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[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | My mother said I had the devil's eyes. My father never touched me. He was always a weak man, hiding his incompetence behind anger and whiskey. I always knew he was afraid of me. Maybe I knew it since my birth. Or maybe I figured it out after the thousandth no to my invitations of playing with me. Regardless, I always knew. He was weak.
My mother, on the other hand, was the opposite of my father. She was hard and strong and icy. She took care of me, as is her obligation, but she never really accepted me. Both my parents haven't been able to use any magic for years now, save for their personal spells.
My mother's is nothing special really, she can remember all kinds of numbers. Our household never needed to write down any passwords because my mother could never forget.
My dad could turn water to whiskey. One would think he'd capitalize on that but not my dad, no. The lazy fuck selfishly drank his magic.
They're both dead now. I killed them. I don't regret it or anything. Not in the least. It wasn't an accident either. I was 100% conscious of what I was doing. I wanted to do it. See, ever since I was a child, I had a strange fascination with blood. I loved the sight of warm blood oozing out of a cut. I could hear it, hear the freedom. Oh, it was beautiful! Fat thick drops of ruby red shining brighter than engagement rings. It was glorious!
My obsession grew till I started cutting myself. Just to feel it, feel the beauty. At one point, it got so bad, that I thought I'd kill myself. But I didn't. Because I finally figured out my magic. I was a blood singer. I could hear blood, control it, make it clot, make it thin, it was my canvas and I was an artist. That's how I killed them you know. My parents. I made my father's blood heat up in his body till he was boiled from the inside. It was fun. But not as fun as making my mother a fountain. There was so much blood that afternoon I nearly orgasmed. People asked me why I did it. I haven't been able to answer them till now. "I just felt like it", "I wanted to", "they never loved me anyway".
It's been years now since I've cut myself. My blood still sings the sweetest and one day I'm going to let that song play but not today. Today I have a job. I help people who are too scared to do it themselves, commit suicide. Their fear and pain makes for a lovely symphony.
My client for today walks in, shivering like a leaf in a storm. "Sit down", I say, "Make yourself comfortable. " He sits on the sofa waiting for me to say something. I do not.
"I suppose it's time for my last words, huh? "
He's nervous. I can tell. "Can you do it quickly? Please?"
I walk over to him and cup his fragile face. Soon the red starts flowing. He looks like an angel crying these tears of blood. I decide that such beauty deserves an entire orchestra and so the blood flows. From his eyes, ears, nose, belly button and what not. You name it, I made it bleed. And soon the symphony winds down till I can only hear the violin clinging onto that last note, a weak trickle from his nose. I look down at him, my client, dead before I could even ask his name. I lean over him and whisper in his ear, "Thank you ". | My Mother was called Francesca Gardens. She lived in Brooklyn as a kid, kept that accept like a tightly wound ball of anxiety. She never shed her old identity like Aunt Carolina. She was true to herself.
The problem was her ability didn't allow her to be true to anyone. She knew the right thing to say, the right way to act. She chose not to, most of the time, a weird compulsion they now call Magical Toxicity Syndrom. Where you try to fight your magic, to the point of destroying your own health. And that is what Franny G did.
She knew she shouldn't have kids, but she did. And we all got the same inevitable magic, stronger and more powerful than we wanted. She knew she shouldn't marry my father, that backwoods asshole who wouldn't expect anything from her at all, but sex and dinner. But she was happy, without the expectations of high browed people.
And it was her powers that ended her life. She had become so used to giving up "the right thing" for her sanity, that she walked down the alleyway without fully thinking about that premonition. The men who killed her were caught sometime later. I wonder if she knew she would die because she had seemed so unhappy lately. But she was always unhappy.
The same sad story, seen across the world, how people never seem happy with their abilities. They never seem happy with anything. Some people truly thrived, but in places where poverty ran rampant, even abilities that might have earned you prestige anywhere else were just pasty little thoughts in your dark, lightless cave.
But my powers... I got out. I had the spell of beauty, permanent, dynamic. I had made myself as beautiful as society demanded, with full lips, small breasts, hair that reached the small of my back. I had thin limbs and large eyes. I didn't look like myself, minus the shattered pupils of my brown-green eyes. That had been the first sign I was different and something I refused to change, like a weird calling card in the magical world.
People knew me as Iris, though I was born Sabrina. I was the Magical Doctor of Looks. I made money changing people into weird, hollow golems of themselves. And they would keep coming back because I was painless, perfectly able to make them happy. For a moment.
I wasn't. My mother had never been. But I kept trying.
| |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | In this world magic is treated as a commodity, every person has different spells in their repertoire and also a spell with unlimited uses.
Usually a family hands down a spell to the next generation in form of a scroll so it can be used when truly necessary, my friends all had a useful unlimited spell, such as the elements, teleportation, crafting, while mine was mass manipulation.
What's the use of my spell? Making girls thinner? Decreasing the weight of that machinery so it can be moved more easily?
My parents always tried to console me, telling me there will be a day when my spell will be useful. Easy for them to say, my dad's spell was telepathy, he could read people's mind whenever he wanted, so he went and become a world renowned therapist. My mom instead preferred to be a stay at home housewife despite her overpowered spell of blood manipulation. She could kill or save people as she wanted, but chose to be a normal person, I never understood why.
I liked to fidget around with my spell, but I usually stayed in the realm of diminishing the mass, because I knew that increasing the mass of something came with dangerous risks.
It was a normal day as always, I just came home from school and began reading magic history, about ancient mages who had the power to travel in time, control the space and summon demons. My mom went to buy groceries and I loved to keep the TV on as background noise whenever I was alone.
Then the news channel theme came on, "Hello, this is Ferguson speaking, welcome to World News. We interrupt your viewing to announce a worldwide imminent danger. The leader of the terrorist group known as NEO SOL is now standing on top of the tallest building in the world, threatening the global population with his spell. His magic that until now was obsure to the public has been revealed to us by his mates, it seems he's capable of creating explosion by sacrificing parts of his body, that explains why during all their past attacks an explosion followed by him plucking out his hair. He's saying that the time has come to use all his body to generate a supernova. Many of the leading forces of anti-terrorism magicians are already on the spot, but they are being held off by his subordinates. We will keep you posted updated, thanks for watching".
I didn't know what to feel hearing those news, that group of terrorists was formed because they thought the world was unjust against those whose spells were not adequate to the standards of the society, I also agreed with their philosophy.
Two hours already passed after my mom left, it shouldn't have taken her so long, she usually comes back within an hour. "We interrupt your vision to give you an update on the situation, the leaders sent an ambassador trying to negotiate with the terrorist group, but the ambassador got taken as an hostage by their leader, he demands all the most secret limited use spells like time travel, space bending, light manipulation and others which are kept in a hidden place to avoid misuse" as the reporter spoke the news station showed a photo of the ambassador.
"Mom...?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing, my mom worked for the government yet she never brought it up. I had all sorts of mixed feelings at that moment but they were all surpassed by one, I had to save my mom.
Every second mattered, the distance between my home and the building they were at was at most a thousand miles away. How could I reach there in the fastest way possible? I had to think of a strategy.
I came up with an idea but it was different from everything I've ever done before, I reached the rooftop of my house, I went to one edge of the roof and pointed myself at the direction of that building then began to run as fast as possible to the other side of the roof, the moment I jumped I simultaneously decreased my mass to zero, the results were unknown to me but then I began to fly away from my home, gathering more and more speed. I could see the city as it slowly got smaller and smaller, it was getting too fast and I was afraid of leaving the atmosphere so I thought of trying to slowly increase my mass on my way to there.
After what seemed like an hour I had almost traveled more than nine hundred miles, but I had to slow down.
My only way was to increase my mass do I wouldn't be damaged by the fall, but I didn't know how much I had to increase it, so I kept increasing it and I was almost there.
My vision was blurred but I could see the city skyline, then the building where my mom was, but before I could manage to see her face I lost my consciousness.
"This is World News, we interrupt your vision for an urgent update! A few minutes ago there was an object flying towards the building where the terrorist leader is at, then as it flew nearer we got a clearer view of the object, it was an human! We didn't identify the subject yet, but after a few minutes the body vanished in what looks like a dot!! All the scientists of the world are now studying the data! We will keep you updated!" the news reporter had a look of excitement on her face, sign of her ignorance.
At that moment his father was watching the TV, "Stupid son" he exclaimed while sighing. He was at his office at work, he then got dressed and reached for a scroll hidden beneath the pavement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are back! This is a sad announcement, I'm afraid this will be the last you will get to watch us and also this will be your last day of living, the dot observed a few minutes ago kept expanding, and the scientist concluded that it is the singularity!! It will be only a matter of time before life in our planet will be devoured, just like everything in the universe, it is still gaining mass now at an incredible speed! Oh God have mercy on our so--" he turned off the TV and rolled open the scroll as he sipped on a cup of whiskey.
The scroll read **Time Travel**, he put down the cup of whiskey and said "Don't worry son, dad is coming to save you".
| My Mother was called Francesca Gardens. She lived in Brooklyn as a kid, kept that accept like a tightly wound ball of anxiety. She never shed her old identity like Aunt Carolina. She was true to herself.
The problem was her ability didn't allow her to be true to anyone. She knew the right thing to say, the right way to act. She chose not to, most of the time, a weird compulsion they now call Magical Toxicity Syndrom. Where you try to fight your magic, to the point of destroying your own health. And that is what Franny G did.
She knew she shouldn't have kids, but she did. And we all got the same inevitable magic, stronger and more powerful than we wanted. She knew she shouldn't marry my father, that backwoods asshole who wouldn't expect anything from her at all, but sex and dinner. But she was happy, without the expectations of high browed people.
And it was her powers that ended her life. She had become so used to giving up "the right thing" for her sanity, that she walked down the alleyway without fully thinking about that premonition. The men who killed her were caught sometime later. I wonder if she knew she would die because she had seemed so unhappy lately. But she was always unhappy.
The same sad story, seen across the world, how people never seem happy with their abilities. They never seem happy with anything. Some people truly thrived, but in places where poverty ran rampant, even abilities that might have earned you prestige anywhere else were just pasty little thoughts in your dark, lightless cave.
But my powers... I got out. I had the spell of beauty, permanent, dynamic. I had made myself as beautiful as society demanded, with full lips, small breasts, hair that reached the small of my back. I had thin limbs and large eyes. I didn't look like myself, minus the shattered pupils of my brown-green eyes. That had been the first sign I was different and something I refused to change, like a weird calling card in the magical world.
People knew me as Iris, though I was born Sabrina. I was the Magical Doctor of Looks. I made money changing people into weird, hollow golems of themselves. And they would keep coming back because I was painless, perfectly able to make them happy. For a moment.
I wasn't. My mother had never been. But I kept trying.
| |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | Everyone's got their Thesis Spell. Everyone's is different. Sometimes it runs in the blood, but even then it's never quite the same between family members. We all have plenty of side spells to work with, but it's out Thesis that makes us truly unique and reveals who we really are inside. A reflection of the person's soul, or so the Archwizards say.
My family has a distinctive magic bloodline. All of us are manaweavers - great tailors, capable of spinning mana into silken thread with properties unique to each. My father spins a fine red which devours flame; my grandfather span black, which bent the light around it; my nephew spins a dark green that grants the bearer luck for a time... Indeed, all in the family are of this sort. For the last dozen generations, this has been so. For the future, this will be so. For we are the Galliari, master manatailors!
And then there's me. What do I get? Do I get some nice craftsmanship spells and a thread? Nope. Do I get a basic mage's load out, with a spot on the wall talent? Nope.
I got the ability to automatically cast Mass Transmute Pants to Spiders when startled. And to add insult to insult? The resultant spiders have no only colonized the upper sections of my home, but THEY can imbue their webs with the spell thread I was denied!
So I'm sorry for the auditorium incident, Archmagus Stevens. But please, it's not my fault. And surely they can't have taken over THAT much of the college, can they?
| My Mother was called Francesca Gardens. She lived in Brooklyn as a kid, kept that accept like a tightly wound ball of anxiety. She never shed her old identity like Aunt Carolina. She was true to herself.
The problem was her ability didn't allow her to be true to anyone. She knew the right thing to say, the right way to act. She chose not to, most of the time, a weird compulsion they now call Magical Toxicity Syndrom. Where you try to fight your magic, to the point of destroying your own health. And that is what Franny G did.
She knew she shouldn't have kids, but she did. And we all got the same inevitable magic, stronger and more powerful than we wanted. She knew she shouldn't marry my father, that backwoods asshole who wouldn't expect anything from her at all, but sex and dinner. But she was happy, without the expectations of high browed people.
And it was her powers that ended her life. She had become so used to giving up "the right thing" for her sanity, that she walked down the alleyway without fully thinking about that premonition. The men who killed her were caught sometime later. I wonder if she knew she would die because she had seemed so unhappy lately. But she was always unhappy.
The same sad story, seen across the world, how people never seem happy with their abilities. They never seem happy with anything. Some people truly thrived, but in places where poverty ran rampant, even abilities that might have earned you prestige anywhere else were just pasty little thoughts in your dark, lightless cave.
But my powers... I got out. I had the spell of beauty, permanent, dynamic. I had made myself as beautiful as society demanded, with full lips, small breasts, hair that reached the small of my back. I had thin limbs and large eyes. I didn't look like myself, minus the shattered pupils of my brown-green eyes. That had been the first sign I was different and something I refused to change, like a weird calling card in the magical world.
People knew me as Iris, though I was born Sabrina. I was the Magical Doctor of Looks. I made money changing people into weird, hollow golems of themselves. And they would keep coming back because I was painless, perfectly able to make them happy. For a moment.
I wasn't. My mother had never been. But I kept trying.
| |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | What would you do? It was harmless at first, save a rose from wilting, keep the fruit fresh. Then Jane, my sister died from a catastrophic failure in a spell she was conducting. She always was the smart and adventurous one. Everyone knew she would do great things, and then it was all over. To this day people ask me what I did and how, that is whenever they can find me. But all I did, was mutter her name when I saw her fracture and splatter across the auditorium. Suddenly, the fog came and surrounded everything and everyone in the room as it slowly condensed where Jane once stood. And she just walked out, pale, shaking, but alive, almost as if nothing had happened. That was sixty years ago.
So long as it had a name it could be saved I discovered. Little did I know of the dangers I represented at the time. People tried to abduct me, draft me, even world powers tried to force me to use my spell.
The Breath of Life.
But now people come to silence me, every day I move. Never staying in any place more than a day. Constantly using all manner of shape change and disguise spells, but those have all run out.
How was I to know? How am I to blame? Now every rose never wilts. Every cherry never rots. Jane hasnt ever been the same, constantly trying to reach the other side but she and others cant die, even though they continue to grow more and more decepit. I have tried to kill myself, but nothing works.
There are a finite number of roses.
Cherries dont digest but continue to grow.
People cant have children and live as rot.
I have single handedly manufactures the age of immortals, but this isnt what anyone had imagined.
Every name ever spoken. Every food, pet, substance. Its all eternal. But there is famine. You cannot eat the cherries, you live always starving, always hungry, but unable to pass on.
How was I to know? Well its all safe now I suppose, they will be here soon. Though whatever they are after they will find dissapointment. I cut out my tounge forty years ago. For what its worth, I am sorry, I didnt know.
I laid my pen down, finishing the page and setting the paper on the desk. I moved to the center of the motel room and sat in a chair, watching the door. Then I heard the screaming and the door violently swung open.
I never meant to be the villian of my story. | My Mother was called Francesca Gardens. She lived in Brooklyn as a kid, kept that accept like a tightly wound ball of anxiety. She never shed her old identity like Aunt Carolina. She was true to herself.
The problem was her ability didn't allow her to be true to anyone. She knew the right thing to say, the right way to act. She chose not to, most of the time, a weird compulsion they now call Magical Toxicity Syndrom. Where you try to fight your magic, to the point of destroying your own health. And that is what Franny G did.
She knew she shouldn't have kids, but she did. And we all got the same inevitable magic, stronger and more powerful than we wanted. She knew she shouldn't marry my father, that backwoods asshole who wouldn't expect anything from her at all, but sex and dinner. But she was happy, without the expectations of high browed people.
And it was her powers that ended her life. She had become so used to giving up "the right thing" for her sanity, that she walked down the alleyway without fully thinking about that premonition. The men who killed her were caught sometime later. I wonder if she knew she would die because she had seemed so unhappy lately. But she was always unhappy.
The same sad story, seen across the world, how people never seem happy with their abilities. They never seem happy with anything. Some people truly thrived, but in places where poverty ran rampant, even abilities that might have earned you prestige anywhere else were just pasty little thoughts in your dark, lightless cave.
But my powers... I got out. I had the spell of beauty, permanent, dynamic. I had made myself as beautiful as society demanded, with full lips, small breasts, hair that reached the small of my back. I had thin limbs and large eyes. I didn't look like myself, minus the shattered pupils of my brown-green eyes. That had been the first sign I was different and something I refused to change, like a weird calling card in the magical world.
People knew me as Iris, though I was born Sabrina. I was the Magical Doctor of Looks. I made money changing people into weird, hollow golems of themselves. And they would keep coming back because I was painless, perfectly able to make them happy. For a moment.
I wasn't. My mother had never been. But I kept trying.
| |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | My mother said I had the devil's eyes. My father never touched me. He was always a weak man, hiding his incompetence behind anger and whiskey. I always knew he was afraid of me. Maybe I knew it since my birth. Or maybe I figured it out after the thousandth no to my invitations of playing with me. Regardless, I always knew. He was weak.
My mother, on the other hand, was the opposite of my father. She was hard and strong and icy. She took care of me, as is her obligation, but she never really accepted me. Both my parents haven't been able to use any magic for years now, save for their personal spells.
My mother's is nothing special really, she can remember all kinds of numbers. Our household never needed to write down any passwords because my mother could never forget.
My dad could turn water to whiskey. One would think he'd capitalize on that but not my dad, no. The lazy fuck selfishly drank his magic.
They're both dead now. I killed them. I don't regret it or anything. Not in the least. It wasn't an accident either. I was 100% conscious of what I was doing. I wanted to do it. See, ever since I was a child, I had a strange fascination with blood. I loved the sight of warm blood oozing out of a cut. I could hear it, hear the freedom. Oh, it was beautiful! Fat thick drops of ruby red shining brighter than engagement rings. It was glorious!
My obsession grew till I started cutting myself. Just to feel it, feel the beauty. At one point, it got so bad, that I thought I'd kill myself. But I didn't. Because I finally figured out my magic. I was a blood singer. I could hear blood, control it, make it clot, make it thin, it was my canvas and I was an artist. That's how I killed them you know. My parents. I made my father's blood heat up in his body till he was boiled from the inside. It was fun. But not as fun as making my mother a fountain. There was so much blood that afternoon I nearly orgasmed. People asked me why I did it. I haven't been able to answer them till now. "I just felt like it", "I wanted to", "they never loved me anyway".
It's been years now since I've cut myself. My blood still sings the sweetest and one day I'm going to let that song play but not today. Today I have a job. I help people who are too scared to do it themselves, commit suicide. Their fear and pain makes for a lovely symphony.
My client for today walks in, shivering like a leaf in a storm. "Sit down", I say, "Make yourself comfortable. " He sits on the sofa waiting for me to say something. I do not.
"I suppose it's time for my last words, huh? "
He's nervous. I can tell. "Can you do it quickly? Please?"
I walk over to him and cup his fragile face. Soon the red starts flowing. He looks like an angel crying these tears of blood. I decide that such beauty deserves an entire orchestra and so the blood flows. From his eyes, ears, nose, belly button and what not. You name it, I made it bleed. And soon the symphony winds down till I can only hear the violin clinging onto that last note, a weak trickle from his nose. I look down at him, my client, dead before I could even ask his name. I lean over him and whisper in his ear, "Thank you ". | I learned how to cast spells at age eight. I had a mentor who accused me of doing something I shouldn’t have. He kept telling me I’d never be able to kill again when I told him what I’d done. Dark arts wasn’t taught until age 16 but I was so angry and natural abilities came in dreams at 12. I was told something about how wizards in my family can access strangely powerful and rare spells in dreams that probably didn’t need to be used before being taught; these spells weren’t the natural ability I’m talking about. They were just like any other spell. Numbered. God given some maximum number of uses that not even every witch or wizard could pull off. My grandpa could squelch objects at age 9 and eventually smashed 15 things completely before turning 19. He doesn’t like to talk about it.
I was scared so dag nam bad one night on the way home when a rat ran across the pathway. I uttered some kill spell I had dreamt about. It wasn’t simple. But I didn’t think it was real. The rat screeched in such a painful ear piercing way but was done so fast it was like it hadn’t happened. I took the rat home with me because I had an owl that would love it. When I told my wizardry mentor he was appalled. I had done something I needed for some battle nobody had ever talked about. I could only kill a living spirit once and there was one wizard who had done it twice. He kept saying the name of the spell like it was something he didn’t understand. He clearly didn’t understand. I somehow understood. But for some reason ruined my future potential.
By the time he got done freaking out about the rat I had asked weather or not I could feed to my owl he told me to head strait home and to bed and kept the rat. I was 12. I had just discovered some secret life miracle spell and ruined it. He said only guy who ever did it twice was killed soon after his second time casting it. I decided to try it again immediately. one of the hundreds of toads roaring outside my cabin window was my first victim. It worked. I was beyond panicking the toads screech brought a night howling spirit that I killed. At this point I panicked for another 20 seconds and then realized I needed to remember what a natural spell was. Any spell you need at-least three times the day you discover it at age 12.
Rather than blasting a seriously important sentient spirit I realized I needed to calm down and find a plant. The first one I wanted to kill was so easy to kill I hardly uttered the spell. I raced to my dads room and woke him from his hammock and began to tell him everything about the day. He was so proud and so scared I couldn’t believe what emotion he was going through. We knew my natural ability was killing. I knew nothing about what that meant, other than maybe I’d be a good farmer or an evil person who gets killed. He started casting a spell to make tea and writing a list of “rules” for me so nervously I couldn’t breath myself.
Edit: home to bed*
Spelling | |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | In this world magic is treated as a commodity, every person has different spells in their repertoire and also a spell with unlimited uses.
Usually a family hands down a spell to the next generation in form of a scroll so it can be used when truly necessary, my friends all had a useful unlimited spell, such as the elements, teleportation, crafting, while mine was mass manipulation.
What's the use of my spell? Making girls thinner? Decreasing the weight of that machinery so it can be moved more easily?
My parents always tried to console me, telling me there will be a day when my spell will be useful. Easy for them to say, my dad's spell was telepathy, he could read people's mind whenever he wanted, so he went and become a world renowned therapist. My mom instead preferred to be a stay at home housewife despite her overpowered spell of blood manipulation. She could kill or save people as she wanted, but chose to be a normal person, I never understood why.
I liked to fidget around with my spell, but I usually stayed in the realm of diminishing the mass, because I knew that increasing the mass of something came with dangerous risks.
It was a normal day as always, I just came home from school and began reading magic history, about ancient mages who had the power to travel in time, control the space and summon demons. My mom went to buy groceries and I loved to keep the TV on as background noise whenever I was alone.
Then the news channel theme came on, "Hello, this is Ferguson speaking, welcome to World News. We interrupt your viewing to announce a worldwide imminent danger. The leader of the terrorist group known as NEO SOL is now standing on top of the tallest building in the world, threatening the global population with his spell. His magic that until now was obsure to the public has been revealed to us by his mates, it seems he's capable of creating explosion by sacrificing parts of his body, that explains why during all their past attacks an explosion followed by him plucking out his hair. He's saying that the time has come to use all his body to generate a supernova. Many of the leading forces of anti-terrorism magicians are already on the spot, but they are being held off by his subordinates. We will keep you posted updated, thanks for watching".
I didn't know what to feel hearing those news, that group of terrorists was formed because they thought the world was unjust against those whose spells were not adequate to the standards of the society, I also agreed with their philosophy.
Two hours already passed after my mom left, it shouldn't have taken her so long, she usually comes back within an hour. "We interrupt your vision to give you an update on the situation, the leaders sent an ambassador trying to negotiate with the terrorist group, but the ambassador got taken as an hostage by their leader, he demands all the most secret limited use spells like time travel, space bending, light manipulation and others which are kept in a hidden place to avoid misuse" as the reporter spoke the news station showed a photo of the ambassador.
"Mom...?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing, my mom worked for the government yet she never brought it up. I had all sorts of mixed feelings at that moment but they were all surpassed by one, I had to save my mom.
Every second mattered, the distance between my home and the building they were at was at most a thousand miles away. How could I reach there in the fastest way possible? I had to think of a strategy.
I came up with an idea but it was different from everything I've ever done before, I reached the rooftop of my house, I went to one edge of the roof and pointed myself at the direction of that building then began to run as fast as possible to the other side of the roof, the moment I jumped I simultaneously decreased my mass to zero, the results were unknown to me but then I began to fly away from my home, gathering more and more speed. I could see the city as it slowly got smaller and smaller, it was getting too fast and I was afraid of leaving the atmosphere so I thought of trying to slowly increase my mass on my way to there.
After what seemed like an hour I had almost traveled more than nine hundred miles, but I had to slow down.
My only way was to increase my mass do I wouldn't be damaged by the fall, but I didn't know how much I had to increase it, so I kept increasing it and I was almost there.
My vision was blurred but I could see the city skyline, then the building where my mom was, but before I could manage to see her face I lost my consciousness.
"This is World News, we interrupt your vision for an urgent update! A few minutes ago there was an object flying towards the building where the terrorist leader is at, then as it flew nearer we got a clearer view of the object, it was an human! We didn't identify the subject yet, but after a few minutes the body vanished in what looks like a dot!! All the scientists of the world are now studying the data! We will keep you updated!" the news reporter had a look of excitement on her face, sign of her ignorance.
At that moment his father was watching the TV, "Stupid son" he exclaimed while sighing. He was at his office at work, he then got dressed and reached for a scroll hidden beneath the pavement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are back! This is a sad announcement, I'm afraid this will be the last you will get to watch us and also this will be your last day of living, the dot observed a few minutes ago kept expanding, and the scientist concluded that it is the singularity!! It will be only a matter of time before life in our planet will be devoured, just like everything in the universe, it is still gaining mass now at an incredible speed! Oh God have mercy on our so--" he turned off the TV and rolled open the scroll as he sipped on a cup of whiskey.
The scroll read **Time Travel**, he put down the cup of whiskey and said "Don't worry son, dad is coming to save you".
| I learned how to cast spells at age eight. I had a mentor who accused me of doing something I shouldn’t have. He kept telling me I’d never be able to kill again when I told him what I’d done. Dark arts wasn’t taught until age 16 but I was so angry and natural abilities came in dreams at 12. I was told something about how wizards in my family can access strangely powerful and rare spells in dreams that probably didn’t need to be used before being taught; these spells weren’t the natural ability I’m talking about. They were just like any other spell. Numbered. God given some maximum number of uses that not even every witch or wizard could pull off. My grandpa could squelch objects at age 9 and eventually smashed 15 things completely before turning 19. He doesn’t like to talk about it.
I was scared so dag nam bad one night on the way home when a rat ran across the pathway. I uttered some kill spell I had dreamt about. It wasn’t simple. But I didn’t think it was real. The rat screeched in such a painful ear piercing way but was done so fast it was like it hadn’t happened. I took the rat home with me because I had an owl that would love it. When I told my wizardry mentor he was appalled. I had done something I needed for some battle nobody had ever talked about. I could only kill a living spirit once and there was one wizard who had done it twice. He kept saying the name of the spell like it was something he didn’t understand. He clearly didn’t understand. I somehow understood. But for some reason ruined my future potential.
By the time he got done freaking out about the rat I had asked weather or not I could feed to my owl he told me to head strait home and to bed and kept the rat. I was 12. I had just discovered some secret life miracle spell and ruined it. He said only guy who ever did it twice was killed soon after his second time casting it. I decided to try it again immediately. one of the hundreds of toads roaring outside my cabin window was my first victim. It worked. I was beyond panicking the toads screech brought a night howling spirit that I killed. At this point I panicked for another 20 seconds and then realized I needed to remember what a natural spell was. Any spell you need at-least three times the day you discover it at age 12.
Rather than blasting a seriously important sentient spirit I realized I needed to calm down and find a plant. The first one I wanted to kill was so easy to kill I hardly uttered the spell. I raced to my dads room and woke him from his hammock and began to tell him everything about the day. He was so proud and so scared I couldn’t believe what emotion he was going through. We knew my natural ability was killing. I knew nothing about what that meant, other than maybe I’d be a good farmer or an evil person who gets killed. He started casting a spell to make tea and writing a list of “rules” for me so nervously I couldn’t breath myself.
Edit: home to bed*
Spelling | |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | Everyone's got their Thesis Spell. Everyone's is different. Sometimes it runs in the blood, but even then it's never quite the same between family members. We all have plenty of side spells to work with, but it's out Thesis that makes us truly unique and reveals who we really are inside. A reflection of the person's soul, or so the Archwizards say.
My family has a distinctive magic bloodline. All of us are manaweavers - great tailors, capable of spinning mana into silken thread with properties unique to each. My father spins a fine red which devours flame; my grandfather span black, which bent the light around it; my nephew spins a dark green that grants the bearer luck for a time... Indeed, all in the family are of this sort. For the last dozen generations, this has been so. For the future, this will be so. For we are the Galliari, master manatailors!
And then there's me. What do I get? Do I get some nice craftsmanship spells and a thread? Nope. Do I get a basic mage's load out, with a spot on the wall talent? Nope.
I got the ability to automatically cast Mass Transmute Pants to Spiders when startled. And to add insult to insult? The resultant spiders have no only colonized the upper sections of my home, but THEY can imbue their webs with the spell thread I was denied!
So I'm sorry for the auditorium incident, Archmagus Stevens. But please, it's not my fault. And surely they can't have taken over THAT much of the college, can they?
| As every beginning has an end, so all endings have a beginning so I will start at the beginning of my stuttering end. I don't have much time.
It was this morning and I was preparing a spell that would allow me to temporarily take the form of a cat. It could have been any animal really, but I only had a cat so a cat I would be. I considered the black spider that usually resides above my washing machine but I would have had to touch it so a cat it was. If successful, I would only be able to do this five additional times but I thought it could be useful so I decided to add it to my growing arsenal of spells.
I was practicing magic because I am a MaGi which is a modern moniker that stands for "magically gifted". My parents knew right away that I was different but I was never confirmed until I was nine. I unknowingly performed a spell and I was detected. At twenty-one I was given an apprenticeship, at forty I was licensed to practice independently but only because they lowered the license age requirement by ten years. We are a small but growing segment of the world's population. Though at times we are difficult to identify, we are estimated to be as large as a quarter of the world's population.
I am a gen four and I am American. Even though our predecessors used magic to change the world for the good in far too many ways to list we are considered as potentially very dangerous so we are very closely watched and regulated.
Why are we considered dangerous? One reason is because like all MaGi, we are very limited in most of our abilities but we are uniquely unlimited in one ability. We don't know how limited or unlimited until we know. That terrifies the norms. Most people think of magic as waving a wand or reciting a spell in Latin or some other ancient tongue, and it is at times, but mostly it is learning. We know a lot. The knowledge is our real power. We have to know ouselves in ways norms can't, or won't, and we have to know as much as we can about everything. My master used to say "semper magis" which is latin for "always more". We not only learn everything we can about a thing but we also learn what it is to be that thing.
We do have books of spells but they can't be read or understood until open or unlocked. It is not an enchantment so much as a mental block of sorts. Until one is mentally prepared and learns all there is to know to complete the spell, in very simple terms, one cannot read it. It is empathically coded as my master would say. You have to feel it.
My unlimited ability is to reverse time by five minutes. It is extremely rare, and I am forbidden to use it unless summoned by the board. I have only ever demonstrated it under the most controlled conditions. The spell is called "Tempus". I discovered it by accident at a very young age and it was immediately detected. The norms were so alarmed by it a whole section of regulations was created due to my discovery.
Which brings me back to this morning. The night before, just before sleep, I felt a new spell and saw it in a vision. I was an animal for an hour and I took five steps then I slept.
I woke that morning knowing which spell I would be able to understand and made preparations. I also knew that once I initiated or tested the spell I would only be able to perform it five more times. What I didn't know was why I also woke uneasy. I shook it off as a rare case of nerves but it didn't go away. I hadn't prepared for a spell in a long while. I should have stopped there and then. No spell should ever be performed without complete focus. That is a fundamental law of magic.
I opened my book of spells and turned to the page and said "revelare" and the spell was revealed to me. It was as if I always knew it. I performed all the steps in a relatively short period of time and was ready to initiate the spell. I carefully thought it out and then said it aloud...wrong.
I stuttered.
The spell was "Temporis Cattus" but I think I said "Tempus eh-t cattus". I can't remember exactly and now after being a cat for only fifty-five minutes I only have five minutes before I go back to being a cat. I have altered the spell and worse I have somehow combined it with my unlimited time reversal spell. I am stuck in a fatal loop. A terrible blunder. I have spent my last four, five-minute breaks trying to undo it and I have failed. I can't see any way out. I don't have much time.
I am posting this to the MaGi as well as the norms as a last testament and a warning.
I have been a cat five times. Unless I figure a way out, the next time will be my last. And, five minutes after that I will be nothing.
| |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | What would you do? It was harmless at first, save a rose from wilting, keep the fruit fresh. Then Jane, my sister died from a catastrophic failure in a spell she was conducting. She always was the smart and adventurous one. Everyone knew she would do great things, and then it was all over. To this day people ask me what I did and how, that is whenever they can find me. But all I did, was mutter her name when I saw her fracture and splatter across the auditorium. Suddenly, the fog came and surrounded everything and everyone in the room as it slowly condensed where Jane once stood. And she just walked out, pale, shaking, but alive, almost as if nothing had happened. That was sixty years ago.
So long as it had a name it could be saved I discovered. Little did I know of the dangers I represented at the time. People tried to abduct me, draft me, even world powers tried to force me to use my spell.
The Breath of Life.
But now people come to silence me, every day I move. Never staying in any place more than a day. Constantly using all manner of shape change and disguise spells, but those have all run out.
How was I to know? How am I to blame? Now every rose never wilts. Every cherry never rots. Jane hasnt ever been the same, constantly trying to reach the other side but she and others cant die, even though they continue to grow more and more decepit. I have tried to kill myself, but nothing works.
There are a finite number of roses.
Cherries dont digest but continue to grow.
People cant have children and live as rot.
I have single handedly manufactures the age of immortals, but this isnt what anyone had imagined.
Every name ever spoken. Every food, pet, substance. Its all eternal. But there is famine. You cannot eat the cherries, you live always starving, always hungry, but unable to pass on.
How was I to know? Well its all safe now I suppose, they will be here soon. Though whatever they are after they will find dissapointment. I cut out my tounge forty years ago. For what its worth, I am sorry, I didnt know.
I laid my pen down, finishing the page and setting the paper on the desk. I moved to the center of the motel room and sat in a chair, watching the door. Then I heard the screaming and the door violently swung open.
I never meant to be the villian of my story. | As every beginning has an end, so all endings have a beginning so I will start at the beginning of my stuttering end. I don't have much time.
