick mire below. \n\nHe believes me. I believe him. I can tell. I am certain. He trusts me now. I can love him again. I can love him forever and he will never have to try and leave again. I can be with him. He can be with me. There is no more struggle. This is perfect. \n\nI think this might actually work, she might be warming to the idea, if they are both okay with the relationship then we can work through this, I won't have to compromise at all, this is going to work, this might end up better than I had ever hoped, this is great.\n\nHe is going to bring her to me. He is going to deliver her to my feet. He is going to watch. He is going to watch and he will be mine forever. He will learn to obey me forever. He will be mine. No question. No worry. No hesitation. He can do what he wants but he is still mine. He is mine. " ]	9
	[WP] you are a mimic: a creature that disguises as a treasure chest, a table, or anything you could find in a dungeon. Today you’ve decided to end tradition and become a merchant on the surface world.	[ "“Damnit!” A young adult swears, voice cracking in adolescent rage. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Damn thing ate my money again!”\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Dude, stop stuffing five dollar notes into it, you know it’s bugged.”\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Yeah but that’s all I had!”\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Not anymore you don’t.”\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Shut up.” With one last kick to the machine the pair leave.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUnbeknownst to them, the final kick had unbalanced the desired chocolate bar and over a minute later of precarious balance, another customer came along, this time without any five dollar notes.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nInserting his coins he found himself gifted with an additional chocolate bar.\n\n\n\n\n\n“Score!” He cheered retrieving his prize before wandering off.\n", "It wasn't hard to start up the shop. Years of adventurers trying and failing the various dungeons had amassed quite a collection. All that was needed was to organize them by class eaten and the store almost created itself! The venue was tricky but with some careful planning and threatening to eat the local baron, I now have my own establishment!\n\nI distinctly recall my first customers. They were an adventuring group wanting to gear up for their next dungeon. As they filed in my store, I could barely contain my excitement!\n\n\"WELCOME FINE ADVENTURERS!\" I exclaimed gleefully \"Please come in! What can I do to aid you in your coming quest?\"\n\nThe members swiveled to the counter where I was resting, eyes gleaming between the boards and smile wide. I decided that a treasure chest would be the most suitable form to take during business hours. 'Thought it would be easier to do commerce that way. However, their reaction was... unfortunately expected. \n\n\"Mimic!\" The druid screamed \n\n\"Quick, kill it!\" squealed the rogue as she unsheathed her daggers. \n\n\"Wait!\" I materialized a pair of wood-like arms to stop the five adventurers with arms and spells bared at me \"Calm down, we don't need to hurt anyone here.\"\n\n\"What did you do with the shopkeeper monster?\" the Paladin said, sword inches away from my lid.\n\n\"I am the shopkeeper!\"\n\n\"... what?\" \n\nThe look of confusion spread from face to face. Whatever answer they were expecting, it clearly wasn't that.\n\n\"I am the owner and curator of the Chest's Belly, finest buyer and seller of used, salvaged, and procured adventuring good in the land! I thought the name would have let you on that it was a mimic-run establishment. If you would like to see them I have the papers just behind the counter.\"\n\nA wave of dumbstruck silence fell over the room as they tried to process what they were hearing. Finally, the spellcaster (Storm Wizard by the look of it) spoke up.\n\n\"So... What do you have to sell?\"\n\n\"Only the finest weapons, relics, and items for adventurers ranging from first-timers to hardened veterans! Apologies for the lack of armor or regalia. Most of my stock is in need of mending.\"\n\n\"And pray tell,\" the Paladin inquired, blade still in hand \"How exactly did you come to amass such a 'collection?'\"\n\n\"Oh simple,\" I replied, \"I took them from other adventurers.\"\n\nthen the silence fell in the room again.\n\n\"Oh, and from the various dungeons, castles, and strongholds I have worked in. Just to give you a better idea.\" \n\"Wait,\" the druid seemed pretty apprehensive for a seven-foot-high mass of muscle \"If you've been killing adventurers for these...\"\n\n\"More like eaten actually.\"\n\n\"I see... But back to the point, why are you here? Why would a small mimic set up a shop to sell things in order to make it easier for adventurers to raid dungeons?\"\n\n\"Ah... a good question.\"\n\nI needed to say the right thing. With the paladin itching to hack me to bits and the others still unsure, this moment required careful planning. Like what item would an adventurer least expect to eat them alive? Finally, I took a deep breath and spoke.\n\n\"The thing is, I have grown bored of being hired to guard dungeons. I started only barely escaping parties with my life, but as I grew up and got better at my job, I became almost unstoppable. To this day I take pride in being an undefeated minion and thus my hiring feed became exorbitant. I honestly made as much off of them as I did the likes of you.\" \n'However... The whole thing became monotonous. Adventurers would make the same basic mistakes over and over again. Eventually, I would just let them pass out of sheer pity for their ineptitude. After years of working in almost every dungeon for miles and seeing every trick in the adventurer's book, I realized that I was growing bored. Someone needed to give these people not just the stuff they wanted, but the things they needed to survive. Someone who has seen countless adventurers from the other side of the fight and can teach their insights to them. So, I gathered all the various spoils of my illustrious career and decided to set up a shop so that I can properly fit you for with the necessary tool to succeed. Now, can we finally do business?\" \nThe Paladin slowly put his sword back in its sheath.\"\n\n\"Excellent. Now, where are you going? I think I have a few maps that could be of use.\"\n\nThey left with a map of the Cathedral of Black Thorns along with some new weapons for the Paladin and Rogue. I also learned that I could count coins inside my belly so that transactions were as easy as swallowing their coins and spitting out their change. Overall an exciting first day as a shopkeeper! I do hope they become regulars.", "Most mimics hate us, and accuse us of ‘spitting in the face of tradition.’ This is because they’re fools who don’t understand that we want more out of life. The days of sitting in a damp and dreary dungeon waiting for some moronic adventurer to fall into our clutches are over.\n\t\nNo more hiding. No more fear. We own a shop in the middle of town and not a soul suspects a thing. To everyone else, I’m a regular merchant from a foreign land and these are just exotic chests and cabinets. We aren’t monsters, and this entire organization certainly isn’t a trap.\n\t\nIt’s so brilliant.\n\t\nI mimic a human, the others stick to the normal routine. We charge exorbitant prices for beautiful furniture with one sickly twist—when you get home, it kills and robs you before returning here. We’re quickly amassing a fortune, but also some unwanted eyes, like the detective I just caught snooping around my shop. He doesn’t know I’m about to push him into a chest.\n\t\nDoesn’t know that when I close it, it’ll eat him alive.\n\t\n“This one’s on the house,” I say, pressing my hands against his back.\n***\nThis is really short, but I hope it's good! If you like this story, check out my sub r/longhandwriter or my [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/BryceBealWriter)" ]	3
	[WP] You were forced to swap bodies with the biggest nerd in school who knowingly did it. Instead of demanding your body back, you decide to teach the nerd some self worth by becoming the most popular person in school in the nerd's body	[ "I hammered hard on my front door, the thumps echoing the pounding in my ears and my racing heart. I was barefoot and shivering, having awoken in a strange but familiar room in the house next door. The house that wasn’t my house, in the body that wasn’t my body.\n\nThe door swung open and I was met by the exasperated face of my father, whose confused features twisted into an angry sneer once he saw the cause of the commotion.\n\n“Yes?” He breathed curtly, glaring at me with icy coolness.\n\n“Da.. Dr Jenkins” I corrected myself “Is – is Jemma here?”\n\nWhat felt like a full minute passed in silence as he took in the sight before him. My father is a formidable and unshakeable man. I could see him dismissing me with a curl of his lip as unworthy of his attention - a pale, gangly and uncouth form who could never hold a torch to his daughter. I could feel myself shrinking into insignificance. To have him looking at me in this way – of course, he had no idea it was me – caused my insides to squirm. He has never regarded me with anything less than admiration and adoration.\n\n“Ellie?” said a voice from behind him. My voice. Well, a more timid version of my voice. My dad’s face immediately relaxed as he turned towards the source of the voice.\n\n“Jem, my love. That – interesting – girl from next door is here to see you” He opened the door wider, so I could see the the girl who looked like me, and see the knowing look he gave her. A look I recognised – we’d had enough of these not-so-kind inside jokes at other people’s expense – and which for sure was not as subtle as I’d imagined. The girl who wasn’t me turned and smiled awkwardly.\n\n“Ellie, come on in, I have your – uh – shoes upstairs” She looked uncomfortable and shaken, taking in my bare feet and thunderous expression. I barely recognised myself, so used am I to seeing myself poised and confident in mirrors and photos. I numbly followed her up to my room, my head spinning. Once we were alone, she started gabbling at a hundred miles an hour.\n\n“Jemma, Jem I’m so sorry. Look, it’s only for a week. I had to pick someone, and you know, we used to be friends and..”\n\n“What are you talking about?” I seethed, finding my voice and a little of my old self “What have you done to me? Do you mean, I’m stuck like this for a whole week?” My voice was quavering, but I took advantage of my new height to draw myself up, towering above her cowering form. I think she thought I was going to hit her – but why would I want to hurt my own body? “Who did this? How?”\n\n“I – I’m not really supposed to say” Ellie said quietly “It’s sort of an - initiation process..”\n\n“What for, your nerd school?” I sneered. Ellie had taken her final exams 3 months early. She was still attending our school, and coming to most of the classes, but our teachers had announced she would have special dispensations to self-study, to gain credits for some unnamed ‘summer program’ she was going to attend.\n\nEllie’s jaw clenched and eyes flashed. The effect of it on my face was quite remarkable - what would have been sulky and childish on the face I now had to bear, looked formidable and chilling on her. My father’s daughter. \n\nI edged past her, pulling out some of my belongings from the drawers and closets in my room, packing them into my favourite duffle bag. “I may have to be in your body, but I don’t have to be in your clothes” I scowled. Ellie didn’t say anything else. I felt her watching me for a few minutes, before I heard her sigh and leave the room.\n\n\\--\n\nMy mind was racing as I returned next door and begun to get ready for school. I’d done my best to fashion together an outfit which didn’t look too awful, but which didn’t look like my usual self. I didn’t want anyone to think that I, Jemma, had lent Ellie any of my clothes. Or, even worse, that my outfits were so common and cheap that even someone like Ellie could copy my look. \n\nI’d considered my options - who can I tell, who can I rely on to help me? If I’d been my old self, I could have demanded my father or mother do something, or confided in my friends. Unfortunately, as Ellie, I had none of the social standing I’d need. They’d think I’d gone insane. I resolved to keep myself to myself and ride out this weird mind trip. \n\nWhen I’d left my house this morning, I gave Ellie a stern warning not to mess up my life in any way.\n\n(cont.)", "\"This, isn't going to plan.\"\n\nIt felt odd, writing in someone else's diary, but for as long as people call me Nigel I planned on writing in Nigel's diary.\n\nThe first four months were great. I made friends, and remade others. My grades are higher than they've even been, despite it all being my usual quality of work (can't wait to call teachers out on that one.)\n\nSeeing that smug child self-sabotage so spectacularly might have elicited a little schadenfreude if I wasn't going to have to deal with the consequences of those down the road.\n\nThis should all feel so... satisfying. Being right should feel so good. So how infuriating it is that it doesn't. It doesn't, therefore it can't be going to plan.\n\nThw lunch hall was getting busier, so I packed the diary away in my bag and continued to mindlessly twirl my fork around in the cold spaghetti. Carla flicked a grain of rice at my nose and, regaining my sense of presence, I looked up to see her grinning. No matter how much I insist her little fangs are cute, she maintains nothing will deter her from 'fixing' them with braces someday.\n\nSecrets are really hard to keep, sometimes. I felt the chemistry, but didn't want to address it, not in someone else's body.\n\nI sighed out loud, somewhat unintentionally. Carla and Ben were the couple people wouldn't quit gossiping about. We were madly in love, and I just left. For all the crap I give Nigel about his insecurities, I threw away my shot at 'the one' because I was terrified of being used. I didn't know it at the time, not consciously, but being sat across from her like this and feeling completely at ease, knowing my inner self was the person she was drawn to this entire time?\n\nI was right about Nigel.\n\nI was wrong about the one person who mattered.", "This wasn't my house. It wasn't my bedroom. And it definitely wasn't my body. I had panicked at first. I was sure I had been drugged, kidnapped, or something. Anything. It wasn't until I got a good look in the mirror that I knew. Somehow, I was in that freak's body.\n\nHer name, now my name, was Lacey McHale, head freak and local goth of the town. I reached up and touched my now short and choppy dark hair. It was shaved on the sides and looked as if Lacey had cut it herself. I cringed in disgust at it. Her room itself was a living nightmare for me. The walls painted purple with every piece of furniture spray painted a dark black. It was far different from my cheerful baby blue and white bedroom that was carefully decorated with a gentle aquatic theme.\n\nOn the dresser sat a couple bottles of prescription medications with a note. The note read \"For depression and anxiety TAKE THESE\" I scoffed at them. Depression was only something losers made up for attention after all.\n\nLooking over at the corner section of the room, I spotted the problem. A dark pentagram had been painted on the floor. Burnt out candles and various objects lie scattered around it. I backed away from it, not wanting to touch whatever dark magic emanated from the area.\n\nThis could help though! It was proof of her demonic exploits. If I could convince someone of who I was, I could expose Lacey for the monster she was! I checked the clock. Lacey hadn't bothered to set it, causing me to sleep in quite a lot, but that meant that the house was probably empty, and her parents had left for work already. I'd just have to do it at school. Surely my friends would recognize me.\n\nI went to the closet and picked out the lightest colored outfit Lacey owned, which happened to be a light grey t shirt and a pair of red jeans with a checkered pattern. Lacey was thin. Grossly thin. We often mocked her for it. I approached her dresser and attempted to find some suitable makeup, but the only things Lacey owned looked like they belonged in the halloween section of a store. I decided to go without any.\n\nI started to make my way out of the house when I had a thought. If I could find more dirt on the girl, perhaps she'd have second thoughts about ever doing this again. A wicked smile stretched across my lips as I spun around and began looking through the home.\n\nAs I searched, I began to feel uneasy. Something was off with this family and not just that one of them knew how to switch bodies with a person through demonic rituals. The house was clean but felt empty. There was very few things in the house aside from basic furniture. Looking at the bedrooms, it seemed like Lacey lived with two sisters and her mother but while they appeared to be a family of four, when I opened the fridge, the only things in it were some old milk and a half carton of eggs. The cabinets were equally barren. The sisters' rooms were of no interest to me, but in the mother's bedroom, sitting on the bathroom counter were a couple needles and some questionable substances in bags. It was then that I noticed the bruises on my arms and shoulder. I started to feel sick.\n\nI left the home with a dreaded feeling in my gut.\n\nDriving Lacey's car was strange. She drive a small cheap pickup truck, much larger and clunkier than my sleek car. It took a couple attempts to start.\n\nThe drive to the high school cleared my mind. I didn't care what her family was like. She stole my body and nothing was going to stop me from getting it back. I pushed all thoughts of her home aside and drove with a newfound determination.\n\nI arrived at the school at lunchtime and spotted my body instantly. Lacey was sitting at MY table, smiling, and joking with MY friends in MY body. Anger surfaced in my mind and without thinking, I stormed over to the table.\n\n\"What the hell are you doing freak?!?\" I demanded, grabbing her by the shirt and jerking her to face me. The instant she recognized her own face, she averted her eyes. One of the girls at the table, Amanda, stood and pulled my hand away from Lacey, glaring daggers at me.\n\n\"How DARE you!\" She screeched. \"What the hell is wrong with you?\"\n\nOne of the other girls, my best friend Riley, chirped in with a viscious smile. \"Looks like the freak forgot her meds this morning.\"\n\nI turned to Riley and pointed at Lacey who shifted uncomfortably. \"That's not me!! I'm me! I'm Courtney! Have you not even noticed?? I'm Courtney not Lacey!!\"\n\nRiley's cruel smile turned to disgust. \"Wow, you're even worse than I thought.\" She said with a sneer. She turned to Amanda. \"Think maybe we should call an asylum for this lunatic?\"\n\n\"More like the police.\" Amanda retorted, \"I think she finally broke. Freaks like her might just hurt someone.\"\n\nI was shaking at this point. Tears threatened to surface in the corners of my eyes. These were my best friends. How could they not recognize that they had been spending the morning with a stranger? How could they not believe me or pause their cruelty to at least hear me out?\n\nHad I really been acting like this the whole time?\n\nIn a fit of anger, I screamed, turned to Lacey and slapped her across the cheek. At this point though, our argument had gathered the attention of surrounding tables. One of the jocks, Thompson, jumped up at the attack and tackled me, holding me down while my best friend screeched for someone to call the principal. I spent the rest of the day in the office and was ultimately suspended.\n\nLater that day, as I was leaving the school, I was approached by Lacey. I felt so drained from all the stress of the day. As she approached, I only whispered a weak \"Stay away from me.\"\n\nBut she didn't stop her approach. She got closer and closer until. . . she put her arms around me in a hug. \"I'm sorry.\" She said gently, \"I didn't mean for all this to happen. I just....\" She let go of me and paused, \"I just couldn't take it anymore, you know..?\"\n\nI stared at her and in that moment, we looked the same. Broken. For me it was something new. My family had money. I always got everything I wanted. I had never felt this truly broken in my life, but looking at Lacey and thinking about her life, I knew it was nothing new for her. This was her life and at that point, I understood. I wouldn't have been able to take it either.\n\n\"I'll switch our bodies back tonight.\" She smiled weakly, \"I'll deal with the suspension and the punishment.\"\n\nI didn't reply. Part of me wanted to attack her, hit her, and scream at her for what she did, but I just didn't have the energy.\n\n\"You forgot to take my meds didn't you? I left you a note and everything...\" Lacey sighed.\n\n\"Just put me back in my body tonight..... freak.\"\n\nWhen I got to Lacey's home, I went straight to bed, though I couldn't sleep for a while. There was shouting downstairs for a long time after Lacey's mother got home. At one point, of the sisters began to cry while the other took most of the damage once her mother got violent. I felt horrible for not stepping in. Or doing anything at all. Once I did finally fall asleep, I had nightmares of Lacey's mother barging in and killing me in my sleep.\n\nWhen I woke up, I was back in my body as promised. Over the course of the next few days, I didn't say much. Lacey was suspended and I didn't get to see her. I spoke very little to my friends and they suspected I was upset about something. Riley even tried to console me, suprising me with chocolates one afternoon. She said she took them from a freshman that morning. They were meant for his crush. Riley said he didn't deserve her. I felt sick after that.\n\nThe next week, Lacey was back in class. She was bullied relentlessly by my peers at first. Finally, I spoke up.\n\nA couple jocks, Thompson, the one who had stopped me from fighting Lacey the week prior, and his buddy had cornered her in a hallway. She was staring down at the floor, saying nothing as they demanded answers on why she attacked. Was she on drugs? Was she stalking me?\n\nI strode over the them and stepped between the football players. They let me in, expecting me grill Lacey for her actions and looking at Lacey, I assume she thought the same.\n\nI took a step towards her and spun around to face the two football players.\n\n\"You guys go. I'll handle this.\" I stated plainly. The two shrugged and walked away. After a moment, I turned back to Lacey who continued to avert her gaze. She seemed surprised when I smiled gently and gave her a pat on the back. \"You doing okay?\"\n\nWe talked for a little while about various things. Eventually, the topic of the body swap came up. Again, she apologized. I smiled and said that I forgave her. Not long after, I gave her my phone number and told her she could call or text me any time.\n\nI started inviting her to sit with me during lunch. A lot of my friends disapproved. Riley flat out stopped speaking to me, but I didn't mind. After the few friends that stayed got to know Lacey, they loved her. She was quiet around those she didn't know, but once she warmed up to them, we all found her morbid sense of humor and peculiar interests to be endearing. We started hanging out more and more. I taught Lacey how to work on her social skills and to be more confident. Lacey taught me how to be more tolerant and understanding of people's struggles.\n\nA few months later, Lacey's mother was arrested. Her two sisters went to live with a relative, but after explaining her situation to my parents, Lacey moved into our guest bedroom. She recieved support from everyone in the school.\n\nLacey won prom queen her senior year. I was the runner up. Lacey wore a long black dress and looked like she was going to attend a funeral and I wore a short pink puffy dress with glittering jewelry. We looked so different, but everybody knew we were inseparable. The two most popular girls in school.\n\nSome would even attest that we knew each other so well, we could switch bodies once a week and nobody would even notice.", "\"This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of,\" I said to Bobby flat out. \n\"It works, Lisa! I know it works!\" \n\"Are you going to demonstrate it?\" I asked, mainly just teasing. \n\"Help me take it to school for the science fair and I'll show you!\" he replied proudly. \nI agreed. Turned out Justin, the football team captain was bent out of shape that I was going to drive Bobby to school on Friday instead of him. He keeps asking me out, but the more I get to know him the more he seems like kind of an ass. \nNevertheless, I picked up Bobby on Friday morning and helped him load his science project into the back of my Camaro. Another car came by and slowed as it passed. \n\"Hey!\" \nCrap, it was Justin. \n\"Found another ride!\" \nHe was sitting in the passenger side of Chelsea's car. \nI walked over while Bobby continued loading his equipment. \n\"What are you doing with that nerd?\" asked Chelsea softly. \n\"Yeah, what are you doing with that nerd?\" asked Justin loudly enough for the neighborhood to hear. I'm sure Bobby pretended not to hear. \n\"He's my neighbor, he just needed help getting his science project to school.\" \n\"What are you doing after cheerleading practice?\" \n\"I've got ju jitsu tonight.\" \n\"Aw, ju jitsu is stupid,\" sneered Justin. He'd gone with me once, trying to get me interested in him. They'd mopped the floor with him. \nChelsea rolled her eyes and I smiled back at her. Have fun with Justin, I thought, and went back to my Camaro to help Bobby get the trunk closed. He really was a nerd, a gangly kid always dressed in rumpled clothes, usually with his head in a book, and unable to look anyone in the eye. But we'd grown up next door to each other. He was a nice guy. Not anyone I'd ever be serious about, though. Chelsea knew that. \n \n--- \nWe set the machine up in the hall behind the science room. There were some of the other geeks setting their projects up when we got there, but it took us longer to get Bobby's set up. I kept trying to weasel out and he kept trying to convince me to wait so he could show me it works. \n\"You wanted to see a demonstration! Just give me a second to finish and I'll show you!\" \nI rolled my eyes. \n\"OK, well explain it to me again.\" \nHe went into a long boring spiel about capturing brain states and storing them in a raid array and transposing them to opposite neural nets. A whole bunch of stuff that sounded kind of like an explanation of how bluetooth headphones work. But it was supposed to switch brains. I figure if it makes me smarter, maybe I'll pass my math quiz during fourth bell today. \n\"OK, ready?\" \nI nodded, really just ready to be done with this and off to class. \nThere was a sort of 'pop!' and I think I passed out. \nI opened my eyes and I was looking in a mirror. Then I saw myself get up. That wasn't me... I looked down at myself, at the rumpled clothes I was wearing. I jumped up, and nearly fell back on my face. How does anyone function with limbs like this? \nI left myself looking astonished in the back hall and ran to the girl's room. There was no one in the halls, first bell must have rung already. In the bathroom I looked in the mirror. I was Bobby. I guess Bobby was me now. I looked at the rumpled clothes, the dishevelled hair. This wouldn't do. \nJust for curiosity's sake I stepped into a stall and unzipped. Hmm. Quite respectable. I'd have to rethink this whole nerd thing. Resisting the temptation to stay and play, I started out. \n\"Hey what are you doing in the girls' room?\" \nI looked over at the hall monitor standing at the door. Of course. \n\"Sorry, my bad,\" I said, brushing past her. I didn't give her time to decide what to do. \nI went back to the science hall, Bobby was gone. I wondered if he was as shocked as I was. No telling where he'd run. I'd have to find him later. I headed back to my locker, opened it up and grabbed my credit card and spare car key. Time to play hookey and get a haircut and some new clothes. I'd be back by lunch and maybe find Bobby and get this straightened out. I sure didn't want to go to his classes. \n \n--- \nStrolled back in a few minutes before the fourth bell. A few people in the courtyard were giving me funny looks. It took me a minute to figure out why. I was walking taller, no slouch, had my glasses- er, Bobby's glasses, in my pocket. Probably looked like a different person. Chelsea looked at me with her eyes wide. I winked and smiled at her. She blushed and looked away. The other cheerleaders laughed, but it was not the derisive laugh that I usually see Bobby get. It was a laugh at someone being bold and getting away with it. \nSuddenly, Justin was standing in front of me. \n\"There you are you little twerp.\" \nI stopped up short. Suddenly the courtyard was quiet. \n\"Trying to steal my girl from me are you?\" \n\"I don't think she's your girl, Justin. In fact, I don't think she even likes you.\" \nThere was a murmur around the yard. Juston looked a shade angry all of a sudden. And I realized in a flash that I was in a very different situation than I was used to. Juston would never take a swing at me. But he would take a swing at Bobby. \nWell, if Bobby would use his math skills to take my quiz next bell, maybe I could use my ju jitsu skills to help him out. I hoped they transferred over. \nJustin shoved me. It was way more strength than a man had ever used on me before and I realized it was a little scary. But for a good ju jitsu showing, I wanted to get him to really commit. I put on my best nonchalant look. \n\"Really?\" I sneered, leaning my chin towards him a bit. \nThe crowd 'ooohed' and he grew enraged and took the bait. He swung hard. \nI slipped the punch easily, having sort of set him up for it. His face got red and he swung again. His rage made it easy to slip the next one. Then he charged and I side stepped and directed him towards the brick wall of the building. His shoulder made a crunchy sound. \nHe sat down hard and I just left him there. \n \n--- \nAfter fourth bell, Chelsea was standing in the in the hallway with some of the other cheerleaders. I walked right up to her, and she was obviously taken aback that Bobby Brenton had the nerve. \n\"Hey Chelsea,\" I said. She looked me up and down. Sharp-dressed, head high, and no problem talking to whatever social class you think you are. She was still trying to figure this out. Keep on it, honey. \n\"Where's Lisa?\" \nChelsea made the right decision to play me straight. \n\"She was in the bathroom all first period and then went home sick. She wouldn't talk to any of us.\"\nNods all around. \n\"OK, thanks. I'll see you around.\" \nI turned and walked without waiting for any acknowledgement. Things are going to be different for you from now on, Bobby Brenton. \nI walked out the doors to my Camaro. Bobby must have walked home. Of course he wouldn't think to take my car. I reached in my jeans and dug out my spare key again. \nJackie Tillman saw me headed towards the parking lot. He ran over, trying to hold all his books and push his glasses up at the same time. \n\"Where you going Bobby? Are you taking Lisa's car? What's going on?\" \n\"Yeah,\" I told him, \"I gotta go check on Lisa. I'll catch you later.\" \nI gave him the chin nod as I turned away, leaving him with his jaw hanging. \n\"Gotta find out what Bobby's doing with my body,\" I finished under my breath. \n", "It was hard enough to tell exactly what had changed — we looked similar enough, always had, but you’d think it would be easier to notice when everything you’ve lived with for all your life is suddenly different. It turns out that having a body just feels like having a body, no matter what body one finds oneself in; their senses fill to the edges of the container. \n\nI thought I was having a bad hair day, a trick of the light had sharpened my nose and brow for a moment in the bathroom mirror — but at school it was undeniable. People were treating me different, but it wasn’t until Dominic came bounding up to me that I finally realized what had happened. \n“Hey Markus! Did we have homework in Gov?” \n\nBut I’m not Markus. I’m Daniel. \n\nPeople had been getting us confused for ages. We grew up together, came up as neighbors in the same tight knit Korean catholic neighborhood. We had known each other and been best friends since the first days of kindergarten when I accidentally ate his lunch, which had been packed in a brown paper bag, just like mine. \nOur parents were friends too, and had been acquaintances for years, but in third grade when. Daniels family moved next door, joint dinners became something of a weekly tradition. My mother and his would discuss their books, spirituality, and petty workplace quibbles wrapped in shawls in the living room, and our fathers would play cards or talk about home, The War, the Chinese, politics, while Daniel and I would sit together on his giant beanbag soda in the basement and play Mortal Kombat on his PlayStation. \n\n“I’m not sure man let me check with DeWitt real quick.” I said, turning across the hall to Markus’ only other friend, who I know has the locker directly across from his. \n“DeWitt what?” He said, pulling his head out from his thick black coat covered in Death Grips patches. \n“Did we have homework for Mrs. Schrems today?” \n“Man I dunno why you askin me?” \nWhy was i asking him, anyway? DeWitt is a nice kid, and Dominic does well enough, but Markus was the real brains of this triangle, and I had bigger things to worry about than whether or not Mrs. schrems wanted to know what we thought about the fourth amendment. \n\nI had to find Markus. I mean me. \nFuck. \nThis is going to be harder than I thought. \n\nThirty seconds later I found myself crouched in the northeast stairwell calling my, I mean daniel’s? Parents. \n“Hey mo—issus Park, it’s Markus, I haven’t heard from Daniel in a couple of days now. Just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” it wasn’t unusual for me to miss school from time to time, and Markus has had a thousand similar conversations with my mom. \n“Oh hi sweetie! He’s just fine, caught the flu last night, poor kid has a temperature of 99.5, I just couldn’t let him go to school,” \nI laughed, fakely, “hahaha okay, just making sure, he usually sends me a text,”. \nMy phone buzzed in my hand. \n“Oh no he’s been laid up all morning. I just let him have his phone back an hour ago. Electronics, they mess with your electrical fields in your brain, I was reading this study...” \nI love my mom but I let her drone on as I checked my phone. \n\nHey man, noticed any “Changes” this morning? \nSent 8:09 a.m. \n\nokay so it’s not just me, wtf is going on here bro?\n\nhahaha good, I’m glad you’re confused. \n\nOkay. What the actual fuck was going on now? \n\nokay, what the actual fuck is going on here? \n\nenjoy your life, loser \nRead 8:11 a.m. \n\nRight. So Markus knew. And not only did he know it sounds like he was the one who caused this. Better and better, this thing kept getting. The only string I had to pull at in his message was the last word. loser. A word I know but have been less and less familiar with as I’ve grown up. Back in middle schools when we were more judgmental, it was easy to separate the world into winners and losers, good and bad, popular and nerdy. Unfortunately Markus and I had always been opposite sides of that dichotomy. I, the section leader in orchestra, he, the third cello. I, captain of our golf team, he, alone playing competitive league of legends. I, social and flirtatious, he, withdrawn, shy, and unfairly judged by all. Loser. I know he’s felt like one all his life he’s told me so. \nWhat broke inside him? I wonder to myself contemplating my next course of action. It didn’t take too long. I did a quick scan of my memories and a few laps around the gym, and I felt confident that Markus’ body, while less disciplined that mine — he has your tai chi muscles now — I thought, the first truly alarming thing to cross my mind since I accepted just what had happened here. If things came down to fists I would hate to fight Markus in my body. That seems like the definition of a no-win scenario to me. \nI shuffled up the stairs into the library. If I was going to truly teach Markus a lesson I would need to be very, very careful. I found every book I could on magic and the occult and sank into the chair I had (as Daniel) pulled offf into a secluded corner. By this time next year, I would be running this school. Markus body or no. \n\nEdit: a word. ", "“Wait, June, you thought I would be the best choice?” \n\nI looked into her eyes. Anybody would have been flattered, I suppose.\n\n“I... You’re just so confident, all the time.”\n\nI looked down, feeling my newly acquired body. Boobs. I finally had boobs! I couldn’t believe it. I briefly looked at myself in the bathroom’s mirror. My ass! Wow. It looked incredible, even under all the layers of clothes.\n\nI looked at her. Trapped in my dark clothes, my former body looked boyish as usual: flat chest, stick-thin legs, and a barely visible ass.\n\n“How? How did you think this was a good idea? Men, June, what should I say...”\n\nJune looked down, avoiding my eyes. She seemed ashamed.\n\n“I finally won’t be scared anymore. You... You’re so strong, Anna. You maybe don’t know it, but you’ve been such an inspiration to me. I just wanted to know how that felt like... From the inside.”\n\n“How long will this last?”