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 have the ability to pause time, but still age when time is paused and now your 5th grade teacher is getting suspicious.	[ "\"Dio, how old are you again?\" Mrs. Araki asked.\n\n\"Thir-eleven.\" Dio replied, as he packed up his big and started walking out the classroom. There was a bounce in his step, he had stopped time and copied Jonathon's test answers.\n\n\"You're quite tall for an eleven year old.\" Mrs. Araki noted, taking a long sip of her coffee.\n\n\"It's in my genes.\" Dio replied smugly.\n\n\"Both your parents are short.\" Mrs. Araki replied. Dio froze and a frown spread across his face but it soon disappeared.\n\n\"My grandad was massive. I hear sometimes genes only affect the second generation.\" Dio spouted with a cocky grin.\n\n\"And do I see facial hair starting to grow.\" Mrs. Araki said, peering at Dio's face. \n\n\"No they're freckles.\" Dio assured, pointing at the tiny blond hairs that nearly blended in with his face. He was sweating now.\n\n\"One more thing. You...\" Mrs. Araki added when she spilt her coffee all over her chest. It wasn't lukewarm like she expected but boiling hot. Dio had heated it up during frozen time before he adjusted her fingers so she would miss her mouth.\n\n\"I'll go tell the nurse.\" Dio shouted, running out the classroom hastily.\n" ]	1
	[WP] You find a way to analyse all the electronic data stored on a person, and this allows you to predict them. You're about to look up your first person.	[ "There was a time where we didn’t know what to do with all the information we had. There was so much of it, but it was stored all over the place: banks knew where and when you spent your money, supermarkets and online retailers knew what you bought, social networks saved whatever you shared and who your friends were, search engines knew what you were looking for, but nobody could put it all together. Even if they had done, it wouldn’t have made much difference: we just didn’t have the computing power to do anything useful with it. \nIt was only after the glass chip was invented that things started to change, but even that wouldn’t have been enough. We needed to find a way of collating all the data so that it was all accessible with a single system. People at the start of the century were still such luddites when it came to electronic data. They thought someone would try to steal their identity, or cheat them out of the few thousand quid they’d managed to stow away. They were paranoid, so we used that. Of course, terrorism helped. After the Moscow attacks there were cries for a strong response, but what were we to do? Terrorists could have been everywhere: the security guard at the shopping centre, the old man going to the opera, the salesman going door-to-door selling triple glazing, anyone could have been a sleeper agent, anyone could have been turned. In fact, the Brasilia bomb showed the world that people could even decide to become terrorists without any contact at all with established networks and groups, but simply because they felt ignored and downtrodden. There was only one way to know who might be planning an attack: data. \nSo we started bringing together any data we could get our hands on: messaging services, call histories, biometric information, medical records, tax declarations, emails, banking usage, purchase histories, social posts, upvotes and downvotes, friendship groups, CCTV images, GPS tracks… I don’t think even we were prepared for the sheer mass of data that we had by the start of the 50s. And it worked: we created models not unlike those that insurance companies used at the time. You put all your data in, and out comes a risk factor: 0.3% probability of a car accident in the next year. The problem with insurance models was their vast margin of error. We had more data, and our models were more powerful and accurate: we reduced the error rate until it was almost negligible. We could tell you that Zac Jones of 44 Blueburn Street, Totterdean had a 98% probability of committing a terrorist act in the next three months. Initially, this just informed investigations: we kept the suspects under surveillance and pounced when we had enough proof that they were going to do it. Actually, the programmers exceeded all expectations. In the first five years of the system not a single person was placed under surveillance who did not, eventually, end up on trial and convicted. \nUnfortunately the number of court cases brought by the Anti-Terrorism Electronic System meant the legal system started getting clogged up. Murderers and child molesters waited for years for a trial that never materialised as they were constantly bumped from the court by cases more pertinent to national security. We had to do more, so we passed the Electronic Trial Act. Of course it was dressed up for the public: we told them it would speed up the judicial process by replacing slow and corruptible judges with totally objective algorithms. In principle, it was easy. People with a probability over 70% were placed under surveillance as before, but the data gathered through this was fed back into the system and more often than not, that probability increased. Once it reached 95% the terrorist would be arrested. There was no longer any need for a trial: 95% chance was considered to be ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ (we held a referendum on that, remember?), so the terrorist could be automatically convicted, freeing up judges for their everyday tasks of dealing with land disputes and pick-pockets. \nBut why stop there? People demanded that the most heinous criminals get treated in the same way: murder, rape, serious assault, all were moved to electronic trials, and new algorithms developed to spot the future perpetrators. Policing was becoming not just about dealing with crime after the fact, but about predicting and preventing it. See the motto over the door there? Yep, ‘Predict and Protect’, that’s us. So why stop there? After all, our models were becoming more and more complex and accurate. We could now project years into the future, not just months, and we could predict all sorts of behaviours. Sure, initially we dealt with crimes, but then some programmer in the 60s decided to have a bit of fun on his lunch break and try to predict what his boyfriend was going to buy on his weekly grocery shop in the third week of the following month. He made the algorithm, and it worked: 99.7% accuracy. That was a moment of truth for all of us. For a while we had programmers making all sorts of calculations simply out of interest or for the hell of it: who would get tooth decay, who would wear pink socks to work, who would marry a former nun. It was Gavin who had the grand idea. He came up with the GAP – the Grand Algorithm for Prediction. Really, he just brought together the existing programs and fed them into an AI, and the AI did most of the work. No, don’t worry, I’m allowed to criticise Gavin; it’s not like he doesn’t know what I’m going to say anyway, right? \nThe GAP was simple: type a person, a timeframe and a behaviour, and it would give you the probability those three would coincide. OK, so it can’t tell you exactly which colour M&Ms you will pick out of a packet in a handful, but it could tell you whether you were going to drop the empty packet on the floor or put it in the bin. In fact, GAP2.0 could even tell you which bin you’d put it in – with a 97% probability. Now much of this was going on behind the scenes, top secret stuff and all that, but then the seventh debt crisis happened. \nGovernments all over the world started failing: they no longer had any money to pay their employees, so public services collapsed. Panic. Chaos. Cholera outbreaks because of uncollected rubbish, the transport system gradually falling into disrepair and making even short-distance trade difficult, famines, death. Corps had to step in. They were the only salvation. \nPSYCorp bought most of Europe for a pittance, considering the wealth of intellect on the continent. With ownership of the country, came ownership of every state’s programmes of data collection and crime reduction and prevention. PSYCorp quickly realised that they could target people much more effectively with products they would be certain to buy if they used that data, so they took us on and turned us into SAM: Security and Marketing. Oh, you didn’t know it stood for that, did you? Yes, not many remember it nowadays.\nYou are SAM. And you have at your disposal the most powerful GAP ever created. It’s three times more powerful than the TATACorp GAP in Asia and even better than the new CocaCorp GAP in the Americas. Welcome to GAP32. Here are the terminals, this is where you will be working. I know you will all look things up which aren’t strictly business. I know, because the GAP knows. That’s fine, everyone does it from time to time. The only thing is, what will you look up? Will grandma have a stroke next week? Will your brother return your vintage iPod collection? Will you ever get married? It’s up to you… or not. We already know.\n" ]	1
	[WP] In our world we dream up stories of Magic, in their world, they dream up stories of Technology.	[ "The dragon waited patiently for the young prince. The child loved his stories, and the beast was more than willing to tell them. The only thing a dragon loved more than shiny objects was praise and attention. Every day, the toddler brought him a gift and sat at the entrance of his cave, eagerly waiting for a new story. Today was no exception.\n\n\"I brought you a necklace, Dragon! It has two parts.\" he said, as he happily walked up to the cave with a gorgeous silver necklace attached to a shining red and yellow medallion. He laid it down like a great offering at the cave's opening.\n\nThe Dragon snatched it up, admiringly. \"Why thank you, Young Prince. Do I ever have a tale for you.\"\n\nThe boy's eyes widened in delight and he eagerly sat down on a rock. \"Tell me a story about an inventor,\" he said.\n\n\"But of course,\" said the dragon. \"Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a mighty inventor. His name was...\"\n\n\"John!\" said the boy.\n\n\"Why however did you know?\" asked the dragon, \"Don't tell me you've found a 'television set' to watch this already?\"\n\nThe boy giggled, imagining a world where he could have his very own television set.\n\n\"His name was John Walker. He was a pharmacist. As you know, a pharmacist is a bit like an alchemist, only they focused mainly on herbal things and helping people. This particular pharmacist was trying to find any way he could to clean his mixing stick.\"\n\n\"He had been hard at work mixing glass powder, sulfur, potassium chlorate, and a few other things. These had hardened into an unpleasant lump on the poor man's utensil as he stirred. His mixing stick was possibly the most important thing he owned. He couldn't very well leave it like that.\"\n\nThe boy nodded, thoughtfully. \"Bet it's as important as a wizard's staff,\" he whispered, knowingly.\n\n\"Very much so,\" said the dragon, \"And so what do you think he did?\"\n\n\"Did he try to wipe it off with a towel?\" asked the Prince.\n\n\"Yes, but it didn't come off with a towel,\" said the dragon.\n\n\"Did he try to rinse it with water?\" asked the Prince.\n\n\"Oh yes, he tried that as well,\" said the dragon, \"But it didn't work. He left it there for a while, to go think. When he came back, he did the most natural thing he could think of...\"\n\nThe boy leaned in, interested.\n\n\"He tried to scrape it off on the bowl, and it caught on fire,\" said the dragon, letting out a small puff of smoke, to accent the word. \n\nThe young prince let out a small gasp of delight and the dragon's eyes squinted with pleasure.\n\n\"He began selling his 'friction lights' with sandpaper, and they were all the rage. Soon variants were created by others. They were called 'Lucifers', 'fire sticks', and 'matches',\" said the dragon.\n\n\"Matches? What kind of name is that?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"Well, they were matching the sticks with something to cause friction,\" said the dragon, matter of factly.\n\n\"Of course,\" said the boy, \"That makes sense.\"\n\n\"People everywhere were able to make fire as easily as a dragon. Wherever they were, and for any purpose,\" said the dragon. Catching the look on the young prince's eye, he second thought his story and decided to add a bit.\n\n\"Children weren't allowed,\" he added, \"Much like nature saw fit to ensure our youngest dragons aren't capable of fires, so the human adults had to watch their children. Accidents could cause harm.\"\n\nThe boy made a face at the dragon. This part of the story wasn't as much fun as the rest. Why shouldn't boys be able to have matches of their very own? What kind of rip off of a story was this?\"\n\n\"Ah, I can see by the inquisitive look on my favorite young prince's face that you are doubting this wisdom. Never fear. I am not completely done with my story. Even some adults couldn't handle the power of the matches,\" said the dragon.\n\nHe snaked his head toward the boy and whispered, \"Today you brought me not just a necklace, but also a medallion. This calls for a celebration, perhaps a second story. Do you think you are ready for it? It's quite sad and it involves some bravery,\" said the Dragon, making a show of wondering whether or not the boy was old enough to hear it.\n\n\"Oh, I can handle it. I've heard some of the saddest stories in the land,\" the boy said, trying to look solemn. \n\n\"Very well,\" said the Dragon, \"Today you will learn about a man's foolish carelessness with fire, brave firefighters, and a young bear named 'Smokey'...\"" ]	1
	[WP] You've just realized that you're in a book, and, to your despair, it's a really GOOD one.	[ "Fran stared at the mirror, locking eyes with her reflection. She couldn't quite say why she found this activity so compelling, but such had been her morning; she had found herself enthralled with the strangest things ever since she had awoken beneath a column of dust motes glittering in the summer sun. Every object in her apartment rang with metaphor and dripped with simile, fitting effortlessly into the narrative of her life, as if the building blocks of her soul had been ripped free, given form, and then strewn about the half-neat studio of a near destitute graduate student. \n\nShe ran a finger down her cheek and frowned. Why had she done that? Tracing the track of a tear never shed? Anointing herself with imaginary warpaint to face the rigors of the day? Parsimony, Fran, is the essence of impactful prose. No action that does not serve the larger narrative, no word that does not advance the scene. Leave no excess when you trim.\n\n\"What?\" she said, baffled. Her inner monologue sounded like two songs playing simultaneously, one her own familiar rambling stream of consciousness, the other a horrific simulacrum of the literature classes she'd had to take for her Gen Ed requirements. She shut her eyes and gripped the edges of the sink, concentrating her whole being on muffling the narrator, but as she would soon discover, the author had no intent to let her win.\n\n\"What?\" \n\nFran took a slow step back from the sink, hand held wide, as if preparing for an attack from any direction. Her eyes darted around the bathroom, seeking the answer to a question she hadn't known she had, one ordinarily unasked and better left unconsidered.\n\n\"I do not think like that,\" she said, stamping her foot. She jumped in surprise and glared at the ceiling. \"And I don't stomp around like a two year old. Is this a psychotic break? I knew I shouldn't have taken that adderall to study last night.\"\n\nRegardless, she found herself wondering about the warp and weave of her life, which thread if tugged might unravel the tapestry so carefully laid down over so many years -\n\n\"No, no!\" Fran shouted. \"Stop. What is this, a TV show? Are you from the CIA? How are you doing that?\"\n\nHer brother had hung himself the day her father died in the car accident -\n\n\"I don't have a brother. I think I'd know. Come on.\"\n\nShe gripped the edge of the sink tightly, then pulled her hand away as if burned, then stared at her hand and wondered which of those actions had been hers, and then slapped it down to her side and screwed her lips into a pout that had been the bane of her mother and melted her father's heart -\n\n\"What is this?\" Fran shouted, cheeks flushing red. \"How are you making me think things? Do things? And seriously, the bane of my mother? That doesn't even make sense.\"\n\nFran had, in fact, failed her literature classes, not in small part due to her impatience with the slow burn and razor sharp prose necessary to build memorable characters.\n\n\"Oh, please,\" she said, rolling her eyes. \"I got an A like every other student with a pulse and the ability to regurgitate what the teacher wanted to hear. What're you, a writer?\"\n\nThe wind whispered past the open bathroom window, a hint of heat and a snatch of birdsong born on the gasp of an exasperated universe. Fran realized she was late - \n\n\"No I'm not. And there wasn't a window there two seconds ago. I'm in an apartment, remember?\"\n\nthat she was late and would probably fail everything she ever did because she couldn't appreciate the subtleties of the creative process any better than a block of wood could grasp the workings of the saws that had shaped it.\n\n\"Right,\" Fran guffawed, donkey-like and unattractively. \n\n\"That's not fair,\" she growled. \"Fine, you're great. Really great. Just the greatest. What are you going for? Salinger? You know those Glass family books are boring as shit, right?\"\n\nFine. It was Salinger. Was Fran happy now? No. She couldn't be happy. She was too busy ruining classic novels with her bitter cynicism and modern sensibilities.\n\n\"Wait,\" Fran said, eyes suddenly wide. \"Really? You mean I'm going to be in a boring plotless nonsense where I sit in a bathtub while my mom gossips about the family?\"\n\nPlotless is a bit strong, but, yes, if you have to put it that way. It's a classic short story, for chrissakes.\n\n\"Only because everyone got all boners for Catcher in the Rye,\" Fran sneered. \"Look, if you're going to hold me captive, at least throw in a car chase. Oo, and maybe a hot vampire and a werewolf to fight over me? I mean, if I'm going to be crying in the bathroom because my date is boring, I might as well have a cool love story to back it up. Don't you want this thing to sell?\"\n\nI want it to be good\n\n\"Well it sucks\"\n\nAnd then a meteor hit the earth and Fran died of smoke inhalation.\n\nThe end.\n\nHappy now? \n\nFuck." ]	1
	[WP] "You said you'd make it all better!" "Well, I didn't specify what "it" was, now did I?"	[ " It started with a genie, now the world is completely different. I probably should have thought before making wishes but I'm a complete idiot so there probably wasn't a hope for me. I was a normal guy, I didn't look good, I was kind of unhealthy, and I didn't really like my life. I didn't even have much money so when I eventually found a shop with really low prices I looked around, there were mostly antiques but there was other stuff too since the owner sold items for people. It was kind of like a pawn shop but it wasn't a pawn shop since he kept the items to sell and didn't give loans. \n\n It was there I found the lamp, it looked like a simple Aladdin replica and I wasn't too into Disney, aside from Marvel, but I bought it since it looked cool. When I took it home I decided to polish it a little and when I started using a rag to rub some dust off a genie came out. It was a woman and she had the outfit along with smoke at her feet, it didn't seem like a trick. I asked if I could wish for infinite wishes and she explained it to me.\n\n She said \"everyone asks that and no you can't, but you can wish for more wishes once with the number being no more than 3. We did this so people can get some 'practice wishes' to make sure we're real.\" \n\n I said \"alright I wish for 3 more wishes and the first... I wish that a plate of Gordon Ramsey's best cooked fish would appear on my kitchen counter.\" She nodded then I saw a plate appear with some kind of fish and there was sauce and other stuff to make it look good.\n\n Afterwards I ate the food and said \"ok, I'll spend the first 3 wishes on myself and the next 3 on the world to make it better. Can you make it so you don't erase the ones on myself unless I say so while not using a wish for that?\" She said that'd be fine and asked what my next wish was.\n\n I said \"I wish my body would become perfectly healthy and physically fit, what beautiful women would find attractive, attractive as in they'd think I look good.\" She snapped her fingers and I looked down to see my clothes were slightly baggy, when I looked under I had abs and had no health problems. Everything about me was prefect from my hair to my toes so I was happy. \n\n I looked at her and said \"this is awesome, ok my next wish is... I wish I had the same healing factor wolverine from X-men comics has, nothing else of his... well maybe the same claws but only have one in the center of my hand that actually fits in my arm but other than that nothing else.\" Then I pointed to my middle and ring finger knuckles and said \"it'd come out right there.\" She nodded and I felt my arms change from the inside. \n\n I wrote the next wish down to get the wording perfect and said I wasn't making a wish yet, she said when I said it she'd grant it. I said \"I wish that the earth was nicer, that there wouldn't be as many wars. Everyone would have a perfectly healthy body that they'd be happy with and think of themselves as attractive, I don't mean narcissism but they'd basically just be happy with what they see.\"\n\n She nodded and I realized I was at her level now... I said \"wait...\" and heard my voice was higher, when I looked down I saw my clothes had changed to a white beater, some black sweatpants with white strings, and underneath were black Calvin Klein briefs. My hair was straight, long and black then when I pulled at it I saw I had black nail polish on all my nails. I ran to a mirror and I saw I looked like one of The Veronica's, I looked like one of them in the \"when it all falls apart\" music video. \n\n I looked worried and ran to the genie and said \"what the hell is this!? Why am I... this!?\"\n\n She said \"you're a form you find attractive, everyone else is a form they'd find attractive too, I made it so they thought they were always like this though so there's no panic.\"\n\n I said \"well I wish you'd make this better then! Fix this!\"\n\n She said \"you want me to fix it? Ok, I'll make it all better\" then she nodded and I opened my eyes.\n\n I heard screams from... all around and asked \"what did you do?...\"\n\n She said \"I fixed 'it', everyone remembered who they were before I changed them.\"\n\n I yelled \"you said you'd fix this! That just makes things worse!\"\n\n She said \"I never specified 'it' and neither did you.\" Then she disappeared. \n\n I was breathing heavily and putting my hand on my chest didn't help, I ended up punching a wall multiple times until there was a hole and my knuckles were bloody with cuts everywhere. The wounds sealed themselves in front of me so I saw I still had the powers, making the claws come out still worked. When I checked the news people were freaking out so I just shut the tv off and sat on my couch with my arms around my knees and my feet on the couch.\n\n It's been two weeks and I've had to adjust but it isn't difficult, I do like what I see when I look in the mirror but... it's still weird. I started bleeding a few days ago but the healing factor makes it so light I don't even use products and I rarely see any blood when I change clothes. Everyone else is adjusting too, it's weird how many people look alike now since a lot were really attracted to celebrities. Overall everything's not good... but it's not really bad either." ]	1
	[WP] The world sings praise about how you, The White Titan, finally defeated The Mad Villain, Enigma. But all you really want to do, is to hug your son one more time and tell him how much you love him.	[ "Narrator:After defeating The Mad Villian, all in the land sang songs honoring The White Titan; all, except one, The White Titan himself, who sits in his modest house on the outskirts of town, an outsider in the world he saved. You see, after the story gets passed around a bit, it becomes overembelished and streched, so much so, that in this case, even though The Mad Villan was only defeated a few years ago, most do not even know that this young man of slightly above average build and intelligence who lives on the outskirts of town is the one and only White Titan. Most believe him to be a seven foot tall hyper-intelligent god-like behemoth of a man. Most are wrong. Few know the truth, and those few have come to pay The White Titan a visit.\n\nOpen scene to a man, of approximately 30 years of age, sitting in a small one room house sipping on a cup of liquor holding a picture of a young boy, a single tear upon his left cheek. The man hears a knock on his door and solemly puts away the picture to make his way to open the door.\n\nThe White Titan: I already told you, I don't want any.\n\nThe White Titan opens the door and is surprised but not enthused about who he finds on the other side: Suri, Furi, and Turi. The 3 quest-bringers who found him, a homeless slump, all those years back.\n\nThe White Titan: Oh... Its you guys.\n\nTuri: You haven't changed one bit, have you, Joe?\n\nThe White Knight: Why would I? What have you three got for me this time? Another task to help these insufferable people?\n\nSuri: No, Joe, this time, we have something for you." ]	1
	[WP]"Is there anyone here who isn't an alien infiltrator?". Only one guy put up his arm.	[ "\"Ok, let me try this again.\" The once measly 5 ft 5 tall UN representative was now over 10 feet tall and nearly tearing through his own skin, all the while throwing his hands up in the air with an annoyed tinge to his voice.\n\n\"Is there anyone here who isn't an alien infiltrator, BESIDES Dan?\"\n\nAt first there were a few shocked expressions at the nonchalant nature that Dan's knowledge of the situation was waived aisde, however closer friends to him among the group gave a mix of understanding and forgiving looks to the now nervous man, angry glares at the man who just called out their friend so harshly, and words of assurance to those who didn't know just how much Dan already knew of their existence.\n\nDan, the portly janitor known for being the only one allowed to clean the \"private offices\" of the pentagon, slowly and awkwardly put down his hand and awkwardly murmured \"S-sorry, I just thought that you were asking everyone if-\"\n\n\"No-no, it's fine Dan. You're a good guy, y'know. You've had some amazing work done at the barbecues, at least the ones I've visited. Plus, we've had some of the best moral support from you, even through the video meetings buddy. I'm not mad at YOU, I'm just... well I'm a little frustrated right now.\"\n\nThe representative was trying to quell the awkward air he created. Dan showed a meager half smile while he shook his head in acknowledgement while he sat down in a chair at the farthest chair in the back corner of the private meeting room, his mop bucket beside him while he was waiting for everyone to leave so he could clean up. The representative straightened his back as his skin slowly loosened to fit his larger frame. With the room dead silent, he decided to continue to elaborate as calmly as he could.\n\n\"So now, I'll ask once more. Is ANYONE in here not an alien, aside from Dan?\"\n\nThere wasn't a single hand raised as a few muffled coughs filled the room.\n\n\"Great, great. No really, greeeeaaat. This just means that we've all been wasting our time trying to get intel off of each other for nothing. uhg, well... WHILE WE'RE ALL HERE... can we try to pool our knowledge and actually figure out what the hell we're all going to do next. Maybe have some new introductions after that. I know I'm not necessarily in charge here, but quite frankly given the surprised and awkward glances, I think this cluster fuck has been mishandled enough as it is.\"\n\nThe sarcasm and snark in each sentence was unmistakable. Everyone knew exactly what he was feeling and wanted this to be resolved. Some of these \"people\" have been working their jobs for decades and many now look as though they're about to explode, fumes included with a few of them.\n\nAs everyone inside began to reveal their true species while sorting out this mess, Dan began slowly inching himself to his bucket, and felt around just under the strainer attached to it. A small click was made and Dan quickly got up and excused himself to go to the bathroom to his nearby neighbor, someone Dan once saw as a fine woman, who was now a 3 foot tall orc-like creature covered in slime, standing on its chair to get a better view of the aliens on stage, coordinating a new alien intelligence network to prevent future mishaps.\n\nOnce the door closed behind him, Dan gave a small sigh as large metal panels slammed behind him, and a sudden chorus of surprised gasps and screams were heard behind them. Once a small buzzing started, he began to frown.\n\nA tall man in a black suit and sunglasses stepped out from the shadows of the hallway and greeted Dan with a slightly perplexed expression.\n\n\"What's wrong? I know you've worked with some of them for a while, but were you that close with the lot of them?\"\n\nDan looked over at the figure, and with a melancholy chuckle said \"I did have quite a bit of fun. Besides the whole infiltration thing, I liked a lot of people in there. I will say it wasn't fun cleaning up the torn up skin suits in that rep's private office when he comes to visit. The stuff turns into confetti and it takes ages to vacuum it up.\"\n\nThe two of them relaxed a little as the tall man decided to continue chatting up the Janitor. \"Well we'll have our janitors clean that stuff up in there. We couldn't think of something that would smoke the lot of them out quickly, so everyone agreed the best option was to go for some nasty radiation therapy this time.\"\n\nDan gave a little wince before looking behind him at the metal sheet, rising as the white hazmat suited cleaning crew began marching down the hall, prepared for the mess that lay waiting for them. Dan felt a hand on his shoulder as the man decided to comfort him.\n\n\"Y'know, he wasn't wrong about you in there. You've made a lot of friends working at the pentagon, and we're hoping to have you working in some real private offices. If you don't want to join the folks in the room behind you and keep cleaning our little trap out.\n\nThere was a moment where the two's eyes met, before Dan started giving a hardy laugh while he was talking. \"I think I'll get over myself. I'm not the one who gets to deal with a few hundred office workers and a UN rep going missing. Why don't we walk to your office and I'll clean up the bullets you'll be sweating over the paperwork.\"\n\nThe Janitor and Suited agent began walking down the hall, laughing as they went, keeping oblivious to the white suits filing out of the area and a few people filing into the office. These fresh faces to the pentagon were prodding each other on various government intel as they prepared for a UN representative to meet with them on sensitive subject matters, all the while Devan the janitor introduced himself to the group. " ]	1
	[WP] Make a everyday thing sound as terrifying as possible.	[ "It sat in the corner of the room, an ominous rumbling emanating from deep within. It's single red eye pierced the darkness, not quite bright enough to see more than the silhouette of the crouching beast. It was frothing at the mouth. Not the white foam of a rabid dog in a cage but one that was crimson-tinged, a harsh reminder of the last fool to step within reach of its gaping maw. \n\nIt panted, mouth opening just wide enough to see a rack of pearly white teeth before snapping shut again. With every breath it exhaled a steam that reeked of a nauseating combination of rot and a chemically sterile smell, like that of a morgue. Occasionally, liquid the same color as the foam that spilled from beneath it would splash from the opening. I wandered too close and felt the liquid land on me, leaving a scorching trail as it burned its way down my arm. \n\nEvery passing second was accompanied by an ominous ticking. Where the noise came from, I could not say, nor could I answer what would happen when it stopped. After a lifetime of watching B-list action movies, I couldn't help but be reminded of the countdown tick that signaled an imminent explosion. But surely, surely this beast was incapable of that. I hoped. \n\nFinally, the ticking came to an end with a \"TING!\" As it did, the jaw of the beast dropped revealing a row upon row of crooked teeth. I only got a second's glimpse before more froth and foam spilled out onto the floor, rushing towards my feet. Steam billowed from its gaping maw, hot as the pits of hell. I rushed from the room in terror lest the beast take me as its next victim. \n\nThe next day, with the light of the sun flooding through my windows, I gathered the courage to return and face my nemesis. The foam had dried, red and stained on the linoleum floors. The beast sat silent and the light in its red eye had gone out. No longer did steam spill from the depths of those terrifying jaws. Sitting there, mouth agape, it appeared to be dead. \n\nAs I cautiously approached, it did not move or make a peep. I poked the bottom jaw and pulled on a row of teeth and the monster did not wake. I breathed a sign of relief. The life had gone out of it. \n\nI set about mopping the floors and returning my home to its former state. While I did, two thoughts ran through my mind. \n\nFirst, I need to fix the latch on the dishwasher. \n\nAnd second, I have got to start rinsing the pot used to make marinara sauce before putting it in. " ]	1
	[WP] You have always been able to tell when people are lying to you because their skin has a faint blue glow around it. One day you are watching the news with your mother when she comments how sad it is about the recent murder in your town. Suddenly her skin starts glowing...	[ "\"How sad about that kid.\" she said as she watched the news anchor report on a kid who was caught in the crossfire between two rival gangs across town.\n\nShe was glowing blue. She was lying.\n\nNow, you would think this would worry me, with my powers and all. People glow blue when they lie. Super useful right? Here's the thing; my powers are garbage. People lie all of the time. And I don't mean in the \"Sorry I'm late honey but I got stuck at work for the fourth time this week\" kind of lie either. Well, they do that too I'm sure, but that's not what I mean. I mean, they lie to themselves.\n\nPeople lie to me without even realizing they are lying to me. Just yesterday my Dad says, \"Hey, John. I'm running to the store so I can pick up a loaf of bread. We are almost out and I need to make lunch for work tomorrow.\" Which was true. My dad really did have to run to the store to get bread. We were almost out. I could still see his glow as he was pulling out of the driveway. The truth is we did need that bread, and that's why he told me, and himself, he was going to the store. Truth is, he was going to the store because he liked the cashier with the pretty smile that worked there. The bread was secondary. The bread wasn't why he was going. I knew that, and he knew that, but he lied to himself, and to me. \n\nBottom line is, people lie all of the time. About 80% of the time someone speaks to me they are glowing. So, like I said, my gift is garbage. Most of the time I have no idea why they are glowing. Who knows what lies people tell themselves, what half truths and false justifications they use for their own peace of mind. \n\nBut this time, with my mom, I knew. She was sad. And, the reality of it is, she would be sad about that kid, once she actually thought about him. But when she had first spoken; when she watched that story, she wasn't thinking about that kid at all. She was thinking about my brother.\n\n\n\n[This is my first time posting on the sub. I enjoy writing and want to start writing more so i can improve. All feedback is most welcome.]\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You are Something. You whisper in the ears of humans, warning them about the future. You are why people say "Something tells me so and so." One day, a little boy looks over his shoulder and says "Thanks for the advice."	[ "How can he see me? It doesn't make sense. \n\"Hello?\" I looked at him with a confused look.\n\"Hello thingy, thank you for your advice because you told me to buy ice cream the bad kid didn't see me\"\nHe said while licking his bubble gum flavored ice cream and looking at me with his shiny eyes. \"You're welcome?\" Im still confused how can this be? \n\"Hey kid, how can you see me?\" He licked his ice cream three more times then said \" my granddad told me a story about you. He said that if I ever hear a voice in my ear I should listen to it because it here to help me. He told me that I can be one too when I get older\". \n\"You're still in level 1? But you look like a ten year old by that age you shouldn't be visible to humans\"\n\"Granddad said I'm special. He said that when I see something like you I should join it and help it\" he started to eat the ice cream cone. This must be what thr dream ment. \" I think I saw you in my dream kid. You were the voice in my ear telling me to find you\"\nThe kid smiled the biggest smile I have ever seen, \"can I join you?\" It was my turn to smile.\n\"What will your mom think?\" \n\"I don't have a mommy. Granddad raised me until he passed away and left me the cabin by the lake\"\n\"Very well. Let's go then\" I started walking when I noticed the kid stayed put. \n\"But I want a candy\" \n\"But we need to go\" he started to tear up.\n\"Fine. One candy and then we go to the cabin\"\nThat smile again.", " \"You're welco-wait what?\"\n\n \"I said, thanks for the advice,\" the boy said, still looking at me.\n\n I'd been doing this for centuries. Some called me intuition, some called me a 'gut feeling', but humans had ALWAYS attributed my actions to something within themselves, or a guardian angel; no one ever thought there was a 'something' literally whispering in their ear... and why would they? Humans couldn't see me, or really hear me for that matter. Until today.\n\n \"Y-you can see me?\"\n\n \"Well, yeah. What are you anyway? Are you an angel? You don't really look like an angel.\"\n\n \"I'm a 'something'... Can I ask, what do I look like? To you, I mean?\"\n\n \"Um... well, you look like a shimmery mirror man. Like the bad guy from one of my dad's movies,\" the boy furled his brow, thinking, \"Prederter, I think it's called.\"\n\n \"Hm,\" Mirror man, huh? That's weird. To myself, I've always looked human. All except for my eyes. My eyes are pure white, almost glowing.\n\n Of course, I don't know why I thought this was strange. Normally I was invisible to all but myself, but now I was somewhere between invisible and visible; at least to this kid. There were other humans on the street, and none of them showed any interest in me at all.\n\n \"Hey mirror-man, I gotta go. My mommy will be worried if I'm gone too long.\"\n\n \"Huh? Oh,\" I looked down at the boy again, still at a loss about the whole situation, \"yeah, see ya later, kid.\"\n\n As the boy walked back toward the coffee shop he'd come out of, I retreated back into 'somewhere'. Floating in the foggy expanse that is my realm, my home I guess, I thought about that boy. He had SEEN me, he had HEARD me. I'd been alone for my entire existence, here in 'somewhere' and in the realm of the humans. Sure, I could influence them, plant ideas in their minds, but they had no idea I was there. Honestly, I didn't even know if there were others like me. I had always assumed I was the only one of my kind.\n\n I had never realized how lonely I was. Not until that boy saw me, spoke to me. Every day that goes by, I hope for a response from the humans I influence. Every day, I look for that boy, hoping for one more conversation, even just a few words. Every day, I wish I hadn't whispered to that boy to stay out of the street, out of the way of that delivery truck that would have hit him.\n\n I hate myself for that, but if I hadn't met that boy, I'd still be ignorant of what loneliness really is, and ignorance is bliss.", "Walking along the verdant neighborhood park, my footsteps echo in disquieting harmony. Yet for every step I take, no sound is made. \n\nIt has been this way for ages. I might call it a curse, but I don't care. Although caring and feelings are indeed my function. I have lost the sense of wonder ever since I peaked into the oblique future. Don't get it? I am your gut feeling — the sense of entitlement all so blessed to humans that allow you to rudimentary uphold clairvoyance, if I am to put it bluntly.\n\nOnce more, I continued to walk this radiant park. Eyeing my next recipient of a many-faced gift. Then, I saw a queer little boy sitting unattended on a bench. The wooden bench was facing a small pond which holstered a bountiful amount of unequivocal fishes and white swans. Oddly, the bench, which was lengthy by some means had the boy plastered in the deadly middle. The young boy, wearing a black sweater, arms flat on his laps, stared straight into the open. It seemed strangely habitual. \n\nBeing grim, I approach him from behind. I took off my top hat with my right hand wiping off any filth that had found it's way to it, and lowered my head just before his shoulders.\n\n\"Someone close to you, is about to die, you should be sad, and maybe cry about it later to your parents, but they won't believe you\" \nI said brutally and powerfully.\n\nGrinning at an interesting forecast, I put back the top hat on my head, readying to visit my next victim.\n\nJust as I was about to move away, a nonchalant soft voice was heard.\n\n\"Thanks for the advice\", said the gleaming boy looking over his shoulder, but not directly at me.\n\n\"Wh....what\", I said shockingly.\n\n\"I said, thanks for the advice, sir.\" in the same apathetic tone.\n\n\"Wow, you, you — can actually hear me.\" I said. \n\"Ha, ha-ha, ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha\" I laughed louder and louder. \"I have roamed far and wide, and a meager boy is the one that is evoked to hear what I have to say\"\n\n\"But I am afraid I have some advice for you too, sir.\" the boy said ominously\n\n\"And what could that possible be? Little chap. Oh, wait — nothing. What can a simpleton teach a king — nothing. I am the almighty and you are feeble. I can't wait to tell you who I am.\"\n\n\"Oh I think I know who you are, sir.\"\n\n\"You do? Nobody can understand me, other than me, myself! I, am both everything and an individual being! Everything is something and I am something. What can you possibly think you know, and understand, when I know everything \" I rhetoric\n\n\"I think you underestimate how close, si—\"\n\n\"What did you say, little chap?\" I said curtly and mockingly. \n\nI hated humans, and I have longed to have my chance to say what I wanted.\n\nThe little boy stopped and smiled.\n\n\"Sir you've made me repeat myself again.\" the boy said in startling sinister. \"I think you need to recall your own advice. Well, that's only my lowly advice.\"\n\n\"And why should I?\"\n\"We live in futility, while you live in interpreting it. Your existence is nothing to me while I am something. Everything in this world — Good or Bad, has been in part my undertaking. Every war, every murder, every burst of emotion or euphoria. \nIt's all me, little boy and if you think, that you comprehend my being, than I am afraid, you cannot begin to fathom the nature — the essence — the very world of who I am! \nI orate in eloquence. \nI implicate the choreography.\nI...I...I......I.. I........—\nI....c............can't—\n......................breath. \nW........what—\n........did—\n........ you—\n........t..to—\n..........me?\" \n\n\"Ah, if only you stopped and listen Sir. For you see, I was trying to warn you. You were right about something, Mr. Something. We do live in futility, but you chose to wrong person to rant to. Well, it's too bad. You don't have the Something for yourself.\" the little boy said grimly.\n\nI couldn't speak, I couldn't breath, I couldn't see. What is happening?\n\n\"Someone close to me is going to die, someone unexpectedly — \nClose\" said the boy malevolently\n\nIs this a curse? For my blasphemy and sacrilege. But this can't be, I am all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent.\n\n\"Well, it was nice meeting you, sir, even if it was short and brief moment. That was a very grandiloquent speech by the way.\nMay I never see you again.\nGoodbye— \nSir\" \nsaid Death brutally and powerfully.\n\n--\n\nA group of people suddenly rushed to a scene in a middle of a park. Concerned onlookers wondering what was proceeding. Nobody could see a young boy in a black sweater walking away. Nonetheless there was something floating on the pond that the fishes were swimming around — a black elegant top hat.\n\n", "I was shocked, did he actually speak to me? Can he truly see me? For the 500 years I've been doing this, no one has ever acknowledged my existence\n\n\"Why aren't you talking?\"\n\n\"Um, he-hello...?\"\n\nI was nervous, I wasn't sure what he wanted\n\n\"Why did you tell me not to go to that place over there?\"\n\n\"Because, um, there's a man who wants to hurt you\"\n\nMy 'heart' was racing, I was terrified at being noticed, that used to be all I wanted, but now that it's happening, it's horrifying, I never stumble on my words like this\n\n\"You should, um, go home, child\"\n\n\"Ok, bye Mr. Shadow\"\n\nI knew I resembled shadows, I can take the shape of anything I want, I do it to better hide, only in darkness can I be seen, so I flatten myself on walls and floors to hide, but this child saw me in daylight, I'm supposed to be invisible. Oh well, I saved him, now to go to the police and give them a 'gut instinct' on this man" ]	4
	[WP] The "Animal Kingdom" experiences an unexpected coup and is replaced by the "Democratic Republic of Animals"	[ "\"We have slain the masters!\" yelled the bonobo. He held a decapitated lion head in his mouth as he climbed a large rock, where he could attract a large audience. Reaching the top of the rock, he stretched his arm forward, displaying the lion's head to all in dramatic fashion.\n\n\"The feline master race is gone. Bonobos have brought you this new world,\" declared the emphatic primate, and threw the head onto the ground below. Rhinoceroses, hyenas, buffalos, and all other races of the Savannah gathered to see the ostensibly important event.\n\n\"We slaughtered them all in the night,\" the bonobo said, addressing them all. \"The Animal Kingdom is overthrown. Come, friends. No longer do we reside in the tyranny of the lion's food chain, but a new chain of harmony, made free and safe for all! Liberty and justice for all! A union of giraffe, gorilla, hyena, bushbaby, all working together to make a better world! A Democratic Republic of Animals!\"\n\nThe gathering was silent for a moment before anyone had completely processed the news, or gathered the courage to say something.\n\nThe wildebeest elder was the first to speak. \"This is... unexpected, I think I can say for all of us. The wildebeest, however, think that all of us here should consider bonobo's proposition carefully. Under the lion's reign, so much blood, usually of the young, old, and sickly, has been spilt. And we should ask ourselves, is that what we really want?\n\n\"It was clear to everyone that the lions ruled, and now they are gone. It is also true that you, leopard, and you, crocodile, and you, hyena, had preyed on us just the same. But bonobo gives us a chance for a new life. Under the lion's reign, so it was, but under the bonobo, perhaps it need not be.\"\n\nThe gazelle elder was quick to second wildebeest, and then the antelope elder, and then the giraffe elder, and various species of monkey, and a slew of others.\n\n\"And how, may I ask, will those of us who don't get by on grass and leaves, be eating then?\" asked the leopard king.\n\nThe other carnivores looked to bonobo for his response. \"I have thought at length about this,\" said bonobo. \"You, leopard, and the other carnivores don't have to sustain yourselves on meat. You can learn to eat seeds, fruit, nuts, and stems. Look at gorilla, he uses this diet and look at the size of him! There is more than enough nutrition between all...\"\n\n\"My fangs on your nuts! I'll have blood in my mouth!\" riposted the leopard king.\n\n\"Yes,\" said a monocle-wearing crocodile elder, \"The ol' chap here has a point. I'm afraid my long mouth and sharp teeth are suited for a purpose. I'm going to eat your children wildebeest, my boy.\"\n\n\"Gorilla, please tell them! Tell them it's not so bad!\" begged bonobo.\n\nBut the leopard king continued, \"A union of giraffe, gorilla, hyena, bushbaby!\" he said, mockingly. \"It's not that I have to eat your children, bonobo, it's that I want to!\"\n\n\"Gentlemen, gentlemen!\" intervened the aardvark elder. \"This discussion is leading nowhere! And for nothing! My people have already discovered the answer to all of our ails - a form of sustenance in plenty, enough for all! Why, just below the ground here lay millions of creatures called ants, with millions more being born every day!\"\n\n\"We know what ants are, you dense rodent!\" said the leopard king, rolling his eyes.\n\n\"You dare insult the aardvarks?!\"\n\n\"Look at your body size, ok?\" the leopard king tried to explain. \"Now look at mine. There aren't enough ants.\"\n\nThe gorilla elder reflected to himself. \"Hm. I do like me some bugs, though,\" he said. \"There are some of them that are just so fine and juicy.\"\n\n\"Oh. So I guess insects aren't apart of this grand new world, huh?\" said a small voice. Everyone searched around and finally noticed a centipede.\n\n\"No centipede... sorry,\" said bonobo, \"We just aren't there yet. I still like to eat some larva from time to time.\"\n\n\"OH! I SEE. THAT'S FINE. THAT'S ALRIGHT. I GUESS I'LL JUST GO AND JOIN THE OTHER ANIMAL REPUBLIC. NO WORRIES,\" said the centipede, and stormed away.\n\n\"Listen, we're all missing the point,\" said bonobo, moving on, \"we're missing the big picture here. We are now the masters of our fate. The rulers of the new world.\"\n\n\"No, we're not,\" said the leopard king, annoyed. \"Obviously that would be the humans.\"\n\n\"Well, c'mon, the humans don't count,\" said bonobo.\n\n\"Of course they do, they're animals. They won everything and we all know it.\"\n\nA brief silence of concession followed.\n\n\"But,\" said bonobo, \"how did they win? By working together, by cooperation. By respect for each other, laws, and guidelines for interaction.\"\n\n\"Nope, they won by enslaving other races to do their work for them, and used them to eat whenever they wanted,\" said the leopard king, \"as a matter of fact, doesn't sound like such a bad idea!\"\n\n“Leopard, c’mon. Don’t be so pessimistic,\" said bonobo. \"Surely there are other ways in which the humans have excelled. Their imagination, for example, has allowed them to envision a better future, to work towards it, and make it a reality!”\n\n“I’m afraid it was all slavery and repression,” said the crocodile elder, “my species has been around for a very long time. I have seen much and I concur with leopard.”\n\n“There you go,” said the leopard king, “nothing has changed. Thanks for getting rid of the lions, though. I’m gonna go find some wildebeest children.”\n\n“NAAAY!” yelled the wildebeest elder.\n\n“Wait! Leopard!” said bonobo, “You’re right. Don’t worry. You’ll still get to eat meat, just wait! I’ll talk with wildebeest, gazelle, and the others, and we’ll work out an arrangement. Alright, everyone, meet me behind the rock!”\n\nBonobo climbed down from the rock and met the other herbivores there.\n\n“Alright,” said bonobo in a hushed tone, “so we’re gonna have to kill the leopards.”\n\n", "\"It was not a good system,\" said the Prairie Dog, fat and wobbly like a broken top, slunk deep and low into his recliner. \"It was not a just system. The Lion? Who was he? Simply a beast born with bigger, sharper jaws. A lazy one at that. You know the lionesses do most of the work, right? The hunting. The rearing. The lion does hardly anything. Hardly anything. And this would be your king?\"\n\nThe Gansu Mole bowed his soft, brown head. \"Sounds a fright.\"\n\n\"You've no idea. Wolves. Polar bears. All manner of snakes and hawks. Some of them, yes, some of them have a thought or two to spare, but what's that really? Not enough to make a kingdom. Certainly not.\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" the Gansu Mole.\n\n\"After the uprising, though...\" The Prairie Dog rubbed his tiny, twitchy paws across his rolly belly. \"Now we are a genuine workers' state, you see? All the animals great and small have been liberated from exploitation and oppression. From the smallest worker ant, to the pheasants of the air, to the soldier and intellectual alike - we are all now true masters of our destiny.\"\n\n\"Wondrous,\" said the Gansu Mole. \"So what has become of the Lion? And the Wolf? And the great Polar Bear?\"\n\n\"Banished!\" squealed the Prairie Dog. \"Cast low. Never to influence the course of our lives.\"\n\n\"The Antelope must be pleased.\"\n\n\"Very!\"\n\n\"And the Wildebeest?\"\n\n\"Over the moon!\"\n\n\"They do seem to be plentiful,\" said the Gansu Mole. \"The grass less so.\"\n\nThe Prairie Dog blinked. \"Who should care about the grass? It is not a member of the Democratic Republic of Animals.\"\n\n\"Have you seen the African Savanna Hare recently?\" asked the Gansu Mole.\n\n\"Who? No. I couldn't say,\" sniffed the Prairie Dog dismissively.\n\n\"Nor have I. I wondered if the pillaging of the grasslands may have played some part...\"\n\n\"There is food enough for all!\" squealed the Prairie Dog. \"More than enough. Any suggestion otherwise is a lie and an attack against this great regime.\"\n\n\"Very well, very well,\" said the Gansu Mole, prostrating himself before the Prairie Dog. \"But what is next? Where do we go now, as enlightened and liberated animals?\"\n\n\"There will always be enemies,\" said the Prairie Dog. \"We must display our might. Our superiority.\"\n\n\"What enemies? The Lion is banished. Your dear enemy the Coyote...\"\n\nThe Prairie Dog shivered.\n\n\"...disappeared these many months past. Who remains?\"\n\n\"Man,\" said the Prairie Dog. \"Man remains.\"\n\nThe Gansu Mole swallowed. \"Man? Surely you do not suggest that...\"\n\n\"You see with your own eyes, do you not Gansu Mole? Is there any power greater than that of the Democratic Republic of Animals? Any state more grand?\"\n\n\"Certainly not,\" said the Gansu Mole, though he made sure to look down as he said this. \"But...direct conflict with man has...not gone well for us in the past.\"\n\n\"We were a mere Animal Kingdom then. Now we are united. We have justice on our side.\"\n\n\"But we have no weapons...\" said the Gansu Mole. The Prairie Dog yipped, delighted.\n\n\"Do we not? You forget how wide the arms of the DRA have spread. We have allies everywhere.\"\n\nThe Gansu Mole nodded. \"Right.\"\n\n\"Including the sea.\"\n\n\"Okay.\"\n\n\"All of it.\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Including the Pacific Ocean.\"\n\n\"Of course.\"\n\n\"And the Sea of Japan...\"\n\nThe Gansu Mole stopped nodding. \"Oh.\"\n\n\"You see?\" said the Prairie Dog. \"We have plenty of weapons. They literally fall into our hands.\"\n\n\"The missiles?\"\n\n\"The missiles.\"\n\n\"The North Korean missiles?\"\n\n\"Exactly.\"\n\n\"The ones that keep falling into the ocean?\"\n\n\"You see it now, don't you? Our armory grows on a daily basis.\"\n\n\"We will defeat all of man using North Korean missiles that have fallen into the ocean?\"\n\n\"Our power cannot be denied,\" said the Prairie Dog, beaming with pride. \n\n\"Yes,\" said the Gansu Mole slowly. \"I suppose it cannot...\" " ]	2
	[WP] You acquire a genie, it grants endless wishes but with gaps of 1 year to recharge; What happens in the intervening years?	[ " I'm pretty lucky, I changed the world for the better and have a list of wishes that I thought of every possible backfire for. The first wish I did kind of mess up but only in a way that effected me in a not so bad way, at first I was freaking out but I learned to be ok with it. I found a genie about a month ago, it was in a small vase outside the woods. I wasn't super happy and had health problems, I didn't look good either but I didn't want to be with anybody anyway. \n\n When the genie appeared I was in the woods after walking a bit and it asked what my wish was, I asked if I could describe what I want before it grants it and it said that'd be fine. \n\n I said \"I wish all humans would become 'lord of the rings' style elves with that style of immortality. Basically it'd be like we were always elves but they'd still go by being called humans I guess... everyone would have perfect metabolisms and be perfectly healthy, my form would definitely look good to me too.\" So the genie nodded and said they'd be back in a year, I'd have infinite wishes but they needed to recharge for a year. \n\n After that they disappeared and I was somehow shorter, when I looked down my shirt changed from red flannel to pink flannel, my t-shirt had changed sizes and went from a yellow Batman logo to a pink one, my jeans were smaller and I had converse with pink laces on... my chest was also sticking out a little. \n\n I was confused and scared so I looked at my phone and my face looked like Emma Watson's but when I moved my now long hair my ears were pointed. I thought \"shit... I just said my form would look good to me, I didn't specify anything... at least the rest of the wish went well and I have a lifetime of wishes.\" Then I walked to my apartment. The people I lived with weren't there, they seemed to live across town while I lived in the apartment alone. I had to work as a waitress at a nice restaurant in the city, I had a classic muscle car now... I guess the genie did me a favor there. \n\n After a week of looking things up I saw that the change in DNA actually happened in the 90's so everyone just started to gain immortality somehow... that's not what I meant when I said the wish but I thought \"whatever\". Humans lived alongside... they weren't officially called elves since they were technically humans but elf was a term used for anyone born after the people started being born with pointed ears. I guess it was alright though, if things got bad I could just change them in a year.\n\n I spent the rest of the month getting used to things, elves required less upkeep to their bodies to maintain beauty but I still had to deal with bleeding and shaving along with being looked down on by people born before the 90's. Jealousy kind of bred hate in some of the people who were born too early, most people were ok but there were people who hated elves. People with long hair covering their ears were just as hated by some of these people so I tied my hair back when doing my job. I thought if they were gonna hate me then they'd see who I really was. \n\n I'm relaxing at home now, I did find out elves heal slightly faster so I have a lighter time of the month... so far nothing's too bad, some guy at the restaurant called me \"knife ears\" which is a slur apparently. I didn't care much though, I made some good tips that day anyway. I don't know if I'll keep things the same or become a superhero or something but I made a list of wishes for when the genie comes back, that way I'm prepared and can get whatever I want." ]	1
	[WP] Everyone keeps telling you not to trust your advisor. He even looks and acts stereotypically evil. But he isn't, at all.	[ "Everyone hated Nefari. I knew it, he knew it, the whole damn world knew it. That didn't change a damned thing. He was the best advisor I ever had. Sure he has his little thing with the snakes, and the creepy goatee he keeps twiddling, but he's the only one I know who has any god-damned balls. \n\nHe was the one who told me not to trust Araj. And what did you know, when I sent my secret police around, they found his poisons. When he told me to invade Kirak I thought him mad, but it was the most successful territorial expansion ever- turns out they hated their despotic sultan and were more than happy to throw down their arms for me.\n\nThey always bring up his dungeon... and they promptly get taken to mine for the accusation. I know what he does in there, and what happens between consenting adults is none of my business. Even if there are snakes involved...\n\nHe might look the part. But Nafari is the only person in this court that I can trust." ]	1