It was this morning and I was preparing a spell that would allow me to temporarily take the form of a cat. It could have been any animal really, but I only had a cat so a cat I would be. I considered the black spider that usually resides above my washing machine but I would have had to touch it so a cat it was. If successful, I would only be able to do this five additional times but I thought it could be useful so I decided to add it to my growing arsenal of spells.
I was practicing magic because I am a MaGi which is a modern moniker that stands for "magically gifted". My parents knew right away that I was different but I was never confirmed until I was nine. I unknowingly performed a spell and I was detected. At twenty-one I was given an apprenticeship, at forty I was licensed to practice independently but only because they lowered the license age requirement by ten years. We are a small but growing segment of the world's population. Though at times we are difficult to identify, we are estimated to be as large as a quarter of the world's population.
I am a gen four and I am American. Even though our predecessors used magic to change the world for the good in far too many ways to list we are considered as potentially very dangerous so we are very closely watched and regulated.
Why are we considered dangerous? One reason is because like all MaGi, we are very limited in most of our abilities but we are uniquely unlimited in one ability. We don't know how limited or unlimited until we know. That terrifies the norms. Most people think of magic as waving a wand or reciting a spell in Latin or some other ancient tongue, and it is at times, but mostly it is learning. We know a lot. The knowledge is our real power. We have to know ouselves in ways norms can't, or won't, and we have to know as much as we can about everything. My master used to say "semper magis" which is latin for "always more". We not only learn everything we can about a thing but we also learn what it is to be that thing.
We do have books of spells but they can't be read or understood until open or unlocked. It is not an enchantment so much as a mental block of sorts. Until one is mentally prepared and learns all there is to know to complete the spell, in very simple terms, one cannot read it. It is empathically coded as my master would say. You have to feel it.
My unlimited ability is to reverse time by five minutes. It is extremely rare, and I am forbidden to use it unless summoned by the board. I have only ever demonstrated it under the most controlled conditions. The spell is called "Tempus". I discovered it by accident at a very young age and it was immediately detected. The norms were so alarmed by it a whole section of regulations was created due to my discovery.
Which brings me back to this morning. The night before, just before sleep, I felt a new spell and saw it in a vision. I was an animal for an hour and I took five steps then I slept.
I woke that morning knowing which spell I would be able to understand and made preparations. I also knew that once I initiated or tested the spell I would only be able to perform it five more times. What I didn't know was why I also woke uneasy. I shook it off as a rare case of nerves but it didn't go away. I hadn't prepared for a spell in a long while. I should have stopped there and then. No spell should ever be performed without complete focus. That is a fundamental law of magic.
I opened my book of spells and turned to the page and said "revelare" and the spell was revealed to me. It was as if I always knew it. I performed all the steps in a relatively short period of time and was ready to initiate the spell. I carefully thought it out and then said it aloud...wrong.
I stuttered.
The spell was "Temporis Cattus" but I think I said "Tempus eh-t cattus". I can't remember exactly and now after being a cat for only fifty-five minutes I only have five minutes before I go back to being a cat. I have altered the spell and worse I have somehow combined it with my unlimited time reversal spell. I am stuck in a fatal loop. A terrible blunder. I have spent my last four, five-minute breaks trying to undo it and I have failed. I can't see any way out. I don't have much time.
I am posting this to the MaGi as well as the norms as a last testament and a warning.
I have been a cat five times. Unless I figure a way out, the next time will be my last. And, five minutes after that I will be nothing.
| |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | Another day at the powerplant, as usual.
They work me like a dog here, everytime the red light blinks on, I must cast my spell again on the same damn array of copper nodes. It's not even anything special, it's just lightning, but because I'm the only one that can use it all the time, this is my place, and I am effectively part of the machine.
They store up the energy I provide and use it to power my city, so I can take breaks and have a life and whatnot, but it's boring doing this every single day.
The worst part is I have to concentrate to do the spell, so I can't even use the time sitting in my comfy desk chair to think about anything useful like practice math or something.
In my own time I've taken to designing a new type of electricity generating device, using some of the more radioactive materials that are found here on Earth, just so I don't have to do this job anymore. It's slow going, because I need to make it smaller and more cost practical, but the power company gives me whatever I need, since I am it's lifeblood.
This is my life now, effectively just an unlimited battery to discharge and power my city. And it really is my city, because without me, it couldn't function. But a day where I could exist without worrying that the company malfunctioned and lost enough power and called me back into work? A dream I want to make reality. | As every beginning has an end, so all endings have a beginning so I will start at the beginning of my stuttering end. I don't have much time.
It was this morning and I was preparing a spell that would allow me to temporarily take the form of a cat. It could have been any animal really, but I only had a cat so a cat I would be. I considered the black spider that usually resides above my washing machine but I would have had to touch it so a cat it was. If successful, I would only be able to do this five additional times but I thought it could be useful so I decided to add it to my growing arsenal of spells.
I was practicing magic because I am a MaGi which is a modern moniker that stands for "magically gifted". My parents knew right away that I was different but I was never confirmed until I was nine. I unknowingly performed a spell and I was detected. At twenty-one I was given an apprenticeship, at forty I was licensed to practice independently but only because they lowered the license age requirement by ten years. We are a small but growing segment of the world's population. Though at times we are difficult to identify, we are estimated to be as large as a quarter of the world's population.
I am a gen four and I am American. Even though our predecessors used magic to change the world for the good in far too many ways to list we are considered as potentially very dangerous so we are very closely watched and regulated.
Why are we considered dangerous? One reason is because like all MaGi, we are very limited in most of our abilities but we are uniquely unlimited in one ability. We don't know how limited or unlimited until we know. That terrifies the norms. Most people think of magic as waving a wand or reciting a spell in Latin or some other ancient tongue, and it is at times, but mostly it is learning. We know a lot. The knowledge is our real power. We have to know ouselves in ways norms can't, or won't, and we have to know as much as we can about everything. My master used to say "semper magis" which is latin for "always more". We not only learn everything we can about a thing but we also learn what it is to be that thing.
We do have books of spells but they can't be read or understood until open or unlocked. It is not an enchantment so much as a mental block of sorts. Until one is mentally prepared and learns all there is to know to complete the spell, in very simple terms, one cannot read it. It is empathically coded as my master would say. You have to feel it.
My unlimited ability is to reverse time by five minutes. It is extremely rare, and I am forbidden to use it unless summoned by the board. I have only ever demonstrated it under the most controlled conditions. The spell is called "Tempus". I discovered it by accident at a very young age and it was immediately detected. The norms were so alarmed by it a whole section of regulations was created due to my discovery.
Which brings me back to this morning. The night before, just before sleep, I felt a new spell and saw it in a vision. I was an animal for an hour and I took five steps then I slept.
I woke that morning knowing which spell I would be able to understand and made preparations. I also knew that once I initiated or tested the spell I would only be able to perform it five more times. What I didn't know was why I also woke uneasy. I shook it off as a rare case of nerves but it didn't go away. I hadn't prepared for a spell in a long while. I should have stopped there and then. No spell should ever be performed without complete focus. That is a fundamental law of magic.
I opened my book of spells and turned to the page and said "revelare" and the spell was revealed to me. It was as if I always knew it. I performed all the steps in a relatively short period of time and was ready to initiate the spell. I carefully thought it out and then said it aloud...wrong.
I stuttered.
The spell was "Temporis Cattus" but I think I said "Tempus eh-t cattus". I can't remember exactly and now after being a cat for only fifty-five minutes I only have five minutes before I go back to being a cat. I have altered the spell and worse I have somehow combined it with my unlimited time reversal spell. I am stuck in a fatal loop. A terrible blunder. I have spent my last four, five-minute breaks trying to undo it and I have failed. I can't see any way out. I don't have much time.
I am posting this to the MaGi as well as the norms as a last testament and a warning.
I have been a cat five times. Unless I figure a way out, the next time will be my last. And, five minutes after that I will be nothing.
| |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | What would you do? It was harmless at first, save a rose from wilting, keep the fruit fresh. Then Jane, my sister died from a catastrophic failure in a spell she was conducting. She always was the smart and adventurous one. Everyone knew she would do great things, and then it was all over. To this day people ask me what I did and how, that is whenever they can find me. But all I did, was mutter her name when I saw her fracture and splatter across the auditorium. Suddenly, the fog came and surrounded everything and everyone in the room as it slowly condensed where Jane once stood. And she just walked out, pale, shaking, but alive, almost as if nothing had happened. That was sixty years ago.
So long as it had a name it could be saved I discovered. Little did I know of the dangers I represented at the time. People tried to abduct me, draft me, even world powers tried to force me to use my spell.
The Breath of Life.
But now people come to silence me, every day I move. Never staying in any place more than a day. Constantly using all manner of shape change and disguise spells, but those have all run out.
How was I to know? How am I to blame? Now every rose never wilts. Every cherry never rots. Jane hasnt ever been the same, constantly trying to reach the other side but she and others cant die, even though they continue to grow more and more decepit. I have tried to kill myself, but nothing works.
There are a finite number of roses.
Cherries dont digest but continue to grow.
People cant have children and live as rot.
I have single handedly manufactures the age of immortals, but this isnt what anyone had imagined.
Every name ever spoken. Every food, pet, substance. Its all eternal. But there is famine. You cannot eat the cherries, you live always starving, always hungry, but unable to pass on.
How was I to know? Well its all safe now I suppose, they will be here soon. Though whatever they are after they will find dissapointment. I cut out my tounge forty years ago. For what its worth, I am sorry, I didnt know.
I laid my pen down, finishing the page and setting the paper on the desk. I moved to the center of the motel room and sat in a chair, watching the door. Then I heard the screaming and the door violently swung open.
I never meant to be the villian of my story. | Everyone's got their Thesis Spell. Everyone's is different. Sometimes it runs in the blood, but even then it's never quite the same between family members. We all have plenty of side spells to work with, but it's out Thesis that makes us truly unique and reveals who we really are inside. A reflection of the person's soul, or so the Archwizards say.
My family has a distinctive magic bloodline. All of us are manaweavers - great tailors, capable of spinning mana into silken thread with properties unique to each. My father spins a fine red which devours flame; my grandfather span black, which bent the light around it; my nephew spins a dark green that grants the bearer luck for a time... Indeed, all in the family are of this sort. For the last dozen generations, this has been so. For the future, this will be so. For we are the Galliari, master manatailors!
And then there's me. What do I get? Do I get some nice craftsmanship spells and a thread? Nope. Do I get a basic mage's load out, with a spot on the wall talent? Nope.
I got the ability to automatically cast Mass Transmute Pants to Spiders when startled. And to add insult to insult? The resultant spiders have no only colonized the upper sections of my home, but THEY can imbue their webs with the spell thread I was denied!
So I'm sorry for the auditorium incident, Archmagus Stevens. But please, it's not my fault. And surely they can't have taken over THAT much of the college, can they?
| |
[WP] Each magic spell has a finite number of uses throughout a person’s lifetime, and the number varies from person to person. However, everyone has unlimited uses of a single spell. Your unlimited spell is one that most people can only use once in a lifetime, if at all. | I don't know if you've ever been in New Orleans in the Summer, but there's really nothing like the way the sun boils the mixture of garbage and vomit that's packed into the cracks of the sidewalk of Bourbon. If you've been there, you'll understand why I was fighting to hold down the hoagie I'd had for lunch. Just when I thought the hoagie might win and hurl itself back out the way it came in, I saw her. Her hair flashed as she turned toward me, the exact same shade as the dull tan paint my dad made me slather over the fence every couple years. I fell into her eyes, like the drunk across the street who seemed to still be lying in the stale vomit he'd fallen into the night before. If I could remember her name I'd look her up and see if she ever made it big with her painting, but it's hard to remember one when there've been so many.
The way you hear people talk about falling in love, you'd think it was a big thing, but to me it's the same kind of big as the slide at my preschool. I went back and walked around my old neighborhood last year; that slide couldn't have come up past my waist. I'm starting to think there might be a damn good reason most people only get their One. It keeps them thinking they've just summited Everest, instead of realizing they're just a kid whose about to get a wicked scar from a shitty, metal slide.
The lucky ones can make a career out of their Unlimited. There are the doctors who can heal any disease; the painters who can, like her, re-create any scene from memory; the fighters who can mend their own bodies from the brink of death; and you get the idea. The seriously unlucky have to be separated from society for either their own safety or that of others. That probably should have happened to me a long time ago. See, the worst part about my ability isn't just that I've gotten bored of falling in love. It took me years to realize exactly what I was taking away from each person I loved; they were just one of my Unlimited, but I was their One. | As a teen Winston wondered a lot about what his unique spells would be. As everyone knows magic starts showing itself only at about 60/70 years old and varies extremely between everyone in the way it shows itself, of course there's a reason why all mages have a gray beard!
Magic works in a weird way, you could have studied the arcane ways for years in the most prestigious University of the land and got some useless spells for lighting fire or cutting woods with a number of uses almost infinite, which would be of no use in times where a lighter can be easily found. Either that or the next guy could get an extremely powerful telekinetic Nova which could bust entire bunkers. Powerful spells like that usually had few uses, and anyway even if the war had been raging for 5 years it usually was extremely problematic to bring an old senile guy in the middle of a military operation.
Operation "fires of September" they called it, when they tried to drop a bunch of guys with highly explosive spells over the reichstag trying to kill the German leader, yet it did not work, he simply was not there, and most of the planes were shot down by the flaks and anti air gun anyway.
The war toke a lot from him, his farm in Cornwall was totally burned up by magic and explosive bombardments, in the fire died his wife, and his grand son, far too young to go to war, now only two people who cared for him we're still alive, his only son, and his son's wife and Mark was stationed in Paris were the battle for Middle Frankia was raging.
That day Winston turned 64, an average age to have the revealing dream about your spells, what he saw was weird. Turns out he had some weak spells like healing minor wounds, creating images in the air for some seconds and stuff like that... And then, something different, not a spell, a switch. That was something undocumented in all history, or at least he hadn't ever heard of it, but who knows, maybe it was just that he never went to school. Winston was able to turn on and off the acces to the Aetherium, the realm from which all that is mystic gains energy, it dictates how every spell happens, how powerful those white-fire magic novas would be. Pained by the loss of his grand son and hoping to make the war less of a massacre he used it without thinking.
But isn't the soul and consciousness something mystical, magic, that cannot be understood?
Well, Winston understood that only while his soul was leaving his body to vanish in front of him, now no more powered by the Aetherium.
This is the first and only story I've ever written, I hope it's grammatically correct and fun! I'm not even English so I'm pretty sure it won't be! Feel free to tell me we're I could have done Better, I'm trying to do this as an exercise to make my English writing better!
| |
[WP] All have potential magic but it takes a spark to unlock. For years the elite have kept magic between themselves, using it to gain influence and power. Walking home one day you are bumped by a high ranking chancellor and feel a spark of static. That nights news, he is found dead. | *...in other news...*
I woke up with a start. When had I fallen asleep? The tv was still on. I looked down and realized I was still wearing my shoes. What happened? I got up to get a glass of water but dizziness overcame me. Trying to catch my balance, I plopped down on the nearby sofa. My head hurt.
*...Orlando Magic have...*
I looked around for the remote. I needed quiet. The sound from the tv felt like it was inside my head. I needed to shut it down. I looked around me but couldn't find it anywhere.
"Where the hell did you go you dumb piece of sh..."
And there it was. On the ground next to the TV. I got up to pick it up but the dizziness was back again.
*...challenges ahead for the newly crowned...*
I held my hands over my ears. I needed the sound to stop. I needed the remote. I needed it in my hand. Not all the way over...
I saw the remote shimmer out of existence. And suddenly it was there. In my hand. I blinked a couple of times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. I turned the remove over in my hands to check if it was real. Of course. I was drunk. And hungover. Hence the headache. And the lapses in memory. I would just lay down a while and it would all be OK. I stretched my arm towards the tv to shut it down.
*...the body was found by the fountain on Front street. There was no identification...*
Front street? That's where I was last night. That was when I noticed the date. March 12th. Wait. 12th? I was walking down Front on the 10th. Yesterday. I know because it was Gary's last day. And we all went to a party after work. I looked at the TV and a face stared back at me.
*He had a massive wound in his stomach. The examiners still haven't determined what caused it. If anyone has any information about this man, please reach out to the York police immediately.*
I remembered that face. I only saw it for a moment. But I remembered it clearly. Because of the shock. A literal shock that I got when I bumped into him. And his eyes. I remembered them being kind. The eyes in the picture on the TV though, they were different. They were angry and bitter. And scared.
Shutting down the tv, I tried to get up again. Slightly better. Holding onto the sofa and then the computer table, I made my way into the kitchen. I took a sip of water gingerly. The water felt good. I felt some strength return to my body. As I gulped down the water, I also took out my phone from the pocket. Thirteen missed calls. Five text messages. Most of them from unknown numbers. But one of them, I recognized immediately.
*Jackson, where are you? Are you coming to work today?* Dated March 11th.
*Call me.* Today morning.
Had I really slept through two entire days? Just as I was about to text him back, there was a knock on the door.
I opened the door and an extremely well-dressed man stood there. He was smiling but there was something disconcerting about that smile. As if he had about 50 teeth.
*The better to eat you with my dear.*
I shook my head to shake these thoughts.
"Yes."
"Mr. Frank Jackson?"
"Hi, I am with the Ork Police." He took out a card and flashed it very quickly.
"I am sorry? With whom?"
"The York police. Do you need to see the card again?"
"No. No. I just heard ..uh.. something else. It's fine. How can I help you?"
"We were looking into the murder of Janus Smith. We have reason to believe that you might have been the last person to see him alive."
"Janus? Not sure I know anyone by that name."
"I see. Were you anywhere around Front and West Street a couple of days ago?"
"Oh, that old man? Was he Janus? I just saw him on the news."
"On the news?" He muttered something to himself that I couldn't hear.
"Yeah, I..."
"We need to go."
"Go where?"
"To the station."
"Wait. Am I being arrested?"
"Uh... No. We just need you to answer some questions."
"Why? I didn't know the guy. It was just someone I met in the street. I wouldn't have remembered him if it wasn't for the nasty static shock."
"Hang on. You felt a shock?"
"Yes", I answered uncertainly. His face had changed. He looked more urgent somehow.
"And this was a couple of days ago?"
"Yeah. What's going on?"
"You were probably out for a while. When you woke up, what did you do? Did you feel an overwhelming need for something?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. Can you please answer my question?"
"I will. Once you answer mine. Did you feel that you needed something immediately after you woke up? Probably after a long nap."
"Yeah, I think I slept for, like, a couple of days. I was really thirsty. I had some water."
"So water based for now. Come, we must leave immediately."
"Water based? I am going nowhere with you." There was a menacing streak to his face now. Had it always been there? Was it new or did I just happen to notice it now.
"I thought that might happen. Oh well, serves me right to try and do the right thing."
He raised his hand up high. I could feel the air pressure drop around me. I jumped back as he brought his hand down. I was a couple of feet away from his hand but I still felt... something. The last thing I saw before blacking out was that toothy grin of his. | I was on my way to the Subway when I bumped into a woman I turned to apologize but she was already disappearing in the crowd leaving only the scent of a perfume. As I walked onto the train I felt a static shock as I grabbed a pole to hold onto. The subway ride was mostly uneventful as I got off at my stop.
I walked into my rundown apartment building. I made my way up 4 flights of stairs before I reached my apartment. The inside was a studio type apartment with a bed in one corner that gave me comfort because I could see my door and window. A tv on the wall opposite the window and a couch in the middle of the room. The kitchen consisted of a sink and a countertop with an electric skillet.
As I tuned in to the news to see coverage of the march their was a blurb about a member of a senator staff having died from a heart attack. I heard a thunderous noise as my head turned to the door which was splintering and falling in. Revealing the armed people in full SWAT gear as they charged in surrounding me within seconds.
They shouted "Get up your coming with us!" I felt the panic attack. In that moment I felt like my body was electricfied and then blackness. I awoke what felt like only seconds later to the shock of a devastated room. The room was empty now but everything was charred and all that remained was there smoking shoes.
The end.
So this is my first time I hope you enjoy it and I would love to improve | |
[WP] You are the Chosen One. You go to kill the evil tyrant, only to find that he’s actually the previous Chosen One. | Water doused fire. Air obliterated earth.
No matter which spells I cast, he seemed to know before I did.
I thrust my staff out, creating a flock of birds in a burst of light. They shrieked and flew at him, only to be dispelled by a dark cloud of bats he had beckoned. He quickly followed up with bands of string, using his staff to shoot them right at me. I dodged what I could, which gave me enough time to summon blades and slash through the string before he could trap me. When I threw the blades at him, he brought forth a shield and deflected them. We continued to attack each other and defend ourselves with opposing spells. It felt never-ending.
I was ready. I had trained my entire life. I was supposed to best him easily now, but I couldn’t even land a hit. What was happening?!
I couldn’t resort to my latent power. I remembered Virgil’s words.
*The Gift of the Chosen One must never leave these walls. The Gift cannot be unveiled to the rest of the world.*
Yet I saw no other way to beat the tyrant. The longer we went on, the weaker and more fatigued I would become. If that happened, then he would have me. I recalled what else Virgil said.
*The Chosen One must not fall under enemy control.*
*If we lose you… humanity is finished.*
I had no choice. I just needed to get the upper hand for a moment, and the battle would end.
I gripped my staff with both hands, holding it vertically. I gave my foe the slightest opening to deal a heavy blow. Did he know what I was doing? Would he take the bait?
He closed the distance between us, a smile growing on his face. He was going for a melee attack, surely thinking that would be enough to finish the fight. He had no idea what was coming. He fell for it.
Suddenly, thunder clapped above us. I drove my staff into the ground, and lightning struck. The electricity coursed through my veins as though it was my own blood. He landed a strike with his staff, hitting my torso. But I barely felt a thing. I grabbed his shoulder, which was just enough to shock him.
He cried out and collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing, his staff clattering next to him. Breathing deeply, I dispersed the electricity in an instant. I kicked his staff away from him before kneeling. I set my own staff down and took him by the cloak, lifting him as much as I could. I gripped his chin and turned his head to face me.
He looked at me in a daze, still affected by the electrocution. I widened my eyes as they met his. I felt my pupils contract.
He would see the Gift, yet he wouldn’t reveal it to anyone for as long as he lived. I activated it.
Then, I saw. I gasped, stumbled backwards, and landed on my bottom. I scrambled away from him to my staff and wielded it again, aiming it at him.
“N-No way,” I sputtered.
The staff would have done me no good. He stared at me, his mouth agape, his eyes a medley of colors.
The Gift had always reminded me of a kaleidoscope.
“You…” he whispered.
I lowered my staff and put it back on the ground. Hard as I tried, I couldn’t muster the courage to speak.
He groaned as he got up on all fours and finally gathered the strength to stand. He chuckled a little before he extended his hand to me.
“I thought I was the only one,” he said.
He was still the evil tyrant. He still had to be defeated. I could hear Virgil's nagging voice in my head.
However, the colors swirled in his eyes. I felt relieved.
I reached up and accepted his help.
“I thought I was, too.” | I raised the blade, ready to drive it into his chest. This action would save the world, this a action would save everything.
But something stopped me.
*Do it! Just kill him!* I told myself, but something stopped me. I simply couldn't bring the knife into my enemy's body.
The tyrant, now nameless because of the rumors, panted, blood trickling from the damage on his face and body, smiled and chuckled.
"What? Can't do it?" He teased.
I remained silent, not wanting to befall to his manipulation.
That's when I noticed something about him. He donned a necklace, a pendant, identical to mine. The one the travelling prophet gave me when he told me I was destined to save the land.
I was confused, scared even, at this sudden and unexplainable object in front of me.
"So you've finally noticed," the tyrant said, noticing my surprise. He reached for the pendant weakly and raised it next to the one that hung from my neck.
I slowly lowered the knife I held and inspected our necklaces. They *were* identical.
*Why? What does this mean?*
"Still speechless? Fine, I'll explain, as the one before me always has," he began.
"This land thrives on a cycle of saving, and conquering. No matter how many times someone saves this land, another tyrant just like me will rise up to claim it themself, and the chosen one will come and kill them to save it," he paused to release a hacking cough, "have you ever noticed that the chosen one always 'dies' in the fight with the dictator?" He coughed again.
"W-what are you trying to say?" I utter my first words to him.
He suddenly rised enough to whisper in my ear, "you must kill me, and become the next heir to save this world. If you don't, it will end in a struggle of chaos and good," he lay back down, defeated and hopeless.
I sat above him, conflicted and distraught. He was right, the chosen one never survived the journey home. They never came back and gave speeches, or anything of the like, they always disappeared.
Maybe I was the next one? Was he the last one? Was everything I've been taught false? Have I been fed lies for the past three years of my adventure? Maybe I was.
If I've been lied to about everything, maybe it was time to change the way I was. Maybe it was time to take control, have my moment of glory.
Without warning, I drove the knife into the chest of the chosen one before me. He released one more cough, and grinned as he faded away into a pile of ash.
I stood up from the mound of nothing, sheathed my knife...
And donned the crown of the tyrant. | |
[WP] At birth, everyone is gifted a special ability. Most people get superpowers, but you got the ability to continue to exist if the timeline gets tampered with. You hate this "gift" since it does nothing for you, but that changes when one day you wake up and the world has completely changed. | Note: I hope it's okay that I took a small liberty with the prompt. The protagonist thinks he has no abilities at all: he learns about the altered timeline thing later, after the timeline is actually altered. I've written the prologue, I plan for the timeline to alter in chapter 1 or 2.
Prologue
Ten-year-old Toby hated school.
He shut his book and looked miserably at the playground, through the window. A group of Fliers were playing ball, and many kids had gathered to watch. The Fliers were passing the ball to each other, gliding through the air with seemingly no effort. The goalposts were two tall oak trees on opposing sides of the playground. Even from within the classroom, Toby could hear the crowd cheering.
Of course, not every day was devoted to flying. There were many abilities, after all, and the school prided itself in creating an environment where all students could develop their special skills. Lessons consisted mostly of self-directed practice, and even during recess, many students continued practicing their skills of their own volition. The other day, the Water-masters held a competition in that same playground, around the lake. Some kids made sculptures out of water: most lasted only a few seconds, but one girl made a life-like horse and held it for two solid minutes. One boy reversed the direction of a streak. It was only a small streak, but it was still an impressive feat for a second-year, and he got applauded. The winner was a small, unassuming kid who evaporated the entire lake, and transferred it to the other side of the playground. Everyone gasped at the disappearance; some genuinely thought it had gone away for good. And then the lake reappeared on the other side, plants and frogs and all. Everyone thought it was awesome.
Who even cares, Toby thought spitefully. Stupid Water-masters with their stupid teleporting lakes.
Toby was born without a special ability. This was not entirely unheard of, but it was extremely rare, and nobody had yet managed to find a good solution to it. There was no place in society for people like Toby. They simply didn’t have anything to offer. They were tolerated and treated humanely, but they could never be respected. Toby’s classmates were nice enough to him, in the way people are nice to those they pity. Kids his age never invited him to play with them: not because they wanted to exclude him, but because there was simply no common game he could participate in, and the few times he tries, he got hurt. Bullies never targeted him: there was no sport in it. He was too pathetic to bully.
What made things worse was that his parents were both exceptionally gifted. They were both Magicians, and highly respected in their circle. When his mother was pregnant with Toby, everyone expected the child to be gifted, perhaps even to be one of these rare individuals who were blessed with two abilities at once. But little Toby showed no signs of any kind of gift. His parents tried: they consulted the best Healers, they looked anxiously for early signs of any ability, they provided the best materials and tools, and even bought educational aids for “late bloomer” kids. Nothing worked.
Toby attended school, mostly because his parents were at a loss for what else to do with him. Toby was, for the most part, allowed to do whatever he wanted. He devoted most of his time to reading, writing, drawing, and math. These were menial skills: at a basic level, they were part of everyone’s curriculum, but only the most untalented people pursued them seriously, as this was the only road open to them. Toby, who was entirely lacking in talent, threw himself to those pursuits, as they helped him forget. For the same reason, he voluntarily spent his free time alone in the classroom. It was better this way. He already spent enough time watching activities he would never be able to join. | Well, life sucks!
"Why?" You ask. Let me tell you. I live in a world were everyone has superpowers ranging from telekinesis to superhuman strength but I have nothing, no powers, just nothing. Well, that would have been fine I would be hailed as the only one of my kind but nope I had to have this useless power of not changing no matter how the timeline changes. Let me tell you how I found out, my friend had the power to go 2 minutes into the past and change something, so one day he used this power to steal my lunch before I opened my lunchbox sadly for him before the timeline changed I had already opened it so when the shift happened I called out his prank and found out about my power. Great! So I have a useless ability, now!
But, that changed one day when I woke up I saw that there were some military aircraft and a transport plane flying over my house. At first, I thought nothing of it but then they started paradropping some superhumans our of them and they started destroying our houses. I was scared and my parents ushered me into a safety bunker across our street. For hours the fight continued and when it subsided the shelter door opened and it was our friendly neighborhood Spiderman albeit missing an eye and blood oozing out his chest. The healers (people with superhuman ability to regenerate and confer said ability to a person) healed him and regenerated all but his eye. Guess that was destroyed by an annihilater (people with abilities that allow them to destroy parts of the body in such a fashion that they can't grow back). Everyone crowded around him and asked him how the heroes were doing in the war. His answer was ,"We lost all of Europe and Africa yesterday, Shanghai and Moscow are our last bastions in Asia with the destruction of Beijing last week, the Villian Alliance paradropped into California and Washington and are now decimating our forces. South American heroes aren't doing much better, the future looks quite grim for us." " That's not right. The Villian Alliance was disbanded 2 years ago when Red Phoenix killed their head Imperator." I said with the grin of figuring out the prank. "Stop mocking me kid. Red Phoenix died in that mission" Spiderman shouted. Then I understood what had happened, some time jumper probably used his ability to jump back in time to warn Imperator of the mission and saved his live. But, then the government clairvoyants should have known such a jump was made and warned them of it, and that could only mean one thing that someone interrupted their visions and allowed this mess to happen. "Spidey trust me, I come from an alternate timeline where the mission was a success and the Villian Alliance was disbanded, everything was peaceful. This is my power to not change and remember the original or correct timeline, we can use this to send one of our time jumpers to the past to protect Red Phoenix and restore the events." "That could work, the clairvoyants haven't been able to receive any visions nowadays so we can't trust anything they say. So, this might be desperate but we might need to listen to you, kid."
That was three weeks ago, I helped the government to look for the split point and fixed the timeline, I have continued with two other incidents since then, but I gotta find who is blocking the clairvoyant's vision all while keeping the timeline intact.
The fun has just begun. | |
[WP] At birth, everyone is gifted a special ability. Most people get superpowers, but you got the ability to continue to exist if the timeline gets tampered with. You hate this "gift" since it does nothing for you, but that changes when one day you wake up and the world has completely changed. | I exist. Everybody else doesn't. Until today I've never fully grasped what that meant.
​
We all have abilities. My best friend James can fly. Although he looks ridiculous doing it because he has to actually flap his arms like a bird. Doesn't stop him from enjoying his gift. My little sister can turn as small as a molecule. Back when she was but a toddler, I lost every goddamn game of hide-and-seek. My Parents? Oh they have the most obnoxious set of powers. Lokk my mother in the eyes and you can only tell the truth. My teenage years were horrible, no fun sneaking out with friends or anything alike. And my father? He can make you laugh with every joke he makes. Not because they're actually good, no no. That is his power, to make you laugh no matter how bad the joke. i swear to god he makes a hobby of it to find the worst jokes just to make you laugh even though you want to punch him in the face.
​
But I only exist, no matter what happens. Time changing, bombs dropping, earth collapsing into itself, it doesn't matter. I will always exist.
​
School was hard, the bullying unending. You think little kids are brutal because they just say what they want? Teenagers are worse. They probe you, explore your reactions to find the chink in your armor, pry it open and beat down on your exposed, naked soul. I was the useless one, despised even by the nerds and geeks.
It didn't matter what I'd do. No matter how hard I worked to beat others in school, to be the smartest, the fastest, the fittest. Those with powers would continually beat me down, back to ground where i belonged.
​
It didn't stop after school. Work was worse. Somehow I managed to get myself a job at a bank. It was just cubicle work, but I made good cash. If it wasn't for my coworkers. Reports I send to my supervisor mysteriously vanished from the servers, my lunch went missing and so on. So i quit. Soon after I lost my apartment.
​
But I wasn't going back home. So began my criminal career. At first it seemed to go really well. The so-called "scum" of the world,drug dealers and the like, were the most accepting people I met since my parents. Sure I had to work my way up, but they were fair. No sticks thrown between my legs, stashes vanishing, not even snarky remarks about my useless power. Believe it or not, within the dark side of this society I found something that resembled happiness. No it was happiness, maybe even bliss.
​
But today that was taken from me. I don't know who did it but they changed everything. There are no more powers. The gang doesn't remember me anymore. Apparently I put most of them behing bars. The business card in my back pocket says I'm a lawyer. But that wasn't reality yesterday. Why did everything change? Who am I, according to this reality?.
​
After a quick online search I've gathered enough information to be able to integrate myself into my new life. The bullying never happened, no harassment at work, none of my suffering is real. But I am. I exist no matter what changes. The only real entity in a fake world.
But I want to go back. To the way things were. Back to having suffered most of my life, only to find happiness with Tony and his crew, my friends. I need to go back, I can't stand this fake world.
​
So i make a decision. I liquidate everything I have, my belongings, my apartment, even my company. Equipped with everything I need to survive, I set out to fix reality. Even though i don't know how. But I will find a way, I always have.
​
*You don't know me and I must say I can't blame you. How could you have noticed me? You had to fight battle after battle everyday of your life. But considering I'm a coward that never reached out to you. I've seen you quit your job at the bank, bravest move I've ever seen. Why though, why did you join those thugs? Why did you become part of the cancer that destroys society? Because you only knew suffering and you wanted to get back at the world. I understand like I always have. But after all these years i finally pulled my socks up and did what I should have long before.*
​
*I changed it all up. No more powers except for me. After all I need to provide for you. After all these years you'll finally notice me. Fall into my arms and become mine.*
*Why? Why? Why didn't it play out as I had designed it? Why?Why?*
*What did I do wrong? Why did you leave? Leave the life I made for you? The life we were supposed to share? The happiness I created? Why?Why?*
​
One name. That's the only lead I have. One name which is spread out through my "life". Oliver, my kindergarden friend, first boyfriend, husband, my protector. I don't know if he's the one responsible, but I have a strong hunch that he is. Something about him seems familiar, something from the real world that I can't quite remember.
​
Who are you Oliver? What am I to you? Tonight I will pry the truth from you and take back my life, my happiness.
​
*It seems you've finally come to your senses. Finally you stand before me. I'm so happy. Do you see? What I've done for you? Can you feel my love?*
​
​
​
Hey there, this my third or fourth response to a prompt, so any input is welcome. | Having a special ability was like having a knife it could be used in many ways to help people, such as cutting food but it can also be used to harm people. Her ability to simply exist seemed pointless and boring.
She woke up the following morning jaded and exhausted. Her dream ended abruptly, as she was shaken back into reality. She blinked rubbing her bleary eyes in an attempt to rid herself of her drowsiness. Her muscles felt weak, just like her energy. Letting an exasperated yawn escape her lips, she rolled off of her bed. Brushing her unkempt hair with her fingers. She heard a faint humming coming from outside her window, she reached out towards the blinds and pulled them open.