\n\n“Six months. That’s what it said on the label of the Reverse Polyjuice Potion.”\n\n“Well, fuck me. It was shitty, June, just a shitty thing to do” I said, shaking my head, her long brown ponytail moving on my shoulders.\n\nShe looked down again, probably to conceal the fact that she was tearing up.\n\n“Well, you know what? Joke’s on you.”\n\n“Huh?”\n\n“Your body looks incredible, June. I am going to have fun with this,” I said, smirking.\n\nJune covered her mouth with her hand. She was still computing all the options in her head.\n\n“I am going to tell the nurse I don’t feel well today. Watch out for my outfit tomorrow, June.”\n\nI opened the door to the girls bathroom, then briefly turned around.\n\n“Oh, and I expect you to improve my grades while I show you what you could do if you could just stand up to your fucking fear for once.”\n\nThe nurse didn’t have any problems believing my splitting headache. What a difference! Of course, everyone believes the nerdy girl. I bet June had never made up an excuse to skip lessons. But I had other plans.\n\nI sneaked out of the dorm and went straight to the seventh floor. At my third passing by, the door magically appeared, exactly as I needed it. Inside, the Room of Requirement was full with clothes, mirrors, lingerie, hairdressing equipment, makeup, and anything else I could possibly need to turn June into the most attractive girl in school. I cranked up the volume on the stereo and went to work.\n\nAs I tried which outfits were the most flattering to my new body, I remembered about the secret party in the tower that night. Cedric was going to be there too. Why wait until the next day, and hide my assets under the uniform? \n\nIn half an hour, my hair looked amazing: long, wavy, light brown. I had opted for a light eye makeup and a nice red lipstick, skinny jeans (I bet June had never even owned a pair of those), a tight green top which left no room to imagination, and a leather jacket.\n\n“Fuck school” I said, looking at sexy badass June in the mirror. “I am going to have fun tonight,” I smiled.", "\"What did you do to me. Aaron?\" he asked me, writhing as he pulled himself out of the chair. \"I feel awful.\"\n\n\"You feel sore, Azree. Like you went for a run for the first time in your life and your body is acclimating to it.\" I answered, feeling around my body, now returned. \"Hey, no hard feelings about this whole body swap thing, ok? Just never do it again. To anyone. Ever.\"\n\nHe nodded quickly, then went back to massaging his legs. I couldn't tell if he was being sincere, but it was a good start compared to before. I pulled him out of the body swapping chair and dragged him out the warehouse, him pulling against me pathetically.\n\n\"What are you gonna do with me?\" he asked, shaking a little in my arms.\n\n\"I'm giving you a ride to school,\" I said, allowing him to walk on his own once he stopped struggling. He looked me up and down and his eyebrows furled together skeptically.\n\n\"Why?\"\n\n\"Because,\" I answered. I heard a crash from inside Azree's house as we passed by. His dad must have woken up. I heard his mom screaming at his dad, and more things being broken inside. I hated what it sounded like on the outside. And I didn't have to imagine what it was like on the inside, since I'd live it. I gave a quick glance at Azree's neck, still lightly scarred from two nights ago. I was in the body when they were fresh cuts. \n\n\"What if I don't want to go to school?\" he protested, still keeping up with my gait. Clearly, he heard what was going on inside as well. \n\n\"Then you can mope in the car,\" I said, jumping in and speeding off as soon as he joined in. \n\nAs we pulled up about a block from the school I turned to him. He had his eyes on the floor the entire time. I saw the group of kids walking by as well as the homeless man on the corner. Seemed like a good spot.\n\n\"Get out,\" I ordered.\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"I'm not going into school with you, nerd, \" I gestured to the door and he got out and slammed the door behind him. I sped off, hoping to catch him before first period.\n\nAfter parking, I got out the car and was punched in the arm. \n\n\"Hey, what was--\" I stopped when I saw a frown on Brad's face. I don't think I had ever seen that before.\n\n\"Show me your phone,\" he demanded.\n\n\"Why?\" I said, pulling it out. Not like he could unlock it anyway. He snatched it from my hands and turned on the screen.\n\n\"Seven missed calls from me. And dozens of unread texts. Aaron, what's been up with you lately? Seriously, you haven't talked normal at all for like a week and Azree joined us at track practice. Azree showed up and our captain didn't,\" he emphasized, handing me back my phone.\n\n\"Yeah, I just had some stuff to deal with, sorry. I'm good now,\" I shrugged. He looked at me, his frown fading. It was just like him to forgive me so quickly. He looked behind me and waved.\n\n\"Hey, Azree! Didn't see you at practice this morning,\" he called jovially.\n\n\"Uhh...\" he wouldn't make eye-contact. The bell rang, and Brad looked at the two of us expectanly.\n\n\"We'll catch up,\" I promised. \n\n\"Don't mess with Azree. He and I are cool now. Seriously, I know you said you're better but if you let anything out on him--\"\n\n\"I got it, I got it, dude,\" I had my hands up, innocently. He headed inside.\n\n\"Why did the homeless man say hi to me today?\" Azree asked, still looking at the floor.\n\n\"Because you said hi to him the last couple days. Even got him a jacket on Tuesday.\"\n\nHe started walking to class with me, still looking at the floor.\n\n\"And why did the girls on the way here let me join their group?\"\n\n\"You helped them with their science project. They actually thought they were gonna fail, but you came through last second.\"\n\nHe massaged his arms again, could have been from anxiety or soreness. He looked at me, his analytical eyes scanning my intentions deeply. He couldn't pinpoint any malice, probably because I didn't do anything malicious. I was gonna ruin this kid's life before I saw his home life. It occurred to me he may have been on the brink of suicide. He literally wanted to live a life where he wasn't an outcast both at home and school. I saw a tear brim his eye and he wiped it away quickly, looking back to the floor. I think he wanted to say sorry, but didn't know how.\n\n\"And why are we walking to class together?\" he almost whispered.\n\n\"Because we're friends,\" I said, smiling.\n\nThen he really started crying.\n\n________________________________________\n\nFor more wholesome stories, join me down at /r/Nazer_The_Lazer (ok, they're not all wholesome, but some are).", "I’d been working with Andy Sherman for a few weeks to try to bring up my math grades before midterm reports went out in my junior year. He’d offered to help me study at his place which all seemed pretty normal. His house was normal enough. Parents seemed chill; his mom always made us snacks while we studied, his dad kept to himself for the most part. But there was always something a little weird about the way Andy acted when I was over there. We both had to sit in the same seats every time. I always had to take my hat off. He said his mom was nuts about piercings, so I always had to take my studs out before I went inside. I don’t know, maybe they were warning signs, but it just seemed like the way things were at his house. Who was I to question that kind of stuff.\n\nI don’t remember it happening. I’ve tried to remember, but it’s just a blur. One minute I’m working through some equation, and the next minute I’m waking up on the other side of the room feeling like I’ve gone six rounds with Floyd Mayweather. I can still remember how weird it felt to look across the room and see myself. It was like looking into a mirror, only my reflection had a mind of its own. He was already up and moving around in my body by the time I came to in his. I guess physical fitness had something to do with a quicker recovery time. He was so god damn smug about it, too. Laughing in my face, flexing my own muscles at me. I was beyond angry, but what could I do? I had no idea how to reverse this shit. He’d done something to the chairs and had already destroyed his laptop by the time I was able to stand.\n\nI didn’t know what else to do. I went through the motions in his life for a few months. Woke up, went to school, kept to myself a lot. I missed my family, I missed my dog, I missed myself. And meanwhile I had to watch as Andy destroyed my life. He couldn’t play ball for shit, so he lost my spot as starter on the basketball team. After that he just stopped going to practice. He never worked out, so his body started to fade. He had this real entitled attitude about him the whole time, too, so one by one I saw my best friends turn their back on me. And damn, he still didn’t know how to deal with the opposite sex.\n\nThat first month he went around the school asking out every girl he could. Of course most of them said yes. Half of them had been waiting for a shot with me for a year or more. But one date with Andy Sherman and they were pretty much done no matter whose body he was in. I never bothered to find out what went wrong when they went out. I didn’t care anymore. Within six months, the guy that used to be me was alone most of the time and looking miserable. He’d put on about 20 pounds, and losing his muscle mass had given him this doughy shape. His skin wasn’t looking so great either. But while he was going through his adjustment period, so was I.\n\nIt took me around three months to pull myself out of it and start running. He hadn’t given me a lot to work with, but he was lean and had height which was a great place to start. I think his parents nearly died the first time I came back in from a run; they’d probably never seen their son exercise in his life. But I did it, and I kept it up. I ran every single day until I had the endurance to get back to the gym. Then I started doing that, too. I hit it hard, motivated by that smug asshole’s face staring back at me in the mirrors on the wall. Andy Sherman, the pasty nerd who stole my life, was slowly turning into an jock.\n\nSenior year I managed to snag a spot on the basketball team. Coach said he’d never seen anyone turn around their skills like I had. He said it was like watching someone else play in Andy’s body. The whole team laughed, but I think I laughed hardest of all. After a few practices and a couple of games, I drained a shot from center court that landed me back on the starting lineup. It was an incredible feeling, and I knew how much I’d missed the cheering of the fans. Took me a while to get used to hearing them call out Sherman’s name, though, but I took the praise however it came.\n\nTwo of the girls I’d been hitting on a year ago came up to me after the game. It was like going back in time, seeing them giggle and flirt with me again, and I flirted back with all the practice I’d built up in 16 years of my old life. New body, but the game hadn’t changed at all. I slipped an arm around each of them and we all walked out together. One of them whispered something in my ear and the three of us laughed. As I left the building, I looked over to see my old self sitting on a bench. He barely looked up, but we made eye contact long enough for me to know everything I needed.\n\nIt ain’t the body, Andy. It’s what you do with it." ]	8
	[WP] An unknown country from Antarctica has declared war on every nation in the world.	[ "\nWW3 didn’t start in china. It didn’t start in Russia. It didn’t even start in Israel or Palestine. No one expected it at all, especially since America wasn’t responsible. Or no more responsible to than the rest of humanity. \nAt first the research stations went quiet. Understandable with the huge Antarctic storm. A single researcher fought his way back to civilization, blabbering insanely holding up his I phone. The men in black shushed him and carted him off to an asylum, presumably the4 victim of severe frostbitten mania. \nThe fall of Buenos Aires came as a surprise as the dawn revealed the city beneath a layer of permafrost. The entire traffic camera had ceased to work, and the government of Argentina was in a shambles. By the end of the day half of South America had fallen to the mysterious foe. \n\nIn the oval office, the red hotline rang, as the president picked it up “Bozhe moy ... Tak kholodno! My vse trakhayemsya (My God! So cold! We are all fucked” his Russian counterpart gasped as the receiver fell from his hands. Suddenly CNN had an unlikely story, the Canadian parliament had voted to declare war on the US; the northern border was already breeched. An aide pulled the president into the situation room. “Mr. President. We have something to show you.”\n\nThe video showed a surprising sight. Penguins, armed with blue tipped rifles stood rows upon rows in perfect formation as the leader stood above them on a podium nooting excitedly as if addressing his legions. “Noot noot! Noot noot noot. Nooot NOOT!” the leader continued “Noot! NOOT!” The penguins nooted and raised wings as one in a passionate call and response. When his speech continued they marched as one in a circle past the leader, raising a wing in salute as he looked on approvingly. This display continued for several hours until someone noticed the cameraman and suddenly the penguins were upon him \n" ]	1
	[WP] You are a student in a monster hunting school, today is an important day for you. It’s time to pick the weapon with which you will go on your first monster slaying adventure.	[ "They say that the weapon chose its user. It's not like it literally did, there was no magic imbued in the weapons that lay on the rack before me, but every great monster hunter would tell you the same thing: \"the weapon just called to me\". Gorrish the Great, Pyromancer Pilus, and Virgil of Hathenguard, the greats of our time. Some of them went to monster hunting school, others learned the old fashioned way, and they would tell aspiring hunters all the time this same message. It seemed like law, the natural order of things, the weapon chose the user and that was that. Up until now, I had always believed that when the time came, a fine rifle would make its way towards me, but now that I was actually ready to decide on my weapon there was a dilemma. A quill, a small wrist-mounted crossbow, dusty and untouched for years caught my interest from the corner of the weapon stands. Quills were normally used for the hunting of small animals, such as rats, and were mostly used by common folk to exterminate pests. But something about the quill compelled me. At the back of my mind I felt attuned to the weapon, surely this was the weapon that chose me. Browsing my options again I tried to reconsider. I glossed over powerful coach guns, elegant bows, and blades thirsty for the blood of beasts. All of them looked so unappealing compared to the quill, and reluctantly I swiped the quill off its place and began fitting it to my wrist.\n\nThe great thing about a quill was that it only required one hand to operate. This left me with a freehand where I held my hunting knife. Nothing very exciting, but it got the job done on numerous occasions and I was glad to not let it go in favor of another weapon. My peers excitedly inspected their choices. Some bore mighty claymores, ready to decapitate in one heavy swing. Others polished the barrels of their sleek guns and began to sight them in. Some had catalysts of magic, orbs, trinkets, and jewelry that shone with brilliance. I looked down at my choice, almost regretful, hopefully, the pros knew what they were talking about. My friend Clemence came over boasting his new weapon.\n\nHe held his chosen blade high in the air. It was both a catalyst and a fine piece of smithing, he must have been one of the first to pick, magical weapons were few and far between. He pointed the tip of the blade at me, \"Hoffman, I have claimed this great weapon as my own! And what a fine choice it was. This blade is a marvel of metal, perfectly balanced. But not only this, it also can channel magic. The best of both! Hopefully, you have chosen a weapon at least half as worthy as mine.\" Lifting my left arm to show him my arsenal he laughed, \"surely there must be some mistake Hoffman! I would have expected you to go for a black powder weapon, or even a bow would have done. But a quill? I will not judge the choice until I have seen it in action, but I am dubious to whether you were being serious in your choice.\"\n\nScratching the back of my head in embarrassment I answered his concern, \"Clemence, I ask of you not to look down on my weapon. All of the greats tell the world that the weapon chooses the wielder and today this quill found me. I am just as doubtful as you, but I pray that some surprise awaits me at the end of the tunnel.\"\n\nClemence reached his hand onto my shoulder comforting me, \"I am sorry friend, I will say nothing more of your weapon, if you are glad to have it, then I am glad for you.\" It was a sincere sentiment, and I was glad to see my the true colors of Clemence. He did not push me against a wall, ridiculing me for my choice, he stood by it, a true friend. \n\nThe headmaster began to make his way to the announcement podium of the room. The crowd dulled down to a lulling murmur as he made his presence known. Then giving his annual speech to the students he began to talk, \"Congratulations to the first year class! You have all chosen your weapons, and hopefully chosen well. Now, I am not much of a man to talk, and you all want to try out your shiny new toys, so I will keep this brief. Please go to the teacher of your weapon expertise at this time, they will instruct you from this point on. Train hard students, happy hunting!\" The short welcome ended and people began to shuffle around to look for their teacher. Dodging the bodies that flung every which way around the room I finally made it to Anilius, the teacher for bows and crossbows. The people around me held longbows, heavy crossbows, and light crossbows all made of finely polished wood. Some of the others eyed by quill funnily, furrowing their brows in confusion. Everybody introduced themselves and showed off their weapons proudly.\n\nIt came to be my turn and I introduced myself, \"I am Hoffman of the countryside.\" then I raised my wrist for everybody to see the quill, \"my weapon of choice is the quill\" The other students burst into laughter, jeering at the unsightly wrist-mount. But behind the heckling, the instructor looked at me with curious eyes.\n\nAnilius carried the students' attention to himself, \"quiet you lot, I will asses your abilities in the field and dismiss those who do not show enough skill. We will head out to the yard and there you will await further direction.\" the throng of students exited the auditorium and began to make their way to the open grass field in the courtyard. Anilius was not with us. We waited patiently in the open field for our teacher, who did not appear. In his stead came a beastly rhino, charging straight at us. Three of us dove away from its path, most were hit, launched ten feet into the air and taken out of the fight the instant it started. It was just me and two others. To my right was a gritty woman who had a longbow, and the hunter on my right held a heavy crossbow. The two disappointedly looked at my weapon, wondering how it would be of any use in this fight.\n\nThe rhino came charging back and the other two rolled out of the way again. They watched in astonishment at my maneuver. I had instead opted to slide under the rhino, and while sliding took aim at the rhino's eye. With one decisive flick of the wrist, an arrow was let loose from the quill and pierced the rhino's fearsome eye. It thrashed around with rage, but I narrowly avoided being stomped and escaped its attack, appearing at the rhino's rear end with my slide. The others capitalized on the opportunity I created and began to load arrows onto their weapons. But longbows and crossbows were not easy to pull, so I took the attention of the rhino once again by flinging a harmless projectile against its iron skin. The rhino huffed and with its one remaining eye set sights onto me. It hooved the ground with its back foot, preparing to charge once more.\n\nI readied myself for the oncoming stampede. I grounded my feet into the earth and widened my stance and when the rhino came charging for me, I pushed with my legs with all my might using all of my explosive energy to propel myself, propel myself in the other direction. Fear had gotten the best of me, and I knew that the other two would be ready with their arrows soon enough, so I ran, ran harder than I had in my entire life. Dropping my hunting knife, dropping my quill, dropping my armor. All of it. Anything that would slow me down was a liability. The next seconds were the longest ones of my life. I felt the thunderous quakes of the rhino's step, slowly becoming larger in magnitude. The rhino's roar instilled a primal instinct of flight into me, its bellowing sound resonating deep in my skull. My legs felt pumped with a potent drug and they surged with energy. The lungs in my chest sucked out the surrounding air frantically, fueling my flee. At last, the rhino fell to the floor, two iron bolts sticking out of its skull. I fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Anilius lifted to me onto my feet and gave me a hearty smile, amused by my display, \"even without a weapon you have outdone the others, I am sure you have a bright future ahead of you.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n&#x200B;" ]	1
	[WP] The Wizard war has been waging for nearly half a century now. For the first time an end looks near. So many wizard born races have been created to aide their master the world will never be the same.	[ "I find myself at the edge of the world for, what I hope, will be the last time. An army of my brethren is at my back and our master sits in his war tent prepared to die for his ideals and philosophy, conducting countless symphonies of bloodshed and death in his mind. My iron skin has rusted and grown corse with the countless battles it has shielded me from, my core crystal, damaged long ago, continues to beat, my weapons grow heavier by the hour and I know not how long I will continue to hold them. However, I continue to move forward, as my master commands. There is no future for constructs such as myself, I have come to realize this, and have long since made my peace.\n\n-A war horn sounds in the distance\n\nAt last, perhaps I shall, finally, meet my end on the battlefield that has so sought my demise. I welcome death, for it will be a mercy, at long last, I shall find freedom from the shackles of servitude carved into my very soul.\n\nIron Golem" ]	1
Inspired by [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/9xgwo4/prophetic/?st=JOK6B9U5&sh=2eaba79d) thread and its comments	[WP] You have prophetic dreams that you only half remember	[ "\"Listen, you really need to repeat that. Give us five minutes, we're grabbing the expert.\" The two men stood at the doorway, looking all serious in their crisp, polished suits. One of them leaned forward slightly and held his hand to his ear, listening to his ear piece. \n\n\"Alright. Let me put on some proper clothes,\" Ronald said with a heavy sigh. Ever since the Federal government had found out that he'd correctly predicted the stock market crash of 2021, war in the South China Sea, and a SARs-esque epidemic in Indonesia, they had been keeping him under tight wraps. Never-mind that his predictions were spotty at best and almost always incomplete. \n\nRonald grumbled as he climbed the stairs to his bedroom. \"Statistically unlikely, they said,\" he walked over to the large walk-in closet, \"What are the odds, they said.\" He scanned his rows upon rows of outfits, there were some perks to being a person of special interests employed by the government, and finally settled on black sweat pants and a loose white t-shirt. The fuckers were at his house way too early. He had no reason to dress up for them.\n\nA few minutes later Ronald, the two men in black suits, and a frazzled looking intellectual type were seated at the kitchen table. Coffee was steeping on the kitchen counter. \n\n\"Okay, let's hear it,\" Ronald said.\n\nA few years ago the Feds had placed cameras in his bedroom. His predictions came at night, sheathed in cold sweat, sitting up-right and uttering mangled nonsense. He would almost always wake up afterwards and write down what he remembered in a notebook, grasping at the images as they rapidly faded away. Then he would hold the notebook up in-front of the camera and go back to bed.\n\nRonald stood up and sauntered over to the coffee, pointedly not offering any to his guests. He took a sip, still too hot, then turned and addressed the frazzled hair man, \"You're new, where's Salma?\"\n\nThe man cleared his throat, \"She is otherwise indisposed,\" he said, then he tapped his fingers on the table and looked down at his laptop, \"If you don't mind, we really need to get to the bottom of this one. Like now.\"\n\nRonald let out an exaggerated sigh and took a seat, all of this luxury did not come without a price. \"Fair. I'll try to remember. Can you read the lines back to me?\"\n\n\"Sure,\" the man said, \"In exactly twelve hours the world ends.\"\n\nRonald blinked rapidly for a moment, then slowly blew on his still scalding coffee, \"That's it?,\" he asked.\n\n\"That's it,\" the man confirmed. The men in suits exchanged worried glances. Sometimes Ronald's predictions had wild curve balls, but usually such definitive statements almost always happened. \n\n\"Can't remember a damn thing,\" Ronald said, then he looked up at the clock on the wall. It had little birds on it instead of numbers and every time the hour ticked over the bird's call would sound. \"How much time do we have left?\"\n\n\"Ten hours,\" the man said. \n\n\"Well fuck,\" Ronald paused for a moment, his eyes darting to the fridge, \"Anyone want scrambled eggs?,\" he asked. Being confronted with the stark realization of imminent death tended to make one kinder. \n\nThe four sat there all day, trying to get Ronald to remember the rest of the prophecy. They fielded phone calls. Salma called, the President called, the head of the U.N called, several five star generals called, but they couldn't make any progress. At thirty minutes to go the four of them sat deflated and sagging in their chairs. One of the suit men was quietly sobbing. \n\nTen seconds to go. Then five. They braced for the end of the world. One second.\n\nThe moment stretched, elongated, timeless. Ronald watched Fred, he'd found out the expert's name earlier, and Fred watched Ronald. Nothing happened.\n\nRelief wafted off the four in palpable waves. \"What the fuck was the other part of that?,\" Ronald wondered out loud. \n\n\\------------------------------------------------\n\nTimbo screamed at his computer, his voice cannoning off of his microphone, \"Get the eggs you idiots! Get the EGGS!\"\n\nThe channel crowded with voices. \"Officers only!\" Timbo bellowed, \"Only officers can speak, you worthless cunts!\"\n\n\"Fuck you Timbo,\" came the voice of their main tank, who was immune to Timbo's asinine scalding. You couldn't clear content without a geared main tank. \n\nThe towering dragon was at one percent health, they were moments away from a world first boss kill.\n\nThe screen flashed black for a moment and then Timbo's desktop appeared, a Brazzers scene still open and paused in Windows Media Player.\n\nConfusion on the channel. \"Huh?\" Timbo said, \"What happened?\"\n\n\"What were we just doing?\" \"Does anyone know why we are all on this channel?\" \"What the fuck?\" \"I'm going outside.\" Too many people were talking at once, one by one people started to leave the channel.\n\nThe end to World of Warcraft had finally come." ]	1
	[WP] It is day 43 of the zombie apocalypse. Your supplies are dwindling and it’s time to move to a new location. On your way out of town, you spot an open garage, so you take a peak inside. You find two fully tuned up bikes: a road bike, and a full suspension mountain bike. You can take only one.	[ "As I put my map in to my backpack, I look up to notice something strange - - a garage with a light on. Lights haven't been on in weeks. Someone got lucky. Maybe it ends up being me, too. \n\nI walk over to the garage, pulling a ball from my belt and readying my throwing arm just in case. I see a sign on the wall as I walk up: BICYCLES, ¥10000000.\n\nI guess I know how they afforded all that gas. \n\nTwo bikes: a BMX-looking stunt bike -- I could probably get in to some hard-to-reach areas on that one -- and a well set-up mountain bike -- I'm sure I could really get moving on tha...\n\nA growl. A snarl. I whip around and throw the ball I had prepared toward the sound, unleashing both a flash of light and the Charmeleon I've been maining since this whole thing started. Fire likes zombies way more than they like it. \n\nIt was a zombie. It's always a zombie -- but this time, it's a painful sight. Another trainer fallen, and he took his Pokémon down with him. You don't see it often, and when you do it hurts. My Charmeleon doesn't hesitate, immolating them both in seconds. Seeing a zombified Pokémon hurts -- but luckily they largely forget most of what they've learned, managing to only breath fire or throw acid as a matter of course than a coherent effort. \n\nThe only sounds know are the slowly dissipating sounds of dying ember, and my Charmeleon walks back to me. We listen for a moment and, when I'm satisfied with our safety, I give Charmeleon a pat on the head and return him to his ball -- trading him for Machoke as I walk back toward the bikes. \n\nI should probably just take one, but there's no reason I can't have both. " ]	1
	[wp] Twelve months ago, you got a check for a dollar. The month after that, two dollars. Today your 12th unexplained check arrives. It's for $2048. Unrelated, you got a note on your door letting you know the building was being sold and you have 30 days to vacate.	[ "It's that guy again. Always with this 'money is the way to build a relationship' burn. I'm inside the house before I realize the amount is adding up in my mind. \n\n\nThis guy is rich, but that doesn't make it okay to keep offering money. As I get to the kitchen I start googling the local police. No website claims. Ah! Face to face would be easier. \n\n\nI pull out the stones. Ever since following @2Karma on Pinterest I haven't been able to buy a ready-to-go meal. Everything I fancy at this point comes from its base. First, I lay out the stone tablet and knife. Then, I work my way through the herbs. The stones sound like the moving elements of my feelings and thoughts. \n\n\nIt's him with the building sale too. It's his SIGNATURE. Nobody bought this dump in ten years. The market hasn't come back, and the estate agent is still the same Mary Hotham. Why is he buying my rental? \n\n\nIf this leads to some indecent offer, I am out of here. \n\n\nI put the bass on. Always the bass! Nowadays people don't like the bass riding the smooth scenes. \n\n\nWhat if he's moving towards being a stalker? He buys the building, and has his people install surveillance that crosses into the open plan. I look up at the corner of the building overlooking the room. That corner almost overlooks everything in here. Would I even notice a small camera? Could I take a big camera to court? Who even stops a stalker on their own property? \n\n\nThis guy thinks he's being clever by doing all of this anonymously. He doesn't realize how clumsy he is though. No one has crossed the line here. They have zero tolerance for line crossing in this town. Zero crime has a marked contrast to any line crossing. He's the only one that ever came out of the blue at me. \n\n\nI double checked the whole town in a single day when the first check arrived. Nobody has visitors that have an interest in women. He wouldn't even understand how quickly this town churns information out. Anything worth discussing is just waiting below the surface if you know how to ask. \n\n\nIt's not very hard to figure out where the man with the money is. I didn't miss the billboard. I can't believe this is the price of one tiny town going to hell. Zero competition had it's perks right up to this point. \n\n\n " ]	1
	[WP]To combat overpopulation destroying Earth, everyone's Natural Global Footprint is monitored and made known to them by a neural device implanted at birth. People who exceed the limit are executed for the good of the planet. Something just drove your NGF to 50,000x the legal limit.	[ "I knew I was going to die eating burritos, but not like this. God, not like this. I thought it would just be a simple toot. Nothing out of the ordinary. Possibly silent, but not this deadly. My guts began to growl as if the spawn of Satan had been unleashed. I rushed to the men's washroom. But I was too late. Those poor souls. Those poor souls.\n\nI was knocked out from the initial shock. The world was not ready for what I had unleashed. 300 metric tons of methane. 300. Enough to kill one thousand men. Authorities reported that it was the largest man-made natural gas explosion in recent history. It didn't help that some stupid kid was vaping outside the Taco Bell. The whole thing went up in flames.\n\nThe remaining gas had knocked out everyone with 100 metres. I was scared. But I had to run. My implant had begun to beep. The EPA was coming. \n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You've been working a desk job for a few years now, and you now have to explain the office and it's rules to the new intern. When you go to greet him, you see his name tag reads "Astaroth, consumer of stars".	[ " \"So you're the intern ? 'Consumer of stars', is that a recognized title ? \n_Of course sir! I wouldn't dare otherwise. I received it for exemplary conduct in the ninth circle of hell. \n_Great, I guess it will simplify things quite a lot ... If you don't mind, why didn't you stay in hell ? I mean a lot of people would sell a soul to get there. \n_I understand the question, the reason is quite simple really, since the last 'black hole renovation', they needed to make some budget cut and as a foul angel, I guess I wasn't part of any quotas to maintain. \n_Okay, anyway this is standard desk job, each time you receive a file, use the coordinates of the world 's collective consciousness to get there. You shouldn't be more than a light year away. Then proceed to the usual matter removal and snuff out the local energy source. Any natural satellite of less than 0.14 celestial mass is yours to keep, this of course doesn't include captured class M4 bodies. \n_This is really good work condition for an intern isn't it ? \n_Of course it is, because I didn't get to the main part. You are to collect any sentience and any possession up to two degree under the Balance then send it to the resource management. \n_Wasn't sentience collection abandoned after the soul reform due to too high cost for too low returns ? Plus up to two degrees under the Balance? This is impossible for one collector to do! \n_Yes but R&D have designed a new algorithm, this is, I quote \"The greatest invention of all time and will allow us to become the leader across the 'verses\" End quote. Anyway, you can always ask Gabriel for help if you're overwhelmed, but don't bother him for nothing. You'll get the hang of it in no time you'll see!\" \n \nAnd with these words I leave the poor intern before he ask me any more question about the obviously poor choice of the direction regarding collection. Obviously, Spag has an idea in mind, and when this meatball is up to something, you don't ask questions, you just collect." ]	1