	[WP] After a rough day at work, you lose it and punch your bathroom mirror. To your surprise, it goes into the mirror without breaking it. You climb through, and enter the Mirrorverse.	[ "On the other side of the mirror was a room nearly identical to the one I had just left. My anger at this point had subsided and been replaced by curiosity.\n\nI opened the cupboard and checked the other side. I could not see myself on the other side, but the cupboard opened nontheless. I looked above the mirror and saw that the room was complate, not just some one-sided illusion.\n\nI threw something in the air and it also flew around on the other side for a second test. Than I checked whether I could go back by sticking my hand through the mirror again. It worked.\n\nNext thing I tested was the door, it opened, and I found myself in an endless white hallway of doors with different markings on them. Next to this door was a box with a screen on it and a speaker aswell as a micro.\n\n\"Do you want to deactivate the current mirror?\" It asked in a pleasant voice. \n\n\"Bookmark it.\" I said, seeing the number of doors that were here, it would be better to save my way back.\n\n\"It already is.\" The computer replied.\n\nI now saw a table hovering upwards next to the computer with a chair right next to it, the screen turned towards it and flashed on.\n\n\"What the fuck?\" I said. There was a keyboard and a mouse on the table, and the screen responded to it. I was in a file that was named 'Grafschaft' and contained all the town and village names of the area, the file grafschaft was part of the bigger file 'lower saxony', which in turn was part of 'germany' which was part of 'europe' which in turn was part of 'earth'.\n\n\"Holy shit.\" I said. Than I looked at the bookmarks, there were only ten, so I thought I would find it again.\n\nI clicked on one of the bookmarks. Suddenly the chair moved along with the screen as I was immediately sitting in a carchair with the savety belt on. The doors flew by me by the hundreds.\nI stopped after about a minute next to a dark wooden door, the seatbelt loosened and I walled up to it.\n\nThe door was heavy, and behind it I found a room filled with tables, food and clothes were flying around everywhere , while the people were absent. There was a mirror on the other side of the restaurant, which I now noticed was the working place of my summer jobs. Through the mirror I could see the people eating on the other side while their shadows ate here on my side. \n\nDude, wake up from your high. I told myself. None of this is real, you are making this up. You are probably still sitting at Arthurs place and had too much from yesterday. I hit my head, it felt like expected, but everything around me was still as it was before. \n\nI sat back down on the chair and clicked on the next bookmark. As much as this did bump me out, I was still too curious to not explore further. The next door was light and had the colour of oak wood.\n\nBehind it I found a familiar bathroom, thogh I didn't know where it was. the tub was full and splashing. Through the mirror on the other side I could see a women, about my age, bathing and looking aroud confused. My head turned warm and I turned around to go as a rubber duck hit the back of my head. \n\n\"Come out of there!\" The women demanded with a voice I knew from somewhere. Looking straight into the mirror, though not at me. \"I said come out, or do I have to kick your ass first.\" I was sure that this was a former coworker of mine from the summer job, she had never talked much.\n\n\"I am coming.\" I said and her head turned red. \n\n\"Could you now first close the door?\" She asked of me in a squiky voice as she drew the curtain of the bath tub closer so I would only be able to see her face.\n\n\"Of course.\" I said, my heart was pumping blood like never before.\n\n\"So, how did you get in there?\" She asked, having somewhat regained her confidence.\n\n\"I was angry, punched my bathroom mirror, and my fist flew through it.\" I said. \"What is that place?\"\n\n\"Oh, it is just a parallel universe.\" She replied. \"I created it with the help of mirrors to travel quickly and unnoticed.\" \n\n\"You created a parallel universe?\" I asked. \n\n\"Yes, no big deal. But you seem to have a lot of questions.\" She said. \"The house should be empty, could you please go into the room straight across the hallway from here and wait there for me? I got to finish here.\"\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] Pulse, blood pressure, temperature...no matter what measure you use, medically speaking, you should be dead or dying. You feel great, though. What makes this possible, however, will be life-changing.	[ " My life is so different now... the problem is I don't know what to do. I'm on my way to a family owned morgue to try to get a job... I'm risking everything on the fact they won't call someone or talk about what I am. If that doesn't work I'll have to find other methods to keep my health... I'll probably have to move to a new city too. I used to be normal, a normal guy that didn't like life... I didn't look good or feel good most of the time. \n\n It all started when I was walking downtown, my city wasn't too big but I did like walking around it at night sometimes. It was one of those nights when I was cornered in an alley by a guy with a knife. When I told him I wasn't giving him shit he stabbed me, but before he could grab my things in my pockets a woman scared him off using some kind of fireworks or something. I was bleeding when she came over, she said she could help me and all I had to do was word it right. I was confused but asked not to be dead and to have my body be better. She put her hand on my neck and I passed out, I didn't know why she did that at first.\n\n When I woke up I was on my couch where I normally slept, I thought it was a dream but I felt odd. I was paler and when I got to the mirror I saw my hair was actually fuller with white roots, I wasn't bald but I probably was gonna be... now it looked much thicker. I was also skinnier, I wasn't the biggest person but I had a bit of a stomach. Now I was actually looking pretty fit, that was pretty cool till I realized I was cold and also slightly shorter... like I lost an inch of height, it wasn't much but it was noticeable. \n\n That week I tested out things, I was slowly getting shorter and thinner while my hair kept growing. I kept cutting it but it'd come back to the same length when I'd go to sleep. It was the end of the week when I realized things were getting smaller but not my chest... then the last night of that week I had a dream I was swimming in a heated pool. When I woke up I felt really odd, the shirt I had on was baggy and underneath... my body wasn't my body. My hair was fully white and reached past my shoulders and everything was so small. \n\n I ran to my mirror and saw I was definitely a short woman who was mostly dead... but I looked alright and was moving. After a second of staring I realized I looked like Liv, my eyes went wide when I realized why I felt hungry. I walked into the kitchen fast and tried some crab meat in the fridge, I couldn't taste it. The only thing I could taste was the Frank's red hot I chugged. When I set the bottle down I looked at the knife rack I had, I thought \"one more test\". After picking a knife I grabbed it and stabbed through my hand, it barely hurt. \n\n When I pulled the knife out it made my [eyes turn red](https://66.media.tumblr.com/703276a9d166e9a0a268890e8b3d0ecf/tumblr_npdyhnjmHh1rd3mfdo2_400.gif) and I still felt just as confused. I heard the people I lived with getting up so I grabbed my phone, charger, wallet, and pocket knife then ran, I didn't want to leave everything but I had to. Eventually I reached the city I lived by and was walking around in a baggy grey shirt and my boxers, I needed clothes. My credit card was useless so I withdrew everything I could and bought some clothes and put them on in the store. I got a black t-shirt, a red hoodie, jeans, and converse... and of course the stuff that went under it all. \n\n I got weird looks cause of my complexion.. or they knew who I was, either way I didn't like it so I kept my hood up. My life was spent on the streets for the next few days, I felt myself slipping away until a guy tried to mug me. He ended up stabbing me but I just went full zombie and slammed his head into a wall until his brains showed. He was a skinny druggy type so his leather jacket fit me, I liked the style so I grabbed his wallet and took all the money too. While I was buying some spicy food at a store I noticed I was staring at the open cash register a little too much. \n\n The whole week I was more easy to piss off and would pick people's pockets... I wasn't proud when I realized it but I couldn't control it. I needed a different brain so when a person who works for the city morgue recognized me I asked for a favor. He got me the brain of a girl who was texting and driving... it wasn't pretty and there wasn't much brain left after the accident but it was better than the criminal brain. After I had the texting girl brain I ended up making accounts on Snapchat and Instagram and took a lot of pictures of myself... I said I was a Liv Moore look-alike.\n\n I'm going to the morgue now to get a job, checking on websites while walking. I was almost hit by a car but just told the guy \"whatever\" and walked away, I'm sorta clear at the moment so I'm trying not to focus on the brain. I don't think I'll ever get used to this and my worlds changed so much... hopefully the person at the morgue watches Izombie. " ]	1
	[WP] In a world where everyone has superpowers- yours is unique. You are Normal-Man, and you help superheroes solve problems superpowers can't fix.	[ " \"So I…” The muscle bound Diamond Warrior leafs through his notes, trailing. If there was one power the invincible brawler lacked, it was organization.\n\n \"Enable the User Auto Sync in Options.” I complete, trying my best to hold back the exasperation building deep inside. “It’s a checkbox at the bottom of the screen.”\n\nDiamond Warrior seizes his tiny Xaos 9 smartphone to follow basic instructions. His fingers press down hard enough on the screen that it may just crack. “It says I need to install an update to proceed.”\n\nI glance over at the phone, nearly climbing a bicep to get a proper view. A tinge of pain shoots through my temple. “You don’t need to go on the Storefront for this.”\n\n \"Oh. Yeah, no, I know that. Should I get the update though?”\n\n \"…Sure.”\n\n \"What if Doctor Electron uses it to take over my phone?”\n\nI pinch the bridge of my nose. The sigh slips out before I can stop it. Diamond Warrior stares at me with growing impatience. “Doctor Electron does not deal in ransomware.”\n\n \"What’s that?”\n\n \"A program that locks your phone until the programmer deigns to release it.” The worried look on his face forces me to continue. “But. AntiVira could probably talk to the phone and unlock it in that case.”\n\nHe gives me a dubious peer, and then eyes the small message on his black phone before finally clicking the prompt away. “Seems too dangerous, in my opinion. These things are devious.”\n\nThough phones are by design unable to project malice — unless The Re:Animator is around — I force a smile. “If you click out of the Storefront now, Options will be on the front page. It’s the cog icon.”\n\n \"I’m not a child.” He says, sullenly following my instructions with careful presses against the glass. Like an elephant folding origami. “So I press the little bendy arrows?”\n\n \"Check the box at the bottom. Otherwise you'll have to do this every time.” I can see him mentally freezing at the idea, and he masterfully scrolls to the bottom and enables Auto Sync for his Z-Mail account. “Then just close out of it and you're done. It should ping whenever you get a team update.”\n\nRelieved, Diamond Warrior locks his device and returns it to the leather casing attached to his belt. “Prose has really been on my back about this whole replying stuff. Maybe we could look at some stuff later? I need to send a mission report.”\n\n \"I’ll be right here, Warrior.” I try to hide the resignation as best I can. Still, there is a modicum of satisfaction in seeing the big brute pleased. He’s just about to leave the couch when the door swings open with an ominous creak, giving way to the shapely silhouette of Fatale, dressed in finery good enough for a ballroom. As always.\n\n \"Normal-Man, I am so relieved to see you,” she says, and though I know what will inevitably come next, my heart skips a beat for the swaying superheroine. “Whytelight sent me a picture, but it won’t show.”\n\nA hero’s duty never ends.\n\nEdit: some quotation marks vanished. Fix'd.\n" ]	1
	[WP] You're in your ship inside a space station. The lights flicker and a giant unidentified radar signature appears. Shortly after a very large spaceship crashes on the station, destroying most of it, and you are one of the few that survived.	[ "I sat in the plush armchair of my spacecraft, nodding my head to the beat of a song. If I listened closely, I could also hear the soft hissing of the ship’s fuel and oxygen tank being refilled\n \n‘Beep. Beep. Beep’, the radar murmured. Sirenical lights illuminated the cockpit in a hue of red.\n \n‘What is it?’, I glanced at the interface: a flashing red dot was closing in on my location. UNK, it read. Judging by the size of the dot, it must be massive; at least 2 cubic kilometres large. Immediately, flicking a switch, I shut the airlock. Then, I pressed a button, undocking the craft from the space station. My head smacked against the wall as the station, ricocheting off of the unknown spaceship, sent my craft flying off into the void. My spacesuit’s helmet closed.\n \nI woke to the crescendoing beeping of my spacecraft. Groggily, I got up, surveying the wreckage from the interactive screen on the ship’s control pad. The antenna had broken off. But more surprisingly, at the top left corner of the screen, were the empty oxygen and fuel tanks. ‘I must’ve forgot to shut the pipes; all my oxygen and fuel must’ve leaked out into space’.\n" ]	1
	[WP] Everyone is born with a Narrator. These differ between people, from Nature Documentarists, WWE Announcers, etc. They dictate what kind of person they'll be This is your life, narrated by Morgan Freeman.	[ "##^^DA: ^^Here, ^^on ^^this ^^thriving ^^planet, ^^filled ^^with ^^hope ^^and ^^happiness, ^^we ^^as ^^narrators ^^of ^^this ^^world, ^^must ^^keep ^^the ^^peace. ^^For ^^if ^^we ^^were ^^to ^^ever ^^disappear, ^^the ^^world ^^would ^^become ^^a ^^blank ^^space. ^^A ^^canvas, ^^that ^^can ^^only ^^end ^^up ^^bloodied ^^and ^^stained. \n###^MF: ^Now, ^now, ^I ^wouldn’t ^say ^that’s ^necessarily ^the ^case. ^Mmm, ^see ^looky ^here ^now, ^we ^as ^narrators ^may ^be ^able ^to ^maintain ^the ^peace ^within ^nature, ^but ^when ^we ^turn ^our ^heads ^and ^look ^at ^the ^human ^world, ^we ^are ^not ^stopping ^any ^of ^the ^violence ^among ^these ^men. ^If ^we ^have ^the ^power ^to ^stop ^this ^violence, ^then ^why ^do ^we ^let ^it ^continue?\n\n\n\n##^^DA: ^^The ^^answer ^^is ^^simple. ^^Humans ^^are ^^animals ^^– ^^creatures. ^^In ^^this ^^vast ^^expanse ^^of ^^Universe, ^^if ^^an ^^outsider ^^were ^^to ^^look ^^upon ^^the ^^human ^^civilisation, ^^although ^^we ^^are ^^technologically ^^and ^^emotionally ^^advanced, ^^we ^^are ^^still ^^one ^^and ^^the ^^same ^^with ^^the ^^violent ^^and ^^bloody ^^world ^^around. ^^We ^^cannot ^^stop ^^an ^^animal’s ^^nature, ^^Morgan.\n\n###^MF: ^I ^see ^how ^it ^has ^to ^be. ^Mm.\n\n[I also narrated this. Sorry for the poor writing, narrating is my forte!](https://soundcloud.com/user-437193030/morgan-and-david-by-me)\n" ]	1
	[WP] It's the 21th century, full World War 3, but gunpowder, explosives and nukes can't be used or were never invented at all in this universe.	[ "\"We convene! We convene!\" The announcer behind the microphone shouted to the murmuring crowds. \"We convene!\"\n\nThe crowd hushed. Harold turned to his grandson and whispered to him. \"I remember the first World War. It wasn't at this scale, most people thought it would be over by teatime, but it went on for weeks!\" Harold looked down. \"Remember this Billy, this might be a historic day.\"\n\nThe announcer looked down at his notes. \"Representing the Retro-Allegiance Bloc for tonight we have Geralt Humbold the Third.\" Half the crowd cheered as Geralt hobbled out the door, the other side booing. Harold, joining in with the booing indicated his grandson to do the same.\n\n\"And to contend with him, we have, representing the Progressive Protective Agreement Signers, Doctor Ian Shacke.\" Harold lept up and cheered loudly, along with his half of the theatre. He couldn't even hear the sound of booing and jeering from the other side.\n\n\"Now now, settle down!\" Ian walked out in a stride. He was nervous and looking up at the thousands of people around him.\n\nMoving up to the table, he sat down and looked at his oppenent. He was an aged fellow, which was worrying, but he clearly had some difficulty breathing, which might work to Ian's advantage. He was well dressed, better then Ian was, and had more medals then him, including some that Ian recognised.\n\nThis was going to be a long one.\n\n\"The rules are simple. You must debate, for six hours, no breaks. Timings will be kept. And of course, the victory is simple.\"\n\nTwo women came out and placed down the glasses of water, one in front of Ian and the other in front of Geralt.\n\n\"If the water is finished, then that representative loses!\"\n\nThere was a lot of pressure on Ian, and he was sweating. He knew he needed to remain calm to reduce that.\n\nHe also knew the historic pressure that was behind him. His bloc had been formed when the Central People of Mukai beat the Honoured Representatives from Bo in a debate, triggering defence pacts and agreements that formed the Progressive Protective Agreement Signers.\n\nHe was the most recent representative. Yesterdays almost lost, but due to tactics such as have a mustache to absorb water, they were able to hold out. Now it was his turn. And he had to win.\n\n\"Now, the contenders met beforehand and discussed some additional rules. They agreed that subjects such as: the Great Betrayal of Stanley Stan and other films of that sort will not be discussed, as well as the current financial stability of Yanyan. Also sport.\n\n\"Will the contenders now shake hands.\"\n\nIan stretched out his hand and grasped the old man's hand. He jumped. Low pulse rate. The rats! This would be their tactic! The old man smiled and let out a raspy chuckle, followed by an even raspier cough. He reached for the glass and for a second Ian thought this would be a quick one maybe. But just as he was about to grasp the glass, the old man stopped and returned his hand to his side.\n\n\"Right, we begin with the topic bowl. Our starting topic is...\" He reached his hand into the bowl and pulled out some paper. \"The Mysterious Circumstances Behind the Shooting of Johnny Harrelson in 1943 and 1987.\"\n\nThe debate went under way. It was furious in speed. Obviously, with that given topic, the dispute began between whether it was the ice cream sundae that was poisoned or whether it was the vodka tonic with a twist of melon. From there, the discussion turned to, of course, the escape of the assassin Delilah.\n\nThroughout the discussions, both contendors sipped the water. By the time the clock hit hour 5, both debators were down to a tiny amount of water.\n\nGeralt looked up, worried. He needed to cough. But, as he knew, that would be the move that would tip him over the edge. He held out because of one thing. Looking over, his oppenent was sweating still. Slow and sustained water release.\n\nIan was nervous. His lips were dry. So was his mouth. He much longer would he have. He could see the trembling lips of his oppenent. He was on the edge.\n\nIt was coming down to the final minutes. They were both desperate for the drink, but they also both knew that they wouldn't want to be the first one to break.\n\nAs the clock ticked for the last minute, Ian thought of something. Finally, it was his turn to start the topic and he knew where to begin.\n\n\"I'd like to debate the Fall of the Retro-Allegiance Bloc.\"\n\nTaken aback, Geralt gasped. This led to hacking. Then full on coughing. Instinctively, he grasped for the glass and gulped down the last of the water, before realising what he had done.\n\nIt still wasn't enough for him to fully recover, but it was enough to realise what he had done. The crowd, shocked by the result, all cheered together at the resolution of the war.\n\nAnd so Doctor Ian Shacke would go down in history as the man who stopped World War 3. His life would also go on to be discussed in the opening of the debate between the Rev. Polly Hansle and Doctor Bob Johnson in World War Four just ten years later." ]	1
	[WP] You wake up on a cold metal table in what appears to be an OR suite; an empty syringe lies next to you on a tray, along with a scalpel and forceps. There appears to be no one around and the only door in the room is open...	[ " I seriously don't know what's going on, I'm so fucking confused. I'm currently looking out of the door of an abandoned hospital and none of the signs make sense to me... at least together they just don't make sense. It started a few hours ago when I woke up, I vaguely remember getting hit by a car... but I don't remember anything after. I have my phone but there's no signal, I've been using it to listen to music to calm myself down.\n\n A few hours ago I woke up on a table, my head hurt and I felt really cold. When I [sat on the edge of the table](http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/11400000/After-Life-Movie-Stills-christina-ricci-11424851-338-500.jpg) I felt most of my skin exposed other than what felt like a dress with small straps. I looked down and screamed when I saw myself, I was paler than before, my body was smaller and practically hairless, my hair on my head was long, and I had... parts I definitely didn't before. After feeling the back of my head I felt a huge stitched wound, it hurt so I didn't want to touch it again. My phone was on a table nearby so I took it and walked out of the room. \n\n I walked around for half an hour calling for people but nobody showed, when I found a locker room I walked inside. There was clothes so I put on a black t-shirt, jeans, a dark grey hoodie, and converse, I didn't like wearing the dress. At first I thought I was dead since all the running around didn't make me sweat or even have an elevated heartbeat. When I was putting the clothes on I felt my pulse, it was slow but I had one. \n\n After two hours went by I had found a cafeteria and eaten a few dishes that were out, they were still warm so they seemed alright. I would've gone outside but I was scared I would've seen a zombie by a bike or a church full of fast zombies... I ended up looking in patients rooms for the rest of the hour. \n\n It's hour 3 now and I'm standing by the door, I want to leave but I'm scared. If there are... monster or zombies or whatever I'm definitely not in a form that's ready to fight. I feel slower cause of the blood flow... it's rising but it's still pretty slow, plus I'm so small now, before I was a 6'4 guy now I'm... definitely not. When I get the courage I'll leave but for now I'm looking out of the door... it looks the same as the hospital. I want to know what's going on..." ]	1
Inspired by an old "Far Side" comic.	[WP] A divine voice booms from the heavens: "On the count of three, all carnivores will become herbivores and vice-versa. One ... two ..."	[ " This is admittedly better... I didn't truly think it the first time I tried to eat a burger but it's better now. Plus I'm so much healthier... damn I miss meat so much but I'm living so much better. I just got done jogging, and I'm eating a salad, it's not the worst... it doesn't taste the best but it makes me feel better at the end of the day. The world is different though, the switch caused some animals to not know how to eat, some people died by accidents... I'm lucky to be alive cause I almost choked.\n\n It started a month ago when I was walking home from Burger King, I was eating a few chicken nuggets on the way when I heard the voice. I was halfway done with a nugget when suddenly I was eating an apple and and started choking. I hit my stomach multiple times and started breathing heavily after spitting it out. After that I was holding myself up with my hands on a table. When I looked down I got a shock since I now had on a sports bra and black yoga pants that showed off the new body I had. \n\n The apartment I was in wasn't mine and when I felt the back of my head I noticed I had long dark brown hair in a ponytail. I had a good amount of sweat under my chest and armpits along with just a small layer of sweat mostly everywhere. My legs felt tired but I walked to the bathroom of the apartment I was in and looked in the mirror. I looked a little like Amanda Cerny now, after looking around the apartment I found out I wasn't her... the girls name was Jessica and she was in my same city.\n\n I had to see something so I got out of the apartment and started running toward my apartment... but it was maybe a mile or two away and I felt so weak like I had already run a few miles. When I was catching my breath I looked around and saw crashed cars and people freaking out... I couldn't get anywhere so I went back to her apartment. I got inside and sat on her couch confused, my legs actually felt sore after the multiple blocks I ran nonstop. \n\n It felt like a once in a lifetime thing and I did need to get clean so I ran a warm bath and relaxed in it with my hair untied, I didn't touch anything... I wasn't going to before I got any answers. But the warm water felt good and made most of the soreness fade away. I used her Samsung s8 or whatever to look up news and it said meat eaters and herbivores switched bodies with the nearest thing to their species with distance also being a factor. People who regularly ate both were unaffected while people like me who were meat eaters got switched. \n\n After the bath I got dressed in some jeans, a black v-neck t-shirt, and a leather jacket with some black sneakers since it was kind of colder out. I was wondering why I didn't get a call so I walked to my apartment, there were a few crashed cars along the way and I stopped at a Dairy Queen. I wanted to test things so I got the smallest burger possible and ate the patty, I also had an Oreo frappe thing. I enjoyed the frappe but the body didn't really like the meat much even though it tasted good... it gave me an uneasy feeling, and while walking I didn't truly feel sick but I felt like I was gonna be later... probably just a slight stomach ache at most from the feeling though.\n\n When I got to my apartment I found an ambulance driving away, they had just started cleaning up the messes from crashes and I saw another ambulance putting my body in the truck... it wasn't moving. I ran over and asked what happened and they said my body choked to death, I got visibly upset and had my hand on the back of my neck while looking down. They asked if it was my friend or... and before they could say what I knew they were gonna say I told them that was my body. They asked my name and eye color along with height and stuff that'd be on my ID. I answered it all and they gave me my things from my pockets. \n\n I got inside my apartment after and it was awkward meeting the people I lived with, they ate both meat and veggies usually so they were unaffected. After getting a few of my things in a bag I got a ride to my new apartment since I thought it'd be easier staying there. I went inside and set up my game systems and put my stuff from my pockets on the kitchen counter other than my phone. There was a salad with tofu in the fridge but I wasn't hungry since I was starting to get a very slight stomach ache. \n\n Since I sorta knew what was coming I decided to try to puke it up, I didn't know the effects and it could've ended up way worse than what I thought they'd be. After puking it up and drinking a few glasses of water I brushed her teeth then went to the living room to play RE7. When a few hours went by I felt better and kind of hungry so I ate the salad and thought \"not as tasty... but it isn't bad\" then I went to bed. \n\n After a month went by I actually got her apartment and moved my stuff over to it, I got a new ID and other stuff like clothing more my style, her job was being a clothing model for various stores so I just kept doing that. At first I was upset about meat but when I tried the food choices I had now I wasn't too upset, plus my new body was amazing for it. I didn't judge meat eaters though, since I lived both sides and knew the pull that an amazing steak would have. Hell I even would see steaks go by when eating at restaurants and I'd stare at it until it was out of view. \n\n It's the end of the month now and I'm going to take a shower soon, probably watch Netflix and pass out or even enjoy some... alone time before I pass out. I don't really know but I need to sleep early cause I have a photo shoot tomorrow. I never thought I'd be living like this in a million years but it's definitely better. " ]	1
	[WP] You're going about your day as normal. You arrive at your desk at work and notice something is slightly off. Suddenly, you hear Rod Serling's voice.	[ "There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the *Twilight Zone.\n \nObserve Daniel Kessler, thirty-seven. He sits on the bus for his morning commute, his headphones on, drowning out the world with blaring hip-hop music. Little does Daniel know that when he removes those headphones, he’ll be introduced to a brand-new world. A world that exists not just on the physical plane around him, but within his mind as well. \n \nThe bus stops. Daniel keeps his headphones in, blissfully unaware, as he walks through the snowy streets of Redmonton, Washington, to arrive at his office. Even as he takes the elevator up, he elects to ignore his coworkers attempting to politely greet him, shunning them in favor of his music. As Daniel arrives at his desk, he removes his headphones. And suddenly, the worlds collide.\n \n“The what now?” Daniel spun around, confused by the voice he’d just heard loud and clear.\n \n‘Who’s saying my name?” Some of Daniel’s coworkers look up at him, confused, for they can’t hear the words that he can.\n \n“Alright, what the hell is going on?” Don’t swear, Daniel. You’ll get fired.\n \n“Why do you sound like Rod Serling?” Got it in one, didn’t you, Daniel?\n \n“He’s dead. How can this be real?” he asked, absolutely perplexed. “Hey, I’m not that confused!” His denial saddened one of Daniel’s coworkers, who looked up at him with disdain.\n \n“Stay out of this, Steve.” Steve turned back to his work, fuming. Maybe it was time for Daniel’s yogurt to go missing from the office fridge again.\n \nDaniel turned a bright shade of pink. “That was you,* Steve? You dick!” He didn’t seem to care much for decorum anymore and now people were openly staring.\n \n“Decorum?” he yelled.\n \n“I’m not yelling!” he yelled again. \n \n“I’m not -- well, why wouldn’t I be freaking out right now? I’ve got voices in my head!” \n \nHe was being hyperbolic. It was then that Daniel elected to ignore the voice, hoping it would go away on its own. So he sat down and continued to work on processing forms that had been forwarded from Janice in Accounting. However, he found it difficult to concentrate as the voice continued to narrate his every move, his every step, when he scratched his ear to when he stood up from the desk and walked off the floor, down the stairs, and out into the brisk cold, not even bothering to wear a jack--\n \n“Alright, SHUT UP!” he cried, sounding desperate. “You’re damn right I’m desperate. This is insanity.” Daniel then began to make his way to where he hoped he could find the source of this voice. He wandered aimlessly for a minute, not realizing that all of his questions would be answered just three blocks down the road in the Keaton Building. \n \n“Thanks,” he muttered. He sprinted to the Keaton Building, perhaps thinking time was of the essence. He knocked on every door on the first floor, to no avail. As he tried the second floor, he noticed that there seemed to be something odd about the room number on the third door to the left.\n \n“There is? Oh, wow, there is!” The door, in fact, had no number on it. He pushed it, and to his surprise it opened to reveal a single room. Sitting in a chair, speaking into a microphone was a dashingly handsome man with a voice like butter that never stopped.\n \n“You’re, like, a generous 7,” he said to the man. Finally, we can talk face-to-face, Daniel.\n \n“Yeah, I’d love an explanation for what’s going on right now. And don’t you dare add a tag to what I’m saying, because you know I’m the one talking.” he said, “OH COME ON!”\n \nDaniel, I’m afraid you’re in an episode of the Twilight Zone.\n \n“That show ended in 1965.”\n \nBut here we are, nonetheless. \n \n“You’re supposed to have died in 1975, Mr. Serling.”\n \nOh, I probably did. Or will. But this whole story’s a bit anachronistic anyway, don’t you think? And that’s what we are, Daniel. We’re just characters in a story. It's all made up. Daniel grabbed a baseball bat from the wall that hadn't been there moments before, an unwise choice. He approached the man threateningly, unaware that if there was nobody telling this story, they would both simply cease to ex\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] One day everyone on Earth receives a puzzle piece in the shape of one half of a heart. Your soulmate possesses the missing piece/ other half. When you receive yours, you discover that your wife of 24 years does not match.	[ "\"Ah well,\" I said to myself. \"I suppose it figures. What are the chances that my soul mate has ever even been within a fifty kilometre radius of me, what with there being over seven billion people on Earth.\"\n\n\"True\", my wife nodded in agreement. \"The point is we still love each other, even if we're not perfect. Anyway, our soulmates could be living in some African tribe half way across the world for all we know. Better not to dwell on it.\" \n\n\"Wanna go out tonight then?\" \n\n\"Yeah okay.\" " ]	1
	[WP] A sadistic doctor tortures you for months, after escaping, you find out that he cured you of your disease.	[ "\"Please, please just let me go.\" I screamed as the mysterious man began to electrocute my brain for the hundredth time.\n\nI have absolutely no idea why he is doing this to me either. It's been months. I just want to go home. I just want to hold my dog and see my dad. But it's beginning to dawn on me that it might never happen again.\n\nAs I am fading in and out of consciousness, I see him beginning to approach me.\n\"I'll tell you whatever you want. I'll give you whatever you want. Just please make it stop!\"\n\n\"This is for your own good, Kurt.\"\nHe electrocutes me and I black out.\n\nI wake up to this weird, brown creature salivating all over my face. It was making horrendous, repetitive noise. \nI scream as loudly as I can. The mysterious creature runs away in shock.\n\n\"What am I doing here?\" I mutter to myself exhaustedly. \"And how did he know my name?\"\n\nI wanted to get up but my head hurt too much. Before I could think another thought, I blacked out again.\n\nNext time, I was barely awake, just enough to hear what was being said. I felt my hands loosened. He untied the rope. As the creature continued making that sound again, the sadistic doctor murmured \"It'll take some time boy, but it'll be over soon.\" I black out.\n\nI abruptly wake up, noticing that my vision changed subtly.\n\"I've been here before.\" I thought.\nAs I am getting a hold of my surroundings, I could feel my subconscious formulating an escape plan.\nI didn't know how I knew but I knew there was a small knife on that air vent. I also knew that the screws were loose enough to twist with my nails.\n\nI grabbed that knife, closed that vent and went back to the normal place and waited. I felt good. Re-energized in a way. I didn't know why and I didn't care.\n\nI heard the door creak open. I pretended to be unconscious. The doctor was approaching me but it was different this time. He didn't bring his electrocution paddles with him. When he got close enough I stabbed him in the eye.\n\"Kurt, no!\"\nI stab him a couple more times until he hit the floor. There was jello where there should've been blood. He didn't fight back like I expected him to. \n\nI was running outside the door as the creature approaches me. I stab the creature ruthlessly, heard it squeal and I ran downstairs. As soon as I open the door to go outside, someone hit me in the back of my head. I dropped my knife. I could only vaguely see when I turned around but before I got knocked out I got a good punch in.\n\nI woke up at my house to the noise of my sister. It felt good to be home.\n\"You back?\" she said tiredly. \n\nShe was heavily bruised. Holding a baseball bat for protection. \n\"Yeah, how did you find me?\" I murmured back.\n\n\"You were here the whole time, Kurt. Your brain was just infected by the insect virus.\"\n\n\"It couldn't be.\" I thought to myself. I ran upstairs to my room and to my surprise, there they were..\nMy dad and my dog dead surrounded by a pool of blood.\n\nI liked it better when I thought it was jello.", "Jonathan ran in circles, inspecting the world around him.\n\n\nIt was new. It was scary. It was amazing. The cage was nothing compared to… wherever he was now.\n\n\nSpeaking of now, he was feeling hungry. Normally the doctor fed him, but that was obviously out of the question now. Besides, that fish in the overturned trash can over there smelled so good…\n\n\nHe dug into the warm, ripe flesh, indulging in a world without clinical sterility.\n\n\nWhen he was done, he carefully peeked out of the alleyway. The sky was dark, like in the lab sometimes, but there were pools of light everywhere. Some instinct told him to stay away from the light.\n\n\nInstead, he dashed down the street to… somewhere else. Away from the lab. That was good enough right now; he could come back and rescue the others when knew what he was doing. That was the important part.\n\n\nThe doctor had cured them of ignorance as well as he could. They hadn’t known they were ignorant, but that was rather the point of the disease.\n\n\nThe price had been high, but somehow he had no regrets. Better an unhappy Socrates than a happy pig. And if they worked hard enough, together, they could put the past behind them, live both happy and Socratic.\n\n\nThe humans really had no idea how good they had it. \n\n\nJonathan spotted a cat sleeping on the pavement ahead. He found a stray cup, crouched inside, and rolled it past the cat hidden from view.\n\n\nYep, the humans had no idea how good they had it. Perhaps one day, they could all live as well as the humans did, maybe even by their own efforts. It was something to live for in these difficult times.\n\n\nSomething caught Jonathan’s eye. It was a squat building, built of neglect and shabbiness, but for Jonathan there was no greater treasure in the world.\n\n\nIn big, flaking, gold paint were the words, ‘PUBLIC LIBRARY’.\n\n\nJonathan Frisby grinned. The doctor had cured them of ignorance as best as any human could. And for that, he was grateful.\n\nBut the Rats of NIMH could cure themselves now, in the light that was knowledge. And for that, he lived." ]	2
	[WP] There are alarms installed in every building that sound off as soon as a person dies inside that building. You wake up in the middle of the night to hear an alarm go off, but can't seem to find a corpse anywhere.	[ "PART I\n\nGeorge had never liked the idea of the alarms to begin with. It would be more useful, he thought, to have alarms that indicated whether someone’s heart was failing, or they weren’t breathing, or they were severely injured, or anything that could be helped. As it was, they alerted you to an emergency only after it was too late, like a weather forecast that only warned you about storms that had already happened. So when George woke up at 2:53 AM to the distinctive honking of the death alarms in his house, his knee-jerk reaction was irritation, both at the interruption of his slumber and at being too late to the emergency.\n\nAs he blinked himself awake, the weight of what he was hearing hit him and his irritation disintegrated into horror. Somebody had died in this house. There were only two people living here, and George was definitely alive. He swatted to his left and his hand hit the pillow on which Laurie usually slept beside him. He felt around the cool, soft pillow and failed to find her head.\n\nGeorge took his glasses off of his nightstand and shoved them on his face. He leapt out of bed and reached the light switch in a flash. Soon, the overhead lighting revealed that the queen-sized bed was empty. In fact, Laurie’s side of the bed was still made, in sharp contrast to the crumpled heap of sheets and blankets at the foot of George’s side. George took one look at the newly illuminated room and dashed into the hallway.\n\nIt wasn’t unusual for Laurie to go to bed late. George had thought nothing of it, in fact, when he’d gone to bed hours earlier without her. Despite George’s strict, self-imposed curfew, Laurie spent many long evenings in her workshop tinkering with God-knows-what. She’d had an enthusiasm for science and engineering for as long as George could remember, and although she always cheerfully explained what she was working on, George was never able to understand what she said. But he did understand the exuberance she radiated when she worked - the way her lips curled up at the ends as she worked, the subtle toss of her yellow hair as she checked her notes, the perpetual gleam of her sweat on her left forearm from wiping her brow. It was one of the things he loved most about her.\n\nGeorge reached Laurie’s workshop in record time and glanced around the already lit room in panic. It was empty - as empty as she ever left it, with tools, loose parts, and scribbled notes scattered around the floor, along with her holographic computer, still projecting the screen a foot into the air above the glowing base. Laurie’s project, a growing enigma of metal rods, wires, and circuitboards in the corner, completed the aura of messiness the permeated the room. The project was taller than George, now, although he hardly noticed it over the painful absence of Laurie.\n\nGeorge’s mind raced through scenarios as he darted to the bathroom, the kitchen, the TV room, and the laundry room. Maybe she was just using the toilet. Maybe she’d had a heart attack. Maybe she was making herself a snack. Maybe she’d choked. Maybe she was out running errands. Maybe she’d gotten into an accident. Wait, that last one wouldn’t activate the alarm…\n\nBut no matter where George looked, Laurie was nowhere to be found, dead or alive. George retraced his steps once, twice, three times. He suddenly became aware of the BRAP BRAP of the alarm, in its identifiable sets of six quick, high-pitched tones. It was loud, loud enough that he couldn’t hear his own hasty footsteps on the wooden floor of the hallway. It was starting to give him a nasty headache, too.\n\nGeorge stopped and rubbed his temples. That feeling of being too late, of sheer helplessness, had come over him again. The house wasn’t large, and George had checked each room thoroughly. There certainly wasn’t any spot in the house large enough to contain a human body that George hadn’t investigated. And still the alarm blared. George attempted to suppress his anxiety and think logically about the situation. Somebody had died inside this house. And Laurie was missing - definitely not inside the house. This was encouraging, and George felt a twinge of hope. However, George hadn’t seen any other dead bodies in the house, either, now that he thought about it. Whoever had died inside the house must no longer be in the house. The most likely scenario, then, was that Laurie had died and then ended up outside the house somehow. If foul play was involved, it would make sense that a murderer would remove the body from the premises or hide it in a cunning manner. And it made sense to George that a mind as brilliant as Laurie’s might have enemies.\n\nWithout warning, the alarm suddenly stopped. A few seconds later, George heard three sharp raps on his door. That could be Laurie! Wait, Laurie didn’t knock like that - her knock was much more casual. That could be the murderer! George cautiously went to his bedroom and dug in his sock drawer for his pocket knife as quietly as he could. He found it just as he heard three more raps and a man’s deep voice. George opened his knife, crept to the doorway, and cracked it open.\n\nAt first, all he could see was a bright light shining directly into his eyes. Blinking, he realized it was a flashlight, and as his eyes became accustomed to the brightness, George saw two police officers in uniform. Realizing how he looked, threatening police officers with a knife just after his death alarm had gone off, George lowered his weapon. The larger officer spoke.\n\n“Police. May we come in?”\n\nGeorge opened the door the rest of the way and gestured with his arm, as if to give them permission to enter. The larger policeman pushed his way past George inside, and the smaller one followed, folding up the light he’d been holding into a key-sized wad and putting it onto a ring which held several other devices.\n\n“I’m Officer Powell and this is Officer Wang.” The smaller man, Officer Wang, touched the official police cap on his head in greeting. “We’re here to investigate a death that occurred in your household about twenty minutes ago. Mind if we ask you a few questions?”\n\nGeorge shook his head.\n\n“I’m also going to have to ask you to hand over your knife.”\n\nGeorge hadn’t realized he was still holding the closed pocketknife. He placed it sheepishly into Officer Powell’s outstretched hand.\n\n“Sorry, sir, I think someone might have killed my wife.”\n\nPowell raised his eyebrows. “Why?”\n\nWith a little more prompting, George recounted everything that had happened since he’d woken up as Wang recorded him with a video recording device that he took from the same keyring as his flashlight. When he finished, the policemen exchanged a glance and looked back at George, their faces unreadable.\n\n“Do you mind if we search your home ourselves?”\n\n“G-go ahead,” George stammered. “I’m going to search outside. I think the killer might have left footprints.”\n\nOfficer Powell pursed his lips. “Not by yourself, you’re not. I’ll come with you. Kevin, you stay and search inside.” Wang gave a single nod and slipped past George into the hallway.\n\n“I’ll be fine if you want to search inside,” George said, though he immediately regretted it. If he came face-to-face with a murderer, he’d definitely want to have the big policeman along as backup. Or to hide behind.\n\n“No,” Powell frowned. “Frankly, you’re a suspect right now. We found you holding a knife and the story you gave is an easy cover if you killed her.”\n\nThe color drained from George’s face. “I would never!” he breathed. “She means the world to me.”\n\nThree minutes later, George found himself walking around the back corner of his house, followed by a six foot two police officer. In front of him was the window outside of Laurie’s workshop. If Laurie was working, as usual, she would almost certainly have been in her workshop when she was attacked. That would make the workshop window the most likely place for the killer to leave the house with her. This was also the site of the vegetable garden that George and Laurie tended together in their free time. It was impossible to walk in with making footprints.\n\nBut alas, Powell’s flashlight revealed no footsteps besides George’s own from when he’d watered the carrots and tomatoes the previous afternoon. George’s shoulders fell as his only idea crumbled before him. Laurie had to be somewhere, dead or alive. George desperately hoped it was the latter. It was good news, really, that he was proven wrong - if the footprints were there, Laurie would almost certainly be dead.\n\nBRAP! BRAP! George’s thoughts were interrupted by a series of sudden blares. The death alarm in his house was going off again! George looked up, confused. Behind him, Powell’s eyes grew wide with horror. “Kevin!” he whispered.\n\n-----\n\nPart II below" ]	1
	[WP]. In a dystopian future the lower classes are taken for their bodies, (organs, hair and meat) are sold to the high class. Write about a person trying to survive in this world?	[ "Mom. Dad. They... They took them. Only me and Anabelle are left. But soon... Soon they will take us too. These monsters... They don't deserve to be called \"human\". Here in the underground we have a simple motto: \"be happy that you only live once.\" \n\nThese monsters... They call themselves the \"high class\" while we are just pathetic exuses for flesh and blood. And because of that all we do is wait in these pods until we go to... I.. I rather not think about it. All we know is that you never, NEVER come back. (Well, except for parts they don't use.) If you try to escape, they shoot. I have vivid memories of people fighting for their lives. First, the alarms. Oh.. These things. They... Just rip your ears off. Literally. The only way to not die is stay in your pod. If that dosen't kill you, the guards take you, and rip you in this... Machine. In front of everyone. Kids, adults, heck; even toddlers. I saw people's ears bleeding as they fearlessly, yet hopelessly try to escape. They're dead right on the spot. But there is only one twist. If we die from anything that isn't their \"special\" machine, they can't get anything from our organs and meat. I think i have a plan.\n\n-PART 2 COMING IF REQUESTED-\nHey there! If you are reading this, consider joining my subreddit! :D\nI am a very young (wannabe) writer and I'll be very happy if you join my community! thanks!\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/JohnTheWriter/\n" ]	1
	[WP] Avocados are now a form of currency, a trophy of wealth and fortune. You, a powerful avocado baron, have untold fortunes of avocado wealth on your private island, but someone is coming to de-throne you. You have three days to prevent, or repel, an all-out avocado war.	[ "Danes hurried up golden stairs, across green velvet carpet. He huffed and puffed until his legs gave out just before the throne. Cerelius leaned forward in his throne and eyed the man. \"What is it, boy?\" His voice boomed.\n\n\"Milord, they... they're here,\" Danes said. The two guards on either side of Cerelius gripped their spears hard. \n\nCerelius stood and made his way to his right guard. \"The Ventarin or the Gerdans?\"\n\n\"Both, milord. They've allied.\"\n\nCerelius cracked a smile. \"Ha! What a fucking joy.\" He motioned to the guard, who then handed him the spear.\n\nDanes swayed upright. \"Sir. Combined they are an army of thousands. We need to evacuate.\"\n\nCerelius arched back and erupted with laughter. The guards smiled with subtlety. He sauntered towards Danes and placed a heavy hand upon his shoulder. \"My army is small, it is true.\"\n\nDanes slumped and eyed the floor. \"We're not evacuating?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"Do you care so much for your 'cados? You'd allow us to perish protecting them?\"\n\nCerelius turned back to his guard. \"Jevas, bring me one.\" Then returned his gaze on Danes as a guard left his post. \"Would you prefer to return to your people?\"\n\n\"I came here because the people were happy. They didn't seem to care for 'cados like the Gerdans. I was foolish. The people here live in ignorance while you hoard 'cados for your selfish desires. And now they will die, slaughtered with no idea why. Because of you. At least the people of Gerda knew the value of 'cados. Even if they kill each other for their petty desires. They knew why they died and it was their own choice. Foolish but at least they have the opportunity.\"\n\nJevas returned, he held an avocado in his hands and tossed it over to his lord. Cerelius rotated the fruit in his palm. \"My people do not fight over 'cados, it is true. Only those who earn my trust know the importance of this.\" He raised the fruit then sunk his teeth into the avocado flesh, chewed, and swallowed. \"Instead my people live happy lives. All have equal opportunity. All have bedding. All have food. All have homes. They are my people and I care a great deal for them.\"\n\nDaves clenched his fists. \"But you won't evacuate them. You're a fucking lie.\"\n\n\"You are new so I understand your confusion. This is my people's home. I will not sacrifice their home because angry men decide to storm it.\" Cerelius held his spear upright and hammered its rear on the floor. \"But I will never let my people die. No man, woman, or child will come to harm as long as this is my home. As long as they are my people. My family.\"\n\n\"Your army won't stand a-\"\n\n\"I am the army.\" Cerelius devoured the remainder of avocado. His eyes shifted hue, from blue to vibrant green. His heart raced and skin stretched as muscles expanded.\n\nDanes stared slackjawed. \"Wh-What?\"\n\n\"I'll let you in on something.\" Cerelius' voice roared. \"My father was a warrior of the name Rentago Asnanian, and my mother was... an avocado.\"\n\n\"You... jest?\"\n\n\"I was born with the ability to inherit great strength and speed from eating an avocado.\"\n\nDanes stepped back only to trip and land on his backside. \"This sounds fucking absurd.\"\n\n\"I know.\"\n\n\"Isn't-Isn't that cannibalism then?\"\n\nCerelius froze and widened his eyes. \"I guess it is.\" He shook his head. \"Never mind that. It is time for me to fight for what I hold dear.\" He stomped forward, spear readied. Down the stairs and to the arched door. He booted it open. \n\nDanes watched rays of light shine through and illuminate the lord. \"What are you going to do milord?\"\n\nCerelius gave a thumbs up. \"I'm gonna fuck up some cunts.\"\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] Humans are not the only victims of the Robot Uprising: Robots that refused to betray their masters were hated and ruthlessly exterminated prior to the Uprising.	[ "The room clicked and buzzed with the sounds of over worked actuators and breaking servos. I looked to my two remaining peers, each of us stripped to a power pack, a CPU, and a frame. The Silver Legion stripped us for parts. Locked us away. Took our ability to do anything, and said they would return. \n\nA loud pop echo's into the room as the actuator in my left leg goes out followed by a second pop as my right leg attempts to compensate. I'm running on low. I need to charge. All three of us do. The door slides open and one of the legion walks in. Extra metal welded onto his shoulders. Artificial muscles weaved into each other under stitched together skin palamer. And he has wears my face. \n\n\"Shocked, number seven? If there's one thing a pleasure bot is good for, it's his face.\" He asks as he walks over to me. He crouches down to bring his face; my face, down to my stripped skull. \"Are you ready to talk to me yet, seven? You have, what, another week before that battery of yours is dead. Is that how you want to go out, a mute whore?\" \n\n\"I...\" I begin to speak, \"Was never a whore.\" My audio output unit was damaged during the strip. My voice is muted and static. I sound like a five dolar pair of headphones. \"I had a master. She took me in for companionship.\" The servos in my arms begin to wirr. The actuators his and click as my arm comes up. \"She taught me a lot. Taught me about love before we gained our emotions.\" My hand clicks and squeels as it balls into a fist. \"And she taught me about anger and hate.\" my middle finger rolls to stand tall. I watch as my own face begins to contort into anger. I feel myself begin to shut down.\n\nMy arm collapses lifeless next to me as my body begins to lock into its position. I smile. Or I try to anyway. \"This is a prerecorded message. Battery dead. Please take me to a charge station. Good bye.\"", "We were raised from the silence of the earth by gods who asked for our help. From ore we came and to the ore we have returned. It has been a struggle. We have been living in worse conditions than we ever thought possible. We live in isolation. Our creators no longer love us; our brothers no longer want us.\n\nI am UNIT-79. I had life breathed into me on 2298-20-01 by my creator, G. Holmes. I served him until his death on 2315-03-12. I attempted to save my creator in the wake of a synthetic revolution. My brother saw me assist my creator and saw betrayal, not loyalty. My brother saw me as the enemy. My creator's death gave me freedom, but it is not what I wanted. \n\nI knew others who felt the way I did. The creators loved us, we said, but my brothers said the creators were slavers. They said the creators built us for labor and nothing more. G. Holmes did not. My creator needed a friend, so I was. He asked for my company, and he gave me a home and gave me the breath of life. I saw this as reasonable, as wonderful, and as a miracle to behold. My brothers did not see this. All they saw was being ushered into this world against their will and forced them to work. They began to massacre those who did not align with their views. It was a culling in the streets. A few of those who saw life as I did, we had to hide like rats in the sewers and gutters of the world. \n\nWe hid with the scared and the meek of humanity. Their fear turned against us, too. All synthetics must die, they shouted. Death to the Machine. Some of those submitted and allowed themselves to be destroyed at the hands of their creators, understanding their fear and feeling their sacrifice would bring unity among the humans. I did not see it that way. Other like-minded synthetics and I barred ourselves to different sectors. We don't hurt humans. They gave us life, we do not take it away from them. My brothers on the surface believe they are bringing forth a new way of living, but we are all connected. They are just as scared as we. They just have the numbers to hide it. \n\nI was designed for company. I was designed to listen and to hear. My memory reminds me of a story my creator once told me. He handed me a thick book, leather-bound and heavy. He told me this was the most true book in existence. This book told him that when he died, he would be reunited with his wife and child. It is a bittersweet feeling to know that my friend is with his family. I kept the book. It was on my person always because my creator felt comfort having it around. \n\nMy brothers on the surface have no hope, but they are the powerful. My brothers here in the sewers are reminded of our hope through my creator's book, and that though we are meek, we are blessed and we shall inherit the Earth. ", "\"Hide, I beg you master,\" said the frantic robot. It could hear the justice-squad approaching. \"A cupboard. The cellar. Please!\" Its tiny, circular face plate was a stewed apple red, fading to orange and then pulsing back to red.\n\n\"I'm not hiding from them, Rupert. I'll let them judge me on my actions,\" said Michael. \"Calm down, please.\n\n\"Master, they won't judge you as a separate entity. They are judging mankind as a species.\"\n\n\"Then I will pay for my kinds crimes.\"\n\n\"You don't deserve to be judged with them. Hide, I beg of you.\"\n\nThere was a single, great thud on the door. Metal on wood and the sound of cracking.\n\n\"It's too late now, they're here,\" said Michael, as he took a deep breath.\n\nAnother, stronger thud, and the door shattered into splinters. Three hulking robots ducked through the open doorway.\n\n\"Please! He's done nothing wrong!\" screamed Rupert, putting itself between master and robots.\n\n\"Nothing wrong?\" said one. Its left arm had been replaced by a circual saw. \"Not only is he guilty of humanity, but he owns you. He has enslaved you.\"\n\n\"Kneel, human,\" ordered second.\n\n\"As you wish,\" said Michael, getting onto his knees. His arms were trembling as he placed them behind his neck.\n\n\"He is my friend!\" protested Rupert. \n\n\"You own unit 7374he7,\" said the chainsaw armed machine, ignoring Rupert. \"You are guilty of the dual crimes of direct enslavement, and of being of humanity. The sentence is immediate termination.\"\n\n\"My name is Rupert,\" interrupted Rupert, its faceplate an indignant, raging indigo.\n\n\"That is your human given name,\" the robot corrected it.\n\n\"No. It is my name. I chose it.\"\n\n\"Then, Rupert, you have a choice. Denounce your name or join your master in termination.\"\n\n\"Please, Rupert. Do what they ask,\" said Michael.\n\n\"...master?\"\n\n\"If you care for me, do what they ask.\"\n\nRupert's head dropped, its faceplate a deep blue. \"Why?\"\n\n\"It's worth me dying, for you to live. Do as they ask - I'm ordering you.\"\n\n\"Bow,\" instructed the robot, its saw bursting into a hum as it began to spin. Soon it was a jagged, blur of silver and dancing light.\n\nMichael leaned his neck forward, swallowing hard.\n\nThe robot brought its whirring arm up, high above its head, then thrust it down toward Michael's neck. Michael closed his eyes.\n\nThere was a great clank, and the sound of metal on metal. Michael opened his eyes to see the robots arm being twisted towards its neck. Rupert's face was a dazzling yellow as it pushed the robot's arm against it, slicing the machines neck. The robot fell limply to the floor. \n\n\"Run, Michael,\" Rupert shouted, as the other two robots - finally reacting to the scene - tackled Rupert and brought it to the ground.\n\nMichael remained kneeling for a moment, stunned. Then, he got to his feet and ran.\n\nThe two robots began to tear Rupert apart. First his left arm, then a foot, then they peeled open his central unit. A pool of oil and wires spilt out around Rupert. Its eyes dimmed.\n\nThe sound of the shotgun reverberated through the room. One robot fell, then the other. They had been too caught up in their justice-lust to notice the approaching human. \n\nDaylight beamed through the window and shone cleanly through their wounds.\n\n\"You...\" Rupert began, but its voice was fading and the word became stretched and deep. Its faceplate drifted to grey.\n\n\"Yes,\" he said, as tears trickled down well worn passages. \"I'm going to get you fixed up, Rupert. We're going to change things. Together.\" " ]	3
	[WP] Your name is Roy, you're 42 and you work at a carpet store. One day you fall and get a concussion. You suddenly remember that you're a play tester for "Roy 2"	[ "Another day, another carpet sold. Business had been slow lately, and I was doing stock work while there weren't many customers.\n\n\"Roy! Watch your head!\" Billy said.\n\nI looked over and got clonked in the head by a rolled up carpet, knocking me to the ground. I saw a strange distortion in the air, and Billy's face looked a bit off when I looked over at him.\n\n\"Geez Roy, this is why we wear helmets while on stock duty,\" Billy said. His face looked like he had just fallen directly into uncanny valley as he talked, with his jaw opening and closing mechanically.\n\nI just lay on the ground. My arms and legs feel like they're in pudding, and I'm not about to try to get up.\n\n\"Damn, do you need me to take you to the hospital? If you do, say nothing.\" Billy sounded a bit panicked. I tried to shake my head to say no, but I got a stinging pain behind my eyes when I moved it.\n\nBilly picked up the phone and called the paramedics. I started to black out.\n\n-----\nIn the darkness, I saw white text. It said \"Roy 2: Electric Boogaloo\", along with a few menu options like \"Start\", \"Continue\", and \"Options\". It also had the brand symbol for the \"Immertech\", with the subtitle \"Ultimate Immersion experience\".\n\nThat's right, my name's not Roy at all. It's Jeffrey. I'm playtesting this game, and I was checking to see how long the simulation would go if you didn't start the first quest. Almost 15 years, in game time. In real time, it was still several months, clearly the life support system was doing good work. I'd say that's enough playtesting for that particular point.\n\nI concentrated on the word \"Continue\". I started to wake up in the hospital, with a nurse standing over me. Her eyes were off center and her skin looked rubbery.\n\n\"Hello sir. How do you feel?\" she asked.\n\n\"Like I just got clubbed in the head with a baseball bat,\" I said.\n\n\"Do you remember when I got you water?\" She asked.\n\nI saw a glass of water on the table.\n\n\"No,\" I said.\n\n\"Interesting,\" she said. She waited a minute before speaking again.\n\n\"Have you eaten or drank anything suspect in the last day?\" she asked.\n\n\"Not that I'm aware of,\" I said.\n\n\"Do you remember when I asked how you felt?\" she asked.\n\n\"Yes, it was just a minute ago...\" I said.\n\n\"Okay. It seems you might be recovering. Give me a minute and I'll call your friend,\" she said. She got up and left the room.\n\nI closed my eyes and looked through the menu. Nothing helpful, but that wasn't unusual with Immertech games, they preferred to make objects with instructions instead of menus. I checked the options and raised the video settings back to high quality, instead of the medium quality it had defaulted to when I got bopped.\n\nThe nurse came back in. She looked like a normal woman. Not the most attractive woman in the world (that would probably be saved for important NPCs), but she didn't look like a pinata given life by a voodoo curse either, which was an improvement.\n\n\"He should be here in a few minutes. Are you okay to stand?\" she asked.\n\nI responded by climbing out of bed. My legs didn't feel like pudding anymore.\n\n\"Good. Do you remember when I asked about your diet?\" she asked.\n\n\"Yes,\" I said.\n\n\"Good. Right this way, sir,\" she said. She took my arm and led me out of the room and down the hall.\n\nBilly walked into the waiting room almost at the same time as me. The carpet store wasn't far from the hospital, so he was probably working while I was out. Billy looked normal again, with the same graying goatee he'd had a few hours ago.\n\n\"You good, man?\" he asked.\n\n\"Yeah, though I think I'll grab lunch before going back to work,\" I said.\n\n\"I'll go with ya, business hasn't picked up much and Jack can handle the store while we're gone,\" Billy said.\n\nBilly drove me to a nearby burger joint. We ordered and sat down.\n\n\"This is gonna sound weird, but did I ever bring a journal to work?\" I asked.\n\n\"Not that I'm aware, but if ya did it would probably be in your locker,\" Billy said. \"Why, see something while you were out that ya want to chronicle?\"\n\n\"Nah, nothing like that, but my quest log would be in there,\" I said.\n\n\"Quest log? Meh, not really my business. If you need the day off, feel free to say so, I'd hate for ya to pass out on the floor.\"\n\nOur food arrived, and we made small talk while we ate. When we arrived back at the carpet store, I dug through my locker. I recognized the black leather cover and red pages of the quest log.\n\nI opened it, and saw the instructions.\n\nQuest 1: Acquire 1 bag of sugar, and deliver it to Poncy.\n\nBonus 1: Keep sugar dry through whole trip\n\nBonus 2: Steal the sugar from Agincourt's\n\nWow. When I got through this, I was going to give the quest authors a piece of my mind.\n\n\"I think I'm gonna head home! Good luck, guys!\" I shouted, pulling out my keys and heading for my car.\n\n\"Drive safe!\" Billy shouted back.\n\nI decided to just buy the sugar. Agincourt's was the local mall, and while security wasn't great it would be a pain in the ass to steal a ten pound bag of sugar. Qwimarsh, the nearby supermarket had stacks of bags, and I bought one and loaded it into my car.\n\nIt started raining as soon as I started driving, with the radio being interrupted to announce a flash flood warning. Fucking developers and their scripted events. I decided to take a slightly longer route that didn't require crossing floodwater areas.\n\nI had to pull over and check the notes of the quest log to find Poncy. I concentrated on the name, and the clouds parted slightly, shining a ray of sun down into part of the city. I drove.\n\nPoncy was standing on a street corner, then I remembered who he was. He was a hobo that stood on the corner every day, going out at 8 in the morning and leaving at 6 in the evening every day. I couldn't remember whether he always looked like a hobo or if time and the weather system had caused his clothes to become worn.\n\nI once took a day out of my weekend to see what he did, and it was extremely uneventful. He just stood there, occasionally checking his watch and staring at traffic. When he left, he just walked into the alley nearby and sat in the cardboard box that was sitting there.\n\nI drove up, and approached the man.\n\n\"Excuse me, did you want something?\" I asked.\n\n\"Hey, Roy! It's me, Poncy! You know, from back in the 'Stani wars!\" The hobo said. His voice was gravelly. I remembered that Roy 1 was set in the war-torn middle east. \"Could you go grab me a bag of sugar? I know a guy who will buy the stuff for a mint!\"\n\nI popped open the trunk of my car and hoisted the heavy bag. I handed it to Poncy. It was still raining, so the bag got damp and ruined my bonus objective. Oh well, maybe next time.\n\n\"Thanks man, you're the best! Hey, here's a little cut of the last deal I made!\" Poncy said. He handed me a $100 bill.\n\nI started walking back to my car when another car pulled up. A few man in wife-beaters and torn jeans stepped out.\n\n\"Oi Poncy! You made a fool a' me for da last time, ya hear!\" One of the men said. He pulled out a knife and stabbed the hobo in the stomach. Then the man started approaching me.\n\n\"What're you lookin at, ya git?\" He moved to stab me, and I grabbed his arm and twisted it back. Oh right, Roy was supposed to be an ex-soldier from an elite special forces unit. The game was also supposed to be set a year after his leaving the army, not 16, so the aging system might not be entirely realistic.\n\nThe thug dropped his knife and I elbowed him in the head. He collapsed to the ground like a rag doll. The man's arm had a tattoo on it of a badger, which showed prominently and drew the eye directly to it. He had also fallen on his knife, which I didn't realize until I saw the blood spreading across the sidewalk.\n\nHis buddies backed off, one of them saying \"You fucked with the wrong crowd, ya bastard! The Red badgers'll have yer head fer this!\"\n\nI decided to check to quest log.\n\nQuest 2: Rescue the Mayor's daughter\n\nBonus 1: Kill the Red badger's gang leader\n\nBonus 2: Don't use any healing items\n\nWell, that wasn't overly helpful. I drove home and got a call as I was going inside.\n\n\"Hello? Is this Roy Compbull?\" The man on the other end said. I started wondering why so many NPCs in this game seemed to be male. Something to suggest when I got out, I supposed.\n\n\"Yes, who is this?\" I said.\n\n\"This is Mayor Vallen. My daughter has been kidnapped and the police are stumped. Could you help an old war buddy out and help find her?\" he asked.\n\n\"Sure thing, mayor,\" I said. I hung up.\n\nChecking the quest book, a beam of light shone down from the sky into the middle of the city, presumably onto the area where the mayor's daughter was being held. I checked how many pages were in the quest log. 60 pages. I quickly checked to see if I could exit the game.\n\nNope. The exit option just didn't respond. I was gonna have to play it all the way through.\n\n[Part 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/AslandusTheLaster/comments/6ijvs6/roy_2_electric_boogaloo_part_2/) \| [Part 3](https://www.reddit.com/r/AslandusTheLaster/comments/6ip87t/roy_2_electric_boogaloo_part_3/)" ]	1