The sky was strange. The spreading sunrise, pinkish glow, clouds tinted, colours etched across the sky announcing the new day, pinks and reds painted across the clouds as if by a celestial hand. The skyscrapers towered above as great monoliths of concrete and glass like a jungle of steel growing out of the concrete metropolis. At surface level the buildings and colours of the sky appeared normal yet under further inspection there were small differences as if there were glitches.
At first she believed it was her eyes playing a trick on her mind, a figment of her imagination.
She checked the year and date on the digital clock behind her, March 17th 2019, everything seemed normal perhaps it was the landlord casting a screen over the apartment. She went to pick up her phone and call her father, he didn’t pick up, probably since it was too early. She got dressed and exited her apartment as she remembered she had to pick up some papers for work. As she left, she bumped into a person or so she thought but she simply walked right through them.
She apologised thinking that they had the ability to phase through things or on a spectrum of invisibility or even a copy of someone. But the person’s eyes widened as they looked at her in fear.
“You exist.” They gasped before running off.
“Wait, what do you mean? Of course I exist.” She called out to them but they were gone.
She went on her phone and simply search up ‘exist’ as vague and stupid as that was, she was mortified by the articles that came up.
**Life no longer exists**
Was the first news article that came up, she quickly skimmed the article and discovered life and organic matter had been replaced with artificial holograms, only objects and non-living matter remained.
Side note: this is like my first prompt so it’s probs bad and littered with typos (written on mobile) | |
[WP] After ingesting a rare leaf. A zombie recovers awareness and loses the desire for human flesh. Now he tries to make more zombies eat the leafs to end the apocalypsis. Even risks himself to ask to the human suvirvors for help. | Brains. Meat. Brains and meat. Hungry. Must eat meat. Or brains. Or brains and meat. Must eat. Walk, Walk. So hungry... walk, walk. Must eat. Walk, walk. One foot, then the other, then the other, then the other. Hungry. Must eat. Can’t walk. Can’t stand. Must... eat. Leaf on ground. Must eat meat. Lots of leaf. Must eat brains. Leaf. Or brains, or meat. Leaf everywhere. Must eat. Must eat what again? Leaf. That’s it. Must... eat leaf. Take. Put in mouth. So hungry... chew. Chew more. Swallow. Eat more leaves. Take them. Put them in my mouth. Chew, swallow. They’re not that bad, actually. Eat... more... leaves...
Uuuunghh. What... happened? I died. I’m a zombie. Oh god, I’M A ZOMBIE! That’s okay, don’t panic. Get up. Oh, *man* it feels good to have control over my motor functions again. How long since I died? Doesn’t seem like too long ago, but I’m not trusting a zombie’s perception of time.
Jeez, I look *horrible*. I’m lucky my nervous system is wrecked, I guess. Well... what do I do now? Seek survivors I guess. Hold on, let me see if I can speak.
“Gghhhrghl Brghhghgh Awwbflbfrlrl”
Nope. Well, how am I going to make them trust me? Eh, I’ll think of something. Let’s get mov...
*Hold up*. The leaves. They... cured me? Wait, are you serious? I’ve found a cure. HOLY SHIT I FOUND A CURE! Quick, take the leaves! Oh god, I’m missing a *lot* of fingers. This is hard. Who’d have thought pinkies are so important for grabbing stuff? There, got some. Where to put them?... my backpack! No, that’s long gone. My pockets! No, no pants. Y’know what, I’ll just stuff them inside my ribs. Let them be useful for something. There we go... what’s even keeping me *alive*, anyway? Actually, no. Don’t know, don’t care, at least not right now. Well, off we go then. Let’s find ourselves some alive humans. Strangely enough, being a zombie is... *releasing*. Like, I’m super chill right now.
After all, what’s the worst that can happen if I’m already dead? | [Poem]
Preface:
I made two abstractions which must be made clear to understand this historically accurate poem.
1) British people are zombies (admittedly not that far off from the actual truth)
2) Drinking tea is the cure for British people
There once was a man
Who drank from a pan
He found on the step'fore the door
But he stopped to look
In that all knowing book
To learn that he had drank tea
And thusly enlightened
He conquered the world
Because his own coffers had tightened
This man, he was named,
Britain and he gained
Transformation from wight to a plight
The world cursed his name
But he had gained fame
As the drinker of tea on his isle
| |
[WP] After ingesting a rare leaf. A zombie recovers awareness and loses the desire for human flesh. Now he tries to make more zombies eat the leafs to end the apocalypsis. Even risks himself to ask to the human suvirvors for help. |
Part 2
Scarlett took the piece of paper from James and examined it. Then she pivoted toward me and held it for me to see.
A crude, but accurate enough sketch of the leaf.
"Do you know where we can find more of this?"
"Vackh..." I tried to raise my free hand to point 'back', but it wouldn't turn that way. "Go Vack..."
"Holy shit." Sorenson whispered from the doorway.
James and Scarlett looked at each other, then unstrapped me. I tried to tell them to keep me at a distance, but finding words was almost as hard as saying them.
Moments later I was sitting in the back of a cargo van, which was speeding through choppy terrain. Dirt, rocks and other debris kicked rapidly beneath me.
As I swayed and bounced around in the back of the van I could feel the persistent, endless void of death numbing me again. My psyche began burying itself in the cold warmth of nothingness. I knew that soon, my hunger would crawl back to the surface, eating away at me until that's all there was. Hunger.
After some time, the van stopped and the cargo doors swung open. I was taken to the treeline where they first found me. They spoke amongst themselves, and occasionally at me, but I had lost the ability to understand what they were saying.
Everything moved like it had terrible reception--fuzzy, choppy, and at times, frozen, only to pick up again moments later. I lost more and more time between short busts of consciousness. I knew that while I was gone, the hunger was in control.
I resigned myself to helplessness and apathy. The last image I could remember from our journey into the woods was Scarlett, James, and Sorenson celebrating the fact that they had found the bush from which my leaves grew. And my outstretched hands, at the behest of unimaginable hunger, reaching for their delicious looking necks.
----
Unimaginable pain. Everywhere. My nerves had become active. I could feel sick, coagulated blood circulating like syrup through my horribly damaged body.
Walking dead people were unnatural, but being half alive felt even less natural somehow.
Tubes were jammed between my ribs. A mask covered my face as a machine pumped oxygenated air into my shriveled lungs. My head felt as if it were clutched in the jaws of an alligator.
I'm in hell. That must be it.
Someone appeared next to me. James.
"Can you understand me?" he asked. His voice was loud and clear. So much so that it resonated violently in my head like a strucken church bell.
"Yes." My voice sounded like sandpaper dragging across concrete. I wanted to tell him to kill me.
"Good." James said before walking away.
Next, Scarlett stood beside my bed. She was reserved, if not sad. Maybe even pensive. She rose her arm so I could see a bandage. I knew what that meant.
I must have attacked her back at the woods. The hunger had attacked her, rather. I wasn't present.
"I... Sorry." I said, grimacing.
"I know." Scarlett said. "It's not your fault."
"I know." I whispered. But I still felt responsible.
"The leaves..." I began.
"They wear off after a while, don't they?" Scarlett asked.
"Yes." I said. "Tried to... warn you."
Scarlett had no expression on her face. She stared through the wall above my head, clearly having a very valid existential crisis.
"It's okay." She finally said with tears in her eyes. "We might have a way to fight back now, so..."
----
After another day of torturous recovery, I was at the absolute brink. My body had was revolting against itself as if my immune system wasn't sure where the virus ended and the human began.
Now Scarlett laid in a bed next to me. Her face coated in sweat. She was shaking as if she had been dropped into the middle of the antarctic while wearing a bathing suit.
James was sitting on the opposite side of Scarlett's bed. He had a small bandage on his arm. He noticed me looking at it, then he stood up to walk around Scarlett.
"We synthesized the chemical in the plant that destroys the virus." James said, solemnly. "But..."
"Not... a cure?" I asked. My voice was strained as if I had been screaming for 48 hours straight.
"No... not for all of us, anyway." He said as he looked longingly at Scarlett, whose eyes were like pins as she began struggling for each breath.
Scarlett whispered to James who leaned in to hear her better. She repeated herself, then wrapped her pail hands around the back of his head, pulling him close, and biting him hard near his collar bone.
"Jesus, Scarlett!" James shouted as he tore himself from her grasp.
Scarlett looked at me and repeated the same thing she had said to James.
"Trust me."
"Trust me?" I asked with a whisper, unsure if I had heard her correctly.
"So they'll know." She whispered as she closed her eyes.
"Know what?" I asked.
Sorenson walked in the room and saw James putting pressure on his superficial bite wound.
"I knew this was going to happen." Sorenson said. He pulled out a handgun and pointed it at me. James grabbed Sorenson's arm with an upwarm swing just as he fired a round, grazing my hair which immediately smelled burnt.
"Stay out of this, Sorenson." James said.
"I'm locking these doors." Sorenson grumbled as he left the room. Then, from outside the bulletproof glass doors he shouted, "Until you've eaten each other."
---
Part 3? | [Poem]
Preface:
I made two abstractions which must be made clear to understand this historically accurate poem.
1) British people are zombies (admittedly not that far off from the actual truth)
2) Drinking tea is the cure for British people
There once was a man
Who drank from a pan
He found on the step'fore the door
But he stopped to look
In that all knowing book
To learn that he had drank tea
And thusly enlightened
He conquered the world
Because his own coffers had tightened
This man, he was named,
Britain and he gained
Transformation from wight to a plight
The world cursed his name
But he had gained fame
As the drinker of tea on his isle
| |
[WP] After ingesting a rare leaf. A zombie recovers awareness and loses the desire for human flesh. Now he tries to make more zombies eat the leafs to end the apocalypsis. Even risks himself to ask to the human suvirvors for help. | An arrow shoots through, and sticks half way out of my shoulder. I can feel it. Like a distant echo of a sensation, I feel some semblance of pain, which delights me to no end. I feel a smile form on my ruined face.
"Is that thing fucking smiling?" a man's voice shouts from a long distance. "Look at this thing, it's smiling for fuck's sake. You ever seen that?"
"No," a female voice responds like an echo of an echo. "Don't kill it."
I finally orientate myself well enough to see where the voices originate from. Much closer than I expected. A woman steps cautiously toward me. Her eyes are primal like a jungle cat.
With a horse groan I try to tell her what I discovered, and to alert her to the fact that I'm not just a zombie any more. I'm coming back to life. Slowly. But my rotting body only offers her the haunting, unintelligible sound of a walking dead man, which stops her in her tracks and tightens her grip of the crossbow.
I bring my right hand to my face, and pull a single leaf from a clump of wet foliage with my teeth. Leaning my head back slowly, I gingerly finesse the leaf into my mouth and begin to chew. My lips are torn, my tongue paralyzed. I tilt my head from side to side to make chewing possible before finally swallowing the mangled vegetation.
"What the hell did I just see?" The man's voice asked, his voice quiet.
"This one is different. We have to bring it back." The woman said.
I smile again. I can only imagine how horrifying that must look to them.
After some deliberation the pair of wanderers settle on a method for moving me, and before long I am wrapped in rope and fabric, forced to follow their lead. Unfortunately, they begin walking through the least visible part of the wilderness, where I know there to be a significant horde of zombies waiting for dinner. I try to warn them, but I cannot form the words.
Eventually we come to the clearing where a plane had fallen from the sky, giving birth to a litter of dead. Most of the zombies from the plane are too disabled to pose a real threat, but the horde that followed the violent crashing noises was fully capable of surrounding, then tearing apart my new friends. They begin to rage in our direction, clawing through one another with fierceness in their clouded eyes.
"Move!" the man shouts. His voice is louder than before.
The pair reverse course, still pulling me behind them. I stumble and fall. To my surprise I hear a word escape my throat as if from an empty aerosol can.
"Go."
"Oh my God." the woman said flatly.
Her partner bent beside me and lifted me onto his shoulder and pushed remarkably fast through the dense shrubbery. The woman took one shot with her crossbow before following.
Gnarly branches whipped at us punishingly as I was carried back to the trail that went around the forest. Once we reached the makeshift road the man stopped, and let me drop like a broom. With a sudden thud all I saw was white noise, then nothing.
---
When I came to again, I was in a small room strapped to a chair. A bright light had been directed onto my face. A motor of some kind hummed near by.
"You have to kill it." A new voice barked.
"It's waking up, just watch." the female voice that I had begun to feel an affection for insisted.
But the voices sounded further away again. And my appetite for the leaf that had been curing me had begun to fade away. I was reverting. I could feel it.
The man that had carried me from the clearing appeared beside me, with what looked like lettuce in his fingers. He tore it in to smaller bits and gestured with his eyes that he was going to feed them to me. Preoccupied with a growing desire to tear his throat out with my teeth, I was barely able to resist chomping down on his fingers as he put the leaves in my mouth.
"You have fucking lost it, James." the angry man said. At least that's what I think he said. I could barely hear him.
When the torn leaves fell to the back of my mouth I felt motivated by something I couldn't identify to swallow them as quickly as possible. As if some small human part of me understood that this was literally my last chance. Right now.
I opened my mouth again after consuming the leaves.
"What the hell?" former pessimism in the angry man's voice was replaced by wonder. "It wants more!"
"This is the last of it." the man said as he shredded the final leaves into a manageable mouthful. He dropped it into my mouth.
---
"Wears off. Need more." I tried to say.
"Hesh.. oh... Gnish... Noh" they heard.
"He's trying to speak" the woman said.
"Bullshit, Scarlett." skepticism had returned in the angry man's voice. "Sounds exactly like the rest of them."
I shook my head 'no', but my movements were rigid. Luckily, the woman, Scarlett, noticed.
"He understood you." she said. She wasn't even surprised anymore.
I nodded, I think.
"He's twitchy, that's all." The angry man insisted.
"You're fucking twitchy, Sorenson." Scarlett said as she unstrapped my arm. Sorenson jumped backward in a defensive posture.
"The fuck are you doing you idiot?"
Scarlett smiled and looked at me again.
"You know what this means, Sorenson?"
"Yeah, it means you're batshit crazy."
"It means there's a cure."
If there was a cure, they'd better synthesize it fast, because I can already feel the effects wearing off.
"We need to find more of those leaves. Now." James said as he came back into the room holding a small piece of paper.
"This is everything."
-----
Does it need a continuation? | [Poem]
Preface:
I made two abstractions which must be made clear to understand this historically accurate poem.
1) British people are zombies (admittedly not that far off from the actual truth)
2) Drinking tea is the cure for British people
There once was a man
Who drank from a pan
He found on the step'fore the door
But he stopped to look
In that all knowing book
To learn that he had drank tea
And thusly enlightened
He conquered the world
Because his own coffers had tightened
This man, he was named,
Britain and he gained
Transformation from wight to a plight
The world cursed his name
But he had gained fame
As the drinker of tea on his isle
| |
[WP] After ingesting a rare leaf. A zombie recovers awareness and loses the desire for human flesh. Now he tries to make more zombies eat the leafs to end the apocalypsis. Even risks himself to ask to the human suvirvors for help. | Day 72, 07/21
It’s useless. I’m useless.
I can barely even use my fingers to write any more. They’re so rotten and twisted. It doesn’t hurt now, though. I think I’m way past that. I used to believe finding that damned herb was a miracle, an omen of salvation. Now I just wish I had carried on my way, like a mindless husk.
The other ones with the plague, I tried helping them, but they simply don’t care. Other humans, I’ve been wanting to aid them, but my vocal chords are too putrid to do anything other than groan. Christ, I can’t even eat anything. My damn stomach apparently adapted to the plague too, I just throw up anything I eat that isn’t meaty. My pace is slow, and my breaths slower. Whenever I grab the pencil again my fingernails break, my calloused skin rips apart, I bleed over the paper and start all over again.
I have salvation on my palms.
It’s right on me.
It aches me, more than any wound or infection I could get.
I’m useless. It’s all useless.
I don’t think this paper even makes any sense to anyone but me at this point, it’s just a bunch of smudges. I’m trapped, in the rotten carcass of a very alive mind.
I’m useless, it’s all useless.
I have no mouth, and I must scream. | He looked his robe, it was the first thing he wore after gaining sentience the first time. It was breazy which he liked. But it has gained many holes dinner he's first dawned it. "Do you seak scavenge in peace?" he said to them. Trespassers.
"Hands up stranger ! And move into the light or you'll loose your life"
"Oh I've already lost it once before. And then again, and again, and again" he said as he obeyed. He stepped into the rubble? in the middle of the room, where the ceiling had collapsed. His scars were now visible. His scarred skin visible. And behind a thick metal helmet his eyes were visible. And those eyes. The glazed eyes of the dead.
"wwww.... WHAT ARE YOU?" One of the Intruders squealed from the back
"Very simple. I'm a zombie"
As soon as he uttered those words a shotgun blast good his chest throwing him in the floor.
"Why'd you do that John? Fuckin trigger happy"
"Like you weren't thinking it. He's deranged and had it coming. Now let's loot the place and head out, this place is giving me the creeps"
"My my" they heard from the far corner "is that how you kill a zombie. Aim for the head next time." He said standing up. "Now then Connie, would you be so kind to help these individuals initiate"
A squeak of metal in metal was heard from above. And through the ceiling hole a dozen zombies dropped and attacked the trespasers
"What you folks have to understand" he said during the insuing battle " is that humanity is fragile. You get sick, grow old, and die. While we persist. So why not join us"
As the trespasers were being turned, the youngest of them. Two teenagers were meerly stripped of their weapons and subdued.
"And you young ones will have to wait. Seeing as you haven't matured fully yet.
TAKE THEM TO THE PENS" | |
[WP] The ritual is complete and the ancient one rises from the portal. "I have awaken to bring upon this wo... Tim?", his voice switching from determined to annoyed: "We've been through this, Tim!" | Tim sank to the floor, exhausted. He looked up through the billowing red smoke at the clearly exasperated demon, who was rolling his eyes as he tugged his leathery tail free of the slowly receding portal, They stared at one another for a moment. Tim frowned and shrugged.
“I’m *lonely*.” He looked back at the floor, and his hand hovered over the line of salt enclosing the demon. He didn’t touch it.
The demon’s eyes widened a bit at Tim’s gesture, then he sat down with a loud thump in the middle of the circle. He rolled his eyes again and sighed.
“Tim. I can’t possibly be your only friend.” He dragged a claw across the blood-soaked stone floor. He sniffed his claw. Goat. He looked around.
Tim nodded. “Actually, you are.” He looked sadly away. The hood of his cloak dropped off his head.
“You got a haircut.” The demon spotted the little goat that Tim had so carefully sacrificed and dragged to a place in front of himself. There was nothing else to do, really. He posed its little legs so it appeared to be dancing. His yellow eyes looked tired.
“I did. My colleague at work said I should. Is it good?”
The demon nodded. “Yeah Tim. It’s good. But you need to know something.” He rubbed his head, scratching absently at the base of one horn as he spoke. “That colleague. Her name is Sadie, isn’t it?”
Tim looked up. “Y-yeah? Yes, I mean. That’s her name.” He looked nervous. The demon smiled, revealing his long, sharp teeth. It looked really terrifying, but it was the nicest face he knew how to make. Tim swallowed hard, trying to make eye contact. He visibly winced upon seeing the smile. The demon stopped. He sighed again.
“I have something to tell you.” The demon waved a hand over the dead goat as he spoke, and a tiny top hat appeared on its dead head. “Sadie is madly in love with you.” He conjured a little tuxedo onto the goat.
Tim looked confused. “What? She is?”
The demon stood up, and wiggled his long fingers in the air in front of himself. The goat began to dance like a marionette. He smiled, pleased with himself. “Yes. She *loves* you. She’s a far better friend choice for you–“ he paused and made the goat do some particularly silly dance moves, ending in jazz hooves as he spoke again– “and she will do some pretty exciting stuff with you.” He stared at Tim. “Exciting for humans, I mean.” He winked.
Tim tossed his cloak off and ran to the sink to wash his hands. “Wow, wow. I have to go see her.” He began to rush around. “Can you just wait here? I mean, you have to, but do you *mind* waiting for me? I mean in case it doesn’t go well?” He looked sad again.
The demon waved at him. “It’s fine, it’s fine Tim. I’m not supposed to help with these things, really, but I guess being summoned seventy-two times has made me a little fond of you. I will wait this one last time, but if it goes well, you must stop calling on me. Agreed?” The goat was doing the can-can. Tim didn’t even notice.
“Yes! Yes absolutely! I’ll just go see her! I’ll be right back, as soon as I can!” He was tying his sneakers at the bottom of the basement stairs.
“Tim, you forgot your glasses,” The demon pointed to a pair of thick-framed black glasses on a shelf near himself. The goat stopped dancing and pointed to them as well.
Tim dashed across the room and slapped his glasses on his face, then laughed. “I’ve got my contacts on still!” He tossed his glasses back on the shelf and ran out, up the stairs.
The basement was silent. The demon looked at the goat, then to a large gap in the salt circle that Tim had made when he ran back for his glasses.
The demon smiled. Tim was the best friend he ever had. | "I know I know!" Hurrying out the words acknowledging his complaints I wave my hands to try and stop him before the rant.
"I know you wanted some space after the last adventure but I just thought you might be interested in this new one I got cooking up." I give him a toothy grin to show him how excited I am about this new chance for us to hang out.
"Tim, by cooking up do you mean another new chili recipe again?" Wow, he remembers! I blush a bit as I remember the time he went to the store with me to pick out the right peppers and choose the right cut of meat.
It was a pretty good chili too. I mean it won honorable mention at the work outing and only cost me 27 bucks at the store along with a pint of blood to sacrifice to bring the ancient one up. "No silly! I was thinking we could open a store together. I have been getting really into single speed bicycles lately and I think my town is ready for a bike shop. You in?"
Mr. One shakes his head a bit as his clawed fingers rub his forehead. I grab my resume to show him why I would be a good business partner. His free hand takes it and starts to dart his eyes over the words. Hopefully he sees the seriousness in my choice in Times New Roman and arty bullet point thingys.
"What could I even do? Do you want seed money or something? It isn't like I can split hours with you working the front desk Tim."
"Well, I remember you saying something about zealous acolytes when I summoned you to watch the game a couple of years ago. Think they would be interested in working for a reasonable wage?"
"You want me to get the people who sacrifice animals in my name to work in your single speed bicycle shop Tim?" Good he understands exactly! I knew he would see the vision.
"Yep! Let them know I will be getting medical benefits and after a couple of months hopefully a really sweet 401K plan." | |
[WP] You fell in love with Chicago’s grim reaper so you become an emergency room doctor to see him/her more often. Your coworkers are concerned because you smile every time someone dies. | “Why do you smile so often? Kind of morbid, don’t you think?” Teddy raised an eyebrow at me as he began to clean the bed out. The corpse had been removed; Mr. Lopez had died, living a long life of 88 years and allowing himself to pass peacefully.
I shrugged, “I like to think that someone is waiting for them on the other side - you know, like a long-awaited reunion.”
I always await the reunion.
Teddy gave a crooked smile as he shook his head. He began taking the sheets off the bed and whispered, “You are a weird one, Cora.” He walked out the room smoothly, and I leaned against the counter, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the edge.
“You all done with your business?” I whispered.
A figure stepped from the shadowed corner of the room. His hair was a touseled, deep red, and his eyes were a light brown. Though, I swore they changed colors. He looked as though he had galaxies dancing within his pupils.
“Ignacio Luís Chuy Lopez. 88 years old. Peaceful death. He’s with his wife, and his dogs, now.” His voice vibrated my skull even though he barely spoke.
“It’s nice to know he’s happy,” I smiled sadly.
“Are you, Cora?” He took a step closer to me. His eyes were a swirling black pool, now. I *knew* they changed colors.
“I’m happy when I see you, Grim,” I slowly reached for his hand, and he took it tenderly. For a grim reaper, his hands were soft, and inviting.
He gave a small frown, “I’m only happy when I see you, too.”
I was silent. I didn’t know what to say.
“Kiss me, Cora. If you kiss me, we can be together,” Grim seemed to plead with me. He gripped both my hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze, “I told you to think about it.. Have you?”
I looked down.
“Death is terrifying, Grim...”
It was his turn to be silent.
I squeezed his hands, “But if death means a new life with you... Then I’ll do it.”
Grim looked up, his eyes bright and exploding with blues and yellows. It reminded me of Van Gogh. “Really?”
I laughed, “Of course, silly.”
He hesitated, then slowly leaned towards me.
His kiss felt like fire.
My death felt like nothing.
My new life with him felt like perfection. | As the director of a Chicago ED, I've seen a lot of crazies in my day and most of them are the ones holding the scalpel. People have this notion that doctors are great people, that they do what they do to help others , to make the world a better place. In all reality most of the best doctors, the true geniuses in their respective fields, are in it for themselves.
Sublimation its called, Freud put a name on it buts its always been around. The boy that likes to cut people grows up to be a surgeon, the kid that gets off on being choked joining a jiu jitsu gym, the weirdo that loves death owning a funeral home. Socially acceptable ways to live and still fulfill their strange fantasies.
Most of the time there isn't a problem, if the work is getting done I don't care if you have to change your underwear after every gunshot wound, as long as the patient is taken care of and our numbers are up you can have your sick internal joy. But every once in awhile we get the ones that can't internalize it. Usually it starts with smiling. A car wreck full of teens and nothing but smiles. The easiest solution is to pull them aside, tell them to watch their emotions and wear a mask if they can't contain it. But I saw his smile, a smile I've seen before. Death starts of as a competitor that they have to beat, only to turn into a longing. Not the smile of perverted release but instead of actual love, or the closest they can come to it.
I had to pull him aside before it got out of hand. First the seeming mistakes, a physician pushed to the edge, lack of sleep, lack of food, not taking enough time off. Then you notice subtle things, monitors being turned off, med errors that should have been caught. All of a sudden the deaths come far more then they should, that massive MI in an elderly overweight man that doesn't seem out of place, until you notice the IV potassium keeps being out of count on certain shifts.
He wanted her for himself. It wasn't the deaths that I had to stop, it was the smile. That smile was the same I see in the mirror as his blood pools at my feet. The smile I see in myself when she comes for him. She comes for them all but no one can have her but me, this is my ED and I loved her first.
(So this isn't great but I couldn't get the idea of the director being the gatekeeper to the crazy docs when he really was the mad one out of my head. I enjoyed the prompt so I thought I'd throw something in.) | |
[WP] You fell in love with Chicago’s grim reaper so you become an emergency room doctor to see him/her more often. Your coworkers are concerned because you smile every time someone dies. | “Why do you smile so often? Kind of morbid, don’t you think?” Teddy raised an eyebrow at me as he began to clean the bed out. The corpse had been removed; Mr. Lopez had died, living a long life of 88 years and allowing himself to pass peacefully.
I shrugged, “I like to think that someone is waiting for them on the other side - you know, like a long-awaited reunion.”
I always await the reunion.
Teddy gave a crooked smile as he shook his head. He began taking the sheets off the bed and whispered, “You are a weird one, Cora.” He walked out the room smoothly, and I leaned against the counter, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the edge.
“You all done with your business?” I whispered.
A figure stepped from the shadowed corner of the room. His hair was a touseled, deep red, and his eyes were a light brown. Though, I swore they changed colors. He looked as though he had galaxies dancing within his pupils.
“Ignacio Luís Chuy Lopez. 88 years old. Peaceful death. He’s with his wife, and his dogs, now.” His voice vibrated my skull even though he barely spoke.
“It’s nice to know he’s happy,” I smiled sadly.
“Are you, Cora?” He took a step closer to me. His eyes were a swirling black pool, now. I *knew* they changed colors.
“I’m happy when I see you, Grim,” I slowly reached for his hand, and he took it tenderly. For a grim reaper, his hands were soft, and inviting.
He gave a small frown, “I’m only happy when I see you, too.”
I was silent. I didn’t know what to say.
“Kiss me, Cora. If you kiss me, we can be together,” Grim seemed to plead with me. He gripped both my hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze, “I told you to think about it.. Have you?”
I looked down.
“Death is terrifying, Grim...”
It was his turn to be silent.
I squeezed his hands, “But if death means a new life with you... Then I’ll do it.”
Grim looked up, his eyes bright and exploding with blues and yellows. It reminded me of Van Gogh. “Really?”
I laughed, “Of course, silly.”
He hesitated, then slowly leaned towards me.
His kiss felt like fire.
My death felt like nothing.
My new life with him felt like perfection. | I’m in love with Death. There. I said it. Not the petty thing we mortals fear, but the capital d, the man himself, Shinigami, Thanatos, Death. With. A. Capital. D. Show some respect - trust me when I tell you it’s the absolute last first impression you want to bungle.
My one-sided love affair began when I first saw Him take someone. I’d never seen death before - I was petrified, terrified, scared to look but unable to take my eyes away - but then I saw Him. I looked around in confusion. Why were all the emergency workers ignoring the cloaked figure standing next to the man in the road? As the figure gazed at the soon-to-be corpse, I saw a bright light emerge from it. Death wasn’t angry or vengeful - his sad, slumped shoulders told me he was carrying out a responsibility he had no desire to fulfill. He threw a glance in my direction, and disappeared as mysteriously as he had come.
From that day, I was driven and disturbed. I just - had to see him again. From that day, I focused on school, yearning to become a doctor so that I could see him not just once, but as often as possible.
I did my best to save my patients, but I couldn’t help let the tiniest of smiles show itself on the corner of my mouth when a patient slipped away. I wasn’t glad that they were gone, but that my moment was coming sooner. Every death reminded me of my own mortality and I loved it. And I know for certain that I won’t have to hide an ear-to-ear grin when my turn with Death finally comes. | |
[WP] You fell in love with Chicago’s grim reaper so you become an emergency room doctor to see him/her more often. Your coworkers are concerned because you smile every time someone dies. | I had a feeling for my entire life that my special someone would be weird. I mean, it was true, but he was so much weirder than I thought. And I like it that way.
\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~\~
Flatline. "He's dying!" They grabbed the defibrillator, and tried their best to revive him, but nothing worked. My heart sank. It was the first time that someone died right in front of me. All of a sudden, everyone around me froze. Complete silence. Then, I heard footsteps. A guy in a black hoodie appeared out of nowhere. "Who are you?" I asked.
"You... You can see me?" he asked. I nodded. He looked my up and down, and his eyes softened. He stood there for a moment, and soon took a step closer. "Do you like what you see?" he asked, a smirk growing across his face.
I mean, he was handsome, I'll admit it, but I didn't even know who he was. He cocked his head. "My name is Grim," he said, holding out his hand.
"Uh... Hi. I'm Charlene," I said, shaking his hand. He squeezed my hand gently, and smiled. I awkwardly pulled my hand back. I blinked, and he cocked his head like a puppy. "What is it?" I asked. He shook his head and took a step back.
"N-nothing, it's nothing," he said nervously. I barely knew him at the time, but based off of general signs of lying, he wasn't telling the truth. Again, I barely knew him, so I wasn't really expecting the truth.
"Okay, if you say so," I said. He smiled again. I felt my heart melt, but I didn't know why.
"Well, you know what, Charlene? I said it was nothing, but... It wasn't. It was everything." My heart started pounding. I had a feeling I knew what was coming. It's happened with other people before, and I just said no. Why do I feel like I won't be able to?
"S-so, what was everything?" I asked nervously.
"I noticed the way your eyes sparkle," he said. It was moving too fast, but I didn't want it to slow down. I was so scared of how I felt, I backed up and banged into the wall and fell. He came to my side like a knight in shining armor. "Are you okay?" he asked, helping me up.
"Y-yeah, Grim. I'm fine." He looked happy, and a little shocked. I heard a bell, much like a school bell, he jumped. He walked over to the man who died, and placed his hand on his forehead, and his hand started glowing. He then opened a small pouch in his pocket, and placed a glowing, silver mist inside the bag.
He ran over to me. "Charlene, I don't have a lot of time to explain. I'm not a normal guy named Grim, I am a grim reaper." I gasped, but he covered my mouth. "Don't scream. I need to explain this. I don't know a lot about you, but let me just say that there really is such a thing as a soul mate. I should know, it's my job. I've been told how it would feel when I found the one. This is it, and I can tell from the blush on your cheeks that you feel it too. Charlene, you are my soulmate." He leaned his forehead against mine, and I felt a sudden calm rush through my body. I knew he was right.
​
This was right. | There she was, leaning against the blueish tiles of the room, without the shadow that the lamp should've been projecting while directed there. While my body was facing the table, my face and my gaze were fixated on those dark eyes of her. She looked at me without showing much of an expression, but then she slowly shifted her dark lips toward a smile, with a smiling crease forming on her grayish cheek.
That smile seemed so innocent and earnest to me, I couldn't help but smile back at her. I felt like there was an immense universe behind those eyes. They must have seen many lives be born and wither, their petals slowly torn off and let to fly away, never to return, while their children bloomed, and cried at their bedside. But what I saw within them was a whole universe of its own, full of stars, full of thoughts.
In another plane, a dimension different from the one we are stuck in, to live only of our senses, she was maybe normal, not extraordinary. But to me she was that and more, and I wanted to make her part of my own life.
I wanted her to be normality, and I wanted for her to think the same of me as well.
A sort of muffled thump interrupted my thoughts then, bringing me back to that reality I had managed to seclude myself from. My colleague, Stewart, was putting a hand on my shoulder, looking at me with wide eyes, wanting me to shift my attention to the patient on the bed. His heart had simply stopped. We had tried for various minutes to minimize the damage, but there wouldn't be much to do about it in the first place: when he came in, I knew already that it would be another chance of seeing her. That a life was slipping by my hand, that I would not have felt bad as I used to again, those were changes that easily rooted within me.
It's weird, how easy we tend to adapt and accept what once used to be abhorrent.
But I always wanted to keep them alive, to never truly die. I always did my best.
​
I turned in a single motion to the patient and prepared the injection of vasopressin, before indicating to Stewart the defibrillator. He shouted words to the rest of the staff present in the room, but at that point I couldn't make them out anymore: they became muffled again, silenced by looking at the man's face, but knowingly thinking my eyes' blind spots were hiding the figure I longed to see once more.
Fifteen seconds had passed when he looked at me.
Fifty when the defibrillator was ready to be used.
One minute and two when I raised my hand, ready to lower them down again, the devices still firmly grasped.
I considered how he didn't see me smile this time, yet I kept smiling many other times. Some thought it was sadness at first, a way of coping with the loss by reacting in a nervous way, like with a nervous laughter.
Others found it quite creepy. It was for them an act simply unwelcome in a place where life and death could make the difference in someone's existence, be it the relatives of those that died, or the staff that tried all they could to prevent the worst from happening. But the truth is that there were always those that would not really care about it any longer: you see death everyday, you get used to it. One is lost, one is saved, the next is on its way.
Some of their behaviour made me wonder if they were really uncaring since the beginning.
I remember one female nurse that asked to play a game on my smartphone had recorded the sound of a heart not responding as a tone; a loud, slightly schreeching flatline that was probably damaging the speaker of my phone when played at high volumes.
"So that you can get off in your own home. That's why you keep smiling whenever they die, isn't it? Necrophiliac."