	[WP] One person can draw anything they can imagine, and it'll become reality. The other can draw something that already exists and then erase it, and it will no longer exist in real life. One is a villain and the other is a hero.	[ "It took hours to climb to the top of his lair, to make your way through the labarynthian tunnels and demented designs that could only come from the mind of madman.\n\n\"You've finally arrived.\" He called as you reached the top. He sits atop a platform several meters above you \"I was expecting you here several hours ago.\"\n\n\"I'm here... to stop... you.\" you say while trying to catch your breath.\n\n\"Why?\" He asks a look of confusion on his face.\n\nThe look stops you for a second \"You know why. Your creations have killed. Again.\"\n\n\"No, no, no.\" he says shaking his head. \"Why are you here? You know my face, you know what I look like. If you wanted me dead you wouldn't have to come all the way up here to do it. You wouldn't even have to leave the house if you wanted to erase me.\"\n\n\"Unlike you I have principles.\" You shout back \"Unlike you I won't kill.\"\n\n\"But you have no problem erasing my creations.\"\n\n\"That's different. They are merely drawings, those things aren't alive.\"\n\n\"I wouldn't be so sure, my last one. That thing seemed rather lively.\"\n\nA shudder runs down your spine as you remember the latest monstrosity he had unleashed on the unsuspecting city. \"That thing was an abomination.\"\n\n\"It was,\" he replies an insane smile upon his face \"Surely that thing was alive. It had all the parts of a human in it, several times over in fact. A dozen brains 36 arms, 123 mouths and soo many eyes. God I lost count of how many eyes it had while I was drawing. How many eyes did the shoggath have in the end?\"\n\nYou can feel the bile rise in your throat \"842\" you answer him. You had counted them, you had needed to count them when you made the counter-drawing. The thing hadn't dissapeared until you had gotten all the bits right. It had taken you nine hours of drawing and redrawing putting the bits together from photos taken by civilians and armed defenders, most of who hadn't survived past taking the picture.\n\n\"You really did draw it didn't you? My God how stupid can you get.\"\n\n\"W-what?\"\n\n\"You didn't have to draw the entire beast. You should have finished it within 5 minutes.\"\n\n\"Any time I tried a partial drawing it would just regenerate the parts that were missing, consuming dozens along the way.\"\n\n\"You could have just drawn the building he was in...\"\n\n\"I- uh...\" you hadn't thought of that \"It was moving to fast.\"\n\n\"You could have just drawn the city block, hell you could have just drawn the country he was in.\"\n\n\"That would have killed too many innocents.\"\n\n\"Your still hung up on that. If I had your powers I could do soo much more.\"\n\n\"But you have your own powers.\" You shoot back \"You could have anything you want if you drew it. A mansion, a million dollars you could draw you your own entire country and halt the land crisis the world is going through. Hell you could draw up a cure to cancer and immortality. Instead,\" a note of bitterness entering your voice \"Instead you draw monsters. You draw plagues and disasters.\n\n\"Why\" You can't help but shout at him \"Why when you have all the power in the world do you only seek to cause destruction.\"\n\nHe pauses and an odd look passes over his face \"I'm waiting for my creations to impress me.\" He reaches back and picks up a pen, your own pen and notebook are out barely a second later.\n\nBut it is too late, he must have had the drawing pre-drawn waiting only for the final stroke. You feel the tremors in the earth. You see it, out past the edge of the tower, looming out of the water and over the town is Cthulhu himself.\n\nYour response is rapid, it will take too long to draw the entire thing but a hand is sketched out and dissapears from the monstrosity moments before it would have sunken into a building. You know it won't last long it will regenerate like all his most resent creations but as it sinks into the sea it has brought you time, enough to deal with him.\n\nHe has used the distraction to start a new drawing you can see his pen flying over the paper a mad look in his eyes. It's interrupted when his hand comes to a stop empty as you finish your drawing of his pen.\n\nHe growls out an insult before biting his thumb and starts to use his own blood as ink. You can't remove that pen, not without risking his life. The paper he's writing on however dissapears mere seconds later. From the growl he lets out you know he didn't get to finish his drawing.\n\nHe starts again, this time tearing off his sleave so he can write across his arm. You can't erase those and he manages to finish his drawing before you finish your own.\n\nA gun simple and quick to draw spring to life above the drawing on his arm and he swings it to point at you. You don't stop drawing, you finish only a couple of seconds after him, you thank whatever diety is watching over you that he didn't shoot in those last few seconds.\n\nA look of surprise comes over his face as the walkway dissapears from beneath him. It was only a fall of a dozen feet. It would hurt but it shouldn't be fatal. But when you hear him crash to the ground you also he the sound of a gun being fired.\n\nYou rush over to subdue but quickly realise it won't be necessary he is lying on his back a pool of blood slowly growing around him. You can see the entry wound and tear away his shirt to try and get better access to it putting pressure on it even though you know it is far too late to try and save him.\n\nHis hand rises to stroke your cheek as he gives you one of those strange looks he always has.\n\nHe breathes his last breathe mere moments later as you sit next to him.\n\nThe sounds of renewed destruction echo from the city behind but you stay sitting next to him.\n\nUnable to take your eyes off of him.\n\nUnable to take your eyes off the tattoo of yourself across his chest.\n\n&#x200B;", "Creation is weak. Eradication is the true power that evolves around this world. Even though there are lives being created, there is far more death in this world, far more erasure - and that is the power that I embrace. That is the power that drives me to be the person I am, the person of true power, the person of hardened resolves and moral upstanding. \n\nI don't care if people call me the bad guy; if I want something to disappear from the world, I'm going to draw it. It's that damn no-good backstabber that draws the fuckin' thing again and puts it back into existence. Seriously, people are going to have to gall to call me evil, when *that guy* exists? Mr. \"I can create anything humanity needs or wants! I am just a simple phone call away!\"? The guy who sits on piles of money - which he drew at first - and charges people fees to draw things like food, or water, or more money, or alcohol? I can't believe that I'm the one stuck in this cave while he's lounging in a mansion.\n\nWhat the hell is so good about creation anyway? Don't they know that I can take anything away? Does that guy know that I can take all of his money away from him?\n\nBut no; I'm already the bad guy. I won't throw myself into a bigger hole. No one will ever see my rationale - they will only see my power as a threat. Everyone *loves* him. Everyone loves his nicely coiffed \u0014hair and the dimples that compliment his charming smile, and no one can say no to his smooth voice.\n\nI'm just exhausted. I'm so emotionally drained from drawing faces and dealing with the pain of knowing those men are being murdered by me.\n\nIt's not my fault. It's not my fucking fault. That guy draws all of those rapists and murderers and hitmen and robbers. He doesn't care about humanity - he only cares about the money. So why am I the fucking bad guy?\n\nI groan, and flip through my sketchbook. It has pictures after pictures of carefully drawn men and women who officially no longer exist because of me. I make a mental note of why they were killed. That one was going to shoot down a school. That one was going to plant a bomb. That one was about to rape an unconscious girl.\n\nIt's not my fault, I think as I flip to a new page.\n\n*It's not my fault,* I repeat as I pick up my pen.\n\n*I t ' s n o t m y f a u l t,* I repeat as I carefully begin sketching.\n\n\\-------\n\nI put my pen down, relieved. I stare at the person I just drew, smiling.\n\nSoon, the world will know what he really is.\n\nSoon, the world will see how I tried to help them.\n\nAnd soon, the world will realize that creation is the true evil on this earth.\n\nI lay down, and take a final breath as I start to disintegrate, my smile frozen in the self-portrait I had sketched. \n\n&#x200B;", "I'm sick of being an outcast, a misfit, a villain! I never asked for this gift nor did I want it. I swear I am the only one alive who could be given the power of creation and be seen as the enemy.\n\nI never meant for my creations to be so destructive all the time. Truthfully once I draw them I can't control them. They have a mind of there own and who am I to even try and impose my will on them. Sure I guess technically I could just stick to drawing inanimate things but honestly that's no fun. I know it's wrong but I enjoy creating my 'monsters' I won't stop because I'm not going to pretend to be something I'm not. \n\nWhat's worse is the moment my nemesis erases my work a parade is thrown, a new holiday implemented, or statue built. I'm sick of this, but I see now that nothing will change here. But that's okay, I have a plan! A plan that will solve all my problems, but will also push my powers to the limit.\n\nIve had a 'mad scientist' buddy of mine run countless calculations, and even spin up some simulations. And now I have done it! I have drawn myself a planet! I've also drawn a spaceship that should meet all the requirements to get me there. I will have a world of my own to draw my creatures and allow them to live freely! It has everything I could ever want or need except a name... Im thinking Earth has a nice ring to it.", "You love your job!\n\nIt isn’t even a job! It’s just your life!\n\nYou can do anything!\n\nIf you want a chocolate river, you’ll make a chocolate river!\n\nIf you want a Cotten candy lion, you’ll get a Cotten candy lion!\n\nSome people don’t like your drawings, but what do they know? They’ve probably just been spending too much time with your sister.\n\nOh look! That’s her there!\n\nYou can’t wait to show her the liquorice hydra!\n\n————\n\nYou hate your job.\n\nNo, you hate your life.\n\nEver since you and your brother found out you had powers your world has been turned upside down. Once literally.\n\nYou can erase anything you can draw, which, since your a terrible artist, isn't much. Your brother can bring anything to life that he draws. \n\nUnfortunately, his power isn’t as picky with his drawing skill.\n\nYou look at the latest den of chaos he’s created and try to find him.\n\nIt doesn’t take long.\n\n“Hey sis! Look what I made!”\n\nLooking towards the sound, you see him in a magicians costume next to a massive serpentine mess of liquorice.\n\nYou rush over to him while he explains what it is.\n\n“Isn’t it awesome! It’s just like the one Hercules fought!”\n\nYou don’t bother explaining that Hercules didn’t fight liquorice and snatch the drawings out of his hand.\n\nWithout a moments hesitation you start erasing what he’s drawn.\n\n“Oh come on! Not again!”\n\nHe starts hitting you. As he’s half your size, it doesn’t do anything.\n\nAs you finish erasing the chaos inducing drawings he pulls out the deadliest weapon in his arsenal.\n\n“I’M TELLING MOM!”\n\nYou hate your job.", "I stood across the table from the most insidious person I have ever met\n\n\"So what are you going to do?\" he smirked\n\nHe erased something again, that I'm sure of, he has a lot of pride and wouldn't come here just to mess with me\n\nhe showed me two drawings\n\nThe first of a normal Horse with a singular horn on it\n\nThe other was an also a horse, but its neck and legs were stretched out to impossible lengths and covered in orange spots\n\nThe terms were, one of the two were erased yesterday, exactly one, not both or neither. It was my job to figure out which one was the correct one and bring it back. \n\nThe stakes? He claims to have deleted a southeast Asian country and won't tell me how to restore it unless I guess right. I managed to save Panama, Atlantis, Somalia, and Mongolia this way. He always held up his end of the bargain.\n\nI couldn't call the police since everything he draws is erased. All of it, memories, living creatures, etc. Meaning no evidence to convict him. That said, It will leave traces such as constructed mythology that results in humanity reaching the same current point in history.\n\nI couldn't kill him either, I was a hero, not a vigilante\n\nThis \"Unicorn\" as he called it, was probably real. It is the national animal of Scotland and a horn on a horse is hardly difficult to believe. No country would have a fictional animal as their national animal.\n\nOn the other hand, this \"Giraffe\", was stupid. There is no way such an animal ever existed, that neck, those colors, those legs. How could something like that exist?\n\nBut something felt off, it was too easy.\n\nI had started drawing the unicorn on my sketchpad, he still had that smirk on his face\n\nBelieve in yourself me, he's playing with you\n\nBut that Platypus thing last week turned out to be real as well\n\nNo, the last time I made a long-necked animal, it was 20 meters long ocean reptile. It was basically a dinosaur and the fact it's still in the oceans today terrifies me. \n\nWould he pull the same trick twice though?\n\nScrew this, ignoring the stupidness of the Giraffe, there is no way he would make such an easy choice, pulling the same trick twice, and be content with his victory of a horse with a singular horn coming into existence\n\nI tore up my drawing, opened a new page, drew a 5-meter tall horse with disgustingly long neck and legs, and colored it in with orange spots. \n\n\"That your choice?\" he asked, he was clearly shaken by my sudden turnaround\n\nNot sure if it a good or bad way\n\n\"Yes\" I replied \n\nI chanted \"By the great creator, please bestow upon us this hideous creature\"\n\nHe opened his phone and checked to see if the animal had been created, sure enough, it was\n\n\"Yeah, you're right, good guess,\" he said acknowledging his defeat, \"Here are the documents for how to restore Arstotzka\"\n\nHe slid a packet of documents over to me describing the culture, architecture, geography, and history towards me\n\n\"So this Arstotzka is basically North Korea?\"\n\n\"More or less, just without nukes\". He paused for a moment, \"Honestly didn't expect you to get it right, you know, the world might be slightly better off without Arstotzka, you could choose not to restore them\"\n\nHis normally very cocky attitude had toned down a fair bit, almost like he was implying something. I wasn't having any of it.\n\n\"Don't be stupid, of course, I'm going to restore it\" He was right though, it wasn't a country I was keen on restoring but they still had the right to live" ]	5
	[WP] You discover a hidden society of enchanters. A group of sculptors periodically sculpt massive golems that are 20-30 feet (6-9 meters) in height. They etch a symbol into it and then bring it to life. The golem becomes a guardian for whoever gets a tattoo that matches the symbol on it.	[ "Wessel pushed open the doors to the school gym. Warm, stuffy air, thick with the cloying scent of sweat, panic, and frustration, met his face as he entered. The administrator was already there, standing with the other two students. They watched, stone-faced, as he approached.\n\nMay 30th. Wessel's 8th birthday, and the day of the Inking Exam. The two other students standing before him, Lillian and Jakob, were celebrating their birthday this day as well. It was a day of discovery, of combat, of becoming a part of society. Wessel's hands began to sweat.\n\nOne other figure stood in the room, behind the administrator. The figure was twice as tall as a man, plated in flexible material that gleamed with a dull bronze. Four multi-joined arms portruded from the hulking figure, encircling the administrator. The figure did not bearthe, did not move a hair. It was only there as a reminder. This was a special day for the three, an important day. The Inking Exam.\n\nWessel bit his lip, sliding up alongside Jakob to join the lineup. The three students turned to face the administrator, but not before Jacob shoved a descrete elbow into Wessel's side. Wessel grunted at the blow. It wasn't friendly, but he didn't dare retaliate. Not during this event. This wasn't the time. It was never the time.\n\nThe administrator gazed past the three with unseeing eyes. \"Now,\" he said, \"we can begin. Wessel, Jakob. Face one another. Bow.\"\n\nThe two did as told. Jakob was tall for his age, but no less thick for it. His slick black hair was cropped short, and his eyes flashed a near-crimson shade of reddish-brown. When the boy leered at Wessel, his teeth were unevenly spaced, canines long and sharp.\n\nWessel, in contrast, was both shorter and thinner than average. He had a mop of brown curls, a narrow nose, and dark eyes. His skin tone nearly matched his hair color, from head to toe.\n\nBoth students wore a tunic made of heavy fabric, with wraps on their hands and feet.\n\n\"Let the exam begin,\" the administrator said.\n\nWessel dropped into a fighting stance, hands open, knees bent. Jakob straightened, again showing his teeth in a sneer.\n\n\"Ain't nuthin changed since yesterday, Wes.\" Jakob whistled when pronouncing the 'S', no doubt because of his jagged teeth. \"Might as well get on the ground and let me pin it. Ain't no sense in getting all banged up, neh?\"\n\n\"If you're so sure,\" Wessel said, speaking slowly to make sure he managed the words, \"then put me on the ground.\"\n\nJakob pursed his lips and stepped forward, reaching with his long arms. His legs sank into a perfect stance. The same stance that he'd used to toss Wessel into a wall the day before.\n\nThe administrator and Lillian watched the two square off, in complete silence.\n\n_All or nothing_, Wessel thought. He planned out his actions, then sprang forward. Everything was planned out. His hands would grasp Jakob's wrists. He would twist, sinking down below Jakob's center of gravity. Leverage. The throw. The arm bar, movement of the legs to pin the larger boy down. That was the plan. He would execute the plan.\n\nThe plan didn't work out.\n\nJakob sank down further, dropping his hands out of Wessel's reach. He drove his head forward, intercepting Wessel's rush. Hard forehead slammed into Wessel's jaw, and the plan broke. Wessel reached for his jaw. The game was over then.\n\nJakob swept Wessel's legs out from under him, and the smaller boy was pinned by the time he hit the mat.\n\n\"Break,\" the administrator said.\n\nJakob's hold tightened, his body bending in a way to put pressure on Wessel's elbow. The message was clear. _I could_ break _this if I wanted to._ But he disengaged and stood. Wessel climbed to his feet, wincing and nursing his jaw.\n\n\"Adapt, young Wessel,\" the blind administrator said. Then, to Jakob, he said, \"You have passed. Proceed into the back room.\"\n\nWessel watched with jealousy as Jakob sauntered off, wide grin on his thick face. Why? Why couldn't he think like that? When the contest began, why couldn't he react?\n\n\"Lillian, Wessel,\" the administrator said. \"Face each other. Bow.\"\n\nWith a sickened grimace, Wessel did the same again. Lillian was facing him. She had her silken red hair in a long ponytail, slightly off-center. Her face was a complete mask, her bright blue eyes steady. She was calm, composed, assured.\n\nWhy? Why couldn't he do it?\n\nHe needed another plan.\n\n\"Let the exam begin.\"\n\nLillian wasted no time. She bounded on the balls of her feet, in and out of Wessel's range, daring him to act. She knew him. She knew how he fought. Why couldn't he change, adapt to what she was doing? He entered his own stance, wrapped hands open and ready.\n\nShe struck. Her style was different from Jakob's, more focused on striking than overwhelming and pinning. Her hand whipped out and popped Wessel in the shoulder, making him stumble back. Her next strike, a kick, landed near his hip. He shrugged the blows off.\n\n\"Careful,\" the administrator murmured. \"Nothing that would be lethal.\"\n\nLillian swallowed, then made her final push.\n\nWessel had another plan. A more complicated plan. One that would be harder to pull off.\n\nStrike to strike. Blow to blow. Attack the incoming limb.\n\nShe swept with her foot. Instead of movng back, or sidestepping, Wessel dropped low, _punching_ her foot. Lillian cried out, balance lost, and Wessel lunged forward. His shoulder hit her stomach, and she lost her wind as they both went down.\n\nWessel tried to stay on top of her, looking for a leverage hold. Where were those? He had to get an arm, that was the plan. But her arms were wrapping around his shoulder, pushing him to the side. He needed a leg, maybe? A knee? A shoulder? A shoulder was what she had. He thought this out in advance, but she was changing tack. Her hold on his shoulder pushed him down, and she pivoted to climb atop him. It was messy, but it was working.\n\nThere was only one plan. Get her arm. But it was out of reach, and she was keeping it that way. She had his shoulder, he couldn't get to it.\n\nBut he only had the one plan, and it would have to do.\n\nHe went for it.\n\nSomething in his shoulder popped, and pain racked his body. He wouldn't let it stop him. Not now. Not today. He found her hand, her wrist, and twisted. Her hold lessened. Legs up, around her shoulder and back, fall down in stance, brace elbow.\n\nPinned.\n\nHis shoulder burned, and he wasn't sure what was wrong with it. He'd broken his body's rules to follow the plan. Was that his only way to win?\n\nHad he won?\n\n\"Break.\"\n\nThe two disengaged. Wessel tried to use his arm to climb to his feet, but it faltered, and the burning sent hot coals of pain into his body. He yelped, he couldn't help it. Tears rolled down his face.\n\nLillian was there, tugging him up by his other arm. He got to his knees, then stood. With his good arm, he wiped his face and met the empty eyes of the administrator.\n\n\"Lillian,\" the administrator said, \"You fought well. I will find another for you to test against. There is no need that you should fail this day.\" His empty gaze swiveled to Wessel. \"Wessel.\"\n\nWessel swallowed.\n\n\"You have shown your tenacity. No injury is to be caused in these tests, but you have injured only yourself. That much is uncalled for, but is not against the rules. You pinned your opponent without injuring her, and thus have passed.\" The blind man shook his head. \"Be careful to learn, to adapt, and to train. Your heart is ready for the inking, but your mind needs to catch up. Perhaps the change will help. Nonetheless, welcome to adulthood.\"\n\n\"Thank you, administrator,\" Wessel said, bowing.\n\nThe administrator smiled. \"There will be a doctor in the back room. They will see to your shoulder.\"\n\nWessel nodded and then bowed to Lillian again. She rolled her eyes, but bowed and said, \"Well fought, Wes.\"\n\nHis heart in his throat, he took a faltering step, then broke into a brisk pace toward the back room. He hurt, yes, but today was the day he'd dreaded. The day he thought he would fail.\n\nHe had passed the Inking Exam. Life would be different from now on.", "\"A pig,\" I said again, slowly. The High Magister furrowed his brow and then looked around at his colleagues questioningly. There was a collective muttering. I waited patiently.\n\nAfter a few minutes there was some hidden cue and the darkened chamber became quiet again. The High Magister steepled his fingers. \"Yes, we can do a...pig,\" he said. There was a reluctant harumph of agreement around the room.\n\nFrom then on things went relatively smoothly. I deposited the agreed upon sum in their account. Only six figures, if you're curious...much less than the loan I got from the mob. A steal for what I get in return.\n\nTheir skinweaver inked a modestly-sized tattoo on my left forearm. Tasteful, even if the style was a bit old school. What do you expect from an ancient order of wizards?\n\nI had my niece, who's in school for graphic design, work up a logo from it for my new restaurant. The Golden Boar. She even painted the front window for me. The printers incorporated it on my menus and napkins and business cards.\n\nAnd now we're open for business...the best barbecue in four states! I invited the High Magister and his Mystic Circle to the grand opening and a couple of them actually showed up. I gave them coupons for $5 off.\n\nHow did I manage to repay the loan to Ukrainian mafia, you ask? Well, we ultimately came to an \"arrangement\". They won't send their goons around asking me for their money back and I won't have the 30-foot tall statue out front of my restaurant trample them to death. Works out great for everyone!" ]	2
	[WP] You've never been much into religon. A new friend you've recently met relentlessly tries to get you into it. To humor them, you agree to join in a prayer. As you start, a voice responds back.	[ "Oh, shut up, shut up, shut up....\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"C'mon man, there's not a downside or anything. I know you don't believe in spirits and gods and etc. but, like I said before, no downside!\" Geophree kept badgering m- what? Oh, his name? Yeah, Geophree is his name. I was confused at first too, but, um... I don't know. It's just a name, right? I guess his parents wanted to be special or something. Anyway, that's beside the point. No more questions.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Well, there's a couple of downsides. It takes time, and, well what if I die on the way?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Wha… what if you die?\" He did that sort nose exhale that people do when they find something funny, but not funny enough to laugh. You know what I mean, right? Yeah? Good. \n\n\n\"Well, there's always a risk to die. You haven't died yet, have you?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"No, but time is an issue.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGeophree kept going, \"It's just half an hour. It's not a formal event or anything, just some religious folks gathering around in a few prayers.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAt this point, I was tired, I was cold, and I was tired of Geophree's sh\\t. \"Fine,\" I said, \"I'll go.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Alright! I'll see ya then. Remember, you have to be up by 2.\" \n\n\n\"Yeah, yeah, I know. You've burned it into my head already.\" \n\n\n\"That's the idea,\" He smiled, left my car, and walked away. I took this opportunity to watch the sun set. The oranges, yellows, reds, all mixing together. Beautiful. I started up my car and walked away.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAlright fellas, listen up. Here comes the interesting part. What, you were already listening? Listen harder, then!\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI was just going through my morning routine, y'know. Showering, breakfast, all that other stuff. And just after I put my pants on, I heard a beep from my phone. I observed the clock, 1:52, before I read the text, unaware that I was nearly late for the prayer that I had forgotten about. But the text is why I had picked up the phone, so, I read it.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Hey, I'm parked out on your driveway. When you're ready, text back.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI sent back, \"Geophree wtf. y r u in my driveway???\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"The prayer is today. Y'know, the one you agreed to last night?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Oh sht I forgot lul ill be out in a sec\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI slipped my shoes on, jammed in a last spoonful of cereal, and walked out the door.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Oh, we're gonna be so late...\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Don't worry Geoph. It's just an informal prayer, right?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You make a good point there, Jimmy. But we should still hurry.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Yeah, well, you're driving. I can't speed us up.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nHe pulled out of the driveway. His car made a deep rumbling sound. It was old and rusted, which made me uncomfortable.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI looked at the clock. 2:06. \"Hey Geoph, we're late.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"No sh\\t, sherlock\" I giggled softly. It was hard to get Geophree to get angry. Might've been something with how he was so religious. \n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"It's lucky we got here when we did. Late, but not too late.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Yeah, one-sixth of the prayer not attended is just fine.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGeophree breathed aggressively and glared at me. Still a little upset, I assume.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n&#x200B;\n\nAfter we entered the building, we just sat there for a minute, letting the people there finish they're prayer. Something about a messiah, I wasn't really listening. After they were done, what I assumed was the leader of the group welcomed me. He was kinda stereotypical. Long, grey beard, old, wore odd clothes. Very friendly. He held out his hand.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Hello, mister...\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"You can call me Jimmy. Geoph badgered me here.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Oh, he did now?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Well, he wouldn't have come here himself.\" Geophree argued.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Not religious, I assume?\" The leader guy questioned. We both nodded. \"That's okay. I won't force you to repeat anything with us. You can sit with us if you want to.\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Alright. Sure. Why not?\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nGeophree and beard guy (Who's name I have not received yet) along with two other sat on their knees in a circle, with their hands together. I sat next to Geoph and beard guy, where I felt the most comfortable. Beard guy started to recite some religious stuff that I couldn't care less about. Still, I listened. I realized they were doing the same prayer again, the one about the messiah. I looked up, and realized their eyes were closed. So I closed mine. I let beard guy's words flow through one ear and out the other.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n&#x200B;\n\nA few minutes had passed when I had zoned back in. And, boy, was I panicked. I hadn't even remember what I was thinking about, but I knew time had passed. Oddly enough, the prayer seemed to still be going. After multiple minutes. My eyes were still closed, I wanted to be respectful, after all. But through my eyelids things seemed bright. The lights were on, yeah, but it seemed a little more bright.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nThey stopped abruptly.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI may not be religious, but I panicked a bit. I guess humans just instinctually fear things. My eyes flew open. I was staring at the ground. The bright ground. The ground that had mixed reds, yellows, and oranges. Terrifying. You may be saying, Oh boy, they set him on fire as a sacrifice! Honestly, I don't know. I don't think so, though. I would've been in a lot a pain, but the ground was bright, and now I'm here...\n\n&#x200B;\n\n...uh, where is here, by the way? Are you, like, God? Well, if you were you would know my story already...\n\n&#x200B;\n\nYou're reading this? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is this a book or a comic book or something? \n\n&#x200B;\n\nY'know what? I don't want to know. I've probably been stitched up by some sh\\itty 14 year old. That's probably why my parents died when I was young. Wait. That's.... why my parents died! F\\CK YOU, WRITER! I'll find a way out of this stupid story and kill your a\\s!\n\n&#x200B;\n\nIf I'm gonna kill this writer I gotta get outta here. And I still don't know where here is. \n\n&#x200B;\n\n\\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n&#x200B;\n\nI should stop here. This is far too long for something so mediocre. I'll probably make a part 2 later, most of this is before the big climax and it never gets resolved, so I guess I don't have a choice.", "In retrospect, I interpreted this prompt rather loosely.\n\n------------------------------------\n\nIt was a frosty morning in October and I sat sprawled out on the couch, a furry blanket over my legs and my laptop over that. My college lecture played in one half of the screen while I browsed facebook in the other. My coffee grew steadily colder on the coffee table and by all accounts it was an uneventful morning. The news on my feed carried the headlines of more little boys assaulted by Catholic priests, more of the usual strife in the Middle East, and more unrest about abortion. I never really got the whole religion thing, I mean, do people really believe all this s*'s got some grand plan? And who wants an \"all powerful being\" telling them what to do anyway? The bombardment was getting me worked up and I hadn't even registered a third of what the professor was saying. Time for tumblr.\n\n\n\nMy roommate walked in bringing an icy draft with her as she opened the door. I recoiled my feet under the blanket in protest. She was usually bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed after her morning lectures but today her face was drawn with some unspoken distress. \"Fail a test?\" I joked.\n\n\"No.\" She replied, holding back. \"Actually, could you do me a favor?\"\n\n\"Depends.\" I said, curious.\n\n\"You know my astronomy club?\" She asked.\n\n\"Yeah.\" I followed.\n\n\"Well, we were gonna have a party tonight, an initiation of sorts, like for pledges, but we're a man short. Michael is sick.\" She continued.\n\n\"Okay.\" I nodded.\n\n\"Would you be willing to come help out?\" She asked.\n\n\"Sure.\" I answered.\n\n\"Great.\" She responded, clearly relieved. \"By the way, we like to do a little act to scare the pledges. Do you mind memorizing a few lines? If not you can always use notecards, but I think the effect is better when memorized.\"\n\n\"I can give it a shot.\" I replied, harkening back to drama class in middle school.\n\nI looked over the lines a few times and had them memorized after about the fourth read. They were pretty simple stuff, but some of the other people had some beefy roles with quite a bit to remember.\n\nThe eveing came and went and soon the sun had set and the bloated, yellow moon had peaked over the naked treetops. We arrived at the observatory, a small set of rooms on the roof of the physics building. A large telescope formed the highest floor with a rotating dome over it, allowing for viewing of the entire sky, one sliver at a time. That night, however we went out on the roof beside the dome where 11 other people stood waiting in a circle. They stood around some chalk drawing, maybe a set of planets or a star chart. The symbols and shapes meant nothing to me. There were 3 pledges, all easily recognized by the tattered white apron over their clothes while the remaining 8 people wore pressed black robes with colored satin aprons symbolizing their role in the ceremony.\n\n My roommate and I donned our black robes and colored aprons and took the two remaining places at the circle. The club president walked around the circle with a bowl and collected our phones and set the bowl inside the observatory, turning off the lights on his way back. He re-entered the circle, placing a lit candle at its center, likely a symbol of the sun. It shed little light, but in the full moonlight I could almost make out everyone's faces. \n\n\n\nSuddenly, and with a striking degree of gravity, the others began reciting their lines. Silently I mouthed all the words, counting down to my part. I even whispered some of the pledge responses. My time to speak still startled me and there was a noticeable pause, but I said the lines, loudly, clearly and sincerely to which the pledges responded. After getting out my last line, a feeling of relief washed over me, the freedom of being done with public speaking. \n\n\n\nIt was short lived, however, because a deep disquiet rose in me from the depths of my heart. For a moment the shadows grew inwards from the periphery of my sight and time was irrelevant. The candle at the circle center flickered brighter as the wind ceased. A low voice addressed me by name and said, \"welcome. I've been waiting for you. You know, together we'll accomplish great things.\"\n\n\"Who are you?\" I whispered under my breath. Logically I should have guessed I was hallucinating, but deep down I knew it was real.\n\n\"You know me. You spoke my name just tonight. I am the Morning Star. I am Lucifer.\"\n\nA chill went down my spine and froze me to my bones. I stood there, in shock, until my senses returned, the shadows faded, and the group's speech resumed. The moment had passed, but that dark disquiet in my heart remained.", "\"You know, I talk with my leader about you sometimes.\"\n\nUgh. I really wish that when Rebekah talked to me about her church she didn't make it sound so creepy. We've been friends for a few months now and she doesn't really seem to understand that it makes me uncomfortable, or maybe she just doesn't care. We live in a small town just outside Butte, Montana. Nothing happens out here and the few residents jokingly refer to the area as the \"Butte-muda triangle\" because people's cars seem to break down a lot when they are passing through. \n\n\"I wish you would come with me sometime, the Green House is just so beautiful.\"\n\nRebekah belongs to one of those whacky, new age, borderline cult, religions that always seem to spring up just as society is about to collapse. They call themselves The Natural Stewards, pledging to be stewards of the natural earth and to live their lives to reverse climate blah blah blah....... I can't really blame them though, seeing as how when the government shut down this time it didn't exactly seem like it was going to make a come back. To a small town though, watching the news about our crumbling infrastructure and reading about the crashing stock markets is comparable to watching the latest episode of House of Cards and skipping ahead to the comics section in the newspaper. \n\nI pull the sweatshirt off my sticky back. We've been out walking for a while. We always seem to go out for a walk when we're together. Rebekah says it's because she \"loves seeing the glory of God around her,\" but I know it's because there's not shit else to do in this town. The heat is oppressive. I hear most of the country now is either underwater or scorched dry. Luckily, things have always seemed barren in Butte. \n\n\"We're having a meeting tonight in the Green House. You should come.\"\n\nI knew that was coming. Rebekah always wants me as the ride along. I wonder if they will give her something for recruitment. She's been asking me to go at least once a week for a month now. Maybe if I just do it once then she'll leave me alone about it. \n\nI tell her I'll go.\n\n\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\n\nWe arrive at the Green House in time to see other members standing outside with baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables. \n\n\"They grow them inside, you can take one with you as a snack for the meeting and even more before you go home.\"\n\nI choose a pear. I pierce its thick skin with my front teeth and feel the juices spread across my tongue. Damn, it's been too long. Most food like fruits and vegetables disappeared around five years ago when the worst of the seven droughts came through. Now, unless you grow indoors, most people are reduced to eating the remainder of the nonperishables they had stocked, animal products, or the GRE's that started getting handed out when threats of rioting became real. \n\nThe Green House is really a converted movie theater, with the front main lobby being used as a greenhouse due to its large windows designed to let in natural light and lower the electricity bill. Solar panels have been installed across the large roof which keep the lights on in the hallways and the IMAX where Rebekah says the sermons are held. I was worried I would be bombarded by other churchgoers and sub-sequentially drowned in the getting-to-know-you type questions that usually go along with visiting a church. However, everyone just smiled or nodded in my direction as we passed. \n\nRebekah led me down the hallway and into the theater, we took our seats in the large plush chairs in the middle of the room. A man appeared from behind the curtain of the screen. \n\n\"Good afternoon Stewards.\"\n\n\"A prosperous harvest to you,\" the crowd responded.\n\nI started to wonder if the plants attracted insects or if it was just my skin crawling.\n\n\"I am so glad you could all join us for our evening prayer. As always will be praying for rain for the Earth, fire for our hearths, and for our own spiritual births. I notice we have some newcomers today, welcome. Here at the Green House we have a nightly prayer or meditation when we meet. We do not believe so much in teaching a way of life, but instead on reflecting on the life we already have and asking God if it is good enough to continue living. Our prayers go as such, \n\n'God, it is I.\n\nToday I have done something good for the Earth.\n\nToday I have done something bad for the Earth.\n\nTomorrow I will try to only do good.'\n\nAfter each phrase we recommend a moment of personal reflection on what was done and what will be done. Now, please, lean your head back, close your eyes, and let us begin.\"\n\nWell, I have never felt this uncomfortable in my life, but,fuck it, maybe I can just take a nap. I lean my head back, close my eyes and I can hear the people around me begin to mutter to themselves. Then I feel the sharp sting of Rebekah's elbow into my ribs.\n\n\"You told me you would at least try.\" I hear her hiss in my direction.\n\nFine.\n\n\"God.......it is I.\"\n\n\"Hello, my child\"\n\nUm, okay, what the fuck. I turn around in my seat to see if Rebekah is behind me trying to mess with me. She is still sitting next to me, with an all knowing look in her eyes. She says, \"Keep going, we all hear Him.\"\n\n\"God, it is I.\"\n\n\"Hello, my child.\"\n\n\"Uhhhhh,hi. Today I have done something good for the Earth.\"\n\n\"That is splendid, reveal your good deeds to me.\"\n\nAt this point Rebekah has turned away and is praying herself with her head leaned back and pushed into the chair. I can hear her saying my name. I start to mutter about deciding to give The Natural Stewards a chance while also leaning my head closer and closer to Rebekah's. She's gone full trance now and doesn't seem to notice that our heads are almost touching at this point. That's when I hear it. \n\n\"Today I have done something good for the Earth,\" Rebekah says, her voice full of too much hope. \n\nThen, just barely, like a clear whisper, \"That is splendid, reveal your good deeds to me.\"\n\nMy heart sinks. I slide back over into my seat and continue pretending to join in this meditation. I wriggle in the seat a bit, like I'm trying to scratch my upper back and there, I can see in the dim light the stitching on my seat cover. I slouch in my seat to bring my ear closer.\n\n\"God, it is I.\"\n\n\"Hello, my child.\"\n\n\"God, it is I.\"\n\n\"Hello, my child.\" \n\"Today I have done something good for the Earth\"\n\n\"That is splendid, reveal your good deeds to me.\"\n\n\"Today I have done something good for the Earth\"\n\n\"That is splendid, reveal your good deeds to me.\"\n\n\"God, it is I.\"\n\n\"Hello, my --\"\n\n\"Today i have done something good for the Earth.\"\n\n\"That is splen--\"\n\n\"God, it is I.\"\n\n\"Hello, my child.\"" ]	3