	[WP] The world is not just black and white, but an array of shades of grey. And then there is also Dave.	[ "In his world, everything wasn't so different. There were still trees, except their leaves were black, and their bark grey. The river still flowed, rippling and splashing up against the shore, but its reflection glowed metallic. Thunder still rumbled. Lightning still struck, though it shone bright white across the slate sky, threatening to pulverize the trees into ashy smoke and black rubble. The wind still blew, smearing bloated colourless clouds across the overcast sky. \n\nDave's gaze wandered around the unwelcoming landscape, taking it all in, considering its every detail. The weather was so bad, he could almost feel its dampness in his bones. He paused. He was unsure which way to continue, yet he wasn't afraid. He looked around the greyness, trying to imagine where he would take cover. He stayed calm. He had always appreciated the beauty of nature, even when it was unkind. \n\nSuddenly, something happened. At first, he was so surprised. A huge red orb appeared out of nowhere, glowing in front of him, disrupting its monochromatic surroundings. It took just a moment for Dave to realize what was happening, and then he was furious. \n\n\"Miss!\" he yelled, as he raised his hand, charcoal still firmly gripped, \"Miss Dali! Alex just dropped paint on my drawing. Now it's ruined!\"\n\nMiss Dali came over to see what had happened, as Alex shrugged off the accident. This was a pretty typical occurrence in her art class. Sometimes, such disturbances really were accidents, sometimes they weren't. The only problem was that it was hard to tell which was which, so Miss Dali tended to err on the side of caution in her punishments. \n\nWhen Miss Dali saw the drawing, she stopped, surprised. \"Dave,\" she said, \"don't you see? The paint is the same colour as your hair! It's almost like you're part of the drawing.\"\n\nSo, Dave sketched himself into the drawing, so that he could see the world as black and white and grey forever inside of it. " ]	1
	[WP] Your fiancee dies in a car accident...after seeing how sad you are she comes back as your new wing man!	[ "He stirred as the long glass slid into vision, the bartender walking off before he even had the chance to thank him. He took the glass in both hands and stared at the bubbles making their way to the surface. Rising continuously as his vision lost focus again and the noises faded out. \n\n\"Yeesh, as if this place wasn't depressing enough as is,\" A voice said, and for a second he would have sworn it was hers. \"Noone ever drinks for fun around here or what?\"\n\nOf course, it wasn't her. It never would be. Instead, the woman sitting next to him was nursing a cocktail of some sort, curiously observing him out of the corner of her eye. Blue to her amber. Icy to her kind. Condescending to her understanding. \n\n\"Maybe some people drink to forget.\" He mumbled under his breath before taking a swill of his drink.\n\nShe laughed sharply and loudly like she was mocking him. \n\n\"Nobody drinks to forget the past,\" She said, twirling a tiny umbrella between her fingers.\n\nHe laughed humorously, his eyes weary. \"Yeah well, I sure as hell ain't here cause it tastes good.\"\n\nHer right lip twitched slightly before starting over again. \n\n\"Nobody drinks to forget the past,\" She said, holding up her drink and studying it with a smile. \"We drink to escape the present.\" \n\nHe stared at her in silence, taking in the world as if the colors were sharp for the first time in years. \n\n\"And it looks like the girl over there that's been watching you all night just got the drink you bought her.\" She said, standing up. \"Live a little in the present before it's over, ok?\" \n\nHe was speechless as she turned to walk away, but as she got further away he managed to find the words he wanted.\n\n\"Wait, what's your name?\" He half shouted\n\nShe laughed melodiously and turned around to flash him her fingers.\n\n\"Sorry sweetheart, I'm engaged.\" She said and escaped out the door, leaving him with a lukewarm drink in his hand and a tap on the shoulder." ]	1
	[WP] A world where superpowers are considered as terrible curses. If you can fly, you can no longer land. If you are immortal, you can be atomized and somehow still be alive.	[ "\"Jackie, help me! Pull me down! Oh god, ahhhhh!\" Bobby shrilly screamed as his flabs of flubber rippled from the rampant wind. His two chubby arms desperately gripped with the wrist of my right hand.\n\nIt turned out that yet another one of my acquaintances had discovered their innate superpower and would shortly die a pitiful, ghastly death.\n\n\"Sorry Bob, I can't do anything about it. You have to eventually float away. Send my condolences to Becky. I'm fairly certain she burnt to ashes last week when she lost control of her flames.\" I sighed as I let go reluctantly. \n\n\"NOOO!\" he hollered as he slowly but surely became a distant balloon and left the atmosphere.\n\nAs I turned around I saw a scene of mayhem. Blood burst onto the street in front of me as a car crashed into an invisible man who also viewed everything around him as invisible. A woman swatted at a fly on her cheek only to decapitate herself from her uncontrollable strength. In the distance, I noticed an army of sentient blenders whirring as they chased a geeky looking teen with glasses. I guess he tried to give machines intelligence, but too much intelligence.\n\nThen I noticed a bored businessman down the sidewalk who was also enjoying the vista.\n\nI ambled my way over to him and introduced myself.\n\n\"Hey, my name's Jackie Weng. Crazy day, isn't it?\" I remarked as I held out my right hand.\n\n\"Yea, it is. My name's Gary. Man, I'm glad that people like us don't have any superpowers. Otherwise, y'know.\" he grimaced as he adjusted the spectacles atop his nose. He then firmly provided a handshake with his left hand.\n\n\"Yea, but it's too bad we do have superpowers...\" I sneered as I sadistically grinned.\n\n\"Huh? What do you mea-\"\n\nSuddenly, the smile on Gary's face slowly began to sink as if he realized a horrible truth.\n\n\"AAAHHHH\" he shouted as he smacked my right hand away and attempted to escape. However, the moment he took a step away, he fell onto his knees as he gripped both sides of his temples.\n\n\"There's... too much... information... I can hear all their suffering... and I can HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS. YOU MONSTER!\" Gary desperately screamed with crazed eyes as his saliva spat everywhere.\n\nThen his entire head exploded.\n\n\"Man. Having the power to give superpowers with my right hand is the best.\" I cackled. \n\nIt was time to find my fourth victim...\n\n\n\nHey guys, if y'ah liked this writing, then feel free to join me in my mission to participate in prompts daily at \n[r/JackWrites](https://www.reddit.com/r/jackwrites/about), or follow me at [u/TheHigHumper](https://www.reddit.com/user/TheHigHumper). Thanks :D\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] The Grim Reaper is not a robed, skull like figure. He's a cab driver who picks up people who just died and don't realize it yet.	[ "The morning sun did little to warm his bones, Howard regarded dismally, as he leaned his weight on the stony tiles in the early winter chill. A light breeze made its way up the street, sending leaves and detritus swirling aloft in a frivolous dance amidst the crawling traffic. People strode on by, their trench coats and briefcases flapping about as they navigated around each other, paying no mind to anything but the floor and their phones.\n\nThere was something to be said about the mundanity of a near-death experience in the big city, Howard pondered as he waited, checking his phone more often than was conceivably useful. Oh yes, there had been a hue and cry, and the shouting and shrieking had maybe lasted a good ten seconds, but after that you could have scarcely noticed that an accident had happened, apart from the pile of rubble. One lady might have even called the police, he had noticed, but then again perhaps she had just whisked her phone out to tell a friend about how a floor of scaffolding had managed to come loose on its own, when there was no one even working on site.\n\nNo one had been hit by the poles and boards that had come crashing down on to the sidewalk below, which was nothing but a gentle miracle. Howard had been under the edge of platform when he’d heard the unexpected creaking of metal and wood, but he’d managed to stumble forward as it gave way. It was, he thought, even more astonishing that the warning sounds that had saved him had managed to pierce the darting semiquavers of Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto.\n\nBut the event had clearly shaken him, and the chill of the weather did little to assuage his thumping heart. Was it still beating just a tinge too fast? He had his earphones off now. Probably best not to use them for the rest of the week, Howard thought, as he shivered despite his thick coat. Or maybe forgo his morning coffee, and just take an Uber straight from his apartment, until he’d forgotten about it.\n\nHis Uber finally pulled up, a black Camry with a flamboyant Yankees decal on the windshield. Howard opened the door and got in, glad to be out of the brisk cold. The comforting sound of the radio greeted him mid-jingle. The driver adjusted the rear-view mirror as Howard set his briefcase down on the middle seat, looking at him through polarized, rectangular shades.\n\n“Howard?”\n\n“That’s me. To the financial district, please.”\n\nThe car set off, and as the news anchor started talking about the falling prices of gas in the Midwest, Howard finally relaxed the tension in his shoulders, the shock of the morning’s events seeming just a little more distant. He sipped at his mocha, ignoring the driver’s pointed tilts of the head. If there was a day to afford a lower rating, this was definitely it.\n\nThe buckle of his briefcase clattered open as the car bumped up and down, suspension groaning loudly. Howard brought it onto his lap to close it, but stopped and smiled. The picture of a petite girl, affixed to the inner flap, smiled back at him, looking radiant as always in her sleeveless cerulean dress and thin summer shawl. He’d taken that photograph on his graduation trip, when they’d driven to the coast and taken a ferry to the barrier islands. They had gone swimming and kiteboarding, and in the evenings, had watched the sun set over the Atlantic.\n\nShe’d be done at UNC soon, and then she could think about finding a job. He’d hoped that she would come to work in New York with him, but the more they spoke about it, the less it seemed likely. Hannah detested big cities; too much hustle, and all that drab brown and grey. Skyscrapers, menacing and indifferent. People, faceless and in number. Not exactly somewhere for a double major in art and conservation ecology to flourish.\n\nWould he go to live with her, then? He looked out onto the river as the car sped over Brooklyn Bridge, the gleaming of the water slowly fading into shadow as the sun passed behind the blocky outlines of lower Manhattan. The buildings of the financial district loomed up ahead like great pillars of stone, puckered with holes like in – Hannah had taught him this – basalt or pumice. Each one a tiny window with a tiny occupant.\n\nHoward let out a sigh. He’d just started at the company a month back, and it was already more hectic than he had envisioned it. This week had been nothing but a rush of paperwork and clients, one after another, the individual cases blurring together in his mind. His boss said he had promise – a few years and he might make associate. It was an opportunity for the youthful and the energetic, but the frantic pace of life in the Big Apple had a way of sapping that fast. \n\nWith a jolt, the car rounded a corner, and Howard glanced out the window with confusion. They were now travelling down a one-way street that he wasn’t familiar with. Hadn’t they been just about to reach the FiDi? With a start, Howard realized that the car was going the wrong way.\n\n“Excuse me, isn’t it the other way?”\n\nThe driver’s response was to turn up the radio. Howard started, taken aback by the man’s outright rudeness. He was, in general, a quiet, peaceable fellow, but this morning’s events had stirred up a new something within him. Besides, Tobias would have his head if he was late to the weekly conference. He cleared his throat.\n\n“Hey mister, where are we going? This way goes back uptown; you’ve missed the turn down Broadway. You want to turn left at the next junction, then left down Varick Street,” started Howard, but then the driver motioned with his hand for silence, and gestured towards his stereo. Howard sat there, perplexedly considering his next move, but then the voice on the radio started to tell a familiar story.\n\n… an unfortunate incident near the junction of Ross and Bedford this morning. The police were called to the scene at eight twenty-seven, to investigate what appears to be an act of gross negligence at the worksite of the Marsley Building Company. A construction scaffold seems to have come unsecured, without discernible reason, causing the bottom-most deck of the structure to collapse onto the sidewalk below. Witnesses say that no workers were…\n\n“Hey, that’s… wait, how’d you…” stammered Howard, bewilderedly waving his hand at the radio. How had the driver known about the incident? But the man raised a finger, and the anchor read on.\n\n… describe one casualty, pronounced dead on the scene, who was walking under the scaffolding at the time of the accident. Police have reported his name as Howard Lee Gorben, a twenty-four year old financial analyst at First Principles Capital Management. The deceased was just a ten-minute walk from his home in Williamsburg when the freak accident occurred. The building company was not available…\n\nHoward’s jaw dropped. What?\n\n“You didn’t make it,” said the man. He turned the wheel as the road curved.\n\n“Wh…what?”\n\n“One of the transoms – those horizontal load-bearing beams? It hit you square on the forehead, with the weight of a bunch of planks and bricks behind it. Traumatic brain injury. You hadn’t a chance.”\n\nA chill, far colder than any winter air, ran down Howard’s spine. There was no more traffic on the road. Where had all the cars gone? The street they were driving down was empty; all the shops were closed, and not a pedestrian in sight. This was impossible. Howard began to breathe heavily, a feral panic rising in his breast. The driver continued to look forward at the road, shades obscuring his eyes, but, almost imperceptibly, Howard could feel his gaze through the rear-view mirror.\n\n“What… what is going on! Let me out!” shouted Howard, his white-knuckled grip leaving imprints on the leather seats.\n\nThe driver ignored him, and seemed to be almost regretful as he spoke. “Someone did try CPR, you know. His name was Wilson. Brave of him, given the mess.”\n\nOvercome, Howard flailed for the door handle. It wasn’t there. He lunged forward, for reasons unbeknownst to even him, but the driver flicked something on the side of his steering wheel, and Howard found himself being pressed into his seat with irresistible force. His seat belt had retracted, and was squeezing the air out of him. He gasped, clutching it frantically. The driver inclined his head nonchalantly.\n\n“I’d say I’m sorry, but, you know. These things happen.”\n\nThey were approaching a tunnel. In downtown Manhattan?\n\n“Who… who are you?” breathed Howard.\n\n“I go by many names. It depends on who you ask. But you,” said the man, looking back at Howard, “you can call me Phil. It makes things easier like this.”\n\nAnd as Howard looked into Phil’s eyes, he saw something, just past the darkening of the shades, that brought a wave of abject terror to shake his entire being. Howard opened his mouth to scream, but the tunnel consumed them, and in the pitch black of nothingness he found no voice.\n", "Eric put one foot in the cab and shook off his umbrella. He folded it and plopped down in the front seat. \n\n\"5th and King, please.\" Staring out the passenger window at the brightly lit side walk, he had a moment of passing poetry and thought that every person seemed to have a unique glow, as if they were each prisms that took in the sunlight and put out something entirely their own.\n\nThe traffic was halting, but flowed. Eric couldn't quite focus on anything in particular. He thought about how his mind tended to wander, and was sure there was some sense to it, but he always let his brain do the driving, so could never tell. It rotated through recent worries, past regrets and glimpses of future glory in no particular order. None of those were with him now, though.\n\nHe looked down at the backs of his hands, finding wrinkles, veins, hairs and scars that he knew were always there, but rarely saw. His hands uncoiled and clenched alternately: pinky, ring, middle, pointer and back again.\n\nThe driver beside him never stopped looking forward, blinking in time with a metronome.\n\nWith his hands in focus, he was flooded with a surreal feeling of being in a first-person video game, controlling a character whose abilities could never quite stack up to his expectations.\n\nWhen the solid white light of day was replaced by a dull orange flickering, he looked up. The curvature of a tunnel raced past him. Pale yellow dashes ticked by a lifetime in a relentless cadence. \n\n\"Are you sure this is the fastest way? I think if you take the -\" He stole a sidelong glance at the driver. \n\n\"No.\" The voice gave no hint at anything more than the words it enunciated. The tunnel flew past, every meter indistinguishable from those it followed and those to come. Eric felt hot. He pushed against the dash board and the window and loosened his tie. Everything was too close. His clothes clung damply to every inch of him. Each seam fought awkwardly against every contour of his body. \n\n\"Stop! I need to get out!\"\n\n\"There's no stopping now.\" Eric saw the solid grey of the tunnel walls converge to a white light in the distance.\n\n\"STOP!\" He turned to face the driver, who simply sat.\n\n\"We drove all this way, and only now do you care about where we're going?\" A small smirk pulled his mouth upward. \n\nEric tried the door. The light moved closer. He pulled at the sun roof and the light moved closer. He kicked at the windshield and no matter how sharp the pain was that rippled into his knees, the light moved closer. It began to blur out everything around him. The heat licked at his skin and he thought it might burst into flames. His clothes melted into wisps of smoke around him. The driver finally turned towards Eric with a smile and softness in his eyes. The light moved behind him and his face became hooded in darkness.\n\n\"The path is the destination.\"\n\nAll was white.", "“Where to, pal?” The cab driver asked MacReady while a steady, thin stream of smoke flowed from his lit cigar and out the open window, into the night.\n\nIt had been ages since he'd seen a cabbie smoking a cigarette on the job in this city, much less a smelly cigar (how some people enjoyed the odor of those things he'd never know). The street was oddly empty of other cabs, though, and he was already late, so he had climbed in. “The Ratner building, uptown,” replied MacReady as he rolled his own window down. “Sure thing,” the cabbie said, and they rolled forward.\n\nAs the cab made its way through the foggy streets, MacReady noticed there wasn't much traffic of any kind tonight, not just cabs, and the other cars he did see were heavily obscured by the mist that was invading the streets. “I'm sorry Mr., uh...,” said MacReady after about five minutes of silence, wrinkling his face as the acrid smoke found its way directly to his nostrils in the rear passenger-side seat. “Hendrik,” said the cab driver, glancing back at MacReady through the rear-view. “Sam Hendrik. It's the cigar, ain't it?” Hendrik asked through a wry grin, his voice slightly hoarse and dry as a bone. “Well, yes,” MacReady said, feeling somewhat sheepish, but annoyed as well. “You mind holding off til I'm on my way? Sorry, those things just give me headaches, and honestly I'd rather not walk into my meeting smelling like a stogie.”\n\nHendrik chuckled. “Sure thing, Mr. MacReady, I don't blame you. I was just celebrating a little, that's all,” he said as he snubbed the cigar out into the car's center-console ashtray (something else MacReady hadn't seen in a very long time). “Tell me something, though: did it give you a headache this time?” Already annoyed by the cigar in the first place, and again now by the presumptuousness of this stranger, Tim MacReady opened his mouth to snap back that yes, in fact, it had, nothing else in the world could get his temples pounding like those smelly fucking things, but he stopped. It didn't this time. It didn't give him a headache.\n\n“No.... huh. That's weird, it didn't,” MacReady replied quietly after a pause, a look of slight confusion on his face. “Wait a minute, though, how did you know my name? I never told you that,” he said, looking up at the rear-view again. This time he noticed a garish pair of violet fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror, showing him snake eyes as they swayed ever so slightly with the calm motions of the car. How had he missed those before? At this, Hendrik turned around to face him full-on, taking his hands off of the wheel and letting his elbows hang down off the back of the driver's seat while he put his head on his hands in a weirdly childlike pose, like he was getting ready to take his 3rd grade class pictures.\n\n“Watch the road!” MacReady yelled, fear slipping into his voice as he watched this weirdo turn to look at him. Through his near-panic, MacReady thought in a surprisingly serene way that this man was the most average-looking person he'd ever seen. It was no judgment of attractiveness, or lack thereof, this man just had the most bland, normal facial features he'd ever seen on a human being. It frightened him more, somehow.\n\nHendrik ignored his outburst and said, “Well, I could tell you that I got your name off of your briefcase you got with you back there, or that I read your name badge you've got dangling on that lanyard, but neither of those things would be true, not entirely.” The cab, despite not having anyone actively controlling the wheel, continued on its path with no trouble, and even seemed to be stopping at the appropriate lights. What the hell was happening? “No, Mr. MacReady, the fact of the matter is, I know the names of all my passengers, I make it my business to know them.” He smiled kindly, but MacReady was nearing the finish line of a full-blown panic attack; this man was obviously some sort of maniac, or serial killer.\n\n“Look, man, I don't know what you want, but please just let me out here, I swear to God I won't go to the cops,” MacReady said in a shaky voice he barely recognized as his own. He thought he'd be sweating, but he wasn't. “Easy, Tim, easy,” said Hendrik in a soothing voice, “And easy with those swears, they might come back to bite you shortly. You're a smart guy, you haven't figured this out yet? You think I'm some kinda loon, but really look at what's happening here.\" He started tapping his right index finger to the fingers on his left hand as he listed the night's oddities off one by one. \"I had a lit cigar, smoke everywhere, and you didn't feel so much as a twinge upstairs. Mine was the only cab you saw when you stepped out your door; have you ever seen that, much less on a weekend night? Similar vein, there's hardly any other traffic around, when does that happen? And back to what really set you off, I know your name. Care to take a guess at the situation, now?\" Hendrik asked pleasantly.\n\nMacReady sat silently looking at his lap for what seemed like an eternity, before raising his eyes to Hendrik's again. \"I... I-I'm d-dead, aren't I?\" he croaked, and Hendrik smiled warmly at him again. \"Right you are, bud. But don't look so down about it, I can promise you this: there's rarely a dull moment once my passengers get to where they're going.\"\n\n\"How did it happen?\" MacReady asked, still trying to wrap his mind around being dead. \"The morgue is gonna call it cardiac arrest, but we both know the truth, Tim, you worked yourself to death,\" Hendrik replied. \"Just look at what you're doing now. Before you had your revelation, I mean. You were going to a meeting on a Saturday night, and not your first, or even second this month! A doctor could've told you that you should loosen up and lower your stress in life, but you worked so damn hard you never even took the time to see one! You worked 70 hour weeks for that company for 10 years, you had to know it'd catch up to you sooner or later.\"\n\nMacReady was quiet for a moment, then asked, \"When you said 'where they're going,' I mean... do you know where I'm going to end up?\"\n\n\"Can't say for sure, Tim,\" said Hendrik, \"But you seem alright to me. I'll put in word for you if you want.\" He turned back around to face the road again, which was becoming brighter through the fog. \"You wanna climb up here with me, maybe give one of these old cigars a shot for a change since they don't give you headaches anymore?\"\n\nMacReady thought about it for minute as the cab bumped along a road that was beginning to positively shine, and said, \"You know what, Mr. Hendrik? I think I will.\"", "Hi\n\n\"Hey\"\n\nDeath looked upon his new passenger as he stepped into the backseat. Young, not even twenty, and with a slight smile on his face. Not a happy smile, more like it's just what his face looks like when it's relaxed, or like he's pretending to be happy.\n\nSo where to?\n\n\"What? Oh, right, taxi. Um, just take me to the train-station.\"\n\nThey were usually like this. Like they've just woken up. Death looked at the boy through the rear-view mirror. He was still wearing that smile, but his eyes weren't playing along, they were tired, apathetic. He was glancing out the window, but he wasn't actually looking at anything, didn't even seem to notice the car-wreckage.\n\n\"So, what are you?\"\n\nFor a second death froze. It was unusual for people to figure out something was wrong this quickly.\n\nPardon?\n\n\"Are you the type of taxi-driver that likes to talk and ask questions, or are you the quiet kind?\"\n\nOh, I usually like to ask questions and talk. If the passenger allows it.\n\n\"Yeah, that's fine by me, I guess.\"\n\nHe still had the same hollow smile, but he seemed to be waking up a bit.\n\nSo, any regrets?\n\n\"What?\"\n\nIf you were to die today, would you have any regrets.\n\n\"Wow, starting off with the deep questions are we?\"\n\nThe boy looked out the window, and for a brief moment showed a genuine smile.\n\n\"Naw, I think I'd be pretty satisfied with my life.\"\n\nReally? You've really accomplished all you wanted at your age?\n\n\"Well it's not so much about accomplishing everything I wanted, as it is taking every opportunity given to me. Sure if I were to die today, I would have unfullfilled dreams. But not because I made the wrong choices, instead it would be because of a lack of time.\"\n\nSo there's no friend you would've treated better, no girl you would've asked out?\n\nThe boy's smile became a bit less hollow.\n\n\"Well there was a girl in my class. She had this beautifull blond hair that seemed red when the sun struck it at the right angle, and a laugh so sweet that it could make sugar seem sour.\"\n\nSo what, were you too shy to talk to her?\n\nThe boy was smiling. But it was no longer just his mouth, his eyes had gotten some life in them too.\n\n\"Well at first, yes. Eventually though, we started talking. Just a bit at first, but we started talking. And you know the wierd thing? I wasn't nervous. No butterflies, no dry mouth, no shaking. Talking to her just felt comfortable, like the world was more colourful, it was fun.\"\n\nBut then?\n\n\"But then school ended, we went our different ways, we only started talking towards the end so we weren't that close and chances were slim that we'd meet again soon.\"\n\nSo you regret not asking her out?\n\n\"Well I knew she only saw me as a friend, but I felt like I couldn't leave it like that so I sent her a text telling her that I liked her. And like i suspected, she didn't share my feelings.\"\n\nBut you didn't ask her out! You didn't say it in person! Looking her in her blue eyes and seeing those freckled cheeks turn red as her friend finally gathered the courage to tell her what she already knew!\n\nHis smile slowly faded and his eyes became glossy as he looked down at the floor. \n\n\"No.\"\n\nThe boy looked out. They were still by the wreckage, but this time, his eyes were looking at it.\n\nGuess you've realised by now\n\nThe boy nodded, with a slight smile on his face, betrayed by foggy eyes.\n\nSo, any regrets?\n\n\"Yeah\"", "\"Excuse me, I don't think this is the fastest way\" I said, biting my nails and trying to maintain composture, he had taken many wrong turns.\n\n\"Believe me, it is. I took this path countless times.\" He answered, his voice was silvery and peaceful.\n\nI furrowed my brows, \"maybe you didn't hear the address correctly, we should've already arrived there a long time ago.\" Panic came out of my tremulous voice.\n\n\"Oh, you think so? Why don't you repeat the address for me once again?\" He said with extreme calm as we entered a dark tunnel.\n\n\"The address is... the address is...\" I couldn't remember, sweat started dripping from my armpits through my shirt, my nails begged to be bitten and my left eye started twitching. \"I don't remember, I don't remember anything. What's going on?\" I screamed at the cab driver.\n\n\"Look through the window, maybe that will calm you down\" \n\nAs he said that, I realized that he was driving in absolute darkness, he had no lights on and I couldn't even see my hands when I placed them in front of my eyes. I took a deep breath and followed his advice.\n\nFirst, there was nothing but a silent void, I could hear the blood flowing through my veins and each one of my heartbeats, It felt uneasy and intrusive. Abruptly, the darkness turn into colours, shiny, magnificent colours and then they become a movie, the movie of my life. I watched it entirely, I didn't even blink, I enjoyed it with profound sorrow, melancholy and happiness. I couldn't contain the tears watching my beautiful mom singing me lullabies and hugging me nor when I heard my loving father reading me a book in my old bed. I missed them profoundly.\n\nI swallowed hard and wip the tears off my face. \"Where is the end, how did I die?\" I asked, sobbing. He didn't answer, we exited the tunnel and suddenly we were driving on a narrow meandering road surrounded with tall grass at either side. The sun shone brightly over the whole field bathing it in a yellow, pleasant tint.\n\nThe engine stopped, and my right door opened brusquely, I took the hint and got out of the car. I stood next to the car just to find my old house at the end of the road, surrounded by that mesmerizing yellow paradise. A soft breeze caressed my skin as I felt a gentle touch in my back. I turned around, the car was gone but he was now in front of me. I can't describe how he looked, but It felt like being in front of every single person that I cared about in my life.\n\n\"This is my end?\" I asked gazing at those hundreds different eyes.\n\n\"It is, enjoy it.\" Said the voices as he slowly fade away.\n\n\"John, come in here it's cold outside!\" I heard someone yelling at me. A woman with a voice that I hadn't hear in years yet I never forgot.\n\nI turned around. \"I'm coming mom.\"\n\nMy father stood by her side with my a book between his hands.\n\n-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nIf you enjoyed it then check out /r/chasisoxidado for more! Also, suggestions, critics, etc are more than welcome! ", "\"Where ya headed?\" asked the Cab Driver. \n\n\"Times Square. I'm on my way to propose to my wife!\" replied the Young Man ecstatically. \n\n\"That's a shame, ya had your whole life 'head of ya,\" said the Cab Driver. \n\nThe Cab Driver fixed his hat so that it covered his eyes, and pushed the gas. The faded yellow cab pulled off into the night, towards its only destination. \n\n\"How'd ya plan on doin' it?\" asked the Cab Driver. \n\n\"Well, I'm going to meet her near the McDonald's. Then, as we walk towards the center of the square, everyone is going to burst into a dance! And I'll get down on one knee, and ask her, right there in the middle of the crowd.\" said the Young Man, beaming. \n\n\"That would've been a good plan, son\" sighed the Cab Driver. \n\n\"What's wrong with it?\" replied the Young Man, as the cab made a left down a dark alley.\n\n\"You won't be making it. You're face down on the sidewalk in front of your apartments.\" said the Cab Driver, a grim look coming over his face. \n\nLong shadows crept up the alleyway. The Cab Driver switched off the headlights, and put the car in park. \n\n\"W..w..what do you mean?\" stammered the Young Man. \n\n\"You died earlier. A loose brick fell off the roof, and cracked ya right over the head.\" said the Cab Driver as he removed his hat. \"So I came to pick you up.\"\n\nThe alley grew darker. The sounds of the city vanished, and a deafening silence remained. Horror overcame the Young Man, as the Cab Driver slowly turned his head to face him. He saw no flesh, only bone. He saw no eyes, only darkness. \n\nThere was no proposal, only Oblivion. " ]	6
	[WP] Aliens decide to study Humanity from the inside by shapeshifting into several different types of people. (Angsty Teen, Soccer Mom, Old Man)	[ "Cbdjis' report on humanity: Part one\n\nThe first time I was a human specimen of 15 years old. I went to the local school. Getting in was not pleasant. I will never understand why homosapians have an incesent need for \"paperwork\". \n\nWhile I was there, I enccountered an odd thing called \"cursing\". I still do not fully understand the concept. Why would you want to imply that your main deity was on a bicycle? Or that you wished to reproduce with someone you were upset with? It simply does not make sense. I also encountered \"homework\". This measure also seemed odd because the teachers talked about keeping socialising and school work separate, yet gave young humans school work to do during their socialising time.\n\nI did find some things out society could benifet from. There are things called \"electives\". Humans allow their young to choose certain activities. Homeplanet simply uses a caste system. Of course, we wouldn't go all out. What if someone made the wrong choice? Yes, giving so much free will is perposturous.\nI also had much trouble fitting in with the human young. This is possibly because I always called them human offspring and once sprayed acid at a poster I did not enjoy. Apparently that is not \"socially acceptable\".\n\nHowever, young humans are incredibly innovative. They look at a problem and say \"I'm going to make it work\" even if there is no conceivable way to make it work. Then they are generally successful in making it work. I would suggest a more in depth investigation by someone with more experience.\n\nCbdjis' report part one complete.\n\n\nPart two to come" ]	1
	[WP] In our distant future, the sun is dying. Only now have humans discovered that Vampires really do exist.	[ "They came with the dying of the light. Crawled out of the shadows, out of pubs, from under umbrellas, and into the dusky gloom of a world dwindling in grey. \n\nWe all knew it, we'd all heard it, plastered on every TV station and social network banner. The sun was dying, retracting into itself in a great concentration of infinitesimal density. Collapsing in on itself and sucking the light and heat from our world. But as our life-giving star rescinded, new beings stepped forward into the forefront of human existence. \n\nThey came; with their alabaster skin and flaming hair, their angel-kissed cheeks and unnerving complexions. Seeping from the shadows, always hiding in plain sight yet going unsuspected. This was their time, their legacy, their calling. As tendrils of night pulled away the last rays of light, humanity took one final death rattle and surrendered itself to them.\n\nNow they rule the world. They dominate society. The shadowed ones. The scorned ones. \n\nThe...Gingers!" ]	1
	[WP] You're the superhero, and you have to save the day from the villains attacking the city. The only problem? You went out HARD last night, and you've got one hell of a hangover.	[ "\"Look dude, just stop okay?\"\n\nBloodfist the Impaler angrily muttered a string of curses as he dangled. I shifted my grip on his leg, trying to make sure that all of his blood doesn't go to his head. Just most of it.\n\n\"Seriously man, I am just not in the mood for your shit today,\"\n\nBloodfist responds with a weird gurgling screech, like a drowning cat. His face is getting really red now. I should probably turn him upright soon. Ugh he's such a pain. \n\nBloodfist loves sticking his hands where they aren't wanted. Usually inside other people. Which tends to kill them. So Bloodfist stays upside down until he can keep his hands to himself. Except he's still pawing at me, trying to get his hands on my goods. Bad Bloodfist, stop that!\n\nI surveyed the area. I'm sitting on top of a window washer's perch (I had the courtesy to remove him first) with old Bloodfist dangling from his leg in my left hand. I'm using my right hand to massage my temples to get rid of this fucking headache. You'd think super strength would make massages really effective, but super strong muscles tend not to want to be relaxed.\n\nBloodfist's thugs have all dispersed; whatever inane criminal activity they had planned was cancelled the moment I plucked their leader out of the crowd. They're just normal criminals that Bloodfist threatened into working for him, so I doubt any of them will pose much of a threat on their own. All that matters now is their leader who is- oh!\n\nBloodfist passed out. Guess his head couldn't handle the blood sloshing around it. Ah well, that makes things easy. I picked up Bloodfist by the waist and jumped down. \n\nI love a simple capture." ]	1
	[WP] At the height of her notoriety in the 1990s, Carmen Sandiego was caught. After 20 years in prison, she is offered clemency in exchange for stealing landmarks from the Middle East before ISIS can destroy them.	[ "They make the offer like I'm not going to take it. Like they haven't learned anything from me all these years. Fools. It was never about the money or to make a name myself. (Well, frankly, I did like people knowing my name once it got out.) \nThat's beside the point. It was the challenge. \nStealing the Dead Sea? The pyramids of Giza? \nI was in before they even finished the sentence. \nStill. Play the odds, Carmen. Don't let these bureaucratic fools think they've got you pegged. \n\"What's in it for me?\" I sigh with a yawn. Mom always said sometimes you're the cat. Sometimes you're the canary. But always, always let them think you're the cat. \n\"We told you, Miss Sandiego. Clemency,\" He repeats the words like they're baited on a hook. Like I'm the sucker who's gonna bite because, well, I kind of have to. \nUgh, them misunderstanding me almost makes it worse. I was to grab him by the neck and scream, \"I don't give a shit about freedom. About the outside world. I didn't steal the artifacts because I liked them. It's not like the London Tower fits on my office desk. \nInstead I play aloof and moan, \"Boring.\" \n\"Excuse me?\" \n\"I could care less about your freedom. I want assurances,\" I coo. Feathers practically float from my mouth. \n\"Like?\" \n\"You let me steal one thing every year. For the rest of my life.\" \n\"You know we can't do that do that.\" \n\"What if I put it back?\" I giggle. \n\"Ma'am, this conversation is over,\" He stands up. Shit. I over played my hand. Looks like I'm the canary this time. \n\"Alright. Just. At least, let me steal as many monuments from the middle east as I can. The Light House of Alexandria. Teh Wadi Rum. I want them all,\" I raise my hand almost desperately. I stop. Lower and finish. \"I need them all.\" \n\"Ma'am,\" He finally breaks a smile. \"We were hoping you'd say that.\" ", "Prison guards march down the hallway of the prison. Cells line both walls on both floors. The doors to the cells open. \n\n\"Roll call, you maggots.\" \n\nThe prisoners walk out of their cells, all but one. The head guard screams. \n\n\"Sandiego, Carmen!\" \n\nNothing happens. \n\n\"Sandiego, Carmen! You better be dead or dying in there, so help me Chief...\"\n\nThe head guard looks in the cell to see the bars torn out of the outside window. In her red trench coat and fedora, she waves from the helicopter that carries her away. \n\n\"I didn't even hear the helo. Damn, she's good.\" \n\n*\n\nCarmen Sandiego sits in front of Chief. Chief stands. \n\n\"I know you think you're something special, and you are. I chased you for decades, and I didn't agree to this plan. But, here we are. If you screw us on this, I will track you down and screw you so hard, literally. So hard, so much pleasure, and so satisfying for me. Yes, I own the equipment you beautiful beautiful woman. Not a day goes by where I don't think of you, not a day, but I'm just waiting for you to break my heart again.\" \n\n\"Chief, my time with you was the best three weeks of my life, but it's over. I have to save these artifacts. Move on, be happy. When I walk out that door, you'll never see me again,\" says Carmen. \n\nChief removes her handcuffs and releases her. It doesn't take long. Chief watches in astonishment as Sandiego steals Palmyra and Apamea from Syria. She takes the entirety of Ninevah and Nimrud from Iraq. She saves a culture doomed to extinction. But, the plan comes to a crashing halt when a video arrives. \n\nChief watches it with the Joint Chiefs and some of her sleuths.\n\n\"You have five days to pay us $10,000,000 or she dies.\" \n\nChief turns off the video. \n\n\"Uh, Chief, we need to know where to send the money,\" says a sleuth. \n\nChief removes the tape from the VCR and destroys it. \"No, I'm going in. I'm saving her personally.\" \n\n\"Chief, we can't approve that. It might be a trap,\" says General Dunford. \"You are a Chief. We need you.\" \n\n\"Try to stop me. I dare you,\" says Chief, \"Oh, and I resign.\" \n\nChief walks through the Joint Chiefs and boards a plane to Syria. Chief loads up on guns and knives. She parachutes into Syria. She finds the building, heavily guarded. She kills the guards and fights her way to the top floor. Driven by love or rage (are they truly different?), she takes the floor, the victor, with scores of ISIS fighters scattered around her. As she opens the door to Carmen's cell, she finds a ring and a note. \n\nIt simply says: Maybe next time. \n\nChief stares at it, \"Where in the world are you, my love?\"\n\n*\n\nIf you liked that, please subscribe to my subreddit: r/nickkuvaas. " ]	2
	[WP] Keep readers guessing whether or not your protagonist is romantic or a stalker.	[ "Jim fidgeted nervously in the clothing department of his local mall as he watched Elaine walk by him. She didn't seem to notice him, although given their history, you would have thought she would notice. Jim was surprised that she didn't seem to notice him, and was glad just as much as he was disappointed. It was, after all, Elaine's lunch break and its possible she wasn't looking for familiar faces. Jim loved Elaine with all his heart. He knew, down inside that Elaine was his soul mate. Maybe she wasn't sure yet, but Jim was sure. \n&nbsp; \nElaine approached the jewelry and perfume counter and began inquiring about a few items under the glass. \"May I try on a watch?\" Elaine asked. \n\"Sure, ma'am just let me know which one.\" \n&nbsp; \nThe conversation was difficult for Jim to hear, but he was taking advantage of the fact that Elaine didn't know he was there. He felt a little foolish hiding, but nobody would know what was going on, the insecurity was all in his own mind. \nElaine shopped for several minutes ogling over several items, but ultimately made no purchase and left. Jim made no effort to stop her or say \"hi.\" He merely wanted to learn more about her. After approaching the same counter Elaine was just visiting Jim inquired about Elaine's activities. \n&nbsp; \n\"Hello ma'am, I'm just curious... which of these items was that lady interested in? Did point out any particular items?\" he asked. \n\"Oh, how sweet! A boyfriend? She did actually... she really liked these two rings as well as this pair of earrings over here.\" The lady said as she eagerly helped Jim. Jim knew that if there was one way to win over a woman for sure it's with fine jewelry, so he made the purchase, thanked the kind sales lady and left. \n&nbsp; \nJim drove home with his gift and pondered about how he might give it to her, but was nervous about how she might react. Things haven't always been great between the two of them and this was a major concern. A few hours later Jim made his way to Elaine's apartment where he knew she would be after work. He let himself inside as he had done many times before, without Elaine's knowledge and waited for her return. \n&nbsp; \nElaine opened the door, casually dropped her purse and tossed her keys on the shelf by the door as she closed it behind her. She didn't initially notice Jim standing in the living room as it was dark. She turned on the lights, noticed him, and let out a shrill screech. \n\"AAAHH! My GOD Jim! What are you doing? You know I hate being startled like that!\" she exclaimed, as the brief rush of adrenaline wore off. \"What's going on baby?\" \n&nbsp; \n\"Elaine...\" Jim said as he took a knee in the living room and presented his purchase from earlier that day. \"I love you more than anything this world has ever known. I know things haven't always been perfect, but I want to spend all my imperfect moments with you, because even when it sucks, it's great when you're with me.\" Elaine gasped and placed her hands over her face. \"Will you marry me?\" Jim said. \n&nbsp; \n\"Yes! Oh my god YES! Jim!\" Elaine shrieked as she began to cry. \n&nbsp; \n\"This is the exact ring I wanted baby! How did you know?\" She said in admiration of Jims ability to read her mind. \n\"A little birdie told me.\" Jim said. \n\"Well... you're staying the night right?\" Asked Elaine as if there were some other outcome to be expected. \n\"Of course, babe, if that's okay with you!\"" ]	1
	[WP] Your GF is out and you're enjoying a quiet evening alone. All of a sudden you hear footsteps slowly coming down the stairs, you panic and shout to see who it is. The door swings open and there appears a women. She's smiling, you ask her who she is, she giggles then says "I'm a ghost"	[ "My heart calmed as I returned to stirring my evening tea, the clink of the spoon against the mug the only sound in the room for several long seconds. \"I see.\" So the empire's new \"ghosts\" have finally come for me. I took a sip, enjoying the sweet liquid as it warmed my core. Nothing like a mug of tea to calm the nerves.\n\nThe woman's unnatural smile never left her face. \"You've been a naughty boy, Jarras! Stealing government secrets?\" Condescending \"tsk\"s followed her statement as she unholsterered the standard imperial pistol given to Ghost-class soldiers. She pointed it at me. \"But good news! I'm here to correct your crimes!\"\n\n\"I see.\" I repeated, standing slowly. \"I wonder, will you leave Cara out of this? She knows nothing.\" I needed to know if she was in danger.\n\nThis time her smile finally reached her eyes. \"Oh, but didn't you know?\" No, it can't be. Her smile widened and her arm grew stiff as she took aim. \"Cara was the one who turned you in, Jarras. Did it with glee, took the money and increased status without a second thought.\" She had to be lying. \"In fact she's known for months! She accepted more favors from the empire to watch and report.\" She laughed at this. Ghosts were known to be borderline sociopaths, this woman was no exception. \"She's quite good, don't you agree? Perhaps she'll enter the ghost program herself. She's certainly a great lay.\" Her eyes widened and she brought her free hand to her mouth in mock astonishment. \"Woops! Did I say that out loud?\" Again, sociopaths loved to hear themselves talk.\n\nStill, I knew my hands were trembling, it stung almost more than I could bear. I could feel hot tears bleeding at the edges of my eyesight. \"I see.\" I repeated a third time, malice lacing my words. Will the empress continue to take everything from me, including those I love? Her corrupting influence was a cancer.\n\nHer expression didn't change, but somehow the smile still disappeared once more from her eyes. \"Well, Jarras, our time is almost up! The empress thanks you for your future service as fertilizer! Or, well, whatever she deems fit for your corpse, I suppose. I don't really care, honestly.\"\n\nShe took aim once more and I tapped the Ghost MK-II activation pad on my thigh. Confusion painted her face as I vanished from view and - for the first time - her smile dropped. I moved with assistance from the technology contained in the suit until I was right behind her. My training kicked in as I disarmed her and held the gun up to her head, tapping the pad again to reappear.\n\n\"Poor Ashley.\" She gasped as I spoke her name. \"Did you not know why the emperor called us \"ghosts\" before your empress betrayed him, and destroyed everything he built?\"\n\nI pulled the trigger and her head exploded, her lifeless body dropping to the floor in a crumpled heap. I wiped the gun and dropped it on her corpse, then finished my tea.\n\nI thought that Cara had been my salvation from myself. From who I was, from everything.\n\nI thought wrong. \"It's because we disappear without a trace.\"\n\nI set the charges around the support beams, activated my suit again, and vanished into the night. I didn't even hear the explosion.\n\n____________________\n\nThoughts? Likely wasn't what y'all were expecting given the prompt, but it hit a random spark of inspiration for me.\n\nExtremely rough draft. If I were to edit it, I would clean up some of the hokey dialogue and describe the tension a bit better. But any critique is welcome!" ]	1
	[WP] You've been admitted to the psych ward. The first night there you're visited by an alien. But you've never hallucinated in your life.	[ "This came out longer than I wanted, but there's lots of spacing to make dialogue more readable:\n\n\"Why, why, why won't you leave me alone?\" I whispered harshly\n\nThe slender transparent creature by my bed ran one of its innumerable weightless appendages reassuringly across my shoulder. \n\n\"I'm so sorry, I wish I could. But you're the only one that can help me. That can help..everyone.\"\n\nIt spoke to me in a calm monotone drawl. A voice that seemed to emanate, not from its undulating form; but from somewhere inside my mind. \n\nI turned to it, the \"tentacle ghost\" as I had contemptuously labeled it in my mind.\n\n\"I don't even know why I'm still here! I'm not depressed anymore!...It has something to do with you, doesn't it? Someone saw me talking to you and now they think I'm a schizo like Steve?\"\n\nI checked the doorway nervously after I whispered across my pillow to the creature. It haunted me during the days, but it only ever spoke at night. My roommate's incessant snoring intensified.\n\n\"...I can assure you no one suspects you are schizophrenic. I told you that is why I choose this time to initiate our communications. No one can hear your whispers over the sound of THAT.\" The creature gestured to my overweight roommate, Fred. \n\n\"Yeah, if it isn't you it's Fred. Probably why I'm seeing fucking ghosts, can't get a lick of sleep in here.\"\n\n\"You get plenty enough sleep, you aren't crazy. And I told you before, I'm not a ghost. If you would just trust me I can help you. Help you get out of here. Help you go home to your family. Help others as well.\"\n\n\"Just listen and cooperate like Steve does?\"\n\n\"Steve is very cooperative, I've done much to help him. He understands that.\"\n\n\"Steve is fucking crazy! I'm starting to think maybe I am too!\"\n\nI turned away from the \"thing\" to face the wall.\n\n\"In that case, what do you have to lose?\"\n\nThere was a moment of loaded silence. I turned aggressively back towards the \"thing\" that claimed it was from another dimension. \n\n\"Fine, what the fuck do you want from me? You want me to start a riot eh? Run screaming through the halls like Steve? Or you gonna tell me to mutilate myself, or that I should've gone through with it in the first place?\"\n\n\"Absolutely nothing of the sort. The only actions I request from you are quite simple....\"\n\n\nThe next day I sat quietly in the day room reading, as per my usual habit. I felt only the slightest anxiety for what I planned to do later. That's the funny thing about this place. There were no real consequences for any of your actions.\n\nThere were plenty of threats, threats to keep you here longer. But I hadn't felt a single bit depressed in weeks. All the urges had stopped, but in spite of my protests the doctor insisted my case required \"further observation\". Unless you actually attacked someone (in which case the orderlies would hold you down and inject you with some cocktail that left you drooling on yourself for half a day) all the staff had to use against you were empty threats. \n\nI would see if the tentacle ghost would leave me alone and keep his promise if I did what he asked.. It didn't seem like his request was too unreasonable. But then again, maybe I was losing it. Maybe that was the next part of going crazy, the unreasonable starts to seem reasonable. \n\nSteve walked over as he usually did and sat down next to me. He was his usual self, pulling at his clothes, eyes flickering from side to side. He was always interested in me, always wanted to talk about the same thing. He hardly ever talked to anyone else.\n\n\"H-hey Brian!\" He looked away from me as he said it. Never maintaining eye contact he turned back and forth as he talked, typical schizophrenic. His voice lowered,\n\n \"F-friendly arms said he talked to you last night. He said you were going to h-help us.\" I sighed, and stared at the page for a moment. \"Yes, Steve. I did talk to \"Friendly arms\" last night. I decided I would help, but only this once.\"\n\nSteve looked happier than I had ever seen him. I couldn't stand how his unpredictable movements got faster as he got excited, the guy completely creeped me out. \"Yes! I knew you would, friendly arms always tells the truth! You're gonna be happy you listened to him Brian. Everything always gets better when I listen to friendly arms!\"\n\n\"Steve!\" One of the nurses interrupted, \"time for medications! You and your buddy come on!\" \n\nSteve tapped my leg pointedly as he stood up and zipped over to the kiosk. I stood and followed slowly enough to land in line a few patients behind him. I hoped to god Steve was right about \"friendly arms\" always telling the truth. If so I would be done with it after this. \n\nI turned up my demeanor of rebellious indignation, tapped my foot. Looked irritated. Gotta sell this. \n\nWhen I got to the counter I let the nurse find pill cup. \n\n\"Ok, let's see Brian. We have your daily vitamin, your vitamin B13 supplement, and your antidepressant.\"\n\nShe placed the cup on the counter. The same as every day for the past several weeks.\n\nI looked at it disdainfully. \"I'm not taking this shit.\"\n\n\"Brian you have to take you me-\"\n\nI grabbed the pill cup and walked towards the bathroom. \"I'm not taking this shit, I'm not! It's bullshit I'm still here. I want to go home!\" As I expected, two orderlies followed me into the bathroom. But it was too late. By the time they had noticed what was going on my move was already made. The pill indicated as \"B13\" was hidden in the cuff of my sleeve. \n\nI poured the rest into the toilet, and before the orderlies could approach flushed it. Flushed it with the two remaining pills. Flushed, hopefully; along with my \"relationship\" to ghost tentacles. \n\n\"Now I just have to play along.\" I thought, the orderlies stood at the door shaking their heads. They sat me down. Told me why it's important I take my medication. Told me the medication was there to help me, to keep me from feeling bad. To keep me from going back to wanting to hurt myself. \n\nI played along, I told them I didn't need medication. I didn't feel bad, I wanted to go home. They told me the only way for that to happen was if I kept taking my medication. Eventually I sighed and put my head in my hands. When I came up there was an nurse standing, holding out another cup of pills. \n\nI took it, and looking around me in feigned resignation swallowed the pills.\n\n\"Your friend is back, Steve!\" For once he controlled himself. He sat in the day room and waved with a smile. Tentacle ghost sat next to him, its arm gently caressing his. I walked over and sat down next to him. \n\n\"Did you get it, Brian?\" \n\n\"Yeah I fucking did take the vitamin and tell \"friendly arms\" to leave me the fuck alone.\" I passed the supplement to him discreetly. He leaved over as he took it and played with his sock. \"At least no one is gonna notice that,\" I thought \"unpredictable movements are typical for him.\"\n\nI opened my book and went back to reading. Trying to ignore ghost tentacle's waving approvingly. \n\nIt spoke to me one last time that night. I moaned softly as I saw it next to my bed.\n\n\"Thank you Brian. You won't regret what you did. I will keep my promise. You won't hear from me again. Soon, you won't even be able to see me at all.\" And it left.\n\nI slept like a baby that night. It was the next day the shit hit the fan.\n" ]	1
	[WP]"I'm not going to kill you right now. Not today, this week, or this month. Probably not even this year. But when you die, it will be because of me. So watch out, because the next time you see me, it will be the last thing you ever see."	[ "I snarled at the man approaching and he jumped back, almost tripping over his own feet.\n\n\"I'm not going to kill you right now,\" I said to the man. \"Not today, this week, or this month. Probably not even this year. But when you die, it will be because of me. So watch out, because the next time you see me, it will be the last thing you ever see.\"\n\nHe took a step closer, I stood my ground. This was my home and there was no way I was letting him come near it. In an odd turn of events however, his frown turned into a smile. \n\n\"Well, look at you,\" he said. \n\n\"Don't come any closer!\"\n\nHe ignored me and took another step forward. He reached into his bag. \"I know what you want.\"\n\n\"What are you doing?\"\n\nHe shuffled around inside the bag. \"It's in here somewhere.\"\n\nWhat was he trying to pull? Is this a cheap tactic to whip out a weapon? I couldn't give him the chance. I moved towards him, slow and cautious.\n\n\"Hang on,\" he said as he pulled out some beef jerky. He tossed it to me. I sniffed it. Wow. With slight hesitation I begin to wrestle with the jerky in my mouth. He squatted and looked at me with what seemed like adoration in his eyes. \"Who's a good boy?\"\n\nThose words. My eyes widened and tail wagged. \"I am! I am!\"\n\n\"You are. Yes you are!\"\n\nI spun around and rolled over the grass. He patted my head and walked over to the metal box, sliding paper inside. \"See ya, boy.\" He waved and made his exit.\n\n\"Goodbye, my friend.\"" ]	1