She wasn't there that night. Stewart was there with me, and he had always been more inquisitive, yet showing much more sensitivity about me. I was doing my best, and that was what mattered. I was a person "honest and overall good at heart", as he would tell me when accompanying him to drink. But the 'issue' did unsettle him too.
It's difficult to clarify in the first place: how do you exactly explain the one being that could make you smile and make your heart beat so fast appeared only when the heart of someone else felt silent?
But I am losing concentration. One minute and thirty-five, the body jumps in retaliation from the shock.
And then I couldn't help but look at her once more, turning around, with sweat on my forehead, my eyes tiredly looking for hers. She had stopped smiling, and didn't do it again when our gaze met. I think she realized my thoughts.
"I would have preferred for you to stay, but it seems you have to go."
My words took aback the other nurse readying another syringe, and Stewart himself had his eyes wide once more, his veins becoming so large I wondered if his face would be the next one I would have looked at vertically from above. Two minutes and thirteen, I shove the defibrillator into Stewart's chest, put my arms firmly on the patient's upper torso, and simply yell "Epinephrine". It's like I could feel his heart being nothing but a dead weight, which I kept trying to wake up like an animal that was desirous of nothing more than sleeping. I focused myself on the patient, and the surrounding became dimmed once more. For a second, I wondered if they injected the adrenaline to me instead of the patient.
It felt like I could even communicate with her, for once. I was thinking aloud.
"You appeared too quickly this time. It's Asystole."
But there was no response.
Yet I felt like continuing
"I could have done nothing and it would have been another facilitated encounter."
Once more, I pressed his chest, firmly, repeating again and again. The minutes were reaching the number four, a number of death in some cultures.
"But I really can't bring myself to let someone die so easily."
A tiny movement of his lips, a tenuous feeling in his chest. I stopped pressing down.
As I was about to stood up from him, I could see her again, to my left side, so close to me.
*"That's what I like about you."*
As her figure faded quickly, an afterimage of a smile she left was impressed in my eyes.
I stood there looking in her direction, while the nurses were already preparing the second injection, to be done after 5 minutes. Reality settled in again, and they were talking about what I said.
It seems that I ended up mentioning it was Asystole, and surely the rest, aloud.
I felt a familiar hand on my shoulder, and saw Stewart's face smiling at mine before heading for the exit, shaking his head. At least he got used to it, even if it still makes him uncomfortable and lose his calm when it happens.
But how could I blame him? It's a matter of life and death after all.
"Oh God, tell me how he's doing. Please, save him, he's my world, I should have never disowned him! I will improve myself, I will change, just-"
The door shut close, and I turned to look at the patient. I will do my best to ensure he will wake up, and talk to his father again. I think he needs to know, even if he has little to live, that he is cared for.
It's important to know that you have worth in this world.
And I smiled: a genuine smile, brighter than the others.
She acknowledged *me* this time. | |
[WP] You fell in love with Chicago’s grim reaper so you become an emergency room doctor to see him/her more often. Your coworkers are concerned because you smile every time someone dies. | I'd cried. A lot.
I'd been in the hospital for quite some time. Worked myself to the bone only to exhaust my funds. That was where I first saw him. I'd chalked it up to grief at the time. Perhaps I was only seeing what I wanted to see. I was told this was normal, considering the circumstances.
It was after the car accident that I saw him again. I was rushed into the emergency room, though to be quite honest I hardly cared what would become of me. And then, there he was. Clumsy, tripping over his cloak as he went down the halls. I called out to him, dared him to take me. He stopped. He looked at me. He ran away before I was wheeled into surgery.
I'm not sure what saved me that day. The surgeons, or the refusal of the reaper.
He would appear again from time to time, at a grisly scene on the news or walking down the streets towards an unknown destination. I tried to talk to him, begged for a moment of his time. However, he would always scrunch up his large eyes and vigorously shake his head no. He had a job to do. Eventually, the time apart became unbearable.
It took years, but I knew it was worth it the moment I saw him again.
He was holding hands with a little girl. She couldn't have been older than seven.
She was already a year older than he had been.
He looked at me and beamed. "I'm working hard!" He said with a grin.
I nodded, pride welling more than the tears. "I know. And I'm so proud."
He ran off with the girl, the two giggling away the sorrow.
I don't need to be sad when someone dies in this ER. I don't need to cry when this city loses a life.
I know the reaper. He has chubby cheeks and a bald head. He loves animal crackers and puppies and is good at finger painting. He's bad at grieving because he always wants to make people smile, even when he's the one scared and sad. When he can, he shows me friends he makes.
I know the reaper. His first word was "Mama". I love him more than anything in this world.
People cry, a lot. But I can smile knowing he's there for people in their end. | There she was, leaning against the blueish tiles of the room, without the shadow that the lamp should've been projecting while directed there. While my body was facing the table, my face and my gaze were fixated on those dark eyes of her. She looked at me without showing much of an expression, but then she slowly shifted her dark lips toward a smile, with a smiling crease forming on her grayish cheek.
That smile seemed so innocent and earnest to me, I couldn't help but smile back at her. I felt like there was an immense universe behind those eyes. They must have seen many lives be born and wither, their petals slowly torn off and let to fly away, never to return, while their children bloomed, and cried at their bedside. But what I saw within them was a whole universe of its own, full of stars, full of thoughts.
In another plane, a dimension different from the one we are stuck in, to live only of our senses, she was maybe normal, not extraordinary. But to me she was that and more, and I wanted to make her part of my own life.
I wanted her to be normality, and I wanted for her to think the same of me as well.
A sort of muffled thump interrupted my thoughts then, bringing me back to that reality I had managed to seclude myself from. My colleague, Stewart, was putting a hand on my shoulder, looking at me with wide eyes, wanting me to shift my attention to the patient on the bed. His heart had simply stopped. We had tried for various minutes to minimize the damage, but there wouldn't be much to do about it in the first place: when he came in, I knew already that it would be another chance of seeing her. That a life was slipping by my hand, that I would not have felt bad as I used to again, those were changes that easily rooted within me.
It's weird, how easy we tend to adapt and accept what once used to be abhorrent.
But I always wanted to keep them alive, to never truly die. I always did my best.
​
I turned in a single motion to the patient and prepared the injection of vasopressin, before indicating to Stewart the defibrillator. He shouted words to the rest of the staff present in the room, but at that point I couldn't make them out anymore: they became muffled again, silenced by looking at the man's face, but knowingly thinking my eyes' blind spots were hiding the figure I longed to see once more.
Fifteen seconds had passed when he looked at me.
Fifty when the defibrillator was ready to be used.
One minute and two when I raised my hand, ready to lower them down again, the devices still firmly grasped.
I considered how he didn't see me smile this time, yet I kept smiling many other times. Some thought it was sadness at first, a way of coping with the loss by reacting in a nervous way, like with a nervous laughter.
Others found it quite creepy. It was for them an act simply unwelcome in a place where life and death could make the difference in someone's existence, be it the relatives of those that died, or the staff that tried all they could to prevent the worst from happening. But the truth is that there were always those that would not really care about it any longer: you see death everyday, you get used to it. One is lost, one is saved, the next is on its way.
Some of their behaviour made me wonder if they were really uncaring since the beginning.
I remember one female nurse that asked to play a game on my smartphone had recorded the sound of a heart not responding as a tone; a loud, slightly schreeching flatline that was probably damaging the speaker of my phone when played at high volumes.
"So that you can get off in your own home. That's why you keep smiling whenever they die, isn't it? Necrophiliac."
She wasn't there that night. Stewart was there with me, and he had always been more inquisitive, yet showing much more sensitivity about me. I was doing my best, and that was what mattered. I was a person "honest and overall good at heart", as he would tell me when accompanying him to drink. But the 'issue' did unsettle him too.
It's difficult to clarify in the first place: how do you exactly explain the one being that could make you smile and make your heart beat so fast appeared only when the heart of someone else felt silent?
But I am losing concentration. One minute and thirty-five, the body jumps in retaliation from the shock.
And then I couldn't help but look at her once more, turning around, with sweat on my forehead, my eyes tiredly looking for hers. She had stopped smiling, and didn't do it again when our gaze met. I think she realized my thoughts.
"I would have preferred for you to stay, but it seems you have to go."
My words took aback the other nurse readying another syringe, and Stewart himself had his eyes wide once more, his veins becoming so large I wondered if his face would be the next one I would have looked at vertically from above. Two minutes and thirteen, I shove the defibrillator into Stewart's chest, put my arms firmly on the patient's upper torso, and simply yell "Epinephrine". It's like I could feel his heart being nothing but a dead weight, which I kept trying to wake up like an animal that was desirous of nothing more than sleeping. I focused myself on the patient, and the surrounding became dimmed once more. For a second, I wondered if they injected the adrenaline to me instead of the patient.
It felt like I could even communicate with her, for once. I was thinking aloud.
"You appeared too quickly this time. It's Asystole."
But there was no response.
Yet I felt like continuing
"I could have done nothing and it would have been another facilitated encounter."
Once more, I pressed his chest, firmly, repeating again and again. The minutes were reaching the number four, a number of death in some cultures.
"But I really can't bring myself to let someone die so easily."
A tiny movement of his lips, a tenuous feeling in his chest. I stopped pressing down.
As I was about to stood up from him, I could see her again, to my left side, so close to me.
*"That's what I like about you."*
As her figure faded quickly, an afterimage of a smile she left was impressed in my eyes.
I stood there looking in her direction, while the nurses were already preparing the second injection, to be done after 5 minutes. Reality settled in again, and they were talking about what I said.
It seems that I ended up mentioning it was Asystole, and surely the rest, aloud.
I felt a familiar hand on my shoulder, and saw Stewart's face smiling at mine before heading for the exit, shaking his head. At least he got used to it, even if it still makes him uncomfortable and lose his calm when it happens.
But how could I blame him? It's a matter of life and death after all.
"Oh God, tell me how he's doing. Please, save him, he's my world, I should have never disowned him! I will improve myself, I will change, just-"
The door shut close, and I turned to look at the patient. I will do my best to ensure he will wake up, and talk to his father again. I think he needs to know, even if he has little to live, that he is cared for.
It's important to know that you have worth in this world.
And I smiled: a genuine smile, brighter than the others.
She acknowledged *me* this time. | |
[WP] You fell in love with Chicago’s grim reaper so you become an emergency room doctor to see him/her more often. Your coworkers are concerned because you smile every time someone dies. | I'd cried. A lot.
I'd been in the hospital for quite some time. Worked myself to the bone only to exhaust my funds. That was where I first saw him. I'd chalked it up to grief at the time. Perhaps I was only seeing what I wanted to see. I was told this was normal, considering the circumstances.
It was after the car accident that I saw him again. I was rushed into the emergency room, though to be quite honest I hardly cared what would become of me. And then, there he was. Clumsy, tripping over his cloak as he went down the halls. I called out to him, dared him to take me. He stopped. He looked at me. He ran away before I was wheeled into surgery.
I'm not sure what saved me that day. The surgeons, or the refusal of the reaper.
He would appear again from time to time, at a grisly scene on the news or walking down the streets towards an unknown destination. I tried to talk to him, begged for a moment of his time. However, he would always scrunch up his large eyes and vigorously shake his head no. He had a job to do. Eventually, the time apart became unbearable.
It took years, but I knew it was worth it the moment I saw him again.
He was holding hands with a little girl. She couldn't have been older than seven.
She was already a year older than he had been.
He looked at me and beamed. "I'm working hard!" He said with a grin.
I nodded, pride welling more than the tears. "I know. And I'm so proud."
He ran off with the girl, the two giggling away the sorrow.
I don't need to be sad when someone dies in this ER. I don't need to cry when this city loses a life.
I know the reaper. He has chubby cheeks and a bald head. He loves animal crackers and puppies and is good at finger painting. He's bad at grieving because he always wants to make people smile, even when he's the one scared and sad. When he can, he shows me friends he makes.
I know the reaper. His first word was "Mama". I love him more than anything in this world.
People cry, a lot. But I can smile knowing he's there for people in their end. | A mangled man wheezed a series pathetic rasps. Rachael watched him like a vulture. She knew he was a goner. The crash had knocked out half the man's organs and profuse internal bleeding was quickly finishing up the other half of the job. As the man's rasping became fainter and fainter, Rachael could feel her heart drumming faster and faster. A million emotions stirred within her at once: enthusiasm, anxiety, curiosity,....love. In that cold sterile room, she had never felt hotter.
As the monitor began to flatline, Rachel brushed her hair vigorously, making sure not a single strand was out of line. And then she saw him. A tall, dark, and slender entity stalked towards the dying man, and calmly sipped out the remnants of his failing vitality. Rachael stood their transfixed, smiling and watched him with inviting eyes. So layered, so mysterious, and with such a presence! "Will you stay for long this time?" she awkwardly asked. Her plea seemed to echo right through the entity, and it silently drifted out the ER as suddenly as it had entered. Death had places to be.
Rachael sat silently next to the lifeless body of her former patient, mindlessly playing with her hair, when something entered the room. Rachael jumped out of her seat, but her excitement quickly subsided as she realized it was just the senior surgeon coming in to check on the patient.
"Rachael, how long has he been dead for?" the surgeon asked with concern.
"Um... he died just a few minutes ago" Rachael reported half heartedly.
"Well, don't just sit there daydreaming. Why didn't you call me over as soon as he flatlined? Anyway, we need to clean this place up. Find out who he is and contact his nearest relatives," the surgeon commanded. Then much more reticently and ominously he added, "I'm starting to seriously worry about you."
Rachael compliantly nodded and rushed out the room to make some somber calls. The other nurses eyed her cautiously and chittered between themselves as she walked down the hospital hallways. The fuzzy and exhilarating energy that captured her had drained out, replaced by a toxic pool of guilt. What was wrong with her?! Was she that terrible of a person?! To her Death was a guide, taxiing those fed up with this life to the next, rather than the cold, dark reaper of souls everyone else seemed to fear. Was she wrong? These thoughts continued to plague her for the rest of her graveyard shift.
​
When Rachael arrived back home just as her neighbors were readying their children for school, she threw her coat and bag aimlessly on the nearest piece of furniture. She thought of making a call - she could use a comforting voice of a relative or friend. She decided against it, opting for a somewhat rejuvenating shower instead. As the water soaked into her skin and washed off the night's sweat, she continued to ruminate about all the times she smirked as she anticipated her patient's final breath. It's not that she enjoyed watching people die. She just couldn't get enough of him. | |
[WP] You fell in love with Chicago’s grim reaper so you become an emergency room doctor to see him/her more often. Your coworkers are concerned because you smile every time someone dies. | I’ve always had a morbid fascination with death. Perhaps that’s what drew me to become an ER surgeon in Chicago, the city with more murders per capita than anywhere else in the world.
Or perhaps it was Grim.
Perhaps it was his crisp, perfectly tailored black suit, or his suave black hair, or the way he smiled at me every time we would meet. Maybe it was all of these things.
The first time I saw Grim, I had just witnessed a car accident and I thought he was a curious bystander.
The second time I saw him was in the hospital. His appearance that day gave me a minor nervous breakdown, and when my coworkers saw me talking to a man that wasn’t there, I was immediately told to go home and get my head straight. Chicago had a particularly warm and bloody spring that year, so everyone just chalked it up to stress.
But I knew I was fine even though Grim kept showing up. Eventually he became a part of my everyday life, like taking the train or brushing my teeth. Eventually he became something more than that.
~~~
I turned away from the body on the operating table and moved towards the sink to wash my hands.
The operating room always felt darker after everyone left me alone with the body but I didn’t mind. I needed to be alone after each death. I took off my gloves, tossed them in the trash and ran the hot water over my fingers.
When I turned around to dry, Grim’s beautiful face was so close I could count the hairs on the stubble of his masculine jaw.
“Oh my god,” I said as my heart skipped a beat. “Why do you always do that? Can’t you knock or something?”
“You know I can’t interact with the physical world.” He grinned, his smile full of devilish charm and confidence. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I said.
His warm eyes looked down into mine, and never failed to make me feel warm in the cold of the operating room. For being death personified, I could always feel an aura of warmth around him.
With his usual suddenness, Grim turned around, walked over to the body of the large fifty year old man and leaned over him.
“So what do we have here? No gunshot wound today?”
“Heart attack. His arteries as clogged as they come, ” I said, walking up behind him. I took a deep breath hoping to catch a whiff of his scent but instead only got the metal smell of blood. “Chicago’s having a pretty quiet summer. No a single murder this month.”
“Pity,” he said. “I don’t get to see you as much these days.”
“Don’t say that. That’s selfish.”
“I know. But haven’t we earned the right to be a little selfish? How many lives have you saved?”
“How many have you taken?”
I immediately regret saying that when I saw his smile vanish.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” I said quickly.
“What about Mexico City? I hear things are quite turbulent there.” His tone was sarcastic, but I could sense the sadness underneath his humor. “I’m sure they could use a good surgeon.”
I sighed. “What are we going to do, Grim?” I asked. “This is getting harder.”
He turned around to face me, his expression dead serious as it gets whenever we discuss our relationship.
“A mortal can never be with an immortal,” Grim said. “These are the rules.”
“I know,” said. I put my hands on his chest, or where it appeared. “Can’t we break them just once?”
He looked down at his watch, as if time meant anything in his world.
“My five minutes are almost up,” he said turning to the dead body on the operating table. ”Come on Hamburger Lover, it’s time to go.”
I never saw or heard the souls he took, only him.
He turned his back to me as he always does prior to leaving. I wanted to grab him and hold him from going, but I couldn’t do that anymore than I could hold on to a candle’s warmth.
“Wait,” I said. As he turned, I leaned in and put my lips on his. His eyes widened, and then closed along with mine. Something about this kiss was different than any previous kiss we’ve shared. For once, I felt something and so did he. I wanted it to last forever.
When I came up for air and opened my eyes, I knew I could finally say it.
“I love you ,” I said.
He smiled slowly, his eyes soft and understanding. “I’ll knock next time.”
Then he looking into my eyes, he slowly vanished and I was alone once more.
~~~
The first time he didn’t show, I was worried. I panicked and spent ten minutes trying to resuscitate a suicide that my coworkers knew had no chance. But if Grim wasn’t here, maybe this person wasn’t truly dead.
After he didn’t show for the second time, I began to panic. What was wrong? Did I scare him? Did I break some divine rule about loving an immortal?
Then came anger. How could leave me like that? This was so cruel.
After seven days of not seeing him, I was more depressed than I’ve ever been in my life. I wanted to cry all the time.
I would wait longer and longer after time of death was declared, waving off questions of concerned colleagues, ignoring the whispers about me losing it again.
This morning I overheard the hospital general manager talking to another surgeon. They were going to put me on medical leave, force me to see a therapist.
I wouldn’t even fight them if they did. So when I was putting away the surgical instruments after two hour long surgery and heard a knock on the door, I thought it was them coming to tell me to go home.
But when I turned to face them, I didn’t see white coats. I saw Grim, in his sharp black suit, holding the door.
“Told you I’d knock,” he grinned.
| A mangled man wheezed a series pathetic rasps. Rachael watched him like a vulture. She knew he was a goner. The crash had knocked out half the man's organs and profuse internal bleeding was quickly finishing up the other half of the job. As the man's rasping became fainter and fainter, Rachael could feel her heart drumming faster and faster. A million emotions stirred within her at once: enthusiasm, anxiety, curiosity,....love. In that cold sterile room, she had never felt hotter.
As the monitor began to flatline, Rachel brushed her hair vigorously, making sure not a single strand was out of line. And then she saw him. A tall, dark, and slender entity stalked towards the dying man, and calmly sipped out the remnants of his failing vitality. Rachael stood their transfixed, smiling and watched him with inviting eyes. So layered, so mysterious, and with such a presence! "Will you stay for long this time?" she awkwardly asked. Her plea seemed to echo right through the entity, and it silently drifted out the ER as suddenly as it had entered. Death had places to be.
Rachael sat silently next to the lifeless body of her former patient, mindlessly playing with her hair, when something entered the room. Rachael jumped out of her seat, but her excitement quickly subsided as she realized it was just the senior surgeon coming in to check on the patient.
"Rachael, how long has he been dead for?" the surgeon asked with concern.
"Um... he died just a few minutes ago" Rachael reported half heartedly.
"Well, don't just sit there daydreaming. Why didn't you call me over as soon as he flatlined? Anyway, we need to clean this place up. Find out who he is and contact his nearest relatives," the surgeon commanded. Then much more reticently and ominously he added, "I'm starting to seriously worry about you."
Rachael compliantly nodded and rushed out the room to make some somber calls. The other nurses eyed her cautiously and chittered between themselves as she walked down the hospital hallways. The fuzzy and exhilarating energy that captured her had drained out, replaced by a toxic pool of guilt. What was wrong with her?! Was she that terrible of a person?! To her Death was a guide, taxiing those fed up with this life to the next, rather than the cold, dark reaper of souls everyone else seemed to fear. Was she wrong? These thoughts continued to plague her for the rest of her graveyard shift.
​
When Rachael arrived back home just as her neighbors were readying their children for school, she threw her coat and bag aimlessly on the nearest piece of furniture. She thought of making a call - she could use a comforting voice of a relative or friend. She decided against it, opting for a somewhat rejuvenating shower instead. As the water soaked into her skin and washed off the night's sweat, she continued to ruminate about all the times she smirked as she anticipated her patient's final breath. It's not that she enjoyed watching people die. She just couldn't get enough of him. | |
[WP] You fell in love with Chicago’s grim reaper so you become an emergency room doctor to see him/her more often. Your coworkers are concerned because you smile every time someone dies. | I'd cried. A lot.
I'd been in the hospital for quite some time. Worked myself to the bone only to exhaust my funds. That was where I first saw him. I'd chalked it up to grief at the time. Perhaps I was only seeing what I wanted to see. I was told this was normal, considering the circumstances.
It was after the car accident that I saw him again. I was rushed into the emergency room, though to be quite honest I hardly cared what would become of me. And then, there he was. Clumsy, tripping over his cloak as he went down the halls. I called out to him, dared him to take me. He stopped. He looked at me. He ran away before I was wheeled into surgery.
I'm not sure what saved me that day. The surgeons, or the refusal of the reaper.
He would appear again from time to time, at a grisly scene on the news or walking down the streets towards an unknown destination. I tried to talk to him, begged for a moment of his time. However, he would always scrunch up his large eyes and vigorously shake his head no. He had a job to do. Eventually, the time apart became unbearable.
It took years, but I knew it was worth it the moment I saw him again.
He was holding hands with a little girl. She couldn't have been older than seven.
She was already a year older than he had been.
He looked at me and beamed. "I'm working hard!" He said with a grin.
I nodded, pride welling more than the tears. "I know. And I'm so proud."
He ran off with the girl, the two giggling away the sorrow.
I don't need to be sad when someone dies in this ER. I don't need to cry when this city loses a life.
I know the reaper. He has chubby cheeks and a bald head. He loves animal crackers and puppies and is good at finger painting. He's bad at grieving because he always wants to make people smile, even when he's the one scared and sad. When he can, he shows me friends he makes.
I know the reaper. His first word was "Mama". I love him more than anything in this world.
People cry, a lot. But I can smile knowing he's there for people in their end. | You see, beauty is an odd, slippery thing.
Many sunsets have caressed my skin, and in everyone of them, I'd convinced myself I'd found the shape of beauty, and for a long time that'd been true. But ignorance is full of tricks, and in the core of those tricks, there hides conviction--but is a false conviction!
And so, when a new truth comes to shatter the lies, the realization of how brittle beliefs are, crowds the mind with questions, and those questions eddy in a constant circle, for when I witnessed the northern lights the sunsets became dull--they were still wonderful, don't get me wrong, but they were not the shape of beauty anymore.
Perhaps this is nothing more than me trying to finding meaning to things that were meant to be abstract, but I can't stop my mind, and for that I will never apologize.
Sometimes it's the mind itself the one that sets your legs into motion and takes you to different places to seek for things you didn't know you were searching for, and it does that through a mischievous thing called curiosity. I know how odd this sounds, I know the words dancing within you, I can hear them in your frown; but we all have our own particularities, and this is mine.
I don't expect you to understand the turnings of my brain, but you asked for an explanation, and the explanation to your question will make sense if you try, even for the space of a breath, to find sense in my ramblings.
Doctor, I've found the shape of beauty, and it's not as bright as the sunset, nor is as vast as the northern lights. The shape of beauty is nothing more than bones and a black robe tracing the curvature of a nose, and I've seen it--I've seen it many times!
That's the reason my lips part everytime a patient dies, because in that moment it comes, and in the brevity of a breath it fades.
I don't expect you to understand it, doctor.
But one day you will.
One day everyone will.
--------------------------
r/NoahElowyn for more of my work
| |
[WP] You fell in love with Chicago’s grim reaper so you become an emergency room doctor to see him/her more often. Your coworkers are concerned because you smile every time someone dies. | I’ve always had a morbid fascination with death. Perhaps that’s what drew me to become an ER surgeon in Chicago, the city with more murders per capita than anywhere else in the world.
Or perhaps it was Grim.
Perhaps it was his crisp, perfectly tailored black suit, or his suave black hair, or the way he smiled at me every time we would meet. Maybe it was all of these things.
The first time I saw Grim, I had just witnessed a car accident and I thought he was a curious bystander.
The second time I saw him was in the hospital. His appearance that day gave me a minor nervous breakdown, and when my coworkers saw me talking to a man that wasn’t there, I was immediately told to go home and get my head straight. Chicago had a particularly warm and bloody spring that year, so everyone just chalked it up to stress.
But I knew I was fine even though Grim kept showing up. Eventually he became a part of my everyday life, like taking the train or brushing my teeth. Eventually he became something more than that.
~~~
I turned away from the body on the operating table and moved towards the sink to wash my hands.
The operating room always felt darker after everyone left me alone with the body but I didn’t mind. I needed to be alone after each death. I took off my gloves, tossed them in the trash and ran the hot water over my fingers.
When I turned around to dry, Grim’s beautiful face was so close I could count the hairs on the stubble of his masculine jaw.
“Oh my god,” I said as my heart skipped a beat. “Why do you always do that? Can’t you knock or something?”
“You know I can’t interact with the physical world.” He grinned, his smile full of devilish charm and confidence. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I said.
His warm eyes looked down into mine, and never failed to make me feel warm in the cold of the operating room. For being death personified, I could always feel an aura of warmth around him.
With his usual suddenness, Grim turned around, walked over to the body of the large fifty year old man and leaned over him.
“So what do we have here? No gunshot wound today?”
“Heart attack. His arteries as clogged as they come, ” I said, walking up behind him. I took a deep breath hoping to catch a whiff of his scent but instead only got the metal smell of blood. “Chicago’s having a pretty quiet summer. No a single murder this month.”
“Pity,” he said. “I don’t get to see you as much these days.”
“Don’t say that. That’s selfish.”
“I know. But haven’t we earned the right to be a little selfish? How many lives have you saved?”
“How many have you taken?”
I immediately regret saying that when I saw his smile vanish.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” I said quickly.
“What about Mexico City? I hear things are quite turbulent there.” His tone was sarcastic, but I could sense the sadness underneath his humor. “I’m sure they could use a good surgeon.”
I sighed. “What are we going to do, Grim?” I asked. “This is getting harder.”
He turned around to face me, his expression dead serious as it gets whenever we discuss our relationship.
“A mortal can never be with an immortal,” Grim said. “These are the rules.”
“I know,” said. I put my hands on his chest, or where it appeared. “Can’t we break them just once?”
He looked down at his watch, as if time meant anything in his world.
“My five minutes are almost up,” he said turning to the dead body on the operating table. ”Come on Hamburger Lover, it’s time to go.”
I never saw or heard the souls he took, only him.
He turned his back to me as he always does prior to leaving. I wanted to grab him and hold him from going, but I couldn’t do that anymore than I could hold on to a candle’s warmth.
“Wait,” I said. As he turned, I leaned in and put my lips on his. His eyes widened, and then closed along with mine. Something about this kiss was different than any previous kiss we’ve shared. For once, I felt something and so did he. I wanted it to last forever.
When I came up for air and opened my eyes, I knew I could finally say it.
“I love you ,” I said.
He smiled slowly, his eyes soft and understanding. “I’ll knock next time.”
Then he looking into my eyes, he slowly vanished and I was alone once more.
~~~
The first time he didn’t show, I was worried. I panicked and spent ten minutes trying to resuscitate a suicide that my coworkers knew had no chance. But if Grim wasn’t here, maybe this person wasn’t truly dead.
After he didn’t show for the second time, I began to panic. What was wrong? Did I scare him? Did I break some divine rule about loving an immortal?
Then came anger. How could leave me like that? This was so cruel.
After seven days of not seeing him, I was more depressed than I’ve ever been in my life. I wanted to cry all the time.
I would wait longer and longer after time of death was declared, waving off questions of concerned colleagues, ignoring the whispers about me losing it again.
This morning I overheard the hospital general manager talking to another surgeon. They were going to put me on medical leave, force me to see a therapist.
I wouldn’t even fight them if they did. So when I was putting away the surgical instruments after two hour long surgery and heard a knock on the door, I thought it was them coming to tell me to go home.
But when I turned to face them, I didn’t see white coats. I saw Grim, in his sharp black suit, holding the door.
“Told you I’d knock,” he grinned.
| You see, beauty is an odd, slippery thing.
Many sunsets have caressed my skin, and in everyone of them, I'd convinced myself I'd found the shape of beauty, and for a long time that'd been true. But ignorance is full of tricks, and in the core of those tricks, there hides conviction--but is a false conviction!
And so, when a new truth comes to shatter the lies, the realization of how brittle beliefs are, crowds the mind with questions, and those questions eddy in a constant circle, for when I witnessed the northern lights the sunsets became dull--they were still wonderful, don't get me wrong, but they were not the shape of beauty anymore.
Perhaps this is nothing more than me trying to finding meaning to things that were meant to be abstract, but I can't stop my mind, and for that I will never apologize.
Sometimes it's the mind itself the one that sets your legs into motion and takes you to different places to seek for things you didn't know you were searching for, and it does that through a mischievous thing called curiosity. I know how odd this sounds, I know the words dancing within you, I can hear them in your frown; but we all have our own particularities, and this is mine.
I don't expect you to understand the turnings of my brain, but you asked for an explanation, and the explanation to your question will make sense if you try, even for the space of a breath, to find sense in my ramblings.
Doctor, I've found the shape of beauty, and it's not as bright as the sunset, nor is as vast as the northern lights. The shape of beauty is nothing more than bones and a black robe tracing the curvature of a nose, and I've seen it--I've seen it many times!
That's the reason my lips part everytime a patient dies, because in that moment it comes, and in the brevity of a breath it fades.
I don't expect you to understand it, doctor.
But one day you will.
One day everyone will.
--------------------------
r/NoahElowyn for more of my work
| |
[WP] You fell in love with Chicago’s grim reaper so you become an emergency room doctor to see him/her more often. Your coworkers are concerned because you smile every time someone dies. |
The person is lying on the ER table, eyes unfocused, chest rising weakly as people swarm around him. It's an easy in and out. Or at least, it should be. I've gone through this enough times to know what's coming, but I still hope desperately as I heist my scythe.
Maybe she's on break. Maybe she's on vacation. Maybe that distinct head of red hair is just another doppelganger who happened to volunteer to take over her shift.
Yeah, no.
Stepping out from the shadows, I hurridly hack off Thomas E. Brunn's soul from his mortal body and stuff it in my sack. My boss would have my head if she knew what a rush job this was. Then again, she would have even more than that if she found out what has been happening almost every week since I transferred here.
I risk a glance over my shoulder and almost can't believe what I see.
Nothing. She's not here after all. Giddy in relief, I turn to go.
A grip on my wrist tugs me towards a storage room. The hushed squeal that follows ends any hopeful uncertainty still floating around in my head.
"You're here!"
For the most part, being a reaper isn't bad, you know? I mean, it's tedious, sure, and I can't remember the last time I've been on break, but the scenery's nice. Way better than paperwork, at least. Imagine being stuck at Heaven's bureau with St. Peter-- now that would be hell.
So yeah, life was pretty sweet. At least, until I got relocated to the Chicago district.
That's when I met her. Alice.
She just won't go away. Like, I turn around in the hospice and she's behind me, smiling at me. I walk over to the smoking car crash, she's skipping over to give me a hug. I appear in the train where Bob is keeling over from a heart attack, and, well, no points for guessing who.
Her grip on my hand is ironclad, as always. I tug my hand, and, just as predictably, it stays locked within her grasp.
Her eyes practically sparkle at me. "How's your day been? Did you get to see the double rainbow over the suburbs this morning? Oh, how are Rowan and Leah? I haven't seen you in forever!"
I squirm, feeling the weight of the entire culmination of Thomas E. Brunn pulse uncomfortably on my back.
"Alice," I say slowly, "you saw me last night with the drowning victim."
Her eyes peer at me in confusion. "So?" she whispers.
"...So, that wasn't forever ago?"
"Funny," she says, equal parts sarcastic and fond, and gives me a hug. It's one of the few good things about Alice- her hugs are to die for. I relax, despite myself.
Thomas' soul is vibrating now. It's jumping up and down and yeaaah, it's really time to go.
"I'm going. This soul isn't going to last much longer now."
I mean, this is partially because I stuffed it in a sack, but, well, if it works it works. She smiles a little sadly and gives me a thumbs up, letting go of my wrist. "See you!" she says, and I dash into the shadows without a response.
Rowan is already in the car, souls resting next to him. He raises an eyebrow under his hood, smirking as I put Thomas in along with the others. "Did it go well?"
"Shut up." I ignore his cackle as we take off, fishing in the glovebox for an ID. Charon mans the tollbooth in Chicago, and I've had to pay more than once after forgetting my pass. "This is already breaking every rule in the book. You don't have to tease me for it."
"Yeah, I know." He shrugs apologetically, and turns back to driving, seemingly losing himself in his thoughts.
A silence lingers between us. As we finally pull up towards headquarters, though, Rowan looks up at me. "Really, though," he says, "you should. Talk to her more, I mean."
It's only his tone, dead serious, that stops me from giving a disbelieving response.
He works his jaw, like he's searching for the right words to say. "I used to have a friend like that," he says at last, slowly. "Can't remember his name, of course, but I can remember what he was like. He always smiled."
He pauses again, then mutters, so quietly that I'm not sure if he intended me to hear, "I miss him."
He sits there, unmoving, for a long moment, before moving to get out of the car. "Anyway," he says, smirking at me, "she's hot, isn't she?" | You see, beauty is an odd, slippery thing.
Many sunsets have caressed my skin, and in everyone of them, I'd convinced myself I'd found the shape of beauty, and for a long time that'd been true. But ignorance is full of tricks, and in the core of those tricks, there hides conviction--but is a false conviction!
And so, when a new truth comes to shatter the lies, the realization of how brittle beliefs are, crowds the mind with questions, and those questions eddy in a constant circle, for when I witnessed the northern lights the sunsets became dull--they were still wonderful, don't get me wrong, but they were not the shape of beauty anymore.
Perhaps this is nothing more than me trying to finding meaning to things that were meant to be abstract, but I can't stop my mind, and for that I will never apologize.
Sometimes it's the mind itself the one that sets your legs into motion and takes you to different places to seek for things you didn't know you were searching for, and it does that through a mischievous thing called curiosity. I know how odd this sounds, I know the words dancing within you, I can hear them in your frown; but we all have our own particularities, and this is mine.