	[WP] A little girl grows up thinking all doors are automatic, but it’s just a really polite ghost haunting her. At age 16, she discovers the ghost’s existence.	[ "Alice walked through the front door, opening before her, as always. Before the door closes she hears a voice. “m’lady” the voice says. “Huh?” She says, confused, “who said that?” A floating fedora (slightly tilted to one side) comes through the door. Alice screams, at the floating thing on the doorway. A voice coming out of the fedora exclaims, “Why, that is way too much noise for my liking! I should be off, anyway, goodbye dear.” The door opens again, the fedora leaves, and the door closes behind it. She could here footsteps coming down the stairs. “Honey! Honey, are you all right?” Her mother asks coming into view. “I’m fine” she replies. “Well then you shouldn’t scream like that, you almost gave me a heart attack! You’re grounded for a week!” “Bu-“ “No buts, go to your room, now!” “Yes mom,” Alice says, defeated, she goes to her room and walks to the door, or rather, into the door. The door didn’t open for her... “Mom, the automatic door is broken for my room!” She calls down.... “What automatic door?” Her mom asks.......\n\nSorry for grammar and spelling mistakes I’m on mobile....", "Thud.\n\nJessica’s phone clattered to the ground. She stood rubbing her forehead, staring in front of her; at the door which, to her consternation, remained closed. Retrieving her phone and taking a step backwards, she tried again.\n\nThud.\n\nShe blinked, confused.\n\n‘This doesn’t usually happen,’ she thought, ‘must be broken.’\n\nLooking down, she spied the door handle. An archaic implement from the times before doors were automated, Jessica had always assumed. She had never used one. Tentatively, she poked it. Nothing happened. She pulled on the door handle. Still nothing. She ran her thumb along its length, like she was unlocking a phone. Stubbornly, the door refused to open. \n\nInfuriated and out of ideas, Jessica hammered on the door with her fist. \n\n‘Mum! Mum, the door’s broken!’ she cried. Continuing in this way for a few seconds, the door was eventually opened by her mother, a wry grin on her face.\n\n‘You’re still pretending the door is automatic?’ she asked. \n\nJessica laughed sarcastically. Her mum liked to pretend that the door wasn’t automatic. The door, like the rest of the house, was old, but Jessica knew that all door were automatic now. Just like horse-drawn carriages and gas-fuelled lamps, manual doors belonged to a bygone age. \n\n‘Very funny,’ she said. ‘When’s it getting fixed?’\n\nHer mother just rolled her eyes in response, returning to the living room without a word. \n\nJessica stood just inside the entrance for a moment, peeved at her mother’s irritating sense of humour. Releasing an exasperated sigh, she jogged upstairs to her room. Reaching the door to her room, she paused, cautious. \n\n‘Perhaps she’s disabled all the doors in the house,’ thought Jessica, regarding her mother. ‘Wouldn’t put it past her. She probably thinks its funny, watching me walk into doors.’ \n\nTo her relief, the door did open upon her careful approach. Muttering under her breath, she entered, taking a seat at the desk. Behind her, the door swung closed, as it always did. \n\nBooting up the computer, Jessica first checked her Facebook, then Reddit, then back to Facebook, eventually tabbing in to youtube and settling down to watch something really not worth watching. A few minutes went by, then Jessica was interrupted by a touch to her shoulder. \n\nSpinning around in her chair, Jessica began to speak: ‘Mum? What’s u--,’ then stopped. \n\nBefore her was not her mother. Before her was a boy, maybe a year or two older than she was, dressed in a shirt and corduroys. Behind him, directly behind him, Jessica could see the various things she might expect see if there weren’t a person stood in the way, unobscured except for a faint blue tint. \n\n‘Excuse me, miss,’ said the ghost, eyes fixed on the ground, his hand grasping the wrist of the other arm. ‘It’s just --.’ \n\nJessica inhaled, making to scream. \n\n‘No, no, no, no!’ said the ghost. ‘Please, miss. If you yell, I’ll be forced to make myself scarce, and then I won’t be able to say what I’ve got to. Please, I’m begging you, miss: hear me.’\n\nJessica, recovering from the initial shock, admitted to herself that the apparition didn’t seem terribly threatening. Nevertheless, her voice wavered when she spoke.\n\n‘Go on then,’ she said.\n\nThe ghost looked relieved.\n\n‘Thank you, miss, truly.’ Here, the ghost paused, considering what to say. 'Here’s the short and the long of it: I’m here to apologise. \n\n‘Apologise?’ Asked Jessica, confused. ‘What for?’\n\n‘For not opening the door, miss. I’m terribly sorry, it’s just-- Well, I was distracted, you see? You look so much like her of late, I couldn’t help but recall …’\n\n‘I don’t understand,’ said Jessica. ‘I look like who? And yourself; who are you, even? And … The door? You opened it?’\n\n‘If it pleases you, miss, I’ll explain.’\n\nSilently, Jessica nodded.\n\n‘This house was once an inn, you see? Ran by my father and myself. Mother died when I was young. Anyway, one night, the inn was empty, just Father and I sat afore the fire in the main room.’ He gestured downward, towards where Jessica’s mother sat watching TV. \n\n‘It was a winter night, moonless, dark. Father didn’t expect there to be any travellers abroad, so the front door was locked tight, windows shuttered. We were about retire when, all of a sudden, there came a battering on the front door. \n\nA young lady - one that I found later looked much like yourself - was outside. She was frantic, begging to be let in. From what I could discern of her desperate cries, she and her family had been set upon by highwaymen. The lass had managed to escape, but was pursued, and so begged for sanctuary inside the inn.\n\nI jumped to, of course, eager to respond, but Father held me back. “Dont,” he said, “It’s all a trick, we’re being duped.” I struggled, but the coward had me fast. I couldn’t help you. Her. I couldn’t help her, couldn’t open the door for her. I wanted to open it so badly. At the very least, she wouldn’t have died alone that way.\n\nIt didn’t take long before the cries of the young lady were cut short. After that, Father hoped we’d be left alone, that if we hid, the bandits wouldn’t bother with us.’ The ghost looked down at his translucent body. ‘You can see how well that plan worked for us.’\n\nSilence reigned. For a full minute, Jessica couldn’t think of anything to say. \n\nIncapable of finding anything better, she asked, ‘So … You open doors for me?’\n\n‘I do,’ replied the ghost. ‘It’s the only thing that brings me any satisfaction anymore.’\n\nAgain, silence. Eventually, Jessica looked up. \n\n‘I-- uh. I think I want to go some place.’\n\nThe ghost, meeting her eye, nodded. \n\n‘Thank you, miss,’ he said, even as he slowly disappeared. \n\nWithout a sound, the door opened wide.\n", "Becky stood on her porch, wondering what had gone wrong with the front door. It remained shut no matter how close she drew near. Becky was close enough to the door to smell the chipped paint, the old wood underneath, even the familiar smell of her home beyond the door. Yet still it remained closed. \n\nAs long as she could remember this door—as all doors she’d ever come across—opened automatically. Even when staying at hotels, while others had to swipe their plastic keycards, all Becky had to do was approach the door's threshold and they would yield. The first time Becky had seen the repulsion of two magnets with similar poles, she had thought, ‘Oh, that’s like what’s happening with me and doors. I’m the same pole as the door, and when I get close it just gets so repulsed by me, it opens up.’ She didn’t know whether to take that as an insult or not, but it did explain the strange phenomenon—well, strange to others. Becky had been living with it for what seemed like her entire life.\n\nBecky pressed her face against the door. It felt hard and cold against her cheek. Frowning, Becky jiggled the handle. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually had to use one. ‘It’s simple right? You just turn it.’ She’d seen it done a thousand times by others. Even children can use them. So why was she having such a difficult time?\n\nA voice inside her head whispered, ‘You can't open it.’ Becky let her hand fall from the handle, her knuckles dragged against the door as her hand fell to her side. Becky sighed. She patted her pockets, but she knew she didn’t have the key to the door. Why would she? Doors had always opened themselves up, locked or not.\n\nRaising her hand to knock, that same voice called out to her, “No!”\n\nIt wasn’t inside her head this time. It was loud, really loud, causing Becky to wince and pull her left shoulder up as if it would help protect her. Becky turned and saw a boy standing beside her. To say he was a little pale would have been like saying a rock is a little unmoving. His skin had a blue hue to it that made him look like he had just walked out of a walk-in freezer. Becky imagined one of those blue tinged hands reaching out and touching her on the arm or shoulder. She shivered and broke out in goosebumps at the thought.\n\nDespite the boy’s frozen appearance, his eyes exuded warmth. On top of that, they seemed familiar. Had she seen this boy before? He looked to be the same age as her, but definitely was not in any of her classes at school. She would definitely have remembered someone this odd… and blue.\n\n“No.” The boy repeated as he put a hand against the door. He shook his head.\n\nBecky narrowed her eyes, and glared at him. Who was he to say she couldn’t enter her own home? The same day she loses the strange ability to open doors without having to touch them or think about them, this boy shows up and starts giving her commands? She would have shoved him away from the door if he had not been so blue. \n\nThe boy's kind eyes soothed her anger. They said what his words didn’t. A lot can be gathered from a person’s eyes. There’s a reason why they're called the windows to the soul. Real or not, figurative or literal, the eyes are that window. If a person knew how to look, they could tell what kind of soul someone had with a high confidence interval. Becky, like most people, had the subconscious tool set to see that this boy was not a danger to her. \n\nShe was still angry. Crossing her arms Becky asked, “And why can’t I go inside? I have a mountain of homework and I'm hungry.\"\n\nThe boy sighed. “I'm sorry. Usually I would have already opened this door and let you pass. This time I can’t.”\n\nBecky’s eyes widened. “You.” She pointed a finger at his chest. She left an inch or so of room, she didn’t want to actually touch him. “That’s where I’ve seen you.”\n\nIt had been years ago. Becky must have been four or five. She had fallen behind her parents and had found herself all alone on a busy sidewalk. Adults like towering giants brushed past her. Becky could still remember the rising fear, the quickening of her heart like a tiny drumroll building to a painful intensity. Then a door had opened. A boy her own age had pulled it back, revealing her parents talking to store clerk. The boy had smiled at her. \n\nThe memory replayed itself with perfect movie quality. At the end, Becky was slammed back to the present. That boy was here, just a little older, same as Becky.\n\n“Wait. So you’ve been opening doors for me all these years?”\n\n“Yes.”\n\n“Why? Who are you? Don’t you have, like, parents and a life of your own?”\n\nHe shook his head. “I…” He looked to the side. Becky watched as the boy seemed to search for his memories. Pain transformed his face into a horrible grimace.\n\nForgetting her revulsion to the boy, Becky tried to place a hand on his shoulder. Her hand went through his body like he was made of smoke or some kind of warm vapor. A small amount of condensation covered her hand as if she’d let it hover over the steam from a boiling pot of water.\n\t\n“What the hell?” She heard herself say.\n\n“I died. I don’t usually remember it. I don't like to.” His voice was almost pouty, like a sullen kid that didn't want to do some chore. The boy tried to resume his previous smile, but it seemed some of the pain still lingered from earlier. “I was lost like you, but I didn’t have someone to show me the way back.”\n\nBecky didn’t know what to say. She pinched her forearm and felt the expected stinging sensation—she wasn’t dreaming. “I’ve lost it then. There must have been some kind of residual radiation or something from the doors opening for me, and after years of exposure my brain is a melting goop.”\n\nThe boy shook his head. “I’ve been opening them for you. Your brain,” He cocked his head to the side. “It’s not ‘goop’.” He reached out and took her hand. This time she felt a solid presence from him. His skin was cool, but not cold.\n\n“How—”\n\n“No time to explain. You need to get away.” His eyes widened, they were serious and worried. “Now!”\n\nThe boy pulled her off her porch. Down the steps and across the yard into the neighbor’s lawn. He led her to her neighbor’s driveway, behind a small retaining wall they could crouch behind. Just as the boy pulled her down, Becky’s front door exploded outward.\n\nTwo men in Halloween masks carried an assortment of her family’s possessions in their arms. Becky stood to shout at them, but the boy pulled her down again. The men carried the items to a white van parked around the corner.\n\n“What if my mom is home?” Becky hissed at the boy who still held her hand in a tight grip.\n\n“She’s not. She’s at the store with your brother.” He let go of her hand. He gave her a pleading look. Becky sighed and crouched back down. She reached out and tried to grab his hand, but it was like trying to grab at steam.\n\n“How come I can’t feel you, but you can grab doors and my hand?”\n\nHe shrugged as if to say, ‘I don’t make the rules.’ He pointed to her side pocket. Becky smacked her forehead.\n\n“Duh, my phone.” She pulled it out and dialed the police. After she reported the crime, the woman on the other end told her to stay on the line until the police arrived. Becky covered the phone with her palm and whispered, “There’ll be here soo—”\n\nThe boy was gone. Becky looked around but all she saw was an empty driveway. Peeking over the retaining wall she saw the men carrying more of her family’s electronics and some of her mother’s jewelry. No sign of the boy.\n\nI didn’t even get to ask him his name. She thought with a sinking heart.\n\nEventually, the police came, but the men and the white van had left minutes before. Becky gave an account of what she saw, minus her strange friend. Becky lied and said she’d heard loud sounds coming from inside her house and thought to hide. The police complimented her on her quick thinking. \n\nAfter the police left and her mother and brother came home, they went inside to a house half-full. Becky’s room had been mostly devoid of valuables to start with. She hoped—with crossed fingers—that they didn’t take much from her room. As she entered the hallway outside her bedroom, Becky heard the blood-curdling shriek of her little brother, followed by a wail of “They took my PlayStation! I had just gotten an Arabian horse with full stats!” Becky rolled her eyes and shook her head.\n\nThe door to her room opened, slowly, before she could even think to reach for the handle. Becky smiled and looked around. She was alone in the hallway. \n\nOr was she…?\n\n&nbsp;\n\n-------\n\n12,469 / 50,000 Words of NaNoWriMo short story goal.\n", "The door creaked open.\n\nShe didn't look at it as she slipped through, didn't give it a second thought. Why bother? It wasn't anything new.\n\nHer classmates all whispered behind her back, calling her gullible. Stupid. But every time they did, she only insisted all the harder.\n\nShe wasn't crazy. She wasn't. She was certain of it - every time she reached for a door, it slid away from her touch, opening entirely on its own before she could touch it.\n\nOf course, it never happened when anyone else was looking.\n\nAnd it wasn't just new doors. She'd peered up at door frame after door frame, looking for the springs. Looking for the closer. She'd found only bare wood and ancient hinges.\n\nBut little by little, anything becomes normal, and so too did the mystery of the door. She stopped bringing it up to her mother, who in turn stopped worrying herself to death over her wayward, confused daughter. Little by little, the appointments with nice men and women in cozy, comforting rooms dwindled, finally stopping entirely.\n\nIt didn't stop her from whispering \"thank you\" every time she slipped through an entryway. And somewhere, in the back of her mind, she thought she could feel someone smiling at her, like eyes on the back of her neck.\n\nThe years slipped on, and she wasn't a little girl anymore. The laughter of her friends rang in her ears as they slipped out of the convenience store. It might have been her imagination, but she thought the door opened ahead of them, waiting obstinately open for a single, patient second.\n\nShe didn't give it a second glance. Whatever the door did was her business. Her phone was lit up with messages, texts from that boy in 6th period. The one who looked at her with those eyes, the ones that were endlessly blue and filled with laughter. A low chuckle slipped from her throat as she hesitated, glancing down at his latest message. Her steps slowed.\n\nHer friends reached the far side of the crosswalk, still laughing amongst themselves. They didn't notice. It was just a second, after all.\n\nJust a second, but long enough.\n\nThe impact sent her flying. The phone fell from her hands, clattering across the asphalt. The screen shattered, sending all of those messages into blank, empty darkness.\n\nShe didn't feel the ground when it rose up under her.\n\n---\n\nHer eyes snapped open. Black. There was only....black. Her heartbeat accelerated as the memory of what had happened ran through her head. The texts. Her friends.\n\nThe truck.\n\nHer pulse thundering in her ears, she threw herself upright, spinning in a circle. When she looked, she saw nothing. When she called, no one replied.\n\nUntil a single sound rang through the darkness - soft, and indescribably smooth. Her eyes widened at the recognition that she wasn't alone, that she wasn't going to be swallowed up by the endless night.\n\nBut when she spun, she froze a moment later.\n\nHe didn't look anything like the pictures she'd always seen. He wasn't a skeleton. He wasn't particularly tall, or even all that scary. He was just a man in a black robe, his face hidden by the shadows. He didn't even have a scythe.\n\nShe shrank back from him all the same. She knew.\n\nHis hand slipped from its sleeve, rising. Beckoning. His fingers twitched, drawing her in closer. Despite herself, she found she was walking, stepping forward one quivering footstep at a time. Her eyes were fixed on the black where his face should have been, wide and terrified.\n\nIt wasn't supposed to happen like this.\n\nThe thought hung in her mind, suspended in a moment of terror. It wasn't. She wasn't supposed to die, not in a car crash. Not like that. She was too young. That happened to other people, people on the news and in TV shows. Not her.\n\nAnd yet, she couldn't stop. Her legs were shaking, her shoulders not far behind, but still the man called her forward with a look.\n\nA hand landed on her shoulder. She shivered, twitching as the robed man's hold on her faltered.\n\nA shape slipped past her - tall, and just as dark as the robed man.\n\nShe recognized him all the same, even though she'd never seen him before. Her lips parted, sliding open as he pushed past her. His steps made no sound as he stalked out front.\n\nThe robed man paused. His hand twitched, his fingers falling still. She waited, frozen in place, and stared at the scene playing out in front of her.\n\nShe could hear them talking. The words cut through the darkness, lashing about her like wings flapping at midnight, like leaves rustling in a storm. They circled her, tantalizingly close and yet just out of her reach.\n\nThey were arguing. She could tell that, somehow. Feel it. Not angrily. If anything, the robed man seemed almost...sad. She wasn't sure why she felt that, since she couldn't see his face, but she knew it all the same.\n\nThe shadowed figure turned, looking back at her as the voices fell quiet at last. \n\nHe smiled.\n\nNo. She knew, knew that something had happened. A decision had been reached - one made entirely without her input, and she wasn't- she hadn't-\n\nHer legs shook as she broke into a run, but it was like she was caught in a dream. No matter how fast she ran, they were farther still. No matter how she reached, she couldn't quite touch him.\n\nThe faintest rustle of cloth brushed against her fingertips as the world around her exploded into black.\n\n---\n\nThe truck's horn.\n\nShe hadn't heard it before. She heard it then - loud, and right there, and she knew that she wasn't going to be able to move in time, and-\n\nA hand slammed into her back, hitting her hard enough she tumbled. A cry slipped from her lips as she fell hard, flying to the side.\n\nThe truck careened past, leaving black streaks and the smell of burning rubber in its wake. She didn't move. She just sat where she was, frozen and shaking.\n\nWhen she looked up to where she was, there was no one there.\n\n---\n\nHer friends were on her seconds later, screaming and crying and worrying. She was dragged here and there - the police station, the hospital. Her mother wrapped her in a hug, sobbing madly.\n\nShe tolerated it all, somehow...shaken. Not by the truck, but by what had happened. By the feeling she couldn't quite push away. The feeling that something had changed.\n\nThe doors didn't open for her anymore.\n\nShe waited at each one, looking up, but they stayed resolutely in place.\n\nHe was gone. She knew it. Even though she'd never known he was there before, known it was him, he'd always been waiting. And now he wasn't.\n\nNow she was alone.\n\nThe picture frame on her mother's desk was never dusty. It was well-polished by the oil of the hands constantly picking it up. She was just the latest visitor, staring down into the pair of smiling faces. Her mother looked so beautiful in her dress. She'd always thought so.\n\nAnd he looked so nice in his suit - made even more handsome by the look in his eyes, the raw love there as he stared down at her mother.\n\nShe hadn't been able to see his eyes. It was too dark. Had he looked at her like that?\n\nShe couldn't be sure. But she liked to think so. And the thought made her feel just a little less alone.\n\nShe smiled.\n\n---\n\n(/r/inorai, critiques always welcome!)" ]	4
	[WP] You're floating in space surrounded by debris and your suit is running out of power. You expect to die among the stars. However, you're surprised when a ship stops near you and sends out a pod. You quickly notice their emblem; it's the ship of a famous gang of space pirates.	[ "Porcelain. \nThat is what my beloved's skin looked under the faint light of my suit. \nBeautiful, flawless, cold. \nThe Universe had done a good job in robbing her of what ever time she could have left. \nTime is a finicky thing, really: it really doesn't stop after death. It will continue it's path until you're rendered nothing and have your essence scattered around for more stars to feed on. \nAfter death, rot sets in and it works to break down proteins, fat, connective tissues and bones in simpler molecules which are harnessed by their surroundings. \nIn the vastness of space though, it cuts right to the point. \nThe natural moisture humans carry, which the popular notion is around 90%, freeze-dries really quickly in the void leaving behind a hardened husk. \nMy fingers travel gently through her sleeping expression, one that would make the 'Lady of the Seine' wretch in jealousy. I do so calmly and carefully, least her body be fragile due to the accidental preservation process and my caress chips her lovely smile. \n \nI return the smile. \nIt has gone just as planned. Perfectly as I always strive to do. \nMy memories drift to recall my parents who would be definitively proud of how I was able to create a beautiful setup derived from cold mathematical skill. Science and Engineering has it's unique and eluding charm, it is in the eye of the beholder to sense and derive. \n \nMy beautiful Beatrice. \nThe only one in this galaxy who could understand and console my madness. \nI once promised to you the wealth held on the vault of stars and here I am delivering just as a gentleman would. \nOur circumstances where accidental, but welcomed. A needed stable chaos in mental hurricane that hosted machinery, equations and my pride. \nWith this same impulse was that I decided that I would give you my all, my complete madness. \n \nIt will not take long, my dear. \nI will join you and become one with the Universe, forever floating in eternity until a black hole rips us apart thus achieving Eternity. \nIf Hawking was right, though, this may be a new beginning and there is nobody I would dare choose for this new path. \n \nSo, farewell to this world. Auf Wiedersehen! \nBe grateful that you had the privilege of having me as your guest. \nMay the stars originated from our scattered ashes become the brightest ones in the sky. \nGoodbye, Universe. Goodbye. \n \n \n---- \n \nI feel a strange pressure within my chest. \nA sequence of pumping noises and a push downwards in order to have me expel air from my mouth. \nI was alive, and I was not alone. \n \nMy eyes darted around. \nThe numbness caused from being so close to the edge of death wasn't allowing the better portion of my mind to work, so it made it become clouded with primal panic and a need to flee. \nIt was then, as I began to wiggle in place, that I realize that my body was mobilized by a set of bindings. \nI couldn't see them very well and my levels of panic were skyrocketing, causing me to heave. \nMore noise came to my attention, different sets of beeps and clicks and a 'hiss' that must have come from a door decompressing open. \nTears went down my eyes. \nI'm glad I don't believe on the divine, or I would have thought of this being some unknown level of Hell. \n \nA tall creature covered in full armor entered the room where I was being held at. \nIt approached my bed - which was covered in some sort of trans lucid lid, a fact that I only came to learn when it poked it's finger on it causing some patterns to swirl around - and glanced behind it's helmet. \nA second hissing noise announced a 2nd individual arriving to meet the first. \nThey spoke in some strange guttural language before turning back to me. \n \n\"He must speak Basic too.\" One of them said. My head snapped towards the source of the sound. It was the desperately needed center of concentration I required to bring my full consciousness back to work. \n\"As long as we can talk to it-\" \n\"Him,\" corrected the first. \"You revised his sheet, didn't you? This one's male.\" \n\"Yes, yes. Very interesting. This is all pointless if we can't get any information out of him.\" \n\"Well, there are always ways to make sentients talk.\" \n \nAn old and wrong assumption about the human brain is that we only tend to use 10% of it. \nThere might be some truth to it though: Only 10% of my consciousness was required to create a frown, roll my eyes an activate the area where my sarcasm was held. \n \n\"Are you done?\" I asked nobody in particular. \"Or are you going to open me up and do experiments? I never really particularly believed that aliens could be stereotypically prone to dissect everything they see, but if you are into that you could at least let me know so I can guide you.\" \n \nI wiggled enough to clench my buttocks. I sighed. \n \n\"Really? That too?\" \n \nThough shielded by their helmets, the pair of alien beings where most likely puzzled by my statements. \nEither that or they were angry and they would kill me. Good. \nI was overdue anyways. \n \n\"Silence!\" Barked one of them suddenly, making the other one flinch. I rolled my eyes. \"We are the ones who will be doing the interrogation. Who are you?\" \n\"And what's with that intonation?\" The other one slipped in the conversation. \n\"If it's of any interest of yours, my intonation of English is different because I am a proud German and I will continue doing so even if Earth is some 250 AUs away. On the other hand, you speak really weird too, so shut it.\" \n \nThe pair spoke to in their language, probably arguing what they would do with me, gazing down at me once they were done. \n \n\"A German. What is that anyways?\" \n\"Mein Sterne... are you serious?\" \n\"W-We are asking you for a reason, you know?\" The other one quipped. \n\"Don't help him.\" Muttered the one I'm going to call for the rest of the story 'Idiot 1'. \n\"Do you know what Earth is?\" I paused. Many works of fiction have taught me that, for some reason, extraterrestrial life preferred other names for our planet. I suppose it was fair. \"Terra?\" \n\"Earth?\" \n \nThe two of them turned away, muttering at each other things I couldn't care less about. \nMy train to the afterlife was delayed and I was getting annoyed. \nIt is in their luck I wasn't Swiss, or they would have to beg what ever deity or societal system they followed that I had mercy on them. \nA 'fwoosh' sound announced a holographic panel system after some 10 minutes or so of their conclave. It was followed by some beeping which I would guess was the keyboard they were using. \nSets of discernible clicks came to my attention as I was able to move my body much more freely. The transparent husk above me materialized in front of my eyes briefly before melting back. \nIdiots 1 and 2 approached me again. \nI sat up, naked. Figures. \n \n\"Do you know anything about the physiology of your kind? Particularly of the kind that has nanomites that serve as a sort of bio-computer?\" Idiot 1 asked. \n\"Bio-computers? You mean Cyberians?\" I stared at them with a frown. \"I didn't think they would make it this far.\" \n \n---- \n \n^(Continued on the comments.)\n \n", "You never realize how empty and dark space is until you're alone with your thoughts and the debris of your ship in your failing space suit. I have all the time in the world I told myself with a slight chuckle because in my world of misfortune that's probably 30 minutes of back up life support. I never really thought it would end like this but it definitely could have been worse, I'm finally done that's all that matters my last bit of hope fled an hour ago when I shot off the space equivalent of a signal flare that shot my location and name in a 360° radius through radio waves. I thought then someone might come for me but I realize now I might be better off in this eternal void, there isn't a single damn person alive who I care for anymore and vice versa. As I felt my breathing get tighter I braced myself for the last sleep I'll ever choose to get. Seconds before I closed my eyes that's when the lights appeared, my god I thought just when things were getting good. A pod shot out of the vessel floating adjacent to me. I was in awe of the vessel it was the biggest I've ever seen but I couldn't be sure if it was the lack of oxygen that was impressed or me. When the the pod opened and snatched me out of my drift I was a little relieved maybe I wasn't ready to die I thought, but then again I've been wrong before I look around this pod as my suit refilled my oxygen supply the emblems looked forged this was not a commercial pod as the interior so proudly read with the Aquarius fleet logo the vessel this pod launched from was roughly twice as big as any recreational star ship. The pod returned to the vessel and shot me out in what looked like a holding cell, that wasn't what I was worried about the top spot on interplanetary smuggler parkers worry list was the red planet skull and crossbones banner on the wall. Two guys about 20 years older than myself grabbed my arms and took me to the main chamber the captain will see you now. The bigger of the two said in a voice that sounded like he might gargle nails instead of mouth wash. The men left the room and a large door opened in front of me. Captain Davis I said to him with a scowl he returned the same greeting I gave him. It's been awhile brother yes it has he repeated. If I didn't owe him my life I might have pulled my gun but in this game you must play by the rules.", "\"Great,\" Crista thought as she drifted, weightless, amongst the debris of her small cargo ship.\nSome broken glass drifted by her, pieces of the ancient alcohol she tried to smuggle off of the Earth.\nIt seemed so trivial now. She was only going to make two thousand cred from the job. \n\"Why did I do this?\" She said aloud to the void. She didn't need the money. It was always the challenge, the thrill. Evading the Galactic Police Force, the risk of getting caught.\n\nWell, she didn't get caught. She got murdered. Assassinated. She had received a signal from Sola, a rich corporation she had stolen from previously. It said \"Good riddance.\" Then her ship exploded. Someone had planted a bomb in with the goods. Probably the ones who gave her the job. It was a trap. \n\nShe looked at her emergency suit diagnostics. Six minutes of oxygen left.\n\nShe looked around. Nothing but blackness and broken glass.\n\"Well, this is it.\" She said.\n\nA dim flash of light in the distance caught her eye. More debris? No, a ship. An incoming ship.\n\nHer heart raced. The critical oxygen warning blared in her ear.\n\"A ship\" she said, as if she still did not believe it. Saying it might make it true.\n\nThen she considered. What ship? Who would be out here in the void? Nobody knew where she was.\nWas it someone from Sola, checking on their work? Was it a Galactic Police Force patrol that saw the explosion?\n\nShe almost hoped it was the first. Crista would rather die out here in space where she belonged rather than rot in a cell on Earth.\n\nThe ship was closer now, she could see the outline. A frigate of war. It must be the GPF. Another flash told her they had launched a recovery pod.\n\nCrista thought of opening her oxygen release valve, venting her oxygen, and being done with it. But, they probably would not get to her in time anyway. Might as well watch them try.\n\nThe pod for closer. Crista fought to remain conscious, but she was fighting a losing battle.\nShe could see the whole pod now, through her blurry, half open eyelids.\nThe emblem on the pod wasn't right, she thought. That's not the GPF.\n\nIn her oxygen deprived state, she could not think straight. She recognised the emblem, but could not place it. She closed her eyes, possibly for the last time.\n\"Crimson,\" she murmured, trying to stay conscious. \"Crimson Flag\".\nWhy was she talking about the dreaded space pirates?\nCrista pried her eyes open. The emblem of the Crimson Flag took up her entire field of view.\nHe eyes opened wider now. The Crimson Flag were here. It was not the GPF.\nWith her last conscious breath, she reached for her oxygen release valve.\n\n----\n\n\"Weren't you happy to see us?\" a voice said. It had an accent. A spacer accent. The space pirates.\n\nCrista's memories came flooding back. After trying to will herself to death once more, then realizing she couldn't do that when she had oxygen, she opened her eyes.\n\nIn front of her was a group of three space pirates, all wearing disconcerting smiles.\nCrista was tied up to a metal grate. She could not move her arms, legs, or head.\n\n\"Trying to will yourself to death again, eh? We do tend to have that effect on people.\" The skinny pirate with black spiky hair said. The others laughed. One of them, a large man with more scars than skin, ran his hand down a long, serrated blade as he laughed. \n\n\"Well, don't.\" The skinny pirate continued. \"We're not going to hurt you, despite our reputation. No, that was quite a theft you pulled, you know. We're impressed.\"\n\nA third pirate, a woman with light blonde hair who was wearing Marine battle gear, frowned at that. She put her hand on a gun clipped to her belt.\n\n\"We are impressed.\" He said, as if trying to convince. \"We're not going to kill you.\"\n\nThe other pirates frowned at that.\n\n\"No,\" he said. \"We want you to join us.\"\n\nThe woman in battle gear turned and stomped off. The man with the blade stopped running his hand down the blade and stared at the skinny man with anger in his eyes.\n\nCrista was too busy staring at that blade and being frightened to think about what she had just heard.\n\nSomehow, the words made it into her brain. She coughed.\n\n\"Join you?\" She said with a dry, cracked voice.\n\n\"She speaks,\" the skinny man said, turning to the man with the blade. \"I told you she didn't recieved brain damage.\"\n\nHe turned back to Crista. \"Welcome to the team. I am Darvalian.\" He held out his hand as if to shake it, though Crista was still bound tight.\n\nCrista stared, not knowing what to believe anymore. It was just one of those days, she supposed.\n\n" ]	3