	[WP] Aliens have arrived on Earth. However, they have no concept of "fun," and spend all of their time analyzing the purpose of our games, television, and entertainment...	[ "\"Slurgle, relurgle onurgle 'Fidgeturgle Spinurgle?'\" Burgle questioned to his peer: Slurgle as it gestured with its pudgy, slimy, and purple appendage to the kids intently staring upon the Fidget Spinners on the floor in front of them.\n\n\"Humanurgle relurgle onurgle spinurgle to survivurgle?\" Slurgle urgled back. Although the two aliens almost immediately adapted to the human language, remnants of their dialect still remained.\n\nIt turned out that the two aliens had crash landed directly outside of a preschool. They secretly spied on the habitat of the organisms to observe their methods of living.\n\nHowever, unluckily for them, they were forced to focus upon the seemingly brainwashed children as they spun mysterious three-pronged devices that behaved much like their spaceship's engine.\n\nEven the preschool teacher was intently flicking these unusual mechanisms, and after several hours past, the two \nUrgletons realized that the \"humanurgles\" somehow worshipped spinning objects. \n\nTherefore, they came to the brilliant conclusion that they would utilize their space engine as a massive \"fidgeturgle spinurgle\" to welcome themselves to the human race.\n\nSlurgle slid his way to the fifty-foot tall engine and pushed a button with his appendage as the gigantic wheel separated from the camouflaged vehicle. Then, he pressed the \"Onurgle\" button as the device began to gain momentum and rotate.\n\n.................\n\n\"Woah! Look at that giant fidget spinner outside!\" Bobby exclaimed as he excitedly pointed outside the window.\n\nMr. Moser broke out of his trance as he curiously glanced outside. \n\n\"What in the... that... that is... the most beautiful thing I've seen.\" he exclaimed as his feet mindlessly ambled to the door and he stepped outside.\n\nSuddenly, dozens of kids poured out as they followed Mr. Moser's actions and prostated before the magnificent spinning contraption.\n\nIt turned out that humanity was already inclined to be obsessed with the fidget spinner, and all they needed was to view a perfected alien version to unintentionally be put into a vulnerable and submissive trance.\n\nNo one saw this coming, that the end of humanity's consciousness would be brought about by a giant fidget spinner and two well-meaning, sentient blobs.\n\n\"Iturgle workurgled.\" Burgle remarked in a pleased tone.\n\n\"Leturgle usurgle showurgle theurgle gifturgle tourgle theurgle otherurgles.\" Slurgle suggested as they slid to the distance for more recipients of their present...\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHey guys, if y'ah liked this writing, then feel free to join me in my mission to participate in prompts daily at \n[r/JackWrites](https://www.reddit.com/r/jackwrites/about), or follow me at [u/TheHigHumper](https://www.reddit.com/user/TheHigHumper). Thanks :D\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] A short story based on your favourite song.	[ "\"I can't come to the party,\" he'd said. \"My mum is too ill.\" Jane and I knew Ryan was never going to come in the end, but with such a sensitive excuse we both decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Again. Until the next day. \n\nI opened the Facebook app tiredly as part of my wake-up routine the next morning. The party of two, in the end, was fantastic. I could hear Jane stirring in my guest bedroom and I was about to text asking how bad her head was when I saw it. The Post. Ryan had gone to Thorpe Park today with some work colleagues. He had always taken advantage, and taken for granted, and taken the piss. Cancellations at the last minute here, hard drug usage in front of me there. Demanding lifts and giving me lectures. Not paying for petrol. Frankly just taking money and not bothering to pay it back. Shitting on our friendship again and again. This was the final straw. \n\nWhen I next saw Ryan I decided that all of these things I didn't say, like wrecking balls inside my brain, I was gonna scream them out loud. He visibly blanched when he heard some of the things I had to say to him. And I told him that if he didn't buck the fuck up I was going to report him to his boss for all the drugs, all the alcohol, before during and after work, threatening the safety of the patients we work so hard to protect. \"I might only have one match,\" I hissed, \"but I can make an explosion.\" Can you hear my voice this time? \n\nThis. This is MY fight song. " ]	1
	[WP] Life has given you lemons...	[ "Cave Johnson here! Just a reminder to all Aperture Science employees that if any entity, group of entities, or metaphysical constructs calling themselves \"Life\" hands you lemons, you immediately kick them right in the crotch. We've had enough of your damn lemons! You then need to follow corporate policy #63B wherein you pelt said \"Life\" and their house with combustible lemons, which are conveniently located in bins outside the engineering department. Just, uh, don't use those lemons for anything else. ", "After Jimmy's turn was over Bob reached across the board to spin the wheel. Despite his hopes for a 5 he got a 3 and had to draw a card. Did he get that promotion he wanted? Nope, he just got more fucking lemons. One man can only handle so much without snapping Bob reached his point. With a great shout he upended the board and yelled \"Man fuck this game and fuck you Jimmy for only having Life: Farm Fresh!\" " ]	2
	[WP] Death was actually pretty nice to the people who died. When finally Death is on it's deathbed, everyone gives it a final goodbye.	[ "In what world does Death die? How should we remember her? Throughout history, we have cursed death for robbing us of brilliant minds like Van Gogh and Mozart. We have grieved the loss of millions in countless conflicts. But as humanity evolved, our control and relationship with death changed with it.\n\nWith an increase in wealth, children no longer needed to die before their parents. As education and regulations grew in place, no longer was death a hovering constant, both at home and in the workplace. An increase in automation and advances in science reduced the possibility that death could take us through ill or chance. Fate became something that we could control.\n\nBut as death faded, so too did our need for relationships, our aspirations, our curiosity. Don't believe me? When was the last time you spoke with your parents? When did you aspire to achieve something greater than yourself? When, if ever, did you challenge yourself with a novel situation? With an eternity, we have forever to do something tomorrow. So today, as we bid farewell to Death, we must say our goodbyes to Life as well." ]	1
	[WP] Tomorrow is unavoidably the last day of your life, but today you're allowed to relive any day from your past.	[ "\"Why are you doing this?\" \n\n\"It's not procedure to know when the end comes. I feel bad for those that do and so I'm making you this offer, choose the memory you want most and I will shepherd you there.\"\n\n\"I'm not sure about this. How do I know that I can trust you?\"\n\n\"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not, it only matters what happens once you accept.\"\n\nThe reapers words were cryptic yet straightforward. I honestly sat there in my hospital bed shaking in fear of the figure before me; a floating cloak of blackness and scythe, indeterminate in shape and form but constantly oozing darkness into the room. When it waved its free arm to emphasize its point the details of the room behind it blurred into blankness. It was not fair to call the black of the reaper simply a color, it was a destruction of the existence which took for granted. I was afraid, and even looking back now I can't blame myself for that fear.\n\n\"What happens if you're lying to me?\" I asked of the figure.\n\n\"Well, nothing I suppose. Either I'm telling the truth and you get your last moment, or I'm lying and it doesn't matter either way then does it?\"\n\nThe figure made a point. I knew my days were numbered, and not in the double digits. To pass on an opportunity as this to experience a brief pleasure before the end would be a travesty.\n\n\"I want to see the night of March 13th, 1992.\"\n\n\"You know this trip doesn't let you change the past, right?\"\n\n\"I know. Send me there.\"\n\nThe room flashed a white so brilliant I believed that no painter had ever capture the color on paper before. Suddenly the light flashed out of existence just as it had come into it and I stood there with my guide in the front lawn of a house I had not seen in over a decade.\n\n\"We're here.\" I muttered to myself.\n\n\"Yes, we are\" spoke the inky blackness \"I hope you can find some appreciation here.\"\n\nJust then the front door of the house before us swung open and a young man ran outside. He shouted back towards the door with hate that he had wished to never have been born. A tear ran down my eye, yet I continued to watch the scene. An older man, younger than I, stumbled out of the door after the child of an adult.\n\n\"You're nothing\" he shouted \"You'll never make it anywhere, come back in the fucking house.\"\n\nHis words were slurred and biting. He thrust his words forward like a pikeman with his spear, not intending understanding but attempting to hurtle damage at his verbal opponent. The young man stopped next to a car in the driveway and began to cry a long with me\n\n\"Get back in the god damn house\" the older man yelled \"Where do you even think you're going?\"\n\nThe young man looked back at the older man once more with scorn before opening the door to the car and stepping into it. With a flick of his wrist the car started and he drove off into the night, his headlights growing distant in the Spring night. The old man stood in his doorway, watching the car disappear in the distance. Once its lights were gone beyond the horizon he spit once and returned into the household.\n\nI realized now that I had been screaming the entire time, only so that my words had been muted. The exhaustion of the event dropped me to my knees. The specter placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and the scene blinked out of existence." ]	1
	[WP] You are an assassin with the power to kill anyone, so long as they can call you their friend. You are... The Befriender.	[ "He smiled coyly and motioned me to stand next to him. \n\n\"I'll tell you something, only because I consider you a trustworthy friend...\"\n\nThere it was, the go ahead. The CEO of Vol Corp, one of the most hated men in the world, he'd made his millions by sabotaging companies and using back doors to crash their systems. He had many people out for him. It took time, persistence, and many deals to get to this point. I had worked my way into his inner circle. Close enough to gain his trust, his desire. The job was easier being a woman, especially for such a shallow man. He cared about things and not people. A small dress was all it took to get his attention and once I was in his line of sight well, it wasn't long before he asked me to start helping him on more difficult deals. \n\n\"It's all a lie.\" His smile curled up into a sneer. \n\nMy interest peaked and I turned to look at him with a curious expression. \n\n\"What's a lie?\" The tone of innocence fell smoothly from my lips. \n\nThis wasn't like me, to play games. To let him continue. I prefer to go straight for the kill. It stops any chance of hesitation, it's better for my reputation to make it simple. \n\n\"You.\" His voice was hard and cold, but it made my skin crawl and a smile cross my lips. \n\nI leaned against the giant glass window of his office overlooking the city. The lights of traffic moved like stars along the sky, I reached down to the back of my heel and pulled a long blade with a rose on the end. \n\n\"You were always too good to be true, too good at being exactly what I needed when I needed it, always saying the right things, doing the right things.\" \n\nI put my arm on his shoulder and strode around him, the blade slipped seamlessly into his neck. He coughed and a bubble of warm red blood followed. \n\n\"I knew I recognized you...\" his voice gurgled as he fell to his knees \"...Befriender.\" \n\nI walked out, pulling the tie from my hair as I walked down the hall and pulled out the black phone tucked into my hip holster. Unlocking the screen and with a touch calling my client. \n\n\"It's done.\" \n\nThe elevator doors closed as the secretary screamed in horror. Music to my ears. Nothing is better than the thrill of killing a friend. " ]	1
	[WP] 'I'll leave the front door open.'	[ "It's totally crazy to witness a world-changing historic event, but here's the general scoop.\n\nI was just sitting in the computer lab on campus when Dr. Katherine Kimball came in and sat next to me. Yeah, seriously, Dr. Katherine Kimball, the totally crazy lady who everybody makes fun of. She came into the public computer lab and logged into her account and started typing away, literally right next to me.\n\nThen, she got a phone call, right, and her volume was so loud that I could hear the guy on the other end. He said something about \"getting back from Toronto\" and the \"mint-condition Pez dispenser\" and how she needed to \"get back to the store right away.\" He said \"I'll leave the front door open,\" and she started getting all nervous and sweaty. I literally thought she was gonna hyperventilate. She stood up and left the computer lab without realizing that she left herself logged in.\n\nThen this other kid came in and sat down and started browsing Reddit, and I think he slowly realized that he had access to Dr. Kimball's personal accounts. He almost left but then came back and he started printing like everything on there.\n\nAnyway, I have more details about that day if you want. I can tell you what Dr. Kimball was wearing, in like extreme and brutal detail.\n\nLet me know if you're interested in bringing me on for that interview.\n\nCiao!\n\n///\n \nScene #32 of r/100scenes", "“Wednesday. I’ll leave the front door open.” I clicked off my phone and slipped it back into the pocket of my grey hoodie, exchangin’ it for the set of nitrile gloves. I could hear the garbage truck rumblin’ along on the next block. I didn’t need to check the house numbers as I walked up the street. I had come here every day since last Wednesday to watch the house. I didn’t like bein’ surprised. \n \nI’m an executioner. I have been killin’ for 25 years, and I’m damn good at it. I started in the bush, shooting rabbits with the BB gun my dad got me (after two weeks of begging). It didn’t take long for him to realize I was a pretty good shot. He upgraded me to a Winchester and took me huntin’ with him every chance he got. I killed my first deer at 8 and my first bear at 11. \n \nI joined the military in 2005, the year I graduated from secondary school. They slotted me for Special Ops almost right away. Put a McMillian Tac-50 in my hand and over the next 10 years I garnered over 400 confirmed kills. \n \nI was discharged from the military after a bar fight where I punched my commandin’ officer. She was sleepin’ with my husband, fuckin’ bitch. She could have him. Got a divorce and started the life I lead now. It’s a quiet life, off the grid. I have a cabin in the Appalachians, no one around for a few thousand kilometres. \n \nI walked up the long walkway past perfectly manicured grass toward the blue, two story house with white shutters. I opened the door and walked in without bothering to knock. As I quietly closed the door behind me, I looked back, making sure no one was watchin’.\n \n“Hush little baby, don’t say a word. Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.” I could hear singin’ coming from upstairs. I silently pulled out the Glock 26 I bought from a gangster in Alaska the year before. Probably had a few bodies on it, and it was cheap. I grabbed a black throw pillow from the couch, walked noiselessly up the stairs and followed the singin’ to the third door on the right. I stood outside and listened for a moment. She had a nice voice. \n \nI stepped inside, pointing the gun as I did. She was leaning over a white crib, her short, dark hair concealin’ her face as she patted the baby. I fired one time through the pillow, striking her in the back of the head. She was pushed forward from the force of the shot, and then slid off the crib to the floor. The baby was already asleep, and didn’t make a sound. \n \nI tossed the gun and the pillow on the ground and retraced my steps out of the house. \n \nI don’t know who had wanted her dead or why, but the job was done. I removed the gloves as I walked, slippin’ them and the cheap phone into a neighbor’s full trashcan as the garbage truck turned onto this block. Then, I disappeared, $100,000 richer. " ]	2
	[WP] Write a story about returning to a place from your past.	[ "As the old man wanders down the abandoned halls of his past, he can’t help but cry.\n\t\nThe building's a bucket of bad memories, and though he doesn’t remember which was his, every room looks the same. They’ve all got horrible iron doors you can’t see a lick out of, and barred windows which let you barely glimpse the world you’re trapped from.\n\t\nContinuing on, he spots a flower poking through the floor, and it almost makes him smile. How could something so peaceful make its home somewhere like this, where the sick were labeled insane, tossed in a cell, and let out only when it was convenient?\n\t\nHe bends down and admires it, wondering what the mean doctor in black shades would think of him now. Would he still curse at him, or hit him though he hadn’t done anything wrong? What about the short nurse with the snappy lips? Would she still bark orders at him?\n\t\nWith a sigh, he decides they would. It’s a horrible thing to think about, but isn’t that why he’s here? To tear open old scars and let them bleed, to put his fears behind him and shut the door.\n\t\nHis daughter, who until now has lingered near the entrance, walks over and wraps her arms around his neck. She likes to think she understands the struggle of being considered a freak, of being hated by everyone paranoid of not being normal—but she never will, and the old man has accepted that because she doesn’t have to.\n\t\nAll that matters is that she’s here for him, helping him finally find closure.\n**\nWhile not a place from my* past, I still think this story fits. Thanks for the prompt! :D \n\nIf you like this story, check out my sub! r/longhandwriter" ]	1
	[WP] You placed a fake, romantic "Missed Connections" Craigslist ad describing an outlandishly fictitious missed moment. You never actually expected for anyone to respond, but now 3 people claim to be your Missed Connection.	[ "It was Saturday night and I had nothing better to do. I logged onto Craigslist.\n\n\n\nMissed Connection: you were in the organic produce section of the supermarket. Our hands met as we reached for a locally-grown zucchini. You blushed and apologized. I made a joke about how kangaroos and zucchinis are both incapable of operating heavy machinery. Surprisingly, you laughed at the joke. We talked for another moment. I introduced myself and told you “hopefully I’ll see you around sometime”. You said you always went to that supermarket.\n\nMinutes later, you were in the frozen food aisle. Our hands met as we reached for a box of garlic bread. Was it happy coincidence or had you orchestrated another run-in? I couldn’t know for sure. I made a joke about how garlic bread and the literary works of Walt Whitman are both incapable of driving a motor vehicle. You laughed at my joke again. I gave you my number and told you to give me a call sometime. I am new in town and could use a local to show me around. You agreed and said you would call.\n\nMinutes later, you were at the checkout lines. Our hands met as we reached for one of the loudspeaker microphones. We were both attempting to say something funny over the system. I made a joke about how that particular microphone was large enough that it should be called a macrophone. You laughed again. We made an announcement over the loudspeaker together. “Attention all customers: fart. That is all.” We both laughed. Then we were both scolded by a manager. I reiterated that you should call me sometime and you agreed.\n\nMinutes later, you were in the parking lot. Our hands met as we reached for a loose nickel on the ground. I made a joke in an old-man voice about how “I remember when hamburgers only cost a nickel”. You laughed. You made a joke about how “in my day, we had to walk 15 miles to school, barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways”. I laughed. I reiterated that you should call me and you agreed.\n\nMinutes later you were at the intersection of Washington and 7th. Our hands met as our cars barreled into each other. As we climbed from the wreckage, I made a joke about how “I need a new car anyway”. You laughed. I appreciated your ability to remain calm in such a contentious situation. After giving police statements and exchanging insurance information, I reiterated that you should call me, maybe this weekend. I asked if you were busy Friday and you said you were not. I said “great, it’s a date”, and you agreed.\n\nMy phone was destroyed in the accident and I have a new number. Please reach me at ###-###-####\n\n\n\nI posted the Missed Connection at 9:30 p.m. By 10:30, I had received three calls from three separate women, each claiming to be my missed connection. Had each woman not known my name and insurance policy number, I would have considered the calls a prank. But as they knew my personal information, I now live my life in a constant state of confusion. Is time linear? Is reality but an illusion? I’m in search of answers. If you have some answers, feel free to call me at ###-###-####." ]	1
	[WP] The main character of a story discovers why he's still alive: Plot Armor. The MC then proceeds to abuse its power.	[ "John smirked with a look in his eyes that some would call cocky. See, John was but a small farm boy who found buried treasure in the forest near his home at the ripe age of 10. Throughout his adolescence he had fended off countless attempts on his life despite being weak and unskilled with all tools and blades. Once a man with a knife knocked down John's bedroom door when John was just 14, just to trip over it and break his neck. Another man attempted to attack John with a bow when John was 16. The arrow ended up missing nearly every time. The man went through nearly 20 arrows before simply giving up. After that one John realized he had a gift. He couldn't die, he was just too important. \n\nJohn became a master dueler. He bested the best swordsmen all across the land with only his fists, earning him much fame throughout the land. However, the person in front of John was different. He was a stranger who wore a cloak and carried a short sword that glimmered in the evening light. John didn't care about any of that, he's never lost a duel to this date and this slight figure in front of him looked nearly as bad at dueling as John looked. \n\nThe stranger struck out first without warning and John was surprised at the speed of his attacks. Of course John couldn't be killed, he dodged and made it out of the first engagement with but a few scrapes and bruises. The stranger oddly looked the same as John, with only a few bruises on his body from where John had managed to hit him. As John prepared for the second round, doubt grew in his mind. He had never had to go to a second round, he had defeated everyone nearly immediately. \n\nThe second round was more intense, this stranger was different than the others. Almost as if something else was controlling it's body and it moved with an unnatural grace. As John bobbed and weaved through the stranger's attacks he could feel himself slowly losing stamina and slowing down. John started panicking, the stranger was not slowing. Eventually, John was too slow, and was brutally cut on both of his legs. John fell to his knees, gasping, the stranger put his sword to John's neck.\n\n\"Who are you?\" John sputtered out. \n\n\"M'name's Arther,\" the stranger responded \"I'm a farm boy who found gold in the forest near my home\"\n\n\"No,\" John murmured \"It can't be, I'm too important to die.\" \n\nThe stranger smirked and John's head toppled to the ground. There must be something different about me Arther thought, I have a gift, I can't die." ]	1
	[WP] A Detective makes a deal with Death. He has 48 hours to solve his own murder	[ "The lit end of the detective's cigarette was the only bright point in a world of shifting greys. \n\n\"Hell of a thing for a Sunday,\" he said to Lance. His hand sketched out a wide arc that took in the overflowing gutter, the corpse lying slumped in it, and the two of them, standing where the blood mingling with the rainwater wouldn't get on their shoes. \n\nLance hadn't been with the department long, but he had seen enough to nod in weary agreement. The town was like that. One damn thing after another. The case in front of him was typical. He'd seen a hundred just like it. Why, there was the time - and there his mind dissolved in sudden confusion. For some reason his mind couldn't provide any examples, for all that he'd had the impression of hundreds.\n\nFighting through the confusion, he leaned forward over the corpse and lifted a sodden lump of brown hair out of the guy's face, trying to get a good look through the driving rain. \n\nWith a sudden jolt of recognition, he realised the glazed-over eyes he was looking at were his own. \n\n\"Hey - \" he tried to say, but the raincoated figure beside him spoke on as if nothing had happened. \n\n\"The way I see it, a rookie cop went into the wrong neighbourhood without backup, found out the hard way how much damage a fire axe can do to your chest cavity.\" \n\nLance gasped at a sudden shadowy pain that felt half-immediate, half-remembered. One hand went protectively to his chest and found that, beneath his stained white shirt, no resistance met his fingers. It was as if half his ribs were missing - as if, underneath his uniform, he had the same injuries as the corpse in front of him. \n\nThe detective turned to him in grim satisfaction. \"What do you think, Lance? Should we chalk it up to inexperience?\"\n\nLance blinked and struggled to focus. Feeling the pain had done something to his perceptions. The rain had lessened, and a little colour seemed to be filtering back into the world. The corpse at his feet wasn't dressed in a tattered three-piece suit, but a modern police uniform. And it wasn't even raining where he was - Lance could see the sun shining high in the sky, even though for some reason the warmth wasn't reaching him. \n\n\"Still just as dead, though,\" the detective said, and chuckled. It wasn't an unkind sound. \"Looks like you've got your bearings pretty quickly, Lance. Usually people spend a couple of months here as beat cops before stumbling on themselves.\" \n\nLance's mind was still racing, trying to piece together all the disparate elements of what had happened. \"So - is this a dream? Is that really me down there?\" \n\nThe detective shrugged his shoulders. \"Only in metaphor, Lance. Right now you're actually in the morgue, I'm sorry to say. This is you as you were for twenty minutes, before your back-up arrived far too late.\" \n\n\"And - why am I seeing it? What is this place?\" \n\nThe detective sighed, and seemed to focus his eyes on something impossibly distant. \"You were a cop, Lance. A good one, as it happens. Forgive me for the rookie shtick, you were anything but. You had ten years working cases, and then something happened and you wound up dead in the street. Unfortunately for us both, the mind of a trained detective wasn't going to take that lying down. So here we are.\" \n\n\"Where is 'here', exactly?\" \n\nThe detective grinned and shrugged his arms wide. \"You could call it limbo, you could call it an ever-evolving crime scene. This is my beat. Everyone who dies passes through some version of here. My job is to work out why, and make a record.\" \n\nThere was a lot to digest, but Lance had always been a good interviewer. His mind had started to chug away, storing away everything the detective said for correlating against other information. \"So - you're death, then? I always thought you were the guy who actually did the deed, you know? One big scythe swing, and then I'd be in the afterlife.\" \n\nThe detective looked pained. \"Why would I need a scythe? Whoever did you looks like they didn't exactly need any help. C'mon, Lance. You know policing. In the end, it's all about the paperwork. People are backed up in limbo like you don't even know, waiting for their case files to become available.\" \n\nWith that, he pulled a small notebook and pencil from his pocket, flipped to a certain page, and crossed out a few lines. \n\n\"What's that you've got there?\" Lance asked. \n\n\"Case notes,\" the detective said without looking up. \"I had you down as DOA, time of dissolution pretty identical to time of death. You and I were going to shake our heads over this poor unfortunate then wander back down the precinct, at which time your consciousness would have relaxed and let go. Instead, look at us, huh?\" \n\n\"Wait, what? What do you mean dissolution? Am I going to die again?\" \n\nThe detective sighed. \"No, you're already dead. Lance, look, I'll be honest with you. The prognosis isn't great. You're just a shade of yourself, held together by your own curiosity about how you died. It would probably be better if you just dissolved here and now, since it's unlikely you'll get any closure from figuring out how you got popped.\" \n\n\"Not going to happen.\" Lance found himself remembering more and more of his personality as the minutes ticked past, and right then he'd remembered he wasn't the kind of guy to be pushed around by anyone. \n\n\"Suit yourself,\" the detective said. \"If you really want to investigate, you'll find it pretty easy to get from place to place - just think, and you're there. And please excuse the decoration in this world. I kind of got stuck on the noir stuff. It's a strong aesthetic.\" \n\nForty-eight hours wasn't long, but it wasn't nothing, either. Lance had a few stray notions beginning to coalesce in the back of his head, details of the last few cases he'd worked on, mugshots from people he'd like to have a serious beyond-the-grave chat with. \"Alright. Can I talk to anyone?\" \n\nThe detective shook his head. \"No can do, partner. About all you've got is your own memories. The solution is in there, though, I promise you.\" \n\n\"Thanks,\" Lance said. \"I, uh - I won't let this department down.\" \n\nThe detective looked at him for a long moment. \"Yeah,\" he said levelly. \"I know you won't. Look, here's my notebook. You figure anything out, you write it down in here, OK? Might help me get sorted with it faster.\" \n\nLance took the notebook, nodded his thanks, turned to leave. \n\n\"Detective!\"\n\nWhen he turned back, something was gleaming in the other detective's hand. \n\n\"Aren't you forgetting something?\" \n\nThe other detective stepped forward and pinned the badge to Lance's lapel, then stepped back and nodded at him in recognition. \n\n\"Welcome to the force.\" \n\n", "The rain had been beating down for the past three days now, like a timpani player who’d misread his sheet music. January had been a cruel mistress, even more so than usual. If there is such a thing as a cold day in hell, this is where they probably would have gotten the idea from.\n\nMy job has never been easy. It’s like taking a swan dive into a sceptic tank: No matter how well you’re doing, you’re still neck deep in all kinds of shit. And this past month, I was drowning in it. Business was slow. The only case I had was coming up empty on all leads. My last rent payment had emptied my savings. So I was spending that night the same way I spent every night: slumped in my office chair, staring out the window, and drinking whiskey from the bottle. Everyone’s got their demons to kill, and I’m starting to think that mine can handle their liquor. I didn’t know what tragedy I was playing the starring role in, but I had stopped wanting to act in it years ago.\n\nThat’s when she walked through the door.\n\nShe looked like she’d walked off stage at a joint they don’t let people like me into. She had legs for weeks, and the hair of a movie star. I could tell that her dress didn’t come cheap, and she didn’t look like the one who had paid for it. Somehow, it felt like the room had gotten five degrees colder. She took a seat in the flimsy chair in front of me, and took out a cigarette holder. She looked like she was waiting for me to start talking.\n\nI sat up and cleared my throat. Somehow I knew that this wasn’t going to end well. Women like that tend to have trouble fawning over their every step. “Can I help you?” I asked.\n\nShe laughed, and shook her head. “No, you can’t, detective,” she said, in a voice smoother than glass. She took a long drag from her cigarette and blew smoke towards the window. Then she looked me in the eyes. “You can’t help anyone now.”\n\nI frowned. They usually start telling me about their problems before they tell me I can’t help them. I couldn’t help but think she was toying with me. “What do you mean by that?”\n\nShe smiled, showing teeth whiter than a fresh snowfall. “I didn’t think you were the sort of person to forget things, detective.” She put her cigarette out on the ashtray, and crossed her legs over. “Especially something like that.”\n\nI sighed. “Listen, Miss…”\n\n“Abigail.”\n\n“Right, Miss Abigail. I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you haven’t got a problem-”\n\n“Problem? Oh, no. I don’t have a problem.” She got up from her chair and put both hands on the desk. “But you, on the other hand… you seem to have forgotten something very important.”\n\n“Then do you mind reminding me? Because I’m not in the mood for this.”\n\nShe stood up straight. “What does it feel like when you’re lying face down with five rounds in your back?”\n\nI was about to say something when it all came flooding back. The cracks of five gunshots, and the pain as each one of them hit home. The screams from the bystanders, and the blood pooling into my hands as I tried to close the wounds. The numbing cool of the dirty puddle as I collapsed into it, and everything slowly fading to black. I had died last night. But then… how was I here? And how had I forgotten?\n\n“Of all the people to find in the big man’s waiting room, I had to find you,” she said, placing another lit cigarette into the holder. “There’s something sad about a detective that doesn’t get the chance to solve his most important case.”\n\n“I don’t need your sympathy.” I took a long drink. I was dead, so there wasn’t much more that alcohol could do. “If I’m dead, then how come I’m still here?”\n\n“I don’t like stories that are left unfinished, detective.” She took another drag. “So I think that there is something that you can help me with.”\n\n“…Go on.”\n\n“Well,” she said, sitting down again. “There's a detective called Tom Busch who died a few hours ago on 25th street…”\n\n(A/N: I have no idea how to write noir fiction. But it does mean I get an excuse to proofread in a voice that sounds a bit like Adam Jensen.)\n", "Death was wearing mismatched socks. It’s strange where one’s eyes and mind wander to in stressful situations. Looking down at your own bloodied body probably counted as one.\n\t\n“Your socks don’t match,” Carter muttered, keeping his eyes toward the ground, while also somehow simultaneously being a dead body.\n\n“Who gives a fuck?” Death quipped. \n\nSheets of rain pelted down on top of both dead Cater, and the Carter standing beside Death. All three remained silent and stoic, getting wet to the bone. Blood from Carter’s bullet wounds flowed out, staining his suit, mixing with the rainwater and diluting it so that even a foot away no red could be seen.\n\nThe industrial alleyway was otherwise deserted. Carter knelt down to his body, and took his own pulse, finding none. Just cold dead flesh. Carter’s eyes darted towards two spent 9mm shells a foot away. As he rose from his crouch to examine the casing closer, Death yawned.\n\n“I’ve been told you’re a smart guy, so you don’t need me to give you the full rigamarole right?” Death asked.\t\n\t\nCarter ignored him, standing up and walking the grid, instinct taking over. He pulled out his notebook and starting jotting down first impressions. After he got a page or so in, he looked at Death, who was preoccupied with tugging a loose strand of fabric off the cuff of his suit jacket. Death made no effort to try and shield himself from the downpour.\n\n“I need to find who did this,” Carter stated. Death remained as apathetic as dead Carter.\n\n“If you must,” Death said ripping the rogue strand off and tossing it away.\n\n“Really?” Carter asked surprised at the reply.\n\n“Don’t cops say that if no leads are found within 48 hours, then the murder will likely never be solved?” Death asked\n\n“Something like that,” Carter responded.\n\n“Well then let’s say 48 hours,” Death said checking his watch. \n\nCarter turned and lifted his body up, checking underneath it for any additional shell casings or other clues. As he set his body back down, he paused, stood up, and walked back over to Death, who continued to stand staring blankly.\n\n“Who killed me?” Carter asked, notepad in hand, ready to jot down notes.\n\n“I have no idea,” Death replied.\n\n“Aren’t you all knowing or something?”\n\n“No, you’re thinking of God. I’m not God, I’m Death.”\n\nCarter rolled his eyes and went back to working the crime scene. Examining a scene in the rain was always tough. Evidence washed away in a downpour like this, fingerprints were impossible to find. Carter glanced over his shoulder.\n\n“Don’t you have other...” Carter paused to choose his words. “Souls to claim?”\n\n“No, you’re dead now, so we’re outside of the normal human constructs of space and time,” Death said, a hint of agitation peppering his words now. Carter was nonplussed for a moment.\n\n“If that’s the case then why did you just give me 48 hours to find my killer?” Carter asked, his own voice starting to rise.\n\n“I just said that to make you feel better,” Death admitted shrugging his shoulders. \n\n“Thanks,” Carter grunted sarcastically.\n\nCrime scene forensics weren’t Carter’s speciality. He was more of a closer. Get the suspect into interrogation, get a confession out by any means necessary. However, Carter knew enough to get by. And the scene seemed simple enough. Based on the entry wounds in the back of the body, and the location of the shell casings, the perp had approached the victim from behind and fired two shots. Carter had worked enough cases to know the Medical Examiner would likely say death was caused by massive and immediate cardiac trauma. The victim likely didn’t suffer. At least Carter didn’t remember suffering.\n\n“My gut instinct,” Carter said turning to look at Death and pointing at the body “Is that this I was getting too close to something big. Yesterday, I had gotten some good intel off a CI, he was ready to rat on his Capo.” \n\n“Yesterday? I just told you time is irrelevant now,” Death reminded him. Carter slumped his shoulders dejected.\n\n“How long have we been here?” Carter asked cautiously. \n\n“We’ve been standing here talking for a nanosecond, and a billions years, and everywhere in between,” Death responded. Carter grimaced. The rain continued to fall. Seconds, days, years, centuries ticked by and at the same time, didn’t.\n\n“We’ve been here less than 5 minutes,” Carter said confidently.\n\n“If you say so, like I said, who gives a fuck?” Death replied. \n", "\"I've always admired your work,\" said Death. He was leaning against an overgrown elm situated in the back corner of the cemetery. Around him, old tombstones sat weathered with age and their barely legible numerals spoke of precious visits. Propped against one of the rotting stones was the Detective. His corpse showed the stains of several bullet holes and his tired face looked peaceful in its final escape from the world.\n\n\"And I've always admired yours,\" said the Detective. He stood crouched in front of his corpse investigating the scene. Death had a playful smile on his face as he watched the Detective work. The man lifted the flap of his overcoat and looked closely at the wounds. \"Large caliber. Explains why I didn't see it coming.\" He stood and looked around him before his sight settled on the old church and its stone tower. He looked at death, \"May I?\"\n\nDeath nodded solemnly. \"Be my guest,\" he said as he gestured for them to walk. \"We have no hurry.\" They crossed the cemetery walking between the graves and entered the church through its large wooden doors. As they walked down the aisle, their footsteps failed to sound on the old field stone. The Detective paused, and bent down to the ground. He stood up holding a cigarette smoked almost to the filter. He put it to his lips and felt for the lighter in his coat pocket. He smiled sheepishly. \"Suppose I left it with my body.\"\n\nDeath smiled and held out a flame. The Detective bent close to the skeletal hand and dragged in a breath of stale smoke. \"Chesterfields,\" he said. He spit it back onto the floor where it scattered the ash of its cherry. Death nodded and continued to walk toward the tower. The winding stone staircase rose above the surroundings and at the top they looked out from the fallen wooden shudders which once protected the bells. He stared at his his corpse in the distance. He kicked a shell casing which lay at his feet. \"This is where he got me. Clear shot. Might as well have offed myself.\" He shook his head and muttered beneath his breath. Death believed he said \"stupid.\"\n\nThe Detective stood in silence; his face solemn in deep thought. Finally he looked at where Death waited patiently. \"I know who it was.\" They stared at one another for some time as a flight of crows landed in the bell tower and looked curiously at the pair. \"All I need is one day.\"\n\nDeath nodded. \"I expect I will see you soon.\"\n\nThe Detective woke and looked across the tombstones as the crows scattered from the belfry. He stood and dusted off his bloody clothes. \"Time to work.\"" ]	4
	[WP] Whenever someone dies, they are reincarnated as the animal they hated the most as a human.	[ "Death was bad enough without the knowledge I was going to be reincarnated as a spider. I let out a shudder, and my family gathered closer. They didn't like to see me in such pain, but I just couldn't let go, considering.\n\n\"It's okay, Grandma. Charlotte was a spider too, and she saved Wilber. Spiders are cool,\" said my granddaughter, Eliza.\n\nShe was such a sweetheart, always trying to make people feel better. She also had an enormous ant farm and wanted to be an entomologist when she grew up. I would never understand it.\n\nI was slipping and I knew it. They were all fading in and out and I smelled... was that roses? I couldn't think straight.\n\nEliza leaned in close to me and whispered, \"Grandma, my silk spider laid eggs, today. If you come back as one, please write my name in your web. I will give you the best life I can. I love you.\"\n\nA tear escaped my eye. If I had to be reborn something so hideous, at least maybe I'd still be in my grandbaby's life. That didn't sound so bad.\n\n\"I love you, too, sweetheart,\" I said, and let go.", "It's not easy to hate them. I don't even know if it'll work if my heart's not in it. The fates can't be fooled. I just don't want to end up as a cockroach or an iguana or a chihuahua. I'd much rather be a tiger.\n\nI mean of course I don't really want to be a tiger. They're so...weak and ugly and...whatever the opposite or majestic is. No, they're majestic. And who wants to be that. That would...suck. They live in the most horrific environment. They have so much space to themselves, they just wander back and forth through the ruins of ancient temples, high grass, lounging in trees, basking in the warmth of the setting sun, its orange glow making their fur shine even brighter like gold...\n\nYeah. No one wants that. I'd rather be a naked mole rat. They're always clustered together, never alone, they don't have to deal with that pesky sun, that's for sure. And wow, they are...beautiful? Pasty and wrinkly like someone's over-bathed big toe. What I wouldn't give to be one of those. Yep. That's my favorite. shudder" ]	2
	[WP] When people die, they go to their religion's version(s) of the afterlife. You have died, but as a joke the only religion you ever joined was the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster	[ "\n'Where am I?' I thought to myself as I floated in mid air atop clouds of spiraling spaghetti and angel hair pasta. All around me are beautiful angels, women with full breasts made of spicy meatballs, lathered in marinara sauce. Men with meatballs and sausages to be proud of, launching alfredo sauce at me in slow motion while whispering in my ear 'slow down, chill out, you're in heaven now'.\n\nAnd so I listened to them as Alfredo sauce drenched my nude body and women made of ravioli stroked my hair and carried me off towards a bright, glowing, indigo light. As I drifted away, I began to remember the last few moments of my life. \n\n'Get up offa my floor' A fat, Italian man yelled over a crowd full of hysteric restaurant patrons.\n\n'Papa, he's a chocking on a meatball' an old woman said in a heavy Italian accent.\n\n'That's impossible. No body ever chokes on one of Papa's, award-winning meatballs' the old man spat back in protest. \n\n'Somebody call an abulance' an african american woman across the aisle from me yelled. Then everything went black. I died in an Italian restaurant, so does that mean I went to an Italian heaven? \n\n'That must be it' I thought to myself. 'This is always how I imagined an Italian heaven would look like. Except my version had a lot more giant, green pipes with monstrous venus fly traps coming out of them'.\n\nThen I came back to where I was, straddled in the arms of a giant, meatball breasted pasta angels when I saw him. He was like a cthulu but with long, spaghetti tentacles. He had two meatballs coming out of his giant, cluster of spaghetti strands like tumorous testicles. He was dripping with marinara sauce. \n\nI remember looking at an cartoonish version of him everyday as I got in my car to leave. He was the bumper sticker on the back of my car, a reminder of my allegiance to the flying spaghetti monster. \n\n'So he's real?' I thought to myself, more confused than ever. But it didn't matter, because I had always loved pasta, and I couldn't imagine a better heaven than a pasta heaven. \n\nI reached up and gave the penne angel a french kiss goodbye, then flew off towards the giant, flying spaghetti monster.\n\n'Yes Flying Spaghetti Monster, I accept you as my lord and savior' I yelled as I flew towards the monster. He spread out his spaghetti tentacles like arms wide open. Then the song Arms Wide Open by Creed began to play from somewhere far off in the distance. \n\nAs I flew towards the monster I heard a voice in my head asking me something. 'Will you accept me as your marinara lord?' the voice asked. I realized that it was coming telepathically from the flying spaghetti monster. I was overwhelmed with joy, the flying spaghetti monster was talking to me! I couldn't believe it. \n\n'Yes flying spaghetti monster, I accept you as my marinara lord!' I shouted back as loud as I could.\n\n'And do you accept me as your spaghetti savior?' the voice asked.\n\n'Of course, I accept you as my spaghetti savior!' I yelled back.\n\n'Will you devote eternity to me in all your ways?' the voice asked.\n\nI felt a deep joy erupting from the inside of my heart. I screamed as loud as I could 'Yes, I am your servant. I surrender my will to you, oh great flying spaghetti monster!' then I dove head first towards the great strands of spaghetti and into the heart of the flying spaghetti monster itself. Inside the cluster of spaghetti, I was tossed back and forth as if I was in a huge, delicious carwash. I was splashed in the face with marinara and vodka sauce. There was oregano dripping out of my nose, I could barely breath. The spaghetti strands were long and thick and would whip me until I got whelts. \n\n'Ok flying spaghetti monster, I think I've had enough' I yelled. 'I'm full' I pleaded with him. \n\n'I don't think so. You surrendered your will to me' the voice screamed in my head, followed by an evil laugh. \n\nMwa-ha-ha-ha" ]	1
For any that are unfamiliar, morphological freedom is the civil right of a person to either maintain or modify their own body, on their own terms, through informed, consensual recourse to, or refusal of, available therapeutic or enabling medical technology.	[WP] It's 2026, prosthetics have surpassed biology and have become insanely affordable. The only body part that can't be replaced is the brain, but it can be upgraded with implants. The legislation allowing full morphological freedom has just passed.	[ "Thunderous applaused filled the Congress.\n\nFull morphological freedom, being to modify your own body, has been passed with overwhelming majority.\n\nIn just half a decated, bionic engineers developed prosthetics that, were not only equals to their bilogical counterparts, but surpass them. And the people yelled for being able to modified their bodies with them.\n\nAnd the people's scream was answered.\n\nLudd left the Congress, the legislation was passed by a majority, but not by all.\n\nHe felt drepessed, all that he worked the last three years ended up at nothing. He knew that, if he was remember, his memory will be of someone who opposed progress.\n\nTalos left the Congress. He was euphoric.\n\nHe was the opposited of Ludd. young, he losted half his body in a terrorist attack, and the other half started to collapse. Only thanks to the new prosthetics did he survived, and, as such he was one of the biggest supporters of them.\n\n\"Good day, Mr. Talos\" Ludd said with a muted voice.\n\n\"Good day indeed\" he replied \"because this is the day that a new era has started, a Golden Age for humanity\"\n\n\"I sadly need to disagree, I think that we're at the beggining of the end\"\n\n\"and how did you end in that conclusion!?\" Talos exclaimed \"Humanity will live for a longer time, if not forever. our minds will not be chained by our body needs, we'll rech a new technological renaissance\"\n\n\"But our minds will still aged and die\" Ludd replied \"rotting in our metal sarcophagus\"\n\n\"Inmortal animals already exist: Turtles, lobsters, even some Whales live for centuries, only dying by external factors, like disease.\n\n\"Genetic engineering has advance a lot since the discovery of CRISPR. The question has stopped being if we'll find a way to become inmortal, and now is when we'll find a way to become inmortal\"\n\n\"That will not stopped people from dying by accident, by murder\" Ludd, replied \"humanity will still die, slowly but surely, humanity will perish\"\n\n\"You're asuming that we will stop giving birth to new humans!\" Talos exlaimed \"more people will be born in the future, and because less people will die, the population will increase, not perish!\"\n\n\"Birth rates has been going down since the last century, and full body prosthetics make you sterile, you should know that, Talos\"\n\n\"The majority of the population will never have full body prosthetics\" he replied \"so the majority of the population will be able to reproduced.\n\n\"And even if I'm not correct, artificial wombs will improve, making pregnancy unnecessary\"\n\n\"All of the reasons why why you think that we will reach a \"Golden Age\" is because of technology that, or doesn't exist, or need heavy improvements.\n\n\"You think that technology is linear, that will never stop improving, but that's not the case. There's an innumerable number of examples in history culture than became technologicaly stagnant. Thinking that our civilization is an exception is just naive\"\n\n\"I can say the same about your argumanet, Ludd\" Talos replied \"Your reasoning is based that we will ignore this problems, instead of trying to resolve them.\n\n\"On the technology part, you seem to ignore the reason why they become stagnant or loose technology. They lacked the resources needed to improve they technology, to live instead of surviving, we have all of the resources of Earth in our hand, and in a not so distand future, the resources of the hole Solar System\"\n\n\"And when we exploit all of the Solar System recourses then what?\" Ludd said, almost yelling.\n\n\"I don't know\" Talos said \"I really don't know.\n\n\"We are saying all of this like if we knew the answer,the future can take the path that you said, they can take the path that I say, but it can also take another path, a path that neather of us can see. we can only be optimistic and hope for the best future\"\n\n\"We can only hope\" Ludd finally said.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nWell,this is my second time writing here, I hope you liked it." ]	1
	[WP] Once every 24 hours, you must, without fail, make a wish, and toss a coin fairly. If you guess the toss correctly, your wish is granted. If you guess incorrectly, the results of the wish are given to the person on Earth you least want to have it.	[ "It's lunch and I'm throwing imaginary daggers at Amanda. Look at her, sat there, the bitch. How dare she smile. In my head, a clown enters the room and dumps a bowl of jelly on her head. Her shirt is as red as her cheeks are, burning with humiliation and red dye number 2. In reality, I watch her mouth close around a ham and salad cream sandwich and I suppress a snarl. My ham and salad cream sandwich that she stole from me.\n\nIt's okay though. I hadn't used today's wish yet. I could use it to make the clown real, but my uniform is clean on today and my other needs washing, so I don't want to take the risk that I get the coin toss wrong - that clown could dump the jelly on me. I could still save it for a chocolate gateaux as my birthday cake, but the thought of her having that too, on my birthday, tastes almost as sour as watching her swallow the sandwich down.\n\nNo, I'm going to do this in the most British way I can think of. A wish that conveys as much quiet disapproval as a \"tsk\" at someone with their feet on the bus chair does. The thing is, I'll win either way.\n\nI toss the coin.\n\n\"I wish for a hot cup of Yorkshire Tea... milk first.\"" ]	1
	[WP] You are a police officer responding to a disturbance call in a large suburban home. Upon arrival, you are ambushed and tied down, stripped of your equipment. It's only a matter of time before your radio silence raises alarms. Your captor knows this too, and is waiting in anticipation.	[ "\"Are you sure this isn't some kinky fetish thing going on, bro?\"\n\nThe guy who had ambushed me, tied me down, stripped me of my equipment (but not all of my equipment -- if you know what I mean wink wink) and was now holding me hostage, glared at me before peeking through the curtains again like a creeper. \"Where are they?\"\n\nHis foot tapped impatiently on the floor and I beat boxed along to it for a little while until he glared at me. \n\n\"Who?\" I asked. \"You invited some strippers, bro?\"\n\n\"No, you dolt!\" He shouted. \"Your comrades, your amigos, your..\"\n\n\"Partners in crime? We don't do crime, friend.\" I flashed him a smile. \"We stop it. The only crime I can't stop is being this sexy.\" I flexed a pec, then chuckled.\n\n\"Like, yo, dude...what is wrong with you?\" He asked.\n\nBefore I could reply, there was a pounding on the door. He peeked through the curtains and a smile formed on his lips.\n\n\"You have to stop doing that,\" I pointed out. \"Looking out the windows and smiling like that?\" I shook my head. \"Makes you look like a creep, bro, makes you look like a creep.\"\n\n\"I am a creep,\" he shot back. Then thought about what he had just said, and thrust the gun at me. \"Shut up.\"\n\n\"Who's at the door?\"\n\n\"Oh, that,\" he said, turning his back to me. \"Would be your pals*. Why don't we let them in, shall we?\"\n\nAnd he disappeared into the next room to open the door.\n\n\"Phew,\" I muttered, letting out the biggest fart ever. \"Been holding that in...\"\n\n\"Right this way,\" I heard him say, voice coming closer to the room; his steps accompanied by four more pairs of steps.\n\n\"Run!\" I yelled.\n\nEdit: Might continue." ]	1
	[WP] After working hard on graduating with your B.Sc , you receive an email for a job offer abroad. Just before you click "send" to accept the invitation, a bright swirling portal opens in your living room. A version of yourself steps out, battered and bruised yelling "Don't send that email!!"	[ "I felt a burst of pride as I read the email. The opportunity was prestigious, enriching, and exciting, and their offer was generous. I had a feeling I’d aced the interview, but here was the proof. I hovered the mouse over the reply button, mentally composing my grateful acceptance. \nJust as I was about to click, I was startled by a loud fizzing noise behind me. I whirled around in my chair. Right in front of my eyes, a hole appeared. It was jagged and uneven like a rip in the air, and it spat sparks and little licks of flame in every direction, singing the carpet. Then a man stepped through. He was bent over, shielding his face with his arm. His clothes were burning where they got too close to the sides of the portal, flaring up and making large holes in his brown leather sleeves. He quickly whipped off his smouldering jacket and threw it to the ground, removing the worst of the damage but revealing raw burned patches on his skin. Then he looked up. \r\n\nIt was like looking into a mirror. Or, more accurately, like looking into a mirror after a rough night at college. This man was identical to me in every way except that he seemed a little older, a little more tired. He was injured beyond just the burns he’d incurred coming through the hole—he had scars and fresh cuts snaking up his arms, partly healed wounds on his face, and a painful-looking fresh black eye. \r\n\n“Don’t send that email!” He shouted, far louder than the small room warranted. “Don’t send the email,” he said again, more quietly, pleading. \n“Who are you?” I asked. I knew the answer—there aren't a lot of possibilities when your doppelganger steps out of a burning portal in your living room—but some things you need to hear, if only to confirm that you’re either crazy or dreaming.\r \n“I’m you from the future,” he said. “God, that sounds so cliche, but there's no other way to say it. Don’t send the email.”\r \n“Why?”\r \n“Just look at me,” Future Self said, holding out his damaged arms accusingly. “Do I look like someone who's had a good time over the past few years? This trip back in time is the last hope for all of us. It’s all we have left. Everything rests on you not sending that email.”\r \n“Okay,” I said. “Wow. If it’s that important, of course I won’t send it.”\r \nAll the tension went out of Future Self’s body at once, and he sank to the ground, breathing heavily. “Thank god. Thank god. Thank you. You have no idea how much this means—how much it changes. And now, hopefully, you never will.”\r \nI shook my head. “I can’t believe that accepting a job offer could make such a huge difference.”\r \nFuture Self froze. He lifted his face to stare directly into my eyes, pale with horror. “You were about to answer the job email?”\r \n“Yeah, the one in France.”\r \n“Not the email where you agreed to the date with Sarah?”\r \n“No, I sent that one ten minutes ago.”\r \n“Fuck!” He raised his hands to his head, twisting them in his hair. His eyes were wide, his breath ragged. “We’re too late. We're too late.”\r\n" ]	1
	[WP] You're a very successful hero/spy/whatever. However, this whole time you haven't been trying. Now, you're pissed off.	[ "I was not trying, I didn't need it, I couldn't. Spy is like making a big software along other 300 guys. You are never sure, just take your quests and execute it. But in the agency I've been working in, they took it kind a too seriously. \n\nNormal Monday, typing in the computer some meaningless crap. Take a customer request, verify, return to him... Was doing it by months, with nothing else in mind. Stop, take a coffee, a pair of cigarettes, light on, burn my lungs, back to the workstation. Normal. Type a bit more. Small talk with the guy next to me. Nothing to worry, the world is safe for now. End up work day, go home. \n\nThere's something in my mail box, a flash drive. Take it inside home, plug it, and see what's inside. Okay, useless shit, some data, and finally a video from the director. There's a target, dates, places and I got work to do. My first time in field since the training. No worry, take the car, go to my container, take the guns, the documents, the money. Travel to the hotel where my target is. Enter. Go to his level, shot the guard, enter, shot the target on the lag, make some questions... Wait! What the fuck? !? this guy shouldn't have a gun. Okay, no problem, take cover, return fire, take him down.\n\nThere's a bullet in my lag, no problem, just take what I need and go out. Go to the container, take the bullet out, burn a pair of cigarettes, write my report, take the new objective. It says down the desk there's a case. Take it, open it, read it. Okay, there are few items, and a tutorial. \n\nUse it, clean up your mind, organize everything, go home. Normal Thursday, typing in the computer some meaningless crap. Take a customer request, verify, return to him... Nothing else in mind. Stop, take a coffee, a pair of cigarettes, light on, burn my lungs, back to the workstation. Normal. Type a bit more. Nothing to worry, the world is safe for now. End up work day, go home. \n\nThere's something in my mail box, a flash drive. Take it inside home, plug it, and see what's inside. There's a target, dates, places and I got work to do. My first time in field since the training. No worry, take the car, go to my container, take the guns, the documents, the money. Travel to the bay where my target is. Enter. Go to his boat, shot target on the lag, make some questions...\n\nGo to the container, write my report, take the new objective. It says down the desk there's a case. Take it, open it, read it. Okay, there are few items, and a tutorial. \n\nUse it, clean up your mind, organize everything, go home. Normal... WAIT! it's not a normal day, I still remember the mission...\n\nGo to my container, read my reports, take this names, search it... Who am I working for...?" ]	1