I don't expect you to understand the turnings of my brain, but you asked for an explanation, and the explanation to your question will make sense if you try, even for the space of a breath, to find sense in my ramblings.
Doctor, I've found the shape of beauty, and it's not as bright as the sunset, nor is as vast as the northern lights. The shape of beauty is nothing more than bones and a black robe tracing the curvature of a nose, and I've seen it--I've seen it many times!
That's the reason my lips part everytime a patient dies, because in that moment it comes, and in the brevity of a breath it fades.
I don't expect you to understand it, doctor.
But one day you will.
One day everyone will.
--------------------------
r/NoahElowyn for more of my work
| |
​ | [WP] Humans evolve and now get sustenance from reading rather than eating. | I watched as the man reached for a palate cleanser. I don’t blame him; the book he had chosen was dry, tough, and unappealing. Overcooked one could say. It is his fault for selecting such a technical work. They sit poorly on most stomachs but the man said it was what he needed more than what he wanted. From the way he sinks back in the seat I think the poem did its work.
I turn back to my own text. Its a Classic, compared by some to a fine bottle of wine or I suppose an aged cut of meat. A little trimming here and there might be needed for modern tastes but there are always purists who say it is best as-is. The staff here don’t do any trimming anyway, not paid enough for such a premium service I think. I hear footsteps as I flip to the next chapter. The waitstaff has returned. “Is there anything else you wish for the night? We have curated lists sorted by genre, length, and author. Would you like me to recite them to you?”
“No, no...” I hear him reply. “Maybe something light.”
“We have short stories, single-volume light novels, and locally sourced oneshots! Do you have a favorite genre?”
“Hmm, surprise me.” I cannot help but wince at his answer. Leaving it up to the waitstaff is rarely a good choice. Either he’ll get the most costly text or something inane. Given his earlier choice it may be the trashiest romance the libar has on stock. Complete junk and what the older generations call ‘fast food’. She comes back again with a thin book. I can’t make out the cover and give it up as none of my business. I return to my text when the man starts to burst out into laughter. What... A comedy? Or given his tastes maybe his sense of humor is warped enough to laugh at a banal romance? | I think the world would be like this:
Reading feeds you, but the degree of fullness depends on the quality of the writing and ideas. What you read is instantly inscribed in your memory and defines you. The better books you read, the stronger and smarter you become. The constraint is that whatever you read can only feed you once in your entire life, you must keep reading new things to stay alive- you are fed by new ideas rather than new combinations of words. The focus of media is spreading titles and new ideas. Clichés all but cease. People have accepted one global language.
Wars are fought over publishing rights and plagiarism. Rural societies have quickly disappeared due to starvation. Books have become the most valuable resource around. The demand for paper is so high that tree farming has become the mass agriculture. Business is built on the trade of information to be put in books. Writers are the highest paid professionals. Schools don’t need to exist. Reading a how-to-book makes you instantly proficient.
The problem is when so much has been written that there are few new ideas left and people are getting bored and start dying out. Society has advanced so far that there isn’t much more that it can improve. |
[WP] When you died, you got reincarnated in the dreams of the person who thought of you the most during your life. The person who’s dreams you appear in is someone you’ve never met. | I sat against the cold wall clenching my side holding onto the hole in my side. The sound of screams from around the corner started to fade as everything seemed to get darker. I looked down upon my wound to see blood, my blood. All over my hands and being absorbed by my clothes. I'd been shot mere seconds ago and the pain, oh the pain. My eyelids were heavy and felt cold so cold... I closed my eyes and let the cold take me.
What is this? The wall behind me became comfortable and soft,. also i was no longer sitting i was laying down! I opened my eyes to the white ceiling of a room, a bed room. I sat up on the bed i was laying in to see a dresser with makeup products strewn upon it and a window with the sun beaming through greeting me to a new day. (i noticed the opposite side of the bed to be made or something) Then suddenly footsteps! outside the bedroom running and coming closer, I lept out of bed and reached for my weapon, realizing i'm in my civies when the door burst open and " DADDY!" This small girl shouts and wraps her tiny arms around my leg. Her hair was black and curly and she had the biggest smile on her face. "H-Hey!" My arms went up like i was surrendering and i looked around frantically for whom may be the parent of this child, but she clearly called me ... Daddy. She suddenly grabs my hand and brings me out of the bedroom " C'mon were going to be late!" "Now hold on here..."
Before i could finish there was a bright flash and i was sitting on a small chair in what seemed to be a class room, filled with a bunch of little kids. and a man at the front behind a desk and a women standing infront of the blackboard in a police uniform. "And thats what being a police officer is about, to me any way. I hope that answered your question." She smiled at a kid in the front row as she walked back to the back of the room where i now noticed a bunch of other parents were sitting. The Man behind the desk, who i now believe to be the teacher spoke "Next is Lynn's father telling us about his job in the military "I couldn't help but notice the name Lynn... I stood up and walked to the front of the class and saw her, Her eyes beaming her smile so big! ... thats my little girl.
Shes so big, i only saw her a couple months ago when i was home for her birth, How is this possible how did i get here? Then i remembered that i got shot, my hand went directly to my side and a burst of bright light happened again. I was pushing lynn on the swing set, Her mother was taking a picture! Oh lucy! I miss you! "how high do you wanna go kiddo?" i asked then came another bright light! I was tying Lynn's soccer cleats, and said "there you go kiddo", Then another bright light. Lynn was riding her bike towards me, Then another bright light. Lynn and i were swimming in a pool she looked like she was taller, Then another bright light. I was carrying lynn on my shoulders through the Zoo with Lucy, Lynn claimed she wanted to be a giraffe when she got older, "You do that Kiddo." Then another bright light. Lynn was walking across the stage in her graduation gown waving to me and i waved back, she was beautiful i started crying, Then another bright light. I heard crying on the other side of the door, I knocked and opened the door " Hey Kiddo." Lynns head whipped around too see me and she yelled out "Daddy!" as she cried and ran to hug me i embraced her. she was so tall! gee this has to be high school now I then began to see another bight light, "Ah c'mon!". Then suddenly Im in a driveway, It's very late and dark out. I see someone in the car and knock on the window and instinctively say " Hey kiddo." She Looked up at me, tears in her eyes and unlocked the car doors. I Think i'm getting the hang of this now. i opened the passenger door and sat down. "Long time no see." I said " I know" She Replied, She wiped the tears off of a photo of me and said " I miss you..." "I miss you too." " I never even knew you!" "You do honey." I grabbed her hand and she looked over at me. " You do." I smiled and she smiled . " Now tell me whats wrong?" And we sat their for what seemed to be a milisecond but she told me everything from Lucy's engagement, To her struggle to find herself, to bad grades, and bad friends. "Thanks Dad." "Anytime Lynn" We hugged both leaning over the car console. Then... another bright light.
​
I was at a coffee shop sipping on something tasteless when she knocked on the window with Her big smile and beaming eyes. She was older but i knew it was her right away she had her mothers curly hair still. She burst in the coffee shop saying "My usual Francine?" and sat down and out her purse on the table. I smiled and said "Hey kiddo." "I love you dad." I was taken back. I felt the tears well up in my eyes, "I love you too Lynn, My baby girl."she took in a breath and let out a squeal "Im getting married!" I felt my heart leap out of my chest! joy came over me, the tears started to fall " Im so happy for you!" i got up and went across the table and lifted her up and spun her around. "MY BABYS GETTING MARRIED." , Then another bright light crept upon us.
​
Suddenly i was in a field on top of a hill, and i heard an odd and constant beeping. I looked out over the field and could feel the warmth of the setting sun. I then felt a tug at my side. I turned around to see an older women grey curly hair and glasses. There was a house behind her with a bunch of people sitting on the front porch. She smiled and i knew... " Hey kiddo." The beeping then turned into a consistent tone and i took her hand and we walked until, another bright light.
​
​ | "Who the...??"
She was old and fragile, with tired smile lines carved into her cheeks. White hair so thin it looked like a veil, and milky blue eyes that swum in tears held back for a lifetime.
Who was she? How did she know me?
In her dreams, there were children wobbling down cobblestone streets on bikes with little bells, loaves of bread cooling in windows, and sweet spoonfuls of rose petal jam. I had been invited into her happy place, her heaven.
She was in pain, and she didn't have much time. I knew there must have been more. Every face that appeared, every cloud in the sky was shrouded in too many failed attempts to forget what the woman could not unsee.
A soft voice counted, "one, two, three..." a rocking chair creaked. The whole dream swung gently back and forth.
"Four, five, six..." the world had not been kind to her, and she was slowly letting go. I felt her slipping away, and my mind screamed for her to hold on just a little longer. I needed her to stay in this sweet paradise just long enough for me to know who this old woman, torn and cracked at the edges, bursting at the seams, was. I needed to know how she had known me.
Twilight crept closer, and as night fell, so did she. I suddenly felt a large, rough hand enveloping mine, and my eyes widened as I realized my fingers had become short and stubby, the hands of a small child.
The years flew in reverse. I remembered what my living brain never could. I had been taken from her, ripped from her arms, and as our world faded to black, I promised us both one thing: in whatever world came next, I would find her.
Her hand dissolved around mine, leaving me alone in the dark. | |
[WP] It's illegal to make copies of people, with or without their consent. It's your job to hunt down these duplicates via their telltale transcription errors and destroy them. You are the Clone Ranger. | They always have one telltale sign. It can be cosmetic. The wrong ear, a lazy eye. It can be behavioral. Too quick to laugh, or too slow to smile. But other than that, everything is the same. Same skin, same hair, same eyes, same voice, same memories.
The most common usage is to keep someone around after their death. I understand it. I really do. My father died of cancer when I was thirteen. What I wouldn’t do to keep him around, to order pizza in and watch one more Celtics playoff game and get drunk and pissed off at the refs.
But it’s not right, in the end. Things end, people die, and we have to move on. It's part of being human, maybe the biggest part.
They call clone rangers heartless. Robotic. But sometimes even the heartless shed a tear.
\-
*“Do you ever talk to them, before you…”*
*She would ask me questions like this, when I was disarmed. In bed, at dinner, on a walk. I would have answered any time she asked, but I understand why she felt hesitant. It’s a hard thing to do, killing something, and it's even harder to talk about.*
*“Sometimes. Sometimes I think it’s still them, and I ask about their life.”*
*“So you become their friend, and then you kill them.”*
*“They understand, most of the time, why I have to. But I close my eyes when I do it.”*
*She takes my hand, and I feel her recoil, just slightly, like she always does, at the coldness of it.*
*“Would you kill me, if I was cloned?”*
*“Hopefully it never gets to that.”*
*“So you would,” she says.*
*“I would try to look away from your eyes, and then I would think about it.”*
*“I think you would.”*
*“That’s mean. Would you want me to?”*
*She stops me, in the middle of the park.*
*“Come on,” I say. “Let’s go. It’s cold.”*
*“I could never be the reason you changed who you are. Who I love. Who knows what’s right or wrong, okay?”*
*“Okay,” I say, smiling, trying to move on.*
*“Seriously. It would break my heart if I were the one to break who you are.”*
\-
I have questioned her so many times, and everything is the same. She has the same laugh, the same crooked dimples when she smiles. The same memories. Our favorite restaurant, our favorite park, our favorite movie. I wonder, dangerously, if her lips taste the same when I kiss them.
I want to believe, so badly, that my late wife is back, that somehow, she survived the crash.
“One last question,” I say, my heart starting to pound again, the way it always did around her. “If you were a clone, would you want me to kill you?”
She sits, and thinks for a while, knowing that I’m watching closely.
“Would it make you happy if I were back?”
“Of course,” I say immediately.
“Then let’s just be happy together. Why question happiness?”
I nod, slowly, and get up. I walk to the window, and look at the city where we fell in love. I reach into my pocket.
I turn around, and before I can help it, I look into her eyes. She smiles.
I cry, for the first time in my career, as I pull the trigger.
\-
[r/penguin347](https://reddit.com/r/penguin347) | My name is John Massey and I am Clone Ranger 0621. I have the most arrest in the world and have never let a clone get away.
This job never gets old, chase down clones and eradicate them. It’s usually pretty simple but a case has been thrown on my desk and they are not sure where the clone originated but one thing they are sure of, it needs to be gone. I pick up my black coffee and take a big gulp. I look at the clock as the ticking noise makes me aware of my procrastination. I stand up grabbing my coat and walk out of my office. As I travel down the hallway towards the exit sign I am stopped.
“Hey John I have a location on the new clone your hunting” Whitney said
“Well let’s have.” I said extending my hand for the folder. She put it in my hand and I rushed out the building. I jumped into my car and overrode the legalities mode. The car whipped out racing down 7th Avenue. My car drifted around corners and sped through traffic to get their as soon as possible. I arrive at a run down building off of Moncrief Blvd. I entered the building racing to the third floor. As I reached the door I heard a man begging for his life. I kick in the door and pull my gun.
“Who the fuck are you?” A dark figure asked
“I am the Clone Ranger 0621. Please remain calm and hand over the clone.”I yelled
“Are you out of your damn mind.” The dark figure said as he put the tip of his barrel to the clones head and tightened his finger to the trigger. The clone fell after the bullet penetrated his head leaving him and a pool of blood laying on the floor. The dark figure walked forward until he reached the light and made himself visible.
“How the hell is this possible” I shouted with obvious fear on my face.
“Clone Ranger 0621 you say?” He asked in a statement as he held his badge out that read Clone Ranger 0623.
“You are a clone.” I yelled raising my weapon
“Uh, no you are the clone.” He replied as he rolled towards me drawing his weapon and knocking mine from my hand. I grabbed him as he head butted me and slammed me into the wall. I hear gun fire and duck behind the nearest flipped table. The clip unloads and I was able to not get hit once. I jump up and race for the door, more bullets race past me. I look back and the clone was now holding my gun. Right as I exit the room a bullet hits my calf shattering the bone. My body collapsed and I did my best to crawl away. The clone steps over me blocking my path and points the gun to my head. His finger presses down on the trigger. Click. He is out of bullets. I grab his leg and pull him to the ground causing his head to hit the banister on his way down. I crawl over him and place my hands around his throat. I feel the life leaving his body and now don’t have to live with a clone getting away. Government issued swat boots approach my vision and as I start to look up as a bullet flies through the clones head.
“Thanks guys he was tough. But if anyone ask I killed him. I don’t want my reputation tarnished.” I said. They helped me up and carried me down stairs where my boss was standing.
“Hey John” my boss said not looking me in the eyes.
“So what do you want us to do with him boss?” The SWAT members asked
“Activate 0629” the boss yelled into his cellphone. I looked up with confusion.
“Boss what about this one” SWAT said
“Kill him I just wanted confirmation on 0629. He’s active now so we are good” boss replied
“Good what the fuck do you mean good?” I screamed
“You’re a Clone John. Every John Massey is a clone since 0001. People can’t kill clones, that’s why they are so dangerous. So when we found your original seven hundred years ago and he was the only person to have killed a clone we cloned him. Now you’re here.” Boss explained
The SWAT members threw me to the ground and put a bullet through my skull.
My name is John Massey and I am Clone Ranger 0629. I have the most arrest in the world and have never let a clone get away.
| |
[WP] In another universe, Bob Ross is a renowned chef who travels the globe giving good advice to troubled restaurants, and Gordon Ramsay is a famous painter with the angriest art show on TV. | "What the fuck is that!? are you incontinent??"
"What!!"
"It looks like you just fucking shat all over the canvas"
"It's meant to be a flower"
"A flower!! A fucking honey bee would fly itself straight into the nearest fire source if it saw a fucking flower that looked like that. You can't draw, you haven't washed your brushes, your a pig!... Get the fuck out!"
​
​
MEANWHILE...
​
'Now that's looking great, see how the chicken is looking nice and brown. And you can smell those spices in the air."
"Chef, I think I over did the pastry"
"Oh that's unfortunate, we all make mistakes form time to time... that's how we learn. We just pick ourselves back up and try again. We can apologise to the customer and offer a bottle of wine." | You call *that* perspective? My one eyed four year old cousin could draw better foreshortening with an etch-e-sketch. AND WHAT are you using for the brush hairs...Is that plastic...Jesuschrist its from the dollar store...Oh its *cruelty free* is it... WELL THEN WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TORTURING ALL OF US WITH YOUR ART!?!?!?(Splashes white paint all over the canvas and kicks the easel down)
Now.Go.Home.And.Sketch.It.Out.Again,
And for fucks sake if I see you here tomorrow with anything less than a sable brush I will murder your children and use their blood to write your obituary. I cant even deal with you right now.Just.Just.Leave.
Bob Rosses show never made it past the pilot but he still likes to travel on his free time and give the local cuisine a try. | |
[WP] In another universe, Bob Ross is a renowned chef who travels the globe giving good advice to troubled restaurants, and Gordon Ramsay is a famous painter with the angriest art show on TV. | Gordon's palate had a lot of colour, but his temper had more.
"Give this, here, a good swish. I want to see the texture in this part," he told the camera. His paint brush dipped into hues of Indian yellow and titanium white.
"Now, don't be like those painters who forget the depth of a sunset in the sky. You don't want to lose that perspective." His sunset started going into darker colours on the top of the canvas.
"Here's the part where you try not to fuck up. What you do here, is blend. To make the sky not look like a fucking preschool project, you add the highlights of clouds to add that depth. Throughout the water, you do the same."
As he started with the trees, his paintbrush slipped. "Ah, fuck me. Right, this is where you have to improvise."
Gordon took his dark browns and added another tree in front of the smudged branch. "Sometimes, you have to give something new. Something fresh. Artists forget that they have to persevere, even when you fuck up. Don't dip out when the going gets tough; You need to find a new way to make this an absolute masterpiece."
\--
Bob entered the Italian restaurant of a nervous owner. He extended his arm and gave her a smile as she welcomed him.
"This is the place! I have our seats here," She guided him towards a table by the window. Bob looked around as he sat down, taking in the decor that didn't seem to fit the theme of an Italian restaurant. After Bob's waiter took his order of Fetticini Alfredo and pizza Margherita, his plates arrived.
He took a few bites of the Fetticini Alfredo, but was quick to notice that the creamy sauce was cold. He decided to bite into the pizza, and with a quizzical look on his face, he saw that the dough was not throughly baked. He called in the owner, who looked at the plates before sitting down.
Bob sipped his water as he smiled at the owner, who jiggled her foot nervously. "Jenny, I have to say. The fettuccini had a wonderful flavour, and a unique sauce that was the right amount of creamy. But why was it cold?"
"I... I don't know. I believe we make it fresh for each plate."
"And I'm not doubting that. Do you see the gentle application of the sauce on the pizza? I can see there is dedication in the making of this wonderful dish. I think, however, that the presentation is overdone when the more basic elements must be looked at. The basics of cooking is to connect others through food, and when you integrate that throughout your cooking, it will really go far," he explained.
​ | \*Gordon Ramsay facing 4 aspiring painters who are standing next to their easels waiting to explain their art.
"Right. You there, what is it you've attempted to splash onto this canvas?"
\*Nervous young artist wearing a beret with paint splattered on his flushed face uncovers his easel.
"Well chef, I mean uhmmm Art Master Ramsay, sorry I don't know why I called you chef, what we have here is a sunset on the Italian coastline, with a splash of vibrant turquoise for the ocean with the sun justttt slightly bleeding into the water in the background, and to finish I've added a veranda in the foreground with some bright leafy vines sitting against the almond colored stone wall for some texture and contrast to really make the vibrant colors pop."
\*gulps
\*Ramsay squints at what any average person would consider a gorgeous and compelling piece of artwork.
"A sunset... eh? On the Italian coastline yeah? Well I'm certainly glad I'm not vacationing with my wife and children on this veranda. Christ can you imagine if we looked across the water and the fucking sun looked like it had been drawn with a fucking orange crayola? Its just bland. And what is this? Is this fucking magenta bleeding into your definition of a "vibrant turquoise ocean"? Good God were you grown somewhere in a lab? Have you ever actually seen the outside world or are you some sort of basement experiment that has been unceremoniously dumped in front of me? Alright, lets pretend for a moment that I thought it was a good idea for you to completely oversaturate half of the frame with this stone veranda, can you possibly tell me how you thought it would be beneficial to construct the wall out of my fucking son's lego blocks?"
\*Artist nods in agreement as his entire creative ability is ripped to shreds on a nationally watched television show
"Thank you Art Master Ramsay."
"Fuck off"
​
​
Bob Ross is just group hugging all the mediocre chefs in the kitchen with his chefs hat perched jauntily on top of his afro while all of the customers' food burns on the stovetop and people leave the restaurant in droves. "You know, as long as you made the dishes tonight with love, it doesn't matter if they told you it tasted like charred afterbirth and that we deserve to have the health department shut us down."
"But... Bob, one woman projectile vomited onto her 8 year old son because we sent out a dish of uncooked calamari."
"Shhhhh my son. All that matters is that you prepared that uncooked squid... with love." | |
[WP] In another universe, Bob Ross is a renowned chef who travels the globe giving good advice to troubled restaurants, and Gordon Ramsay is a famous painter with the angriest art show on TV. | "Welcome to the *Pain of Painting*, an informative show about how to learn proper painting techniques. Over the course of this series, I will whip you into proper painters, ones worthy of being called artists. Not some splatter-painting, modern art-loving, quasi-intellectual sack of shit."
He sat on a stool, a blank canvas before him. "Right, well, you set the palette up first. Carefully, add a bit of forest green and onyx, maybe a dash of aqua and white. We're going to lay a foundation for the trees. A scraper is actually best used for this, to easily create the branches and trunk without a guide."
Cautiously, he whipped his hand, leaving sharp, straight lines on the canvas.
Ramsay's hand slipped, ever so slightly, leaving a stray stroke behind. He chucked the palette, splattering paint against the wall. "There are no mistakes, only monumental fucking failures that serve to remind you what a right *twat* you are."
Rising, Ramsay put his hands on his hips and stared the painting down intensely. He flushed red, then grabbed it and drove his fist through the landscape like an angry God. A destroyer of mountains and the king deforester.
"If you can't produce something worth a damn, you'll need to start over. Begin again, and get it right.
"That, or fucking quit before you waste the light that reflects off your trash heap and into my eyes. Yeah?"
Still wearing the canvas like a bracelet, Ramsay huffed and walked off-camera.
*/r/resonatingfury* | [Poem]
"Painters are nutters. They're all self-obsessed, delicate, dainty, insecure little souls and absolute psychopaths. Every last one of them. And you know how arrogant the French Impressionists are. But I am not the sort to sit and cry over spilled paint - I am too busy looking for the next palette. Now get the hell out of my kitchen before you paint another idiot sandwich."
-Gordon Ramsay the painter
"I guess I’m a little weird. I like to talk to pots and pans. That’s okay though; I have more fun than most people. I can't think of anything more rewarding than being able to express yourself to others through food. All you need to cook is a few tools, a little instruction, and a vision in your mind. Mix up a little more sauce here, then we can put us a little spice right in there. See how you can move things around? You have unlimited power on the plate -- can literally, literally move mountains. And there's nothing in the world that breeds success like success. Don't forget the rules of the kitchen:
What can be plated can be punished.
There are no mistakes, only delicious snack-ccidents. (thanks to u/TisThatVin for that pun!)
And when you wash the knife, just beat the devil out of it."
-Bob Ross the Chef of Hell's Kitchen. | |
[WP] You play an MMORPG and are part of a large guild. Today however no one else is online. Bored you log off, only to hear a knock at your door. It's a person claiming to be from your guild and begging you to help saying the guild is in danger - in real life. | Ciani rushed to open the door when she heard the knock; she hoped someone had sent her something. Her heavy footfalls resounded through the house as she ran to the door on loud, metal, machine legs. She eagerly threw the door open and saw a dark-skinned man in blue jeans and a t-shirt waiting on her front porch. He was not holding any sort of package, and Ciani saw no sign of flowers anywhere.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Ciani Ibis?" he asked. The wrinkled, old woman nodded. "It's me," the man stepped forward. "Sirius." He gave her a moment to process the information, then he explained why he was there. "The guild's in trouble, we need your help." The way he spoke and moved convinced Ciani that he was who he claimed to be." She tilted her head toward the inside of her house.
"I was just logged in, no one was around." Sirius nodded.
"This is why. Metro's gone crazy," he said with wide, worried eyes. "He's keeping everyone hostage on an Earth with no nanos unless he talks to you." Ciani thought about the newest member of CyberRiot - a sentient swarm of nanos that often took the shape of a white gnome. Metro was unfamiliar with human customs and had a lot of questions. She took to the robot immediately and began to consider him a surrogate grandson; she taught him that humans can't respawn without nanos. Ciani was very surprised that he seemed to have gone crazy, but she was not surprised he was asking for her.
"Okay, let's go," she said without hesitation. If her friends were in danger she wanted to help them as soon as possible. Though, in the back of her mind, a small part of her felt bad that it happened on this particular day: her 92nd birthday. Sirius nodded and wiggled his fingers at the air. A tall, black portal opened in the air and Ciani walked through as soon as it was open. Sirius followed.
Ciani stepped out of the portal onto a lush green plain. Tall grass swayed in the breeze and the sun shone in the bright blue sky. The old woman could see herself enjoying the beautiful day if it wasn't such an emergency. She decided to ask Sirius to bring her back some time after everyone was safe.
She saw the rest of her guild members around a raised wooden stage in the center of the field. Over 100 people were tied to chairs facing the white gnome on the stage. He was dancing around a single man; Roger, the guild leader. A swarm of golden nanos orbited around Roger's neck. Ciani did not wait for Sirius; she ran to the stage as fast as her mechanical legs could carry her.
"METRO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" She shouted once she was close enough to the stage. The gnome stopped dancing and looked at the old woman; he stroked his golden goatee thoughtfully.
"Query: Unexpected. Metro's behavior is obvious. Metro is dancing," the gnome said. "Like you showed Metro."
"Why are you dancing, Metro? Why are you keeping everyone tied up?" Ciani asked. "Why did you need to talk to me?"
"Ciani's presence is required for Metro's evil plan," the gnome replied. Ciani took an uneasy step away from the stage.
"Evil?... You're not evil.... are you?" She felt tears begin to form in the corner of her eyes. Despite him being a robot she and the rest of the guild treated him as one of them.
"Affirmative. Metro's plan is evil. Metro is evil. Metro lied to Ciani. Ciani taught Metro liars are evil." A flash of hope sparked in Ciani's mind. If this was just a misunderstanding then things could go back to normal.
"When did you lie to me?" Ciani asked. She could not think of an instance where he might have lied.
"Metro lied to secure your presence. Metro's evil plan brought you here."
"Sirius brought me," she said. Ciani realized Sirius hadn't joined her by the stage. She looked behind her and saw the man tied to a nearby seat with Metro's golden nanos.
"Why?" she faced the robot again.
"Metro planned evil gathering to celebrate Ciani's day of birth. Metro kept secret; lied to Ciani. Guild members kept secret; lied to Ciani. Objective: Surprise Ciani."
"Wha..." Ciani turned around.
"SURPRISE!!!!!" all the guild members were out of their chairs and clapping for the birthday girl.
\*\*\*
Thank you for reading! I’m responding to prompts every day. This is year two, day #96. You can find all my stories collected on my subreddit ([r/hugoverse](https://www.reddit.com/r/hugoverse)) or my [blog](https://hugoverse.info/). If you're curious about my universe (the Hugoverse) you can visit the [Guidebook](https://hugoverse.info/2017/11/25/hugoverse-guidebook/) to see what's what and who's who, or the [Timeline](https://hugoverse.info/2017/10/23/hugoverse-timeline/) to find the stories in order. | Alterra, The leading MMORPG, was eerily quiet today Levi thought to himself "what is going on?, First I'm the only one of a guild of 552 to be active Now the whole town seems empty." Levi would open the menu selecting save and power off as the vibrant world would fade to nothingness. Levi would then remove the VR headset blinking as a shabby and dreary one room apartment would come into view, Levi or jack as he was known in the real world, would lay back with heavy sigh "man I really wanted to do some quests after that lousy work day, but where was everyone " he would run his hand through his hair and sigh again"didn't I hear some rumors about another guild going missing?"
Jack would begin to make a sandwich to which he would be interrupted by knocking, "go away no solicitors" the knocking would continue louder followed by the rattling of the door knob, "didn't you hear me?, Whatever it is your selling I don't want it!", This time the knocking sounded the most frantic and the voice on the other end would whisper just loud enough to hear through the door "please Levi please let me in."
Jack would be step back utterly shocked hearing his online name Jack wasn't the social type he was fairly sure no one at work even knew his last name, let alone his address ,or that he played Alterra he would unlatch the door and open it ,in that moment the frightened would rush in quickly relocking the door and closing the blinds. jack would be aggravated by this and shout" buddy I don't know who you are or how you know me but you better start explaining before I call the cops.
The male would reply still whispering"my name is miles though you know me as Sayo your party's mage, our guilds in danger we need your help." Jack would sit down in his chair looking extremely annoyed" you know I'm always happy to help as a squad leader but seriously man you show up acting like a nut case about a raid boss?!"
Mile's would grab Jack's shirt pulling him close" you think this is about that damn game?, Were being hunted jack! Miss Miho was found dead today at the train station!"
The life would seem to drain from Jack's face as he pushed Mile's off him
Miles would continue "that's not all there's been 17 more deaths the last two months, they all played Alterra , and as far as I can gather 8 belonged to fang de wild the missing guild."
Jack would shout " so what the hell do you want from me? I don't even own the guild go find Helios if you want to play hero so damn bad!
Mile's would let out a nervous laugh "hero? You think that's what this is?,.. there was a note with Miho's body it was addressed to Levi and said you and our whole party were next!" | |
[WP]: Instead of prisons, condemned criminals have their ages rewinded, turned back into children in order to be raised better this time around. | Adam Mars, you are hereby sentenced to have your age rewinded 63 years!
The sound of the judge's gavel slamming against wood was like music to my ears.
The guards escorted me out of the courtroom. I tried to hide my smiles of giddy. For the seventeenth time, they were going to rewind my age.
It all started when the technology to turn back the ages of criminals was first invented. I was seventy six, and desperate. My wife had passed years prior, my only child had passed of cancer, and my two grandchildren had moved across the country with their mother.
I had no family left, and I was desperately looking for a way to remain on the Earth for longer.
I had spent years of my first life searching for something to make me younger. I had thought that I finally found it, and decided that I would test it on a.. friend.
Unfortunately, my test subject did not make it through, and I was sentenced to prison. They reversed my age to ten, and I spent ten years in a special school designed to rehabilitate myself. They gave me a second chance, and I took advantage.
My second time having my age reversed, was a complete misunderstanding.
I was thirty three, and was simply out for a walk. Little did I know that a little girl had been kidnapped nearby, and apparently, I fitted the same discription as the kidnapper.
The child's body was found a week later, and the real culprit was never found. It seemed that I had nothing to prove that it wasn't me, because I was sentenced to having my age reversed again.
It was then that I realized how broken the system was. I could live forever, just commiting crimes once I became old and frail.
I murdered, I stole, in some occasions, I even framed myself for crimes that were completely unrelated to me.
I think the reason they never caught on to what I was doing was because I kept moving to different countries, states and provinces every time I would start over.
Canada was nice. I spent my fourth life down there. Cold, but the people were kind, and I met the love of my life. (One of them, at least)
I lived in Japan for a bit. The bustling cities were never my thing, but I liked the experience in general.
It also gave me a chance to do new things.
In my fifth life, I became a cop. They arrested me and turned back my age when they found out I was selling drugs to my coworkers. I'm honestly surprised how many cops were willing to buy drugs. That's America for you, I guess.
I never experimented with my sexuality before. But I married a man down in Ontario, Canada, during my ninth life. It really opened my eyes, and I had multiple Male and Female partners in the lives after that one.
I was in the army for a bit, but left after a year or so. It wasn't really my thing.
I lived in Australia for couple years during my tenth or eleventh life, but you wouldn't believe how many things down there could kill you. An encounter with a spider nearly killed me.
All in all, I was truly living life to the fullest. Currently, my wife of sixty years had passed a couple months ago, and I was getting sick with age. I had practically given up on getting attached to my children after they became adults, and rarely ever even met any of my grandchildren.
This time, was a bit confusing though.
FBI agents intercepted me as I was being escorted by guards out of the courthouse. The guards and the FBI agents talked for a bit, and then the guards handed me over.
I was brought to a max security prison, locked into a cell.
They had caught on to me, what I was doing.
Was I really doing anything wrong?
Was it because of the fact that I had continuously committed crimes in order to get into prison and have my age reversed.
I screamed and yelled, my shouts unheard.
I was left there, to rot and die.
I should've known that nothing would last forever. | The night was dark, without a single street light glowing. Several large warehouses rose up toward the sky, their tops barely even visible, being swallowed by the darkness. Inside a phone was ringing, a faint ring, as if the sound itself was trying to escape the night.
The air seemed to breathe heavily as several cars pulled to a stop in front of the warehouse. Multiple men stepped out of each car. Each one had a gun, several small guns, others longer, others even larger. Each gun was designed to take down the target without killing them. They were designed with special sleeping darts for this reason.
The line of men advanced forward and stood at the door. A moment later, the door swung open revealing the darkness inside.
Each man caught his breath, raised their gun a little higher and tightened their finger around the trigger. A small grenade was pulled out of a vest pocket, unclipped and tossed inside. Moments later a ringing burst from the depths and smoke filled the hallway up.
The line of men split into three groups, one group sprinting inside, another group edging around the building covering other exits and the third group waiting outside the door.
"Clear!" The words pierced the hissing of the smoke and the third group slipped within.
Each of these two groups put three men at the front with a riot shield. Combined, they took up the length of the hallway. Then they split up, each going in a different direction. Each door they passed, a grenade was laid on the door, so that when the door was opened or if the grenade was touched, it would explode. Inside the grenade was a mixture of smoke and sleeping gas.
Once the team rounded the corner of the hallway, a masked figure dropped down, looking as if he appeared from teleportation. He injected a grenade with a short, thin needle and then picked it up. He silently followed the group and rounded the corner, tossing the grenade into the group, all bunched together.
Hissing, smoke, cries of fear. The figure appeared to glide down the hallway and into the middle of the group, unstopped. Someone managed to radio out an emergency signal. It didn't matter. He wasn't staying long. He grabbed a man, pulled him to his feet and carried him down the hallway.
The team from outside waited anxiously. Outside every door was a smaller group of four people. At the front door, two of them went into the building and down the hallway to the scene of the emergency.
But no one was there.
r/FortyTwoDogs
One of my first stories writing with more of a vivid imagery style, feedback would be appreciated. | |
[WP]: Instead of prisons, condemned criminals have their ages rewinded, turned back into children in order to be raised better this time around. | Adam Mars, you are hereby sentenced to have your age rewinded 63 years!
The sound of the judge's gavel slamming against wood was like music to my ears.
The guards escorted me out of the courtroom. I tried to hide my smiles of giddy. For the seventeenth time, they were going to rewind my age.
It all started when the technology to turn back the ages of criminals was first invented. I was seventy six, and desperate. My wife had passed years prior, my only child had passed of cancer, and my two grandchildren had moved across the country with their mother.
I had no family left, and I was desperately looking for a way to remain on the Earth for longer.
I had spent years of my first life searching for something to make me younger. I had thought that I finally found it, and decided that I would test it on a.. friend.