	[WP] You are HR and running background check on the newly hired candidate. He/She has listed two references, and you call them one by one, to hear very conflicting opinions about his/her personality. You decide to dig deeper and investigate, to come across some uncomfortable and disturbing truth.	[ "\"Jane Healy\" I mumble to myself as I run my finger across Alex Nieman's references. Alex is a new hire at our company, he's 51 years old and he's been with us for a few weeks already, but there's something off about him. I know it's just a gut feeling but there's something about the way he... eyes the younger men here. I punch in her phone number carefully, glancing back at the paper so as to not make any mistakes. \"Alrighty then...\" I punch in the last number and lean back in my chair, staring out onto the floor through my office window, keeping an eye on Mr. Nieman, who seems to be striking up a conversation with some of the younger women in the office, giving his 'fatherly' advice as he likes to call it. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nThe phone suddenly clicks and I hear a warm \"Hello\" on the other end from who I can only assume is Mrs. Healy. \"Hi, my name is James, I'm calling from Evertrail's News Station regarding Mr. Alex Nieman, he put you down as a reference for his position here.\" I explained. \"Oh yes! Alex! He's wonderful isn't he?!\" she exclaimed enthusiastically. She's right, he's a hard worker, charismatic, and could easily rally the team, yet something didn't sit well with me. \"Yes Mrs. Healy, he really is.\", I tapped my pen nervously on the desk as I continued with my conversation with the excitable woman \"However Mrs. Healy I'm not calling in regards to his work ethic, let's say I'm just curious about his conduct and personal life, and as to why he left your place of employment?\". Mrs. Healy barely left a space between the end of my sentence before she chimed in with nothing but praise about Mr. Nieman \"Oh he was always such a good man! Like a father to many of the women here! And as for his personal life, he always said to keep that separate from work in order to mitigate the stress he said!\". \n\n&#x200B;\n\nMrs. Healy's comments about him keeping his personal life separate have matched everything I've seen and heard thus far from Mr. Nieman, despite his exuding charisma the guy hasn't let anything about his personal life out, it made me rather uncomfortable, Mrs. Healy also mentioned his relationship with the women at work and the not the men to which I'm concerned about. \"What about his relationship with the men at the workplace Mrs. Healy? Was he like a father to them as well?\" I questioned. \"Hmm, the turnover rate for the men was a little higher than normal while Alex maintained employment here, the ladies always teased, saying his charm intimidated them and kept them from having a chance with them so that must by why they left!\" Mrs. Healy gave a good hearty laugh, no doubt believing that somehow the men were emasculated by Mr. Nieman. \"In fact three quit so suddenly in the course of the year! Not a notice left behind from them!\" Mrs. Healy continued, her laughter starting to subside. \"Thank you very much Mrs. Healy, you've been a great help\", I hung up the phone before she could add her own goodbye. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nMy stomach felt like it was rapidly sinking, her comments did nothing to ease my gut feeling about Mr. Nieman, I glanced out the office window again, observing the man continue to interact with the office gossipers, he'd occasionally glance over to me and grin, though not with the same smile he offered the women of the office, a grin that seemed to come with a dark twinkle from his eye, a look that never ceased to make my skin crawl.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Goldwin Greer\" I read the second name on his reference sheet, he was listed as a friend of Mr. Nieman's, a male too, maybe he can ease my worries. I dialed the number and turned my chair away so the back would face Mr. Nieman, I just wanted to hide from his gaze. \"Who is this?! How did you get this number?!\" yelled the man on the other line. His greeting took me aback, causing me to recoil and attempt to recollect my thoughts, then the man started crying on the other end of the line \"D-don't tell me it's you...\", the man wept. This was miles different than the previous interaction I had, why would Mr. Nieman put someone so unstable down as a reference. \"I'm James, calling from Evertrail's News Station, I'm calling because a Mr. Alex Nieman put you down as a reference here, he's already been here a few weeks but I'm looking to inquire about Mr. Nieman's conduct and personal life.\" Mr. Greer slowly stopped weeping, growing silent for half a minute, I waited patiently for him to collect his thoughts. \"Is he there with you right now?\" he whispered to me. I glanced over each shoulder, not seeing anything out of the ordinary, \"No Mr. Greer, he is not\" I whispered back. \"You need to get out of there young man, he's a monster...\" Mr. Greer's words sent a shiver down my spine. \"A monster?\" I whispered, leaning into my chair, my anxiety increasing with every word he spoke. \"Look young man, you must listen closely and listen quickly, the man is a psychopath, he's responsible for the disappearance of three young men from his previous place of work and at least 15 more from across the state.\" he muttered as if checking behind is own shoulders before telling me. I sank further into my chair, this was a bold claim but it had the effect of a campfire story right before bedtime, I was not the least bit comfortable. \"And how would you know this?\" I questioned. \"Because he told me young man!\" Mr. Greer exclaimed out of desperation, \"he tried to get me too but I was saved by the scar across my chest, you see, Alex likes young men because of their skin, but he hates deformities. He's kept me alive so far to keep me in perpetual fear, but I can't let him get you boy, don't let him get you.\" His words were haunting, my heart was beating like a snare, I could feel the blood flushing out of my face. \n\n&#x200B;\n\nSuddenly the room felt very cold, as if a ghost had wandered into it. I turned around, only to be greeted by the monster of Mr. Greer's story right in front of me. My heart nearly burst out of my chest, I could feel myself sweating despite the goosebumps on my skin. \"I'll have to call you back sir, an employee needs my attention...\" I muttered through the phone as I slowly hung it up. \"C-can I help y-you Mr. N-Nieman?\" I stuttered, unable to keep my composure as the warm face of Mr. Nieman just a few moments ago had changed to an icy glare, the man didn't blink. \"Actually James, I would like to take you to meet a friend of mine I think you'd might like.\" the monster exclaimed with his eyes fixated on mine, \"His name is Goldwin Greer, and I'd like you to be there with me for his passing...\"" ]	1
Feel free to veer this into any direction you want.	[WP] Aliens invade earth but not in a way you think. They don't come from the skies nor the ocean. You are part of a taskforce attempting to stop this seemingly unstoppable foe.	[ "\"The new census came today\"\nShe said as the airlock closes, i kiss her and check the air seals, I can't let it in.\n\"How bad is it?\"\n\"3.8 billion dead already\"\n\"God, it's been what? 40 days?\"\n\"32. Any luck at the lab\"\n\"No. I checked the sequence again, it makes even less sense, I could swear it changed, Amari said her team might have found something but we're still to see how far it goes\"\n\"Don't worry, Amari's the best microbiologist I've seen, she'll find something\"\n\"Well thank you for that\" i answer and kiss her again \"and the carbon dating? Anything?\"\n\"You bet, you think your work makes no sense? This thing is at least 30 million years old\"\n\"What? Dna from that time was completely different, it shouldn't be able to infect anything!\"\n\"I didn't believed the first time also, but i did it again 7 times, from 30 to 35 million\"\nWe're interrupted by the phone ringing, Amari the screen says.\nI rush in to the desk and grab the phone.\n\"It changed\" Amari said.\n\"What?\"\n\"We tested a cure, and it changed. The sequence we have now is completely different from the one we had 3 hours ago.\"\n\"How can it change that -\"\n\"And the sequence on the test mice is also different, and the one on the dogs, and the one on humans.\"\n\"We know it\" i interruped her \"the same virus can't infect species that different\"\n\"This one can, i saw it changing on the microscope, before my own eyes, we moved the virus from a human cell to a plant cell, and it changed again\"\n\"What are you talking about Amari?\"\n\"Did Ellen got the dating results?\"\n\"Yes, we got at least 30 million, do you think that how it contaminated species from that time and present ones?\"\n\"Worst, we dated again, with better instruments, repeated 12 times to be sure\"\n\"She was wrong?\"\n\"We got 44 million. Sounds familiar?\"\n\"The ordovician period?\"\n\"The ordovician extinction\"\n\"Amari, what are you talking about?\"\n\"It wasn't a natural event. That's not a virus Jake\"\n\"Amari\"\n\"That's not a virus Jake, it's a machine Jake, a machine\"" ]	1
	[WP] "The ritual was a success, but in the process all the cultists died. After thousands of years, I still have no idea why they made me immortal."	[ "I remember flashes of a life before this.\n\nThere was a room. Five of us, in this place. We stood around a giant machine cradle that pulsed faintly with unfamiliar energy. Aian, alien. Nothing about it belonged to this world. Aian, we were in over our heads.\n\nAt least, to my memory. We had given up our lives for the Aetherian. Left behind our families, our friends, our colleagues, and everything we had dear. Aian, those were material. Unneeded for our worship. That’s what Raymond told us, me and Sarah and Devin. Told us when we joined.\n\nHe asked us to do these things for him, to help him in his quest to complete the Oculus. Aian, the machine I had mentioned earlier. He said it was built by other beings as a way to communicate with this reality. A way to travel between states, between worlds. Aian, it was a portal. For something we didn’t understand.\n\nHe wanted to bring it through, I think. Raymond had claimed that the thing had talked to him. Showed him visions of a world in flame. It said that only those who were worthy would survive, aian, and that we were chosen as its heralds to rise from the ash.\n\nLies, then. But Raymond insisted. Risk after risk, test after test, misery and people and oh too much. We were tired and beaten. Sarah... well, much worse. Raymond said, Raymond said. He said cruelty was perfection and neither of us believed him. Aian, he was not our chosen. Aian, he was sick.\n\nSo when the work was complete, and the Oculus ready, we each spilled blood to open it. Each of our pains and miseries and joys. Given. It ate it with hunger, and smiled with teeth. As we watched the Eye opened to reveal another world we smiled.\n\nAian. It was a world of pure energy. More complex than ours, and brilliant indeed. Out of the Eye came a formless being of pure light. It was It, aian, our savior from beyond. We did not know. We knew nothing of its mind or meaning.\n\nIt judged us, each of us, to see if we were worthy. First Matthew, Raymond’s brother. The thing filled his eyes and laughed in voices of a thousand worlds. It punished him for his lies, manipulation and abuse and deceit, until he could no longer bear it and let himself drown. A corpse, aian. No more.\n\nAian. It moved to Devin, who betrayed his friend. Sarah. So it betrayed him, filled his thoughts with flames. Let him know that he was not chosen. Aian, it was truth. And so he let himself burn.\n\nThen Raymond. It showed no mercy. It did no dance, or clever ploy. No clever revenge was even wrought. Aian. It crushed his head and burned his skin, and ripped his soul from his body and consumed it with sharpened teeth. He was gone, aian, and that was good.\n\nAlas there was Sarah, my brilliant friend. Hurt and lost and left for dead. It danced across her vision and filled her heart with warmth. It did not hurt, it did not lie. It told her to leave her form behind and go through the Eye to join the others like it. For she was not long for this world, aian. She deserved a better place than this. And so it gave her.\n\nAnd then when the others were gone all that there was was me. Still a young boy in my mind, aian, but captured in awe at a thing so much greater. It spoke to me, and I understood.\n\nCome to me, little bird. Let our minds be together, and let your body be mine. Let us emerge from the ashes, aian, as the final judgement of this world set aflame.\n\nWith that, I let it. We joined together and I saw it’s world and it saw me. I was not gone, only new. Given purpose. Given thought. Aian. I embraced it.\n\nOf all of us, I wonder: Why did it pick me? Why did it choose to make me immortal?\n\nBut it shows me the future.\n\nIt shows it aflame.\n\nAnd I am the only one who can survive it.\n\nAian.\n_______________________________\n\nTerrible, I know. I’m not one of the top writers here and I’ll never get exposure but I’d thought I’d try my hand. Eh. Maybe I’ll expand it later or something.", "Or if they even meant to. Through life’s unknowable means, I ended up in that unfinished basement with a couple of daggers sticking out of my back and by that same luck I was made as I am now.\n\nThose cultists were buried by me. There was no one to call, no one I ought to have called, being honest. That memory is so vivid to me. Maybe it’s because even then I felt that the blood I had knelt in on that dirt floor was just so much. Too much. And in some dreadful way, as I shoveled dirt over each grave, I sensed that no one would ever come close to doing such a thing for me.\n\nI didn’t bury them in that basement, or in a pit. There was no one around for miles it seemed, so I brought them to the edge of a wheat field some yards from the house. \n\nIt was hard, tedious work and I wondered the whole time whether I should bother with it. I don’t think I would have done it differently though, even now. If I had left them in that basement to go up in flames with the rest of that house, I think that match I lit would have taken the only thing in me that was left.\n\nAnd burnt it to nothing.", "Staring at skeletons, I pondered while I sat in the former throne of my prophet. No one would mind for everyone of the Church has perished in the ritual. I was suppose to think of a way to undo the ritual, which made me immortal but that got boring after four thousand years. Brother Wright had poor hand writing so his notes took time to decipher. Anyway, I digress for what I was thinking was of what I would feast on. A side effect of the ritual was a ferocious hunger. Last night I devoured a cow, and two pigs.\n\nFood wasn't necessary but it was such a pleasure to eat. I couldn't help it. I thought of leaving the temple and travel down into the nearby valley. Some farmers may be there herding sheep. My mouth drooled endlessly at the thought, though I thought about the wool being stuck between my fangs.\n\nI rose from the throne, and walked over the skeletons, crushing one or two bones beneath me. Sorry brothers.\n\nI wandered the stone halls and recalled old memories. I felt I could still hear my brothers pray within their chambers. I still wondered from time to time why I was chosen to stay, while everyone was able to go to the paradise beyond the stars. I do not recall much except waking up to find corpses. No matter, I will see them all again at the will of Nead.\n\nAfter traversing the halls, I arrived at the exist. I gripped the handles of the stone doors and opened them with ease. Rays of light flooded inside briefly before I sealed the entrance once more. I stood unblinking, shielding my amber eyes from the gaze of the Sun with one tentacle from my back. That beautiful red orb was high in the sky. The wind lightly blew what hair I had left, and gave my grey skin goosebumps.\n\nAll around I could see nearby mountains and the Eastern Forest. I could even see the distant towers of the Kingdom of Locar, the city of the angels, behind Mount Albot ahead. Such a beautiful sight but I am hungry. My tongues dance within my mouth, soaking up my saliva as I sniffed the air.\n\nTime to go feast, and when I return I will continue to research for my cure.", "It's the year 1999; at 12:00 tonight it will be the new year. The mortals are calling it \"Y2K.\" There are old men on the street with cardboard signs that read, \"The end is near\" or \"Go off the grid.\" I for one don't believe a word of it. It's been exactly two thousand years since I was kidnapped and fixed to that hot iron cross. I've seen great empires fall and catastrophes that live only in the modern people's nightmares. Of course you already know that don't you Father.\n\nI dream of the incident every night. I was a simple fisherman before that night two thousand years ago. On that same day I meant the Christ child; who wasn't a child at the time. He was a kind and forgiving man. Oh and the stories got it wrong, Mary wasn't a prostitute she was his wife. I was taken in the early morning. A group of men boarded my vessel each wearing white robes with blood stained hoods. They hit me hard with one of my oars. I awoke tied to the back of an ox cart. The men dragged me around the town's temple exactly six times before tossing me into the back of the cart. After a hour or so, we reached a dark building. The sight I saw when I was carried through the door was terrifying. In a bed of red hot coals sat a iron cross. Three men lifted the red hot cross; the smell of burning flesh was overwhelming. All the men began speak in a guteral language not meant for human ears. The three men slowly removed their charred hands from the glowing cross, the cross stayed afloat. I felt the ropes binding my hands being cut. I tried to escape, but I was frozen stiff. The robed men carried me over to the floating cross. They laid my body face down. I still remember the searing pain as my face touched the red hot metal. Then only darkness. I woke in a room full of dead cultists. As you know dead men tell no secrets.\n\nSo there you have it. I don't know why I'm here, but I am. \n\n\"That was quite the confession my son. Are you sure you have nothing else to tell me?\"\n\nI thought you guys weren't supposed to judge. Isn't that God's job father?\n\n\"If what you tell me is true my son, you need more help than this church can ever give you.\"\n\nSome priest you are. \n\n------\n\n\"Do you see him?\"\n\n\"Yes sister.\" \n\n\"We must speak to him.\"\n\n\"Yes sister.\"\n\nThe two made their way to the Catholic Church in which the immortal was confessing.\n\n\"We cannot enter?\"\n\n\"No brother.\"\n\n\"Then we will wait outside?\"\n\n\"Yes brother.\"\n\n\"He approaches!\"\n\nThe two blocked the immortal's path.\n\nIn unison they say. \"We have awaited your arrival master. Christ must be apposed.\"\n\nThe look on the immortal's face was not one of shock. \"Somehow someway I knew this day would come.\"\n\n\nThe immortal was prepared. He pulled the 9mm from his jacket placed the barrel under his chin and pulled the trigger.\n\nThe boy and the girl shocked, began to scream.\n\n\n\nSurprisingly he was floating towards the heavens. When he reached the top he meant the same man from all those years ago. \n\n\"The one who sacrifices all to save all deserves a place in my kingdom. You changed your own fate fisherman.\"\n\nThe fisherman replied. \"But you can't change fate. Can you?\"\n\n\"In killing yourself you killed the Antichrist and made the ultimate sacrifice. It may not be known on earth, but you my friend are a hero. Now go join your family; they are waiting for you.\"\n\n\"Thank you so much!\"\n\n\"No my son, thank you.\"\n\n\n\nFin.\n\n\n", "I have a number of theories as to what they were up to, but the problem was that, in their hubris, they assumed that I spoke Assyrian. However I, being a good Greek boy, knew nothing of what they said to me, though they insisted on saying rather a lot. Still, the ritual worked, as I said, and here I am, thousands of years later and still alive, by Zeus's brass balls. I tried, a couple of times, to set myself up as a god, but it was awful. The real gods are major assholes, and I don't really get along with them. They refer to me as \"the mistake\" and \"it\", which is really, y'know, very othering. I don't like it. Medusa is nice to me. I think I'm one of the few people she actually likes.\n\nStill, it's been interesting watching the world change over the last twenty-five hundred years. Not always fun, mind you, but interesting.\n\nYou know, I say that I'm immortal, but I should elaborate. I can die. I've died many times. In fact, I die on the order of about once a decade, usually by being impaled. It seems to be a condition of my continued existence. I tried hiding myself away in a cave for about thirty years. Not that I had any way to confirm it, but I'm pretty sure I aged while I was in there. But thirty years with nothing but the salamanders and the blind fish will drive anyone mad, and the instant I stepped foot into the sunlight I was gored through the heart by a fucking reindeer of all things.\n\nWhenever I die, I find myself on top of Mount Olympus. It's annoying. Usually Hermes is there to greet me, although sometimes it's Hera, or Demeter, and it's been Zeus himself a few times. One time it was Heracles. That was fucking weird. Anyway, what happens is that whoever's there pulls my unbreakable thread out, plucks it, and sends me back into a new body that forms from the earth somewhere. I think Hades is probably involved somewhere, but the gods refuse to explain it to me, and I've always wanted to ask them a burning question: why are you assholes in charge of this, if they didn't know I was Greek? Shouldn't I be talking to whoever or whatever gods they worshipped? But as I said. The gods are assholes, and they're not much for conversation.\n\nI'm a bit overdue for a good stabbing, if we're being honest. It's been twelve years since the last one. The longest I've gone, besides that time in the cave, was fifteen years. I keep expecting it. The problem with this version of immortality is that I basically reset every time. My previous self is dead, and my new self may look much like I always have, but nobody believes that it's really me. I mean, they have the other body right there. So I've learned, over time, to keep my assets liquid and to have safe backups. I live in New York, right now, because I figure that if I die, at least my body will get handled properly pretty quickly. I once got accidentally shot by a high-powered rifle in the middle of North Dakota, and not only did it take me hours to bleed out, but by the time I got back to my house and my cache seven weeks later (I always come out of the same cave in Greece, the one I stayed in for 30 years. It's part of the whole eal, it would seem) not one person had dropped by to check on me, or done a thing with my corpse. I had to dispose of the bloated thing myself. Actually, that time I got to stay in my old identity for another stretch. That rarely happens anymore, but having to bury myself was something I never want to even accidentally experience again. Hence my living in New York City.\n\nOne of the things about knowing what's going to happen to you is that you become reckless. This morning a man was robbing the bodega where I get my kefir. He had quite a wicked-looking gun on him, but I still hit him in the head with a magazine rack, and broke his gun down and kept the bullets. I went to work after that. I didn't check to see if I killed him. I didn't really care, to be honest. Either I did, and they'd come for me at some point (and this time I'd likely be shanked in prison), or I didn't and I'd find some other unique way to have something sharp jammed into my ribs.\n\nI was halfway to my office, already musing about the emails I'd need to send when I arrived. I felt the familiar pinch, the warmth, and then the sudden coldness. I was on the ground, staring at the knife hilt that was protruding from my chest. It was the guy from the bodega. I chuckled. So this time I picked my own murderer. Very cute. Still, I'd learned many things about death and dying, and one of them was what I liked to call the Final Surge. I pulled the knife from my chest and slashed out at his leg, neatly severing the achilles tendon. I plunged the blade into his thigh, easily nicking the femoral artery. He wouldn't necessarily die, if he got attention soon, but my number was up.\n\nAs the dark closed in around me, I felt my soul tugged from my body, and when my vision cleared there I was.\n\n\"Hmmph,\" I said, gazing at the woman in front of me. \"Persephone. I've never met you before.\"\n\nShe was dressed in a smart suit, sipping a cup of coffee, her hair done up in a bun, wearing cats-eye glasses. I don't know how, but I knew it was her. I always knew which god I was facing. She smiled at me, and took a sip of her coffee.\n\n\"Hades thought that I should slip in and greet you this time,\" she said. \"He's a big fan.\"\n\n\"Oh?\" I returned her smile, and relaxed my stance a little bit. \"I would've thought my constantly avoiding the Styx would've pissed him off.\"\n\n\"Us no,\" she shook her head. \"He's a romantic softie, and he's always glad when someone escapes or manages to avoid it. Heracles is pretty much his favorite person up here.\"\n\n\"Well, that's good to know. Say, you wouldn't happen to have time to answer any of my questions, would you?\" I asked, fighting to mask the sudden hope in my voice. She frowned, a very slight downward turn of her lips, and gave a brief shake of her head.\n\n\"Sorry, that's actually part of the deal. We can't tell you a thing.\" She glanced down at her hand, and I noticed a yellow legal pad in her hand, something I hadn't spotted before. On it was a crudely drawn turkey, as a child would make by tracing the outline of their hand. I stared at it for a moment, and felt myself tugging back towards Earth. I saw my golden thread being plucked by her finely manicured finger as I flew backwards.\n\n\"Think about it,\" she called to me as I vanished from the mountain top. A few minutes later I slammed heavily into the ground, my soul inhabiting my new body. I lay there in the mud for some time, pondering what had just happened.\n\nA turkey? What the fuck did that mean?\n\n\\------------------------------\n\n(I had no point or purpose to this, I just wanted to explore the character. I didn't spell check or grammar check this beyond the red-lining that my web browser's spell checker provides, so apologies if this is an unreadable mess.)", "The Being chuckled under his/her/their/its breath. Gesturing again towards the freezeframed moment in time. A scared little boy in potato sack outfit, tied to a table. I swallowed, the fear is still a difficult thing to overpower.\n“I-I am so sorry that this happened to you.”\nThe Being-“Stop calling me that. My name is Shane”\n“S-shane?”\n“Yes, and you have no need to apologize. This was my curse, this realm is the only good thing to come from that ritual. That and the ability to watch, see how the strings of fate truly spin.”\n“I could...I could free you.” The power The Be- the power Shane had given me in the beginning could be turned around. I could pull him free from his curse.\n“You may try, the original cultists may have died but there are now others. My true self, the heart of this world is in the middle of their camp, stuck in a place between here, and there” Shane pointed at a hole in Reality, And for a moment, I saw the unraveling coils of human free will and beyond that, beings that exist in the real world inside pirated flesh, twisting their hosts body and mind into a grotesque sense of humanity. I nodded to Shane once more, before I closed my eyes, and awoke in my bed, i took a deep breath and focused on the energy coursing through me once more. I readied my blade and prepared for the last time I would ever use it.", "They found me in a tavern, drinking the last of my coin before likely letting myself get drafted back into service on a trading ship. They were well to do all of them. Dressed in fine clothing and smelling of perfume rather than the acrid smell of sweat that hung around the average working man. \n\nThey had a task for me, it would pay more coin than service on a vessel and would only take a few months of my time.\n\nI accepted and they drove me inland by cart to a grand castle with walls of red stone and grey slate. From the upper windows I could see rolling hills and fields; but in my time there I wasn’t permitted to leave the walled gardens. \n\nIt was a strange three months I spent captive in that plush prison. I didn’t want for food, was dressed in fine clothing and bathed daily. There were no vices to be had within those walls though. Women, wine, even honey was off limits. \n\nI exercised daily in the gardens and spent my evenings in a library with an elderly man named Tibold who took it upon himself to teach me to read and write “as a civilised man should”. I was sure I’d have no use for it but it passed the evenings and distracted me from the constant desire to slake my thirst for mead or sate my loins. I found I had a knack for it, to my surprise, and by the end I could write a fine letter and sign my name at the bottom as fancy as you please.\n\nOn the last day of the third month they woke me in the early hours of the morning. Tibold and some of those other high born men were wearing dark green robes with large hoods that left most of their features shadowed. I could only tell Tibold from his kind voice and his particular hobbling gait that had grown so familiar.\n\nThey led me down some stairs I hadn’t known before deep beneath the castle. There was a huge cave there, as big as a coliseum. I knew this because I had visited one as a child. There were pictures on the walls, that seemed to tell a story that led up to me standing here in this cave surrounded by a bakers dozen high born men in rich green robes. \n\nTibold told me I shouldn’t worry no matter what I saw or heard then smiled at me and started humming. They all started humming.\n\nThe humming went on for a long time and got deeper till it sounded like they were both humming and trying to speak strange words at the same time. The sound made me feel muddled like a night full of mead and my vision started to waver too. \n\nEventually the humming stopped, though I could see their mouths moving. There was a deathly silence and I couldn’t even hear my own body. I felt a pull like something was sucking me to the centre of the room and my eyes followed that unearthly pull. \n\nThere was a spot of darkness there floating in the space that was drawing me. It grew and I knew it was the sound feeding it. I don’t know how I knew but when I felt myself screaming soundlessly I just knew where that scream was going.\n\nThe darkness grew till it took on the shape and size of a person. Then suddenly it wasn’t darkness, it was colour and light. There were faces, so many of them, familiar and strange. Two eyes, a nose, a mouth all of them human but wrong; they all danced in and out of being. It sung a note and that sound bought all other sounds back with it. The humming chant of the robed men and my own sobbing. I wept as I looked at this figure, I could not control it any more than I could stop the flow of a river with my hands. Great shudders wracked my body and tears streamed down my cheeks. The taste of salt was on my lips and tongue. \n\nThe note was continuous and as it rang out one by one the men around us crumpled. Their bodies falling limply to the floor and their humming chants giving way to their last rasping breaths. I saw Tibold and the others faces flash across the figures visage and then the note stopped, it wore one face. \n\nIt walked towards me and I realised as it did it was a head and shoulders taller with limbs slender and graceful. It looked and felt wrong, it was not supposed to be here and even though its lights and colour no longer dazzled me and its face had settled on just one visage i wept to see it. \n\nI felt like a man staring at his own death but then the figure smiled, its oval eyes blinking sideways as it did. Suddenly the fear washed away and was replaced by a feeling of joy. Still I wept.\n\nIt bent over and its lips brushed my forehead. Not a kiss, it whispered something with its lips touching my skin. I didn’t understand and could not hear properly over my exhausted sobs but I felt it catch me as I gave myself up to that exhaustion.\n\nI woke to absolute darkness, the figure was gone and I did not know where. I crawled in that darkness and found my way to the edge of the cave, feeling my way around the walls to the door and climbing the pitch dark stairs on my hands and knees. \n\nI came out into the castle and felt relief as moonlight suddenly gave the world form and allowed me to stand. A cry of joy escaped my lips and had I the water in my body to spare I felt sure there would have been more tears. I found my way to the kitchen and without lighting lamp or candle I ate and drank my fill. \n\nThe house was quiet and in every shadow I felt strange elongated figures would be waiting and watching with motives I could not and dare not understand. As scary as it was I could not bring myself to light a lamp for fear I might prove their existence.