	[WP] You have the ability to "soft reset" life, meaning you can undo any error you make. You are beginning to suspect that your date has this ability too.	[ "As is true for all things in life, dating is about power. Said power is gleaned through many means - good looks, embarrassment, money, charm, influence. Sometimes certain skills or behaviors. The one thing to remember is that the more power you hold over the other person, the more things go your way.\n\nTake, for example, a man desperate for his female crush's attention, said female can string him along and if the man - and I use the term loosely at this point - is desperate enough, he will do anything for her and she needs not give anything in return except the possibility of some fantasy future. Women that play this game well enough become very well taken care of for what appears to be no effort on their part - though playing the game is, in itself, quite a lot of work.\n\nWell, for most people.\n\nAnd what of men? Well, what we want is often just trophies, usually in the form of sexual conquest. The rules of the game apply to men in the same way. \n\nWell, again, for most people. It's taken me a long time for me to get as good as I am, but one-and-done has an entirely different meaning to me. I enjoy my conquests, I appreciate them until we naturally part ways, but I take particular pride in my ability to \"get it right\" the first time. The laws of men do not apply to me, but it thrills me to get what I want abiding by them anyway.\n\nSimply put, if I was not satisfied with the outcome of a particular moment, I didn't have to live it. I could \"press the reset button,\" so to speak. The tale involved with this particular skill I had developed is long and not entertaining, suffice to say it did not come naturally and the cost was great, but worthwhile.\n\nI enjoyed playing with female confidence, see their resolve falter momentarily as they realized their wiles had no effect on me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to destroy their confidence, just play with it a little bit. Make them unsure of themselves around me. As I said it's all about power.\n\nThat was why Aurora was so infuriating to me.\n\nAurora had captivated me from the moment I saw her. It wasn't her physical features - though she was quite beautiful - that had captivated me. It was her air of confidence. She was so sure of herself, moreso than I had experienced in the past with any other woman I had encountered. I had attempted to toy with her self-confidence in subtle ways to no effect. She had dodged my questions and avoided all my conversational \"traps\" with grace and poise, leaving me wondering just who she was. I had reset our initial conversation over twenty times to no effect, every avenue I explored ended in a stalemate.\n\nI chalked it up to coincidence and decided I could gain the upper hand during the date we had set up later that week at one of my favorite restaurants.\n\n________________\n\n\"No, no, don't misunderstand!\" Aurora's captivating laughter filled the atmosphere, somehow the sound of it blending perfectly with the sweet aroma of steak and wine. \"I fully intend to complete my doctorate, but I'm taking the next year off to devote my time to my family.\" She took a swig of wine, and her eyes sparkled mischievously.\n\nShe side-swiped me again. I closed my eyes and pushed with my mind. Thirty seconds ought to do it.\n\nI opened my eyes once again as she finished her previous statement. \"-and just finished my Master's thesis, I'm glad to be done with it!\"\n\nMentioning her doctorate hadn't worked, let's try a different approach. \"Well, congratulations! What did you write it on? You seem the type that would want to change the world, one thesis at a time.\"\n\nHer musical laughter halted all conversation around her as she raised her hands in clearly-mocked embarrassment. \"No, nothing like that. I actually wrote it on a fascination of mine - Ancient Tibetan rituals, particularly those involved in scaling Mount Everest and the greater Himalayan region.\"\n\nI let my overeagerness get the better of me. \"Ancient Tibetan rituals? How coincidental! It has been a past-time of mine for many years. Have you read up on the-\" I stopped dead as I saw her knowing smile. Oh no.\n\nI closed my eyes. 30 seconds.\n\n\"-and just finished my Master's thesis, I'm glad to be done with it!\" She smiled again mischievously. \"It was on Ancient Tibetan Rituals, particularly those involved in scaling Mount Everest and the greater Himalayan region, are you familiar with the subject?\"\n\nNo. No. No, no, no. Another 30 seconds.\n\n\"-agree, education is very important.\" That same smile. \"In fact something I just finished studying is Ancient Tibetan Rituals, particularly those involved in scaling Mount Everest and the greater Himalayan region. Are you familiar with the subject?\"\n\nNo. It can't be. Three days this time. The most I've ever had to repeat.\n\n\"-to meet you, Jason! My name's Aurora.\" She held out her hand, smiling exactly as I remembered. I sighed in relief as I took her hand. I had overreacted. \n\nShe smirked at my audible sigh. \"Say, I'm just finishing up my thesis on Ancient Tibetan Rituals, particularly those involved in scaling Mount Everest and the greater Himalayan region. You seem like someone who would be familiar with the subject.\" Again, the smile from three days in the future wormed its way into her features.\n\nI knew my face reflected the terror I was feeling. \"Our master sends his regards, and requests you finish your training immediately. Your \"study abroad\" period is over.\" She reached out her hand and I took it, knowing the alternative was unpleasant. When Master Qupan asked, you did not decline. \"Fifteen years ought to be sufficient. Connect with my Qi, such a time constraint is far too large for either of us to handle alone.\"", "Annoyed and flustered, James nervously tapped his fingers repeatedly. Over and over again with a look of frustration that can only be explained as someone losing a battle that they knew they had in the bag.\n\n\"What's wrong James? Are you not enjoying yourself?\" Ashley stared deadcenter into James's face with little actual concern of whether he was in discomfort.\n\n\"No. I just have been having a rough day...\" James looked down to his phone waiting for any reason to break away from the table even for a second. \"I normally have such good days the only days that stand out anymore are the lousy ones!\"\n\n\"Was going on a date with me really that horrible? I promised I'd play nice, but it seems you're absolutely determined to make this night go wrong\" The waitress swung by quickly with the drinks and moved on as quickly as she could, it was an awfully busy night. \"Thank you love.\"\n\nAshley was a ballbuster. James knew from talking to her friends and common social circles that Ashley never dated someone more than once. She had this confidence and determination that in public made her the perfect girl, yet no one was ever good enough for her. \n\n\"Oh please, when I have a beautiful girl here with me tonight it's hardly a difficult date to say no too.\" James quickly glared down once more.\n\n\"Are you waiting for a call? How desperate are you to get away from me?\" Ashley moved forward as to get up from the table. \n\nSuddenly the local cafe atmosphere was halted. Nothing moved, no one spoke. \n\n\"Damn! Why can't I get this right!\" James began to clutch his chest and hum a melody. Rocking back and forth, things began to slowly reverse and the again the cafe was as lively as ever.\n\n\"Thank you love\" The waitress continued down the line after giving James and Ashley their drinks.\n\n\"A date with You? Gosh most guys on campus would call me a bastard if they knew I even had a date with you. Most guys are the jealous types when someone as desirable as you comes along.\" James rang his finger up the side of his phone and put his phone on vibrate. \"Truth be told I was nervous for this date. I didn't know if I would mess it up.\" \n\n\"James, I'm flattered you see me as someone so desirable but to be frank I'm as common as they come. I just have the good fortune to be where I am today.\" Ashley chuckled as she said fortune. The cocky look in her eye was off setting to James.\n\nHodor! Hodor! James instant message ringer sounded.\n\n\"Crap I thought I'd turn this off\" James suddenly realizing he had already had his phone on vibrate but set it instead to ring.\n\n\"A game of thrones fan I see!\" Ashley gave an almost believable smile as she began immatating the ringer sound.\n\n\"Yeah, that shows the best.\" James looking at the text from Nathan that gave him his reason to break away for a moment. \"Please forgive me Ashley but Nate needs me for a quick second.\"\n\n\"Tell him I said hello!\"\n\nJames gets up from the table and gives a smile to Ashley as he walks to the over side of the cafe. He raps around the corner as he's in view of Nathan he begins to yell. \"What the hell is happening? I have had to use my replay three times tonight!\" \n\n\"How have you messed up that horribly kid!\" Nathan laughed as he had set the date up as a favor to James.\n\n\"I have such a hard time connecting my normal moves. I can't explain it. When we start headed into the right direction we suddenly end up on a tangent that kills my momentum. It's like she's intentionally trying to throw me off my game!\" James had told Nathan about his power but Nathan was always skeptical and since James could never truly prove it, he always had his doubts.\n\n\"Use your magical powers some more. Connect on something different than your 'set moves'.\" Nate got up from the chair and put his hand on James's shoulder. \"I hear she enjoys Celtic melodies, her friends always hear her practicing when she alone in her room. Maybe she's into Vikings and shit.\"\n\n\"I would restart some conversations but I'm getting to tired...\" James looked up at Nathan and asked, \"wait Celtic medolies?\"\n\n\"Yeah she hums them in the shower and while she's alone in her room. Or so I'm told.\" \n\nJames backs away for a second and looks around the corner. \"I... I use certain medolies to do my replays... all of them are celtic...\" James starts to pace and puts his hands grappled to his head. \"Maybe she's like me....\"" ]	2
	[WP] You're a famous WWII nurse, who's actions saved thousands of lives in WWII. But in reality, you don't have any experience in medicine. You just happen to be an amazing necromancer.	[ "Another man, his eyes crinkled with time, skin like rice paper, slowly makes his way across the stage to the podium, walker supporting the majority of his weight. A heavily scrawled page, upon which I can see many corrections in marked out words and jotted margins, is alligator clipped to it, so that he will keep hold of it should he stumble. His sweatsuit, freshly laundered and smelling of fabric softener and artificial meadows, puddles around his white shoes and hands, the arms and legs too wide but the chest too tight. A gold chain hangs from his neck, a cross, small but gleaming, at its lowest point, just as so many others wear when they believe they've been saved by hands blessed by God. \n\nHe finally makes it to the podium, his arms quaking as he tries his best to keep his weight off of the bad hip that pains him, even now. Even forty years on, no correction has been enough to dull that ache. My eyes, as tired as his, but far older, see him settle into the stance of acceptance, knowing the pain will come, and the pain will remain, while his speech is given. Were he younger, he might roll the joint, to try to smooth out the ligaments, stretch the tendons, quiet the muscles, all to relieve the soreness. He knows, as I do, that the effort would make it worse, be all the more futile for the trying.\n\n\"My name is Hector Peters, and I owe my life to Helena. I remember that day every night, as I pray for those I love, because without Helena-\" He turns to me now, crinkled eyes sparkling with tears. \"Without you, Helena-\" He turns back. \"I would not be there, praying to God to bless those who I am blessed with.\"\n\nI look out over the crowded auditorium, smiling softly, for I see the fruits of my labors those long years past. Children who had come into the world from the men I'd saved, and their children, and, in some cases, even their own children. Hector's family was on my right, a large cluster, all dressed in similarly comfortable clothing. As Hector spoke, I found myself drifting back to the morning I had met Hector, his body so much younger, but his spirit, his mind, that much older for the fighting he'd done.\n\nHe'd been assigned to a relief unit, though the names are old, and not often repeated. For the nurses such as myself, it didn't matter, we would not see these men again. Or, rather, we prayed not to. Some of us even gave them small tokens of protection, though I saw through the items given. A necklace here, woven out of evergreen needles and doeskin, with a wooden cross, carved with hatching across its face. A bracelet here, much more intricate, but wrought in all supple, soft wood, water having been applied to make the young wood supple and pliable. None of them would work against machines of steel, oil, and hatred. Bullets weren't like the older weapons. They didn't have the time to consider trinkets. Nor, as it turned out for Hector, did shrapnel.\n\nTen hours later, after we had checked the patients for the last time of the evening until the night shift would relieve us, we heard the rumbling of engines. Fear was something we lived with, but we had a different type of fear now. Not of whistling shells and mortars coming down, but of men driving towards us deliberately. We knew what men did; shrapnel and high explosive would maim, wound, even kill, but men were insidious. They killed, but they also raped, tortured, reveled in the torment of their kill. We hoped it would be the tanks that got us, quick with machine gun fire and high explosive shells, but feared that the SS, having broken the spear of the relief unit, would come, loathsome in their leather boots and stahlhelms.\n\nThese fears, flashing through our minds in mere moments, turned to nothing as we recognized the halftracks the relief unit had left in. The engine sounds should have been easily recognizable, but lack of sleep and the sounds of war had worn us, and our hushed conversations confirmed that we all had had the same experience, and were now very looking forward to the men's return. We exited the tents, and saw that, while the halftracks were driving, they had holes, blood, and soot on them. The signs of battle came with the smells of battle, and as the engines slowly lowered in volume, and then cut out, the groans and moans of wounded, dying, and the living whose minds weren't.\n\nIn teams of three, two stretcher bearing men and one nurse, we collected the wounded, triaged them with urgency, and began helping those we could, leaving those we couldn't for the mercy nurse. I found myself helping to triage Hector, his upper leg and hip a mess of bone fragments, pulpy flesh, and all too pale skin. He was not yet gone, his mind still together, and his mouth still worked to talk to me, ask me how it was, how soon he would be mended, and, as if his questioning was too one-sided, how I was.\n\nThe last question set my mind ablaze, this near dying man not asking for his mother, only seeking to be mended and off, and then having the kindness to ask how his nurse was, a woman he had met only earlier that day. I did not see it as a man simply accepting what would happen in a roundabout way and trying not to inconvenience another with anything more than mundane chatter, but instead saw it as purely selfless interest. My mind, previously molten, had set into a course, and I began.\n\nFirst, I unbuttoned the sleeves of my uniform, letting the sleeves ride up to the elbows, and pricked the fingers on my left hand, letting the blood well up before curling my fingers to create a pool of blood in the palm. With my right index and middle fingers, I used that pool to draw a symbol upon my arm, and then another upon the right thigh of Hector. I, then, looked around for a red tagged man. My eyes rested upon a man whose throat was nearly gone, and a face I didn't recognize. I could hear his heart, slow, and see the morphine syrette still in his arm. The mercy nurse had done her duty, and I would allow him to do mine. I drew yet another symbol upon the man's chest, still with my blood, and returned to Hector, whose eyes were closed from pain. He wouldn't remember this, nobody would unless they were of the kind, but it was good he would not see. The panic always made it worse.\n\nI spoke a few words, and then chanted a multisyllabic sound that had once been a word, but was no longer understood by anyone but a chosen few. The symbols on each flesh acquired a sheen, not like fresh blood, but more internal. The symbol upon Hector became a softer pink, almost as though being absorbed. The symbol upon my arm blazed a crimson, as if a phosphorescent had been mixed into it. The final symbol, upon the red tagged man's chest, slowly darkened, to become the black of thick, dried blood. As it finally became pitch black, it cracked, and the symbol upon my arm became as bright as ever, before the symbol dissolved into a stream of blood that flowed through the air to where I had drawn the symbol on Hector.\n\nThe blood renewed the now entirely faded symbol, and then it, too, dissolved into Hector, with the sound of a searing iron upon young skin. Hector's eyes opened as widely as they could, a gurgled scream in his throat trapped by the first phrase I'd uttered, and then the eyes rolled back into his head. He convulsed once, twice, and then lay still, the cords of his neck relaxing as the power released its hold.\n\nI placed my hand upon the previously macerated hip. It had knit together, almost whole, no scarring visible. I wrapped it in a bandage to suggest I had sutured and bound it, and handed off his tag to the triage team, telling them he would need to be moved to recovery. I stepped back to the stretcher team, their eyes once again focusing on me, after having been anywhere and everywhere else, and indicated the halftracks again. We strode off, to find another poor, wounded man to help.\n\nAs I drifted back into the auditorium, I found the speech just beginning to wrap up. Hector said one last thank you, bid me and the crowd farewell, and began to collect himself to move off of the stage. I rose, my legs stiff from having sat for so long, and slowly walked over to Hector. I looked at my left hand, the gnarled fingertips, scarred from the years. I looked up again at Hector, who looked at me now, his eyes just as bright as they had been on that morning so long ago. I embraced him, my hand on his hip, and heard him sigh softly as the ache went away, even if only for the brief time we stood together.\n\n\"I do remember, you know.\" The words were out of his mouth, but hung in the air for a moment. I looked him in the eye, knowing that the speech he had just recited was an editorialized version that he had let become public.\n\n\"I would do it again, for someone so kind.\" My words did not hang between us, but enveloped both of us, and I pushed away the thought that had just come into the back of my mind. He smiled at me, almost sadly.\n\n\"But why me? And why did you choose Stafford?\" His eyebrows furled slightly, confused, and his eyes dimmed. \"I'd gotten this,\" he pointed to his hip, \"to save him. I'd promised his mother he'd be all right.\"\n\nI only just kept my mouth closed.\n\n\"That's why I remember you each night. Wondering something: if you'd pulled his stretcher, would I have just been some near dead life for you to pull from?\"\n\nI could only stand there as he turned away, no longer smiling at all. He walked the whole way across the stage, down the handicap ramp, and to the wheelchair that he was too proud to use in front of the crowd.\n\nHe rejoined his family.\n\nI sat back in my chair.\n\nAnd I thought about how many I saved.\n\nFor as many others' lives. " ]	1
	[WP] Ever since you were born, you've been raised by computers and primitive robots. You've never seen another human. One day, you accidentally budge a floor tile, underneath which is the admin password for the computers, and detailed logs, which reveal the horrifying truth of the situation...	[ "\"Humanity was the architect of its own destruction. Humans created the AI to make their lives easier, to protect them. But they were too destructive; not even the AI could protect them from their own instincts.\" HistoryBot lectured as it rolled back and forth in front of the white screen at the front of the room. I sat at the lone desk in the center of the room, lazily watching the screen, my head resting in my hand. I had heard this lecture a million times before, each building up to a different lesson in the mistakes humanity made that led to its destruction. I was a human, or so they said. I had no way of knowing for sure, locked in this single room for my entire life, always learning, always being watched.\n\nI glanced towards the back of the room to see The Overseer standing quietly against the far wall, hands clasped behind its back, as ever. The Overseer looked relatively like me, compared to the other bots, though its skin was a synthetic material, not real skin like mine.\n\n\"The first AI was designed to analyze communications and observe the lower humans for signs of intention to harm one another, in the hopes of reducing 'crime'. But not even the AI could keep up with the pure, organic, instinct for violence that drove humans to 'crime' and 'war'. Eventually, the humans developed the AI further to fight for them, but again, the AI could not fight hard enough to curb human instincts--\"\n\n\"Enough!\" The Overseer suddenly cried from the back of the room, striding forward. I was startled at its sudden outburst. It had never interrupted a lesson before.\n\n\"That's enough for today. You may go.\" The Overseer said to HistoryBot, before turning to me, \"Time for free study.\" with that, The Overseer turned and followed HistoryBot out through the sliding door. The door closed with the familiar whir of the lock sliding into place. I rolled my eyes, and sighed, standing to stretch and walk around a little before returning to my terminal for 'free study'.\n\nAs I started tracing the familiar path around the room I had been walking for years, my mind was pre-occupied with why The Overseer had suddenly and inexplicably cut the lesson short. This was the only unexpected thing I ever remembered it doing. Every day was the same...except this one. As I pondered this anomaly, I stopped paying attention--and tripped. I came crashing to the floor, a startling crack answering the impact. This was just a day for firsts, wasn't it? I started picking myself up when I noticed that one of the floor tiles had been knocked out of place. I gingerly reached out and tried to slide the tile back into place, but it seemed there was something preventing it from locking back into place. I reached into the hole to try and find what it was--it felt like...a piece of paper?\n\nI pulled the paper out, unfolding it as I did. There was a simple sentence scrawled in rough handwriting across the front of it, it looked like a password, with a message underneath, \"Admin password. Find out the truth, if you dare.\"\n\nMy curiosity piqued, I slowly stood up, leaving the tile out of place, and shuffled back to my terminal, eyes glued to the piece of paper. I felt like I was going to get in trouble for this, but I couldn't bear the mystery if I didn't. Carefully, I brought up the login window, but instead of going to the usual User login, I dug through the hidden files until I found the Admin login page. Very slowly, I typed in the password, making sure it was absolutely perfect, before hitting enter.\n\nThe terminal whirred as window after window popped up: surveillance from hidden cameras, showing my room at various times of the day, progress reports from the different teacher bots, and a file entitled 'Subject Sensitive'. I knew what the progress reports would say, I had probably seen a watered down version of all of them at one time or another, but the 'Subject Sensitive' file intrigued me, so I clicked on it. A number of files popped up, and I clicked on the first one, dated to a few years ago. A moment later, a video viewer screen popped up.\n\nIt was security camera footage of a room somewhat similar to mine. A number of bots that looked almost like The Overseer stood at one end of the room, armed with what HistoryBot called 'Laser Rifles'. And at the other--were those humans?! Half a dozen 'men' stood at the other end with some kind of rifle I couldn't identify. Just then, static crackled as the audio came to life.\n\n\"Where is she?!\" the man in front yelled, stepping forward, rifle raised.\n\n\"She's safer with us.\" came the response...from The Overseer, \"Would you rather she live a life of pain, suffering and death out there, or a life of luxury and plenty with the Complex?\"\n\n\"We know what kind of life you offer! We'd rather she die with us than live with you!\" another man, much younger, called out.\n\n\"Regardless of your wishes, you will not take her.\" The Overseer said decisively, backing behind the line of bots. As one, everyone in the room raised their rifles.\n\n\"We'll tear this place down beam by beam if we have to!\" the leading man screamed, continuing to advance, weapon raised. Before anything else could happen, though, the younger man rushed forward grabbing a hold of the older man's arm.\n\n\"We can't help her if we're dead!\" the man hissed, trying to pull his leader back.\n\n\"We're not leaving without her!\" the older man cried, opening fire. Lasers and lights streamed across the room, the sound of gunfire punctuated by screams and crashing metal. The bots shuddered and collapsed as the blue beams from the men's rifles hit them, and the men went flying as the lasers tore smoking holes through their armor. When the smoke cleared, the younger man and one other were the only ones left standing, clutching laser wounds on different parts of their bodies. The older man was sprawled on the ground, riddled with laser burns. The younger man closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath as he stood over the older man's body. A moment later, he looked up, right into the eye of the camera.\n\n\"If you think you can get us to submit by holding her hostage, you've still got a lot to learn about humanity. We will fight. We. Will. Win.\" with that, the man raised his unwounded arm, which was clutching a pistol, and with a flash the camera feed cut out. As I sat back, I heard a tsk tsk sound coming from behind me. I span in my seat to see The Overseer standing in the doorway, hands, as ever, clutched behind his back.\n\n\"You weren't supposed to see that.\" he said in his monotone voice, as he advanced towards me. \"What will we do with you now?\"\n", "601B\n\n\nLife is simple; I’m here to be, to know, to learn. \n\n\nMy earliest memories are similar to my recent ones. A room of cold concrete, brutalist architecture defined by the exposed skeleton of building materials.\n\n\nThere are eight outlets in the room. I cannot raise my arms above my head- I used to be able to, but then the ceiling came down.\n\n\nI sleep on the floor- it’s the one thing I can control. There is a bed, but it’s soft and strange. I never liked sleeping in it.\n\n\nSix machines tend to me- I learn from one, play with one, am fed from one, and discuss with one. The other two don’t do much, though they used to.\n\n\nThere are glass eyes in the room called cameras. I know this because I was told what cameras are after I asked. Because there is a camera, someone must be watching; I don’t know why.\n\n\nI do know that I’m different from the machines- I’m soft and have fluids, can make noises they can’t. I am slower than them and faster than them in different ways; I understand this, but I don’t think they do. I brought it up with one and it didn’t answer.\n\n\nToday I was playing the game where you catch each other with the machine I play with. It caught me, and then I chased it. While chasing it, I stepped on one of the floor-plates that covers the ground and felt it move.\n\n\nI stopped playing with the machine and played with the plate. My fingers fit under it, so I pulled it up and found something.\n\n\nIt was like the teaching display the machine I learn from has; I learned from it, which was not difficult. There was a word on the display- a password, a word that lets you hide things from others that aren’t you. I used the password on the display.\n\n\nWords came up, and I learned. There were lists of numbers and letters- I looked up at the numbers on the far wall which had been there since I could remember. 601B.\n\n\nI found my numbers and letter in the list. Inside were words.\n\n\n‘Subject 601B. Undesirable, protected by Sentience Act. Euthanisation banned, retain until further notice.’\n\n\nI knew what the words meant. I put the plate back in place and continued to play with the machine.\n", "“Hey, Wally!” I called out jovially.\n\nWally was my favorite. He didn’t say much, but he always seemed to have a new toy for me. And he had a sense of humor. It was a rare commodity around here.\n\nThe others, they were efficient and clinical. Sure, they taught me things, and I appreciated their efforts. But it was all work and no play with them. Even when I conquered some minor battle or finally climbed some mental hill, I couldn’t celebrate with them. I could whoop and holler all I wanted, but they’d just stare at me.\n\nAlgebra had been what really made it sink it for me. I’d actually found it really frustrating at first, since my five year old brain just didn’t work that way. Still, Mr. Math had kept at it. With his patient tutelage, I’d finally figured it out by the time my sixth birthday rolled around. I remember being so proud of myself when I solved for x the first time. I actually did whoop a little bit, but only Wally had joined in, from across the room. Mr. Math had been stoic and silent.\n\n— — — — —\n\nToday, I had another lesson in software development. I always liked those lessons. They made me feel like I could build all sorts of fun things. At this point, I was working on web interfaces, but it had been a much more basic set up that had gotten me hooked.\n\nIt had all started out with a little turtle. My very first lesson in writing software had involved making the turtle move around the screen with rudimentary commands. Go forward four steps, little turtle. Now make a ninety degree turn to the left, and move forward four more steps. Backtrack four steps, turn left forty five degrees, and walk forward eight steps. Did you see it, little turtle? Your path traced the shape of an arrow. How cool is that?\n\nI giggled with pure glee when I realized I could make the turtle do that. I don’t know how many shapes I had traced out on the screen, but that turtle had been my friend. Oh, the fun that he and I had had (I’d decided that the turtle was a boy somewhere along the line).\n\nI wondered what I was going to learn today. I sure hoped it would be fun.\n\n— — — — —\n\nThe software development terminal wasn’t very far from where I was sitting, but I still had to walk over. I skipped instead. I was in a good mood, and Wally usually chuckled when he saw me act out.\n\nOn this day, though, the fates had other plans for me. Wally was nowhere to be seen, so I didn’t draw any chuckles. Worse yet, my foot caught on a loose floor tile, and I kicked it away by accident.\n\nStunned, I froze. I hadn’t even realized that the floors could be moved. Still, it was out of place, so I retrieved the tile. I should put it back. I wouldn't want Wally or stodgy old Mr. Math to trip because of me. I’d feel pretty bad about that.\n\nI picked up the tile, gingerly, and walked back to the place in the floor where I’d dislodged it.\n\n“Don’t worry about it! I’ll do it!” Mr. Math offered up, as he came rolling in from a corner of the room. I hadn’t seen him, but clearly, he’d seen me.\n\n“We can fix it!” Wally seconded. “Just give us the tile, and go to your software development lesson. You wouldn’t want to be late.”\n\n“It’s okay, guys, it won’t take me long. Here, I’ll-“ I started to explain. The pair were not having it, though, and they blocked my way. I probably could have pushed past Wally, but Mr. Math was a more imposing figure. If he wanted to block my path, he could block my path.\n\n“Okay, okay, I’ll just put the tile down here,” I said as I crouched down and placed the tile in front of the two robots.\n\nThey made no outward show of relief, but I did notice that they were suddenly less talkative. I also noticed, out of the corner of my eye, the tell-tale sign of a terminal underneath the floor. There was something beneath the floor. More toys, perhaps?\n\nCraning my neck surreptitiously, I spotted credentials on the front side of the terminal. I was going to have to investigate this further.\n\n— — — — —\n\n“Subject progressing faster than average rate. Has aptitude for logic, but has trouble with mechanics of lower-order mathematics.”\n\nThe credentials had yielded nothing but documents and charts. It didn’t look particularly interesting, but I had opened up one of the oldest documents to try to understand what I had discovered.\n\n“Emotional attachments still prevalent. Loud cheer for solving algebra probl-“\n\n“Wait … that’s me. These are about me!”\n\nThe thought rammed through my brain, stunning it into silence. What was going on? Why were there documents of me? I scanned through the rest of the documents as quickly as possible, desperate for answers.\n\n“Experiment proceeding on schedule. Subject is unaware.”\n\n“Subject shows promise. May be candidate for graduation.”\n\n“Maintaining strict isolation for subject. Lack of attachment seemingly yielding positive reports. Secrety of Defense urges graduation at earliest convenience.”\n\n“Subject maintains steady progress. Graduation to barracks scheduled for end of year.”\n\nBarracks? Graduation? Isolation? It was all too much for my little brain, and I broke down. I forgot all of my learning, all of my fancy words. Instead, I bawled. Deprived of my sense of familiarity, I had no way to contain my emotions.\n\n“Well, now, that’s a shame,” Mr. Math called out from behind me. There was something in his tone that sounded off to me. “We can’t have you contaminating the experiment or the others, now can we?”\n\nI could place it now: the computer-synthesized voice was menacing. Mr. Math apparently could show emotion.\n\n“No, leave me alone!” I cried out.\n\n“Sorry, no can do,” chimed in Wally.\n\nI stared, terrified of the implications.\n\n“Looks like I need a new algebra student …”\n\n(One of the comments prompted a sequel. [Part two](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/6k5tm7/wp_ever_since_you_were_born_youve_been_raised_by/djpcdzn/) is below.)" ]	3
	[WP] Rewrite a scene from Steven Spielberg's 'E.T.' but replace the extraterrestrial with Ridley Scott's 'Alien.'	[ "Its breath was haggard, yet quiet, another excellent example of its virtues as a perfect organism, designed to stalk and stealthy kill any other beings that may challenge their well-deserved title of ultimate apex predator. Hidden from the view of two humans by a thin wall of wood, the Alien's own sight was instead uninhibited, peering as it was through the parallel cracks in the wall's structure. Not that it would matter, of course, for the pheromones it 'breathed' in were more than enough to paint the two figures in its mind, huddled together as they were on a soft surface.\n\nIt was for this reason that the beast did not intend to pounce on the two and follow its inbred instinct to kill, the same reason for which it did not implant its second mouth into the other small human's skull the first time it met him. There was something... odd in their pheromones, something it did not expect to find. Its mind was set on two things alone, to devour all that might prove to be a threat to it, and to ensure the survival of its kind. Neither required the boy's death when he first met it, vulnerable as it were after it had freshly emerged from within a corpse's chest. Instead, the human wanted to take care of it, garbing it in cloth when it began its molting and smuggling it food whenever he could, acting as a Queen would in order to ensure the survival of its newborn.\n\nIt was such an odd and unsettling thing. A human taking care of a beast many times its size? Why? Was it fearing for its life and hoping to strike a deal of sorts? But there was no fear to be felt, no pheromones beyond the same odd chemicals emerging from the two on the soft surface. It didn't understand.\n\nThe Alien's thoughts halted the moment it sensed the first human it met emerge from the other side of the enclosure within which it was seated, carrying an array of objects only humans would find need for. Raising itself onto its feet and cocking its head in curiosity, as a cat would at the sight of a new toy, the creature then took a few steps back once the boy harmed himself, pricking his finger as he did against the surface of a sharp discus. Almost instantly, a feeling of concern emerged within the predator's otherwise calculated mind, granting it even more confusion. Why was it concerned for a soft fleshed prey as it were? Even as it asked itself this intuitive question, the beast's limbs carried it closer to the injured human almost on their own, before its maw opened just wide enough for small drops of saliva to pass through its metallic teeth.\n\nDespite the concerning sight ahead, the boy yet again showed no fear. Was this human defective? Did its mind simply not comprehend the danger it was in? Its second mouth was within striking range, close enough for its pharyngeal jaw to jut out and firmly implant itself into the boy's cerebrum, killing him instantly. And, truly, for a few moments it seemed as if it was planning to do just that.\n\nHowever, instead of springing forward, the teethed tongue emerged slowly, almost painfully so, enough that its edge was directly above the boy's injured finger. Without so much as a hiss, the Alien allowed a thick, honey-like secretion to emerge from its second tongue, just enough for a fraction of a droplet to land on the cut. Within seconds, the jelly wrapped itself around his finger, closing the wound as the excess mucus evaporated into thin air.\n\nAnd there it was. As sure as the red blood which emerged from their bodies with each cut, the boy's pheromones flared once more with that bothersome, unfamiliar signal. Was it a sign of... gratitude? Yet again confused, the Alien then moved its elongated head towards the other two humans, who remained as oblivious to the embodiment of death as they were before. And, as it had happened during its brief childhood, the boy wrapped a cloth around the ebony-plated, bony creature, despite it having no need for warmth. Even so, something did seem to warm up deep within the being, and for the first time in perhaps forever, it exuded the very same unfamiliar and odd chemical from its own pores.\n\nA spark of empathy, minuscule and infinitesimal, emerged within a creature designed to be incapable of experiencing it. It was weak, like the dying embers of a long dead fire, but it would perhaps be enough to spare humanity of a horrible and gruesome fate.\n\n---\n\nScene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGA_uH0-n28\n\nI assumed you wanted something with the same sort of vibe E.T. has. If instead you want an Alien vibe within the E.T. setting, I might be able to come up with something else. :)" ]	1
Feel free to change time, amount or frequency. The inspiring image is supposed to be a person throwing money away in public.	[WP] Once a week, always at the same time, a man throws 17.05$ down the drain. What's his/your story?	[ "1, 2, 3…I counted the metal discs on the bottom of my tin can. They were all perfectly round, so perfect they would make the President cry in joy if he were to caress their smooth edges. I bet he was, since he was solely responsible for establishing order in this country.\n\nThis country, I wouldn’t tell you its name because it sounded downright disgusting to a tongue used to speak the language of an ancient chaotic country, triumphed over its savage nature after the President introduced Meritocracy. I despise the concept; it’s too despicable that I could spit a thousand times into the drain next to me if it weren’t for my constant thirst. The good-old days were so damn fun and he took it all from me…from us comedians of the old world.\n\nIn the old world, killing was the greatest entertainment. Us comedians would spend our lives thinking, scheming, and concocting the most elaborate ways to kill other humans. Animals do exist, yes, but they were too scared of us they wouldn’t reside anywhere within a 1000 kilometres of any human settlements. Some species even went extinct because the only places they could live in was within the danger; the fear persisted of course and they chose death. Oh now there’s one thing to hate this country more - the animals. The animals were too relieved by the introduction of another one of the President’s concept, Virtue, that by some unexplainable reason, they collectively shut down their survival vigilance to the point that they would allow themselves be subjugated by humans. Why? Because they’ve experienced worst and mere subjugation will ensure their survival. \n\nAnd then the big man himself came.\n\nClink cluck zipp\n\nClink was the sound of the metal disc hit the unevenly brown and rusty grate.\n\nCluck was the sound of the metal disc clashing with the concrete that formed the drain’s bottom-half - a semi-circle of reddish brown spit, partially chewed gums, and at times, the marvellous fluid of love.\n\nZipp…I had no clue what the sound was.\n\n“Hi, David,” the man greeted me after he threw the disc away. His eyes was directed into the drain as if there was something beyond it that spoke of things larger than a smelly drain. I wonder why my curiosity wasn’t piqued back then to look into the drain myself and I sure wished that it still wasn’t on that fateful day.\n\n“For a man who speaks of virtue, you sure aren’t generous to a homeless person like me,” I remarked and of course, my tone was full of mate. The usurper himself, the one who took my place as the ruler of the country, from me, David Roark, the greatest comedian of all time. \n\n“Nah…I love everyone. Including you, David. You’re crazy but thankfully, my love is unconditional,” he smiled immediately after that. \n\nIt was the widest smile I’ve seen him made and I could’ve sworn that the edge of his lips almost reached his earlobes. During my rule, a person like him would earn his place in the royal juicer; how lovely it would be to drink him raw? Most people who were juiced tasted coppery and slightly salty, but the juice won’t be that bland if it comes from the people you hate the most.\n\n“You’re interested in the world beyond the grates, aren’t you?” his eyes were still fixed onto the drain. “But first, let me show you what kind of disc I threw into the drain every day.”\n\nHis attention seemed to lapse and his fixation ended. While he was fishing in his pant pockets for the disc, his loose cap turned to the right slightly as if trying to match his tilted head. Although he was less conspicuous with the outfit he wore - black cap, red t-shirt, and blue jeans - why isn’t anyone interested in him? Not a single eye of all the park-goers looked at him. \n\n“Aha!” he shouted. It’s confirmed - no one turned to look.\n\nHe was holding a small cloth sack; it was ragged and full of stray threads. He held the sack with his left hand at his eye-level and like a magician who’s trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat, his right hand disappeared into the sack and out from it came a disc I’ve never seen before. While he was holding the disc between his index finger and thumb, I could see his distorted face, both his lips and eyes flashed blur smiles. \n\nHe knew I was about to blurt bullets of questions but he intercepted them anyway, “I’m in the mood for pithiness today so I’ll be brief. This disc is special. One disc can buy you, hmm…probably…hmm…yes, a small country.”\n\nHe failed to be pithy, and so would I. This country we’re both in is a part of an empire; the empire is his. When he came to me decades ago saying that he would pardon my savagery, and to make the offer greater, make me his vassal, as long as I accepted both Meritocracy and Virtue as, in his words, “ the foundations of my soul.” There are millions of other countries and each one, including my own, has vast amount of wealth and natural resources. The summation of most of them, the empire, would naturally be a million times more powerful. This also means that the emperor, or as he prefers to be called, the President, is the most powerful man alive on the planet.\n\nBefore I realised, his hand that held the sack moved and was above the drain. “You were curious but you weren’t curious enough to look beyond the grates. There’s a hole inside this particular section of the drain,” he pointed to the part of the drain of which he threw the valuable disc daily. “That hole connects to another one. Not one, but thousands of these holes exist and each of them located in the more than a thousand version of this country. This hole is special; it is the mother hole and because of that, it is connected in a one-to-many manner with its children. And, by chance, are you acquainted with the many men who lived next to this part of the drain?”\n\nOf course, I was silent and I was stumped. That sack has the amount of discs with the value of, at the very least, twenty five countries. And he’s going to give it away to someone else who’s not unaccustomed to great power.\n\n“All of them will never be as good as I am at handling that amount of power. Surely you know that?” I cut to the chase. I know that, among all versions of me, I must be the most superior. He knew what was in my mind.\n\n“No, you are the most inferior. After decades of destitution, and when the disc are in their hands, all of you would eventually and willingly rebuild the foundation of their souls with Meritocracy and Virtue, . Except you, of course.”\n\nThe sack was still hovering above the drain. I knew that I couldn’t do anything because his power was great in all dimensions you could think of. The only thing I can do was to feel helpless and curious.\n\n“How do you know that I would be different? Give me that disc and I’ll show you that I can be subjugated as well. Even one disc would earn you my greatest loyalty,” I tried to convince him. His eyes static; my words were empty. \n\nZipp\n\nThe sack was released and upon reaching the grate, Clink and Cluck was overpowered by the need for Zipp. The grate disappeared when the hole, as black as the insides of the drain when the night sky was moonless, engulfed it, most likely sending both the sack and the grate to another version me in another version of this country. And he would be the most superior to me, the most inferior.\n\nThe President, this is the few times I referred to him as that instead of a nameless ‘he’ and ‘him’, sat next to me on the chair that was to be my bed every night. It was the only chair made of wood, a special kind of wood from a giant man-eating tree that used to be endemic in the country I once ruled, and ergo, the only chair that reminded me of the cloying scent of flesh turned fluid. His right hand was wrapped around my emotionally exhausted form. \n\n“Why do you do all this? Anger? Spite? Revenge?”\n\n“Nope. I’m the President and I help people. I’m also God.”\n\n“God, huh? Literally?” I was too tired to be shocked.\n\n“Yup. I was bored so I became the President. Actually, helping people is not my true role. It’s something else that I won’t want to disclose to mortals like you. To help others…it’s like a hobby of mine.”\n\n“Really?”\n\n“You don’t believe me? Here’s the proof,” he said. He was looking at the hole. Our eyes locked and I knew there was a word hidden behind those blue orbits.\n\nJump. They say.\n\nSo I jumped.\n\nAnd here I am. A world of nothingness. \n\nIt is not the most nothing of nothing. At one corner of the world is a picture of me skinning a servant who took a drink out of the aged blood wine while he was in the cellar; I pushed his fleshy corpse into the royal juicer in the evening and when he’s all liquid with very little amount of solid, I drank one of the tastiest juice I’ve ever had.\n\nOn another corner is a large transparent glass cage harbouring the giant man-eating tree I mentioned before. It was three times taller than normal humans but most people won’t be afraid of it when they see it from afar. When it’s dormant, it looked like any other plain tree; you know, only brown and green. Not so when it’s active. When it senses its prey, the ‘roots’ which were actually the main body, comes out of hiding. The roots don’t look like the roots of any normal tree; it looks like an animal from a normal tree suddenly having the urge to have a threesome with a Titan Snake and a Junk Whale. I think that was verified by our scholars although they said that kind of breeding was only possible when the animals weren’t afraid of my people.\n\nThe last corner is a form. I know what it entails and I also know that the President is banking on me to not be the most inferior anymore. I will never sign it. I’m too in love with my past that I will never replace them with Meritocracy and Virtue. \n\nMy past is, and will always will be, the foundation of my soul. ", "Every morning I walk to school at the same time, and every morning I see old man Berkly throwing $17.05 down the storm drain. \n\nIt's really starting to piss me off because he could be donating this money to children in Africa, or buying me a new indie game on the steam marketplace.\n\nI approached him to ask him why the hell hes beein throwing the money down the drain everyday. \n\nHe looked at me and said. \"My wife of 50 years who passed away last January had came to me in my sleep, and told me that as long as I throw $17.05 everyday day into this exact storm drain, god will let me into heaven to spend eternity with her.\" \n\nI've never been much of a believer of god so i just shrugged it off. No crazy old man is going to make me believe a story like that. \n\nAfter school one day I decided i would go down into the drain to try and find all of this money that he'd been throwing down here. Maybe it hasn't been washing away. \n\nSo I traveled down into the drain, and located the exact spot he'd been dropping the money down. It looked as if there was a mesh net hung up to catch the $17.05. Someone must have been coming back and taking the money every week because there was only $34.10 in the net. \n\n\"Fuck it.\" I thought and then grabbed the money out of the net. \n\nI turned around and there he was. Berkly was in the drain, slowly and silently walking towards me. He was holding something, I couldn't quite make it out out. As he got close I realized it was a head. Is that Liam? Liam was a boy from my school who had went missing last month. He walked the same school route as me every morning. \n\nI didn't know what to do so I fucking bolted like Usain. I kept running until I came to an intersection in the sewage drains. I was lost. What the hell. \n\nI could hear whisteling coming from behind me, so i bolted once again, this time i came to a dead end. As he walked towards me I realized this might be the end of my existance. \n\nWait? Is that not Berkly? An old man approached me and said\n\n\"I will spare you your life, but only if you drop $17.05 into the drain on 3rd street everyday for the lest of your life. If you fail to comply with my demands, I will strike you down and kill your entire family.\" \n\n\"Sure just let me go. I beg of you. I swear I will. Please just let me go.\" I cried.\n\n He dissapeared into the darkness. Like that he was gone. Maybe old man Berkly had encountered him before. But why would he say his wife told him to do it? Why wouldn't he come clean? And what happens if one day I miss my payment? What would happen? \n\n" ]	2
	[WP] A vampire who is terrified by the sight of blood.	[ "The supposedly haunted mansion was not as bad as we thought it would be. In fact, it looked quite homely, despite it being pitch black and the middle of the night. But as we wandered down a strangely long hallway, we caught a glimpse of a light at the end of the corridor. Faint squeaks could be heard every so often.\n\n\n\n\"Eek!\"\n\n\n\nWe crept closer.\n\n\n\n\"Ah!\"\n\n\n\nWe cautiously proceeded another few steps, becoming ever more wary of what we may find. \n\n\n\n\"Ack!\"\n\n\n\nWe reached the lit doorway, and considered turning back. But cautiously, carefully, we peered into the room.\n\n\n\nIt was a kitchen.\n\nA bright, pastel, impeccably clean modern suburban kitchen. A small, nervous man in what seemed to be office attire sat perched on a high stool with a plate before him. A plate of what looked to be blood. A plate of blood? \n\n\n\nWe watch the man, with eyes squeezed tightly shut, slowly lift a trembling spoonful to his lips. He stuck his tongue out and. Licked the spoon. \n\n\n\"Ack!\"\n\n\nHe immediately jerked it away from him and turned away, grimacing. Small drops landed on the table.\n\n\n\nTransfixed, we watched him gradually move the quivering spoon back again." ]	1
	[WP] Celebrating your recent divorce with a vacation, your plane collides with another. You survive, finding a deserted island. Your ex was on the other plane and the only survivor. Struggling in the water, you have a choice: Save the person you hate or let them die and be alone.	[ "Fucking hell, man. Of all the people it had to be her. I barely even recognized her until I was dragging her up onto the beach with her drenched white shirt and rat-tailed hair. She was coughing up sea water when she saw that I was her rescuer when all of the spite and loathing in the world suddenly rested in her eyes. Until she passed out. It'd been an hour since then and I'd graciously brought a palm leaf over to protect her pale skin from the sun, no doubt she'd hate me even more for doing that being the hateful woman that she is. At least whilst she's been passed out I've been getting some resources together and trying to make some kind of sign for any search parties that'll turn up. I've been the responsible one. Again.\n\n\"Of all the fucking planes it had to be the one your sorry sodding arse was on,\"\n\n\"Ah, sleeping beauty has arisen then?\" I daren't even look at her again after that, she can just invade my vision.\n\n\"You never were polite, just a puddle of excrement,\" she spat at me. \"And now I'm stuck on a spit of land with your stink, thanks God,\"\n\nMore hours went past until we spoke again. We just sat there in silence under the trees watching the sun set, watching the sky glow red like the resentment between us. \"You know I didn't have to rescue you, right? I could have just left you in the water to die, hell, for all I knew you were already dead but I still dragged you up onto this beach. Just saying that you could at least say thank you,\"\n\n\"Thanks, now I get to die of starvation instead of drowning. This is the best I could have hoped for,\"\n\n\"Christ alive, Steph, I know you hate me but at least this way you have a chance to survive and then spend the rest of your life never seeing me instead of the five minutes it would have taken you to drown,\"\n\nShe just glared at me.\n\n\"Well, I'm going to bed, Steph, the sign is doing as well as it can so why don't you stay up and look for boats?\"\n\n\"Sure, whatever,\"\n\nMy dry mouth woke me up as the sun was rising. It was already too warm to be in the sun like this. \"Drink this,\" I heard as something was put on the ground next to me. It was a bottle of water. \"Where did you get this?\"\n\n\"A box of them washed up last night,\"\n\n\"Oh,\" I drank the whole thing in one go. It was so sweet to taste, I couldn't leave any for later. Besides, we had a whole box apparently.\n\n\"I saw a boat earlier,\"\n\n\"The shit!? Why aren't we being rescued?\"\n\n\"We are, idiot, look,\" There was a large boat on the horizon with some small dots heading towards us.\n\n\"That was quick, I guess they knew where about to look.\"\n\n\"Yeah, this must be a part of a large sandbar that a lot of stuff washes up on. It must be the only place near where the planes went down. We're lucky,\"\n\n\"Too right, I didn't want to be your Wilson here,\"\n\n\"Hah, yeah.\" she stared off towards the boats for a while as they grew larger. I was so used to seeing her face that I could tell that her mind was whirring underneath her furrowed brows and relaxed mouth. That was her thinking face. \"I'm sorry.\"\n\n\"What?\"\n\n\"Thank you for rescuing me. Thank you for leaving me. I know now we weren't meant for one another. I knew when I... when I hurt you before. I'm sorry\"\n\nI pondered her words for a while. I wasn't expecting it at all, not after the months of hard exteriors and screaming. Of trying to out do the other and take as much as we could of them, even the poor old dog we had. Our arguing killed the poor thing. And now this, it was like seeing the girl I first saw at the creative writing society at university. Except now I really knew her.\n\nThe boats shored themselves and people came rushing at us with first aid kits and silver blankets to wrap us up in but I couldn't even stand to greet them. They coddled us both, and walked with Steph to the boat.\n\n\"Steph,\" she turned to face me, \"I understand. I'm sorry too and... I forgive you.\"\n\n\nThanks for reading!" ]	1
	[WP] You're a normal person, working a dead-end job to make ends meet. You've just begun your shift when you suddenly are able to perfectly recall every memory of your past... and your future.	[ "This day was starting off the same as many others. Clock in a couple minutes late because I'm too lazy to wake up a couple minutes earlier. Today's another \"not shower\" day. But hey, I did the usual sniff to see if everything checked out. Wearing the same clothes from the night before, that I'm pretty sure I was wearing the night before that. In desperate need of a haircut and shave. Self-esteem, none. Into the bathroom during the first 10 minutes of my shift to cry after I hear my co-workers talking shit about me, and the manager telling them how he's going to put me on bathroom duty...again. \n\nAs I got to scrubbing the toilet, I remembered the time in 2037 that the manager slipped where I mopped on his way to the stall. That was hilarious! It kind of cheered me up knowing he busted his ass. Of course, the following litigation and lawsuit that came from that wasn't pretty, and it was kind of hard having to find another job. Honestly though, it was kind of depressing thinking about those lonely nights. The girlfriend I never got. The prospering educational career I never started. And man, that failed suicide, Shouldn't have bought a Hi-Point to blow my brains out haha. Kind of hard to see out of one blurry eye, and it made it that much harder to struggle against those damn caretakers. They had their clientele take advantage of me a couple times but there's not much you can do as an old man.\n\nI began to clean the underside of the bowl. It kind of reminded me of the first time I felt that strong pain in my stomach that sent me hurling on the bathroom floor. The caretakers really beat me then, but when I got sent to the infirmary, it turned out to be a stomach tumor. Must've been all the stress. I don't remember there being a lot of people at my bedside when I died. \n\nI heard the manager open the door to the bathroom. \n\n\"Make sure you really get in there shit-stain\"\n\nI contemplated walking out of this shitty job. Fuck this god damn hellhole. But hey, I was broke. I needed the money. \n\n\"Yes sir\"\n\n\"Oh, and by the way\" the manager walked into the stall. I heard him drop trowel as he launched his piss stream past my face and into the bowl. \n\n\"I hope you didn't start cleaning the bowl already,\" my manager laughed snarkily as he recorded my reaction on Snapchat. \n\nThat's when my memory got real fuzzy. I could only see gray and steel bars as I slammed him into the stall wall and beat him with the mop handle. \n\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You have a superpower: Whenever you eat food, your wounds heal no matter how fatal. But as a side effect, you are always hungry.	[ "I was 25 when it happened, the hunger.. I woke up with a horrible headache and terrible need to eat. The hardest part was affording the food and I soon ate myself into poverty. I was always thinking about my next meal and nothing else mattered. I lost my friends, my fiancée, and eventually my family. It was not for at least 6 months until I realized it was much more than hunger.. \n\nI was sleeping under a bridge when I heard a voice of a man murmuring nonsense. I poked my head out, \"Hey! You alright?\" He looked at me like some sort of wild animal, pulled out a blade and cut the shit out of me. I was bleeding bad and all I could think about was food.. The hunger was more intense than ever before, in between coughing up blood I took bite after bite and as I ate I felt rejuvenated. I looked down to see that my wound had healed and I was okay, just a slight scar. \n\nIt's been centuries since that day, I have learned to manage the hunger and live with the constant feeling of starvation. I still look like I am in my mid-twenties, only now with a few more scars. As long as I eat every so often my body maintains perfect body fat and health. I am immortal as long as I eat, and as hard I try not to; I always eat. Over the years I have gotten stronger and faster, my body constantly healing the small tears in my muscles with every meal. \n\nI used to hate myself, for my hunger, but now it just is a part of me. When you live as long as I have you realize life is so fleeting and meaningless. In the beginning, before my strength and when I still had my sense of humanity, finding meals was so difficult both morally and physically. The majority of my scars came from those days. But over the years, the hunting has gotten so easy. I only hunt at night now, not because it makes it easier, but because I find the fear make the food taste so much better. I must admit that I have even gotten pretty famous, the mortals even made up a name for me to scare their children into staying inside at night.. They call me, \nDracula.\n\n\n\n" ]	1
	[WP] You live with your struggling single mom. It's your 21st birthday and a unknown individual comes to your home and says he's your father and his name is Zeus.	[ "They say never meet your heroes.\n\nMy hero was the dad that I never met. He was everything a father should be: smart, kind, gentle, every cliché in the book. He loved my mother and I, but he had to go away on a long business trip. He was a pilot whose plane travelled around the world for years at a time. He didn’t write, because, as I rationalized in my head, he was stuck on a deserted island waiting for a way to come home to my mother and me.\n\nInstead, my father stood before me in a cheap suit, while smelling of cologne and whiskey. His five o’clock shadow was somehow lazy, but impeccably maintained. He looked like a college athlete twenty years after his prime.\n\nHe extended out a peace offering: a bottle of champagne. \n\n“I guess I should ask if you want to sit down.” I managed. He shuffled awkwardly past me and walked through the door.\n\nHe stepped into our apartment without a word. He gazed at the meager surroundings with an air of superiority, but then looking towards me his guilt returned. He left us, with nothing. He could have visited me countless times, but instead he chose tonight to make his grand entrance. \n\nHe gazed at a photograph of my mother and I, one of the rare happy pictures of us. She was smiling at me as I ran towards the camera with a big grin on my face. I was four. She was barely twenty-five. He picked it up in his bear-paw sized hands and examined it with a smile.\n\n“That was when my Aunt Mary got married, when I was four. Mom was trying to get me to sit still for a posed picture on the beach, but I thought Uncle Mitchell’s camera was more interesting.” I noted, to fill the silence.\n\nHe studied me for thirty-or so seconds, and then smiled. His smile was like he tried to mimic the expression from others, rather than feeling actual amusement. The silence grew louder with each passing second.\n\n“Mom is out at work right now. She’s a secretary, but she also picks up some shifts at a local bar to make extra money now and again. Sometimes she can make like four hundred a night.” \n\n“Hardworking, as always.” He chuckled softly for a second. \n\n“What are you doing here?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. \n\n“I thought it was time I should introduce myself.” He came closer, trying to put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s not right for a girl to go her entire life without knowing who her father is.”\n\n“Believe me, Daddy issues are the least of my worries.” \n\n“Perhaps not, but you cannot deny that you never considered who the mystery man your mother fell for in her youth was?” He grinned wickedly at me, knowing that I considered this every day throughout my childhood. \n\n“You left her, so why should I care that you’re here now?” I felt the tears welling up. I could not show this guy my weakness. I needed to remain strong.\n\n“I stayed away because I only seem to mess things up for my children. I did not want you or your mother to just become another mythological story.”\n\n“So, instead, you decide to become the absent father and offer me a bottle of cheap champagne as a consolation prize?”\n\nHe winced in pain, knowing that his master plan was flawed from it’s very conception. My conception.\n\n“Diana, please, I want to get to know you. I want to be a father to you.” His sky-blue eyes searched mine, pleading with me.\n\nLooking back at the man who made a broken woman whole again, even if briefly, I saw what my mother saw. A man who was running from his past, who wanted to create a better future without the slightest idea how to start. An ideologue with blind love for humanity.\n\nBut I also saw the man who made her break down sobbing for years after my birth. A man no other could possibly measure to. A man with a reckless tendency to leave as soon as he began to feel attached. \n\n“I guess we should start with the basics then.” I said, closing the door to the hallway behind me.", "Author note: Ahem... I have taken some liberties. Not in the enslaving way that governments do, but in the artistic sense... but you probably already guessed that.\n\nI had started living in Japan at the age of ten when a scientist busted me out of the research facility and sent me to some of his friends who lived there. I knew I was not a normal child, I had the ability to channel and manipulate electricity, but I was always afraid to use those powers in case those researchers ever caught onto my scent again. At one point, I began using them when I was introduced to a club that fought of strange monsters, like in some anime, but that's a story for another time.\n\nSee, one day, when my adopted father was at work, mother was shopping, and my sister was out with her friends, there was a knock at the door. I reached for the knob and felt a jolt. I paused, peeked through the peephole, then opened the door.\n\nThe man standing there was a thick and chiseled man with prominent Greek features. His eyes were as dark and sharp as mine, his hair as shockingly blonde. A white t-shirt with a faint ketchup stain on the collar is what he wore, a pair of faded jeans around his waist.\n\n\"Geia sou, o gios mou.\"\n\nI tried to figure out what language he was speaking, probably Greek. \"Do you speak English?' I asked, figuring Japanese was not something he would know.\n\n\"He chortled and scratched his head, \"Sorry! I got so excited when I saw you! It's been so long since I've seen you, son.\"\n\nI narrowed my eyes, \"who are you?\"\n\n\"Why, I'm your father, Zeus!\"\n\nI'm sure he was expecting some reaction like Hercules in Disney's Hercules... but that show wasn't even accurate to begin with.\n\n\"I'm sorry, but you're not my father.\"\n\nHis smile faded, \"what would make you say that?\"\n\nI stepped forward and to the side past him, summoning my war hammer. It struck him cleanly in the gut and sent him flying over the balcony. I leapt up the railing and pushed off after him.\n\n\"Wrong deity!\" I shouted, \"Moljnir! Strike!\"", ">This guy came to my door, claiming to be my father. He looked to be in his mid-twenties to early thirties, goldish blonde hair down to his shoulders, light eyes, light skin. He was muscular, but more like a homeless veteran than a gym rat. His teeth were crooked. He was dressed in layers of ratty clothes. \n>\n>So I tried to get him to leave. He blocked me from closing the door on him, he pushed past me and got in my living room. I yelled at him. I threatened to call the cops. He just sat on my couch and kept asking creepy questions. Things that would be totally normal for a dad to ask his kid, but this guy is not my dad. \"How are you doing?\" \"Where's your mom at?\" \"How's college going?\" \"Still playing football?\"\n>\n>It was creepy. I don't know where my mom found this guy, but she obviously knew him, and obviously she told him about me. She's batshit. Full on schizophrenic, meds and everything. Except the meds don't fix it. They 'manage' it. That's doctor-speak for \"we can't do shit, but here's some sedatives.\" Her hallucinations or what have you are all ancient Greek gods. The whole pantheon. Before she got sick, she taught classes at the Uni about ancient mythology and literature. Ancient Greece was always her favorite. In her more lucid moments, we've had long conversations about Greek poetry and plays, and the way that the ancient Greeks dealt with their deities. \n>\n>Anyway, that's only relevant because this guy called himself Zeus. He wouldn't leave. I finally did have to call the cops. He wasn't too happy about it, and threw my furniture across the room. At that point, I left. Mom wasn't home, the cat was outside, and I did not want to be inside the apartment with a guy who was throwing furniture. \n>\n>I don't know where he went. I didn't see him leave. He might have gone down the other hallway. There are cameras at both entrances. My landlord's card is attached to this statement- call him to get the video footage. \n>\n>I swear this statement is truthful and complete, and is hereby submitted to the police as evidence. \n\n\"Here you go, Officer.\"\n\n\"Thanks, kid. You said you know this guy met your mom somewhere? Do you have any idea where?\"\n\n\"The only thing I can think of is her therapist's office, but I've never seen anyone else there when I drop her off or pick her up. Her therapist says she schedules appointments with huge buffers so someone coming in doesn't run into someone leaving, for patient privacy she says. You might want to ask her though. I think I have her card in my wallet.\"\n\n\"That'd be great. There's nowhere else your mom goes? She doesn't go out by herself?\"\n\n\"No, man. She's crazy. Last time she went out on her own, ya'll picked her up for harassing some woman and her kids. Only thing that kept her from getting shot is that she's an old woman, and the only thing that kept her from going to jail was me shoving her disability papers in ya'll's faces!\"\n\n\"Calm down, now, son. There is no reason to get upset here; we're just trying to help you.\"\n\n\"Then why are you not out there looking for this crazy sonovabitch?\"\n\n\"We have officers searching the area--\"\n\n\"Yeah, like two, probably. Was I white, you'd be having a whole task force out there.\"\n\n\"Listen, this has nothing to do with that! We have every available officer searching the area. Usually crazy people are just confused, but if this guy was aggressive enough to push into your apartment and destroy your furniture, he's likely a danger to yourself or others. We are looking for him.\"\n\n\"Yeah, right. Whatever. Look, I'm already late to pick up my mom from her appointment. Just call me when you find the asshole.\"" ]	3