Unfortunately, my test subject did not make it through, and I was sentenced to prison. They reversed my age to ten, and I spent ten years in a special school designed to rehabilitate myself. They gave me a second chance, and I took advantage.
My second time having my age reversed, was a complete misunderstanding.
I was thirty three, and was simply out for a walk. Little did I know that a little girl had been kidnapped nearby, and apparently, I fitted the same discription as the kidnapper.
The child's body was found a week later, and the real culprit was never found. It seemed that I had nothing to prove that it wasn't me, because I was sentenced to having my age reversed again.
It was then that I realized how broken the system was. I could live forever, just commiting crimes once I became old and frail.
I murdered, I stole, in some occasions, I even framed myself for crimes that were completely unrelated to me.
I think the reason they never caught on to what I was doing was because I kept moving to different countries, states and provinces every time I would start over.
Canada was nice. I spent my fourth life down there. Cold, but the people were kind, and I met the love of my life. (One of them, at least)
I lived in Japan for a bit. The bustling cities were never my thing, but I liked the experience in general.
It also gave me a chance to do new things.
In my fifth life, I became a cop. They arrested me and turned back my age when they found out I was selling drugs to my coworkers. I'm honestly surprised how many cops were willing to buy drugs. That's America for you, I guess.
I never experimented with my sexuality before. But I married a man down in Ontario, Canada, during my ninth life. It really opened my eyes, and I had multiple Male and Female partners in the lives after that one.
I was in the army for a bit, but left after a year or so. It wasn't really my thing.
I lived in Australia for couple years during my tenth or eleventh life, but you wouldn't believe how many things down there could kill you. An encounter with a spider nearly killed me.
All in all, I was truly living life to the fullest. Currently, my wife of sixty years had passed a couple months ago, and I was getting sick with age. I had practically given up on getting attached to my children after they became adults, and rarely ever even met any of my grandchildren.
This time, was a bit confusing though.
FBI agents intercepted me as I was being escorted by guards out of the courthouse. The guards and the FBI agents talked for a bit, and then the guards handed me over.
I was brought to a max security prison, locked into a cell.
They had caught on to me, what I was doing.
Was I really doing anything wrong?
Was it because of the fact that I had continuously committed crimes in order to get into prison and have my age reversed.
I screamed and yelled, my shouts unheard.
I was left there, to rot and die.
I should've known that nothing would last forever. | [Poem]
He opens his eyes for the first time in the bright light,
Dad's not there, Mum is there to help him to fly right.
How can she do that? She always high as a kite's flight,
Dad's away for ending someone's life in a knife fight.
The years go by and he learns to get what he needs,
Someone will bleed if they're in the way of a feed.
Born to junkie and a man who'll never be free'd,
He's grown into a lemon out of bad apple seeds.
What is the chance for one who's never been shown -
How to live the good life instead of seeking the prone.
Is that the kind of thing that you can learn on your own?
Or is it what comes from love in a family home?
Things progress, daily going bad to worse,
He was born with a curse, broke so he grabs a purse.
Turns out the lady holding hit was once a nurse,
She was there at his birth but now she's in the back of a hearse.
"You are sentenced to rebirth for the 20th time,
I hope another try leads to life without any crime.
Your parents remain the same, no changes of any kind,
But let's try this again, I'm sure you'll turn out fine" - *rewind*
He opens his eyes for the first time in the bright light.......
I shall name that poem 'Sentenced to live'
| |
[WP]: Instead of prisons, condemned criminals have their ages rewinded, turned back into children in order to be raised better this time around. | Adam Mars, you are hereby sentenced to have your age rewinded 63 years!
The sound of the judge's gavel slamming against wood was like music to my ears.
The guards escorted me out of the courtroom. I tried to hide my smiles of giddy. For the seventeenth time, they were going to rewind my age.
It all started when the technology to turn back the ages of criminals was first invented. I was seventy six, and desperate. My wife had passed years prior, my only child had passed of cancer, and my two grandchildren had moved across the country with their mother.
I had no family left, and I was desperately looking for a way to remain on the Earth for longer.
I had spent years of my first life searching for something to make me younger. I had thought that I finally found it, and decided that I would test it on a.. friend.
Unfortunately, my test subject did not make it through, and I was sentenced to prison. They reversed my age to ten, and I spent ten years in a special school designed to rehabilitate myself. They gave me a second chance, and I took advantage.
My second time having my age reversed, was a complete misunderstanding.
I was thirty three, and was simply out for a walk. Little did I know that a little girl had been kidnapped nearby, and apparently, I fitted the same discription as the kidnapper.
The child's body was found a week later, and the real culprit was never found. It seemed that I had nothing to prove that it wasn't me, because I was sentenced to having my age reversed again.
It was then that I realized how broken the system was. I could live forever, just commiting crimes once I became old and frail.
I murdered, I stole, in some occasions, I even framed myself for crimes that were completely unrelated to me.
I think the reason they never caught on to what I was doing was because I kept moving to different countries, states and provinces every time I would start over.
Canada was nice. I spent my fourth life down there. Cold, but the people were kind, and I met the love of my life. (One of them, at least)
I lived in Japan for a bit. The bustling cities were never my thing, but I liked the experience in general.
It also gave me a chance to do new things.
In my fifth life, I became a cop. They arrested me and turned back my age when they found out I was selling drugs to my coworkers. I'm honestly surprised how many cops were willing to buy drugs. That's America for you, I guess.
I never experimented with my sexuality before. But I married a man down in Ontario, Canada, during my ninth life. It really opened my eyes, and I had multiple Male and Female partners in the lives after that one.
I was in the army for a bit, but left after a year or so. It wasn't really my thing.
I lived in Australia for couple years during my tenth or eleventh life, but you wouldn't believe how many things down there could kill you. An encounter with a spider nearly killed me.
All in all, I was truly living life to the fullest. Currently, my wife of sixty years had passed a couple months ago, and I was getting sick with age. I had practically given up on getting attached to my children after they became adults, and rarely ever even met any of my grandchildren.
This time, was a bit confusing though.
FBI agents intercepted me as I was being escorted by guards out of the courthouse. The guards and the FBI agents talked for a bit, and then the guards handed me over.
I was brought to a max security prison, locked into a cell.
They had caught on to me, what I was doing.
Was I really doing anything wrong?
Was it because of the fact that I had continuously committed crimes in order to get into prison and have my age reversed.
I screamed and yelled, my shouts unheard.
I was left there, to rot and die.
I should've known that nothing would last forever. | Irving Williams liked Thursdays because he had Math right before lunch, and Miss Witaker's room was one of the closest to the canteen. He started packing his pencil case, notepad, and calculator five minutes before the bell. And, when it rang, he slid out of his chair and slipped into the corridor.
As Irving walked at a brisk pace towards the canteen, he thought about how much Math had changed. The phrase "back in my day" seemed like a well-trodden path in his mind. Miss Whitaker, while a pleasant woman who made a point to stay after school to help each, and every student with their homework, didn't entirely take to Irving's workings. It was something that bugged him. Why did it matter *how* I got to the answer?
Irving entered the canteen as the second student. John Turson grinned at him from a bench, with food already on his tray. John had weaselled his way into therapy, a forty-five-minute session slotted into the standard hour period. He had managed to schedule it almost every day, before lunch, and as such he always had first dibs on the food.
Both Irving and John had an aversion to the canteen food, specifically arriving late to lunch and having to stomach the left-over food which had been bubbling under the heat lamps for the better part of an hour.
The dinner lady slopped food onto Irving's plate with little interaction, for they know who he was. The smell was one of processed meat and overcooked vegetables, and somehow in thirty-years, the school system had not improved the quality. Irving took his tray and sat alone.
The canteen and benches slowly filled. Irving, however, remained alone. He didn't mind, not really. He found it hard to interact with children, never having any of his own. He wasn't sure what the latest fad was, and if he did catch a whiff, it would be three months too old which might as well have been prehistoric.
Irving grimaced through the last of his potatoes - which were blander than licking a stress ball - when Billy Plough approached his bench with a loaded tray. For just a second Irving thought he was going to sit down, what happened instead was much worse. Billy slowed his approach and expanded his chest.
'Hey!' Billy yelled.
The heads of the canteen turned in-time to witness Billy fall. He committed to the performance, whole-heartedly. If someone had captured it in slow-motion it would have warranted many viewings, then again, if someone had recorded it, then Irving would have avoided a whole heap of shit.
Billy could have been a footballer with the grace at which he fell. The tray of purposefully overstacked food flew across the room, food landing like the seeds of a dandelion in a hurricane. He smacked against the linoleum floor with a *thumphff*, and lay still, cradling his head with his arms. Irving could see his face and the shit-eating smile that Billy hid from the rest of the room.
'Goodness gracious!'
Mr Haggart limped across the canteen, shooting Irving a dirty look. He rushed to the aid of Billy, who upon hearing the thudding footsteps started to *ham it up*.
'Oweee ma fathe,' Billy said with an exaggerated lisp.
A dinner lady joined Mr Haggart, both towering above Billy.
'Get Mrs Knight, and tell her that Billy is injured,' Mr Haggart said, and the dinner lady trotted off. Mr Haggart turned to face Irving. 'You are trouble. Have been since day one. And I simply won't have it-'
'-I didn't do anything,' Irving started.
Mr Haggart teetered with laughter. 'Oh, I've got you now boy. There's a whole canteen of witnesses. You're going to be reset right down to your mother's womb.'
'Why would I do it!?'
'Once a criminal, always a criminal,' Mr Haggart spat. 'I don't give a damn about this government second chance crap. It's in your very D.N.A.'
---
/r/WrittenThought | |
[WP]: Instead of prisons, condemned criminals have their ages rewinded, turned back into children in order to be raised better this time around. | Adam Mars, you are hereby sentenced to have your age rewinded 63 years!
The sound of the judge's gavel slamming against wood was like music to my ears.
The guards escorted me out of the courtroom. I tried to hide my smiles of giddy. For the seventeenth time, they were going to rewind my age.
It all started when the technology to turn back the ages of criminals was first invented. I was seventy six, and desperate. My wife had passed years prior, my only child had passed of cancer, and my two grandchildren had moved across the country with their mother.
I had no family left, and I was desperately looking for a way to remain on the Earth for longer.
I had spent years of my first life searching for something to make me younger. I had thought that I finally found it, and decided that I would test it on a.. friend.
Unfortunately, my test subject did not make it through, and I was sentenced to prison. They reversed my age to ten, and I spent ten years in a special school designed to rehabilitate myself. They gave me a second chance, and I took advantage.
My second time having my age reversed, was a complete misunderstanding.
I was thirty three, and was simply out for a walk. Little did I know that a little girl had been kidnapped nearby, and apparently, I fitted the same discription as the kidnapper.
The child's body was found a week later, and the real culprit was never found. It seemed that I had nothing to prove that it wasn't me, because I was sentenced to having my age reversed again.
It was then that I realized how broken the system was. I could live forever, just commiting crimes once I became old and frail.
I murdered, I stole, in some occasions, I even framed myself for crimes that were completely unrelated to me.
I think the reason they never caught on to what I was doing was because I kept moving to different countries, states and provinces every time I would start over.
Canada was nice. I spent my fourth life down there. Cold, but the people were kind, and I met the love of my life. (One of them, at least)
I lived in Japan for a bit. The bustling cities were never my thing, but I liked the experience in general.
It also gave me a chance to do new things.
In my fifth life, I became a cop. They arrested me and turned back my age when they found out I was selling drugs to my coworkers. I'm honestly surprised how many cops were willing to buy drugs. That's America for you, I guess.
I never experimented with my sexuality before. But I married a man down in Ontario, Canada, during my ninth life. It really opened my eyes, and I had multiple Male and Female partners in the lives after that one.
I was in the army for a bit, but left after a year or so. It wasn't really my thing.
I lived in Australia for couple years during my tenth or eleventh life, but you wouldn't believe how many things down there could kill you. An encounter with a spider nearly killed me.
All in all, I was truly living life to the fullest. Currently, my wife of sixty years had passed a couple months ago, and I was getting sick with age. I had practically given up on getting attached to my children after they became adults, and rarely ever even met any of my grandchildren.
This time, was a bit confusing though.
FBI agents intercepted me as I was being escorted by guards out of the courthouse. The guards and the FBI agents talked for a bit, and then the guards handed me over.
I was brought to a max security prison, locked into a cell.
They had caught on to me, what I was doing.
Was I really doing anything wrong?
Was it because of the fact that I had continuously committed crimes in order to get into prison and have my age reversed.
I screamed and yelled, my shouts unheard.
I was left there, to rot and die.
I should've known that nothing would last forever. | The judge sat upon the podium with a pocket watch in its hand.
You sat on a stoop far below the Judge. It could have been thousands of miles below, hundreds, millions it did not matter and you did not know, you knew only that the distance was not worth measuring.
The Judge looked down at you. It said, "Like all prisoners, your time will be rewound to the point of birth. May you choose wisely, this time."
Your heart raced. The crime you committed wasn't all that bad, you'd stolen a loaf of bread to feed yourself and your daughter. You hoped they had treated her well, maybe taken her to her aunt's house or a caring home. You wanted to see her again, and so you decided that you wouldn't simply sit and take the punishment.
You decided you would fight.
"Wait," you told the Judge.
The Judge paused, its' finger on the pocket watch dial.
"Please, it was only a loaf of bread," you said.
The Judge stared at you, long and hard.
"Surely, I can be allowed back into society as I am. I'm not a bad person."
The Judge slowly lowered its hand, letting the watch rest on the arm of its throne. "You have committed a crime."
"It was just a loaf of bread," you said.
"Just a loaf of bread?" the Judge roared.
Your heart pounded so loud you thought your ears might burst. But you stayed brave, you thought about your daughter and about how this all might be worth it if you could see her just one more time.
"I didn't kill anybody. I didn't hurt anybody," you said.
"Those facts are not important to a Judge," the Judge said.
You did not know what this meant. You had nothing to say, and the Judge could see this. You only hoped that it did not rewind you back to 0.
"I am of nature," the Judge said.
Still, you did not know what it meant.
"I am the wind," the Judge said. "I am the thunder; I am the lightning; I am the ferocious earthquake that rocks the shores and sends a tsunami rolling across sandy hills towards your fragile home. I am the carer and I am the remover, and I am what I am, just as you are what you are."
"But I am not a bad person," you said.
The ground below you shifted, and slowly the podium rose until you were now at the Judge's feet. It sat, massive atop its granite throne. "It does not do a Judge any good to think in the terms of man. When a Judge thinks like a man it only makes its duty the more difficult, just like if man were to think like an animal."
Still, you found this difficult to grasp.
The Judge continued, "If I am to do my duty as a judge, I must not care about good and bad or about right and wrong. I must take life when the time is right, and deliver it to those that are expecting. Because, human, I am not here to decide your fate, I am here to decide the fate of the universe."
"I am tainted?" you said. "I am just as bad as anyone else?"
"Bad and good is not important," the judge said. "Lightning does not strike bad people, and goodwill does not rush into the arms of those who preach it only. I am the law, and I must strike when and where the law is broken."
You thought about the Judge's words. You did not like them and the explanation did not ease your pain.
"You are simply the decider of fate?" you said.
The Judge chuckled, raising the pocket watch once again. "I am only the Judge. I am of Nature and I do not decide anything. You are the decider of your fate, human."
| |
[WP]: Instead of prisons, condemned criminals have their ages rewinded, turned back into children in order to be raised better this time around. | Adam Mars, you are hereby sentenced to have your age rewinded 63 years!
The sound of the judge's gavel slamming against wood was like music to my ears.
The guards escorted me out of the courtroom. I tried to hide my smiles of giddy. For the seventeenth time, they were going to rewind my age.
It all started when the technology to turn back the ages of criminals was first invented. I was seventy six, and desperate. My wife had passed years prior, my only child had passed of cancer, and my two grandchildren had moved across the country with their mother.
I had no family left, and I was desperately looking for a way to remain on the Earth for longer.
I had spent years of my first life searching for something to make me younger. I had thought that I finally found it, and decided that I would test it on a.. friend.
Unfortunately, my test subject did not make it through, and I was sentenced to prison. They reversed my age to ten, and I spent ten years in a special school designed to rehabilitate myself. They gave me a second chance, and I took advantage.
My second time having my age reversed, was a complete misunderstanding.
I was thirty three, and was simply out for a walk. Little did I know that a little girl had been kidnapped nearby, and apparently, I fitted the same discription as the kidnapper.
The child's body was found a week later, and the real culprit was never found. It seemed that I had nothing to prove that it wasn't me, because I was sentenced to having my age reversed again.
It was then that I realized how broken the system was. I could live forever, just commiting crimes once I became old and frail.
I murdered, I stole, in some occasions, I even framed myself for crimes that were completely unrelated to me.
I think the reason they never caught on to what I was doing was because I kept moving to different countries, states and provinces every time I would start over.
Canada was nice. I spent my fourth life down there. Cold, but the people were kind, and I met the love of my life. (One of them, at least)
I lived in Japan for a bit. The bustling cities were never my thing, but I liked the experience in general.
It also gave me a chance to do new things.
In my fifth life, I became a cop. They arrested me and turned back my age when they found out I was selling drugs to my coworkers. I'm honestly surprised how many cops were willing to buy drugs. That's America for you, I guess.
I never experimented with my sexuality before. But I married a man down in Ontario, Canada, during my ninth life. It really opened my eyes, and I had multiple Male and Female partners in the lives after that one.
I was in the army for a bit, but left after a year or so. It wasn't really my thing.
I lived in Australia for couple years during my tenth or eleventh life, but you wouldn't believe how many things down there could kill you. An encounter with a spider nearly killed me.
All in all, I was truly living life to the fullest. Currently, my wife of sixty years had passed a couple months ago, and I was getting sick with age. I had practically given up on getting attached to my children after they became adults, and rarely ever even met any of my grandchildren.
This time, was a bit confusing though.
FBI agents intercepted me as I was being escorted by guards out of the courthouse. The guards and the FBI agents talked for a bit, and then the guards handed me over.
I was brought to a max security prison, locked into a cell.
They had caught on to me, what I was doing.
Was I really doing anything wrong?
Was it because of the fact that I had continuously committed crimes in order to get into prison and have my age reversed.
I screamed and yelled, my shouts unheard.
I was left there, to rot and die.
I should've known that nothing would last forever. | My fingers rapped against the table, an absentminded rhythm drumming against wood, the muffled knock audible as I read the pages before me. Again, that absentminded knock, its sound alien to me. Perhaps a sound from my old life... or lives. It was impossible for me to know how many I had lived, just that I was a criminal in my old one and made young once more to have another chance... I wonder how many chances I have had. Silent thoughts which bounced in the echo chamber of my mind, but I could have spoken aloud as the library I was in was mostly empty--nobody needs a library in this day and age, but I found the organised shelves and smell of books to calm me.
No one knew for certain, the details of our crimes erased during the age reversal process.
I learnt more about this as I continued to read the pages before me, how the accord which was set established a condition for the de-aging process, one that was argued by ethics and philosophy. That once reborn, their past died and a new child was given a chance to redeem past failures. The idea that their past mistakes could cause troubles for them in their new life.
Reports of the atrocities these individuals committed were listed among the pages; murder, genocide, major drug rings, rape, mutilation. \*How terrible,\* I thought, and I meant it; incomprehensible passion seeped from out of those pages, the joy some of these individuals felt typed onto the parchment with terror filled fingers.
And truth be told, I did find it terrible, the meaningless murders.
But then I wondered something else, was my crime also listed among those pages?
Is evil in our blood and nature? Or do we all have a chance to be better people?
The answer to that question, I wasn't sure of, but the fear I felt at my ever growing mortality felt primal, felt like a part of me that refused to die.
I fixed the spectacles which slid down from my nose, taking a quick stretch against my chair and combing back my long hair, the receding hairline dotted with streaks of grey hair. I still looked good considering I would soon be fifty but my youth had gone a long time ago, and every day the fear which dwelled inside me, a fear I was sure stemmed from my past selves made itself known.
I was a much loved and accomplished man, people praising my works as a musician, though I could have been a doctor, or a business man.
I leaned back and folded my hands behind my head, wondering what other careers I used to have.
What I knew for certain, was that I was never an evil man, I never felt passion for whatever crime I committed, but rather fear, fear of oblivion. If anything, I knew I was a coward, and could live with that.
The thought comforted me, letting me know that even if I kill someone once more, that it wasn't done because of insidious reasons, but rather fear.
​
\*\*\*
​
/r/KikiWrites | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | Clarence was always a hustler.
He wasn't great academically - mediocre grades in high school led him to a mediocre state college. His business re-selling VCR's in the late 1980's made him a few thousand dollars - a good sum of money for a 20-year-old. However, his partying and casual drug use caught up to him, causing to drop out of school before graduating. His parents, a blue collar truck driver and secretary, were disappointed, they had hoped he'd be the first to graduate in the family.
For a few years he drifted around, odd jobs here and there. A few tries starting a lawn mower and painting business, then selling fake Yankee jerseys outside the stadium. He did okay but the money was inconsistent, and he wanted more. Eventually he sees an article in the New York Post about all the money he could make on Wallstreet. Back in the day you see, some areas of high finance were less elitist, less guarded. It wasn't impossible for someone to work up from the mail room to be a portfolio manager.
The mail room wouldn't do, but he knew he had sales skills. He started as a door-to-door insurance salesmen, familiarizing himself with the different financial product and concepts – stocks, bonds, annuities, options, money markets, alternatives, etc. He had a gift for selling whole life insurance – products that made him and his company large commissions. By using complicated concepts and appealing to emotions, he could sell the most grossly over-priced products.
Eventually he studies for and passes the Series 7 and Series 63, and becomes a certified financial advisor. He spends a few years at a no-name shop - if you've ever seen the movie "Boiler room" you'll know the type - where he excelled and built a client base. Eventually he gets poached by a white ivory company in the sky – Lehman Brothers.
Lehman Brothers was exciting but stressful. He enjoyed wearing his white shoes, and bespoke suit. A few times a year, he dressed like Gordon Gekko, suspenders and all. That said, it was kill or be killed. Constant competition with his – much smarter than he was used to – peers for commissions and clients. The pay was high, but so was the risk of failure. It was not uncommon to see a colleague being escorted out by security, with only a tiny brown box to his name – not even the opportunity to say bye to his former co-workers. It attracted a certain type of person, a certain type of adrenaline junkie – the type that would break their phone over the desk (there was a dedicated number to call to get a new phone) in anger, but talk passionately about how much they love their job, and really mean it.
Days were fast and intense, Dozens of calls each day. One day, during a particularly busy day where his clients invested in Mexico assets were flipping out due to the Mexico Peso Crisis, he received a call:
“Can I get bitcoin for under $200k” the speaker asks.
“Huh” Clarence responses
*disconnect*
Clarence is intrigued and types “bitcoin” and a few variations into his computer – the bank still used the ones with black screens and green text – but there were no hits. More calls were incoming, and he goes back to his job.
Throughout the years, Clarence builds up his client base, and builds up his savings. He’s a big believer in Lehman, and keeps most of his savings in their stock – which is ironic given that he preaches the importance of portfolio diversification to his clients. But he loved the adrenal, loved the hustle.
In his 40’s now, he has a wife, two kids, and multi-million dollar house in Great Neck he bought in 2006 on mortgage - with thoughts of purchasing that ski house in the Poconos – and the unexpected happens. MBS and CDO products blow up his Lehman brothers, and the whole financial market.
On one Sunday morning in October 2008, he was an executive director making $500k a year, with $3M in savings. By Monday morning, he was unemployed, and his net worth was down to $300k (excluding home equity)…Which he quickly had to spend to keep up with the mortgage on his house, his kid’s private school, his wife’s....“habits”. He would not find another job for 2 years, at which point he was deeply in debt, his marriage in shambles, and he was clinical depressed.
It’s the beginning of 2011 now, and he’s at home (a cheap apartment by himself, as he lost the house, and the wife took the kids during the recent divorce). While reading an article on CNBC, he see’s an article about Bitcoin. It had just hit $1, which attracted media attention.
Clarence does nothing. Who the fuck remembers some random 5 second phone call from 17 years ago…one random call out of the 1000’s you handle as a financial advisor?
In 2013, Clarence dies from an opioid overdose.
| It was a beautiful day. It was one of those days that you would only read about in short love novels. Fall had just stepped in, and the trees and winds were welcoming it by turning red and blowing as strong as they could. I had just moved to my new apartment and I was unpacking my things. My brand new calculator, my economics books, advanced algebra 2… I hated that last one. I had finished arranging them and went to plug in my landmine phone. It was a green LM Ericsson. I had just plugged it in when it quivered, rung and trembled. I lifted the light handset and put it against my phone. I heard crackles and pings tuning into a coarse voice.
“Do you-?”
“What?”
“…have-”
Then, he hung up. I was confused. Did someone I know call me? Was my phone malfunctioning? I didn’t know. I took the phone and called Mark, and he told me he could hear me crystal clear. Then, I forgot about it… Until the next day, at the same exact time, when I got another call.
“ANY BITCOIN?”
Bitcoin? I hadn’t heard the word ever before. When my thoughts returned to the call, he had already hung up again. I thought this was some kind of joke and decided to unplug my phone. I was going to call a professional to fix the landmine. The very next day, while I was cooking food, I heard a phone ring again. I couldn’t believe it. I left my frying pan on live fire and thrust my head through the window to see if the sound came from outside. It didn’t. I straddled to my living room and saw the phone on the floor. It had rung and rung and quivered until it fell off the shelf. The handset was lying on the ground. I rushed to grab it and only managed to hear “thousand”, this time. I was surprised. That had to mean something, that’s what anyone would think. I wrote down all the words I had heard up until that point.
DO YOU HAVE ANY BITCOIN? THOUSAND.
I researched the word ‘bitcoin’, but nothing came up. Every day, at the same time, I would be waiting in front of my phone, expecting the same caller. Every day I would get a new puzzle piece.
Do you have any bitcoin? thousand dollars. I can pay in cash. Great. I’m heading to Barney’s
​
Barney’s? I had moved a few weeks and didn’t know the area that well, but my coworkers directed me to the coffee shop in a blink. It was one of those new punky coffee shops that were too sparky to attract regular customers that actually liked coffee and too traditional to keep the youngsters in it. The coffee tasted alright. Apparently the place had been built a few days before I came and there were only two other customers beside me in it. It definitely wasn’t taking off. I approached the other two. They were a young couple in their late twenties that were glancing around all the time. Their energy was definitely not stemming from the coffee. I didn’t hesitate and said:
“Bitcoin?”
Their eyes sparked and landed on me.
“SO IT’S YOU WHO HAS BEEN CALLING US ALL THE TIME!” They said at the same time.
“What?”
“Could you please stop?” The man said. He was growing his hair out and was going through one of those awkward stages.
“No, you don’t understand. I thought that you were the one who’s calling me…”
​
It turns out that we all had been receiving the same odd call at the same time every day. We all considered calling the company, but we all knew it wouldn’t help. They unplugged their phone just as I did, and it still worked. They reached the plausible conclusion that we were hearing one side of a conversation. Maybe the man was trying to buy ‘bitcoin’, like they said, and spaced his message out not to alert anyone. Perhaps that was a drug of some kind. The man, Jake, was an architect, and his wife, Joanna, was an English teacher from New Zealand, which is something anyone would have guessed because of her thick accent. We would meet at Barney’s every day with our phones and write down what we heard. We noticed that the place wasn’t getting any people, and at a certain point it was about to close. Funnily, since the only concrete clue we got was the coffee shop’s name, we decided to buy it and turn it into a decent place. Many years later, after Bitcoin’s giant crush, a slender man came to the shop. His name was Travis and his eyelids were so big you could eat soup in them. We heard his voice, and we all knew who he was and we all knew what he was going to do. We didn’t talk to him, we didn’t stop him from spending his money and we didn’t even give him a discount. We nodded and smiled and thought about how we could talk to our past selves and convince ourselves to buy bitcoin. That was our new goal.
​ | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | **FALL 1994**
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Um, hi," the far away voice on the other end stammers, "I'm looking to put a substantial amount of money into Bitcoin, about $680k worth if the price is below $200k, can you help me out?"
"Is that one of those new tech companies? Lots of IPO's and private placement going on in tech. What is Bitcoin? Is that American? Japanese?" I ask as I scribble it down in the corner of my notepad.
There was only silence. The line was dead.
"Ok then," I say as I hang up the phone. "This new internet thing sure is bringing out the crazies," I yell out to Aileen. I can hear her laugh through the glass. Sometimes I cant tell if she's laughing with me or at me.
**SUMMER 1998**
Aileen dropped off the mail around 11:30. New issues of Fast Company, the Economist and Wired had come in along with 4 AOL trials, 2 on CD and 2 on Floppy. I liked it when they sent the floppy disks, I could use those. I had a whole drawer full of those things. They were handy. CD's were worthless though. They made terrible coasters. I know because I tried. That foil shit would lift from the substrate and get all over the place if you put a Coke on them. I guess it was the future. I just found them exponentially annoying. The floppies at least had some value.
I start looking at the Economist when the phone rings.
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Hi again, sorry for the disconnection," said the strange and tinny voice on the other end. It was that crazy dude.
"Oh hey, you're the guy that called about....Bitcoin or whatever, right?" I said.
"Ya, do you know what the price is? I'd like to buy about $680k worth if I can. Is the price still under $200k?" he asks.
"Man, I don't know what the hell that is. Is that some new company that is IPO'ing?" I ask.
"It's a digital currency. It's THE digital currency." he says, "This might sound strange, but what year is it?"
"It's fucking 1998 dude, what year do you think it is?" I reply.
"Give me a second," He says as he muffles the phone and I hear him yell to someone "It's fucking 1998. It called 1998 not 2022. That account is not going to work. That's like 10 years before the first version."
He returns and says "Look, this is going to sound really weird but in about 10 years there's going to be an economic crash. Some anonymous programmer is going to release a software that creates a digital currency called Bitcoin in response to it. Horde as much of it as you can. Because about 12 years after that, around 2020ish, the global economy is going to completely implode. The only thing that will hold any value around the world is Bitcoin."
"Look man," I say, frustrated, "I don't have much tolerance for bullshit. I have a lot of clients with real money that pay for my time. The last thing I need is some paranoid schizophrenic telling me about some fake digital currency of the future. I deal in real investments and financial planning."
I hear him mumbling to someone again on the other end. "He thinks I'm a fucking nutjob. I mean, I would too. It's 1998. Get the address."
"Are you there?" I ask more than a little annoyed.
"Ya. I'm here John. My name is Aaron Stafford, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm actually calling from 2033," he says.
I bust out laughing. "Oh that's good. Is that you Jeff? You fucking with me again?"
"No, my name is Aaron. I'm actually living down in South America and it's 2033. I'm living in a community just outside the Guarani Aquifer in Paraguay. No bullshit. You're in the heydey of the internet tech boom. Have you heard about Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing yet? Things get really interesting once they come on the scene. They make a lot of this stuff possible."
"Ok 21st century digital boy, how bout you give me some stock tips and make this worth my while," I challenge him.
"I'l tell you what. If I do and they pay off, do you promise to buy 10,000 Bitcoin sometime around 2010 and transfer it to my address? They shouldn't cost you much at all if you buy around then."
"Sure," I say, because fuck it, what did I have to lose?
"Ok," Aaron says, "In 1998 you're going to want to buy Apple."
I burst out laughing again. "Apple's about to go bankrupt!" I say.
"Jobs comes back. Microsoft puts them on life support with like a $350M placement. They end up taking over the tech industry around 2007 with smart phones."
Sure enough, Jobs had just come back and was making cuts to Apple's business. Maybe he did know something.
"I need more than that," I say.
"Ok, Amazon is something you should buy too. They dominate online retailing in the future."
"I already have some of them," I say because I had just bought some after the IPO last year.
"Buy more. Buy a lot more," Aaron said. "And Google. You probably don't know who they are. Maybe around 2003. Buy a lot of them. And sell Yahoo if you have them. They don't make it."
I keep scribbling notes on my pad. I'm a sucker for stock tips, especially with this dot com boom going on.
"Anything else?" I ask.
"Netflix. They're still probably doing mail order DVD's but they are going to transition at some point to streaming video over the web. But they only do well for about 15-20 years before they get crushed by Disney."
"Ok, so if these pan out, how much is 10,000 Bitcoin going to cost me?" I ask.
"Well," Aaron says, "if you can get in around July of 2010, maybe about $80. Would you be willing to send it to an address if I give you one?"
"Address?" I ask.
"Yea, each Bitcoin wallet has an address like computers have an IP. I can give you my wallet address and my buddy here is convinced that we'll see the funds on our end," Aaron says.
"What about the $680k you were talking about?" I reply.
"That's kind of tricky to get to you given the, umm, circumstances. You should be able to make millions if not billions on the tips I give you. All I ask is you buy about $80-$100 of Bitcoin in June of 2010. It's very important you don't put it off because the price starts escalating quickly after that. And youll want some for yourself too because those stocks we talked about earlier are going to crater in the 2020s."
"OK," I say. "I'll tell you what, if this Apple pick pays off, because right now it looks like they are at death's door, I'll do it. Do you want to give me the address?"
"Ok, this is a long ass string of characters. It's important you get this right. Let me know when you're ready." Aaron says.
"Ready right now," I say, listening intently.
"Ok my address is: 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Read it back to me." Aaron says.
"Ok, 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Is that right?" I ask.
"Yea, sounds right. You may have to sit on it for a bit before being able to send it because my friend says that address might not be recognizable until a few years after you buy it," Aaron says and muffles the phone again and tells his friend to check the balance in the background.
"Holy shit John. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me and my family." Aaron says back. "Like, seriously, thank you."
"Thanks for what?" I ask, confused.
"For following through." Aaron replies. "And look, you're going to want to move out of the US by 2020. I'd suggest buying land in Paraguay, by us, near the Guarani Aquifer. Do that before you even buy Google in 2003."
"Why's that?" I reply.
"Just trust me. Water is going to be more valuable than gold." Aaron says. "Good luck John. Thanks again."
"Alright Aaron, sure, no problem." I say. "Take care of yourself."
Aaron disconnects before I can hang up the phone.
I sigh and shake my head, letting out a small chuckle. I grab the new issue of the Economist, lean back in my chair and put my feet on the desk.
"Get ready for a world currency" the headline says.
| It was a beautiful day. It was one of those days that you would only read about in short love novels. Fall had just stepped in, and the trees and winds were welcoming it by turning red and blowing as strong as they could. I had just moved to my new apartment and I was unpacking my things. My brand new calculator, my economics books, advanced algebra 2… I hated that last one. I had finished arranging them and went to plug in my landmine phone. It was a green LM Ericsson. I had just plugged it in when it quivered, rung and trembled. I lifted the light handset and put it against my phone. I heard crackles and pings tuning into a coarse voice.
“Do you-?”
“What?”
“…have-”
Then, he hung up. I was confused. Did someone I know call me? Was my phone malfunctioning? I didn’t know. I took the phone and called Mark, and he told me he could hear me crystal clear. Then, I forgot about it… Until the next day, at the same exact time, when I got another call.
“ANY BITCOIN?”