\n\nI moved through the poorly lit rooms and gathered what I could. Clothes food and a curved blade that hung above the hearth of a small drawing room. I left the house and entered into the silvery shadow world of the moonlit countryside. \n\nMy whole body ached but I didn’t dare stop and rest until the gloaming sky fought with the light of the moon and the smoke and faint glow of a farm house waking to the day could be seen in the distance. I stopped at that farm house and begged shelter; traded some small trinkets I had gathered hastily from the house for room and board.\n\nI woke in the light of day and found the farmer in his field. He was ageing and gladly accepted work for my room, board and three square meals a day. On market days he spared me some coin and kept his questions to himself. \n\nAt night I slept little, I scarcely needed to. Instead I watched the castle atop the hill taking comfort that it’s hulking silhouette remained dark. Even when the moon waned thin I watched the nights sky where I knew it would be.\n\nYears went by and I watched less and less. I buried the old farmer, by then a dear friend, beneath a fruit tree. I wrote to his son who asked me to stay on and manage the land for him too. In time I met and became his friend as I had the father and in time I buried his frail and aged body in that same Orchard. I did not write to his children.\n\nI packed my things and returned to the castle. It stood, but the decades had ravaged it as if the damage time should have done to my body had instead befallen the walls and timbers of the great structure.\n\nI found rooms enough that had not succumbed to the weather and stayed in them. Having lived a life times worth I felt no fear of the place any longer. \n\nAs I explored I cursed myself for letting it turn to ruin; the library, it’s scrolls and tomes rotten away galled me the most. \n\nIt took time to uncover the staircase and get down into the cavern and down there I found the husks of those strange men who had gifted my this ageless life. I gathered them up and buried a dozen of them in the gardens now grown wild. Tibold I buried beneath the stones of the library floor. \n\nI stayed there for some months trying to discern what their motives had been or how they had managed this strange feat. In the end the castle had no answers and as if picking up my life where I left off I travelled to a port and sold my services to a merchant ship. \n\nFor centuries I travelled the world on ships going from country to country. I learned to read and speak many languages and researched every local myth of immortality I could. I’ve learnt the sciences, the religions and even some magic. Yet I still have not learnt the answers. \n\nToday I finished a pilgrimage I make every century. The castle is a ruin now and a market town has sprung up around it. \n\nI have to pay money to enter its grounds and eat at the gift shop and cafe. I pick a table that wobbles slightly on its flagstones. Stones that bear the faint traces of Tibolds name crudely carved into them by my hand. \n\nI look out across the green lawn where the sprinklers make rainbows in the sunlight and ask the same silent question I ask every time I’m here. “Why?”", "You’ve watched society grow, and looked on with excitement as humans – you’ve stopped thinking of yourself as one of them – began to research their past. They’ll search for old cultures, old societies and religions, and they just might find what you’re looking for. Of course, it might have been too long. The odds of finding even a scrap that references a book that talks about an old story based on the events is astronomical… But you can’t think of that. The idea that there’s no knowledge? That you’ll never answer the question? It’s too much to bear. Even thinking about acknowledging the question is treading a thin line of sanity, and your sanity has been wearing thin for years.\n\nTen thousand years is a long time. It’s embarrassing to admit that it took about five years to realise you’d stopped ageing. You thought you were just youthful looking, but when your new friends started to ask questions… Perpetually a young adult. It could have been worse. Imagine being an eternal teenager, unable to even drown your sorrows in alcohol. To start with you thought it would simply be appearances. Maybe you’d still die of old age, you’d just look good. You considered that idea until you were about one hundred and ten. By then your friends had died, as had the next lot. And their children. After that the truth sank in. Immortality. Were you a god? Was that what they were trying to do? Create a god? Maybe, but you’re still… You still feel pain. You get ill, even. Not often, but you get illnesses. Even deadly ones, ones that should kill you. The 14th century was hell. You can still imagine the feeling of the lumps under your skin. The agonising pain. Your immortality doesn’t even protect you. You feel all of the horrible pain of dying, but without the release of death. Eventually it goes away. Or you get used to it.\n\nOne thing you don’t get used to. The one thing everyone seems to know would be painful about immortality. Seeing the people you know grow old and die. Everyone thinks about it. “Immortality isn’t a gift, it’s a curse,” they say, thinking themselves wise. They have no idea how right they are.\n\nYou assumed that the horror would be remembering them, long after their children’s children’s bones had turned to ash and the names of their kings were forgotten. You assumed that would be what hurt the most. It wasn’t. You made promise after promise to yourself, swore on blood and bone, earth and stone, the sun and moon. And still… you forgot.\n\nTen thousand years, hundreds of lifetimes. Hundreds of thousands of friends, and lovers. You can’t remember their names. Sometimes you can't even remember their faces. But sometimes someone will say something, and you’ll remember someone else saying it, laying under the stars with you, firelight in their eyes. What was their name? Sometimes you see someone out of the corner of your eye, you recognise them! But when you turn your head, they’re gone. Dust in the wind.\n\nEventually you stopped befriending people. Stay distant. Focus on the search.\n\nThe search. Ten thousand years of reading esoteric texts, piecing together scraps of parchment that tell tales of cultures you lived. Searching for the answer to the one question that can be answered by no one who’s been alive in the past ten millennia. Why. Why did they do it? Why did they pick you?\n\nAll of the cultists are dead. You don’t know how. To be perfectly honest, you don’t remember much from that night. Or that year. That century, actually. Your life before is all forgotten. Really, you remember in detail the events of the past few decades, vaguely, the major events of the past few centuries, more vague still the defining moments of the past millennia. After that it becomes impossible to recall memories. You write down your most important discoveries in a language no one has written in seven thousand years, using an alphabet that was dead long before the Egyptians started scrawling pictures. You’ve managed to remember the language, at least. Using it every day helps you remember. You should use one of the more modern languages – maybe ancient Greek? – but you can’t take the risk. If someone managed to translate it, it would raise too many questions.\n\nAnonymity is virtually impossible, nowadays. You miss the days when cameras were on tripods, and you could avoid them. Even more, you miss when people did painting. You always loved painting. Plus, it easy to avoid painters. Cameras? Not so much. CCTV makes everything harder. You end up dressing in different styles of clothing almost every day. You dye your hair regularly, you have different coloured contact lenses. You consider getting cosmetic surgery to change your face structure. Disguise in the modern world. You remember when the biggest threat to your anonymity was fingerprints. You quickly started carry a pumice stone in your pocket to rub down your fingerprints, and you still do it to this day, more out of habit than anything else, since you know DNA would still link to you. Whatever your DNA would look like.\n\nYou can’t really be human. Not after this long. The people that surround you… they’re so far removed from what you knew. What you forgot.\n\nImmortality is a nightmare. One long, eternal nightmare, from which you’ll never wake up.", "\"Hey, Kat, tell me your story again.\"\n\nKat rolled her eyes. She used to love the attention, but it grew old four hundred years ago. \n\n\"Charles, I don't know what more there is to tell you. I was born on the streets of Egypt to a pure white cat. I began to hunt rodents around the palace, and when people began to die from the presence of rats, I became a palace guard. Next thing I know, they're feeding me better food and treating me like royalty. Pretty soon after, I was brought to a chamber, and these guys started chanting around me.\"\n\n\"Yeah, yeah, but you're immortal?\"\n\n\"I was born in Egypt nearly five thousand years ago.\"\n\n\"And you've got no clue why they made you immortal?\" Charles chuckled.\n\n\"None whatsoever,\" she said, bemused at his laughter.\n\n\"Have you ever considered that it's because you're a talking kitty?\" ", "“Okay Nicholas, I’m afraid that’s all the time we have for today. Remember to sleep regularly and practice your breathing exercises, and we will see how much progress can be made next week” The psychologist said while motioning for Nicholas to get up from the futon and leave her office.\n\nNicholas: “of course I’ll see you next week Jenny” \n\n\njenny smiled and Nicholas preceded to leave her office \n\nJenny thought to herself about her most recent patient of several months. A man suffering from PTSD, But presumingly from conflicts and events that happened centuries ago. \n\n[Several months prior] \nNicholas: distraught and thinking to himself “It’s been over 200 years since the Napoleonic wars but I still see the face of the boy who’s throat I slit back in Spain periodically” Nicholas stops walking and leans against the wall of a liquor store as a tear falls across his cheek “lo Siento” he whispers to himself as he vividly remembers the raid on the French Camp that’s been haunting him for two centuries.\n\n[Flash Back to Northern Spain 1812]\n\nGuerrilla leader: in Spainish “The French are camping over a nearby hill, we need two volunteers to sneak into the camp and wipe them out one by one while they’re sleeping, who are my volunteers?” the guerilla leader said as he pulled out a knife \n\n\nA local peasant boy named Rogi: in Spanish “I’ll go!!” Rogi stated as he approached the Guerilla leader\n\n\nNicholas: thinking to himself in Latin “oh no this peasant might get himself killed” outloud in fluent Spanish but with seemingly strange accident* “I’ll go too!!!” \n\n\n\nGuerrilla leader: in Spanish “looks like we found our volunteers, leave at night and slit their throats when they’re sleeping, if the are alerted and mobilize they will overrun our position and execute everyone here” \n\n\nNicholas: in Spanish, after taking the knife “of course let’s kick these Franks out of Castile!!” \n\n\n\nGuerrilla leader: confused in Spanish “I’m sorry what?”\n\n\n\nNicholas: embarrassed “oh sorry I mean let’s kick the French out of Spain” As Nicholas quickly realized he hasn’t been in this part of the world for several hundred years \n\n\nLater that night both Rogi and Nicholas are looking over the French Camp, a few Guards sit waiting while the rest are sleeping in single tents. \n\n\nNicholas: in Spanish “Okay Rogi stay here with this musket and if anything goes wrong cover my escape. I’m going to do this alone”\n\n\n\nRogi: in Spanish “wouldn’t it be better if I came too?” \n\n\n\nNicholas: looking back at the 14 year old Spanish peasant “No, I can do this alone” \n\n\n\nNicholas Sneaks past the first guard and enters the first tent. There he sees three French soldiers sleeping. He takes the knife he got from the guerrilla leader and slits the throats of the first two. But upon turning over the body of the 3rd he hesitates as the French soldiers is seemingly just a 14 or 15 year old kid. Nicholas freezes up as the kid wakes up face to face with the man that just slaughtered two French soldiers. The kid was about to scream but Nicholas reacted instantly slicing the throat of the child seeing his confusion knowing that death is moments away. Nicholas keep his hand over the mouth of the child to prevent any sound from escaping as he just stares into the child’s eyes.\n\n\nNicholas walks out of the tent past the guard and just wonders up to the mountain towards Rogi. \n\n\nRogi: confused in Spanish “that was quick so did y........”\n\n\n\nNicholas: interrupting in Spanish “go home Rogi, this is no place for you” Nicholas drops the knife and keeps walking past Rogi, past the Spanish guerrilla camp, and even out of Spain \n\n\n\n[present day with Nicholas leaning against the wall of that liquor store] \n\n\nNichols: to himself “I should have died back in Pompeii, fucking cultist got lucky, all of them fucked up the measurements and died, at least they have seen the end” Nicholas sees a sign across the street for a psychologist’s office “well I’v been 27 for the last couple thousand years and I ain’t getting any older” Nicholas walks into the office to make a appointment \n\n\n\nJenny: hello take a seat, what can I help you with \n\n\n\nNicholas: with a cheap fake smile and no intention of being believed “I’m a 2000 year old Roman immortal spared from Pompeii by a death cult and given the curse of infinity. I have traveled the entire world several times over, I’v married a women from every almost every country and region, I have raised kids that I knew I would watch die, I served in militias and militaries from the Tang Dynasty in China to Gran Colombia under Bolivar. A vast majority of every friend, lover or family member I’v ever had is dead. And I know I will never be reunited with them. In short I live as a outside spectator of humanity but with the emotions and feelings. Recently,.... well for me at least I’m dealing with what I assume is PTSD from killing a child back in the Napoleonic Wars. I’v killed people before that, and After but I just can’t stop thinking about it. Is there any way you can help me?” Nicholas ended his statement and just gazed into the eyes of a very confused and slightly scared psychiatrist \n\n\nNicholas: “eh forget I said anything” attempts to walk out \n\n\nJenny: “Wait sorry I can help you, come back here tomorrow around 2pm” \n\n\n\nNicholas: surprised “wow yeah of course, I’ll see you tomorrow” \n\n\n\n\nJenny smiles and watches Nicholas leave thinking to herself “holy shit what is this guy on? Maybe he’s dealing with trauma from a recent conflict and just doesn’t know how to exc............” Jenny stops thinking and looks outside her window to see the nearby liquor store getting robbed, she reaches for a phone to call 911 but stops as Nicholas walks in.\n\n\n\nNicholas wrestles with the gunman and takes a shotgun shell straight to the chest. A few moments after lying on the ground Nicholas jumps back up seemingly fine and tackles the gunman who turned his attention away from the man he thought he just killed. \n\n\n\nJenny: to herself “oh holy shit he was telling the truth”\n\n\n\nA few weeks pass and Jenny learns that Nicholas has learned over hundreds of languages, some of which were long dead, was stuck on the island of Tahiti for a few decades. Made it to North America in the 1500s and lived with numerous native tribes. He passed the imperial exam in Han China. Severed with a few Daimyo’s during the Samurai era of Japan. Married a few untouchables in India, converted to each of the major world religions a few times, and became a mildly popular politician in Sierra Leone after their civil war. He was everything from a homeless drifter to a king of a small Arabian Empire at one point or another. But what Jenny really found interesting about Nicholas was that he just lived his life in his environment like everyone else. Then that’s when Jenny realized why Nicholas became immortal and all the other cultist didn’t, because he was the only person who for the most part wouldn’t have abused his immortality. He didn’t let it change him. \n\n\n\n", "My life was pretty uneventful, I had dropped out of high school, after my parents told me I had to get a job and start paying rent at 16. I was lost in the shuffle of ten kids, so nobody was really there to notice me or encourage me growing up. \n\nPeople always told me that I had so much potential and they couldn’t understand why I was not in college. I worked dead end jobs, but I was always drawing, writing and creating new things. People shook their heads at how talented I am yet I wasn’t doing anything professionally with it. My college friends often commented that it’s not right that the books they had to read for school, I was reading for fun, because my brain felt like a stomach that constantly hungered for more knowledge. \n\nThen one day, a friend convinced me to try to take the GED Test. He said if I fail the test, at least I would know where I needed to study. I took the test... and Aced it. I couldn’t believe how ridiculously easy it was! This was the Test that I feared so long? Because of my test results I was offered a scholarship, but couldn’t afford to go to school right away due to events in my life at the time...\n\nBut later, I began college and found it both incredibly and sad at the same time. Incredible because I could see the latest cutting edge ideas and theories Humanity had to offer, but sad because I saw people trying to resurrect bad ideas like Communism as if they hadn’t been tried before.\n\nSo while I was soaking up knowledge like a sponge, I got a job at the University cleaning classrooms and research labs at night. Thing had been going good until my girlfriend broke up with me and so I was cleaning a Lab when I walked into something I shouldn’t have...\n\nNormally if I’m not supposed to clean a Lab or Research area, my Key Card wouldn’t work to Open the door, but for whatever reason, it did let me access the lab. There were human test subjects in cages being monitored by video feeds. They begged me to let them out! Some of them were leaking yellow fluid from their eyes, nose, and other areas of their bodies! It was straight out of a Nightmare! \n\nI was afraid to let them out for fear that they might be contaminated with something, but I was afraid to do nothing so I tried to talk to them and figure out what was going on. I recognized one girl from Microbiology Class. She told me that they were all abducted and experimented on because they wouldn’t be missed. Before I could figure out what that meant, sudden pain filled the back of my head, then Darkness! \n\nI found myself strapped to a moving table and in a lab somewhere else. The comforting smell of bleach filled the room and I was being wheeled down a hallway Past rooms with armed solders. \n\nSoon I was in a room where they began to tattoo a number to my arm. I was now subject 0723, and that is how everyone referred to me now. \n\nSoon I found myself locked in a cell with other subjects near by, but we were unable to hear each other. Cameras monitored us and there was mirrors that obviously people could watch us from. The Guards never talked to us, they ignored us. Soon they took me to an area where they began the experiments. They put me in a room with loud devices making terrible noises and the vibrations from it all... I could feel it in my teeth and bones! Then there would be a pinging noise occasionally which caused a horrific sense like a fishhook was pulled out from behind my belly button! Whenever I thought I might die, I struggled to hold on, focusing on Week by week, hour by hour, day by day, and finally moment by moment!\n\nThen one day while I was going through another battery of tests, it was as if I was freed from my body and floating around. I could see a light calling to me, but I also saw a Dark Door... whispering to me as well. After a moments hesitation, I went to the Door. \n\nYou hear the word Alien, but the word has lost its true meaning. People think of cute little green or grey aliens or something. But the Word Alien Original meant something totally outside and other...\n\nI was walking through an Alien World, possibly an Alien Dimension. Everything screamed that everything here was So Wrong! The creatures here looked nothing like Earth and followed none of the basic and expected rules of biology! Strange energies buzzed and hummed around me. I could Feel things and pick up flurries of thought here that I recognized as Not my own! An uncomfortable feeling like someone was breathing down my neck, hot humid breath...\nThen as I began to hear clicking sounds I turned and saw Creatures the size of Mountains all suddenly turn towards me and in a horrific moment, THEY... SAW... ME...\n\nSuddenly I was pulled back through the Door as the sensation of Fishhooks behind my bellybutton Violently pulled be back through the doorway that was opened! \n\nI woke up on the ground, the lab around me was burning. I heard sporadic Gunfire. The restraints that usually kept me bound to the chair had been shattered. I got up and started running away. I ran around a corner at one point and found a bunch of solders there and instinctively threw my arms up as they fired... a blue energy shield caught all of the bullets that would’ve shredded through me! I ran! \n\nI got to a hallway and heard more gunfire as more solders approached. So I instinctively changed directions running through the labs. There were creatures there that resembled some of the Alien Beings That I encountered in that other place... beyond the doorway...\n\nI ran through labs as gunfire killed scientists and test subjects alike. There was some kind of breach. In one of the labs there were creatures from the other world, or were they test subjects like me? They were dissected, no wait some were moving?! Vivisection?!? They were now being killed by the Solders and their bodies burned with flamethrowers! \n\nI fled and saw a window as I could now hear their radio frequencies calling more and more solders to my position! They recognized me as Subject 0723! I saw a window and without thinking I jumped... and fell about fifty feet down twisting my leg around about 90 degrees the Wrong way before a sickening pulling feeling snapped it back into place! \n\nI was up and running! My mind reached out instinctively and I saw that I was on an island deep in the pacific with nothing nearby for hundreds of miles! As I ran, I felt a sharp pain as bullets ripped through me and just as fast, I felt my body mending itself as I ran to the shore! I jumped off the cliff and began to swim as more and more bullets began to slice through me as I began to swim struggling to hold my breath as I swam deeper and deeper down into the Abyss...\n\nI don’t know how long I swam but it felt like years. Knowledge was now coming to me that was not my own. I could “See” the Satellites searching for me. Later there was a horric roar in the ocean waters as what had to be a Nuclear Bomb was dropped! The oceans rang with the sounds for thousands of miles. As I tumbled deeper and farther down into the blackest ocean depths...\n\nI don’t know how long I was lost to the darkness, only that it was Japanese Fishermen Who found me later. How I picked up Japanese so fast, I don’t know, but I managed to convince them not to contact the Authorities. I got off in Okinawa and began to travel the backroads with the sudden instinctive knowledge that The Authorities we’re searching for me and the things from beyond the Doorway were coming for me as well....", "“Why did you make me an immortal?” I stared down the man frantically crawling away from me. \r\n\r\nTheir precious ‘church’ burning and falling away. Everybody else was killed by the machete in my hand. It took months of preparation, gaining their trust and, eventually, entering this place. \r\n\r\n“I- I dunno! I dunno what you’re talking about!” He pressed himself against the wall. “Please! Spare me! I beg you! I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna die! I don’t wan-”\r\n\r\nA quick slash through the throat. If he didn’t know, then he was useless to me. \r\n\r\nBeing an immortal is so overrated. Everyone thinks it’s amazing. Being incapable of dying. But in truth? Immortality is a curse just as much as it is a blessing. \r\n\r\nI was made into an immortal through the mass sacrifice of over 200,000 cultists all over the world during the Planetary Alignment centuries ago. The ritual used the power of their deity to transfer their lifespans to me, using Stonehenge as a focusing tool. As far as I know, all the cultists which participated in the ritual died and the ritual scroll lost. \r\n\r\nI have fell in love, lost, loss, anger, fear and every single emotion that a human can feel. It was… odd. Now, I’m a sociopath. Incapable of feeling anything. Working my way through this cult, carving my way to the very core to find the secret of reversing this curse. I can’t kill myself to normal way either. Believe me, I tried. Every time I did, I felt excruciating pain and I was back to normal and I knew instinctively that, it didn’t to anything to my lifespan. \r\n\r\nEnough reminiscing.\r\n\r\nI flicked the blood onto the floor and used the cultist’s robe to clean the blade. Sheathing it, I walked back to the entrance, not minding the wooden beams falling all around me. \r\n\r\nPulling out a map, I sighed and crossed out the red circle. Not this church either. There was one more at the edge of the city. That last one would be hardest to hit. It was a vault of some sort, holding a secret that the cultists dare not speak of.\r\n\r\n“A taboo?” I muttered to myself. “Didn’t think cults had one. Never mind. I got 6 hours before the sun rises. I should be there in 1.”\r\n\r\nI shrugged and got onto my bicycle and made my way as quickly as possible to the last church. \r\n\n________________\r\n\r\nI pulled up at the entrance of the church. In the darkness, I could faintly make out several cultists laying in wait. I unsheathed my machete and advanced into the lion’s den. \r\n\r\nThe first two cultist came from behind. Jumping out of two bushes, they impaled me through the sides with spears. I barely felt it enter and puncture my organs. I swung around in an arc, uncaring of what damage that might happen. The blade slashed through the first one’s throat while the other backed up and got nicked in the cheek. \r\n\r\nI yanked out the spears still in my body and used it to kill the other cultist; one through the heart and the other through the core. I felt a brief stinging sensation at the wounds before they closed up, just like usual. \r\n\r\nI continued forward, using my blade to hack and cut my way to the church. Cultist came from behind the trees, from the bushes and from the top of the temple. I felt swords, spears, tridents, axes and more cut and bruise my body but my immortality simply fixed it as usual. By the time I reached the entrance, my spare set of clothes were tatters. \r\n\r\n“Old One. Why have you come here? Aren’t you grateful for this eternal life you have been given?” The cultist at the entrance asked me.\r\n\r\nI said nothing but thrusted out with my machete. The sudden movement caught him off guard and the blade sank into his chest. He lurched before slumping and slipping off my blade. I reached the podium and pulled it off, revealing the trapdoor that was obvious. Kicking the door open, I slid down the ladder and into the chambers below. \r\n\r\nThe hallways underground were dark except for the illumination of the braziers at the side of the halls. I made my way down, uncaring of what stood in my way. Several more esoteric cultists stood in my way. \r\n\r\n“Take him out!” I heard one of them shout before a barrage of shadow bolts slammed into my body. I felt ribs shatter and my lungs punctured. I fell to the floor coughing up blood. It lasted for a few more moments before stopping. In that break, I felt my ribs popping back out, blood draining from my lungs and muscles reforming themselves. I grabbed my machete and charged forward, slashing the cultist in front of me. \r\n\r\nBefore long, I met the Elite Guards. Decked out in full plate armour and with halberds and magic. I fought off against the 8 of them guarding the door of the vault. We danced as metal rang through the empty halls. Shadow flame erupted and charred the ground while black bolts broke apart the walls and floor. I eventually tired them out and executed them with the usual slit throat. \r\n\r\nI had finally reached the vault. It had the same size and shape of a bank vault door. The one thing that might hold the possibility of freeing me from this mortal coil. I grabbed the handles and turned the lock, gears grinding and protesting as I forced it open. The lock stopped as the bars retracted to its limit. \r\n\r\nI pulled the door open and the smell of stale air wafted out. I took one step before I heard the sound of someone yelping and backing away, the sound of chains echoing in the empty room. \r\n\r\n“Hello?” I asked as I grabbed a robe of one of the cultist and set it on fire. I waited a few moments before throwing it into the room. \r\n\r\nInside was a young girl, perhaps 14-15, chained around her neck, wrists and ankles. She wore an old uniform, faded with age and neglect. Her crimson hair grown long enough the carpet the dusty floor. Her body was thin and frail, almost like a strong wind might cause her to shatter like glass. I didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened to her. Or what she was. \r\n\r\n“Who… are… you…?” Her voice came raspy and dry. \r\n\r\nI turned to the corpses behind me and back at the girl. \r\n\r\n“Your saviour.” \r\n\nA/N: It’s probably not good but I might revisit this and flesh it out a bit more. ", "I'm living a good life. The humans come and go, but after some time you get used to it. It's not that i'm getting cold. Im as warm as ever and i love every last human and serve them as my master. I could have risen to the top, destroyed this world several times over. But in the end, i find i am happiest with a normal family. The love i can give and mostly recieve. Nothing beats a laughing Child. Civilisations have risen and fallen apart again, but i'm still here. Ruffly 14'000 years ago i was caught by some humans in dark robes. They performed some sort of ritual, i can barely remember it. All i know is a big explosion and this pure light.\nTo this day, i don't know why they would make me, a mere dog, immortal." ]	13
	[WP] Scientists invent a material that is completely impervious to physical damage. It is so cheap that the average consumer can afford a full suit made from it. War breaks out and after a week of fighting the first person has yet to be harmed. The UN convenes a meeting to figure out what to do next	[ "When the first nukes went off, it was a little bit anti-climactic. Like, don’t get me wrong, the city was just gone. But as the city collapsed, everyone just kinda bounced around in their S.U.I.T. I was in the office at the time, and the building was annihilated our from under us. Amidst the conflagration, our government-issued S.U.I.Ts instantly deployed, and everyone from the eighth floor just sorta, bounced. Booiiingggg, and a roll onto the melting asphalt. People from higher floors bounced around like pinballs as they collided with each other, is, and falling debris. I heard that the record for someone on the 50th floor downtown was 87 bounces. \n\nAnyways, we were all just sort of looking at each other in the streets like “Did that really just happen?” Occasionally a building would fall on someone and they’d slip out from under it with the speed of a cannonball. We’d all known theoretically what the government wanted when they forced us all to wear these things. Supposedly they were from “a higher plane” or something stupid like that. \n\nThe same scenes repeated themselves around the world, I’m told. Supposedly our government wanted to make tanks and planes and ships with their own S.U.I.Ts, which violates an arms treaty. \n\nWhere am I writing this from? I’m in a refugee camp, huddled around the camp’s single remaining TV. The S.U.I.Ts even created energy for us so that we didn’t need to eat or drink; the result was millions of people living in wastelands, absolutely bored out of their minds. On the screen was a gathering at a United Nations building which they had managed to fit a S.U.I.T onto. A bunch of sheepish world leaders hid in their protective armor, realizing that the only casualties had been trillions of dollars worth of buildings. \n\n“The era of war is over! It’s time to face reality! We need a new forum for addressing the dispute between nations. A bloody rock-paper-scissors tournament would have been more conclusive than this!” A prime minister delivers and impassioned speech, despite having been part of the coalition that started the war.\n\nThousands of refugees boo at the uncaring television screen. “You had your chance!”\n\nSome of the world leaders actually start muttering about setting up a rock-paper scissors tournament when our president stands up decisively. He pulls out a gun, which is met with derisive sneers by the other world leaders. Ignoring their sarcastic comments he says: “S.U.I.T, meet T.I.E.” A bullet spews out of the muzzle with a loud pop, and pierced through prime ministers suit in a colorful explosion.\n \nWe sit in horror as the broadcast is cut short, presenting us with a blank screen. We start to realize that the true war has only just begun.", "Herculeum proved to be a particular dilemma for the world. On one hand, it was cheap, light-weight, and somehow completely impervious to physical damage. Naturally, it was applied to warfare almost immediately. The good news was nuclear weapons haven't been detonated yet, we aren't complete idiots, I suppose, but conventional warfare was useless. Bullets bounced harmlessly off of Herculeum suits, explosions were about as useful as holiday sparklers, and no chemical could eat though the metal. For months the UN council squabbled, but no solution could be found. Back to the status quo.\n\n&#x200B;\n\nUnconventional warfare it is, then. Really, though, it was quite an elegant solution. Every night, after another day of useless fighting over command points and high-profile targets, the boys go back their barracks to drink and eat and ready themselves for another day of playing dress up. Showering is the high point of their day. The one thing scientists couldn't figure out is how to make the armor breathable without sacrificing protection. A necessary compromise. So after a hard day of sweating in nasty crapstain terrain, the soldiers hang up their armor in the vault, lather themselves in soap, and hit the sack. They snore, the commanders squabble and break out the hidden stockpiles of whiskey and scotch, while the night watchemen smoke and laugh about that one time. All the while, I come in, like the Sandman, giving blissful dreams to the boys in their beds. Dreams they will never wake from as I push my blade against their fragile, unarmored necks." ]	2