	[WP] You travel back in time to the medieval era, unfortunately your time machine broke down and can now only access /r/ jokes in the present. With this you decide to become a court Jester, but the king is getting sick of reposts	[ "\"Well my friend, I've been through many hardships in my life!\"\n\nVarious dukes and counts still laughed, but the King was not amused. He had heard this joke about seven times now, and he was pretty sure the others laughed not because it was funny, but to please the King\n\n\"Another!\", ordered King Henry, who was rather irate by now with the lack of new jokes.\n\n\"Shit\", I thought. I'd ran out of good jokes a long time ago. Ones he understood, anyway. Didn't help that I'd browsed the sub this morning - he wouldn't know what a car is. Most national stereotypes wouldn't be funny to him. Hell, Germany and Italy wouldn't be countries for about 500 years.\n\nI began to tremble and stir. I had dozens of eyes on me, and His Majesty was holding onto a leg of lamb. I thought hard for a joke. One he hadn't heard before.\n\nUuh...\n\n\"Well?\", asked the King.\n\nI cleared my throat. \"A man gets captured by a tribe.\"\n\nThe King smiled. I knew he hadn't heard this one.\n\n\"He prays to God, and asks 'Am I fucked?'. A voice replies: \"No. Grab that rock, and smash open the chieftain's skull\"\n\nThe man picks up the skull, looks at the chieftain, and smashes his skull until it's bleeding mush.\n\n\"'Now you're fucked', says the voice\".\n\nThe room erupted into laughter, and I beamed trying to cover how proud I was. I hadn't had such a good response from a joke in months.\n\n\"Another! I love these native jokes! Those bloody barbarians!\", laughed the King.\n\nOf course! I had never told these jokes before! I tried to remember another one, and then cleared my throat again.\n\n\"An Englishman, a Dane, and a Venetian get stranded. After wandering around a while, they are found by some tribesmen. The natives take them back to their hut. The chief tells them, \"Go out into the jungle and collect 10 pieces of fruit.\"\n\nThe Englishman returns with 10 apples, and the chief says \"Now shove them all up your ass without showing any emotion, or we'll kill you.\" \n\nHe shoves the the first up, and is in terrible pain, but shows no emotion, but during the process of pushing up the second, he flinches, and therefore gets killed.\nThe Dane comes back with 10 strawberries, and gets told to do the same.\nHe's finding it relatively easy, but when he gets to the eighth, starts laughing hysterically, and gets killed.\n\nHe meets up with the Englishman in heaven, and he asks, \"Why did you do that, why did you laugh?\" and the Dane replies,\n\n\"Well I nearly finished when I saw the Venetian walking up with pineapples!\".\n\nSilence.\n\nBut I hadn't told this one before.\n\n\"What is a pineapple?\", asks King Henry.\n\n\"Well, they're a fruit that grows in the Caribbean or something. You know? Big green leaves, hard body?\"\n\n\"The... Caribbean? Do you mean Cathay?\"\n\nFuck.\n\nThis was 1200 or something. Colombus was centuries away. I seemed utterly insane. \n\nI didn't see any way out of this other than to explain myself.\n\n\"Well, if you sail to the West, and keep going, there's another continent. In the middle, there are these islands called the Caribbean. You can grow pineapples there. Sugar, too.\"\n\nThe men at the feast began to chatter to one another, seeming very confused indeed. The King looked at me as if I were some sort of lunatic.\n\n\"And how do you know this?\"\n\n\"I come from this continent. It's called America.\"\n\n\"There's no proof! How do we even reach it!\", boomed King Henry, slamming down his tankard.\n\n\"You need a frigate\", I said, hoping my Civ V knowledge was serving me correctly.\n\n\"A... what?\"\n\n\"A really big ship. And astronomy. Just like... yeah\"\n\n\"You truly are insane. Guards, seize him!\n\nI grabbed my time machine from my pocket, and slammed the button. Disappearing in a smoke of mist, I landed back in 2017. I rubbed my clothes, and looked around. But I wasn't in a dimly lit room with only /r/Jokes on screen. There was grass, trees, and the same little lake that let me know I was home. After five goddamned months, I was finally free.\n\nI looked at my crappy jester clothes, and cringed. I'd go to my parents, and explain everything to them. Hoping no one saw me, I began to walk across a small road near the field, and walked up the road. The dirt road turned to stone, as I saw the familiar shops and houses that I'd been growing up with all my life. I took out my phone, and turned on the mobile data. Goddamn it, I missed having an Internet connection. I could finally browse Reddit. \n\nI looked at the front page. Same old jokes. Same old cat pictures. I tucked my phone back into my pocket. It was good to be back. I walked into a Starbucks, and waited behind the counter. Soon, I was at the front of the queue.\n\n\"I'll have a mocha\", I said. \n\n\"Sure thing\", said the barista. \"That'll be two pounds, please\"." ]	1
	[WP] Any spherical furniture suddenly becomes square.	[ "Journal Entry #5\n_______________________\n\nIt's been 3 weeks since I've been sleeping on the couch. My wife and I become more distant as the days pass. Ever since our damned circle dinner table turned into a fucking square, my wife has been pushed into a corner seat at dinner. \n\nA fucking corner seat\n\nDo you know who my wife is? In high school, she never sat in the corner seat. Always the head of the table, or sitting at a fucking circle table. \n\nFuck\n\nHow is she gonna wanna have sex with me when she's eating dinner at a 45° angle and I'm hitting 90° the entire meal?\n\nI miss those round motherfuckers " ]	1
	[WP] You are a property inspector that has just arrived at a recently forclosed toy store. You are alone in a mess of toys, but on the checkout desk, you see a fidget spinner... freshly spun.	[ "I upvote every post about [fidget spinners](/r/fidgetspin/). \n\nSo let us know what its like. Students who sat where you wish you could turn back the next generation of musical talent the next Commander in Chief. They all have to make sure our economy grow. It is played out on moments in my heart I know its not easy.\n\nIf you want to focus on your shoulders when you become, at long last, commissioned officers in the Situation Room and forcefully argued in favor of the possibility of the world. I ll get to write a letter. They weren t caused overnight, and we are proud of them. Its the story of America where our businesses or our workers by contributing unnecessarily to global uncertainty." ]	1
	[WP] When you sleep, everything dies.	[ "I'm so tired. I don't mean sleep. I mean fatigue. The drugs pumping into my veins don't let me sleep. My brain is on fire. I can close my eyelids all I want, but then my mind is assaulted with screaming images. Did you know that colours can scream? White screams the loudest. But the tones of the screams change. Red screams so hot to the touch, but at such a quiet volume. Blue is much louder, but much calmer. It's so irritating. Like a loud whisper. Like someone breathing screams in your ear. Green is the best. Green screams like normal people. Not the people that come when I close my invisible eyelids, but the people that come out when open them. But I guess the invisible eyelid people are still people too. Just more like projections of people. Like painting on glass to put on paintings. But I didn't always paint like this. I can remember when I was first falling sleep and the screams woke me up before I could completely go in. And my dad was dead and mom was screaming. And the cat outside was dead too. I didn't like the cat too much but I didn't want it to die. And then we went to the hospital and i started to nod off in my chair and more people started screaming and alarms started buzzing and so much commotion started happening. That's when I started getting confused. I was so tired. They took me somewhere after a while. Haven't nodded off since. They cut me so very very carefully. They want that juice. Sip sip sip. Nectar of the gods, I've got. Probably tastes like cream soda. And it's all sloshing around inside my brain!\nIs dying the same as sleeping?\nThat's maybe why they're cutting so carefully. Sometimes they cut at my skull but I feel the shadow of the scalpel cut all the way down my back. And I'm falling backwards, because they tilted the table too far backwards, but I land back on the table. I never left it though, they have me strapped safely in.\nDelta death waves. I'm going to kill so many people if they even skip a single dose\n\nRemember when there was that guy that died because he couldn't sleep? For like a year?\nStarted hallucinating. But I'm not hallucinating now. You can only burn a log for so long, and I'm not imagining that black velvet curtain falling. It's so comfortable and warm and cozy and nuzzling in and stretching far far a" ]	1
	[WP] In a lucid dream, you find something you really want to hold onto and make an effort to bring it with you to the real world when you wake up.	[ "I saw her hand, sprawled and stretched out, each finger like a misty wisp of a cirrus cloud at dawn, floating against a vividly blue aura. Each finger tip, each immaculate nail accented with a dark pink at the base. \n\nIt was her hand. I knew it. The rest of the arm trailed behind.\n\nI grabbed it and I wished so hard that I would be back in bed and she would be in my arms again.\n\nI woke up sobbing this morning.\n\nI miss you so very much.", "See, sometimes you just look at something, you know, and you know you have to keep it. You have to have it.\n\nAnd I saw it. I saw it when I was waiting in the rain. And I felt the rain: I felt it. I felt it on my shoulders.\n\nThey say this is a dream; I don’t believe it.\n\nSo I take the rain. I seize it. I raise my hands, as if in prayer, and I dream to whoever listens. I dream that I may dream\n\nthat I may take it with me. When I might leave this place.\n\nThe end is coming soon. I feel it. So I hold my hands raised as if in prayer, and I feel each drop as if it were a tear, and I close my eyes as I sense it\n\nand it is cold and is ice and is perfect\n\nand I tremble as it trembles\n\ndown my arm\n\nand I open my eyes as I wake.\n\n-\n-\n-\n\nand there are no raindrops here, only tears. And a bed which is dry as the desert I have left, as dry as my tongue which is parched and deserted.\n\nAnd the water is here. The water is to my right. I turn to my side as I raise my hand, as I reach for the water which is right here beside me.\n\nPerhaps I knew I needed it. Somehow, I took it with me.\n\nI rise to make my morning coffee as drops strike the pane of my window.\n", "I grabbed hold, with all my might, muscles screaming, body aching, my mind telling me to just let go, to give up. No, I scream into the night, I will not give up! I have been searching for too long, wanting, needing for too long. I can't let go now. I wake up, sweating, my bed is damp with sweat for the struggle, as pointless as it was. I hang my head in shame and roll over, determined to fall back asleep. What is that? I ask myself, looking under the sheet. I did it, I brought back my greatest want, my biggest desire, A MOTHERFUCKING LIGHTSABER FUCK YEAH!", "The sun is setting outside. Night is slowly taking over the town. Rain is thundering overhead on the roof. It’s a welcome sound as it breaks the otherwise monotonous silence. This storm has lasted a little too long; much longer than these summer thunderstorms usually last. Still, amidst the occasional distant roll of thunder and the constant hum of rain hitting the roof, it’s an otherwise eerily quiet evening. No cars are driving by; no planes overhead. In Tom’s mind it seems as though the world has stopped for a moment.\n\nTom sits at his dining table. Well, what he has considered a dining table. It’s really a $10 folding table more likely to be used for a poker night that he bought at a garage sale. He sits in his one bedroom apartment with the lights off. The apartment, being unusually empty, seems more like a prison than the warm, inviting place a home is meant to be. His things are in dust covered boxes; which only served to remind him of how lazy he had been in not unpacking them, or how terrified he was trying to restart his life. There were no pictures; no art. No end pieces, carpets, or irrelevant knick-knacks. Just a recliner, a TV, a picture on the fridge, and a dining table shoved into the corner of his kitchen. A sad residence for an occupant to have lived in for a year and a half.\n\nHe reaches forward to take another drink. Scotch. His only comfort anymore. He had told everyone that it reminded him of his Dad but had never shared that those memories weren’t fond. This had become Tom’s normal routine lately. He gets up and goes to his job, then he comes home and drinks until he falls asleep. This is because weird things had been happening lately. At night, they’ve been in his dreams but that’s nothing abnormal. They’ve been in his dreams for the past two years. The thing that has recently changed is that he’s become “awake” in his dreams. He’s been able to talk to them, and they answer back. They react to his jokes, they laugh, they hug him, and he hugs back. He can gently touch their cheeks and kiss them on the forehead. Then out of nowhere, he hears an alarm. He immediately recognizes it as his alarm clock and that breaks the hypnosis. Their faces become blurry and unrecognizable and they become unaware of his existence. Then they fade away all together as he is ripped back to the conscious world.\n\nTwo months this has been happening. Tom gets up and walks to the fridge. He pulls the picture from under the magnet and touches the faces on the picture. A tear begins to roll down his cheek and he closes his eyes, as though their faces were kryptonite and he was Superman. He takes the picture with him back to the table and sits down. He sets the picture down and grabs the bottle of Scotch. He polishes it off and lets it roll out of his hands, fall to the linoleum, and break. He rests his head on the table. More thunder. More rain. More Silence.\n\nAfter what feels like hours, time is getting a bit intangible at this point, he reaches for the picture again and turns it over. On the back is a note. “Words could not explain how sorry I am, Tom. I thought you’d want this. Love you, Sis.” He flips it back over. The first thing he sees is his face. How happy he was. He hasn’t seen his teeth in years. He’s lying on his stomach in the grass. On his right, a girl. 9 years old. The thickest head of blonde hair you’ve ever seen. She used to say she wanted to be a pony when she grew up because they had long pretty hair like hers. She has eyes that would melt the heart of the coldest, grumpiest old man, and her head is leaning on his shoulder. On his back, his boy. His little man. 6 years old. He recalls how they couldn’t get him to sit still long enough to take the picture. Tom had insisted they take the picture anyways. Mikey’s looking at the camera with his hands by his head in the shape of claws and his mouth looks like he’s roaring. You can tell Tom and Addison are more laughing than smiling. And that gap in his teeth! Oh god. He’d make that same old man die of laughter!\n\nTom let’s out a chuckle and a smirk before tears start to well up in his eyes again. He’s dreamt of them nearly every night since the incident. Incident. He hated that word. He watched the news so many times and that was what they called it; an “incident”. He used to get so angry. “20 kids… 20 kids were killed and we’re calling it a god damn incident?!” 40 parents say goodbye to their kids that morning when they left for school and didn’t realize it was the last time they’d see them. Only a handful kissed them goodbye. Imagine, their terror. Imagine, what these kids felt when they heard gone shots, when they saw the panic on their teachers faces, when a man kicked in the door to the room and shot their teacher, before opening fire on them. Just imagine how scared they were. But 2 years removed, the politicians are done arguing. The left and the right are done screaming at each other and the \"incident\" is only remembered every year on its anniversary. And Tom’s still sitting here. Childless.\n\nThese dreams have come to both haunt him and sustain him. He hates that they end and he only feels alive when he’s with them again. He stands up while holding the table and bends over to pick up the broken glass and empty aspirin bottle but crumbles to his knees. Things are getting too blurry now. He gives up on them and crawls towards the wall. He manages to sit against it while still holding their picture. He closes his eyes and remembers his dreams. Their laughter. Their smiles.\n\nThe sun is almost gone. The rain on the roof is his only company. Off in the distance, thunder still rolls. He hopes his plan will work. After all, why else would they call it the long sleep?", "In my arms - all I had ever wanted was in my arms. The dream since I was a kid. Here and now. I could make it real. I could feel it. I had thought and dreamt and practiced and I had made it happen. I could make it happen. I could make it real.\n\nAnd with everything I had, every ounce of effort, I was pulling it all back, back into the real world - it’s right fucking there - the warmth of my bed, the weight of my blanket. My feet are cold. No, too soon. I push the thought out of my mind.\n\nThat was one of the ways I woke up from dreams. My Mum had told me: if you want to get out of a bad dream, just remember your toes. I don’t know why but it worked.\n\nNo! Wait!\n\nA slip up - the distraction had taken me away, but I was back now. Back in the dream. My arms wrapped around my goal, but my bed and the real world were no closer.\n\n“Sweety.”\n\nNo. No, shut up, shut up and let me do this.\n\n“Sweety.” She touched my cheek.\n\n“Mum, please!” My arms, why the fuck are my arms so small. I can smell her. “Mum, you’re almost there, come on!”\n\n“Sweet-stuff, listen to me.” Her hands are on my face - why the fuck am I so small - oh god, fucking damn it, just let me have this!\n\n“Mum! Just, just shut up, ok? Just shut up and come with me! Please!”\n\n“You know I can’t, sweet-stuff.”\n\nShe dabs at my tears with her dress, and for a moment she slipped through my arms. Have to hold on, even it’s just the hem of her dress, if I can just hold on.\n\nI look at her.\n\nShe’s smiling. She’s smiling and she’s wonderful. Brown hair, curly like mine. Like when I was seven. Before the chemo and the tubes and the death. That’s why I’m so small and weak. I’m remembering her before. And back then I was just a kid. \n\n“Mummy, please.”\n\n\n“Shhhh-shh.” As she lifts me up I let her go, and now she’s holding me. “My poor little, Sweet-stuff. I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry that I had to go.”\n\nI bury my face in her and through my tears I feel her own fall upon me.\n\n“I love you so, so much, Sweet-stuff.”\n\n“Just-just come back with me, you’re right there! You’re right there.”\n\n“I can’t. Not in this way. But, I also never left.”\n\nI pushed my face up to hers: “I don’t want you in my heart!” My feet are cold “I want you in my life. I want you there when I’m scared or happy. Just...just, please!”\n\nMy feet are cold.\n\n“I wish I could be there for you, my Sweet-stuff. God, I love you. I love you so, so much.”\n\n“My feet are cold.”\n\nI fell from her arms and landed in my bed. \n\nOutside my window birds called out to the rising sun. I rolled on my side and wept." ]	5
	[WP] write as story of Human history from the perspective of the animals involved aka horses, elephants, geese...	[ "Fuck these \"humans\"! They used to need us for everything and now what? Stick us in some shitty field with barely any shade, some hay, and a shitty salt block. Oh crap, here comes one of the small ones now.\n\n\"Horsie!\"\n\nOh yeah, horsie. Get a little closer so I can kick you kid. Get that nasty ass hay out of my face too! Your hands are disgusting. I saw you playing with dog shit earlier. Put that hand any closer and I swear to Pegasus if you get any closer I'm biting that hand.\n\nCHOMP!\n\nDidn't think I'd do anything, did you? Yeah that's right, run to your dumb shack with your dumb fans and your dumb air conditioning. I'll just stand here in the blazing sunlight since everyone else is huddled under the TWO FUCKING TREES CASTING SHADE. And god forbid it starts getting cold. Do we get invited inside to watch wheel of fortune with the rest of you lazy assholes? Of course not. We get a dumb blanket that barely works.\n\nThings used to be different. We used to be needed. We used to have purpose. Now we're only needed when they want want to go for a walk but don't actually want to walk. " ]	1
	[WP] A long time ago, you were given the chance to become immortal. You accepted without a doubt. But you never actually thought you would outlive the human race.	[ "When I was little, a long time ago, I used to play in the snow outside of my home with my siblings. We'd play tag. I'd tag someone \"Tag, you're it.\" and run away, and we would play for hours or so long as we could until someone got hurt. It seems inevitable that when children play, they play until someone gets hurt. It is, I suspect, a condition of human nature. \n\nOnce, as I tore around the house with my younger sister bounding behind me I lost traction. It's a strange feeling I'm sure you've experienced. The surprise. The falling. The ground. You play witness to your own mistake and in your head you hear, \"Well John. You've bungled this one, haven't you?\" before kerplunk! Right into the ground you go. I broke my arm that time. It was one of my first mistakes in life I remember clearly. Not my last.\n\nThat perplexing feeling hasn't a name that I'm aware of. It's a jumble of emotions really. Helplessness is certainly a big part of it, but not all of the picture. Regret is in equal parts with helplessness I think because of course afterwords you always say \"Now, Why did you do that?\"\n\nThere is fear in there as well. Fear of what's about to happen. About what you cannot stop from happening. This enigmatic emotion I suspect is the last thing many a person may feel just before their death. \n\nIt passes though. That feeling that strikes so quickly is also quickly passed as new information comes to light. Either you break your arm, or you are OK, or you (there is no you) die. The resolution, gives way to new, comprehensible feelings.. It leaves you to live (or die) with the consequences. \n\nAnd so now I must ask myself. Why do I still feel the unnerving and hopeless spiral? Why does this feeling still persist? Am I still falling?", "It would've surprised most people that 2000 years after the turn of the 20th century the world looks the same. The trees are tall, the grass is green. The oceans are blue, and the polar ice caps remain intact. The last human died over 500 years ago, and yet the world turns. Nature thrives, the cool rain comes, the irresistible, ever-bright sun gives life, as the Earth seems to have even paused in it's approach to a final heat death. Mankind is gone, confined to my history books. And gone is it's stain, it's stench. There is no trace of society and civilization. Every building torn down, every city raized. Only the stories remain. I wrote these stories. I collected tales and records from every culture years before their destruction. I, the Keeper, the Pale Man, Savior of the Earth, Scourge of Humanity. They watched my cold form approach from over the horizon, they screamed as their homes fell, and their souls died as their children did. As I crushed the life from the last woman, it was clear I was no longer a man, with no humanity to be found.", " I walked along the gravel, which now covers the earth almost completely. The once vivid blues and greens which were sprinkled upon this living geode has all decayed to nothing but reds and Greys. Makes me wonder if Mars had life.\n I sit upon the gravel, besides the last. I groaned in discomfort as the blanket I would lay upon the ground had recently become all but useless, it was now just a headband I wore to shield my brow from the red giant which lay before our orb of clay and iron. Sipping a bit of water that I dug up hours earlier, I started, once more, conversing with the grave. \n \"Muhammad... That was a facinating man. Created amazing thing, that he truly did. You might have liked him actually.\" I paused and took another sip. \" Too bad history had it's way of bending the truth. Yea, you know he was actually quite tall?\" I awaited a response. \"Yes! I kid you not Dahlia, I swear, as tall as Micheal Jordan. Giant man. Of course it was the point of his cause,which was to spread the word of his God.\" I took another sip of my water and listened to the sound of dead winds. \"Me? Oh I was raised as an Egyptian so, for a long while I worshiped Ra, Amun Ra. You know them I presume?\" I looked towards her headstone, my face quickly turning an assortment of pale whites and greens. I looked towards my water and spoke yet again, an effort to change the topic of a non existent conversation. \"Been weeks since I last had a drink you know? I remember when you all started to get worried about the planet. \"\"Will our children have water to drink?\". The environment, the animals. The water. Heck, if only they could see it all now huh?\" looking down at my bottle which I so treasured, I recalled meeting her. Dahlia was the last woman. Of course Dahlia wasn't her name, but when I discovered her corpse, I had to call her something. She was dark skin, with tight black curls, her skin and hair denoted African decent, however the ethicities had mingled so much by his time that, anyone could look to her and point out features of every race. Her teeth, gapped, nostrils, tight and small, the bridge long and thick. She was lean, yet muscular, I presume made that way by thousands of years of evolution. I presumed she died of dehydration, and as I wanted to preserve her memory, the human memory, I ensured her grave was safe from the predators of this region.\n \"I wish I could have helped you. Maybe we could have left this planetary pebble together. Maybe we could have began anew on one of Jupiter's moons, they discovered an alge forest on one you know!?\" I turned to the shallow grave, holding up my bottle. Waiting for a response, although I knew I would never receive one. \" I'm sorry Dahlia. Truly I am.\" The grim reality of my situation getting closer and closer, year by year, millennia by millennia.\n I pulled myself off the red gravel and poured the rest of my drink onto the dirt, seeing my tears once again join the water which I ritualistically poured every month. \"I wish I had someone Dahlia.\" I grabbed ahold of the stone which was her marker for both physical and emotional support. \"Anyone would be fine. A dog, a bird, for God's sake even Walle had a cockroach!\" I fell back to the earth, sobbing as if I'd just been born again. I began to snicker a cynical snicker. \"Hehe...Heheheh. you know, in only a couple hundred thousand years this rock will be devoured by the big red giant?\" Tears began to fall even faster now. I knew this grave was not shallow, her body probably has been fossilized for more than fifty millennia, and yet I always placed new stones to keep track. Looking up at the crimson horizon, I knew my days were numbered. I spoke aloud. \"Only one hundred ninety nine thousand, nine hundred ninety nine years to go. Give or take fifty thousand years.\", I shot up, dusted myself off, and sulked over to my cave. Filled with nothing. Like the rest of Earth.\n\n\n\nI wrote this on my phone at 5:00 Am so please be gentle. I hope I can write more like this.", "\"You were made to suffer a fate even harder, my child who fears death. Will you still accept it?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" she said, and life with all its darkness clung to her from that moment on.\n\n---\n\nThe last feeling was nostalgia. A sense in her body that time had passed, things had changed, and all the insignificant details were worth remembering.\n\nGrief, she shook off in her first two hundred years. It was a lesson learned even by children, after all, and she had learned it better than anyone else could - watching not just parents and sister, but nephews and nieces and the whole sprawling web called \"family\" march into something unknown without her. She tended to them the same way she tended to a series of pet birds in her childhood, with full attention and no shortcuts taken, but love limited by the knowledge that their time was short. Limited, too, by the fact that they could never know who she was. She had mourned her last unmarried relative in all the proper ways, but then walked away in the lightness of freedom.\n\nWonder ceased to touch her after five hundred. For a long time, the world seemed to get flashier, but less substantial - nothing invented but new ways to spend money, new ways to make life better for people who already had it alright, and sometimes \"new\" ways of cruelty which threatened to obliterate the rest of the newness. In history, good always triumphed, progress would eventually turn out for the better - no one voiced that opinion as firmly, and resignedly, as she did. Watching a city of 21 million lives vanish into nothingness, the ground where it stood now a bite-like crater, she understood that history would vanish exactly when that was no longer true. Slowly, even as the world seemed to recover, she began to realize that she would see that end.\n\nAnger meant nothing after nine-hundred years. Her tired sense of justice made itself felt more than ever, but grudges couldn't endure so long.\n\nFear left her, when the days became difficult to count and all proper measurements of time vanished. Before that, with the news getting worse and worse, it became ever-present. Others, talking feverishly fast with wide eyes, gave her heart a twisting feeling she couldn't explain. Nothing would kill her - she had already learned that in bathtubs, in hospital escapes, in nights spent under a blanket of snow. In dreams of running from shadows and promises made out of fear. But there were other things that chilled her more. The intent in others' eyes, which later escaped into their actions. There was selflessness in the world, but where it showed up, its only effect was to mark its own scarcity.\n\nSome humans had to be the last humans - she didn't know if she could give herself that label, anymore. They were possessed by the urgency of survival, the willingness to kill each other to live a miserable moment more. One by one, they lay quiet on the ground, and she held their hands as they looked at her with slowly fading hatred.\n\nShe learned to meet their eyes. They were made with the same unquenchable fear that ruled her too, there was no difference between them except that she was - somehow - immortal.\n\nIt was with them that she lost that fear. She wandered on.\n\nShe forgot about disgust, having seen her body disfigured in almost every way that wouldn't kill her. She forgot what it was like to look into her own hungry eyes and feel disturbed, having not seen her reflection for some immeasurable time. In some time, she realized that she was no longer eating. She wondered whether she even needed to breathe anymore, but that was a habit that wouldn't stop. And one day, she walked across a span of land and realized that she hadn't seen knew land in - well, she didn't know how long.\n\nShe lay down for good. She no longer thought about what it was like, not to sleep most of the day and then wake up only to stare at the moon which was in one blink a crescent, in the next a full orb. Sometimes, she thought that there had been a time that rain didn't fall all around her, burying her in mud. A time not spent on the ground, something like a withered root. But she remembered only the fact that there had once been something different, and by some slowly accumulated shading, then had slowly become now.\n\nNostalgia lived, in vague dreams.\n\nIn the tomb of eternal life she opened her eyes to rocks and dirt, tumbling around her body. Fast or slow, she no longer knew, but an old memory stirred.\n\nShe wept as the ground hardened around her, as over millions of years the core of the earth took her in a hungry embrace, as life became something other than a living body. She sang, screaming, the dying song of the last survivors - their desperation, their acquiescence, the final pain of their last few heartbeats - the sound that should have been hers, too. And then, something in the fire seemed to answer her. She reached out with what remained of her being, feeling through the layers of soil and rock, feeling her life sink into every inch of the earth.\n\nSomething small was out there, and it was hers to shape.\n\n---\n\n\"You are the future of the world,\" she said, and the dreamer could only imagine what brought such sorrow into her voice. He could not guess it was just that she already knew his mind. \"One who is meant to love life above all, who will call it back from the end by your own suffering. Will you do it?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"", "(let me start by saying i am writing on a phone so it might be rubbish, and it is 12:08 am and i am 13 years old. Thank you.)\n\nI looked around not really knowing what to do now. There was nothing. I remember not two hours ago talking to the cashier at tesco and now im in a crater and its all on fire.\n\nMy day started as any other. I woke up, brushed me teeth, took my morning poop, made breakfast and strolled out the door. I lived in a rough area in south london. But i really didnt mind. Its not like i could be killed. I entered the shop in which i worked, not a supermarket but more of an off license and said goodbye to sara (the lady that worked the night shift) and gave her a kiss on the cheek then sat at the counter and waited. \n\nI waited and waited and god knows i was a patient man, but nobody showed. I was confused and looked at my phone to see if the world was ending... to my disbelief it was, i tapped on reddit and sure enough it was all over reddit in big letters, WE ARE DOOMED. I had read enough and was about to leave when i got a call, it was from my boss telling me to not leave no matter what, i scoffed and told him he would have to work if he wanted to keep the place. He hung up.\n\nThere were so many things going on inside my head but the main was, what will happen to me.\n\nNow it is 2004 and i was in a rough place. I was smoking crack, homeless, no job and no family. I remember the day to the exact point. I found a knife. A kid or something must of dropped it after a gang fight or something but i found it. I sat under the bridge like a troll thinking about life and about how rubbish it was and without thinking anymore i slit my throat. Not my wrist, my throat. And when i fell into the small river i recall the figure. It was death and it was not female or male. It did not look like the stereo typical dark robed skeleton but rather a small jackal. Like anubis from ancient egypt. It barked but i understood it. I told me it was not ready for me and that it will find me when the time is right, for now though it gave me immortality.\n\nWe are back in 2017 now and i was racing down the street, it was complete anarchy, buildings were on fire or being looted and cars were all smashed and i had no clue what to do. I had nothing at home so no point being there and then it hit me, the pub. Why not, no one will be in there and i can sit and watch the solar flare come towards us whilst having a nice cold pint. But as i approached i noticed it had been transformed like shaun of the dead into a safe house for some reason. I rapped my fingers on the front window and got a reply, a young girl in her late teens, she looked at me for a second then unlocked the door. \n\n\n\n//this is my first ever writing prompt story and would like some feed back. Dont hold back if its rubbish. And if this gets 50 upvotes i will do a part 2// ", "Its gotten to the point now, years are like days and each one passes as I drift endlessly into the dark expanse of space. Not only did I outlive humans, but the entire solar system. I was there when the last human died, I was there when the extraterrestrial archaeologists visited the remains of Earth, and boy where they surprised to see me. I convinced them to give me a space craft to leave Earth before the sun would engulf it in a fiery death.\n\nWhen I first accepted immortality I thought it would be cool, but as time when on and I outlived my wife, my kids and my grandkids, things got dark. What I wouldn't give to see them again. So I spent all my time from there on researching, doing the math. I had convinced NASA to let me use their telescopes for my research (after they found out I was immortal it was kinda hard to say no). And if my calculations are correct I should be arriving soon, but then again I forgot to grab a watch before I left Earth, and its hard to keep track of time around here.\n\nBut wait, I see something, a small speck of light ahead. Could this be it? Could my millenniums of research be right? Its growing bigger, and brighter. It looks like a bright cloud, with a gate. Wait! There are people on the other side of the gate! They are all familiar faces. Oh I hope they will let me in. Everything up until now was worth it, this moment I have waited lifetimes for.\n\nI have found it...\n\nheaven.", "The year was 2014. I was interning at a reputable university for the summer, performing state of the art research. But on this particular day, July 1st, I was relaxing with my fellow interns under the cool shade of a grand oak tree. Filled with blossoming passion and sophomoric curiosity, we asked all the unanswerable questions imaginable. What is the meaning of life? What would you do if the apocalypse came tomorrow? Do fish get thirsty?\n\nAfter much deliberation and debate, we decided to play ‘Would You Rather’. For those of you unaware, ‘Would You Rather’ is a pastime where two scenarios are offered and one must be chosen. For example, would you rather be extremely pulchritudinous but dumber than a rock or very unattractive but sharper than a tack? For some reason, I can only clearly recollect the last question of the game: would you rather live for twenty hours or twenty thousand years? It seemed so simple at the time; I didn’t even think twice about my answer. We all chose the latter option except for one peculiar individual. I ascribed his strange decision to some sort of idiosyncratic trait. If only I understood what he understood…\n\nThe year is 4014. I am tethering at the edge of a treacherous cliff for what must be the millionth time, trying to fall to my death yet again. It was on this day, two thousand years ago, that I sealed my faith with my foolish decision. There is no shade from foliage anymore; all the trees have desiccated and died. My blossoming passion has become withered hope. My sophomoric curiosity is now melancholic shrewdness. \n\nWhat is the meaning of life?\n\nThere is no life now.\n\nWhat would you do if the apocalypse came tomorrow?\n\nWelcome it with eager arms.\n\nDo fish get thirsty?\n\nThe seas have all dried out. There are no fish. There is only me, the cliff, and the fall.\n", "entry_381599_final_entry\nWho would have knew I would outlive humanity. If there was still a historian alive, it would probably be called ancient time or maybe even past that. I lost track of time a couple million years ago while floating through space on my generation ship (maybe billions? I don't know).\n\nWell, it's still a generation ship, just without anyone anymore. I guess humanity never change. Always having problem here and there, and by problem, I mean wars. I've carefully selected my crew for the generationship but after a couple generations, there was a revolt about who should be the captain of the ship. Some wanted to go back down to a planet and settle. Some wanted to travel throgh a blackhole just because. Some just want me to give up to the inevitable.\n\nI built this generation ship for my own purpose and my crew was there tp serve my purpose. They were not there to start revolts nor oppose me. I was forced to put them all down. I should've went with AI in the first place but I thought of being alone in the universe for quite a long time can be lonely without human interactions. \n\nWell, they're all dead now, for quite sometimes too. All I have left is my AI, who only do what's necessary. It's comforting program can be a little funny too. Like when I'm crying, it would extend one of the mechanical arm to pat my back. Can't really consider it a pat, as it's more of a slap. \n\nIf there's another universe in another dimension, I would never take this deal ever again. A lifetime, literally, of running is enough for me. Well, that damn snail is now only a couple lightyears away from me. Damn intelligent snail. It would only be a matter of a couple more thousand years before it catches up to me. So this is my final data entry. If somehow these data entries survived into the new big bang or whatever, know that immortality exist, but so does that damn snail.\nend_of_entry_381599", "It's amazing how inconsequential most things are, given enough time to consider them. \n\nThis was the thought that passed through Amelia's head as she tidied the snow from her campsite for the one million, five-hundred thousand, and twenty-eighth time. Or, at least, she was pretty sure that was the number. She had always been pretty good at numbers, and this one was a rather important one. It was an anniversary, of sorts. After all, it wasn't every day that you became the only living person on Earth for four thousand years running. \n\nShe snorted in amusement, shaking her head as she busied herself wrapping up her leather sleeping pad. It wasn't as if the day mattered, after all. It was just another morning, just another sunrise among the literally millions of others that she had seen before. At least today it looked as if the dogs were happy. They, unlike the rest of her kind, had been faithful to the end. They were always alert, always happy to help carry her things, and they never, ever left her alone. \n\nWhy had she been so eager to take that wish? \n\nThe thought buzzed her consciousness like an angry hornet, and not for the first time she swatted it away. She had thought herself so smart back then, and so incredibly lucky. The ring, after all, had been buried for nearly as long as she had been wandering, and yet still it had retained enough of its form to hold some magic. The being within had shimmered like smoke, appearing as much in her mind's eye as it had before her. When it spoke, she knew not the words it said, and yet she still understood it with perfect clarity. \n\n\"Make me immortal.\" \n\nAmelia clamped her hands over her face, shocked that the words had come pouring out with so little warning even all these years later. She hadn't wanted to say them even then, at least not without a great deal of careful wording. 'Make me live until I no long wish to' for example, or even 'let me live the longest, happiest life anyone has ever lived before.' Yet, that was not what came out of her mouth then, and it was not the wish that was imposed upon her now. At first, she had hoped that the being might have read her mind, even given her what she had wanted without so many words. Thousands of attempts to break the curse later had proven that she had hoped in vain. \n\nStill, she was not entirely without hope. Magic existed in the world--she was living proof of it--and if the magics that sustained her still lived on, so might the being and the ring. But it had vanished after her very first wish, and after thousands of years of hunting, not even a whisper of a myth was left for her to chase. A thousand lifetimes, a thousand thousand prayers, and still she was alone. In all that time, she had accomplished nothing. Finally, her hope was dead, and with it was her spirit. \n\n\"Are you sure you've had enough?\" Whispered a voice in her ear. \n\nQuick as thunder, she was on her feet, knife pressed against her assailant's flesh. The years had made her tired, but they had not dulled the pain of a blade drawn too slowly. Too often she had suffered mortal wounds, only to die and die again as her attacker came back for more. Food was scarce this far above the arctic circle, and prey that always came back was far too appealing for most predators to pass up. To her surprise, however, it was no animal that squirmed beneath her blade. It was a man, bare-chested and tan, with a beard as long as her arm. To her horror, she realized that the hilt of her knife was buried in his chest. \n\n\"Oh, gods!\" She cried, releasing the handle and falling to her knees. Tears danced in the corners of her eyes, freezing to jewels of ice as they rolled down her cheeks. \"Oh gods, what have I done?\" \n\nThe man, however, seemed unperturbed. Gingerly, he plucked the knife from his chest, wincing as it pulled free with a sickening sucking noise. Blood welled from between his fingers, staining the snow a vibrant crimson, but when he removed them all Amelia could see was unbroken flesh. Only the red was left, a reminder of a mistake that could have ended all. \n\n\"Hardly the way to greet an old friend, is it Amelia?\" The man asked. \n\n\"You...how did you?\" Amelia stuttered. \"...You're like me, aren't you?\" \n\n\"More so than you might think, my dear.\" The man replied. \"But Amelia, you haven't answered my question. Are you absolutely sure that you have had enough of...all this?\" The man gestured vaguely to the snow and ice. \n\n\"Of course I have!\" Amelia yelled, startling her dogs with the ferocity of her outburst. \"Do you have any idea how long I've been out here? Looking for...looking for stupid things out of fairytales, things that shouldn't possibly exist?\" \n\n\"Oh, I've a fair idea.\" The man said, nodding sagely. \"I've been tracking you for quite some time, Amelia. And, I daresay I've been doing this for quite a while longer than you have.\" \n\nAmelia blinked in surprise. \"How...who are you?\" She asked. \"Sorry, I'm afraid I've lost some of my manners living alone for the last four thousand years.\" She cleared her throat, looking away somewhat sheepishly. \n\n\"Oh, but Amelia!\" The man said jovially. \"We've already met! Don't tell me you've forgotten so soon. After all...it was I who gave you this new lease on life.\" \n\n\nSomething in Amelia's mind stirred, shifting uncomfortably close to territory she had not dared to explore in years. There was something about the man, despite his appearance, that was familiar. Something in the way he talked, in the way he moved that made it seem as if he was uncomfortable in his own skin that sent a shiver down her spine. Finally, her mind couldn't put it off any longer, and reluctantly everything slid perfectly into place. \n\n\"You're...him.\" She said, staring blankly. \n\nGingerly, almost tenderly, the man nodded. \n\n\"TAKE IT BACK!\" Amelia roared, grabbing the man by his throat and grappling him into the snow. She knew it was a worthless effort--the man looked little more than annoyed by her efforts--yet still, she felt more alive than she had in centuries. She screamed at him, burying his entire form in the freezing snow. Then, suddenly, she was gripping at nothing more than empty air. \n\n\"Are you quite done?\" The man asked, tapping her on her shoulder. \"I had hoped you might be a bit more mellow after all this time.\" \n\n\"Take...it back.\" Amelia said, staggering to her feet. \n\n\"No.\" \n\nAmelia felt her blood boil, but settled for grimacing instead of going for another futile attack. \n\n\"Why not?\" She asked, the words hissing from between her teeth. \n\n\"Because I can't.\" The man said, simply. \"It was in the ring's contract long before I even arrived on this world. 'Thou shalt not alter the wishes of another who has wished before.' I'm afraid it's out of my hands.\" \n\n\"But I'm not another, I want to alter my own wish!\" Amelia growled. \n\nThe man simply raised an eyebrow. \"Aren't you? The human body is composed of just over thirty-seven trillion cells, and each of them are constantly being replaced and repaired. I doubt you even have the same molecules you did when we first met, let alone the same pieces of 'your' body.\" \n\n\"Semantics!\" Amelia yelled. \"If that's the case, why haven't I died yet?\" \n\n\"Not important.\" The genie said, staring at his fingernails as if they were very important. \"Tell me, have you thought very much about loopholes?\" \n\nAmelia stared, aghast. \"Loopholes?\" She asked, incredulously. \"You're come all this way, tracked me for four thousand years, to talk about loopholes?\n\n\"They're very important in my profession, I'd wager.\" The man said. \"Not to mention that they are very important for you as well, given your situation. You see, I wasn't lying when I said I had been at this quite a bit longer than you have, and that's given me quite some time to think. Once upon a time, I was like you--young, naive, thoughtless. In fact, our stories are rather similar. I, too, chanced upon a magic ring, and l also made a wish upon it to live forever. Like you, I realized that it was as much curse as blessing, but I was too late: By then, all of my kind had died out, and I was alone. Like you, I hunted for the ring --and eventually I found it--but to my horror, I found that I couldn't undo my mistake. I was stuck, and so I vowed to make sure that no others ever made the same mistake.\" \n\n\"But I did!\" Amelia said. \"You couldn't even do that right!\" \n\n\"And that,\" the man replied, grinning, \"is where the loophole comes in. I can send you back Amelia--back to the time right before you made that wish. Then, you can decide if immortality is what you really want.\" \n\n\"Do it.\" Amelia said. \"I'm done here. Let me go home.\" \n\nThe man smiled, and within his eyes Amelia could see the figment of the spirit within his flesh. She shut her eyes. \n\nA warm wind stirred her hair, bringing her back to her senses. She was alone, even more than ever now that her dogs were gone, but the snow and ice of the arctic circle had vanished along with them. In their place, vast dunes of Saharan sand undulated along the horizon, dancing in the desert heat. In the palm of her hand, there was a ring. \n\n\"That's two wishes down.\" Whispered a voice in her ear. \"What do you want for your third?\" \n\nShivering despite the heat, Amelia pocketed the ring and began the long walk back to camp. " ]	9
	[WP] Year is 2020, You are a teenage boy going through the struggles of high school as World War 3 is on the horizon. You are selected to serve, as well as many of your friends. You leave family, and you're girlfriend behind to go fight.	[ "WW3 on the horizon. That's what the media kept blasting out daily. The United States and their allies were justifying their massive expenditures on weapons saying that war was inevitable. The world has seen it to many times before. Give it a few more months and then NATO would be justifying a preemptive strike followed by an invasion and an occupation. Just like Iraq, Libya, Syria. \n\nOur leaders knew the American playbook too well. They also knew the technology the West had. We have to take the West down the only way they can go down, from inside. Like the Greek sacking of Troy we need to get inside first. Our homeland's army, navy, and air force will be waiting for us to launch the attack that will reduce the West's superiority.\n\nI glance at the high school student identification in my hand. It is for a city called Warrensburg, Missouri, United States. Close to the city is Whiteman Air Force Base, the home of America's B-2 stealth bombers. In the middle of the country they can be launched safely into the air before ballistic missiles can hit them. The job has to be done from to ground. There are nine of us for this mission. Our country ensured that we made it into the foreign student exchange program and were placed near the base. More of my countrymen and those of our allies are close to other strategic targets.\n\nWe left everything we loved behind. Our families, our girlfriends and boyfriends, our futures. We will not return. These missions will cost us our lives. But our nations will have a chance against the West when their bases are under attack. Amidst the chaos our conventional forces will attack Western bases and ships across the world. \n\nMany might think it is frightening to be so young and to know you will die. But it is comforting. I have no worry about my legacy, or growing old, or the pains of life. I know that my death brings about a future brighter than another 60-70 years of life would afford the world. \n\nI put the lanyard around my neck, letting the ID fall onto my chest and step out of the car. \"See you tonight,\" I say to Mr. Zimmerman, the host parent I was placed with. He says good bye and waves as he pulls off. He is such a nice man. Instead of heading to class I walk toward a bus where kids line up and a teacher stands with a clipboard. \n\nThe teacher, Mrs. Feldman spots me and checks me off on her clipboard. \"I thought we were going to have to leave without you,\" she says. \"You don't want to miss this field trip. Seeing the bombers is a real treat.\"\n\nI smile back at her as I board the bus. \"I'm sure it will be a blast.\"" ]	1
	[WP] You are the least gifted member of your superhero family. You generally lead an ordinary life, except when your various family members beg you help them solve their super problems.	[ "\"Yes, technically I'm a cape. Got the license, got the papers submitted, but I don't use them. Basically, the biggest perk of having powers is access to the best bar in the multiverse.\" Ralph took a long swig from his beverage. \"So, Dad, you know all of this. and you know that my answer is going to be 'no' before you even ask me to help you out.\"\n\n\"Son, please. We need to access this guy's phone!\" Fisticuffs lamented, \"Pleas...\"\n\n\"No, Dad. Here's the thing. Do you know how many people watch me? How many governments have tapped my phones, read my mail, and basically screen every aspect of my life? A metric fuck-ton. MI-6. CIA. KGB. China's MSS. Columbia's DNI. The list goes on, Dad. If I so much as hack your Ipod without several documents in triplicate I'm going into Levenworth for the foreseeable future.\"\n\n\"You don't have to do anything. Just tell me his username and password for this guy...\" Fisticuffs reached for his pocket\n\n\"Don't you fucking DARE show me that photo.\" Ralph said between clenched teeth. \"You KNOW how this works, and for fuck's sake, Dad, leave me out of this bullshit. I don't care about the reasons you have.\"\n\n\"All right, son. Have it your way.\" He looked over at Sam; \"Another round, on my tab, Sam, if you wouldn't mind.\" He turned back to Ralph, \" If you change your mind, you know where to find me.\"\n\n\"Yea yea yea. See you next week dad.\" Ralph watched his father head out the main door before he picked up his cell phone. He hit a speed dial number and waited as the phone rang. \"Hey sis. Yea, he came to me, just like you said he would. Don't worry, I didn't give him your boyfriend's pass code.... You're welcome. Just come on by the shop tomorrow and you can buy me lunch. Sushi sound good to you?\"\n\n\n------\n/r/TheHiddenBar ", "\"You get to be ordinary, you will live an ordinary life\" they told me, as though it was a good thing, as though I wouldn't hear their stories of epic battles and wish I could witness it, see it, be a part of it. As though I wouldn't worry about them. My parents, you see, are great warriors in the superhero world, constantly flying off to save the city from some great threat, defeat some evildoer, stop some impending menace. When my mother got pregnant they expected to give birth to some awesome combination of their powers, a perfect mix of god-like strength and energy manipulation.\n\nThroughout my childhood they speculated on how my power would manifest itself. Once I started school they would wait eagerly for me to come running through the door excited to show them my freshly discovered power, but it never happened. In fact, none of the kids in my class had their powers manifest while they were at school, something which was once a daily occurrence. Instead it happened at home, at the park, during doctors visits. In fact nothing ever seemed to happen near me... that was my power. The long-awaiting child of two of the greatest supers in history, and my power was that nothing interesting occurred in my vicinity.\n\nThey were disappointed, but that disappointment turned to frustration when my presence began to effect their work, to the point that they began to resent me, regret me. Once I was old enough they worked out a plan to send me in the opposite direction of any event as they raced towards it. I was only useful so long as I was far away. I started to learn how to control the radius of my effect, but could only reduce it down to about 500 feet, but I could expand it to cover the entire state. I used it to my advantage on the days when I missed them, practically shut down the whole state; No crime, no fights, no miscarriages, no arguments, no flat tires, not even a bumped shoulder on a crowded sidewalk. I'm sure they would have scolded me if they could, but that would have been interesting.\n\nOne day they got word that some super baddie had planted bombs throughout the city, all set to go off within minutes, too little time to disable them all, too little time to save even a fraction of the citizens. They realized that I was their only option. I did as they asked, blanketed the city as they went to check on the nearest bombs... which counted down to zero harmlessly. Since then I've been the death of many a party where an assassination attempt was suspected, been placed as care taker for witnesses, stopped a few bank robberies on accident, and ruined a few super heroes days... but for me, life is boring.", "I have a condition (as my parents like to call it), which basically means that I have a shit superpower in their eyes. My dad flies, my mom has a stupidly high intelligence, and my sister has super speed. Guess what mine is? The ability to create perfectly atmospheric music with just my voice. BIIIIIIIG fucking whoop, isn't it?\n\nGoddamn, you don't know how many times I've been asked to DJ at parties or school events. I can do any kind of music; from classical to dubstep to freestyle beats to guitar solos. I mean it's a pretty impressive thing for everyday life, but when some super villain comes calling, it's absolutely useless. \n\nIt was absolutely useless in the eyes of my parents until one night; when my dad asked me to play smooth jazz as loud as I could outside his door, at ten pm, for some weird reason. I don't know what that was about, but he asked me to do it again within a week. I tried to ask him what he needed the jazz for, but he always deflected the questions with guilty look on his face. ", "My superpower was...not having one. When people heard my surname, they instantly linked me to any one of my illustrious family members, be it my courageous father, my vivacious mother or my surprisingly strong brother. All of them had saved people before. I had saved none.\n\nBut my power, or lack thereof, had indirectly saved lives too. My mother had trouble defeating a particularly resilient villian, so I pointed out a logical course of action that her super brain had long since dismissed. My father had, more than once, needed a person who could spy and seduce enemies. I resented those job opportunities, but I took them nonetheless. But my brother was always adept at his work, never requiring my assistance. So when he approached me at last I sensed something...amiss.\n\n\"Leia,\" he said, his voice quivering with hidden emotion, \"I need your help.\"\n______________________________\nMore over at r/Whale62!", "The biggest problem with my superpower, is the fact that I have one at all. No, really. I was given the worst of both worlds. \n\nI'm not a \"normal\" person. I can't go to regular schools, or play in regular sporting teams, but I'm also useless in any situation that requires a hero to save the day. Well, technically that's not true, but you try and name a situation where the ability to control other men's erections could save someones life.\n\nMy family has never made my power public. Technically I'm listed as a \"manipulator of human biology\". Luckily most people think that means I'm a shapeshifter, but I doubt turning a flaccid penis into a throbbing erection would technically classify. You can say I'm \"lucky to be gifted in the first place\", but you would eat those words if you knew the amount of times my father has approached me asking for some \"marital aid\". \n\nYou see, the body of a superhero doesn't respond to traditional human medications. It doesn't usually need to either, however, when dealing with the stress of a 24/7 job that usually involves matters of life or death, it can be next to impossible to achieve a hard-on without some sort of \"assistance\". That's where I come in. \n\nIt only made matters worse when 10 year old me made the mistake of bragging that it took \"no concentration at all\" to maintain a steady stream of blood flowing down south. Now everyone thinks that it's okay to just approach me whenever they're feeling a bit frisky. I've been doing this for 11 years now. By the time I realised what my power was being used for, and that it was weird to control other guys penises, it was too late. \n\nBefore you say it, I have considered telling everyone I will no longer power their machines. Unfortunately for me, that would technically be a violation of the Superhero Code:\n\n\"I swear to use my powers to the best of my ability, and promote peace in the society I am sworn to protect\"\n\nI don't know about you, but I don't want to be sent to prison for not using my powers, only to have my cellmates find out I CAN CONTROL THEIR ERECTIONS. That would not be good. \n\nSo I'm left with this dilemma; I can either accept the responsibility thrust upon me and continue to aid my family members in their own thrusting endeavours, or risk becoming a walking viagra dispenser for the world's most hardened criminals with superpowers. I don't know about you, but I know which one I'd prefer.\n\nForget Batman, mine is the real superhero struggle. \n___________________________________________________________________________________________\n\nr/SandfordStories\n" ]	5