Bitcoin? I hadn’t heard the word ever before. When my thoughts returned to the call, he had already hung up again. I thought this was some kind of joke and decided to unplug my phone. I was going to call a professional to fix the landmine. The very next day, while I was cooking food, I heard a phone ring again. I couldn’t believe it. I left my frying pan on live fire and thrust my head through the window to see if the sound came from outside. It didn’t. I straddled to my living room and saw the phone on the floor. It had rung and rung and quivered until it fell off the shelf. The handset was lying on the ground. I rushed to grab it and only managed to hear “thousand”, this time. I was surprised. That had to mean something, that’s what anyone would think. I wrote down all the words I had heard up until that point.
DO YOU HAVE ANY BITCOIN? THOUSAND.
I researched the word ‘bitcoin’, but nothing came up. Every day, at the same time, I would be waiting in front of my phone, expecting the same caller. Every day I would get a new puzzle piece.
Do you have any bitcoin? thousand dollars. I can pay in cash. Great. I’m heading to Barney’s
​
Barney’s? I had moved a few weeks and didn’t know the area that well, but my coworkers directed me to the coffee shop in a blink. It was one of those new punky coffee shops that were too sparky to attract regular customers that actually liked coffee and too traditional to keep the youngsters in it. The coffee tasted alright. Apparently the place had been built a few days before I came and there were only two other customers beside me in it. It definitely wasn’t taking off. I approached the other two. They were a young couple in their late twenties that were glancing around all the time. Their energy was definitely not stemming from the coffee. I didn’t hesitate and said:
“Bitcoin?”
Their eyes sparked and landed on me.
“SO IT’S YOU WHO HAS BEEN CALLING US ALL THE TIME!” They said at the same time.
“What?”
“Could you please stop?” The man said. He was growing his hair out and was going through one of those awkward stages.
“No, you don’t understand. I thought that you were the one who’s calling me…”
​
It turns out that we all had been receiving the same odd call at the same time every day. We all considered calling the company, but we all knew it wouldn’t help. They unplugged their phone just as I did, and it still worked. They reached the plausible conclusion that we were hearing one side of a conversation. Maybe the man was trying to buy ‘bitcoin’, like they said, and spaced his message out not to alert anyone. Perhaps that was a drug of some kind. The man, Jake, was an architect, and his wife, Joanna, was an English teacher from New Zealand, which is something anyone would have guessed because of her thick accent. We would meet at Barney’s every day with our phones and write down what we heard. We noticed that the place wasn’t getting any people, and at a certain point it was about to close. Funnily, since the only concrete clue we got was the coffee shop’s name, we decided to buy it and turn it into a decent place. Many years later, after Bitcoin’s giant crush, a slender man came to the shop. His name was Travis and his eyelids were so big you could eat soup in them. We heard his voice, and we all knew who he was and we all knew what he was going to do. We didn’t talk to him, we didn’t stop him from spending his money and we didn’t even give him a discount. We nodded and smiled and thought about how we could talk to our past selves and convince ourselves to buy bitcoin. That was our new goal.
​ | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | Clarence was always a hustler.
He wasn't great academically - mediocre grades in high school led him to a mediocre state college. His business re-selling VCR's in the late 1980's made him a few thousand dollars - a good sum of money for a 20-year-old. However, his partying and casual drug use caught up to him, causing to drop out of school before graduating. His parents, a blue collar truck driver and secretary, were disappointed, they had hoped he'd be the first to graduate in the family.
For a few years he drifted around, odd jobs here and there. A few tries starting a lawn mower and painting business, then selling fake Yankee jerseys outside the stadium. He did okay but the money was inconsistent, and he wanted more. Eventually he sees an article in the New York Post about all the money he could make on Wallstreet. Back in the day you see, some areas of high finance were less elitist, less guarded. It wasn't impossible for someone to work up from the mail room to be a portfolio manager.
The mail room wouldn't do, but he knew he had sales skills. He started as a door-to-door insurance salesmen, familiarizing himself with the different financial product and concepts – stocks, bonds, annuities, options, money markets, alternatives, etc. He had a gift for selling whole life insurance – products that made him and his company large commissions. By using complicated concepts and appealing to emotions, he could sell the most grossly over-priced products.
Eventually he studies for and passes the Series 7 and Series 63, and becomes a certified financial advisor. He spends a few years at a no-name shop - if you've ever seen the movie "Boiler room" you'll know the type - where he excelled and built a client base. Eventually he gets poached by a white ivory company in the sky – Lehman Brothers.
Lehman Brothers was exciting but stressful. He enjoyed wearing his white shoes, and bespoke suit. A few times a year, he dressed like Gordon Gekko, suspenders and all. That said, it was kill or be killed. Constant competition with his – much smarter than he was used to – peers for commissions and clients. The pay was high, but so was the risk of failure. It was not uncommon to see a colleague being escorted out by security, with only a tiny brown box to his name – not even the opportunity to say bye to his former co-workers. It attracted a certain type of person, a certain type of adrenaline junkie – the type that would break their phone over the desk (there was a dedicated number to call to get a new phone) in anger, but talk passionately about how much they love their job, and really mean it.
Days were fast and intense, Dozens of calls each day. One day, during a particularly busy day where his clients invested in Mexico assets were flipping out due to the Mexico Peso Crisis, he received a call:
“Can I get bitcoin for under $200k” the speaker asks.
“Huh” Clarence responses
*disconnect*
Clarence is intrigued and types “bitcoin” and a few variations into his computer – the bank still used the ones with black screens and green text – but there were no hits. More calls were incoming, and he goes back to his job.
Throughout the years, Clarence builds up his client base, and builds up his savings. He’s a big believer in Lehman, and keeps most of his savings in their stock – which is ironic given that he preaches the importance of portfolio diversification to his clients. But he loved the adrenal, loved the hustle.
In his 40’s now, he has a wife, two kids, and multi-million dollar house in Great Neck he bought in 2006 on mortgage - with thoughts of purchasing that ski house in the Poconos – and the unexpected happens. MBS and CDO products blow up his Lehman brothers, and the whole financial market.
On one Sunday morning in October 2008, he was an executive director making $500k a year, with $3M in savings. By Monday morning, he was unemployed, and his net worth was down to $300k (excluding home equity)…Which he quickly had to spend to keep up with the mortgage on his house, his kid’s private school, his wife’s....“habits”. He would not find another job for 2 years, at which point he was deeply in debt, his marriage in shambles, and he was clinical depressed.
It’s the beginning of 2011 now, and he’s at home (a cheap apartment by himself, as he lost the house, and the wife took the kids during the recent divorce). While reading an article on CNBC, he see’s an article about Bitcoin. It had just hit $1, which attracted media attention.
Clarence does nothing. Who the fuck remembers some random 5 second phone call from 17 years ago…one random call out of the 1000’s you handle as a financial advisor?
In 2013, Clarence dies from an opioid overdose.
| “I’d like to buy shares of bitcoin” a mumbled voice says over the phone.
Having had this conversation several times over the phone with clients the past year or so I think to myself who is it this time.
“ may I ask who’s calling?”
The voice on the other end of the phone says “does it matter? I need to buy in now”
I pause and stare blankly at my Factset monitor and ever growing list of unread emails in Outlook”
“Sir, firm policy dictates I can only give advice to existing clients and to some extent prospects, but that generally only covers assets available on our platform, currently our asset schema covers the asset classes equities, fixed income, cash, and alternatives but crypto currencies haven’t made it though compliance. Many clients like yourself have shown interest and there has been a lot of discussion of crypto currencies the past few years, but our firm has often compared it to Tulipmania which took place in Holland back in February 1637...that said you could probably buy it on a platform like coin base or a number of exchanges”
On the other end of the phone the voice screams “God damn mothafucka I traveled back in time just to deal with this bullshit..click”
My eyes gloss over at my computer onto more compliance for the next 9 hours. | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | "Sorry, my connection was lost for a moment," the voice explained.
"Excuse me, I don't... think so?" I said as it was all I could tell at that situation. To be quite honest, I did remember that call. It was a very unique call, after all.
"Oh, did I get connected to the different person? I was connected to James before. Perhaps a different James?" the man said.
"I'm James. Yes. But..." I began, but couldn't continue. It was too crazy to tell the customer that they called years ago. It was probably just a coincidence. "For starters, I don't know what's the bitcoin you're talking about," I said, sighing and leaning back on the chair.
"What? Okay, this is weird. I am pretty sure that I-" but there was a silence. "Oh shit. It worked!"
"What worked?"
"My time machine phone. I'm professor James Smith - yes, it's the most generic name, I know - and I am a scientist from 2029," the scientist said. I could hear how he was grinning at the same time at the other end of the phone. But I understood him as I also had a rather generic name.
In any normal cases, I would've already put the phone down and continued my job. But this time around, I couldn't. Just from the fact alone that I remembered when James had called here the last time and that I might never get another call from him again made me hang onto it.
"Sir, that's some good news, because I am Elizabeth, the queen of England," I said it a bit more quietly. The last thing I needed was the boss jumping on me and telling me how rude I was with the customers. But I could hear a snort from the other side.
"It's fine. Just remember, Bitcoins will be super expensive. Buy a lot of them and sell them at 2018," the voice said.
"Really? And why do you think I will remember to do that?"
"Because I'm rich," the voice said.
/r/Elven | “I’d like to buy shares of bitcoin” a mumbled voice says over the phone.
Having had this conversation several times over the phone with clients the past year or so I think to myself who is it this time.
“ may I ask who’s calling?”
The voice on the other end of the phone says “does it matter? I need to buy in now”
I pause and stare blankly at my Factset monitor and ever growing list of unread emails in Outlook”
“Sir, firm policy dictates I can only give advice to existing clients and to some extent prospects, but that generally only covers assets available on our platform, currently our asset schema covers the asset classes equities, fixed income, cash, and alternatives but crypto currencies haven’t made it though compliance. Many clients like yourself have shown interest and there has been a lot of discussion of crypto currencies the past few years, but our firm has often compared it to Tulipmania which took place in Holland back in February 1637...that said you could probably buy it on a platform like coin base or a number of exchanges”
On the other end of the phone the voice screams “God damn mothafucka I traveled back in time just to deal with this bullshit..click”
My eyes gloss over at my computer onto more compliance for the next 9 hours. | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | "What the fuck is a bit-coin?" I asked, writing her number down. Gotta make sure the spam call list stays up to date.
"Ah, have you not heard? It's like digital money that no one can see, but everyone wants to buy anyway because they don't understand it. Look it up on your phone."
I scrunched my nose. "How am I supposed to do that? Phones are for calling, idiot."
The call suddenly clicked, leaving me confused and hungry. I shrugged and got a sandwich from the fridge.
That was fifteen years ago. Of course, when I heard about the insane rise of bitcoin recently, and saw how many people were buying in, I had a lot of questions. Who was that mysterious caller, and how could she have known? Why call me, asking to buy some?
I didn't really care, though, because I had insider trading information that no one could prove. I bought eight whole BTC when it was at $10k, and eagerly awaited my payout.
We all know how that went for me.
Once it dropped to $3k, I was sitting in my office on a late night. Just eating some pizza, watching crypto crash, when another call came in. The same number I'd pinned to my cubicle wall fifteen years prior.
"*Ahem*. Hello, good sir. I just called a few moments ago, inquiring about Bitcoin, but the call disconnected. My name is Barbara Baker. As I was saying-- do you have some bitcoin? I don't want to pay more than $200k!"
I slammed a fist on the table, stood up, loosened my tie, and just... screamed. "FIRST OF ALL, WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME, ASKING TO BUY BITCOIN, AS IF IT ISN'T A DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY? WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM, A HODL FAIRY? YOU CAN TRANSCEND TIME BUT NOT LOG INTO BITTREX? GO BUY YOUR OWN FUCKING BITCOIN.
"SECONDLY, I DONT KNOW WHO YOU ARE OR WHAT KIND OF MIND-BENDING POWERS YOU HAVE THAT DISREGARD THE LAWS OF SPACE AND TIME, BUT STOP USING THEM TO DOWNLOAD MONEY. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THE BLOCKCHAIN IS, BARBARA? DO YOU?"
"Well now, please calm down Mr. Gr--"
"NO, GET YOUR TIME-TRAVELING, FOMO ASS OUT OF HERE. I BET YOU'D KEEP YOUR BITCOIN ON A SITE WALLET, WOULDN'T YOU, BARBARA? WOULDN'T YOU?"
The line was silent for a moment, buzzing, before she spoke again. "...wow, it's that bad huh? How much did you lose?"
"NOT FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS."
"I see. I apologize for the poor returns. Well, my friend, I have a great opportunity for you-- would you like to buy some Ethereum for only five thousand a piece? It's going to be what Bitcoin could nev-"
I ripped my phone out of the wall and threw it through the window.
*/r/resonatingfury* | “I’d like to buy shares of bitcoin” a mumbled voice says over the phone.
Having had this conversation several times over the phone with clients the past year or so I think to myself who is it this time.
“ may I ask who’s calling?”
The voice on the other end of the phone says “does it matter? I need to buy in now”
I pause and stare blankly at my Factset monitor and ever growing list of unread emails in Outlook”
“Sir, firm policy dictates I can only give advice to existing clients and to some extent prospects, but that generally only covers assets available on our platform, currently our asset schema covers the asset classes equities, fixed income, cash, and alternatives but crypto currencies haven’t made it though compliance. Many clients like yourself have shown interest and there has been a lot of discussion of crypto currencies the past few years, but our firm has often compared it to Tulipmania which took place in Holland back in February 1637...that said you could probably buy it on a platform like coin base or a number of exchanges”
On the other end of the phone the voice screams “God damn mothafucka I traveled back in time just to deal with this bullshit..click”
My eyes gloss over at my computer onto more compliance for the next 9 hours. | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | "Can- Can I get some of that that bitcoin? 200k under or no deal though."
I stared at my phone. "Sir, this is a private number, this isn't even listed anywhere, where did you get this?"
"Can I- Can I, hold on, I'll call right back."
That had been three offices ago, the paintings on the wall had all changed from neo-futurismic cubist bullshit that looked like the artist had pulled the pictures straight out of a homeless person's fevered schizophrenic dreams to tasteful art where the faces were blurred and the features dribbled off like running wet ink.
The wall paper had changed from ducky yellow to my current firm's brutalist pink, a call back to the formative days the big boss had spend in a russian prison, wishing for a single speck of colors on the walls.
It'd also been twenty years, and bitcoin was currently on the massive decline. I'd invested smartly into it while it was fledgling and easy, and made my fortune speculating off of it. I should've expected the reaper would come to call in eventually.
The rolex on my wrist ticked towards 3 pm, about time for the meeting.
Then I had a phone call.
But now, with caller id, all I got was
JEFFFF
on the other end of the line.
"There we go, yes yes, I am right back!" Jeffff said. "Can I get some of that bit coin? U-under 200k. I hear you you you have some some."
"What." I said. This... this could be great. He could say something else, and I could run off of that. I could solidify my position among the higher echelons with that knowledge. Get in on space programs. Have my names on highschools.
I listened with bated breath.
"Yes-yes Oh-oh!" Jeffff said. "This phone is is inn--inaccurate for these porpoises."
I sent a quick prayer to god, because his voice was skipping across the connection like a damn rock.
"Yes, I'm afraid you'll have to call back when you get a better phone," I said, crossing my fingers. "What did you want?"
"B-b-b-bit coin." Jeffff warbled. "Bit-bit-biiiiiiiiiii-"
The call kicked off. I breathed out, let out that breath I'd been holding, and leaned back in the chair. Okay. That was weird.
I guess I could look forward to that in twenty years if I wasn't dead.
I stared up at the clock on the wall and counted off the seconds. The lights flickered overhead.
Odd.
They flickered one after another, instead of in unison. From the door to the window. I flicked my gaze across them, and then over to the window as well.
The parking lot was flickering. There weren't any lights on in the parking lot mind you, because it was still the middle of the say, but the light was flickering across it.
What?
I looked up towards the horizon.
The sun flickered like a candle wick. In and out of existence, leaving only a black paralyzing void in it's place.
The phone screeched from my pocket. "B-b-it coin."
I threw it against the wall and looked back up. The screen shattered. I could buy another one.
The sun had doubled in size, and the black void flickered in and out of cognization, casting massive world bending shadows.
There wasn't anyone in the parking lot to stare at the impossibility overtaking it all. A car blipped out of existence as the light touched it, and then didn't reappear when the sun flickered again.
I swallowed and shuttered the window, looking back at my desk. The computer screen was covered in ads for cryptocurrency. My monitoring software screeched and clicked and hissed warning signs, plastering my screen like the winning screen of solitaire.
I shut the lid on the laptop and caught my breath. Right. I'm hallucinating. Great. Just what I needed. All the pressure of trying to convince people I knew what I was doing instead of taking advantage of tips from a creepy phone call had sent me utterly barmy.
The intercom system turned on, though smoke poured out of the speaker across from me. "200k or no deal though."
Oh no.
"Can I- Ca-can I-"
No no no no no.
Every floor was carpeted to reduce noise. After all, this was a money making institution, they needed absolute concentration to catch onto micro market fluctuations according to the reductive algorithms. If someone mis bought, they could lose out.
Too many losses and well.
The company didn't keep losers for long.
But I could hear the foot steps crunching down the hallway. What the hell was it crunching on?
I reached under my desk, felt around for the duct tape, and pulled it free. The gun was odd and warm in my hands, it rested right on the opposite side of where the laptop's exhaust played, and it'd caught some of it. I checked it over. Made sure the safety was flicked off. My arms were shaking.
Calm Pat, come on, you have this. What the hell would Jeffff even do?
I peered down into the hallway. The carpet fibers had crystallized into fine glass, unable to bend or move from their place.
They crunched underfoot like ice. The lights flickered overhead, and then gave up on giving light off at all, instead providing only hazy darkness and snow like a television screen. It crackled, hissed, and burned my skin as I stepped out.
"200k or no deal tho," Jeffff hissed seductively down the hallway. "Porpoises."
We met, eye to eye. He had no face. Only a smear that drooled down his neck, an eye wetly hanging from his chin, running down into static. His mouth was open, a tongue lolling free, having fallen and pooled across the cavity of his collarbone. He moved jerkily, a step at a time, before the step would abruptly reverse in defiance of his knees, skittering across the frozen glass carpet. His head did similar movements, eyes twitching, head bobbing back and forth.
Each step made the environment flicker all the more. What would it do if it touched me?
"Stop man," I called out.
"D-deal- we made a d-deal-" He didn't stop moving. A motivation posted caught on fire and dripped down the side of the wall, congealing into a pile of rotting pencils and kittens on the ground. I thought I saw it moving.
Like fuck I was going to let that touch me.
I couldn't take the risk.
"Bitcoin," Jeffff murmured. "I wanna have some of that-"
I opened fire. Maybe it was stupid, knee jerk moment, maybe I had killed someone but-
The thing was, when the bullets sprayed out of the other side of his body, all that came out was endless chain, linked to buzzing black squares. Mouths and eyes formed out of the wounds, holding position before melting off the back of the black body entity.
"I want bit coin, Pat," Jeffff whispered. "No deal."
He stepped forward, and the world rotted away like the website components of complex blockchain authentication systems.
----------
For more like this, click here! https://old.reddit.com/r/Zubergoodstories/ | “I’d like to buy shares of bitcoin” a mumbled voice says over the phone.
Having had this conversation several times over the phone with clients the past year or so I think to myself who is it this time.
“ may I ask who’s calling?”
The voice on the other end of the phone says “does it matter? I need to buy in now”
I pause and stare blankly at my Factset monitor and ever growing list of unread emails in Outlook”
“Sir, firm policy dictates I can only give advice to existing clients and to some extent prospects, but that generally only covers assets available on our platform, currently our asset schema covers the asset classes equities, fixed income, cash, and alternatives but crypto currencies haven’t made it though compliance. Many clients like yourself have shown interest and there has been a lot of discussion of crypto currencies the past few years, but our firm has often compared it to Tulipmania which took place in Holland back in February 1637...that said you could probably buy it on a platform like coin base or a number of exchanges”
On the other end of the phone the voice screams “God damn mothafucka I traveled back in time just to deal with this bullshit..click”
My eyes gloss over at my computer onto more compliance for the next 9 hours. | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | **FALL 1994**
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Um, hi," the far away voice on the other end stammers, "I'm looking to put a substantial amount of money into Bitcoin, about $680k worth if the price is below $200k, can you help me out?"
"Is that one of those new tech companies? Lots of IPO's and private placement going on in tech. What is Bitcoin? Is that American? Japanese?" I ask as I scribble it down in the corner of my notepad.
There was only silence. The line was dead.
"Ok then," I say as I hang up the phone. "This new internet thing sure is bringing out the crazies," I yell out to Aileen. I can hear her laugh through the glass. Sometimes I cant tell if she's laughing with me or at me.
**SUMMER 1998**
Aileen dropped off the mail around 11:30. New issues of Fast Company, the Economist and Wired had come in along with 4 AOL trials, 2 on CD and 2 on Floppy. I liked it when they sent the floppy disks, I could use those. I had a whole drawer full of those things. They were handy. CD's were worthless though. They made terrible coasters. I know because I tried. That foil shit would lift from the substrate and get all over the place if you put a Coke on them. I guess it was the future. I just found them exponentially annoying. The floppies at least had some value.
I start looking at the Economist when the phone rings.
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Hi again, sorry for the disconnection," said the strange and tinny voice on the other end. It was that crazy dude.
"Oh hey, you're the guy that called about....Bitcoin or whatever, right?" I said.
"Ya, do you know what the price is? I'd like to buy about $680k worth if I can. Is the price still under $200k?" he asks.
"Man, I don't know what the hell that is. Is that some new company that is IPO'ing?" I ask.
"It's a digital currency. It's THE digital currency." he says, "This might sound strange, but what year is it?"
"It's fucking 1998 dude, what year do you think it is?" I reply.
"Give me a second," He says as he muffles the phone and I hear him yell to someone "It's fucking 1998. It called 1998 not 2022. That account is not going to work. That's like 10 years before the first version."
He returns and says "Look, this is going to sound really weird but in about 10 years there's going to be an economic crash. Some anonymous programmer is going to release a software that creates a digital currency called Bitcoin in response to it. Horde as much of it as you can. Because about 12 years after that, around 2020ish, the global economy is going to completely implode. The only thing that will hold any value around the world is Bitcoin."
"Look man," I say, frustrated, "I don't have much tolerance for bullshit. I have a lot of clients with real money that pay for my time. The last thing I need is some paranoid schizophrenic telling me about some fake digital currency of the future. I deal in real investments and financial planning."
I hear him mumbling to someone again on the other end. "He thinks I'm a fucking nutjob. I mean, I would too. It's 1998. Get the address."
"Are you there?" I ask more than a little annoyed.
"Ya. I'm here John. My name is Aaron Stafford, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm actually calling from 2033," he says.
I bust out laughing. "Oh that's good. Is that you Jeff? You fucking with me again?"
"No, my name is Aaron. I'm actually living down in South America and it's 2033. I'm living in a community just outside the Guarani Aquifer in Paraguay. No bullshit. You're in the heydey of the internet tech boom. Have you heard about Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing yet? Things get really interesting once they come on the scene. They make a lot of this stuff possible."
"Ok 21st century digital boy, how bout you give me some stock tips and make this worth my while," I challenge him.
"I'l tell you what. If I do and they pay off, do you promise to buy 10,000 Bitcoin sometime around 2010 and transfer it to my address? They shouldn't cost you much at all if you buy around then."
"Sure," I say, because fuck it, what did I have to lose?
"Ok," Aaron says, "In 1998 you're going to want to buy Apple."
I burst out laughing again. "Apple's about to go bankrupt!" I say.
"Jobs comes back. Microsoft puts them on life support with like a $350M placement. They end up taking over the tech industry around 2007 with smart phones."
Sure enough, Jobs had just come back and was making cuts to Apple's business. Maybe he did know something.
"I need more than that," I say.
"Ok, Amazon is something you should buy too. They dominate online retailing in the future."
"I already have some of them," I say because I had just bought some after the IPO last year.
"Buy more. Buy a lot more," Aaron said. "And Google. You probably don't know who they are. Maybe around 2003. Buy a lot of them. And sell Yahoo if you have them. They don't make it."
I keep scribbling notes on my pad. I'm a sucker for stock tips, especially with this dot com boom going on.
"Anything else?" I ask.
"Netflix. They're still probably doing mail order DVD's but they are going to transition at some point to streaming video over the web. But they only do well for about 15-20 years before they get crushed by Disney."
"Ok, so if these pan out, how much is 10,000 Bitcoin going to cost me?" I ask.
"Well," Aaron says, "if you can get in around July of 2010, maybe about $80. Would you be willing to send it to an address if I give you one?"
"Address?" I ask.
"Yea, each Bitcoin wallet has an address like computers have an IP. I can give you my wallet address and my buddy here is convinced that we'll see the funds on our end," Aaron says.
"What about the $680k you were talking about?" I reply.
"That's kind of tricky to get to you given the, umm, circumstances. You should be able to make millions if not billions on the tips I give you. All I ask is you buy about $80-$100 of Bitcoin in June of 2010. It's very important you don't put it off because the price starts escalating quickly after that. And youll want some for yourself too because those stocks we talked about earlier are going to crater in the 2020s."
"OK," I say. "I'll tell you what, if this Apple pick pays off, because right now it looks like they are at death's door, I'll do it. Do you want to give me the address?"
"Ok, this is a long ass string of characters. It's important you get this right. Let me know when you're ready." Aaron says.
"Ready right now," I say, listening intently.
"Ok my address is: 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Read it back to me." Aaron says.
"Ok, 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Is that right?" I ask.
"Yea, sounds right. You may have to sit on it for a bit before being able to send it because my friend says that address might not be recognizable until a few years after you buy it," Aaron says and muffles the phone again and tells his friend to check the balance in the background.
"Holy shit John. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me and my family." Aaron says back. "Like, seriously, thank you."
"Thanks for what?" I ask, confused.
"For following through." Aaron replies. "And look, you're going to want to move out of the US by 2020. I'd suggest buying land in Paraguay, by us, near the Guarani Aquifer. Do that before you even buy Google in 2003."
"Why's that?" I reply.
"Just trust me. Water is going to be more valuable than gold." Aaron says. "Good luck John. Thanks again."
"Alright Aaron, sure, no problem." I say. "Take care of yourself."
Aaron disconnects before I can hang up the phone.
I sigh and shake my head, letting out a small chuckle. I grab the new issue of the Economist, lean back in my chair and put my feet on the desk.
"Get ready for a world currency" the headline says.
| “I’d like to buy shares of bitcoin” a mumbled voice says over the phone.
Having had this conversation several times over the phone with clients the past year or so I think to myself who is it this time.
“ may I ask who’s calling?”
The voice on the other end of the phone says “does it matter? I need to buy in now”
I pause and stare blankly at my Factset monitor and ever growing list of unread emails in Outlook”
“Sir, firm policy dictates I can only give advice to existing clients and to some extent prospects, but that generally only covers assets available on our platform, currently our asset schema covers the asset classes equities, fixed income, cash, and alternatives but crypto currencies haven’t made it though compliance. Many clients like yourself have shown interest and there has been a lot of discussion of crypto currencies the past few years, but our firm has often compared it to Tulipmania which took place in Holland back in February 1637...that said you could probably buy it on a platform like coin base or a number of exchanges”
On the other end of the phone the voice screams “God damn mothafucka I traveled back in time just to deal with this bullshit..click”
My eyes gloss over at my computer onto more compliance for the next 9 hours. | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | I must confess, when the bitcoin hit $15k I was tempted to sell. I had bought a ton of them the moment they first appeared, guided by an odd call I had received decades ago. For people like me, who care little about those slow-earning stocks, and love the adrenaline a good bet on a highly volatile company provides, every little hint of information, no matter how ridicule, was enough for me to spend all my savings.
The green numbers were my drug, and the red ones my motivation to invest more. Diversification they said, and I laughed at them when $MU sky-rocketed, and I bathed in tendies.
But I'm straying away. You see, if I sold bitcoin when it reached $15k I would've been set for life, but one does not simply ignore a call from someone telling you that he wanted to get bitcoin below $200k. That's a sort of legal insider information, despite how unreliable it was.
Of course, as you may know, the bitcoin plummeted, and new cryptocurrencies rose. I won't lie, I panicked back then, and almost sold at $5k, but I forbid myself to do such a stupid thing. I knew it was going to rise, and it was going to rise like nothing the market had ever seen before.
And then it hit $1k, and the ramen noodles were starting to make me sick. Still I waited, tear after tear, thinking about the amount of money I had lost, and how the people in the online forums called me names, and paid their respects with the letter F.
But then it happened. It rose slowly but steadily. The moment I saw this, I bought at $2K, and kept it. When it reached $15k again, my mind screamed to sell and stop the stress. But the stress is what made me feel alive, and so I held onto my bitcoins.
Two years later, it hit $199k, and the phone rang again.
"Hey man, this phone disconnected or something. Can I buy below $200k?"
I frowned. This was the man from the call from all those decades ago. The call that started it all. "What do you mean the phone disconnected? It's been 30 years since we spoke."
The man laughed. "Yeah sure, that coffee you are *drinking* must be quite strong. Now, can we talk business, please?"
Confused, but interested, I played his game. Perhaps he would accidentally give me the key to make another fortune. "You can buy for sure below $200k. It's at $198k right now. But do you think it will keep rising?"
"Keep rising? Absolutely not. It will hit $205k and then plummet to cents. I just want to buy, hold, and sell when it reaches $204k."
"I see. Well, I can make the operation for you. I just need your data."
There was no answer. Once again, the phone had disconnected.
Without a doubt, when it hit $204k I sold, and secured a fortune that would last for centuries. I became the richest man in the world, and became an angel investor, losing fortunes in start-ups that went nowhere.
But as thing goes, a young man approached me one day and pitched his invention. It was a telephone he claimed could communicate with the past. Everyone rejected him, for he had no proof that it worked, and when you used it you lost connection after a handful of seconds.
I bought every patent and license the man had. He scampered happily away with his money, and I, as a good businessman, reserved the technology just for me.
I grabbed the phone, and dialed a very old number.
"Hello, can I buy bitcoin below $200k?"
----------------------
r/NoahElowyn | “I’d like to buy shares of bitcoin” a mumbled voice says over the phone.
Having had this conversation several times over the phone with clients the past year or so I think to myself who is it this time.
“ may I ask who’s calling?”
The voice on the other end of the phone says “does it matter? I need to buy in now”
I pause and stare blankly at my Factset monitor and ever growing list of unread emails in Outlook”
“Sir, firm policy dictates I can only give advice to existing clients and to some extent prospects, but that generally only covers assets available on our platform, currently our asset schema covers the asset classes equities, fixed income, cash, and alternatives but crypto currencies haven’t made it though compliance. Many clients like yourself have shown interest and there has been a lot of discussion of crypto currencies the past few years, but our firm has often compared it to Tulipmania which took place in Holland back in February 1637...that said you could probably buy it on a platform like coin base or a number of exchanges”
On the other end of the phone the voice screams “God damn mothafucka I traveled back in time just to deal with this bullshit..click”
My eyes gloss over at my computer onto more compliance for the next 9 hours. | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | **FALL 1994**
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Um, hi," the far away voice on the other end stammers, "I'm looking to put a substantial amount of money into Bitcoin, about $680k worth if the price is below $200k, can you help me out?"
"Is that one of those new tech companies? Lots of IPO's and private placement going on in tech. What is Bitcoin? Is that American? Japanese?" I ask as I scribble it down in the corner of my notepad.
There was only silence. The line was dead.
"Ok then," I say as I hang up the phone. "This new internet thing sure is bringing out the crazies," I yell out to Aileen. I can hear her laugh through the glass. Sometimes I cant tell if she's laughing with me or at me.
**SUMMER 1998**
Aileen dropped off the mail around 11:30. New issues of Fast Company, the Economist and Wired had come in along with 4 AOL trials, 2 on CD and 2 on Floppy. I liked it when they sent the floppy disks, I could use those. I had a whole drawer full of those things. They were handy. CD's were worthless though. They made terrible coasters. I know because I tried. That foil shit would lift from the substrate and get all over the place if you put a Coke on them. I guess it was the future. I just found them exponentially annoying. The floppies at least had some value.
I start looking at the Economist when the phone rings.
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Hi again, sorry for the disconnection," said the strange and tinny voice on the other end. It was that crazy dude.
"Oh hey, you're the guy that called about....Bitcoin or whatever, right?" I said.
"Ya, do you know what the price is? I'd like to buy about $680k worth if I can. Is the price still under $200k?" he asks.
"Man, I don't know what the hell that is. Is that some new company that is IPO'ing?" I ask.
"It's a digital currency. It's THE digital currency." he says, "This might sound strange, but what year is it?"
"It's fucking 1998 dude, what year do you think it is?" I reply.
"Give me a second," He says as he muffles the phone and I hear him yell to someone "It's fucking 1998. It called 1998 not 2022. That account is not going to work. That's like 10 years before the first version."
He returns and says "Look, this is going to sound really weird but in about 10 years there's going to be an economic crash. Some anonymous programmer is going to release a software that creates a digital currency called Bitcoin in response to it. Horde as much of it as you can. Because about 12 years after that, around 2020ish, the global economy is going to completely implode. The only thing that will hold any value around the world is Bitcoin."
"Look man," I say, frustrated, "I don't have much tolerance for bullshit. I have a lot of clients with real money that pay for my time. The last thing I need is some paranoid schizophrenic telling me about some fake digital currency of the future. I deal in real investments and financial planning."
I hear him mumbling to someone again on the other end. "He thinks I'm a fucking nutjob. I mean, I would too. It's 1998. Get the address."
"Are you there?" I ask more than a little annoyed.
"Ya. I'm here John. My name is Aaron Stafford, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm actually calling from 2033," he says.
I bust out laughing. "Oh that's good. Is that you Jeff? You fucking with me again?"
"No, my name is Aaron. I'm actually living down in South America and it's 2033. I'm living in a community just outside the Guarani Aquifer in Paraguay. No bullshit. You're in the heydey of the internet tech boom. Have you heard about Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing yet? Things get really interesting once they come on the scene. They make a lot of this stuff possible."
"Ok 21st century digital boy, how bout you give me some stock tips and make this worth my while," I challenge him.
"I'l tell you what. If I do and they pay off, do you promise to buy 10,000 Bitcoin sometime around 2010 and transfer it to my address? They shouldn't cost you much at all if you buy around then."
"Sure," I say, because fuck it, what did I have to lose?
"Ok," Aaron says, "In 1998 you're going to want to buy Apple."
I burst out laughing again. "Apple's about to go bankrupt!" I say.
"Jobs comes back. Microsoft puts them on life support with like a $350M placement. They end up taking over the tech industry around 2007 with smart phones."
Sure enough, Jobs had just come back and was making cuts to Apple's business. Maybe he did know something.
"I need more than that," I say.
"Ok, Amazon is something you should buy too. They dominate online retailing in the future."
"I already have some of them," I say because I had just bought some after the IPO last year.
"Buy more. Buy a lot more," Aaron said. "And Google. You probably don't know who they are. Maybe around 2003. Buy a lot of them. And sell Yahoo if you have them. They don't make it."
I keep scribbling notes on my pad. I'm a sucker for stock tips, especially with this dot com boom going on.
"Anything else?" I ask.