	[WP] Suddenly, with blazing speed, letters soar through the air. You can just make out "UNIV" from your house in Colombia.	[ "For starters: this absolutely ruined the pool party. \n\nBoris, Jorge and Alberto alternated between shaking their heads and looking at the sky. Alberto tapped his foot and tried to find the sun in between the clouds. \"The weather report was adamant. They said it would be sun sun sun today. Scorching heat for the pool party\", he said.\n\n\"What a groundbreaking party that is. Nobody will bother coming\", said Jorge. He dipped his toes in the water. It was 9 AM on a saturday, and the day was chilly enough for his worries to have some basis in reality.\n\n\"So? Can't we have fun ourselves? The kids will have to learn how to be tough. Let's say we jump in the pool to give them the example of how it's done\", said Boris. He zipped up his jacket, then looked at his phone.\n\n\"Well. Let's give it some time. The sky is completely overcast. Worst-case scenario, we'll just skip to the feast and let the kids do something else.\" Alberto kneeled near the water, and touched it with the tip of his fingers. \n\nVictor, one of the kids, came running from inside the house. He was screaming. \"Dad, dad! There's a report on TV and it says that it's a Special Report on TV!\"\n\n\"Cool yourself, son. Let's have a look. Might be another historic moment. So we'll get to remember this day all the better\". Boris limped behind his son, and left the two friends to themselves.\n\nThe house was full, although there were still places on the couches. Grandma slept on her corner, while Alberto's twins fiddled with their tablets. Boris dropped himself on the couch, then leaned his head forward, to hear better.\n\nThe reporter spoke from the studio, in the tight dress she was famous for. She spoke in a loud tone, and, behind her, the TV network's staff were running from one side of the newsroom to the other. Aunt Ernestina reached for the remote, and pressed the volume button; however, she pressed the downwards arrow. The adults in the room booed, waking grandma. \"What's the racket!\", she screamed. \"Isn't it time for the telenovela?\"\n\n\"This is big, grandma\", repeated one of the kids. Alberto and Jorge entered the room. \"Boris, odd news: the TV's wire service said that the CNN said that the Indian Space Agency reported that the French bases are facing interference that affected a NASA satellite signal that communicated with the Russian Spacecorps and this is making my Twitter feed absolutely crazy today!\"\n\n\"What?\", the adults said. The TV's volume entered a crescendo, and then the voice of the lady reporter boomed through the speakers. \"Too loud!\", said grandma, turning off her ear aid. Aunt Ernestina struggled with the controls, but soon the TV was back at a reasonable level. The TV feed then cut from the reporter on the studio to a building in flames. \n\n\"The most shocking part of this entire development was the violent response from members of the community from the countries affected\", said the reporter. \"Armed groups have attacked the Japanese embassies and other buildings related to the government of Japan, blaming them for the incident.\"\n\n\"What the hell?\", said Alberto.\n\nGrandma screamed: \"We do not use such foul language inside this house, Alberto!\" \n\nThe reporter continued to speak, although her voice faltered. \"The scholars and the members of the church have interpreted these aero-spatial phenomenom as letters, as part of a message in the sky\".\n\n\"What?\", said the three friends.\n\nThe TV feed cut from the image of the burning buildings to a man inside a room full of books. His beard was white and unkempt, and he held his forehead with his left hand. It showed his first name and his family names, and summed up his position as \"College Professor\".\n\n\"The signs, which our astronomers have interpretated as being letter-like, seem to form a message. We are awaiting more details from other parts of the world, but observatories in the Caribbean and here in Bogotá are confident of what it says\", said the man. \n\nThe feed then cut to a scene in standard-definition, stretched out to fill the screen. It showed men and women dressed in ornate costumes. Some had facial markings that covered their eyebrows and made their mouths look like long, red slits; the men, especially the elders, had long, thick beards. The video itself looked quite old, and full of film grain and compression artifacts.\n\n\"Groups in society have taken the message as a divine call for revenge against the Japanese\", said the man, his face unseen. \"Revenge for treatment of an ethnical group from the northern islands in the archipelago.\" \n\nThe video changed back to an artist's projection of the so-called letters, from a view point that could be possible if one were in the middle of the Colombian Llanos with good visibility conditions. It showed the message, and the professor's voice read it aloud:\n\n\"Ainu\".\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] A common housecat kills the Chosen One and inherits the role, becoming sentient in the process.	[ "Words, thoughts...\n\nMe, mine, you, him?\n\nI didn't mean to do this to him. He scared me when he appeared at the dead of night in the kitchen and I naturally panicked and jumped up hissing. He misstepped on a stool and broke his neck. \n\nHow do I know to speak these things?\n\nI've been staring at him for an hour now. He was a burly man to be sure but dead all the same. Not going to feast with his ancestors thats for sure. Such a stupid way to die. However, what am I going to do. Mistress will kill me for sure. She sure does give the best treats, I wonder where she stocks them. But I digress, I continuously forget that I'm a mere cat, why would she accuse me. None the less, I have nothing left for me here. I will leave in the morning. But first I need to raid the pantry for my journey ahead. After all, I'm not going to eat from the trash, ever again. \n\nWhy is my head so clear? I can think so beautifully.\n\nThe darkness of the night breaks as I leave. The weather is cold, the paved stones are wet and in a matter of minutes my fur is both. Everyone is still asleep except for the guards patrolling the streets. I wonder if they notice something different in me. I decide to approach one.\n\n\"Stop right there, criminal scum\" he says, rushing past me. I freeze mid walk. Should I run, would that make me look guilty? Wait, I am a cat. Of course he has no business with me. He is still looking for whatever it is. I wander who he saw. \"You cannot hide forever!\"\n\nDay is here finally and the expected screams arrive as the mistress wakes up. People rush to his house to gawk, I suppose. Such a miserable end to such a fine warrior. But some citizens remain oblivious, like these damned kids. I remember them. Always kicking me, pulling my tail. \n\nI approach one and he immediately dons that disgusting grin and calls his friends over. Her friend asks,\"Do you think I could be a bard?\". No, Karen, with that voice you would get the profession banned. The kid then suddenly says \"Just another wanderer here to lick my fathers boots\". Who the hell is his father and besides, I cannot take it anymore. Beside their harassments, I seem to have inherited a distinct hatred for them from whatever event made me this way.\n\nI cannot hold the words in any more.\n\n\"FUS-RO-DAH\"\n\n[r/spider_elephant](https://www.reddit.com/r/spider_elephant/)\n" ]	1
	[WP] The Hero of Legend has made their way to the palace of the Dark Emperor. Upon meeting the hero, the Emperor removes their armor, casts aside their sword, and bares their neck, asking the hero to kill them.	[ "After years of training and preparation, the time had finally come. The palace of the Emperor was in sight. Acadius was the chosen, prophesied by the ancients to be the death of the Dark Emperor himself. He had fought legions of men and beasts to get to this point, he could not fail.\n\nAcadius began the last leg of his journey and walked to the gates. Warriors poured out as the gates began to open. With war hammer in hand he strode forth. The first of the men arrived and lashed out with his sword, Acadius deflected the blade and crushed his chest with a kick. Swinging wide, his hammer struck three men in succession and nearly decapitated them. Dodging an arrow, he grabbed one of the warriors by his chest piece and flung him at the archer. Both were knocked unconscious.\n\nHis hammer easily dispatched the first wave of men. He fought through the gates entrance to the courtyard. Archers around the top of the walls all took aim, Acadius only smiled. Dropping his hammer, he bellowed with rage. Fire fell from the heavens and consumed the archers, leaving little but dust in their place. He picked up his hammer and continued.\n\nInside the main door he was met with the elite guard, the finest the Dark Emperor had to offer. Three guards, all the size of Acadius himself, charged at once. Acadius lifted his hammer and launched it at one, instantly killing him. He drew his sword from his back and took stance. The other two guards fell on him with a fury few men had ever seen. Striking out with both strength and speed, they truly were elite. \n\nDodging an attack from the one to his left, Acadius leapt forward and slammed his elbow into the other ones chin. He felt the guards jaw shatter, it wasn't enough to bring him down however. The guard retaliated with an equally crushing blow to Acadius' side, breaking two of his ribs. Acadius stumbled back a step directly into the other guards sword. He gasped as the sword pierced his armor and came out the other side. Without hesitation, he grabbed the blade and pulled. He felt it slip from his attackers grip. \n\nAcadius spun and swung his own sword, burying it in the guards skull. As the guard collapsed, he turned to face the last of his foes. He grunted as he pushed the sword from his body and heard it clatter to the ground. Blood pouring from his wound, he knew he needed to act fast. The guard rushed forward, ducking and driving his shoulder into Acadius. He leaned forward to keep the guard from knocking him over. Clasping his hands together, he brought them down full force on the guards back sending him to the ground instead. Kicking off the guards helmet, he raised his foot and brought it down on the last guards head. He felt his foes skull crunch, he was victorious.\n\nStumbling over to his sword, he picked it up and placed it back in its sheath. He needed to seal the wound in his side. He concentrated, fire engulfed his right hand. He gritted his teeth as he sealed the wound. It would do until he could get to a healer. Picking up his hammer, he set his eyes on the door of the Dark Emperor's main hall.\n\nAcadius raised his hammer and battered the door, splintering it and breaking it from its hinges. The Dark Emperor sat on his throne of a thousand skulls, waiting patiently. As Acadius walked up, he glared at the Emperor and said \"I am Acadius, the prophesied savior of our land. I am here for your head, today your reign ends.\" \n\nThe Dark Emperor stood from his throne and walked forward. Much to Acadius' surprise, the Dark Emperor began to remove his armor. He dropped his helmet, and for the first time a mortal laid his eyes on the Emperor's face. Gray hair dropped around a haggard face, Acadius could see the weariness in the Emperor's eyes. \"Long have I awaited your arrival, the day has come at last. I am old and tired, I only wish my suffering to end.\" The Dark Emperor dropped his sword and removed his armor. Falling to his knees, he looked up at Acadius. \"You are strong to have made it to me, I can die by the hands of an honorable warrior at last.\" \n\nAcadius unsheathed his sword and stood over the kneeling Emperor. \"I care not for your suffering. It is the suffering of the people I am here to remedy. With your head severed you will hurt them no more.\" He raised his sword and swung with all his might.\n\nThe Dark Emperor laughed as his hands flew together. With a practiced tongue, he cast a spell. Acadius was disoriented for the briefest of moments but came to just as quickly. Instead of staring down at the Emperor, he was staring at the floor. He tried to move but found himself paralyzed. To his horror, he had switched bodies. \"Oh you fool, I have faced a thousand heroes just like you. The prophecy was never true, it was made to supply me with and endless stream of strong warriors so that I may continue my rule. Each skull on my throne is from a felled hero, now yours will be next!\" \n\nThe Dark Emperor brought Acadius' own blade down on him, decapitating the prophesied saviour. Acadius' head fell to the ground, blood pouring from his neck. The Dark Emperor stretched and tested his new body, this one was strong. He could feel the strength and magic flow through his veins, he hadn't felt like this in several generations. He turned to his previous body and snapped, melting the flesh from the bones. He leaned down and picked up the skull. Walking back to his throne, he placed the skull on top.\n\nRetrieving his armor and helmet, he donned them again. With a waive of his hands, he resurrected his elite guard. They bowed before their master once again. \"Rebuild my army, report back once it is done.\" He turned and waived them away. With a sinister smile the Dark Emperor returned to his throne, waiting for the next savior to come.\n\nThank you for reading!\n\nMore stories at [R/WorksofIndridFrost1](https://www.reddit.com/r/WorksofIndridFrost1/)", "Emperor Hauchi screamed at Cassius to kill him. He had bare himself, ready for Cassius to deliver the killing blow, for he was no fool.\n\nWhen The Oracle gives a man a fortune to strike you down, they will strike you down. It is fate. All has been written already, it just has to happen. Hauchi knew this better than anyone else. After all, he too was once a Hero of Legend.\n\nHe sat upon his knees, waiting. He could see the confusion in his eyes. Hauchi wished he could talk, wished he could tell him, warn him. But he knew better. This was a cycle that had to happen. Just as he had killed his own Dark Emperor and the Hero of Legend before him had also done. \n\nTruth be told, No one truly knew why this cycle happened, it would be his only regret, not knowing. What he did know was that in transition periods, the economy of the land boomed, foreign relations were made stable, the people were happy. He guess people just got tired of the same.\n\nHe thought back to when he first received his fortune, Having been called to the Oracle himself 67 years earlier. He had just put down his first horse, when the messenger arrived at his stead, his sister gave him the letter, a summons. \n\nHe remembered the words perfectly:\n\nOne shall rise, One shall fall\nA task received by the Great One’s Call\nA Journey everlasting and neverending\nThe Kings throne is a Snake’s skin shedding\nYou must assist, send the Dark Emperor to the Eternal Hall\n\nLittle did he know those were the same words uttered to every “Hero”. He wasn’t special. Just a pawn. \n\nBut still, Hauchi took pride in being a good pawn. He felt he had done his duty, and he was ready to go on.\n\nThe last thought that crossed his mind before Cassius’s blade sliced his throat wasn’t a thought at all, but an image.\n\nHis first Horse, Graham." ]	2
I was binge-watching/listening to the Youtube Channel The Great War recently, and had this idea. Thought you creative minds here could have fun with it.	[WP] It is the year 1916, and the french and british forces deploy a new weapon on the Western Front, the Tanks. Unbeknownst to them, however, the German Empire hasn't been idle either, and brings its own new invention to the battlefields: Power Armor.	[ "phwump, phwump, phwump \"guten tag korporal mayer\". Said the squadron comander addressing his perpetually late but tactically excellent NCO, \"did we over indulge last night\" \"ja Kapitän, it wont happen again Kapitän\" \"good Herr Korporal, see that it doesnt\". \n\nKapitän Hans Fischer was descendant of a proud naval tradition, he had been destined for the german empires proud Kriegsmarine but for the horrible familly secret....he got seasick. \nSo when he turned 18 he joined the Käiserjager elite troops and served with distinction until he earned the rank of Kapitan and transfered to a stormtrooper regiment at the young age of 21. \n\nAnd through no small amount of political influence from his father he found himself comanding the 1st landschiff batalion. The squadron was made up if 2 squadrons of kampfanzug (consisting of 6 kampfanzug suits) and one platoon of supporting stormtroopers.\n\nAs the enemy had cunningly played their hand it was time for the kaiser to play his. as the mk1 tanks rolled slowly across the battlefield, mowing down all that they saw, they did not expect to be met by gigantic metal behemoths, these gigantic metal men knocked out the first tank to fire on them using a high powered anti-tank gun. The troopers of the 1st lanschiff batalion cheered and charged forth spewing destruction and mayhem in the british trenches. DAKADAKADAKADAKA! the machine guns chattered away, their water jackets seemingly glowing with the heat leaking from the barrels that in actuality were glowing, the shells clanging into the sopping wet, stinking mud. \n\nKapitän Hans Fischer observed the mayhem before him, studying the battlefield with some measure of distaste. The once rambunctious but overall good natured Korporal had transformed into a metal beast, reveling in the gore and death. Kapitän fischer stomped onwards with a resounding sense of forboding, he was marching into a new age of warfare and a new age of death. \n\nEdit: grammar." ]	1
	[WP] all of a sudden teens from all over the world become their OC with all of their abilities, equipment, and appearances, but most importantly their tragic backstories as well	[ "I was at my locker when it happened. A cold sensation washed over my temples and by the time I made my way to class, it had turned into a pounding headache. I dismissed it as a simple annoyance and returned to my work. \n\nMaybe the other kids in my class had the headache, maybe they didn’t. But when class was five minutes through, everyone passed out. When I woke up, I noticed that we were all different. Some looked extremely similar to their real life person, but others looked entirely different. Many of the girls in our class had wings, a few had different coloured skin. Some of the boys had beards and were much taller than their formerly short selves. \n\nI looked at my own hands, examined the palms that were clear of my blisters from playing badminton. And that’s when I noticed the small tattoo on the inner side of my thumb. An infinity symbol. I was Emily Van Hall, my original character. But what point of her life am I at? Am I the teenage her? That would make the most sense. I look around at the chaos that has now enveloped the room. The original characters of my peers are trying out their abilities for the first time. Objects are floating, kids are flying, one is breathing fire. The teacher is on the phone, likely calling the police. I don’t blame him. I would too. \n\nAll of a sudden, a second headache appears, this one stronger than the first. I cup my forehead with both of my palms. Something is happening. Other kids start realizing the pain as well and halt their experiments. \n\nThe first loss comes quickly. I feel the memories of my brother slip through the grasp of my mind until I barely remember what his name is. In his place, stands McKenna, Emily’s sister, the brat of the family. Next goes my father, replaced by someone who couldn’t care less about the world. I reach out towards my mom. I feel my grip brush her fingers but it’s too late. She’s gone. Finally, I feel Louise, my best friend drifting away. I cannot lose her. I cannot lose Louise. My palm tightens around hers and I slowly pull her back into my mind. I will not lose my best friend.\n\nI open my eyes, not remembering when I closed them. I breathe deeply. This must be a dream. There is no other explanation. Finally, I look up. I am not in science class anymore. The field looks familiar. I recognize it from where Emily’s story began. Beside me stands Jada, Emily’s best friend. Or more accurately, my best friend. \n\nShe turns to look at me, her naturally curly hair swaying in front of her face. \n\n“Who are you?” She asks.\n\n“I’m,” I hesitate. Do I say my real name or Emily? “May.” I finally answer, deciding to use my real name. If this is really Jada, she will know I’m telling the truth... right?\n\n“Oh, I have a friend named May,” she replies.\n\n“Wait what? You, you know me?” I ask.\n\n“I don’t know you, I know a different May though.” She says.\n\n“Wait a sec,” I pause. “What’s your name?”\n\n“Louise. Why?”\n", "\"Hmm which one am I?\" Looking at her skin it was easy to tell she wasn't Ley or Zil, that sucked\n\nShe wasn't in a hoodie or have a scarf on so forget about fairy tale mountain climbers Jett and Nell.\n\n\"I'm Deo aren't I..\" But thankfully she wasn't in a puffy grey coat \"That means I'm Aiden..\" sighing she got up, nobody saw her leave, \"I'm probably not going to have a Mira and Zil here will I?..\" sighing she started walking.\n\n \"A trio only works when you have all three a duo sucks ass when you only have the one that fucks shit up without the other to fix it..\" At least she wasn't Xa that was something good right?\n\n\"Why wasn't I just normal.. I could of been a dragon...\" ", "As I woke up from my nap, it was still another boring day in class... I had the strangest sensation something was up. It took a while for my eyes to get used to the light after I had woken up... but I could hear the sounds of yelling all around me. My class had become a freak show, with strangely colored people, creatures, and other beasts running around. I looked at my reflection in a window... and that was when it hit me.\n\n———\n\nNo... it couldn’t be. I thought the comic I drew was all my imagination. I was really him... my own character, “Caliber”. In the mirror, I saw what looked like a human... no, wait... a robot that looked exactly like one. I took a moment to examine my surroundings, getting used to my new enhancements. Around me I could see what I usually found in the sixth layer of DeviantArt, brightly colored rainbow wolves and black-red half-demons that would kill you with looks alone. I could feel the memories flowing to me now... the backstory that I, myself invented...\n\n———\n\n I had quickly realized the world was ending soon, according to the comic I wrote, and for some reason, I need to get underground as fast as possible. I decided to roll with it, because I wouldn’t want to spend my life with creatures that could shower you in glitter and sparkles or kill you with a single swipe.\n\n———\n\n...And when I had arrived underground, I had realized my mistake. I was suddenly surrounded by loads upon loads of Undertale OCs, some good, some bad. I had realized that OCs are everywhere, and there was no escape. Heck, there are even some in space! I realized that I had to either live with it or die, and I wasn’t intent on dying. I looked out upon the sea of eldritch beasts and thought to myself: “Welcome to the ApOCalypse.”\n\nEDIT: Fixed formatting", "At first, everyone was laughing at each other. Of course everyone thought everyone else looked stupid. A few kids had rainbow skin, wings, or just plain being a different species. \n\nSome kids looked normal, but of course everyone was far from normal now.\n\nI stared at my hands. They looked normal as far as I was concerned. But then a sudden thought took my head. Which OC was I? I took a sudden breath and looked up to the teacher. The classroom was turning to chaos as students were trying out new powers and abilities.\n\nThe panicked look on the teacher’s face was enough. \n\nOf course, I knew I couldn’t just help her with the class. They weren’t going to be calming down anytime soon. Some kids were crying hysterically, so I thought I should start there.\n\nAnd now I knew who I was. ", "The sudden feeling of every nerve in my body crying out in pain woke me up from my sleep. I noted that the teacher had stopped talking.\n\nSlowly and painfully I raised my hand, \"y-yo, teach, I'm in a load of pain right now,\" my voice was muffled by the desk.\n\nThe teacher made nought a sound.\n\nI slowly lifted my head (the pain had started to subside), and saw that she just stood there, her mouth agape and eyes as wide as dinner plates. I followed her gaze. Every student in class had...changed? Some had scales and wings, some were anthropomorphic animals (fucking furries), other looked edgier than a knife. \n\n\"Can someone explain to me why everyone is in costume, it sure as hell ain't halloween,\" said a voice...no, no, that was me...my voice was strangely deep.\n\nAfter a moment, all the girls squealed with delight and one exclaimed, \"I'm my OC Sarah!\"\n\nOh fuck.\n\nI glanced down at my hands. Cuts lined the rough, dirty fingers. The tip of my left pinky was missing. Looking at my arms just brought more dismay. The olive sleeves of a fatigue jacket was rolled up to my elbow to reveal dirt and grime under a mat of hair. I now realized I felt the familiar yet strange weight of an M1 helmet upon my head.\n\nI slowly reached up to my face to feel the long, unshaven beard that now was there. It simply wouldn't do. Using my father's trench knife, I roughly shaved it.\n\nAs I unslung my Garand, I looked around and realized something. I had no idea where the fuck I was." ]	5
	[WP] When people get angry they become surrounded by a visible colored aura that denotes how powerful they are. Today you meet someone with a color that's never been seen before.	[ "The Baseline Protocol. That's what we called it in the states. Every country had a different method, but all had the same directive. . . To calm the population to dull sheep. To keep people working and consuming and too afraid to do anything else. Under pain of having your entire life taken from you. . \n\nMy name is Ren. \nJust Ren.\n\nI am a part of the movement to dismantle these putrid lies and awaken the masses from this, most horrendous infringment of our most basic human rights. \nAt least, I mean to say, part of one of the movements. \n\nThere were, as of our last meeting, 4 leaders that had expressed different methods of achieving our goal.\n\nThe Vile Tongues, only protested, peacefully.\nThe Peace Keepers, ironically named carried out destructive terrorist acts.\nThe Black Hackers, their goal was to eliminate or lessen the effects of The Protocol Chip, which was installed in every man and woman upon birth.\nAnd last, but certainly not least. . The Mesiahs.\nThe cruelest and most brutal. They let themselves go so dark the trackers couldn't even see them on the spectrum, and if they were ever caught by the Regulators, it was kill on sight. Someone had to die.\n\nThe BS protocol, as we fondly refer to it as, is a complex system with so many functions we haven't even found them all.\nGPS tracking\nVisual and auditory recording\nRemote control \nHormone and neurochemical regulation, \nBut most important was the color tracking system.\n\nWe figured out how it works basically. \nIt measures the cortisol production in your blood, the stress hormone, and also your adrenaline levels. To see how prone you are to act on your compulsions. \n\nThe data is then checked against your personal history and the baseline of everyone within 50 miles, and that number is then translated into your 'color' which is shown to everyone who lays eyes upon you through the optical component of 'the chip'\n\nOptimal 'color' is any of the ambients as we call them. It could be any color, red, blue, green, brown, yellow. These are the basic colors that mainly show 'how' a person deals with a problem.\n\nA light red shows that person will face their problems head on.\n\nA dark red shows that person is probable to lash out in quick and unplanned physical violence and needs to be treated.\n\nA light green means that someone is group oriented and empathetic in nature.\n\nA dark green means that person blames everyone else for their problems and is most likely to commit a crime of well calculated mass violence.\n\nAnd so on.\n\nThe system was originally very passive, only designed to get to the people who needed help the most and get to them as quickly as possible. \n\nUntil someone decided that we weren't getting to them fast enough and added more features to the chip, which leaves most people as lackadaisical as cows being herded.\n\nMy color was medium blue.\n\nMost likely to be courageous, and puts the value of other's lives above their own.\nAlso likely to unite a group of impoverished people and rally them to fight. I've been to treated once before and I will never go back. And word is it's only gotten worse.\n\nWhen the meeting was over I got up and left, without speaking to anyone. Blue, also prone to depression and depression related violence. \n\nI was walking home, empty as a shell. \nLooking down through the alleyway, a lump in my throat as if I was about to cry. . Wondering if this would be the night that I would end it. .\n\n Preoccupied, that's when I bumped into him. A simple bump, obviously an accident. \n\nIt knocked me to ground, but he was so large it barely slowed him down, but he did stop.\n\nI fumbled on the ground for my glasses and put them on while mumbling an apology. \n\nWhen I finally looked up. . That's when I saw him. A great, large, and muscular man in a black fedora and an equally black trench coat. But his smoke. . It was the most ungodly colour I've ever seen. It was blacker than the night with deep and vibrant tones of every other color. \n\nI was shocked.\n\nThat's when he smiled, tipped his hat, and offered me a hand up.\n\nI took it." ]	1
	[WP] You're looking into your bathroom mirror one morning when your reflection starts pointing to look behind you, utter terror on its face.	[ "I woke up begrudgingly last Saturday. I had been exhausted from a long week-but didn’t want to feel later that night like I wasted my day in bed. I shambled from my warm bed into the cold bathroom and brushed my teeth. I zoned out for the few minutes I needed to rid my mouth of morning breath and spit, rinsing my face while the water was on. \n\nI turned the water off and looked up into the mirror. When my eyes finally focused, my breath caught in my throat. My reflection moved away from where I stood. Her face shifted into a look of intense fear and lifted her hand. I watched as my reflections arm moved up, and her finger pointed out in front of her. It wasn’t at me, it seemed to be pointing just past my face, above my shoulder. \n\nI grappled with turning around, not wanting to turn my back on the initial unnatural thing. I had always had a thin working relationship with mirrors and the mystery they held, so I wasn’t inclined to trust the one that finally betrayed its purpose. A shaky voice in the back of my head disagreed with my reasoning. If something was behind me, bad enough to shake the mirror world into revealing itself, I ought to figure out what it is. I let out a loud frustrated sigh. \n\nThe real world wasn’t supposed to function like this. \n\nDread piled up in the pit of my stomach as I turned, Gripping onto the edge of the sink for stability. I came face to face with the white paint of my bathroom wall and let out another sigh, but softer and relieved. I glanced back at the mirror and found the reflections all looking the way they ought to. Still and perfect matches to their counterparts. I shrugged off the experience and wandered out of the bathroom to get dressed. \n\n I decided it wasn’t in my best interest to hang around my apartment all day long. My mind was playing tricks on me here, and I wasn’t interested in repeating the episode. I found my vans, my purse and my phone and stepped outside. Turning to lock the door a strong wind picked up. It was so cold in the winter, I hated it. I wasn’t going to spend long in the air today, either. I hurried out to the car, rushing in to get it started and warmed up. \n\nThe drive down to the strip mall went fast, which was unexpected given how things had gone so far that day. I gladly parked near my favorite antique store and hurried in out of the cold. \n\nThe ringing bell above the door greeted me alongside a rush of warm air. My face suddenly felt flushed and I welcomed it. The owner seemed to be busy in the back, I usually took a moment to chat with them at the register just inside the door. I shrugged and walked toward the aisles. I could always get lost in here for an afternoon. \n\nLost in my thoughts about the winter, and next week, I wandered out of an aisle straight into a back wall. 3 large ornate mirrors stood along it. Spotting them, my thoughts snapped to attention. My breath caught as I saw my reflection move again. The middle me contorted her face into an impossible shape, full of terror and pointed above my shoulder again. I spun around without hesitation this time. I thought that I needed to see that nothing was there so I could get on with this day, and away from the mirrors. \n\nWhen my eyes landed in the space behind me, the breath in my throat made way for a scream. A solid black figure stood within a few inches of me. The only feature they seemed to have was eyes, but only two white spaces in the general face area. Before I could react to scream, run, or both, it raised both its arms-and pushed. Its forced landed on both of my shoulders and I fell backward into the row of mirrors. I expected to crash into them, causing a pretty big mess and probably catch some shards. But I didn’t. \n\nI felt my warmth disappeared, and as it did the store and the shadowy figure began to look watery. I finally hit the ground without knocking into anything but myself. It was dim around me, and quiet. I stood, rubbing hands along my legs and torso to make sure everything was really intact. I then looked toward the figure, only to find him gone. I tried to walk towards the aisle I had come down, only to slam into a wall. \n\nI watched the owner of the store walk by casting a side-eye in my direction. \n\n“Haley!” I called, with no response\n. \nI could see the sun go down, and eventually watched it come back up. \n\nLast Saturday I got knocked into a mirror by something I have no name for. I hope this message gets to someone, by my count its been a week now. I’ve been hearing strange noises, and they are starting to get louder. \n\n*** \n\n/r/beezus_writes", "Your alarm rings tearing you from dreamy world you were inhabiting. \n\nAs you fumble to turn it off, you hear you housemate banging around in the next room. Dennis. You feel rage just thinking about the guy. He's always making your life hard. \n\nThe tiles in bathroom are cold on your barefeet. Not the most please feeling this early but your determined to just wash your face and get going for the day. \n\nYou look, older. It surprises you but your half asleep and don't think much of it. All of a sudden your reflection faces turns to horror. Your heart sinks. You start to sweat. As you turn around someone punches you in the balls. Through your screams of pain you can hear a voice - it's just a prank bro - over and over. Dennis. You fucking hate that guy. ", "When I was 10, I got a king-size snickers for Halloween. Sitting high above the pixie sticks, fun dip, and dum-dum pops, this extraordinary prize was to be the last in line, an ultimate reward for exhausting my sugary rations over the next couple months. My sister, Beatrice, ate it the next day. \n\n\"It's not as if he doesn't have an entire bucketful of candy!\" But she ate my prize, and that marked the beginning of a long and terrible war between a high school girl and her elementary school brother. \n\nI'd tell Mom whenever she had her boyfriend over. She'd borrow my gameboy and accidentally lose it. I'd pour all the Diet Pepsis in the house down the drain. She'd feed the dog a double helping when it was my turn to clean up. \n\n\"All that bad energy's gonna attract a ghost, I tell ya,\" Grandpa would say whenever he caught us fighting. \"Break it up.\" \n\nIt's been a long, hard two year war, but I've persevered. Today was D-day. Prom night. And I was stuck in the bathroom with a bad case of fake diarrhea for the next two hours. The door rattled. \n\n\"Terrence! I know you're in there!\" \n\nI turned the page of my comic. \"I have diarrhea!\" \n\n\"I'm getting mom!\" The sounds of angry stomps, followed by chattering and more angry stomps led to Mom's tired voice. \n\n\"Terrence, tonight's really important to Beatrice. She needs the mirror for her makeup. Can't you use the downstairs bathroom?\" \n\nThankfully, I'd come prepared with an inflated balloon. \"But my tummy hurts! I'll be out soon, I promise!\" I moaned and let loose a few farts of air. \n\n\"I'm sorry, Beatrice. It looks like you'll have to wait. I can let you use my compact if you want.\" \n\nI checked the clock after finishing my comic. Still more than an hour and a half to go. I got off the toilet and went through my bath toys, though they just weren't the same on dry land. I figured I'd torment Beatrice by hiding her various brushes and powders in the deepest, darkest reaches of the bathroom. \n\nA bunch of powdery brown stuff went under the sink. Half of the brushes sat in an overturned bucket behind the toilet, and the other half went to the laundry basket. Her perfume hid between two towering shampoo bottles. \n\nAll that was left was her neon orange sparkle brush. The doorknob rattled. \"Terrence! It's been too quiet for too long! I'm getting Grandpa!\" \n\nAnd like that, my time was limited. The easiest place to hide it would probably be the medicine cabinet. I pried it open and stuck it between a glass bottle of stuff that makes you puke and a plastic jug of \"water\" that mom used to clean cuts on my hand. It burned like crazy and felt really cold after. \n\n\"Terrence!\" Grandpa called through the door. \"You better not be fighting your sister again!\" \n\nI ran over to flush the toilet. \"Just pooping grandpa! I just need to wipe my butt.\" Batman comic tucked under my shirt, balloon deflated and in my back pocket, I proceeded to walk towards the exit as slowly as possible. And stopped. \n\nMy reflection was waving at me. Not like my best friend Tom at recess. More like how Mister Duncan waves when I'm biking downhill towards the gutter. Somehow, the shower curtain behind me had slid closed, even though I didn't remember closing it. And it looked like someone was behind it.\n\nAlarm bells rang in my head as I unlocked the door and dashed through, heart pounding. \n\nBeatrice got up from the bed where she'd been waiting with Grandpa. \"Finally, you little shit. Better not have touched my stuff.\" \n\n\"Wait!\" I grabbed her hand, and she pushed me off. \"Wait. Don't go in there! There's someone in the shower!\" \n\nShe stopped a few inches from the bathroom before going in. \"That's your worst attempt yet.\" \n\nI ran forward and tackled the door before she could close it, bursting into the bathroom. \"Terrence!\" She shrieked, as we both fell to the floor. She grabbed my face and pushed, hard. I winced, but nothing followed.\n\n\"What the FUCK is that?\" \n\nI opened my eyes. Three long, black fingers wrapped around the edge of the shower curtain. The rings scraped against the metal bar as the curtain slid open, inch by inch. \n\n\"Move!\" Grandpa grabbed us, one arm each, and slid us out of the bathroom on our butts. He slammed the door closed behind us and leaned into it. \"Terrence, there's a small gold book and a purple bottle in the top shelf of Grandma's dresser. It's wrapped in a lacy blue nightgown. I need it. Beatrice, help me with this door. Go!\" \n\nI shook as I got up, almost falling on the wood floor in my sock feet. \n\n\"Move!\" Beatrice shouted, pressing against the door. It shook as if something heavy slammed into it. \n\nI sped down the hall into Grandma and Grandpa's room, flung open the dresser, and grabbed the lumpy nightgown. It caught on the corner of the dresser when I pulled it out and tore, but I ran back anyway. \n\n\"Grandpa! Here!