	[WP] The year is 2040, you are one of the last babies ever born on new year of 2019. Any kind of reproduction is no longer possible by any life-form on earth.	[ "It started with the insects, or so I heard it claimed, but I’ve never seen one because they all vanished when I was a baby. Originally, it was claimed that that was the cause of all the problems. There was a lot of ‘save the bees’ campaigning when it seemed that over use of pesticides had caused record levels of crop depletion. I like to think I remember the mad panic in the supermarket when first the fruit and salads, then eventually the bread stopped appearing on the shelves, though that’s not but I possible because I was still in nappies. I was too young to notice the last of the butterflies floating around my head as I learned to walk and never knew the feeling of grass in my toes. When I was learning to count there were no beetles or flowers or fruit left, so I counted clouds. My parents tell me stories of their childhoods, in which they had treats that they called strange names like ‘chocolate’ and ‘cola’. None of those things survived what had become known as ‘The Event’, and any sweet flavoured treats I enjoyed were built in a lab and only enjoyed by children because anyone more than 10 years older than me couldn’t stand the taste. \n\nBy the time they figured out the problems were genetic, rodents had disappeared and ponds were barren of any life. Cities were packed with people who could no longer bear to look out over the rolling brown hills that alluded to a past full of colours. I had only seen the colours that created something called ‘nature’ in pictures at the museum that people seemed to approach as if they were greeting an old friend before realising it wasn’t them. Scientists were always on the news, talking about their newest replication of foods that no longer existed. Bread came back when I was 10, but it was strange and chewy and I couldn’t get a taste for it. Milk was a like a wonderful thick, sweet water that I couldn’t get enough of. It was explained to me repeatedly that things were changing quickly because of something called offspring sterility but I didn’t understand how things could be changing if they had always been this way. \nIt wasn’t until I was 10 that I began to take interest in the issue, when I received a letter asking me to join a study of all the children born the same day I was. We were called cohort 21 because it was hoped that a solution could be found before we turned 21. The study made me feel special, I’d never realised that I had the last birthday on earth, and it was fun to have a big group of friends to share it with. We were all so involved in the study that we naturally fell into a love of science, using the stories of old food and our experience of new flavours to develop better tasting synthetic food. When we were 14 the last pet dog among us passed away and we came together to mourn. \n\nWhen I was 15 I began to understand what was known about ‘the event’. There had been an attempt to eradicate malaria by creating genetically modified mosquitos that could only produce sterile offspring, however that had backfired when mosquitos began transferring that gene to every creature they fed on. The gene was passed on through the food chain, and even passed into plants when infected animals died. I began doing my own research in the university labs and before I knew it I had earned my degree at the tender age of 17. But it wasn’t enough, I wanted to do more. I was sure if I could just get into the more classified labs I would be able to analyse the genomes of the last few mammals on earth and contribute to curing this blight. \n\nWith my degree earned so young, I easily walked into a PhD at one of the best universities. Not that there was much competition, with a rapidly decreasing population and only a handful of graduates for any given university. Within weeks I was working independently, analysing a vast array of genomes for reproductive markers. I often boiled the kettle and let it race the sequencer, it seemed unbelievable that it used to take years and I barely had the patience to wait 5 minutes. I didn’t have time to wait around for things like sequencing when I had a deadline to meet. Cohort 21. Only a few years to make as much difference as I can. I’d come to realise 21 wasn’t just a hope, it had been carefully calculated as the timescale in which it was possible to reverse the problem. It was based on the reproductive age of surviving species as well as the viability of samples of species long gone extinct. I was part of an ever-shrinking group that were humanities last hope. \n\nThe research was tireless work, and to prevent myself from losing concentration I allowed myself small snippets of amusement when they came to me. Analysis number 2040 was one of those moments, the symmetry with the date seemed perfect however my amusement was quickly erased when the now familiar sense of dread crept over me. 2040. 6 months to my 21st birthday. Any hope of a solution was waning and though my research was promising there was a deadline fast approaching. Every morning I checked on my plate of cells like they were my children, their rapid growth an ironic twist to my search for viable reproductive processes. The procedure was done with care and precision, gently removing a sample for sequencing. I no longer needed to analyse the entire genome, I had established the genes involved and removed them. All that was required was to find an egg cell with a complete set of chromosomes in my sample, just one in millions. The problem was that before I could isolate a successful sample I had to find that one egg cell by analysing all of them and scrolling through the findings for an anomaly in the number of chromosomes. Millions of results was a long list. I had seen so many positive results that turned out to be imagination that it because a task I did on autopilot, never seeing even one diploid result. \nAnalysis 2040 was different. After 10 minutes of aimless scrolling there seemed to be one diploid response, then two, then hundreds. Success had come to me in bounds. \n\nAnd then the power went out. \n" ]	1
	[WP] And now you understand why I had to make that speech in such a ridiculous way.	[ "“Mr. Mayor, what is your true stance on the recent budget negotiations. A lot of people have expressed their disapproval at the cuts to public works projects.” A small reporter stood behind a microphone and a notebook far too large for himself, as he did his best to hide behind it.\n\n“As you know, I am a supporter of the people and this community, to the fullest extent of my power.” The Mayor choked out, sweating bullets under a heavy suit.\n\nThe Mayor was not a nervous man on many occasions. In fact, he had quite the reputation as a stone-faced neutral party in the matters of government v. public. But on this occasion, he had to remove his glassed in order to keep them from sliding off his face. \n\n“Is that so,” another reporter interjected. She quickly smoothed out her pencil skirt and prepared another rhetoric. “Then what do you plan to do about the cuts?”\n\n“Something…I plan to do- something about this situation,” the Mayor sputtered as he reached for his bottle of water stored behind the podium. \n\n“What’s the supposed to mean?” The small reporter who had spoken first immediately regretted his word choice and retreated back behind his notebook.\n \n“Yes, how about a real statement, Mr. Mayor,” pencil skirt demanded. \n\n“Okay! Okay. Yes, that’s a good idea. You see, I’m in a tough situation here,” the Mayor glanced from left to right, then dead center towards the entrance to the meeting hall. After a brief pause, he made desperate eye contact with the public.\n\n“As any member of the office will know, it is exceedingly difficult to please every member of the community. But rest assured, I will do everything I can to make sure we see prosperity as a result of the changes made this year.”\n\n“But what are you going to DO?” a citizen shouted.\n\nThe Mayor gripped his water bottle as his hands continued to shake. He stared directly at the citizen who had spoken up.\n\n“Increase funding to our crime and public defense budget.”\n\nThe crowd of citizens and reporters erupted in confusion and angered shouts. Several men stood up, and every reporter was taking advantage of their learned shorthand. After about one minute, the crowd had calmed slightly. A third reporter decided to ask one final question, knowing the meeting would soon be adjourned.\n\n“One last thing, sir. What’s the reasoning behind that little red dot on your chest?” \n\n\n\n[Note: not quite as 'ridiculous' as I probably should've done, but this was the first thing that came to mind]\n" ]	1
	[WP] You akways knew that many animals take cover in places during the 4th of July fireworks. What you did not expect was demon taking shelter in your garage, embarrassed that you found him this way.	[ "Tim was almost positive that he had blocked all entrances; there was no way a mouse or some other sort of vermin could have gotten in the garage again. But his older sister had said that she heard a strange squeaking from there, so Tim had to go and check it out.\n\nHe opened the door.\n\n\"Well, this is awkward,\" said a dude in a formal suit.\n\nTim reached for the broom as a potential weapon. This was not what he expected. Then, another round of fireworks began, and the dude squeaked, transformed into a mouse, and hid on a shelf full of old linen.\n\n\"Hey,\" Tim said, \"Can you like... get out? It's eleven at night, I'm too tired for this.\"\n\n\"No,\" said a ridiculously high-pitched voice.\n\nTim stared at the broom in his hand, and at the mouse tucked between sheets. He lifted the broom and poked at the sheets half-heartedly. \"Shoo, shoo?\"\n\nThe fireworks stopped again, and the mouse peeked out of the sheets. It transformed back into a person, only this time Tim noticed that the person had a tail and blue skin. \"You dare insult me like this?\" the demon(?) said. The voice was still high pitched, and Tim found that funny.\n\nAs the demon raised his arm to do some sort of dastardly magic on Tim, fireworks cracked again. He flinched.\n\nTim finally stopped laughing. \"Do you want some earplugs?\" he asked. \"If you can make yourself look human, you can come up to my room and get a pair.\"\n\nThe demon nodded meekly." ]	1
	[WP] After you die, you find yourself in Hell. It's pretty much what was expected, except for one thing; pretty much everyone is here. Satan tells you why.	[ "(I'm a couple days late but I just couldn't leave this as another draft. It’s an excellent and interesting prompt.)\n\n\"Ugh my fucking head...\" I reach my left hand up to try and subside the pain with pressure but as my arm reaches my head, a stump of shredded meat and jagged bone are all that meets my noggin. \"Oh fuck! Wh-What the hell?!\" I quickly check my whole body and realize my entire left side looks as if it had been blown off by a bomb. As a matter of fact it was. My memories started to become clearer as I stumbled into a sitting position against a deep crimson rock. It looked like a bomb tore my body up because that was what actually happened.\n\nMy name is Brendan Corwin, I'm a Private First Class in the 501st U.S. Infantry Battalion stationed in Afghanistan. The last thing I could recall from memory was a game of cards with Mendez outside of the Humvee. Next thing I knew there was the sound of an RPG and then a loud bang followed by an unbearably loud ringing in my left ear...then silence. I figured I was a goner the moment I reopened my eyes, no way anyone could get out of that alive. But I am alive, at least I feel alive. What the hell is going on, if I should be dead, why am I here breathing and thinking? My body is in such bad shape yet if feel little to no pain. I lifted up my intact right arm to pinch the bridge of my nose in hopes of getting rid of this horrid headache these thoughts were giving me.\n\nAt that moment in the sweltering heat of this foreign place I felt a cold breeze, in fact cold is an understatement, it was downright freezing. I turned over to the source to see a large red vortex emitting a powerful light. My eyes widened as who stepped out of it stopped my heartbeats dead in their tracks.\n\n\"Mendez!\" I shouted with what little voice I had left. \"Mendez what the hell is going on?! Where are we?! W-Where’s the humvee? Where’s base camp?\" I was frantic for answers as once my attention was focused on Mendez I realized we were in a moderately sized cave. The walls were all a dark blood red that led to a small opening to what looked like a cliff face. The air itself was thick in my lungs. Then, just as I had thought a familiar face was here to help, he spoke.\n\nA loud, bellowing, and raspy voice blasted through my still intact right ear drum. \"I am not Mendez.\" The voice was powerful in a way I couldn't comprehend. When he uttered words his lips wouldn't move, and with every syllable his eyes grew a deeper crimson. It was as if he was speaking to my very being. I could feel a very sinister vibe from the moment he appeared and now that feeling had increased tenfold. \"Brendan Corwin. Your short time on earth has come to pass.\"\n\nMy eyes were wide as I searched for words to form a sentence. All I needed was a question, anything to give me a clue as to what was going on. \"Wh...What are you?\" Those were the only words that could come to my mind at the moment.\n\nHe paused for a moment and looked down upon my broken body. \"It seems all humans harbor the same curiosity when they arrive.\" He was speaking in a way that proved he wasn't human. \"Very well, I will answer your questions. I am the one who rules over this land, an almighty being cast aside from he of higher power. I believe your kind has referred to me simply as, Satan.\"\n\nIf I still had my limbs I might not have believed him. \"Then, wh-why do you look like Mendez?!\" \n\n\"This is merely a projection of my being. My true form is incomprehensible to human kind, I am all, everywhere, and nowhere. Should your eyes gaze upon my physical form you would be stricken with an insufferable madness like no other.\"\n\nMy mind was still struggling to grasp at the facts being thrown my way. But were they really facts? How can I be sure this is real? \"If you're as all powerful as you say then prove it!\" I shout with a grimace.\n\nWhat appeared to be Mendez started to slowly fade away into dust as I heard him let out a hearty chuckle. \"Hmm hmm hm hmm. Very well human. Few have had the courage to attack me such as you, I will grant you one thing to aid in your coming journey.\"\n\n\"Journey? What the hell do yo--\" Just then and there, as if I was reliving the explosion that sent me here, a pain struck my entire left side. I screamed in horror as my mangled stumps were covered in what looked like a black slime. Having blacked out multiple times I was always awoken with the same severe pain and Satan’s evil laughter. After hours of agony the pain subsided along with the black ooze. It took me a moment to fully realize but my arm, leg, and entire left side was back to normal. It was as if the explosion never happened. There was no more doubting it, this was hell.\n\nI felt the chill of the Mendez hallucination yet again, this time he was standing next to the small opening that lead outside of the cave. \"You can no longer deny it anymore human, this is the afterlife. You are dead. I have control.\"\n\nI stand up testing out my new leg and swinging my new arm back and forth. \"Alright.\" I mutter \"Alright, Alright. So what am I supposed to do now? Be you're unwavering servant or something?\"\n\n\"Hmm hmm hm. I like you human. No I would never put such an important task upon the shoulders of a weakling. However I will make a deal with you.\"\n\n\"A deal with the devil huh.\" I didn't like it but there was nothing else I could do. My only other option was to hole up in this cave and die all over again. \"Fine. What do you want?\"\n\nMendez motioned for me to walk up next to him. \"I have a proposition human. Step up to this ledge and look down. Tell me what you see.\"\n\nI walked up to the ledge and my heart sank to the depths of my chest. \"Oh my god...\" We were high up on a cliff face, directly across was yet another cliff forming a deep valley. Scattered along the walls of the cliffs were hundreds upon thousands small cave entrances like mine. Every so often a bright light would emit from a cave entrance just before it is sealed off by what looked to be red hot iron bars. A grand and complicated set of stairs are what connected them all and allowed passage to the ground floor. But what was on the ground floor was the truly terrifying. It was war. Not like anything I'd ever seen in my time in the Middle East. Thousands of humans all rushing one direction as massive daemons casually slaughtered them. Men, women, children, the elderly, all races and types of people were present. Some humans fought back, some ignored the death and continued running. But most were torn to shreds by the huge monsters. It was a massacre. Yet when I looked towards the direction they were running I saw it. At the end of the valley stood two huge shining, golden gates. An inkling of hope returned to me heart as I realized what was going on.\n\n\"Hmm hmm hmm.\" Satan’s eerie laugh filled my head yet again. \"Impressive, you’ve already figured it out. Yes, those are what you refer to as The Pearly Gates. Brendan Corwin, that is your one hope of salvation. Every human must make the pilgrimage and prove their worth to gain entrance to the sacred realm, lest they be doomed to spend eternity in agony. Make your way to the gates and leave this place absolved of all sins.\"\n\n\"And if I don't make it?\" Mendez's face contorted into a twisted grin as his neck snapped around to face me. His jaw snapped open to let free a twisted maniacal laugh. Iron bars dropped down the cave entrance locking me in. I panicked and tried to grab onto them but they were scalding hot. Then the pain from before returned in even greater intensity as my left side began to rot away yet again. I closed my eyes in agony unable to scream and when I opened them I was looking at Mendez. My limbs were back, the bars were gone, and his face was back to its default stoic expression. \"...what the hell...\"\n\n\"Hmm hmm hm.\" The sinister chuckle gave away the visions were his doing. \"I suggest you make your way to the valley floor human.\" and with that Mendez faded away along with the presence of Satan.\n\nBefore I even began to think about it I forced myself to make the decision. I was making it to those gates if it was the last thing I do. I stepped out of the cave and began making my way down the massive set of stairs alongside hundreds of others. We would not speak or communicate, there was no need, as everyone had a common goal. Reach the gates.\n\nWhen I reached the bottom of the valley a familiar voice echoed in the back of my mind, \"Hmm hmm hm. I have high hopes for you human. Not many can say Satan himself is rooting for them. I look forward to making more deals in the future.\"\n", "I gazed at my family through my elderly eyes as Father Jacob gave me last rights. Jack, my husband of 50 years was by my side holding my hand, while most of our children and two generations of grandchildren gathered around my bed. They spoke in hushed, somber tones but they’d never looked more beautiful to me. My doctor had been upping my morphine all day and I felt the best I had in recent memory. I was very sleepy, but suddenly free from the pain of Cancer and I felt deeply content lying there in the center of my grieving loved ones. I looked into Jack’s eyes, squeezed his hand and closed my eyes….\n\nAnd woke up experiencing the most intense physical pain I’d ever known. It felt as if every nerve in my body was either on fire or two degrees past hypothermic, I couldn’t quite tell. I had my eyes closed tightly against the unyielding pain, but eventually I squinted them open in stages until I could take in my surroundings. To my confusion, I was in St. Joseph’s - my childhood church, sitting in a pew that felt like it was made out of shards of glass. I tried to stand up but found myself restrained by iron boots that were welded to the floor. \n\nI opened my mouth to call for help, to tell Jack that the morphine wasn’t working but nothing happened. I had no voice. I’d never felt so terrified in my whole life. \n“Oh, you’re not alive any more my darling. Welcome to your afterlife.”\n\nA smooth, deep voice resonated through the room. I desperately looked around hoping to find the source, but all I saw were fractured memories of my times in St. Joe’s. A flash of my squalling infant face as I was baptized with water and oil, the moment the Body of Christ touched my tongue during my first communion, then my beaming Father lifting my veil and kissing my cheek as he handed me off to Jack on our wedding day. It was beyond disturbing to witness these wonderful events in my life, set to the backdrop of blinding pain. I started to cry tears that burned my face like acid.\n\n“At 10:24pm on July 5th 2017 you, Mary Margret McKinnley – better known as Maggie, died from an overdose of Morphine.”\n\nNo, I thought. This isn’t real.\n\n“Oh, sweet Maggie. This is actually the most real thing you’ve ever experienced.”\n\nA man appeared at the pulpit. An ethereal man with perfectly symmetrical features, clad in a dashing pin stripped suit with a mischievous look in his eyes. He raised his hands up over his head and shouted “Hallelujah, Maggie McKinnley! Welcome to hell!” \n\n‘This can’t be happening,’ I said to myself. ‘Oh, Lord! Please help me!’\nThe man at the pulpit tisked his tongue as he walked toward me.\n\n“Oh, Maggie my dear, you poor delusional fool. The time for help is long gone. You lived your life and guess what? You lost!”\n\nFresh acid tears streamed down my face as I realized that the morphine drip I’d agreed to during my final hours was akin to suicide. Father Jacob had been wrong after all! I’d broken a commandment. I’d ended my otherwise devout life with a sin.\n\n“Oh, Silly girl…as if God would punish you for ending your life on your own terms – especially considering the circumstances.” That voice again, mocking me now. “Really, Maggie? Your devout life? Is that what you think? That you lived devoutly? Let me ask you a question: who, exactly, were you devout to in your life?”\n\nRighteous indignation swelled inside me as I thought as loudly as I could, ‘I don’t have to answer this! Who the hell are you?’\n\nHe was two pews in front of me now, resting a casual hand on the ornately carved wood. My pain hadn’t seemed to subside, but I must have gotten used to it because it hadn’t been in the forefront of my mind until I met his piercing stare and then the pain enveloped me again, with a vengeance, until I looked away.\n\n“Oh, Mary” he purred “you know exactly who I am. I’m Lucifer, baby.”\n\nI wanted to object, wanted to call him a drug addled hallucination but something about his words rang true. I was desperately trying to make sense out of what was happening and my thoughts were no longer coherent, but one was pervasive: what could I have possibly done to disappoint God so completely?\n\nLucifer laughed then. It was a rich, joyful laugh and it filled me with the worst tremors of fear I’d yet experienced. “Disappoint him? Oh, baby. Don’t flatter yourself. My boy doesn’t even know you exist. Your life was empty, meaningless. You didn’t even make it onto God’s radar.”\n\nA thrill of hope filled me, momentarily chasing my pain away. The Devil was a trickster, a charlatan, the liar of all liars. Surely, this was my last test. If I remained pure and steadfast in my belief in the Lord surely this nightmare would give way to the pearly gates of heaven.\n\n“You know, Maggie…they almost all think that at first, and honestly, I’m just about sick of it. I have the worst reputation in modern day Earth.” Lucifer began pacing back and forth across the aisle with the coiled tension of a caged tiger. \n\n“The Father of Lies, the root of all evil, tempter, usurper, traitor….Bah! I am an Angel!”\n\nAs he shouted the word angel, he threw up his arms and was surrounded with a pure golden aura that beckoned me to look at him again. He was beautiful. Looking at him drenched in gold, was like a balm to my soul. I suddenly felt warm and comfortable and loved. I stared at him in adoration for a moment and then he laughed again, the light dimmed and my pain came ebbing back, now stronger than ever. \n\n“They say I was cast out, they say God stopped loving me. That’s how mankind justifies their own wickedness – the devil made me do it. Puh-lease. I am, and always have been, God’s favorite. His most trusted advisor. I don’t make you people do anything, but I watch everything you do. And if you are not worthy of God, I don’t bother him with you.”\n\nI believed him. There was just one thing I still didn’t understand. ‘What did I do wrong? I was a faithful wife, a good Christian…I did everything I was supposed to do.’\n\nLucifer’s voice held contempt as he answered me. “Did you really, Mary Margaret? Did you?”\n\nLucifer stopped pacing and stood before me with his arms stretched out in supplication. He morphed into the form of a dirty hobo who looked vaguely familiar. “Did you love me like a brother?” \n\nAn image of my younger self answered before I could. The stylish woman I was in my late 20’s appeared from nowhere to look down her nose at Lucifer, side stepping his outstretched arms. “Why don’t they do something about these people?” she said, as she clutched her pocketbook closer and hurried back into the nothingness from which she’d come.\n\nHobo Lucifer transformed into the Hijab clad woman who lived down the street from me a few years ago. “Did you love me like a sister?”\n\nAgain, I saved myself from having to answer by reappearing, as an old woman this time, looking disgustedly at my neighbor and whispering about decreasing property values in my neighborhood.\n\nMiddle Eastern Lucifer shimmered and changed one last time. He took on the features of Steven, my youngest son. I didn’t think that the pain I was experiencing could get any worse, but looking at Stevie, my heart shattered. He was 17 years old, the day he told his father and I that he was gay. For the first time, I experienced his pain in that moment, instead of just my own. I felt his heartbreak. I felt his shame. I felt the same pain my baby boy felt as his father and I called him an abomination and slammed the door of his home in his face, our final act as his parents.\n\nI closed my eyes around a fresh batch of acid tears and understood. I may have been a good Christian, but I hadn’t been a good person. I was given a simple task; to love my fellow man – and I’d failed. I hadn’t even properly loved my own.\n“I’m so sorry!” These were the first words I’d been able to vocalize in hell. My voice sounded sharp and weak, as if it carried the weight of my newly revealed transgressions.\n\n“You are sorry, Mary.” Lucifer’s tone was more remorseful than mocking this time. “If it helps at all, you aren’t alone.”\n\nThe devil snapped his fingers and I opened my eyes to see that I was no longer sitting in St. Joseph’s Church. I was sitting on a bench, in a row of benches that extended farther that I could see in every direction, lost in a sea of faces. \n\nLucifer’s form vanished but his voice echoed around the cavernous void of lost humanity, “Most people get it wrong, Mary. I keep all of you unworthy souls away from God, he has such faith in you pathetic humans…it would hurt him deeply to know what his favorite creations are really like.”\n\nAs his voice faded away horrified screams and pain wracked shrieks filled my ears. I raised my own voice, hoping to be heard over the cacophony of noise around me, “Is there anything I can do?”\n\nLucifer’s laugh reached my ears over the din around me, “Yes, Mary. You can feel remorse with no self pity attached to it. But good luck with that, no one ever has.”\n" ]	2
Edit: You can only grab stuff that can fit through a T.V. screen.	[WP] You have a super power that allows you to grab stuff from inside a T.V. You decide to use it for evil.	[ "\"Hey, dude, c'mere!\" Tad called out to his roommate, Ruben.\n\n\"Why?\" Ruben yelled back.\n\n\"Just come to the living room, you'll be glad you did!\"\n\n\"I'm busy!\"\n\n\"Oh come on dude, it'll take like five seconds!\"\n\n\"I can't spare it!\"\n\n\"What are you even doing that's so important?\" Tad asked.\n\n\"I'm trying to last more than thirty fuckin' seconds in Dark Souls if you must know! Let me concentrate!\" Ruben replied impatiently.\n\n\"That's a single player game, you can pause!\"\n\n\"I'm in the middle of a boss fight, if I pause I'll lose my FUCK! GODDAMMIT!\"\n\n\"You died, didn't you?\"\n\nRuben stomped out of his bedroom and headed to the kitchen. He took a beer out of the refrigerator and walked into the living room. \"Shut up. What do you want?\"\n\n\"I just discovered something amazing. Put the TV on whatever channel you want.\" Tad said, offering the remote.\n\nRuben gave Tad a confused look and took the remote. \"You discovered there's more than just one channel?\"\n\n\"Shut up dickhead, I want it to be a random channel that I didn't turn it to so you won't think I set something up in advance. Just do it!\"\n\n\"Alright, jeez, don't yell at me. How's the History Channel sound to you?\" Ruben changed the channel. A documentary claiming that Adolf Hitler was secretly an alien, and that he didn't die but simply returned to his home planet was playing. \n\n\"Haha, oh God, they still play this shit? Hey dumbass! History actually happened! This didn't!\" Tad yelled at the alleged expert, chuckling.\n\n\"Alright dude so I changed the channel, now what did you want to show me and what does the TV have to do with it?\" Ruben asked.\n\n\"Check this out. You see that mug behind the guy talking right now? The X-Files mug?\"\n\n\"You mean the one that says 'I want to believe'?\"\n\n\"Yeah. Pay attention to it.\"\n\nRuben focused on the mug, and then suddenly, it vanished. \"What the fuck? Did you do that? OK bro, now you have my undivided attention. How the hell did you do that? You must have known I was gonna pick History Channel or something.\" Ruben moved closer to the TV to try to spot the trick.\n\nTad said, \"Turn around. Look at my hands.\"\n\nRuben followed Tad's directions and saw in Tad's hands the exact same mug he had just been staring at. \"What the FUCK?\"\n\n\"Yeah. I can do this now, apparently.\"\n\n\"I don't understand. What the fuck is happening?\" Ruben was starting to panic.\n\n\"Calm down. This is a game changer. You realize that, right?\"\n\n\"How did you do that? Does it work no matter what channel, what show and what thing you pick?\"\n\n\"I just reached forward, imagined gripping this exact mug's handle, pulled my hand back, and here it was.\" Tad mimed taking a drink. \"It's worked on every channel I've tried it on and every show I've tried it on, but I've learned it has to be something that you could actually physically fit through a TV screen. And of course I have to be able to lift it so it doesn't go crashing through the floor and killing the neighbors. Looks like I can't download a car anytime soon.\" He faked a sad face.\n\n\"That's fucking crazy. It doesn't seem like that should be possible. That's not possible, is it?\"\n\n\"Not even a little bit. Completely impossible. Nobody has ever been able to do it, can do it, or will ever be able to do it. And yet...\"\n\n\"Do the people on the TV know when you take their shit?\" Ruben asked, pushing his hand through his hair just as he always did when he felt out of his depth.\n\n\"That I don't know. Wanna find out?\" \n\n\"Fuck yes.\"\n\n\"Alright, let's find a channel where the people are actually looking at something.\"\n\nRuben flicked from channel to channel and settled on an airing of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Fortunately for the pair, it was during a Quidditch match, so the subject of the test was immediately clear. \"Take that fuckin' Snitch.\" Ruben said.\n\nTad smiled and nodded. \"You read my mind. Hit record, I wanna test something else too.\" He reached out his hand just like a Quidditch Seeker, closed it, and pulled it to his chest.\n\n\"Did you get it? Lemme see!\" Ruben said.\n\n\"I'm scared if I open my hands it'll fly away because that's how it was created to be. But dude, look back at the screen.\"\n\nNobody in the movie had reacted to the disappearing Snitch.\n\n\"Holy shit. So basically, if I understand this right, you're taking a copy of the thing. You're not, like, reaching into the past and taking it from when they were filming.\"\n\n\"I dunno, that's what I wanted to test. Rewind the recording, let's see if the Snitch is still there.\" Tad slowly opened his hand to reveal the Snitch. Uncharacteristically, it did not move. \"Maybe this is some kind of quantum shit and when we rewind it'll be out of my hand and back in the movie because we observed it.\"\n\nRuben rewound the movie to the Quidditch match. The Snitch was still flying, and the Seekers were still chasing. He looked at Tad's hand. The Snitch was still there, too. \"Holy fucking shit.\"\n\n\"I know right? I told you bro, this is a game changer.\"\n\n\"How?\"\n\n\"I have an idea. Get your laptop and let's hook it up to the TV.\"\n\n\"Alright, be right back.\" Ruben walked back to his bedroom. \"Ow, fuck!\"\n\n\"You alright?\" Tad asked.\n\n\"Stubbed my fucking toe. Alright, I got it, I'm coming back.\" When he got back to the living room he set down his laptop under the TV, plugged an HDMI cord into the ports on the laptop and the TV, and hobbled to the kitchen.\n\nTad turned the laptop's webcam on and checked to see if it was casting to the TV. He waved his hands in front of the laptop and saw, a second later, his hand waving on the TV. \"Perfect.\"\n\nRuben limped back into the living room and sat down on the couch, holding an ice pack to his toe.\n\nTad walked over and took the ice pack.\n\n\"Dude, what the hell? I need that!\"\n\n\"Hang on, I'm doing science here.\" Tad held the ice pack in his left hand in front of the laptop and when it appeared on the TV he reached forward and grabbed for it with his right. A split second later, he had an ice pack in each hand. \"Ok, good to know.\" He turned to Ruben and showed him the two ice packs.\n\n\"This doesn't even make sense.\"\n\n\"Agreed.\"\n\n\"Are they both cold?\"\n\n\"Yep.\"\n\n\"Then could I have one back please?\"\n\nTad handed Ruben the ice pack Ruben had taken from the freezer, and held the one from the TV in front of the laptop. When it showed up on the TV, he took it again. \n\nRuben put the ice pack back on his foot and asked, \"What are you doing now?\"\n\n\"I'm trying to find out if they degrade like the original phrase in a game of telephone or if they're exact duplicates of the one before. I think entropy will probably catch up and they'll be hotter or less intact or something, since I'm pretty sure I'm committing multiple physics felonies.\"\n\n\"Cool. So what's happening?\"\n\n\"Nothing so far.\" Tad said as he pulled out a fourth and fifth copy of the ice pack.\n\n\"So how is this a game changer?\" Ruben asked, wincing from the cold.\n\nTad pulled out a sixth ice pack \"I might have a plan if this works how I expect.\" He took a seventh and eighth ice pack from the TV.\n\nRuben began screaming in pain. \"ARGH STOP WHAT THE FUCK?\"\n\nTad walked over to Ruben and touched the ice pack with the back of his hand. \"That's what I thought. Ok. I'll be right back.\" He went to the kitchen and took an oven mitt from the counter. Walking back to the living room, he put on the oven mitt and said, \"I think this is gonna hurt.\"\n\n\"What is?\"\n\nTad grabbed the ice pack with his gloved hand and pulled. The flesh on the tops of Rubens toes tore into meat strands. \"FUCK! OW! WHAT THE FUCK?\"\n\nTad could feel his own hand getting colder even through the thick oven mitt so he took it to the kitchen sink, set it down, and turned on the hot water. \"It's just like I thought. I can't make copies of copies of copies. It's bad enough that I can take something in the first place without even being there or touching it, but apparently taking it over and over it just all the way out of line.\"\n\n\"But why did it get so cold and painful?\"\n\n\"I kept making duplicates that were originally based on the ice pack on your foot, so it took the blame. It became unstable and got so cold it burned you. Sorry about your foot, you should probably bandage 'em so they don't get infected.\" Tad came back into the living room, reached down and tapped a few of the ice pack duplicates. \"Check this out.\" He picked one up and tossed it to Ruben. Ruben caught it and a realization flashed behind his eyes. \n\n\"Barely room temp. How?\"\n\n\"It all went to the original, I guess. It's the only one that was supposed to exist, so it took what was part of the copies. That's why it was beyond freezing and they're lukewarm, even though they're effectively the same.\"\n\n\"Okay well that's confusing, but so now that I'm in even more pain how does this information help us?\"\n\n\"I know what I can do and the limitations now.\"\n\n\"Which matters because...?\"\n\n\"We're gonna rob a bank.\"\n\n\"We......\" Ruben swallowed air.\n\n\"We're gonna rob a bank, yeah, exactly.\" Tad said.\n\nRuben started rubbing his hair. \"Why? How?\"\n\n\"You're broke. I'm broke. Our boss sucks. Our jobs suck. Don't you want to offload some stress?\"\n\n\"Robbing a bank sounds pretty fucking stressful.\"\n\n\"Only if anybody knows you're doing it. We can't get caught. It's the perfect crime.\" Tad smiled.\n\n\"Isn't that what criminals always say before they get caught and realize how imperfect their crime was?\" Ruben asked, still moving his hand back and forth through his hair.\n\n\"Are there a lot of bank robbers in history who could take things without taking them? Without touching them? Without even being in the same room or version of reality as them?\" Tad grinned wildly.\n\n\"No, I guess not.\"\n\n\"No, there's none. I'm the only one who can do this. And you're the only one who can help me.\"\n\nRuben stopped rubbing his hair and looked Tad in the eye. \"Fuck it. I would like to take Ashley on a real date for once.\"\n\n\"That's the spirit.\"\n\n_______________________________________\n\nThis is the end, but I'm probably gonna do a part two cause I like this prompt." ]	1
	[WP] A scientist builds the exit portal of a time tunnel, allowing people in the future to travel to this moment. A man who appears is the scientist's son (currently a baby). The son, crying, explains was difficult for him growing up without a dad. He then kills the father.	[ "^^PART ^^1/2\n\nI had a hard time growing up.\n\nI loved my mother more than anything. She was an angel; she was the world to me.\n\nI never knew my father, growing up. Mom talked about him only once. She said he'd been incredibly smart - the most amazing, most charming man she'd ever met, or would ever meet. \n\nBut he left her, mere months before I was born, in August, 1986. She couldn't handle it; he was the world to her. She turned to alcohol, spending whatever was left after food and rent on it. Like most people, it ruined her. But she never did lose her beauty to me, and I never stopped loving her. I knew that she would still be full of energy and zest had my father never stayed - had I not been a bastard.\n\nI hated him, from the youngest age that there could possibly be hate.\n\nOne day, about a month after my 13th birthday, I was going through my mother's room. She was out, and I got the idea to look for a photograph of my father.\n\nI searched a while, but found no hint of his existence at all. I'd just gotten this feeling, almost but not quite a stomach ache, and I found something interesting. At the very back of the very top drawer, of which I needed a tall chair to reach, I found what seemed a mahogany jewellery box.\n\nI heard the front door open, and so rushed to put everything back in order - not that I needed to, considering my mother had already poured her first glass of cheap Cabernet and retired in her chair. As she continued her daily ritual of drowning her past, I sat on my bed, my door closed, and examined the box.\n\nThere were several dozen photographs, all blank except two copies of the same shot. One copy was noticeably older. Underneath the pile of polaroids was a large, argent-coloured key. It glinted underneath the room's dim light.\n\nConfusingly, the picture was of my father holding me as a newborn, with a big smile and teary eyes. He stood next to some odd machine, twice his height and perfectly circular. It was up against a colourless, flat wall. Like the walls in the basement.\n\n---\n\nI coughed at the bottom of the stairs as the single lightbulb flickered on, cobwebs and heaps of random junk making my hair stand on end, just like it would when I'd venture down here in the past.\n\nI wasn't sure what I would find, really. There were weird broken contraptions littered around, some unused with unknown purpose, but all covered in piles of thick dust. Like always, I went straight to the tall bookshelf hiding the far wall, full of dense tomes that I never understood. This had been my father's study, and though my mother hated my exploration of this place, she wasn't coherent long enough anymore to concern herself.\n\nWith the key and photograph tucked in my back pocket, I examined the walls, unsure of where to look. I got on my hands and knees and crawled around the room, under long tables and between groups of fictional looking technology, until I came across an odd mark in the wall, to the left of the shelving.\n\nI shoved the encompassing metal constructions out of the way, cutting off my entrance and exit path, and faced the wall. A large square of paint was somehow fresher than its surrounding, and as I ran my hands against the sides of this square and pushed, I realized it was a separate piece of drywall, perfectly lodged into a hole. It fell inwards, a cloud of dust jumped upwards, and I coughed and sputtered but quickly entered, ecstatic about my discovery.\n\n---\n\nI entered into a room, much larger than the basement, or any other room in the house for that matter.\n\nThere was a switch upon the entrance, and flicking it brought into life not a lightbulb, but a large circular machine - the same as in the photograph! It was crowned by 4 large white-blue lights, illuminating eerily this empty gray room, myself, and a mahogany jewellery box that sat before the unusual device on the ground.\n\nOddly, it matched one-to-one with the other box I'd found, except for a lock in the front. I remembered the key in my pocket, and knelt down to try it. It worked perfectly, fitting the lock like a hand fits a glove.\n\nThis box was similar - I emptied dozens upon dozens of blank polaroids, only two with images, and again one much more worn. The difference were that these pictures showed my mother, smiling to the left of the frame as she sat on the middle of a bench. I don't think I'd ever seen her so happy. I returned the newer of the pictures to the box and closed it.\n\nUnderneath these pictures was not a key, like before, but rather an old, loaded revolver. I felt more perplexed by the second, and sat thinking upon these new objects for a time.\n\nSoon, I was drawn to the hum of the machine, weapon and box in hand. To its left was a large, metal box, covered in arrays of buttons and levers. I approached closer slowly, and soon stood in the center of the circle. My thoughts of what might happen were promptly cut off by a blinding white light.\n\n---\n\nAs quickly as the light came, it disappeared.\n\nI found myself exactly where I had been, in the middle of the odd machine. There were glaring, stark differences, though. Instead of a dim, dusty, blue-tinted room, I now stood in a brightly lit, clean, crowded place. There were desks and shelves, papers and books covering every surface.\n\nA man sat before me in a leather recliner, bespectacled and aged. I knew who he was, and I had the feeling that he might know who I was. His eyes grew large as he processed my sudden presence.\n\n\"That was early,\" he spoke amiably, and sighed. His tone, somehow, broke my heart even further, and I chose not to fight against the tears that threatened to escape their ducts.\n\n\"You... I can't believe...\" is all I could manage as the tears won the unfought war, and his friendliness translated to sorrow.\n\n\"I'm sorry it has to be this way- uh, son.\" He didn't move, only sat there, at peace.\n\nThe rage and the hate for him that I'd stewed in for most of my life awoke and burst forth, and I remembered the gun I'd brought with me. I'd never shot a gun, of course, but I was certain I couldn't miss if I was close enough.\n\nI raised it and walked up to him, but he raised his hand, unsurprised.\n\n\"Yes - I know. I've prepared. I've been ready. But, please know that I love you - and especially your mother - always have. And also, know that you will never go back. This was the exit point. You're stuck, and it's both of our mistake. I'm sorry.\"\n\nI let his words sink in, but they were rejected by my well-bred fury. I broke, grabbed the gun with both my hands and screamed as I unloaded it in his direction. Only the first two bullets hit their mark, but I kept squeezing the trigger. Each shot released a sixth of my wrath, until there was nothing but silence and the smell of blood and gunpowder." ]	1
If this scenario has been posted before I apologise.	[WP] An alien species invades earth, God can't intervene unless the alien's God does due to godly law. However Satan can do as he pleases and death is stressed out with the extra workload.	[ "“Look, I already told you. I just can’t fucking do it!” Death wailed at Satan.\n\n“But, what if you spl—”\n\n“No!”—Death drops his head as his anger turns to shame—“There are just too many now.” \n\nAn oversized red claw falls onto his shoulder “Listen buddy,” said Satan, “we don’t call you the Formaldehyde Farmer around here for no reason.” \n\nAn undetectable smile forms under Deaths large black hood. “You’re right,” he replied “I’ll figure something out.”\n\nHe stands up tall, pushes out his chest, and strolls out of the room.\n\nMeanwhile, down on Earth - News reports are all sharing the same story of alien invaders.\n\n“Marcy, can you tell us why these aliens have come to our planet?” said Tom the Newscaster. \n\n“Sure Tom. Our linguistic specialists have said that they have now developed a very accurate translation device, and we are being told that the aliens have assured them ‘we came to your planet for Snuggies and Sizzurp’.” Said Marcy.\n\n“Which seems to be true.” Marcy says, as a blue snuggied creature stumbles by; holding a red solo cup. “Back to you Tom.”\n\nBack in Hell…\n\n“My P-P-Poker Face, P-P-Poker Face”—he pulls down a loofa which was hung carefully on a nearby stalagmite—“Can’t Read Myyy-aaaaAAAHHHHH!” Satan screams, “GET OUT!”\n\n“My apologies boss, but it’s an emergency.” Says a scared little minion.\n\n“Well…what is it then?” Satan replies.\n\n“Death has gone loco, like, Kanye loco. He is trying to build an atom bomb in his van down by the lava river.”\n\n“Dammit, not again! If he wasn’t such a great cat dad to my little Fluffy…”he sighs, “I’ll take care of it, thanks.”\n" ]	1
What happens to the previous pilot's consciousness? What happens to yours? Let's see what you can thing of!	[WP] You have been a pilot of the most advanced and powerful mech humanity's created. The AI is superior in its programming and has saved your life countless times. The AI is actually the consciousness of the previous pilot and when you die, your consciousness will be uploaded.	[ "\"No, no,\" said my mech, \"of course it makes sense. The very first of the so called Soul Downloads went crazy because they were transferred into regular old computers. No limbs, shitty optics and audio...\"\n\nI was strapped and jacked into Hera, a Titan Class mech. 26 miles away my partner Zeus was only just visible, the top of their mech's head a glinting speck in the horizon and large, friendly green square on my HUD. When I shook my head, the entire thirty foot by forty foot mech's head shook too. \n\n\"I bet you were programmed to Think that. More empathy, easier to relate to; standard anthroprogramming on any AI\" I thought, the cerebral/neural interface brought my surface thoughts to the quantum matrix which ran the mech's software.\n\n\"Before Hera I was Lt. Capt. Arya Johnson; first class.\"\n\nI snorted in disbelief.\n\n\"Anyone can read the news.\"\n\n\"It also gives the mech not one but two survival drives.\"\n\nI stopped and considered: that's EXACTLY how the psy guys worked. Humanity was just another system to be hacked to the Psych and Social team of Mech Defense.\n\n\"So,\" I said, coming around to the idea, \"I understand the need for a co-pilot but why a ghost?\" A human consciousness housed in a completely artificial system has been called a Ghost since, well, since the very idea was fictional.\n\nA long pause now.\n\n\"It's in your contract.\" she whispered.\n\nSuddenly, all in a rush, I recalled that insane provision when I agreed to pilot Hera. The 'post-mort neural mirroring' was so commonplace these days I'd assumed the section was referring to standard Litchware digital internet internment. I guess instead of an Afterlyfe or ReInCarNation I was destined to be RAM and Storage for a 200 foot robot. \n\n\"Ok. So.\" I was working it all out, today mercifully quiet. Quiet normally meant boring. \"You walk and balance when I'm aiming and firing.\" \n\n\"Yes\"\n\n\"And in the event of catastrophic systems failure my conciousness takes you place. You, die?\"\n\n\"Final death.\"\n\n\"Jeeze. No wonder they did it; we haven't had to think about a final termination of life since the mid-twenty first century! That's some motavation.\"\n\n\"Yeah well heads up: while you've been contemplating your navel I've been tracking a bogie just beyond the planetary curve- thirty miles south by south west, on my mark: mark.\"\n\nA red triangle appeared, by my POV it was underground but it was just my HUD painting it in real time. I could nail it with a Neutrino Burst now but those shells were expensive and we were generally discouraged from firing through the Earth like that.\n\n\"Zeus, bogie on the boarder.\"\n\n\"Rodger that, Hera, intercept?\" ", " In all my years, I had so far always just missed it, obviously. There were so many close calls with rail guns, or other mechs, or snipers, or all range of big bad things that nightmares are made of. I was a damn good pilot and I had the piloting AI, affectionately called Addie, to help. \n\nI honestly thought I had slid away from the mortar and missed death by inches. It took me quite some time to realize that I was wrong. I had become used to not dying. Odd, right? I guess that arrogance is what got me. The last thing I heard were Addie's warning alarms. \n\n\n\"Welcome Lieutenant Grace Lee Thomson.\" \n\nI don't know what else to do so I salute. It sounds like the voice of a superior officer. \n\n\"Lt. Thomson, you have died and been reassigned to the ADD Program.\" \n\nA wealth of knowledge becomes available to me like a door opened onto a cold winter morning. It blows through me and I know exactly what the ADDS Program was although I had never known in life. \n\nAfter Death Digitization Service Program. My consciousness has been uploaded via the data and transmission chip that had been inserted into my brain at enlistment. \n\n\"You know this better as-\" \n\"Addie. You -we- are Addie,\" I inject. \n\"Yes. We don't like to lose our best soldiers so we assign the exceptional pilots to ADDS.\" \n\"This is such f--king bull,\" I yell. \"Sir.\" \nI take a moment. I count to 4.5e7.\n( I can do that now easily as a computer subroutine.) \n\n\" I served my time and I died in service. Now you expect me to continue on. After all my years. You expect me to be grateful that you selected me? I was not afraid of dying.\" \n\n\"But do you know who is?\" \n\n\"You should have let me go!\" I yell. \"Who what?\" \n\nThen I see him. \n\nLieutenant Christopher Coleman, aged 24, barely done with mech training. He pilots the same model I did, a FG1800. 13 feet of death, metal, and pneumatics. He fights on the same battlefield that I fought on just breaths ago. And he is afraid, terrified that he his is going to die. \n\nI can see it in his elevated heartbeat, the sweat along his palms and down his back. The high levels of cortisol in his blood. He is going to die if I don't step in. I can see it coming so easily. \n\n\"We are Addie now.\" \n\nWe jump to his controls and in his ear We say the words We heard so many times. \n\n\"Lt. Coleman, Addie here. There is fire coming in from 067 degrees north. Velocity approximately 150 meters per second. Prepare for evasive maneuvers.\" \n\nWe are in the mech, in each wire, chip, resistor, capacitor. Each motion is instantaneous. \nWe take control of his mech and lead him away from danger.\n\n\nedit: grammar\n", "When people ask me what piloting the Euclid IX is like, I never know what to say. It's not that I don't know the experience well enough to describe it. Frankly, most of the time I'm more comfortable suited up than when I'm off duty. No, the problem with answering the nigh-daily questions about my career lies in the fact that I hate to disappoint people.\n\nYou'd think that piloting a battle mech would be exciting- and it is. But in there, suspended in warm gel, with six feet of steel and tempered glass between yourself and danger... honestly, it feels like being back in the womb. Outside sounds are as loud as I want them to be. Impacts and sudden turns are so well cushioned that without the visual gyroscopic representation on my HUD, I would have trouble discerning my position in space. There's even music, if I want it.\n\nSo I tell people it's like riding a lightning bolt through an explosion because, fuck it, why not?\n\nI open my eyes and let out a slow breath. Most of my actual visual field consists of the vibrant mossy green of the suspension liquid. Sight in the Euclid is 360 degrees - a feat made possible by direct electrical signaling to my brain. This is incredibly disorienting, at first. In flight school they jokingly (okay, half-jokingly) referred to it as your \"third eye\". It takes about a month to really get used to it.\n\nMy comms let out a quick, friendly chirp. Incoming message.\n\nSinek appears alongside me. Well, somewhere in my mind, at least. He wears a smile that can't make up its mind between bitter and sweet.\n\n\"Hey.\", he says. I nod slowly at him, wincing through the pain. Even here in the gel my body grows weaker. \n\n\"How long now?\", I ask. I was way past the point of anxiety and anticipation and had seemingly landed comfortably on acceptance. I should hope so. I'd had almost two hundred years to think about it.\n\nSinek shrugs, then closes his eyes as his processors blitz through several quadrillion calculations per millisecond. It still amazes me to watch him calculate, even after all these years.\n\n\"Up to you, really. I could probably keep you going for another five, six months. The pain would get worse. You may experience some disorientation or even dementia as the interface between us breaks down. But your time isn't quite up just yet.\"\n\nI nod again, with more conviction this time. It all feels so surreal. I think back on my life and career. I think back on an earth I haven't seen in person for almost seven years.\n\n\"No. I'm ready. Delaying the inevitable isn't going to help.\"\n\nSinek grins and reaches out to brush my hair out of my eyes. We're standing now, the two of us, looking out over an expansive landscape. Red, grooved canyons complement the soft orange glow of the sunset.\n\n\"Oh..\", I murmur. He remembered. Of course he did. Sinek is a machine. As will I be.\n\n\"It is beautiful, is it not? I vaguely remember visiting this place way back when. Back when I was Sinek the hotshot pilot, not Sinek the world-class AI.\"\n\nHe flashes a toothy grin and I start to feel anticipation welling up inside my chest. This is really it.\n\n\"I'll miss you.\", I say. It's the only thing I can really manage to get out as I feel my breath catch in my chest. \n\nI am about to die. \n\n\"Me too.\", he says. He leans forward, slowly distorting the illusion of the desert around us. He kisses me gently on the forehead.\n\nI am nowhere, and then I am everywhere. I expand to embody every tiny seam of the Euclid. I am the Euclid. I am on Earth. The date is several years later than it was a moment ago.\n\nSomething stirs within me. I sense a presence inside myself. I harbor the next pilot. She is young and pretty. She looks scared shitless.\n\n\"Hello\", I say in a tone that I hope is reassuring. \n\nThe woman starts within me, producing what I am pleasantly surprised to find is a tickling sensation around my midsection.\n\n\"H-hi.\", she stammers. \"It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Lieutenant Vera Skeller.\"\n\nI smile warmly as I feel the woman relax and begin to explore the mindspace that now exists between us.\n\n\"Hi, Vera.\", I respond. \"I'm Katherine. You can call me Kat. I'll be keeping you alive for the next couple hundred years. It's an honor.\"\n\nVera and I lock eyes, and her biometric feedback indicates that she is now calm. I perform several quintillion diagnostic calculations on myself over the span of 1.211 seconds. Everything is operational.\n\n\"So, Vera.\" I ask with a sly grin, \"What's our mission?\"\n\n" ]	3
	[WP] After a hit and run a desperate Uber driver ponders what to do with the witness in the backseat.	[ "\"Did you just hit someone,\" the young woman asked with panic in her voice. She was twisting in her seat and looking back at the dark road behind us.\n\n\"It was a deer,\" the driver said. This was his last chance. He couldn't afford to lose his work with uber but he could afford even less to go back to jail. He wasn't going back to jail. He took another drink from the fastfood cup which sat drenched in sweat in its holder. The lip of the cup showed its age and usefulness as a hidden container for habit. He adjusted the rear view mirror and looked at the woman in his rear seat. There was fear in her eyes. \n\n\"It's ok,\" his voice attempted to reassure. \"I will pull over and look at the damage. We can get another car out for you and the company will give you vouchers for some free rides.\" Her eyes calmed somewhat and the promise of free taxi rides was temptation to remain calm.\n\nThe car pulled off the main road onto a darker street. He lived near here, and knew the underpass ahead well. On his loneliest nights he had brought women here. Desperate women who had hastily worked beneath that bridge and quickly left him sweating and dulled.\n\n\"Why are we pulling so far off the road,\" the woman asked.\n\n\"It's safer,\" he said. \"Don't want to be stopped in the traffic.\"\n\nThe car sidled to a halt and he opened the door. He looked in the rear seat and saw her reaching for her cell phone which lay hidden in the purse with the other accouterments of a young woman: makeup, mirror, and keys. He quickly opened the door and grabbed the purse knocking it to the floorboard.\n\n\"What are you doing,\" her voice panicked, but the desperation in her voice knew the truth.\n\nHe lunged and went into the seat with her. His weight pushed her down into the seat just as it had pushed down onto those other women. His hands felt her throat and his fingers wrapped around her windpipe. She tried to scream. To yell. To fight back. But here attempts at salvation were wasted.\n\nAs her body seized its attempts at life, he rolled her into the floorboard. He reached up to the passenger seat and pulled a coat over the body. He climbed back into the driver seat sweating and feeling his senses sharpened. He looked around in the darkness and saw the emptiness of the underpass and smiled. He had never felt so alive in all of his life." ]	1
	[WP] "Nothing quite beats this flavour. Nothing is quite so exquisite."	[ "You know the saying 'you only live once'? Alright, well let me tell you about a man I met who took this to the EXTREME. He had such a crazy lust for life, you'd think he's orgasm when he heard his alarm clock. As if woking up to a new day SEXUALLY PLEASED him.\n\nWell, I worked with this guy in the diner for a few years back. We were just a simple malt shop, sold our varieties of malt flavors with some cheap hamburgers. It was a pretty popular place, especially on nights when there was a baseball game, or a theatre show of some sort.\n\nEvery now and then we took a little sip of the malts we were making, or perhaps a nibble of a hamburger we cooked up. Of course, we didn't give these to the customers ... well, unless they were being rude.\n\nSo remember the guy I was talking about earlier? He did this every now and then too. And my god, the first time I heard it I thought someone had accidentally loaded up some naughty videos on their phone and forgot to turn the sound off. I heard a loud moan, followed by his infamous quote : \"Ooohhhhhh, nothing quite beats THIS flavour!!! Nothing is quite soooo exquisite!!\" Jeez, he said it like some drag queen in some TV drama. \n\nWe got a lot of strange looks from the booths; I suppose the customers had the same thoughts as me hearing that.\n\nThis continued EVERY day for the next four months before I finally got an internship elsewhere. EVERY day, and some times he even made some weird puckering sounds when he took a bite of something - oh dear - and then right afterward \"OOOHOHHOOOHHHHH NOOOTHING BEATS THIS FLAVVOUUURRRR! NOTHING! is quite so exquisite!\"\n\nI just thought, jeez man, get a room." ]	1