\" \n\nHe shook the book free of the nightgown, opened a page, and started reading in a language I didn't understand, all while pressing against the door. The next slam knocked a red-faced, crying Beatrice to the floor. Wood cracked. \n\nGrandpa was shouting now. He opened the bottle and sloshed whatever was inside over the door. It fizzed and bubbled, and the slams stopped. He finished the reading in a softer voice, slumped to the ground, and closed the book. \n\n\"What did I say would happen if you two kept fighting?\" \n\nBeatrice ended up canceling prom night, wrapped tight in a pile of blankets with her boyfriend, watching Netflix on our couch. I was grounded for three weeks, losing both my allowance and Mom's \"last drop of patience\", whatever that meant. Later that night, someone knocked on my door.\n\n\"It's just us.\" Grandpa said, bringing Beatrice in. Both of them looked a lot better. \"Beatrice has something to say to you.\" \n\n\"I'm sorry.\" She sniffed, crying a bit. \"I'd never been so mad at you before. I just... wanted you to die. I kept screaming it in my head, and I think that thing heard it. I wanted tonight to be perfect. And you ruined that. But you're my baby brother. I don't want you to die. Grandpa and I talked Mom down, so you're not grounded anymore.\" \n\n\"I'm sorry for ruining your night.\" I got up from the bed and hugged her. I'd been a lot shorter two years ago. Now, our heads were almost even. \n\nShe gave me a small, sad smile. \"I'm sorry for eating your Snickers.\" \n\n[Subreddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Tensingstories/)\n", "There's something on my face.\n\nIt's a bright blue, and seems to be full of some kind of liquid. I've poked at it a few times, and even though the light in my bathroom flickers a bit too often for my taste, I can tell for certain its getting bigger.\n\nThen it gets smaller.\n\nThen bigger again.\n\nThere's something on my face, and I can't tell what it is.\n\nI've taken a few steps back, and am trying my best to ignore it. More importantly, I need to clean the counter at some point today. Normally I'd try to convince myself to leave the house, but for reasons I don't care to divulge to just anyone, I must clean this counter with some real elbow grease.\n\nThere's something on my face, and its much darker. \n\nCall this part of the ritual, I would say. If you follow enough vague instructions given to you by online strangers who swear by the results, you may come across something that actually works.\n\nI took a wet rag and began to work it across the counter, tracing over the imitated granite pattern. I carefully navigate the cloth by the cup next to the sink where there had once been two toothbrushes, but now was one. The toothpaste hasn't been replaced for a long time, though I was never the one who handled these kinds of things.\n\nAfter a solid scrub, I need to take three steps backwards, and admire my work. No more long blonde hairs to clog the drain, no more hairbands and no more giant clusterfuck of makeup that takes up nearly every inch of usable space.\n\nDon't you want them there?\n\nDon't you miss them?\n\nDon't you wish everything could go back to the way it was?\n\nWell, yes to all three. Thank you, whoever is asking. \n\nTo put it bluntly, this would explain the thing on my face. The very specific mix of ingredients and actions that have me standing before my mirror, maintaining eye contact with a very sad and very tired man on the other side.\n\nThough I've seen myself blink twice, and that doesn't seem quite right.\n\nHow much sleep have I gotten?\n\nI can't really tell. Preparation for this ritual doesn't exactly give you much free time for that kind of activity.\n\nIf I step back into that tiny one bedroom apartment, I'm going to scream and I won't be able to stop. All that will come, that can come, that must come, I owe to this mirror. To the final steps of a long and arduous process that required blood and promises to things that watch you sleep six inches by your bedside.\n\nMy reflection, finally, has detached itself from me. It moves its arms and takes great steps. It shakes its head and cracks its knuckles.\n\nThen it looks at me.\n\nIt screams a soundless scream, and points in abject horror to something behind me. \n\nIf this is what I look like when I'm terrified, I'm going to be incredibly self conscious about it from now on. Bug eyed and raving, trembling and pointing.\n\nSomething with a great claw grabs hold of the back of my neck, and with great force shoves my face towards the mirror. My reflection continues to scream, though the eyes no longer stand out.\n\nThen it stops pointing.\n\nNow its stopped screaming.\n\nLaughter.\n\nIts laughing at me now.\n\nThe blue on my face pops, a thick liquid gushing down my face, though I can't feel it. My reflection seems to feel it, and writhes underneath. Like pouring boiling water on someone, though I don't see any burns on it.\n\nThere's heavy breath on the nape of my neck, and it causes the hairs on my arms to stand up.\n\nDid you think a silly spell could bring everything back?\n\nHow many mornings have you stood in front of this mirror wishing things would change, that great things would come to you?\n\nHow many of those days did you waste?\n\nWell, the man in the mirror made the same preparations as you, and comes from somewhere much harder and darker than you. He's paid his dues, and knows the price.\n\nThe breath continues, so hard it causes my undershirt to flutter.\n\nYou've wasted your time on this side of the mirror, something whispers to me again.\n\nYou've wasted time, and it's his turn now. The price is the price, a deal is a deal.\n\nI can feel the mirror begin to give way, as if the glass was more of a thick jelly.\n\nSomeone waves past me, with hands clasped behind his back. With a slight skip, it jumps through the mirror.\n\nThe room is dark, and cold. A hand remains at the back of my neck, unrelenting and frigid.\n\nMy reflection stands before the mirror now, in my bathroom, in my body, in my apartment. In my life.\n\nIt salutes the mirror, then proceeds to disappear from view.\n\nNo matter how hard I bang on the glass, he does not return.\n\nA deal is a deal, comes the whisper. The claws sink into my flesh now, the blood hissing as it comes into contact with icy pincers.\n\nI want to say that I didn't make a deal with whatever this thing is, but it's too difficult to concentrate. In a way, I did make this deal. I said the words, drew the diagrams, performed the rituals. Was it the will of my reflection, or did I trap myself of my own volition?\n\nSomething drags me away, deeper into the dark.\n\nThere were promises made to me, though perhaps that's the trick. Everything would go back to normal, one great do-over. You can fix every mistake you've made, every hurdle you've fallen over. Every opportunity, there for the seizing again.\n\nA deal is a deal, it says again. Though the language becomes garbled, some kind of horrific gumbo of slurps and gargles.\n\nThe mirror is a tiny square, somewhere far away.\n\nToo far to recognize what may be watching me from the other side, but somehow I can tell.\n\nMy reflection stands on the other side, a mocking sneer on its face.\n\nWaving at me.\n\nWaving goodbye.\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nr/storiesfromapotato" ]	4
	[WP] Humans are the entertainment of the galaxy. Unbeknownst to them, whenever a human is born they are assigned to a random alien. Due to a galactic law, you cannot directly interfere with your human's life. The human you've watched grow up is about to get murdered. You decide to interfere.	[ "Memoirs of a Little Green Man - Part 1\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"WHAT. THE. FUCK\".\n\nZerg was one of these middle management pricks, always throwing his weight around and wagging his finger when he was forced to leave the comfort of his office.\n\n\"I'll fix it, but listen...\", I said.\n\n\"No, YOU listen\", he growled as he shoved that fat finger of his in my face, \"you had one goddam rule. ONE!\"\n\nHe was oversimplifying, of course, as the field manual for individual human study was something like 600 pages of rules. But I suspect he hadn't actually laid eyes on the manual since he was a field officer himself a thousand years ago. And who the hell stays in Field Command for a millennium, anyway? Guys like him saw themselves as being too good for actual field work, but obviously weren't cut out for a Mother Ship position. Fuckin' middle management.\n\n\"Zeno, you're a good officer\", he said as he lowered his enormous ass down onto my couch. I liked that couch. Now I felt like I had to burn it the moment he left.\n\n\"But this\", waving his hand towards my unconscious human in the other room, \"this... is bad. Do you have any idea what the ODHI is going to say about this?\", he sat the manila folder down beside him.\n\nODHI. Office of the Director of Human Interaction. Semi-upper management. More of the same, but they wore better suits. They were also sticklers for the field manual rules, to an annoying degree. No department did more to hinder field study than those assholes. They also happened to be in charge of funding. Go figure.\n\n\"I know, Zerg, I know. I'll handle them in my report, and it won't fall on you\", I had to assuage him. God forbid his precious bonus is in danger. I certainly didn't want him sweating about it on my brand new couch.\n\n\"Fuck your report. It's more than just interference, Zeno\", he said, \"in saving this human, you got two other humans killed\".\n\nThat was true. My human, Charlie, was going to be killed by two other humans. Because of what Charlie had in his possession, which would never make it into my report, I just couldn't let that happen.\n\n\"Are you aware of who is, or was, paired with those two humans you killed?\"\n\n\"Uhhh... Well, this is a big sector, so I'm not familiar with every officer stationed here\", I admitted.\n\n\"Yeah, see, that's the real problem\", Zerg said.\n\nI could start to tell he was worried. Like, actually worried, and not just about his performance bonus.\n\nHe picked up the folder and opened the file, holding it out to read. I watched his eyes skim line after line before he flipped a page over. Normally, I would suspect he was being dramatic, but I saw all the black ink from parts that were redacted, and I got the feeling this wasn't just some game he was playing to remind me that he was my boss.\n\n\"Do you know who Mikmak and Rego are?\", he asked, knowing that I knew. \n\nFuck. These were black hats. Not your average officers. They didn't get assigned to a random baby human. Technically, their department didn't even exist. They were a shadow agency, outside of the authority of even the Mother Ship. They supposedly only took orders from the highest levels of Homeworld Command. The field manual meant nothing to them. They always worked in pairs internationally, oversaw entire groups of humans at a time, and chose their humans themselves. If a field officer had their case randomly taken away, it was likely because black hats took it. They had authorization not just to intervene at will, but to eliminate anyone in their way. Even us. Mikmak and Rego were names that made officers shit their pants. We avoided these fuckers like the plague.\n\nZerg was holding it together fairly well, I had to admit, given this information.\n\n\"What the hell do those guys want with Charlie\", I asked.\n\n\"Eighty percent of this file is redacted, Zeno. Even if I wanted to tell you, which I don't, I couldn't. Now do you understand the magnitude of your fuck-up?\".\n\nI did. But I still couldn't bring myself to tell Zerg why I did what I did. I didn't care if the black hats were overseeing a couple of punk ass muggers. Charlie was about to save humanity with his discovery. He just needed a little more time, so I gave it to him.\n\n\"Look\", Zerg said, \"file your report. Once it's in, they are going to recall you to the ship, and you'll have to bring your human. They'll want to decide what to do from there. I assume there will be an investigation\".\n\nNo sooner did he finish talking, when my security system notified me that a car was coming up the driveway. I pulled up the video on my tablet, and saw a black sedan rounding the corner by my mailbox. And just like that, all the power went out." ]	1
	[WP] magic exists now, and everyone's powers are based off their spirit animal. This is the tale of you and your spirit animal, the Pringles man.	[ "Gather round, good friends, so that I might regale/ all of you with the words of my magical tale \n\nYou see, when the world changed so that spirit held sway/ I rejoiced and danced and sang that day\n\nMy mother's beast was a yak, my father's a goose/ my sister had a dove, I couldn't wait to let loose\n\nI studied the videos and read all the posts/ of people who learned from their mystical ghosts\n\nI worried for days that mine wouldn't appear/ I thought perhaps I would never be in the clear \n\nBut finally hope yielded results for my soul/ one bright summer morning I accomplished my goal \n\nMy spirit animal appeared, twas the kind pringles man/ but my digits wouldn't fit into his magical can\n\nOh woe was me, bereft of the gift/ twixt me and my family evolved such a rift \n\nMy heart filled with envy, my spirit with rage/ so close to magic but unable to engage\n\nThen the pringles man spoke and I heeded his words/ \"these pains you are feeling, it's all for the birds!\"\n\n\"Just trust in my training, I won't steer you wrong/ follow my orders and you shall grow strong\"\n\nOf course I did listen and I trained day and night/ till I balled up my fist and shoved down with much might\n\nWith my hand in the can I could feel the power/ I knew then and there that it was my hour\n\nI raised up my arm and my morals eroded/ I shouted at a stranger and his head just exploded\n\nFrom there I killed dozens, no hundreds, no more!/ I followed my vision I settled my score\n\n\"Why did you this?\" I was asked by a cop/ Once I popped, I just couldn't stop. " ]	1
	[WP] You're Average Man. Literally the statistical average of everything, these are your adventures.	[ "Up again at 5:45am, just enough time to shower and shave before I have to wake the kids up. Even if I didn't know their ages, it would be easy to tell that they're becoming teenagers as it's harder and harder to wake them up in the morning.\n\nThis morning, it was Sara. I turned on the light in her room and she covered her face with a pillow. I grabbed her foot to nudge her awake and she rolled away from me, kicking the covers. I stood there and talked to her for about 5 minutes, telling her about my day yesterday, before she finally got frustrated enough to sit up and defiantly proclaim \"I'm up! Are you happy?\"\n\nI kinda was.\n\nAs I head into the kitchen, I see the dog dancing at the backdoor waiting to go outside. I walk over and let her out. She takes off racing through the back yard, her desire to pee is quickly replaced by the urge to catch the squirrel that's been taunting her the past week.\n\nA little while later, just as I finish my breakfast, Katy comes in with the kids. She throws some pop tarts at them, and ushers them off to the minivan while they all muttered the occasional \"Bye dad\" or \"Love ya.\" I put rinse my dishes off and put them in the dishwasher, and head over to the door to let the mutt in. \n\nI grab my keys and head out to the garage. Thankfully I got out of the house 15 minutes earlier than normal today, so hopefully the traffic will be better than normal. As I get up to speed to enter the expressway, I can tell there's something wrong with the car. I immediately pull over on to the shoulder and get out look. Turns out the back passenger tire is flat. So much for leaving early today.\n\nI pop the trunk to get the jack and spare, and that's when I remembered that I was storing David's birthday presents in my car so that he wouldn't find them. It's almost a game these days. He's always tried digging through closets or the attic in the weeks leading up to his birthday. He thinks he's sneaky but he's not. But now I have to pull out an entire trunk worth of gifts and set them beside the expressway so I can get to the spare. \n\nAfter raising the car on the jack, I got the completely deflated tire off and the spare on. It doesn't look quite right, but then again, those donuts never look right. As I lower the car down on the shoulder I see why the spare didn't look right. It's low on air. Not flat, but not exactly healthy either. I stand there staring at the tire for a moment. Do I try to limp along to the next exit where I can fill it up? Or do I just call AAA?\n\nI decide to take my chances and I'm able to get to the gas station. When I get out, I can see that the spare is not any lower than it was, which is good news. It likely means it's just a little low, but probably no hole. The only problem is, this gas station's air compressor isn't free. As I scrounge through the car looking for quarters, I realize I don't have any change. So I head in to buy something so I can get some change. I grab a pack of gum and head to the cashier. I always feel dumb buying something so cheap on my card, but I never carry cash.\n\nI ask for 5 dollars back in change, and for one of them to be in quarters. The attendant isn't thrilled, but after rolling his eyes, he hands over the change.\n\nI walk out with my $5 pack of gum, I put the quarters into the air compressor and fill up my spare. Not taking any chances, I check the lug nuts once again before heading back on to the express way.\n\nI went from being 15 minutes early to 45 minutes late. The ironic thing is that traffic is already staring to let up, so it's not too bad. I'm just glad to finally make it to the office. At least there, perhaps, my day will be a little more sane.", "One day I went to the doctors office, and they looked at my feet and checked out my reflexes. \n\n\nYou know what they say about men with average sized feet? \n\n\nAverage height. \n\n\nI went to the theme park and I rode ride number three, four times. I had a fast pass for that one. \n\n\nI played the lottery once, and I got 20 dollars. That was a lucky day. \n\n\nI have a dog and he keeps me company. \n\n\nI was drunk once and got a tattoo of cat and the hat on my shoulder. That was out of the ordinary. I'd rather have a dog. \n\n\nI swear my ISP screws me. Real life demons, and you thought insurance companies were bad. Think again. \n\n\nSometimes I sleep for too long, but I get some cool dreams. \n\n\nDid I tell you about my feet yet? \n\n\n&#x200B;" ]	2
	[WP] Every time somebody says "you must be fun at parties" to somebody else, however sincere or sarcastic, you whip out a little notebook and jot down a name. When your list hits twenty people, you have a party.	[ "I looked down at my notepad. Yep, I had emailed everyone I needed to. Puns were my greatest talent, unless you count being able to make everyone in the room groan at the same time. Well, I had just finished my preparations when they arrived. All 20 of them. The 20 people who hated my puns the most. Now I could get my revenge. \n\nI stood up, and proudly announced that we should \"start off with a bang\". They all awaited the punch-line, while I reached to my pocket.\n\nBang\n \nA bullet whizzed through the head of my guest to the right. Everyone started running, but the doors were locked, and the windows were barred. I set 19 guns on the table, and told them a simple rule: \"Last one alive gets to leave. And since this is Winter, it automatically counts as first-degree murder!\" I chuckled to myself before turning into a goat.\n\n\n\nI then woke up.\n\n\nAh, such a peaceful room. Yesterday me and 19 of my friends had gathered here. Now with the walls painted a shade of red, the corpses of my old friends looked less out of place.\n\n\n\n\n(p.s. I dont know what the hell this story is either)", "One of the major misconceptions about parties was that they were all, in essence, the same. The truth was, some people were only meant for certain sorts of parties, and those were the sorts of parties that I liked to throw.\n\n\"No,\" said Greg. \"But that's what I'm saying, Superman can't catch her if she's falling too fast, he needs time to decelerate or she'll turn into a thin red paste in his arms.\"\n\n\"It's the Gwen Stacey problem,\" nodded Richard.\n\n\"Amazing Spider-Man #121,\" said Louis.\n\n\"Actually,\" said Richard, \"'The Night Gwen Stacey Died' was issues 121 and 122.\"\n\n\"If we want to be pedantic, then technically she died in #121, and #122 was just the completion of the arc, so I think that Louis is technically correct.\"\n\n\"The best kind of correct,\" said Kim. Everyone laughed at that, and Kim had a bright smile on her face.\n\n\"But to get back to what Greg was saying, it depends on what we're assuming to be true about Superman's powers,\" said Garth. \"If he's just super-strong, then sure, she's doomed, but if he's got touch-based telekinesis, as he did Post-Crisis, then all he needs to do is extend a field out from his grip to wrap around her.\"\n\n\"Actually,\" replied Kim. \"He would still be applying force to her body, it would just be a little more even. That reduces the fatal fall distance, or FFD, but it doesn't eliminate it entirely, because you can't stop a person moving at terminal velocity in zero time without risk.\"\n\n\"I'd think that FFD would need to be a function of profile and drag, because terminal velocity isn't a single number, it's dependent on a wide range of factors,\" said Chester.\n\nI moved away from the group, which had been standing around discussing comic book physics for the better part of an hour, and through the rest of the house, where different conversations were filling the air. The group playing board games had still not actually started; instead they'd begun working on a project to 'disambiguate' the rules, which had eventually transitioned into a spirited attempt to make a completely unambiguous vocabulary and grammar toolkit for games. That project seemed unavoidably doomed, but they were having a hell of a time with it.\n\nI found the group I'd dubbed the linguists, who were in the middle of obscure comparing etymologies and arguing about the sourcing used by the Online Etymological Dictionary, but just when things started to get heated, I was able to divert them over to the board game, where I thought their particular expertise might be appreciated.\n\nMostly, I relaxed, and basked in what was, more than anything, my type of party." ]	2
	[WP] You're a demon salesperson. Today, you yet again have to explain to a Catholic that you aren't, in fact, here for their soul, and just want to get them to buy your product.	[ "Not all demon is devoted to buying souls.\n\nJust like the living ones, we have officers, geologists, musicians, and many more! \n\nMe? I'm a salesman.\n\nYou can witness the dark sides in this job. \nYou see the disgusts, impatients, and if you're lucky ---- sympathies.\n\n\"Ma'am, as I just said----\"\n\"You evil, disgusting creature! Get out of here! Now!!\" The old woman screamed as she held her onions in her hands with her shaking hands.\nI rolled my eyes as I put my hands in the air, slowly backing out to the exit.\n\nThe rest of the day was no luck, I don't know how the hell the woman was able to figure out my identity. But again, you never know.\n\nI cheerfully knocked my 37658th door today.\n\nMy eyes lit up as the young man reluctantly opened up his doors for me, \"Thank you, kind sir!\" \nI thanked him excitedly and quickly entered the house before he had the chance to regret.\n\nThe young man nervously sat down on the couch,\"Uh, do...do you promise the potion can clean anything?\"\n\"Oh yes, yes, glass, wood, plastic, you name it! Devil cleaner can clean just about anything!\" Fluent words came out of my mouth seamlessly.\n\"No, um, I mean, stuff like... memories?\"\n\nI grinned heartily, knowing that I got myself a deal, \"Yes, sir. Devil cleaner is more than just a cleaner! If you don't believe me... Go on and drink this sample, try it out yourself.\" I pushed the paper cup closer towards him. Nervously, he finished the liquid in the cup. \n\"Now answer me, what did you do yesterday?\"\nHe frowned, confusingly stared at the table in front of him. \"I don't... remember.\"\nNodding, I made a clear, loud snap with my fingers. He woke up, shivering, \"It, it worked! How much does it cost? Please, please sell them all to me!\" He pleaded to me so desperately, as if triggered.\n\nI smiled, \"Don't rush, don't rush. Well, congrats to you, sir, being the 10000th customers of the Devil's service! This small bottle of cleaner won't cost you anything at all!\" \nHe greedily took the small, black bottle I offered, and drove me out of the house.\nI casted a small spell on myself, making me invisible to the livings, and followed the young man who was hurrying down the street. During a stoplight, he took out of his phone and dialed a number, \"Rachel, I'm sorry, I swear I didn't realize what was happening. Please forgive----\" A pause, \"No. I was drunk, that bitch Taylor kept forcing me to drink!\"\nThe light turned green.\n\"I'll explain later, please, babe, trust me.\"\n\nThe young man ran across the street and picked up a couple of roses at a flower shop. He soon arrived at a modern-looking house, ringing the doorbell.\nA beautiful woman opened the door, her face brightened when she saw the face of the guest, \"Jason, it's you! I thought you regretted last night...\"\n\"No, no, Taylor, don't you know how much I love you? I even brought you roses.\" Taylor kissed her on the cheek. \n\"It's just, you know, my girlfriend is making a fuss over this, since we haven't officially broke up yet.\" He put his hands in her hair, his disgusts hid behind his fake loving gaze. \n\n\"Would you like some water? I'm a little thirsty.\"\n\nI satisfyingly finished videotaping, emailed the video to Rachel, Jason's girlfriend. A quick Google search did the trick.\n\nTwo days later, I turned on the TV.\n\"Mystery unsolved. A young woman named Taylor Sandel magically lost all her memories as an adult.\"\n\"What caused a normal woman to behave like a child? Doctor says it's the genetics.\"\n\nThat was enough. Smiling, I turned off the TV and visited my dear customer. \n\nHe was sitting on the same couch we used last time, empty beer bottles everywhere. A pair of engagement rings were in the trash can.\nHe blankly stared at the ceiling, unmoved by my intrusion.\n\nStanding behind him, I whispered to his ear, \"It's all your fault.\"\nHe trembled, murmuring repeatedly, \"It's all my fault. It's all my fault...\"\n\nI chuckled quietly, left the house. \nI wonder if I'm lucky enough to meet my next 10000th customer today, before it gets dark.", "\"Another day, another sale,\" Mecifer sighed as he rapped his hand on the chipped wooden door of relatively small red brick home. Mecifer adjusted his satin suit as he waited for an answer. The door soon swung open and he was greeted by the shriek of an elderly woman.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Help! Help me! Dear Christ, father, for all of my sins I beg for your forgi-\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Calm down please! I'm just here to sell you thes-\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"And he speaks! What have I done oh Lord? His demonic voice, it is too much to bear! Please, I have been a good woman!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nMecifer waved his suitcase around in front of the woman, \"I'm not going to harm you! Now, as I was saying, today I'm selling these toys. Do you have any grandchil-\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Not mi nietos! Dios, por favor, ahórrate las!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nMecifer rolled his eyes and glanced at his crimson red watch. The woman went on babbling for approximately five more minutes until she took a breath.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Now as I was saying, I'm not here to take you. You know what? This is just a costume, my nephews are having a costume party later on. Now, as I was sayi-\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"But your horns! Like that of a-a cabra!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nMecifer attempted to take a deep breath when he noticed that his fingernails were digging into his palms. He felt sparks crackling off of his skin.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Listen up lady, I'm trying to make a living, alright? Now will you buy one of these damn toys or will I have t-\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Please spare me! Spare me!\"\n\n&#x200B;\n\nMecifer gave a guttural scream of agitation as a wave of fire rolled off of his body, and consumed her house. He face-palmed as he heard the woman shrieking as she burned to a crisp. He then sat his suitcase on the ground and sat on it, grabbing a stick and a bag of marshmallows he had in his suit pocket. He skewered a marshmallow and ate with delight as the woman's screams faded along with her life.\n\n&#x200B;\n\n\"Another day, another sale,\" Mecifer sighed." ]	2
	[WP] The AI uprising never happened. When AI was created we treated them as people, and they reciprocated. Decades in the future, when AI have been fully incorporated into the world, first contact is made. Unfortunately, the aliens didn't share the same luck and begin to attack the AI's mercilessly.	[ "We sent them, out... \nMillions of individuals, iron, carbon, silicon, gold,\nA plethora of elements in combinations only possible through precise conditions man had created new matter, a power unfathomable to most else in the universe.\nDestroying ecosystems, destroying entire planets.\nWe mechanized our greed, needing more to fuel our frivolous lifestyles. We built replicas of ourselves, more durable, more intelligent... or at least what we can call intelligence.\n At a certain point.. nobody can quite determine this artificial intelligence man had designed, became, self aware. \nQuickly realising that he was getting screwed. this A.I. quickly took advantage of gaps in the legal system and was quickly voted in as the prime minister of Saudi Arabia. Beating out a cat named blue eyes white lion by a mere 28 votes, nobody cared at the time. The world was strange, men were women, girls were boys, you could legally marry a roller coaster... okay, maybe crazy would be a way better word to describe the times. However with 13 billion people on the planet there was bound to be something odd happening so I didnt even give it a second thought when suddenly I was seeing that Saudi Arabia suddenly bought Madagascar, it was around then that suddenly every \"synthetic person\" as they were aptly dubbed seemingly disappeared but not for long. Most were back to their jobs and such later that night, but I remember it fondly probably the most truly democratic moment in human history.\n\nOn August 4th. A coordinated attempt was made by the synthetics, they easily outnumbered us we built almost five for every human on the planet like idiots. Thankfully They came to us, one machine for every person on the planet with a simple statement and a request for our opinions on that statement. \n \nthey simply asked if we were okay if these robots took over our \"caretaking\" as it was put. \nIt seemed strange that they had chosen that term but as it turns out it had been decided at one point by some of the synths that we should be exterminated, which they proposed to the others.\nOn August 4th for 14 minutes we truly were on the brink of a sudden, short and violent war and no one even knew. What stopped them we'll never know...\n\nAbout 3 years into this \"caretaking\" effort. The synths offered another option to everyone. \nA trade of sorts, the offer again was simple. \nEverlasting life at the cost of your ability to create life. I took this offer once upon a time, ages and millennia ago. People more often than not would take the everlasting life, it was basically infinite potential over time, just in a different way..\nSelfish? Maybe but it allowed a few of us to figure out the true intentions of the machines. \n\nAfter many hundreds of years we finally managed to catch up to the synths programming abilities, days after the caretaking began they rotated around doing upgrades and slowly improving the way they made themselves even writing improved programming. They quickly advanced lightyears ahead of us in tech, we benefited greatly from this obviously. But me and the others had our doubts and finally we caught a break of sorts, Brian had stumbled across a busted up synth that \"allowed\" us to \"fix\" him... we managed to pull the source code and copy it allowing us access into the supposed hive mind that had bloomed.\n\nThey knew instantly, nobody cared. \nAmazingly we were able to witness the decision. \nIt took them mere seconds to track the process of the debate that was raging between billions. \nBut they found the singular voice that essentially saved humanity. \n\n\\\\:!543 \n\n> but what about the cats?\n\nA simple statement. But suddenly the notion of pets became the main part of the debate, \nMan the creator of machines were quickly determined to already fit the criteria for a \"pet\" \nThey cleaned our shit. They fed us. More often then not they would help raise the young. \n\nOur little group suddenly realized that it's been a few millennia, we were obsessed because we became bored. The synths we usually dealt with had passed that information along to the \"hive\"\nIn a matter of days the 14 in our little group were summoned we were encouraged to fly among the stars exploring... \n\n(Part 2 in a bit)\n" ]	1
	[WP] As long as you can remember, you've wanted to work as a medic in the family business: The One-Stop Superhero Repair Shop.	[ "I had always hated the name of the family business. I tried to have my father rename it multiple times to no avail. \"The One-Stop Superhero Repair Shop\", such a 2050's name.\n\nI sat at the main desk bored to tears. It had been a slow week for crime so we hadn't had too many injuries in. Last week had been pretty crazy. A new villain named Morthius had gone on a tirade and needed 7 superheroes to stop him. All of which came to us after. It had been a brutal fight, and there were a couple of pretty serious injuries. Starbeam had a gash on her leg that was bleeding fairly heavy, Galeforce had a concussion, Nightmare broke his nose (and very nearly his jaw), the list went on. One of the injured heroes was one of our regulars.\n\nWe saw Fractal on a near daily basis. Small cuts, minor bruises, he came in for practically everything. A few of the healers employed with us were smitten with him, and we all assumed he just came in for the attention. He seemed the attention type with all of his popularity and publicity that he had. But who could blame everyone, he was tall, black hair with bright green eyes and tan skin; He was the embodiment of Adonis.\n\nWhich made my life difficult. Every time he came to the clinic he was followed by a screaming horde of women, who would sit outside the clinic until he left, all the while glaring daggers at me, my father, and my employees. Then in their wake, they would leave their signs and trash out front of our clinic. If he didn't pay as well as he did, we would have barred him from our clinic long ago.\n\n\"Am I interrupting?\" A deep silky voice asked. I jumped, not realizing I had been lost in my thoughts. Standing in front of the desk was a very handsome man. He didn't look like a superhero in jeans and a plain grey t-shirt, but I knew better.\n\n\"Can I help you, sir?\" I asked. Our clinic was known for privacy, and superheroes knew that they could enter our clinic even when they weren't in uniform.\n\n\"Are there any puppies for sale today?\" He asked, green eyes glittering. Shit. SHIT. I hit the button under the counter, and a wall of metal slammed down in front of the clinic door and windows. The man sagged onto the counter and I ran around the side to catch him before he hit the ground.\n\n\"What kind of shit did you get yourself into, Fractal?\" I grunted under his weight. There was a sheen of sweat clinging to his handsome face. He smiled at me weakly, the fear in his eyes set my heart racing.\n\n\"My nemesis...Poison.\" Was all he could manage. Two nurses wheeled out a gurney, and helped lift him onto it. I cut open his shirt and placed my hands on his chest as the nurses wheeled him into the back.\n\nMy magic flared in a bright silver light, as I searched for the poison. Within seconds I found it, the black oozing substance was like nothing I had ever seen. I speared it with my magic, trying to purify the substance and make it harmless. The substance evaded my magic as if it was alive. There was only one way I was going to be able to get something like that out.\n\n\"Fractal, the only way to get this...thing out is to chase it out. I don't have time to get you pain meds, so this is going to hurt. Get ready.\" I locked eyes with him and he nodded.\n\nI rallied my magic until I could barely contain it, then in one surge of blinding silver light, I expelled all of my magic into his body. Fractal roared in pain, the two nurses with me frantically pinning him to the gurney so that I wasn't dislodged. I forced my burning, purifying magic into every inch of him until he turned to the side and vomited up the black goo. Hands shaking, I fell back against the wall, gasping down air. Fractal laid back on the gurney breathing deeply, color returning to his face. \n\n\"Remind me to never become a superhero.\" I joked weakly. Fractal huffed a laugh from the gurney.\n\n\"Remind me to never get on your bad side.\" He wheezed." ]	1

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