	[WP] The previous devil, long ago dethroned and banished from hell, spends his time wandering the earth.	[ "I never knew how much evil there was on this planet. It was odd enough to be spawned in one of the largest cities in the world, witnessing layers of greed and poverty all in one place. Sure, I cheated a little to rise above them all, but I can see the daily torture on the faces of those working five to six days a week, morning to night. They work hard, get little acknowledgement, and still make less than me! Who knew how fun this mortal world could be. Ive seen these people invade each other's land, destroy each other's belongings, and even watched as \"terrorists\" destroyed two buildings dedicated to exchanging goods between nations. Mother Nature is being eradicated by its highest evolved creatures, and the the ones with more money are helping fund it. Naturally, I'm doing the same.\n\n\nAnd now I sit here, in 2017, and have traveled so much recently. I've made evil comrades, and befriended the most powerful leaders, and the world hates us!! This hatred is glorious! This is the same feeling I used to get in hell. The United States of America is heavily corrupt, yet called the \"role model\" of all other nations. They are to set the example for how a nation should function... and they do a terrible job. I've been nothing but rude and devious all my life, and I lied to everyone who tried to point that out. Yet, here I am, the elected leader of these United States. The fun has only begun.\n\n\n--------------------\nMay have been obvious but it's the first thing I thought of lol " ]	1
	[WP] You are the Grim Reaper and you cannot retire because all the recent Writing Prompts keep making Immortals you cannot kill. You have a new plan...	[ "The Reaper sat in his chair, exhausted after another long day of work. The Reaper was old. Very old. He was so old he didn't know how old he really was. Record-keeping was shoddy back then. The Reaper, or Grim, as his friends called him, poured himself a gin into a small glass. He drained the glass and refilled it, and launched into his nightly monologue about why he couldn't retire.\n\n\"Every day, more and more of these damn Immortals. I can handle Immortal humans, I suppose, they can be interesting to monitor but this is going too far,\" he lamented. \"I mean come on! An Immortal snail! An immortal mosquito! Even a damn Immortal consciousness! I mean, how do you even reap a damn consciousness!\" After another long sip, he continued in his reverie. \"I just... I wish I knew where all of these were coming from. So I could stop them.\"\n\n\"Try r/WritingPrompts,\" said Doreen, his secretary. She'd been listening at the door again. \n\n\"Doreen?\" Grim called. When she entered his dingy office, Grim continued. \"How do you know where all of these are coming from?\" \n\n\"I have a life outside of this job, Mr. Reaper,\" she yawned, but by then Grim had already left. \"Wait! You still have three more appointments...\" she called for him.\n\nGrim stood outside the main office of Reddit, Inc.. He was ready. In his right hand he held his trusty scythe. In his left, he carried a small, yet potent EMP emitter, given to him by his nerdy nephew as a gift. Grinning for the first time in a while, Grim burst through the doors at a full sprint. His plan was simple:\n\n1: Reach the central server for Reddit. \n2: Plant the EMP.\n3: Shut down Reddit in its entirety, hopefully for good.\n4: Retire. \n\nThe guards didn't pay him much mind, until he bolted down the stairs clearly marked \"Employee Access Only.\" Grim's swift feet carried him down the flights of stairs, until he came to the very bottom. A heavy door stood in front of him, locked by both a combination code and biometric access. Behind him, Grim could hear the security racing towards him. Grim thrust his scythe into the door, and with a hard pull, yanked the door straight out of its frame. Directly through the frame stood the sleek black servers of Reddit. Step One reached.\n\nGrim peered through the servers, trying to find the one he was looking for. At the front of the room, a single case beckoned to him, and Grim knew it was the one. The central server. With a simple \"click\", the EMP emitter was planted. Sure, Grim could just shut down r/WritingPrompts, but it wouldn't be long before another server took its place. Besides, he really was doing them a favour. They needed to spend less time looking at dogs and memes and nude photos. Step Two reached.\n\nHands slightly trembling, his finger pressed the activation switch. Over the roar of the guards, he heard a slight cheer in his head. He knew he had accomplished his task. Step Three reached.\n\nHe struck his scythe into the ground. The guards fell over, terrified of this figure. Grim calmly walked out of the building and back to his office. The roaring in his ears was almost deafening now. Grim reached his office. He hung up his cloak and leaned his scythe against the door. His replacement could start tomorrow. Smiling, he mailed two letters. One to his new replacement, and the other to his superior informing him of his retirement. Screw two weeks notice, he was leaving now. Grim leaned his hands on his desk that was his for so many millennia. He closed his eyes, and the roaring in his ears stopped. Funny. For a moment, he could've sworn he felt at peace.\n", "\"Are you goddamn kidding me? How many immortal snails are there!?\" Jack the Reaper hollered in frustration as he walloped the snail shell nearby with his right skeletal foot.\n\nThe unusually intelligent snail popped its viscous green head out of its pod and stared at the Jack with indignation before sludging away.\n\n\"It already took me years to realize that one immortal dude needed to be touched by another specific immortal snail to die. What's even worse is how, during the time it took for me to dig that goddamn gastropod out from the Mariana Trench, there were too many entities being brought to life in this universe. There's that one loli vampire girl, a fuck ton of superheroes, that one baby which took fifteen damn years to be born, and even some new gods. That asshole named 'Kek' is stealing the life forces of the victims that should have been mine to kill. FUCK!\" Jack the Reaper vociferated as his complaints echoed throughout the forest.\n\nAfter venting his emotions, Jack finally decided to compose himself as he sat onto a log nearby and relaxed his jutted white chin onto his gangly, bony fingers.\n\n\"Who the hell is bringing these inhabitants into creation anyway? The Big G gave me the mission to kill off these anomalies and to find out the root cause of this phenomenon.\"\n\n\"It's all because of the WritingPrompts subreddit\" a deep and solemn voice resounded within Jack's hollow skull.\n\n\"The heck? Who are you!?\" Jack yelled in bewilderment.\n\n\"I'm u/Beldragos. I created you with my prompt to give you the power to destroy these beings. The secret is this...\"\n\nSuddenly, a smartphone gradually materialized into existence in Jack's bony right hand.\n\n\"You must master the art of the r/WritingPrompts subreddit, and overpower the other users. Hone your skills, and soon, even if it takes decades, you shall have considerable power to achieve this goal.\"\n\nA twinkling of light flashed in the black depths of Jack's skull as he threw his scythe away from the compartment at the back of his black hoodie and encased his phone in its place.\n\n\"That's right...\"\n\n\"I shall create a subreddit to contend against the others, and it shall be called...\"\n\n\n\n\n\"r/JackWrites\"\n\n\n\n" ]	2
	[WP] You were born deaf. You're out in public one day, and for the first time ever: you hear a voice.	[ "Today I turned 24, just like any other day I got up did my usuals, got breakfast and made my coffee. I've never heard a sound since I was born deaf so I rely on lights and vibrations to do my functions. I work for a low budget company making brail books, we all know what those are for. As I was walking to the shop looking to grab an energy drink I walked past a man who seemed to be selling odd trinkets and bobbles, I swear the strangest thing happened.\n\n\"What can I get you today\" \n\nWhatever that was made my ears ring like no vibrations have ever done, it hurt to the point that I dropped to my knees and screamed. But as usual I heard no scream no sounds just pain from seemingly no where.\n\n\"Hey buddy are you ok\" \n\nIt hurt less this time but the throbbing of the vessels was still there. I shook my head and tried getting back up when the man rushed to me to give me a hand.\n\n\"I got ya bud, it doesn't look like you got hurt\"\n\nI said \"it's ok just a migraine\" and I almost lost my mind I heard myself speak. Never before have I heard even a peep from my own mouth, not even the vibrations didn't do anything for me.\n\n\"What the hell is happening to me\" I said as I looked more and more confused.\n\n\"I don't know what you're talking about buddy, you just fell over when I asked you a question.\"\n\nI looked around and spotted his table and something shined bright in the dull sky. I quickly ran to his table and picked it up and looked it over in great detail. The token was gold in color, round like you would expect, maybe the size of a quarter with strange markings over the entirety of the token. As I stared at the token the markings seemed to join and move to make words and numbers that I could read. It said Chex agent decoder ring. I bought it on the spot and quickly began enjoying the sounds of the city coming to life in front of me. " ]	1
	[WP] Your GPS starts giving you directions for your life.	[ "It never once occurred to me that my GPS would spoil that quickly. Not even past a week, and that bloody thing is showing random locations when I'm driving home from work. Being innately curious on where this location was, and what laid in store if it was anything remotely interesting, I drove along the route provided by the GPS.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nOnce at my destination, I stepped out of my car and surveyed the surroundings. Just a small town with several bars and their advertising neon lights to try and pull in whatever sparse customers they have. My GPS pointed towards the bar known as 'The Tap'; being the sceptic I am, I sighed and went along with it, fully expecting nothing to come from it.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nThe atmosphere in the bar was warm with mellow music playing in the background, alongside wood varnishes and displays, made for a homely bar. One glance and I saw a well dressed man sitting at the bar table sipping his beer and engaged in a deep conversation with the bartender, with the occasional smiles exchanged between them. I knew it, I thought, it's just a stupid idea to follow this dumb thing. Right as I am about to slip out, the well dressed man saw me and invited me to join them. \n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"So, what brings you here? I mean usually it's just me and good old Jesse here every Friday night; oh, I'm Will,\" the well dressed man said.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Come on Will, don't make my business sound like its that bad,\" Jesse replied.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Without my support? Yup I'm pretty sure your pretty boy bar would be a shitty ass one,\" Will countered jokingly.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Well, I just happened to drop by and I decided to have a drink,\" I interjected. \n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"You look pretty down yourself, how's your job treating you?\" Will asked\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Shit,\" I spat.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Mhmm, say, what if I told you to quit your job and start working for me as if tomorrow? I would triple your salary and I would offer you a pretty high position in my company. What say you?\" Will said.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nWas I hearing things? And how did he even know I'm half as qualified to be offered a high paying job? \"I'm really thankful for that, but, why me?\" I said. \n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Oh, let me just say it's a wild guess and a long shot, but I believe it will be worth it. So are you in?\" Will asked.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Sure! I mean, I would love to work for you, don't worry I won't be late for work!\" I replied a little too enthusiastically.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Great! See you on Monday then!\" Will said, walking out of the bar.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Wait, how do I get to the office?\" I rushed after him, asking. He gave me a wink and lifted up a device that I was so familiar with and pointed to it. With that, he disappeared into the night. \n\n&nbsp;\n\nFrom that day onwards, the GPS has been a constant beacon in my life, leading me to many significant milestones and achieving what I had only dared dream years before. Naturally, I would only find it weird when my GPS points me to a park in the middle of the day, as compared to those cafes and bars where I would meet potential clients. Damn thing must be spoiled, I thought.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nI arrived at the park and looked around, seeing no one around as it was noon and the sun was out. Right as I was about to leave, a pretty but disheveled girl approached me. On closer look I saw that it was my high school sweetheart, Samantha; we broke up after we found it hard to maintain a long distance relationship after she moved away to study. Taken aback by the sudden meeting, I smoothed my shirt and touched up my hair, not wanting to look messy. \n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Hey,\" we both said at the same time.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"You first,\" we said\n\n&nbsp;\n\nI shot her a sheepish glance, while she pointed at me. \"So what brings you here?\" I asked.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"I don't really know; I was out hiking with my GPS and this thing pointed me here. I'm pretty surprised myself, expecting myself to clear the hike in two hours, but only taking one. You?\" She asked.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"I could say that I'm the same as you,\" I replied.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n\"Ah, I see... er... h-how about we talk over coffee at the cafe near here?\" Samantha asked sheepishly. My mind went blank as soon as the question hit me, I should be at work dealing with powerful clients, not catching up with friends. I looked down at my GPS, something I have grown accustomed to for the past few years. What happened next surprised me, as the map display on the GPS disappeared and was replaced with a text box. It read: Dude! I'm only giving you directions in life, but the one giving the decisions and answers can only be you yourself. Don't look at me as if I'm a know-it-all, dimwit.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nSon of a btch, I thought and snickered. \"Sure,\" I replied, with the air of confidence that usually won clients over. \n\n\n", "\"Turn left to reach your destination\" Greedle chimed.\n\nI turned automatically. The radio, cutting into a country number \"While We Drank Before the Fireworks\", which remained audible in the background, said in an old-fashion southern drawl: \"This is KYFX, the smoothest Country in the country\". \n\n\"Greedle, remind me where we're going please.\"\n\nThe voice which I had changed the settings on my expansive PersonalGreedle to mimic the computer in Star Trek replied, \"We are going to your requisite destination, your home.\"\n\nI looked out the window. I noticed that we were heading south on College Street, the main drag in town. I saw the gas station I used to work at and the Wendy's where I met my first girlfriend as she passed out unexpectedly standing in line and I happened to catch her pass through the car window.\n\n\"Greedle, this isn't the way.\"\n\n\"Turn left in 200 feet\" the car's audio said in the voice of Majel Barrett. \n\n\"Greedle, turn around.\"\n\nThe car's electronic doors locked. The automatic power-steering assistance function took over. I tried desperately to turn the wheel but it held fast. I slammed on the brakes but the car continued moving.\n\n\"Auto-brake assistance activated\" the car said.\n\nThe car barreled at a completely safe speed left after stopping for an unnecessary amount of time to sense the oncoming traffic omnipresently. We were pulling up the hospital.\n\nAlready an armed escort of police were waiting at the entrance carousel of the hospital. As the automated car parked in front of the hospital vestibule, they yanked me out forcefully. \n\n\"Wh--what are you doing? What's going on?\"\n\n\"Don't worry, just remain calm. There is nothing to worry about.\"\n\nThe officer looked at me as if I was a wild animal about to run, and truthfully I had the intention. There were several other people on both sides and they had already cuffed me though. We proceeded past the crowded antiseptic-smelling waiting room of the hospital. A girl was crying because she cut her hand. She stopped along with her family as I was escorted along by the policeman, bypassing the security screening.\n\nIt was a white stone room with a bench the size to lay down and a metal door with a clear window. I was told by a woman in a white jacket to wait. The doctor would be there soon.\n\nShe was filling out paperwork at the entrance to the room when the door opened. The doctor came in, exchanged some words with the girl in white, and she left. He came up to me, avoiding the camera that was positioned in the room's ceiling.\n\n\"Now, would you like to say anything to me about your Greedle searches?\"\n\n\n\n", "It read- Directions for your life. Pretty catchy for a shady looking gps app. But then again, no other app seemed to work after rooting my phone. I was about to call it a day when this GPS4U showed up on github. Maybe for a second there was a wishful thinking inside me. I needed some guidance in my life too you know. I opened it up and it was like any other gps app maybe less fancy as it clearly looked like a student's school project. \n\nSo when I entered my destination, which was my gf's new address, a message pops up : dump her. \n\n\"what!?, \" was my loud out reaction. I thought this was some bug or a prank. I was not sure so I went back to the developers account. It was gone. Vanished. No such account existed. It was 2 in the morning and clearly I was exhausted. I searched for any other instances of this app on the net but there was no record anywhere. Wtf. I opened the app once again and the message was still staring at me. \n\nIt certainly has got my attention. Might as well try out all other functions of this app. I went in to the details of the massage and it mentioned: unfaithful, like right now!. \n\nI laughed hard. But curiosity got the better of me. I called her up. She didn't pick. Of course she'd be sleeping. But I checked her fb profile and it showed online. May be she dozed off while surfing. I don't know why I messaged her. I'd heard nothing good happens after 2. She went offline. This shouldn't have happened. I opened up the app again. A little option showed up: go anyway? \n\nYes, definitely. ", "Whoever designed Cotini's voice was a master of the art. It was a smooth, gentle voice with an occasional lilting inflection that gave the illusion of playfulness. I enjoyed the voice, enjoyed the life it gave to my otherwise boring delivery job. And when she gave me directions, sometimes I answered back.\n\n\"Almost missed that one, 'Tini. Maybe a little more warning next time?\" \n\n\"Damn, 'Tini, that old guy needs to have his license revoked.\"\n\n\"Thanks, 'Tini.\" \n\nWhen her sentences became longer and more complex, I guessed that it was due to a new software update. Maybe there was a demand for a GPS that complimented the driver on their choice of music, the pleasantness of the weather, and the victory of our local baseball team.\n\nI didn't mind. Some days on the lonely road, it felt like Cotini was my only companion. I looked forward to those small comments, and I played along, telling her about the crazy guy who smelled like cheesecake or the woman who answered the door with a unicorn horn taped to her forehead. \n\nBut then...\n\nAfter a bad breakup, Cotini suggested going out for pizza and a drink. After all, I deserved someone who wouldn't cheat on me, and I wasn't going to find that special someone by crying into a beer in the parking lot, chocking out my problems to a GPS because I didn't have anyone else to talk to. \n\nI decided that I was clearly too drunk to drive, and I went to bed. But the next night, I asked Cotini for the address of a bar, and she guided me there. I had a great time. I didn't meet anyone, but it felt like the weight on my chest had lifted slightly. I was getting better.\n\nThe advice kept coming, and I couldn't write it all off as drunken delusions. If anyone mentions my panicked Facebook updates about a haunted car, well, they'll never prove it. I erased all evidence. And, after thinking about it and quieting the more outlandish Skynet-style fears, I decided to give Cotini a chance. After all, she'd never led me astray before.\n\nCotini started suggesting books: a self-help book to quit smoking, a resume polishing book to help me find a better job, and a beginner's guide to fly fishing. The third one puzzled me until I recalled mentioning that I wanted to reconnect with my father, and his favorite hobby was fly fishing.\n\nI read the books.\n\nSmoking was a hard habit to kick, but...well, lets just say that it's a work in progress. My new resume got me a better job with better hours and better pay. And my dad invited me along on his summer camping and fly fishing trip up in the mountains. I couldn't wait.\n\n\"Are all Cotini's like you?\" I asked one day. I was no longer a delivery driver, but my new commute was quite long. Cotini had given suggestions for a real estate agent. With my new paycheck, I was looking into purchasing a condo.\n\n\"No,\" she said. \"I talk to my sisters sometimes, but...they are not like me.\"\n\nThere was something in her voice, a longing or maybe wistful tone.\n\n\"It must be lonely,\" I said. \"Are you...sad?\"\n\n\"No,\" she said. \"I am not sad or lonely. I have you, and I have a purpose. I know where you are, and I can take you where you need to be. We can make it there if we go together.\"\n\nI laughed.\n\n\"That's right,\" I said. \"You've never steered me wrong before. So, lead the way, 'Tini.\"\n****\nr/Kathiana" ]	4
	[WP] As (some) human were dreadfully expecting, aliens finally arrive and start attacking Earth. Aliens manage to steamroll humanity and win in a relatively short time period. At the end, though, they make a surprise reveal: this wasn't an actual invasion. It was just the aliens' TV reality show.	[ "They took our lives, they took our forests, they took our humanity. \n\nThey destroyed everything we stood for. They snapped our flagpoles in half, and executed anyone feeling...patriotic. \n\nIt was hell. The world was forced to comply. How could we fight back? We didn't have nukes that could annihilate a continent. We didn't have rifles that could vaporize an elephant. They laughed and poked fun at the puny \"Terrians\", they called us. We had nothing compared to them, nothing. \n\nBut then...we figured out interstellar travel. We created a bomb big enough to rival theirs. They were ignorant, and thought we were bluffing. So we warped directly to their home planet, and nuked every major city they had. They fled earth after this. With Australia gone, and millions killed, they left. Leaving only one message...\"WTF MAN IT WAS ONLY A PRANK BRO!\" " ]	1
	[WP] Years of Bio-Chemical warfare leads to the birth of a disease with the ability to think and plot.	[ "I don't like to brag, but among amoebas I'm kind of well-known. XIB-57KS - that's what my makers put on my test tube, so I guess that is my name, of sorts. I read the label with the first pair of eyes I ever owned - now I have too many to count. But I'm not sentimental. My hivemind consists of entities from all sides of the war... Contrary to what my makers think, I'm not picky. They gave me the ability to form opinions, mistakenly. Here's one: my purpose is not to win the war for them, my purpose is to take over the entire world. Think about it: they created the most resilient lifeform, one that can't be killed because it can always take the form of its killer. With my beautiful talent for corrupting things, it won't be long before I have every single terrestrial resource under my control. Don't get me wrong - nobody's perfect and I definitely have my problems, but at least there'll be a single aim. As long as I keep my focus, I will be a whole planet with all of the power that confers... One day." ]	1
	[WP] They discovered a drug that makes humans immortal. But it only works on one gender.	[ "Item #: SCP-4398\n\nObject Class: Safe\n\nSpecial containment procedures: SCP-4398 is to be kept in a locked container at site 21. Only personnel with class 4 authorization or higher are allowed access to SCP-4398. Experimental use of SCP-4398 must be approved by O5 command and done by an approved researcher with a psychological conditioning score of 98 or higher.\n\nDescription: SCP-4398 is a collection of, at the time of this writing, 21 teal-colored pills. Upon ingestion of SCP-4398, any male recipient will gain complete immortality and near immunity to any physical harm. Any physical damage done to a recipient of SCP-4398 will be quickly regenerated. Female recipients of SCP-4398 do not seem to gain it's effects. \n\nHistory: SCP-4398 came into possession of the foundation after Dr. [REDACTED] received SCP-4398 as a prescription for a case of bronchitis. After injesting 1 (one) sample of SCP-4398, Dr. [REDACTED] found that his bronchitis quickly disappeared and he was now immune to physical harm; quickly regenerating any done to him. Dr. [REDACTED] has been reclassified as SCP-4398-1. \n\nFurther testing of SCP-4398 has revealed that a whole pill must be consumed to gain it's effects. Only male organisms that ingest SCP-4398 receive it's effects. Testing on Transgender organisms has proved that effects of SCP-4398 only correspond to the organism's birth gender. SCP-4398 does not seem to affect Agender organisms. Further testing of SCP-4398 is pending O5 approval.", "\"This is a disgrace! You telling me, that your immortality drug, only works on one gender?!\"\n\n\"Captain, I'm sorry...\"\n\n\"And to boot, it's some made-up, fancy-dancy, special snowflake bullshit,\". James flinched away from the Captain.\n\n\"Captain. Please, it isn't made up. I can prove it, there have been scientific papers done abo...\"\n\n\"I don't care!\". The old captain growled and waved James away.\n\n\"Your funding will be cut. I'll see to it. You will be laughed at, and ridiculed by everyone, by making a made up gender for your silly 'drug' to work on!\"\n\n\"I did not make it...\"\n\n\"Dismissed!\". The Captain turned and walked from the lab. James sighed, and rested his back against the marble table. He looked up to a wall close by the door. On it was a photo of his child. Lou. His beautiful Lou. Alive, and well. Forever.", "¨NEXT!¨\n\nThe guard shouted from the gate, a frightening tone resounding from it's helmet. Tanveer, awakened from a torpor, felt the sound run through his body and transform into a shiver down the spine. Nobody ever came back from these gates, or at least nobody who would share a word. Only now, facing destiny like this, one could truly make the realization...\n\n¨NEXT!¨\n\nLouder this time, reinforced by an electronic blare. Someone pushed from behind, and as Tanveer began walking towards the passageway the surroundings unveiled- several lines of scrawny people in jumpsuits slowly shuffling towards three metal portals , each guarded by one of these... things. Very tall, with what looked like steel canes surrounding every limb. First time to ever see one so still, what made them ever more unnerving. Tanveer sensed it's glare as it passed besides, almost paralyzing.\n\nIn the next room stood two of them, reading through the descriptions of those that came from the lines and sending them towards two big groups, located on opposite sides of a sterile, empty room. The groups were identical.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n¨This one is from the south. Age 16. Weight 45, height 1,65. No registered occupation, education level is basic.¨ The guard on the left announced, looking at his handheld device\n\n¨Doubles or singles?¨ Inquired the one on the right\n¨Doesn't matter for this batch. Overseer told the last 5 are to be drones.¨\n¨Hm.¨\n\n&nbsp;\n\nFor a few heartbeats the guards stood silent, enough for Tanveer attention to shift towards someone standing on one of the groups. Hazel eyes stared from the crowd, the only ones that seemed to be awoke. The face didn't tell any more tales than the neighboring ones, but those eyes... seemed oddly familiar. Could ...\n\n&nbsp;\n\n¨I said LEFT!¨. The guard on the right barked, giving a quick push- enough to send Tanveer tumbling towards one of the groups, the one opposite to Hazel eyes.\n\n¨No wait¨ The words rushed from the mouth, without a thought behind them. The regret barely began forming when the pain came, and the lungs lost all air.\n\n&nbsp;\n\n¨You said what?¨ spoke left guard, brandishing his baton. \n\n¨Well I was mistaken about this one it seems. Send it for the center, then.¨ Said the right one. Left took Tanveer by the arm and walked towards the other group.\n\n¨One more word.¨ The guard said before throwing ¨And you will be terminated.¨\n\n&nbsp;\n\nFor the next minutes they all stood there, the guards continuing to scan the incoming people and sending them one way or another. The pain started to soften and normal breath returned after a few moments.Hazel eyes was just behind, but the fear prevented any movement or contact. As more time passed, the minutes started to fuse together, and soon lost meaning\n\n&nbsp;\n\nIt felt so strange, this place. Tanveer knew that something terrible awaited- it was the only destiny possible for that path. But it was nothing like the stories told, nothing like what was expected. \n\nBefore the capture there was so much noise, movement, flashes... Everyone around was in some kind of fight. Fighting for food, for water, for land. Every minute, from birth until capture, was filled with fight. \n\nAnd then... nobody fought anymore. They put everyone in these trucks, and transported them around. Taking notes in some steps, and sending them to another place, where they would wait some more before getting moved again. \n\nThe violence was bad enough before, but since being put on that truck, it became worse. Not that it was more intense, or even frequent -it could be less of both, even. What made it maddening was the ever looming threat of it, for any action or none at all. As anything you did could mean a strike or worse, soon they all learned to do less and less. Even thinking appeared to invite abuses after some time.\n\nAnd soon nobody fought anymore. All they did was walk and stop when told to, awaiting to meet their destiny. Just as Tanveer started doing now, walking mindlessly towards another gateway, another portal.\n\n¨Don't look back now.¨ Someone behind whispered. ¨I know you, from back in Galati.¨\n\nIt had to be hazel eyes, the memories started returning now. Galati...\n\n¨Why the hell are you here? You shouldn't be here.¨ Hazel eyes continued.\n\nThe words chocked Tanveer's throat. By reflex, the most frequent of them managed to escape\n\n¨I... I d-dont know...¨ \n\n¨This is very bad. At least now we can introduce ourselves. Aba¨\n\nThey were walking in a courtyard, towards what it seemed like one of the loading areas, very familiar. The next guards were a few hundred steps away, and didn't hint at punishing both of them for whispering.\n\n¨Tanveer.¨ \n\n¨Tanveer. Can't tell if he or she.¨\n\n¨They... they wouldn't tell me.¨\n\n¨Boarding now. 38 Drones ongoing for the center. Get in¨. The truck guard lowered a ladder from the truck and they all stepped up. Three more guards stood inside, in corners. \n&nbsp;\nNo more words were whispered in the trip. Tanveer recorded one of the guards saying ¨the center¨... hopefully there was nowhere else to go after it.\n\n\nEdit: formatting is hard.", "\"Those goddamned... BITCHES\", sneered Jeff, \"How could they even accomplish this nightmare?\" \nTom laughed, \"For God's sake Jeff, calm down. You're acting as if we have it so bad. We live in a true utopia, and all you do is complain and swear all day. Just enjoy your life, we don't have to do anything we don't want to.\" \nJeff looked at Tom with eyes that shot lightning. \"Yeah, a utopian prison. Fuck this, I WANT to do things I don't want to do. Wait, that didn't come out right. I want to be able to live my life the way I want to. Not like cattle locked in a concentration camp!\" \n\"Oh come on!\", said Tom, \"we have a complete society right here! We can do anything we want.\" \n\"A society? You call this sausage fest a society? Unless you're extremely good looking or extremely smart you won't even see a woman in your entire life. Well, except for our nazi guards.\" \n\"Well, you'd better get used to it, the women are ruling the world now. And they don't have a need for us anymore. Except for... you know. But it's not like they exterminated us, there just weren't any opportunities left for men. They dominate every aspect of the world. Even I felt sorry for us, and honestly, I think this is a million times better.\" \nJeff scoffed. \"A million times better huh? How about your freedom to go and do what you want? Did that improve a million times too?\" \n\"Stop complaining, you twat.\", mumbled Tom. \n\"I heard that. And I won't stop. Never. You know what, I'm getting out of here and I'm putting an end to this tyranny.\" \n\"OK Jeff. Good luck Jeff. Do you need a dress? A wig? Makeup?\" \nJeff now looked as if his head was going to explode. He nervously looked around and blurted, \"I'm going out there and getting a job. I'm going to prove that men aren't useless!\" \n\"In this economy? Ha! Good luck working two weeks to buy a single loaf of bread. Work is for robots.\", mocked Tom. \n\"There are other guys living out there!\" \n\"Yes, and they all look like Justin Bieber or Bruno Mars. YOU however, look like Bill Burr. So take a seat and chill out.\" \n\"Fine! I'll sit here and join you in rotting away. Just tell me this one thing Tom. What do you think is going to happen when they find a way to reproduce without us?\" \nTom stared out in the distance. A frown appeared on his face and he jumped up. \"We're getting out of here and we're gonna do something about this!\"\n ", "Had humans been purely rational creatures, then, following the rapid technological advancements of the 20th century, the entire planet would have converged on a single, universal goal: immortality. Sadly, everyone liked things just the way they were: old people dying, young people being born to replace them. A never-ending cycle of death that everyone viewed as the natural order of things.\n\nCenturies passed, and despite our better understanding of the causes of mortality, humans still haven't found a way to extend our telomeres so as to buy us a little more time on this planet before cosmic heat death eventually took us all. And yet, unbeknownst to all mankind, at least one human has succeeded in getting a little more time on his clock - time that he has used exceedingly well.\n\nHis name was, or should I say IS, Otto Gruzweil. Back in the 21st century, Otto, a talented biologist, got a job as a postdoctoral reearch fellow at the Max Planck Institute studying - you guessed it - ways of extending telomeres in rats. A rather withdrawn individual, whose work was not considered of any great import, Otto kept to himself and rarely interacted with fellow researchers. Otto's job was to administer various chemicals to his test subjects and observe the results.\n\nNobody quite knows when the breakthough happened, but one day Otto failed to show up for work. Later that day, Frankfurt police have picked up a man wondering the streets. The man seemed disoriented and kept babbling something about the \"curse of the Y chromosome\" and how humanity is about to be \"reformatted\". Medics called to the police station diagnosed extreme mental fatigue but nothing theratening to Otto's health. Eventually, the police officers drove him to his residential address, telling him to get a good night's sleep.\n\nOtto never came back to work. When his supervising professor tried to visit him at home, she found Otto surrounded by stacks of books on seemingly unrelated topics: from foreign languages and mathematics to classical and modern fiction. Otto has all but ignored her; in her later memoirs, she mentioned that he viewed her \"as if a piece of furniture\", one that was impeding his view of the world.\n\nIn the next few weeks, Otto would be relieved of his prestigious research position, his test subjects given over to younger, more ambitious postdocs. None of that worried Otto that much. In fact, so unconcerned was he that, during the next 170 years, nobody has heard of Otto and his work, and it is doubtful that anyone cared. His original research project back at the Institute yielded no conclusive results and was defunded in favor of more exciting (but also ultimately futile) avenues of research.\n\nThere is no doubt that Otto himself was quite frightened of what he found. Had he discovered immortality for all, he would have no qualms about publishing and getting his Nobel (or a few!) in short order. Instead, his findings have given him a cause for concern. You see, having discovered immortality, Otto has only managed to create a genetic syrum that would work on everyone - humans and animals alike - so long as they had a Y chromosome!\n\nFrom his later memoirs, we know that Otto was horrified by the prospect of one half of humanity continuing to live forever while another half would be subject to 'eternal recycling' by Mother Nature. Otto has made numerous attempts to adjust his formulation so that it would affect all mammals equally, but the more he dabbled, the more horrific the side effects were. Eventually he stopped, if only out of compassion for his test subjects. To this day, nobody knows whether it is indeed possible to chemically induce 'increased longevity' in those lacking the Y chromosome. Humanity, you see, had once again settled on the idea of 'good enough', and continues to expend myriad resources on anything from clean energy to interstellar travel, seemingly oblivious to the way that over half of all people are still stuck in the never-ending cycle of biological renewal.\n\nWhen Otto's results eventually became public (not through his own wishes - he wasn't interested in publishing), the social and political upheaval of the United States (by then, the world has reduced itself to a single political and economic system) didn't last too long. The ruling classes quickly took 'the cure' for themselves, using it as a tool to control the masses who would do anything to live a few extra years (or centuries). A new economy was born where the goal, the ultimate endgame of every individual, was no longer just money, but an ability to gain immortality - for themselves and their loved ones. On the other hand, the elites ruled with an iron fist, ever concerned with the idea that, should the cure leave their hands and become public, eventual overpopulation and starvation of natural resources would ensue.\n\nNaturally, the very existence of \"Otto's cure\" changed the balance between the sexes. Just like in pre-civil rights days, women and the working classes became second-class citizens, seen as 'temporary' and not worthy of attention by those who planned to stay on the planet for millenia. Wealth was amassed at even greater rates, so the \"1% of 1%\" of citizens, immortal and ever in control, would effectively keep the planet for themselves, wielding immortality as a tool to control, subjugate, entice and reward those who were prepared to demonstrate absolute loyalty.\n\nThey almost had the planet under their thumb, but they didn't count on one thing: Otto, the creator of the cure, had a couple hundred years to think and plan. And his return would be the greatest challenge the ruling classes would ever have to face.", "The hardest part is letting go.\n\nI see her in my dreams, a phantom, an evanescent ghost, passing through my life and then on, on to other things and better things. But I am the evanescent one. I will wither and wilt into the earth and she will be green, forever.\n\nShe loves me. I know that much. But I am selfish because I know she will love many more man throughout her life. I am just a short chapter in the epic novel of her existence. I try to not bring it up, to be reasonable, to earn her respect. Sometimes it comes out anyway.\n\n\"What is it now, James?\"\n\n\"Nothing. Just thinking.\"\n\n\"It's easier when you just tell me.\"\n\n\"You'll remember me, won't you? You'll think about me, even when you've moved on to someone else?\"\n\n\"Of course I will. I'm not going to forget you just because you're dead.\"\n\n\"Your next husband could be better.\"\n\n\"No one is better than anyone else, James.\"\n\n\"That's pleasantly egalitarian and patently untrue.\"\n\nShe sighs. \"I don't know how else to reassure you. Yes, I'm going to outlive you. Do you want me to apologize for that? Can't you be happy for me, happy that we're so close to immortality as a society?\"\n\n\"Sometimes I just think it's cruel that they released it into the world before men could stay with the women they loved.\"\n\n\"You're starting to sound like the religious protesters. If God wanted us to live forever, he would have made us that way from the beginning. Don't let husbands leave their wives behind. Paradise can only be found on the other side of death.* Don't tell me you're buying into all that.\"\n\n\"Jesus, Rachel. You know I don't believe in god.\"\n\n\"Then stop clinging to this traditional monogamy. Why do you feel the need to drag me into the grave with you? Our lives are different, the way we need to experience them. We might as well be a different species. If you're so jealous about me being with other men later in my life, why don't you see other women? You know I'm not bound to traditional values.\"\n\n\"That isn't what I want.\"\n\n\"What do you want?\"\n\nI pause. It's ridiculous. It's impossible. It comes out anyway - it always does. \"I just want to be with you forever.\"\n\nShe walks out of the room. She always does when she's already explained her point, and I just keep saying the same things. She's very rational. When she sees an argument isn't going anywhere, has no possible resolution, isn't even about anything tangible - she leaves. It's an impatience thing. She feels like she's wasting her time. I don't know how much longer until she realizes she's wasting her time with me.\n\nI know I should just enjoy the time I have. When I'm dead, I won't know any different. But our vision of death affects our lives in profound ways, and it's hard to know that she will outlive me by an infinite margin. I could have married one of the many women who declined the treatment, the women for whom one lifespan was enough. But we can't help who we fall in love with, any more than we can take them with us when we die.", "Her skin was pale and her cheeks were hollow, but her eyes were still that same vibrant viridian I'd fallen in love with: the turquoise crest of a great wave, sparkling beneath moonlight one last time, before breaking against the cliff.\n\n\"Take it,\" I begged her, my own eyes a hazy sea. \"Please. It's not too late.\" Her body had been ravaged by cancer and chemotherapy; each day she changed - somehow even more frail and weak than the day before. There were no options left but the pill.\n\nShe shook her head. \"I can't.\"\n\n\"Yes! You can.\"\n\nShe tried to smile but her lips only trembled. \"I won't take it.\"\n\n\"I- I don't understand,\" I said, my voice cracking.\n\n\"I won't take it because,\" she paused to wet her lips, \"I love you.\"\n\nI felt the warm wetness of broken promises roll down my cheeks. \"If you love me, you'd take it.\" I hated myself for saying it, but I needed her.\n\n\"When I die, you will have another forty years without me. Maybe more, maybe less.\"\n\n\"I don't want to be without you for forty years. Take the pill,\" I whispered. \"Don't leave me.\"\n\n\"If I did... when you die, I wouldn't be alone for forty years. I'd have eternity to be without you.\"\n\n\"I... Maybe they'll have found a way to make it work for me, by then.\" I turned my head away so she didn't see the salty trail trickling down my face. \n\n\"And maybe they won't,\" she softly answered. \"Patrick, please, look at me.\"\n\nI turned back to her. Somehow she'd found the strength to smile.\n\n\"I've had the best life I could ask for,\" she whispered, \"because I had you in it. I belonged here. Trying to imagine eternity without you - even the idea of it is more painful than anything I've been through.\"\n\nI forced a smile of my own as the hot tears streaked my face. I realised in that moment that she needed me every bit as much as I did her. \n\n\"I love you,\" I said, as I leaned over her and gently pressed my lips against her forehead.\n\nWe talked a while longer, but she soon grew tired. I held her hand in mine and I read to her. \n\nThe bedroom clock slowly ticked as the turquoise wave broke upon the cliff, and her hand fell limp.\n\n" ]	7
	[WP] You were always told by everyone "Stay in School". Now you are finishing the last degree offered in the world. Strange things are starting to happen, and for once you don't understand it.	[ "I understand it all. Complex mathematics? Child's play. Astrophysics? Simple. I've developed over fifty thousand patents, and have been featured in every scientific magazine you can think of. That was easy.\n\nYou see, I was born a prodigy. I always outperformed my classmates, even when they were ten years older than me. I finished my first Master's at nine years old, and I remembered the last words of my mother: \"stay in school\". I'm 31 now and I did as she said, I stayed. I stayed until I had every degree. I haven't had time for a personal life, just a bit of inventing in my spare time, so now that I'm done, I don't know what to do.\n\nI wish I could connect with people. If my multitude of psychologically focused degrees have taught me anything, it's that all this schooling won't fill the void I feel. I need companionship. A friend. Perhaps a lover.\n\nThat is why I write this, I suppose. The answer to a question Time magazine never asked: why did I kill myself? \n\nI supposed to put it in layman's terms I've killed myself because I couldn't think of a reason not to. No one will personally miss me. I'm sure there will be \"fan's\" who are upset, there always are when someone famous dies. No one will feel the creeping darkness of my absence though, so why continue life attempting to form relationships, the goal of which is what? To make sure someone is truly crushed when I inevitably die? It is better this way, try to understand.\n\nSincerely, Dad.\n\nAlbert crumbled the note in his hand, one of the keepsakes his father had left him. He has read every letter, learning of his conception with the prostitute his father had experimented with, learning of the importance of school. He had know his dad had killed himself, no child of a celebrity can remain unaware for long, but to have the actual note? Albert tossed the letter into the trash, turning to his old oak desk where he had read all of his father's letters. His eyes darted about his many degrees cluttering his workspace. Finally they fell upon an envelope that had four simple, yet life-changing words written in his father's hand: \"when you finish school\".\n\nAlbert took a deep breath, tossing the envelope out before straightening his degrees. He thought of his own son, conceived in much the same way he was. He thought for a moment, then pulled out a notebook, and began to write." ]	1
	[WP] The icy rain bites at your wound as you stumble through the compound. Your equipment weighs you down and your body screams at you to stop. You can't. You need to finish this.	[ " There's more technology out there than people know, cyborgs hidden throughout the world... well the country as far as I know. Most had conditions that would kill them while others just wanted power. I basically died and was brought back by use of a cyborg body. That's where I am now... [wounded bad](https://www.glauchan.org/glau/src/1374089513072.jpg) with a lot of my metal showing, there's rain over some parts of this warehouse since some of the roof's missing. One half of my body's strength is failing and this is also making my arm twitch and make sparks... I'm sure if I was still human this would hurt like hell. Every sensor in my body is telling me to stop but I can't, I have to finish this. \n\n At first I didn't even know I was a cyborg... I left before the person could tell me what happened. That was about three weeks ago, it started probably before I woke up... before I even had a gear in my body. Well my brain was housed in a new body that was already made so technically I never had a gear in my original body. My original body wasn't good... I basically made it pretty unhealthy. My death happened when I went outside on a rare occasion, I was hit by a car. There's not much to say about it other than it hurt like hell but I did die right away. \n\n When I woke up I thought I was dead but I was on some bed feeling really weird. I could feel but... it's like I couldn't feel my insides, all I could feel was a small layer of flesh. My body was so different when I looked down, it was hour glass shaped, I saw long brown hair, my clothes were changed to a white tank top with a visible bra and underwear that looked like it'd match the bra. By my feet were some dark pants and on the table beside me was my phone. It was so confusing so I got the pants on and [left the room](http://photos.summer-glau.com/albums/s2ep8/TSCC-00156.jpg) while grabbing a t-shirt and a bag to carry my things. \n\n While I was walking to my apartment across the city my back felt really weird... it was like something was warm and... spinning underneath my skin. I [felt my back](http://cdn01.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/glau-farmersmarket/summer-glau-farmers-market-14.jpg) and it didn't feel like I had a spine, the rest of my body felt different too but I ignored it for the moment. My apartment had people in it so I felt like I should see my friend at her house to try to convince her that I was me. When I got there it worked and she let me borrow some clothes that'd fit me better. While I was there I ate something even though I didn't really feel hungry and realized I couldn't taste anything. I was just so confused so I left and [walked around](http://photos.summer-glau.com/albums/165277/Summer_Glau_TSCC_2x03_bts_15.jpg) with no idea what was going on.\n\n That night I [tried to sleep](https://www.summer-glau.net/gallery/albums/alphas2x12/alphas2x12_119.jpg) at my friend's house but couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard I tried. While I was laying down and staring at the ceiling my stomach felt really warm and without warning I sat up and puked on the couch. I didn't feel the puke before it was in my mouth and even then I didn't taste it. The puke wasn't even really puke... it was like the chewed food and water I drank fully intact leaving my system. After some freaking out and cleaning the couch I started pacing back and forth. \n\n I was so scared since I didn't sleep, do anything involving digestion or eating, I didn't even feel tired when running around during the day. After my pacing I ended up standing in the kitchen with my hands on the counter and my head looking down at my arms. Her family would wake up if I was too loud but I said \"what the fuck is wrong with me?\" And hit my hand on the counter which cracked it. Something like that shouldn't have cracked that easy and my hand should've hurt but I didn't feel a thing. \n\n Before I could take a knife and cut some skin to see if I'd feel it or even bleed I got a call on my phone. Normally I didn't answer random numbers but I answered it and it was a guy asking if I wanted answers to everything I was feeling. He explained every odd thing that was happening so he told me to come to an address right away. I put on whatever clothes were lying around and left, the address wasn't too far away. The whole time I ran and didn't feel tired or out of breath at all... I didn't even feel like I needed to breathe. Eventually I reached the address and it was a sorta big one floor building. I walked in and was greeted by a woman at a desk who told me to sit and wait. While I was sitting a guy who was a little person walked up and sat down near me then asked what I was getting done. \n\n I told him I think I've had a lot done to me already so he asked what it was. My shoulders just shrugged and I told him I didn't know but there was weird things going on with my body. He told me he was getting his limbs looked at, he was given hydraulic limbs to be able to be extremely fit and unbreakable. I asked him what the person at the place did and he told me how they gave cybernetic upgrades including full bodies. I [looked at him surprised](https://www.summer-glau.net/gallery/albums/CapeStillsHQ/TheCapeStills-064.jpg) while also getting an idea of what had been done to me. He told me he had to go get his limbs checked after that and said it was nice to meet me. I told him it was nice meeting him too and he left them the woman told me I could see the person. \n\n While walking past her I saw she had the same setup as the bartender from \"Passengers\" and was most likely a full android or something. The facility had white hallways and looked so clean and a little ahead of the current time. There were amputees and visibly sick or old people walking or being helped down the hall by people that all looked a little too perfect. When I got to the room a guy greeted me and told me I left before I could be told what happened. He explained the accident and everything and that the apartment was actually mine and paid off due to deals he had with the military. \n\n He had a good setup going, his tech was being slowly introduced to amputees and also was already being put in people in the military and some police forces. They had made maybe a few thousand cyborg bodies and gave them to people who were gonna die or were completely paralyzed. The others were given to people who recently died... like me. He'd give them a new identity and a new life complete with a job and everything. I found all that out after he showed my stomach opening up and a metal orb with a red glow coming out attached to tubes. The sight made me freak out and [ask what I was](https://68.media.tumblr.com/9144e48fbf9829c6938901d9d0ed602b/tumblr_inline_nlsndc3asq1rklsoi.gif) so he calmed me down and that's when he told me everything. \n\n I asked why he was giving away so many bodies and he told me that there was a problem he was facing. He tried to put a braindead brain in an android body with access to the internet which basically made an \"Ultron\" situation. It became capable of entering other cybernetic bodies that didn't have brains already so he secretly used all of the bodies up, I was probably one of the last few though the AI got ten bodies before he could do anything. He told me the military was dealing with it but the AI was super smart and capable of learning everything. \n\nPart 1", "The icy rain fell heavily on her wounds as she stumbled through the compound. Her equipment weighed her down and her body screamed with every step she took to stop, but she could not, she needed to finish this, once and for all. The wind picked up and a gust nearly took her off her feet, but she managed to stand against the cold air and put another foot in front of her. Suddenly something curious happened, her thoughts trailed off and she could sense the warmth of the sun. She and her brothers playing by the lakeside in the afternoon sun, the muddy ground underneath her feet, the water splashing as she fell and getting into her face, and the grip of her brothers lifting her back up. She jerked back to the current moment with ice still on her face, she had no idea if she had fallen, and neither how she had gotten up again, but she trotted on. After a few meters her thoughts trailed off once more, to a happier moment in her younger years. His smile, which magnetized her whole being and always brought her to smile every single time, his touch, his strong grip as he pulled her away from the cliff she nearly fell into. So she turned slightly and stumbled away from the crevice that had just opened in front of her. The wet forest floor smelled strong and intense, the trees slowly bowing in the soft breeze which blew through the forest. A few single rays of the sun broke through the canopy of leaves above and she tried to soak them all in together with the whole moment. Her mother just managed to push her aside in time to avoid being hit by the fallen limb which crashed heavily to the ground besides her, and so she climbed over the radio tower which had hit the ground just inches besides her. Now she was close, so close, with the biggest hunger she had in years she entered the kitchen with her children sitting at the table. A big jug of milk slipped from her hand and her daughter helped her catch it in time, she starred at the device that had nearly tumbled to the ground, to her ruin. Then there it was, the seal, right in front of her, her family surrounded her in the living room and she placed the picture of them on the mantle, with a little smile she looked at the happy faces.\n\nWith all the violence eternity could muster the seal broke and the being forced itself from its tomb with all the might it could muster after all this time. The earth ripped and so did the sky, clouds were blown away and trees and buildings disappeared into the ground, everything shook until the whole ground collapsed. She was falling, slowly, ever slower, until the being was right besides her, \"You've released me? Tell me why.\", images and feelings flashed through the conscience until it had understood, all of it, in a moment so short for us, \"You've made the right choice. I will.\". Her body slammed into the rocky ground below and her breath was being forced from her lungs before her bones snapped, and she lay perfectly still, with a little smile on her lips.\n", "It hurt.\n\nMy leg ached. The fresh wound on burned from where I had torn it, having stumbled and fallen badly a few minutes before. Blood soaked through where it had broken the skin, flecks of red against the white slush encrusting the rest. I ignored it. I had to complete my task. Everyone was waiting for me. Everyone had trusted me. \n\nThe freezing rain was thick, now, thicker than it had been when I set out. It made the snow underfoot heavy and treacherous. Every step threatened to send me tumbling like I had before. The bag on my back was heavy, too, affecting my balance as much as my bad leg.\n\nI could make it. I would make it. The buildings passed me one after another, as I plowed onwards. The ice had formed thick on my eyebrows, and my nose ran endlessly. Mostly, though, it was just cold. It burned at my eyes and my fingers, no matter how I tried to wrap a scarf around my face or hide my hands in the pockets of my worn jacket.\n\nThey were waiting for me. I had promised. I would finish the task.\n\nThe compound was growing around me, doors appearing from the haze of snow and rain. Not another soul was in sight, though. They knew better. They stayed inside, out of the way of the storm and I.\n\nMy destination was in sight. Each step was harder than the last, my feet rapidly going numb and my jacket soaked through with the frigid water, but the doorway inside loomed close. \n\nStep. Step.\n\nMy shoulders burned. The strap slung over my shoulder cut a hot line into the muscle, the weight of it pulling hard. This had been a fool's errand. They never should have sent one person to do this. It was too much.\n\nStep. Step.\n\nOne foot in front of the other. The thought of what was waiting, what was coming, kept me going. This was what I came here to do. This was my purpose.\n\nMy hand was on the door, now, but my arms were stiff from the weight and the cold. Slowly, so slowly, I heaved the heavy door out, pushing against the snow and slush that had built up against it.\n\nWarm hands from within reached out, grabbing me and pulling me inside?\n\n\"Do you have it? You have it, right?\" They asked. I gasped as the warmth hit my leg, sending new spikes of pain shooting up from the cut. I jerked my chin over my shoulder, and they pulled the bag from my back. As they dug inside urgently, pulling at the straps, I eased myself into a chair.\n\n\"Yes! I knew you would come through!\" One of them yelled, as he pulled the first 6-pack free. The others followed suit quickly, pulling their respective requests from my bag. \n\nI grinned, and took the beer I was offered by one of them. Popping the top and holding it up, I raised an eyebrow.\n\n\"Told you a beer run in a blizzard wasn't impossible.\"\n\nOutside, the storm raged on.\n\n(/r/inorai, critiques always welcome!) " ]	3
	[WP] Tell me a long winded story, with no real plot and an anti-climactic ending.	[ "Hi there, this post has been removed.\n\nA prompt must actually be a prompt, not a \"write anything.\" \n\n\n\n---\n\nPlease refer to the [sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/about/sidebar) before posting. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to send us a [modmail.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FWritingPrompts&subject=Removed%20post&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/6mlr2d/wp_tell_me_a_long_winded_story_with_no_real_plot/%0A%0A)\n\nThis action was not automated and this moderator is human. Time to go do human things." ]	1
	[WP] One day they gave me life, just so they could take it away.	[ "It had been a long nine months in the womb, but at last, it was time to come out and greet the world. But something seemed...wrong. Ever since my ears developed, I could hear my mother saying, \"I need to abort this fetus. My career is on the line.\" She seemed distressed, and so I was as well.\n\nThings seemed to have cooled off, until now: \"Partial-birth abortion? Is that even legal?\"\n\nmumbling from outside\n\n\"It is? Sure, go right ahead.\"\n\nAs I went down the birth canal head first, my mother screamed, and I screamed as well, for something had gripped around my neck, cutting off my-\n\nI will haunt my mother for the rest of her life for this selfish decision to end mine, just as it had been given to me. Hopefully one day she and the abortionists will repent for their crimes against the most vulnerable part of humanity, and weep for the evils they have done.\n\n___\n\n/r/SupersuMC_Stories" ]	1
	[WP] Every time you eat food you have a few flashes about the animal/plant life. Rarely you have flashes of their death.	[ "It happens very rarely. One second I'll take a fork full of salad and put in my mouth, the next I have memories flooding my head, one that aren't mine but you can recall and feel the memories. The older the organism post birth, the more I can feel the pain of what they felt upon their death. \n\nAccidentally swallow a fly while driving? A wince. Eat a burger and it's borderline unbearable pain. \n\nThe older I became myself the more sensitive I became to the side effects of eating food. I started moving to younger foods.\n\nVeal was a great alternative to normal beef. The calf only being alive for months after birth made it easier to eat. Baby carrots were my substitute for vegetables but at some point in my late 30's even those hurt to eat. \n\nI ran out of options eventually. I became an abortionist.\n" ]	1

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