"Netflix. They're still probably doing mail order DVD's but they are going to transition at some point to streaming video over the web. But they only do well for about 15-20 years before they get crushed by Disney."
"Ok, so if these pan out, how much is 10,000 Bitcoin going to cost me?" I ask.
"Well," Aaron says, "if you can get in around July of 2010, maybe about $80. Would you be willing to send it to an address if I give you one?"
"Address?" I ask.
"Yea, each Bitcoin wallet has an address like computers have an IP. I can give you my wallet address and my buddy here is convinced that we'll see the funds on our end," Aaron says.
"What about the $680k you were talking about?" I reply.
"That's kind of tricky to get to you given the, umm, circumstances. You should be able to make millions if not billions on the tips I give you. All I ask is you buy about $80-$100 of Bitcoin in June of 2010. It's very important you don't put it off because the price starts escalating quickly after that. And youll want some for yourself too because those stocks we talked about earlier are going to crater in the 2020s."
"OK," I say. "I'll tell you what, if this Apple pick pays off, because right now it looks like they are at death's door, I'll do it. Do you want to give me the address?"
"Ok, this is a long ass string of characters. It's important you get this right. Let me know when you're ready." Aaron says.
"Ready right now," I say, listening intently.
"Ok my address is: 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Read it back to me." Aaron says.
"Ok, 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Is that right?" I ask.
"Yea, sounds right. You may have to sit on it for a bit before being able to send it because my friend says that address might not be recognizable until a few years after you buy it," Aaron says and muffles the phone again and tells his friend to check the balance in the background.
"Holy shit John. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me and my family." Aaron says back. "Like, seriously, thank you."
"Thanks for what?" I ask, confused.
"For following through." Aaron replies. "And look, you're going to want to move out of the US by 2020. I'd suggest buying land in Paraguay, by us, near the Guarani Aquifer. Do that before you even buy Google in 2003."
"Why's that?" I reply.
"Just trust me. Water is going to be more valuable than gold." Aaron says. "Good luck John. Thanks again."
"Alright Aaron, sure, no problem." I say. "Take care of yourself."
Aaron disconnects before I can hang up the phone.
I sigh and shake my head, letting out a small chuckle. I grab the new issue of the Economist, lean back in my chair and put my feet on the desk.
"Get ready for a world currency" the headline says.
| Clarence was always a hustler.
He wasn't great academically - mediocre grades in high school led him to a mediocre state college. His business re-selling VCR's in the late 1980's made him a few thousand dollars - a good sum of money for a 20-year-old. However, his partying and casual drug use caught up to him, causing to drop out of school before graduating. His parents, a blue collar truck driver and secretary, were disappointed, they had hoped he'd be the first to graduate in the family.
For a few years he drifted around, odd jobs here and there. A few tries starting a lawn mower and painting business, then selling fake Yankee jerseys outside the stadium. He did okay but the money was inconsistent, and he wanted more. Eventually he sees an article in the New York Post about all the money he could make on Wallstreet. Back in the day you see, some areas of high finance were less elitist, less guarded. It wasn't impossible for someone to work up from the mail room to be a portfolio manager.
The mail room wouldn't do, but he knew he had sales skills. He started as a door-to-door insurance salesmen, familiarizing himself with the different financial product and concepts – stocks, bonds, annuities, options, money markets, alternatives, etc. He had a gift for selling whole life insurance – products that made him and his company large commissions. By using complicated concepts and appealing to emotions, he could sell the most grossly over-priced products.
Eventually he studies for and passes the Series 7 and Series 63, and becomes a certified financial advisor. He spends a few years at a no-name shop - if you've ever seen the movie "Boiler room" you'll know the type - where he excelled and built a client base. Eventually he gets poached by a white ivory company in the sky – Lehman Brothers.
Lehman Brothers was exciting but stressful. He enjoyed wearing his white shoes, and bespoke suit. A few times a year, he dressed like Gordon Gekko, suspenders and all. That said, it was kill or be killed. Constant competition with his – much smarter than he was used to – peers for commissions and clients. The pay was high, but so was the risk of failure. It was not uncommon to see a colleague being escorted out by security, with only a tiny brown box to his name – not even the opportunity to say bye to his former co-workers. It attracted a certain type of person, a certain type of adrenaline junkie – the type that would break their phone over the desk (there was a dedicated number to call to get a new phone) in anger, but talk passionately about how much they love their job, and really mean it.
Days were fast and intense, Dozens of calls each day. One day, during a particularly busy day where his clients invested in Mexico assets were flipping out due to the Mexico Peso Crisis, he received a call:
“Can I get bitcoin for under $200k” the speaker asks.
“Huh” Clarence responses
*disconnect*
Clarence is intrigued and types “bitcoin” and a few variations into his computer – the bank still used the ones with black screens and green text – but there were no hits. More calls were incoming, and he goes back to his job.
Throughout the years, Clarence builds up his client base, and builds up his savings. He’s a big believer in Lehman, and keeps most of his savings in their stock – which is ironic given that he preaches the importance of portfolio diversification to his clients. But he loved the adrenal, loved the hustle.
In his 40’s now, he has a wife, two kids, and multi-million dollar house in Great Neck he bought in 2006 on mortgage - with thoughts of purchasing that ski house in the Poconos – and the unexpected happens. MBS and CDO products blow up his Lehman brothers, and the whole financial market.
On one Sunday morning in October 2008, he was an executive director making $500k a year, with $3M in savings. By Monday morning, he was unemployed, and his net worth was down to $300k (excluding home equity)…Which he quickly had to spend to keep up with the mortgage on his house, his kid’s private school, his wife’s....“habits”. He would not find another job for 2 years, at which point he was deeply in debt, his marriage in shambles, and he was clinical depressed.
It’s the beginning of 2011 now, and he’s at home (a cheap apartment by himself, as he lost the house, and the wife took the kids during the recent divorce). While reading an article on CNBC, he see’s an article about Bitcoin. It had just hit $1, which attracted media attention.
Clarence does nothing. Who the fuck remembers some random 5 second phone call from 17 years ago…one random call out of the 1000’s you handle as a financial advisor?
In 2013, Clarence dies from an opioid overdose.
| |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | "What the fuck is a bit-coin?" I asked, writing her number down. Gotta make sure the spam call list stays up to date.
"Ah, have you not heard? It's like digital money that no one can see, but everyone wants to buy anyway because they don't understand it. Look it up on your phone."
I scrunched my nose. "How am I supposed to do that? Phones are for calling, idiot."
The call suddenly clicked, leaving me confused and hungry. I shrugged and got a sandwich from the fridge.
That was fifteen years ago. Of course, when I heard about the insane rise of bitcoin recently, and saw how many people were buying in, I had a lot of questions. Who was that mysterious caller, and how could she have known? Why call me, asking to buy some?
I didn't really care, though, because I had insider trading information that no one could prove. I bought eight whole BTC when it was at $10k, and eagerly awaited my payout.
We all know how that went for me.
Once it dropped to $3k, I was sitting in my office on a late night. Just eating some pizza, watching crypto crash, when another call came in. The same number I'd pinned to my cubicle wall fifteen years prior.
"*Ahem*. Hello, good sir. I just called a few moments ago, inquiring about Bitcoin, but the call disconnected. My name is Barbara Baker. As I was saying-- do you have some bitcoin? I don't want to pay more than $200k!"
I slammed a fist on the table, stood up, loosened my tie, and just... screamed. "FIRST OF ALL, WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME, ASKING TO BUY BITCOIN, AS IF IT ISN'T A DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY? WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM, A HODL FAIRY? YOU CAN TRANSCEND TIME BUT NOT LOG INTO BITTREX? GO BUY YOUR OWN FUCKING BITCOIN.
"SECONDLY, I DONT KNOW WHO YOU ARE OR WHAT KIND OF MIND-BENDING POWERS YOU HAVE THAT DISREGARD THE LAWS OF SPACE AND TIME, BUT STOP USING THEM TO DOWNLOAD MONEY. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THE BLOCKCHAIN IS, BARBARA? DO YOU?"
"Well now, please calm down Mr. Gr--"
"NO, GET YOUR TIME-TRAVELING, FOMO ASS OUT OF HERE. I BET YOU'D KEEP YOUR BITCOIN ON A SITE WALLET, WOULDN'T YOU, BARBARA? WOULDN'T YOU?"
The line was silent for a moment, buzzing, before she spoke again. "...wow, it's that bad huh? How much did you lose?"
"NOT FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS."
"I see. I apologize for the poor returns. Well, my friend, I have a great opportunity for you-- would you like to buy some Ethereum for only five thousand a piece? It's going to be what Bitcoin could nev-"
I ripped my phone out of the wall and threw it through the window.
*/r/resonatingfury* | "Sorry, my connection was lost for a moment," the voice explained.
"Excuse me, I don't... think so?" I said as it was all I could tell at that situation. To be quite honest, I did remember that call. It was a very unique call, after all.
"Oh, did I get connected to the different person? I was connected to James before. Perhaps a different James?" the man said.
"I'm James. Yes. But..." I began, but couldn't continue. It was too crazy to tell the customer that they called years ago. It was probably just a coincidence. "For starters, I don't know what's the bitcoin you're talking about," I said, sighing and leaning back on the chair.
"What? Okay, this is weird. I am pretty sure that I-" but there was a silence. "Oh shit. It worked!"
"What worked?"
"My time machine phone. I'm professor James Smith - yes, it's the most generic name, I know - and I am a scientist from 2029," the scientist said. I could hear how he was grinning at the same time at the other end of the phone. But I understood him as I also had a rather generic name.
In any normal cases, I would've already put the phone down and continued my job. But this time around, I couldn't. Just from the fact alone that I remembered when James had called here the last time and that I might never get another call from him again made me hang onto it.
"Sir, that's some good news, because I am Elizabeth, the queen of England," I said it a bit more quietly. The last thing I needed was the boss jumping on me and telling me how rude I was with the customers. But I could hear a snort from the other side.
"It's fine. Just remember, Bitcoins will be super expensive. Buy a lot of them and sell them at 2018," the voice said.
"Really? And why do you think I will remember to do that?"
"Because I'm rich," the voice said.
/r/Elven | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | **FALL 1994**
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Um, hi," the far away voice on the other end stammers, "I'm looking to put a substantial amount of money into Bitcoin, about $680k worth if the price is below $200k, can you help me out?"
"Is that one of those new tech companies? Lots of IPO's and private placement going on in tech. What is Bitcoin? Is that American? Japanese?" I ask as I scribble it down in the corner of my notepad.
There was only silence. The line was dead.
"Ok then," I say as I hang up the phone. "This new internet thing sure is bringing out the crazies," I yell out to Aileen. I can hear her laugh through the glass. Sometimes I cant tell if she's laughing with me or at me.
**SUMMER 1998**
Aileen dropped off the mail around 11:30. New issues of Fast Company, the Economist and Wired had come in along with 4 AOL trials, 2 on CD and 2 on Floppy. I liked it when they sent the floppy disks, I could use those. I had a whole drawer full of those things. They were handy. CD's were worthless though. They made terrible coasters. I know because I tried. That foil shit would lift from the substrate and get all over the place if you put a Coke on them. I guess it was the future. I just found them exponentially annoying. The floppies at least had some value.
I start looking at the Economist when the phone rings.
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Hi again, sorry for the disconnection," said the strange and tinny voice on the other end. It was that crazy dude.
"Oh hey, you're the guy that called about....Bitcoin or whatever, right?" I said.
"Ya, do you know what the price is? I'd like to buy about $680k worth if I can. Is the price still under $200k?" he asks.
"Man, I don't know what the hell that is. Is that some new company that is IPO'ing?" I ask.
"It's a digital currency. It's THE digital currency." he says, "This might sound strange, but what year is it?"
"It's fucking 1998 dude, what year do you think it is?" I reply.
"Give me a second," He says as he muffles the phone and I hear him yell to someone "It's fucking 1998. It called 1998 not 2022. That account is not going to work. That's like 10 years before the first version."
He returns and says "Look, this is going to sound really weird but in about 10 years there's going to be an economic crash. Some anonymous programmer is going to release a software that creates a digital currency called Bitcoin in response to it. Horde as much of it as you can. Because about 12 years after that, around 2020ish, the global economy is going to completely implode. The only thing that will hold any value around the world is Bitcoin."
"Look man," I say, frustrated, "I don't have much tolerance for bullshit. I have a lot of clients with real money that pay for my time. The last thing I need is some paranoid schizophrenic telling me about some fake digital currency of the future. I deal in real investments and financial planning."
I hear him mumbling to someone again on the other end. "He thinks I'm a fucking nutjob. I mean, I would too. It's 1998. Get the address."
"Are you there?" I ask more than a little annoyed.
"Ya. I'm here John. My name is Aaron Stafford, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm actually calling from 2033," he says.
I bust out laughing. "Oh that's good. Is that you Jeff? You fucking with me again?"
"No, my name is Aaron. I'm actually living down in South America and it's 2033. I'm living in a community just outside the Guarani Aquifer in Paraguay. No bullshit. You're in the heydey of the internet tech boom. Have you heard about Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing yet? Things get really interesting once they come on the scene. They make a lot of this stuff possible."
"Ok 21st century digital boy, how bout you give me some stock tips and make this worth my while," I challenge him.
"I'l tell you what. If I do and they pay off, do you promise to buy 10,000 Bitcoin sometime around 2010 and transfer it to my address? They shouldn't cost you much at all if you buy around then."
"Sure," I say, because fuck it, what did I have to lose?
"Ok," Aaron says, "In 1998 you're going to want to buy Apple."
I burst out laughing again. "Apple's about to go bankrupt!" I say.
"Jobs comes back. Microsoft puts them on life support with like a $350M placement. They end up taking over the tech industry around 2007 with smart phones."
Sure enough, Jobs had just come back and was making cuts to Apple's business. Maybe he did know something.
"I need more than that," I say.
"Ok, Amazon is something you should buy too. They dominate online retailing in the future."
"I already have some of them," I say because I had just bought some after the IPO last year.
"Buy more. Buy a lot more," Aaron said. "And Google. You probably don't know who they are. Maybe around 2003. Buy a lot of them. And sell Yahoo if you have them. They don't make it."
I keep scribbling notes on my pad. I'm a sucker for stock tips, especially with this dot com boom going on.
"Anything else?" I ask.
"Netflix. They're still probably doing mail order DVD's but they are going to transition at some point to streaming video over the web. But they only do well for about 15-20 years before they get crushed by Disney."
"Ok, so if these pan out, how much is 10,000 Bitcoin going to cost me?" I ask.
"Well," Aaron says, "if you can get in around July of 2010, maybe about $80. Would you be willing to send it to an address if I give you one?"
"Address?" I ask.
"Yea, each Bitcoin wallet has an address like computers have an IP. I can give you my wallet address and my buddy here is convinced that we'll see the funds on our end," Aaron says.
"What about the $680k you were talking about?" I reply.
"That's kind of tricky to get to you given the, umm, circumstances. You should be able to make millions if not billions on the tips I give you. All I ask is you buy about $80-$100 of Bitcoin in June of 2010. It's very important you don't put it off because the price starts escalating quickly after that. And youll want some for yourself too because those stocks we talked about earlier are going to crater in the 2020s."
"OK," I say. "I'll tell you what, if this Apple pick pays off, because right now it looks like they are at death's door, I'll do it. Do you want to give me the address?"
"Ok, this is a long ass string of characters. It's important you get this right. Let me know when you're ready." Aaron says.
"Ready right now," I say, listening intently.
"Ok my address is: 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Read it back to me." Aaron says.
"Ok, 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Is that right?" I ask.
"Yea, sounds right. You may have to sit on it for a bit before being able to send it because my friend says that address might not be recognizable until a few years after you buy it," Aaron says and muffles the phone again and tells his friend to check the balance in the background.
"Holy shit John. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me and my family." Aaron says back. "Like, seriously, thank you."
"Thanks for what?" I ask, confused.
"For following through." Aaron replies. "And look, you're going to want to move out of the US by 2020. I'd suggest buying land in Paraguay, by us, near the Guarani Aquifer. Do that before you even buy Google in 2003."
"Why's that?" I reply.
"Just trust me. Water is going to be more valuable than gold." Aaron says. "Good luck John. Thanks again."
"Alright Aaron, sure, no problem." I say. "Take care of yourself."
Aaron disconnects before I can hang up the phone.
I sigh and shake my head, letting out a small chuckle. I grab the new issue of the Economist, lean back in my chair and put my feet on the desk.
"Get ready for a world currency" the headline says.
| "Sorry, my connection was lost for a moment," the voice explained.
"Excuse me, I don't... think so?" I said as it was all I could tell at that situation. To be quite honest, I did remember that call. It was a very unique call, after all.
"Oh, did I get connected to the different person? I was connected to James before. Perhaps a different James?" the man said.
"I'm James. Yes. But..." I began, but couldn't continue. It was too crazy to tell the customer that they called years ago. It was probably just a coincidence. "For starters, I don't know what's the bitcoin you're talking about," I said, sighing and leaning back on the chair.
"What? Okay, this is weird. I am pretty sure that I-" but there was a silence. "Oh shit. It worked!"
"What worked?"
"My time machine phone. I'm professor James Smith - yes, it's the most generic name, I know - and I am a scientist from 2029," the scientist said. I could hear how he was grinning at the same time at the other end of the phone. But I understood him as I also had a rather generic name.
In any normal cases, I would've already put the phone down and continued my job. But this time around, I couldn't. Just from the fact alone that I remembered when James had called here the last time and that I might never get another call from him again made me hang onto it.
"Sir, that's some good news, because I am Elizabeth, the queen of England," I said it a bit more quietly. The last thing I needed was the boss jumping on me and telling me how rude I was with the customers. But I could hear a snort from the other side.
"It's fine. Just remember, Bitcoins will be super expensive. Buy a lot of them and sell them at 2018," the voice said.
"Really? And why do you think I will remember to do that?"
"Because I'm rich," the voice said.
/r/Elven | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | **FALL 1994**
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Um, hi," the far away voice on the other end stammers, "I'm looking to put a substantial amount of money into Bitcoin, about $680k worth if the price is below $200k, can you help me out?"
"Is that one of those new tech companies? Lots of IPO's and private placement going on in tech. What is Bitcoin? Is that American? Japanese?" I ask as I scribble it down in the corner of my notepad.
There was only silence. The line was dead.
"Ok then," I say as I hang up the phone. "This new internet thing sure is bringing out the crazies," I yell out to Aileen. I can hear her laugh through the glass. Sometimes I cant tell if she's laughing with me or at me.
**SUMMER 1998**
Aileen dropped off the mail around 11:30. New issues of Fast Company, the Economist and Wired had come in along with 4 AOL trials, 2 on CD and 2 on Floppy. I liked it when they sent the floppy disks, I could use those. I had a whole drawer full of those things. They were handy. CD's were worthless though. They made terrible coasters. I know because I tried. That foil shit would lift from the substrate and get all over the place if you put a Coke on them. I guess it was the future. I just found them exponentially annoying. The floppies at least had some value.
I start looking at the Economist when the phone rings.
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Hi again, sorry for the disconnection," said the strange and tinny voice on the other end. It was that crazy dude.
"Oh hey, you're the guy that called about....Bitcoin or whatever, right?" I said.
"Ya, do you know what the price is? I'd like to buy about $680k worth if I can. Is the price still under $200k?" he asks.
"Man, I don't know what the hell that is. Is that some new company that is IPO'ing?" I ask.
"It's a digital currency. It's THE digital currency." he says, "This might sound strange, but what year is it?"
"It's fucking 1998 dude, what year do you think it is?" I reply.
"Give me a second," He says as he muffles the phone and I hear him yell to someone "It's fucking 1998. It called 1998 not 2022. That account is not going to work. That's like 10 years before the first version."
He returns and says "Look, this is going to sound really weird but in about 10 years there's going to be an economic crash. Some anonymous programmer is going to release a software that creates a digital currency called Bitcoin in response to it. Horde as much of it as you can. Because about 12 years after that, around 2020ish, the global economy is going to completely implode. The only thing that will hold any value around the world is Bitcoin."
"Look man," I say, frustrated, "I don't have much tolerance for bullshit. I have a lot of clients with real money that pay for my time. The last thing I need is some paranoid schizophrenic telling me about some fake digital currency of the future. I deal in real investments and financial planning."
I hear him mumbling to someone again on the other end. "He thinks I'm a fucking nutjob. I mean, I would too. It's 1998. Get the address."
"Are you there?" I ask more than a little annoyed.
"Ya. I'm here John. My name is Aaron Stafford, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm actually calling from 2033," he says.
I bust out laughing. "Oh that's good. Is that you Jeff? You fucking with me again?"
"No, my name is Aaron. I'm actually living down in South America and it's 2033. I'm living in a community just outside the Guarani Aquifer in Paraguay. No bullshit. You're in the heydey of the internet tech boom. Have you heard about Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing yet? Things get really interesting once they come on the scene. They make a lot of this stuff possible."
"Ok 21st century digital boy, how bout you give me some stock tips and make this worth my while," I challenge him.
"I'l tell you what. If I do and they pay off, do you promise to buy 10,000 Bitcoin sometime around 2010 and transfer it to my address? They shouldn't cost you much at all if you buy around then."
"Sure," I say, because fuck it, what did I have to lose?
"Ok," Aaron says, "In 1998 you're going to want to buy Apple."
I burst out laughing again. "Apple's about to go bankrupt!" I say.
"Jobs comes back. Microsoft puts them on life support with like a $350M placement. They end up taking over the tech industry around 2007 with smart phones."
Sure enough, Jobs had just come back and was making cuts to Apple's business. Maybe he did know something.
"I need more than that," I say.
"Ok, Amazon is something you should buy too. They dominate online retailing in the future."
"I already have some of them," I say because I had just bought some after the IPO last year.
"Buy more. Buy a lot more," Aaron said. "And Google. You probably don't know who they are. Maybe around 2003. Buy a lot of them. And sell Yahoo if you have them. They don't make it."
I keep scribbling notes on my pad. I'm a sucker for stock tips, especially with this dot com boom going on.
"Anything else?" I ask.
"Netflix. They're still probably doing mail order DVD's but they are going to transition at some point to streaming video over the web. But they only do well for about 15-20 years before they get crushed by Disney."
"Ok, so if these pan out, how much is 10,000 Bitcoin going to cost me?" I ask.
"Well," Aaron says, "if you can get in around July of 2010, maybe about $80. Would you be willing to send it to an address if I give you one?"
"Address?" I ask.
"Yea, each Bitcoin wallet has an address like computers have an IP. I can give you my wallet address and my buddy here is convinced that we'll see the funds on our end," Aaron says.
"What about the $680k you were talking about?" I reply.
"That's kind of tricky to get to you given the, umm, circumstances. You should be able to make millions if not billions on the tips I give you. All I ask is you buy about $80-$100 of Bitcoin in June of 2010. It's very important you don't put it off because the price starts escalating quickly after that. And youll want some for yourself too because those stocks we talked about earlier are going to crater in the 2020s."
"OK," I say. "I'll tell you what, if this Apple pick pays off, because right now it looks like they are at death's door, I'll do it. Do you want to give me the address?"
"Ok, this is a long ass string of characters. It's important you get this right. Let me know when you're ready." Aaron says.
"Ready right now," I say, listening intently.
"Ok my address is: 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Read it back to me." Aaron says.
"Ok, 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Is that right?" I ask.
"Yea, sounds right. You may have to sit on it for a bit before being able to send it because my friend says that address might not be recognizable until a few years after you buy it," Aaron says and muffles the phone again and tells his friend to check the balance in the background.
"Holy shit John. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me and my family." Aaron says back. "Like, seriously, thank you."
"Thanks for what?" I ask, confused.
"For following through." Aaron replies. "And look, you're going to want to move out of the US by 2020. I'd suggest buying land in Paraguay, by us, near the Guarani Aquifer. Do that before you even buy Google in 2003."
"Why's that?" I reply.
"Just trust me. Water is going to be more valuable than gold." Aaron says. "Good luck John. Thanks again."
"Alright Aaron, sure, no problem." I say. "Take care of yourself."
Aaron disconnects before I can hang up the phone.
I sigh and shake my head, letting out a small chuckle. I grab the new issue of the Economist, lean back in my chair and put my feet on the desk.
"Get ready for a world currency" the headline says.
| "What the fuck is a bit-coin?" I asked, writing her number down. Gotta make sure the spam call list stays up to date.
"Ah, have you not heard? It's like digital money that no one can see, but everyone wants to buy anyway because they don't understand it. Look it up on your phone."
I scrunched my nose. "How am I supposed to do that? Phones are for calling, idiot."
The call suddenly clicked, leaving me confused and hungry. I shrugged and got a sandwich from the fridge.
That was fifteen years ago. Of course, when I heard about the insane rise of bitcoin recently, and saw how many people were buying in, I had a lot of questions. Who was that mysterious caller, and how could she have known? Why call me, asking to buy some?
I didn't really care, though, because I had insider trading information that no one could prove. I bought eight whole BTC when it was at $10k, and eagerly awaited my payout.
We all know how that went for me.
Once it dropped to $3k, I was sitting in my office on a late night. Just eating some pizza, watching crypto crash, when another call came in. The same number I'd pinned to my cubicle wall fifteen years prior.
"*Ahem*. Hello, good sir. I just called a few moments ago, inquiring about Bitcoin, but the call disconnected. My name is Barbara Baker. As I was saying-- do you have some bitcoin? I don't want to pay more than $200k!"
I slammed a fist on the table, stood up, loosened my tie, and just... screamed. "FIRST OF ALL, WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME, ASKING TO BUY BITCOIN, AS IF IT ISN'T A DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY? WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM, A HODL FAIRY? YOU CAN TRANSCEND TIME BUT NOT LOG INTO BITTREX? GO BUY YOUR OWN FUCKING BITCOIN.
"SECONDLY, I DONT KNOW WHO YOU ARE OR WHAT KIND OF MIND-BENDING POWERS YOU HAVE THAT DISREGARD THE LAWS OF SPACE AND TIME, BUT STOP USING THEM TO DOWNLOAD MONEY. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THE BLOCKCHAIN IS, BARBARA? DO YOU?"
"Well now, please calm down Mr. Gr--"
"NO, GET YOUR TIME-TRAVELING, FOMO ASS OUT OF HERE. I BET YOU'D KEEP YOUR BITCOIN ON A SITE WALLET, WOULDN'T YOU, BARBARA? WOULDN'T YOU?"
The line was silent for a moment, buzzing, before she spoke again. "...wow, it's that bad huh? How much did you lose?"
"NOT FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS."
"I see. I apologize for the poor returns. Well, my friend, I have a great opportunity for you-- would you like to buy some Ethereum for only five thousand a piece? It's going to be what Bitcoin could nev-"
I ripped my phone out of the wall and threw it through the window.
*/r/resonatingfury* | |
[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | **FALL 1994**
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Um, hi," the far away voice on the other end stammers, "I'm looking to put a substantial amount of money into Bitcoin, about $680k worth if the price is below $200k, can you help me out?"
"Is that one of those new tech companies? Lots of IPO's and private placement going on in tech. What is Bitcoin? Is that American? Japanese?" I ask as I scribble it down in the corner of my notepad.
There was only silence. The line was dead.
"Ok then," I say as I hang up the phone. "This new internet thing sure is bringing out the crazies," I yell out to Aileen. I can hear her laugh through the glass. Sometimes I cant tell if she's laughing with me or at me.
**SUMMER 1998**
Aileen dropped off the mail around 11:30. New issues of Fast Company, the Economist and Wired had come in along with 4 AOL trials, 2 on CD and 2 on Floppy. I liked it when they sent the floppy disks, I could use those. I had a whole drawer full of those things. They were handy. CD's were worthless though. They made terrible coasters. I know because I tried. That foil shit would lift from the substrate and get all over the place if you put a Coke on them. I guess it was the future. I just found them exponentially annoying. The floppies at least had some value.
I start looking at the Economist when the phone rings.
"Clearvest, John speaking," I said as I answered the phone.
"Hi again, sorry for the disconnection," said the strange and tinny voice on the other end. It was that crazy dude.
"Oh hey, you're the guy that called about....Bitcoin or whatever, right?" I said.
"Ya, do you know what the price is? I'd like to buy about $680k worth if I can. Is the price still under $200k?" he asks.
"Man, I don't know what the hell that is. Is that some new company that is IPO'ing?" I ask.
"It's a digital currency. It's THE digital currency." he says, "This might sound strange, but what year is it?"
"It's fucking 1998 dude, what year do you think it is?" I reply.
"Give me a second," He says as he muffles the phone and I hear him yell to someone "It's fucking 1998. It called 1998 not 2022. That account is not going to work. That's like 10 years before the first version."
He returns and says "Look, this is going to sound really weird but in about 10 years there's going to be an economic crash. Some anonymous programmer is going to release a software that creates a digital currency called Bitcoin in response to it. Horde as much of it as you can. Because about 12 years after that, around 2020ish, the global economy is going to completely implode. The only thing that will hold any value around the world is Bitcoin."
"Look man," I say, frustrated, "I don't have much tolerance for bullshit. I have a lot of clients with real money that pay for my time. The last thing I need is some paranoid schizophrenic telling me about some fake digital currency of the future. I deal in real investments and financial planning."
I hear him mumbling to someone again on the other end. "He thinks I'm a fucking nutjob. I mean, I would too. It's 1998. Get the address."
"Are you there?" I ask more than a little annoyed.
"Ya. I'm here John. My name is Aaron Stafford, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm actually calling from 2033," he says.
I bust out laughing. "Oh that's good. Is that you Jeff? You fucking with me again?"
"No, my name is Aaron. I'm actually living down in South America and it's 2033. I'm living in a community just outside the Guarani Aquifer in Paraguay. No bullshit. You're in the heydey of the internet tech boom. Have you heard about Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing yet? Things get really interesting once they come on the scene. They make a lot of this stuff possible."
"Ok 21st century digital boy, how bout you give me some stock tips and make this worth my while," I challenge him.
"I'l tell you what. If I do and they pay off, do you promise to buy 10,000 Bitcoin sometime around 2010 and transfer it to my address? They shouldn't cost you much at all if you buy around then."
"Sure," I say, because fuck it, what did I have to lose?
"Ok," Aaron says, "In 1998 you're going to want to buy Apple."
I burst out laughing again. "Apple's about to go bankrupt!" I say.
"Jobs comes back. Microsoft puts them on life support with like a $350M placement. They end up taking over the tech industry around 2007 with smart phones."
Sure enough, Jobs had just come back and was making cuts to Apple's business. Maybe he did know something.
"I need more than that," I say.
"Ok, Amazon is something you should buy too. They dominate online retailing in the future."
"I already have some of them," I say because I had just bought some after the IPO last year.
"Buy more. Buy a lot more," Aaron said. "And Google. You probably don't know who they are. Maybe around 2003. Buy a lot of them. And sell Yahoo if you have them. They don't make it."
I keep scribbling notes on my pad. I'm a sucker for stock tips, especially with this dot com boom going on.
"Anything else?" I ask.
"Netflix. They're still probably doing mail order DVD's but they are going to transition at some point to streaming video over the web. But they only do well for about 15-20 years before they get crushed by Disney."
"Ok, so if these pan out, how much is 10,000 Bitcoin going to cost me?" I ask.
"Well," Aaron says, "if you can get in around July of 2010, maybe about $80. Would you be willing to send it to an address if I give you one?"
"Address?" I ask.
"Yea, each Bitcoin wallet has an address like computers have an IP. I can give you my wallet address and my buddy here is convinced that we'll see the funds on our end," Aaron says.
"What about the $680k you were talking about?" I reply.
"That's kind of tricky to get to you given the, umm, circumstances. You should be able to make millions if not billions on the tips I give you. All I ask is you buy about $80-$100 of Bitcoin in June of 2010. It's very important you don't put it off because the price starts escalating quickly after that. And youll want some for yourself too because those stocks we talked about earlier are going to crater in the 2020s."
"OK," I say. "I'll tell you what, if this Apple pick pays off, because right now it looks like they are at death's door, I'll do it. Do you want to give me the address?"
"Ok, this is a long ass string of characters. It's important you get this right. Let me know when you're ready." Aaron says.
"Ready right now," I say, listening intently.
"Ok my address is: 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Read it back to me." Aaron says.
"Ok, 33jNuGa7Nazi6mWT9DaX11iETyYvicRCXR. Is that right?" I ask.
"Yea, sounds right. You may have to sit on it for a bit before being able to send it because my friend says that address might not be recognizable until a few years after you buy it," Aaron says and muffles the phone again and tells his friend to check the balance in the background.
"Holy shit John. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me and my family." Aaron says back. "Like, seriously, thank you."
"Thanks for what?" I ask, confused.
"For following through." Aaron replies. "And look, you're going to want to move out of the US by 2020. I'd suggest buying land in Paraguay, by us, near the Guarani Aquifer. Do that before you even buy Google in 2003."
"Why's that?" I reply.
"Just trust me. Water is going to be more valuable than gold." Aaron says. "Good luck John. Thanks again."
"Alright Aaron, sure, no problem." I say. "Take care of yourself."
Aaron disconnects before I can hang up the phone.
I sigh and shake my head, letting out a small chuckle. I grab the new issue of the Economist, lean back in my chair and put my feet on the desk.
"Get ready for a world currency" the headline says.
| "Can- Can I get some of that that bitcoin? 200k under or no deal though."
I stared at my phone. "Sir, this is a private number, this isn't even listed anywhere, where did you get this?"
"Can I- Can I, hold on, I'll call right back."
That had been three offices ago, the paintings on the wall had all changed from neo-futurismic cubist bullshit that looked like the artist had pulled the pictures straight out of a homeless person's fevered schizophrenic dreams to tasteful art where the faces were blurred and the features dribbled off like running wet ink.
The wall paper had changed from ducky yellow to my current firm's brutalist pink, a call back to the formative days the big boss had spend in a russian prison, wishing for a single speck of colors on the walls.
It'd also been twenty years, and bitcoin was currently on the massive decline. I'd invested smartly into it while it was fledgling and easy, and made my fortune speculating off of it. I should've expected the reaper would come to call in eventually.
The rolex on my wrist ticked towards 3 pm, about time for the meeting.
Then I had a phone call.
But now, with caller id, all I got was
JEFFFF
on the other end of the line.
"There we go, yes yes, I am right back!" Jeffff said. "Can I get some of that bit coin? U-under 200k. I hear you you you have some some."
"What." I said. This... this could be great. He could say something else, and I could run off of that. I could solidify my position among the higher echelons with that knowledge. Get in on space programs. Have my names on highschools.
I listened with bated breath.
"Yes-yes Oh-oh!" Jeffff said. "This phone is is inn--inaccurate for these porpoises."
I sent a quick prayer to god, because his voice was skipping across the connection like a damn rock.
"Yes, I'm afraid you'll have to call back when you get a better phone," I said, crossing my fingers. "What did you want?"
"B-b-b-bit coin." Jeffff warbled. "Bit-bit-biiiiiiiiiii-"
The call kicked off. I breathed out, let out that breath I'd been holding, and leaned back in the chair. Okay. That was weird.
I guess I could look forward to that in twenty years if I wasn't dead.
I stared up at the clock on the wall and counted off the seconds. The lights flickered overhead.
Odd.
They flickered one after another, instead of in unison. From the door to the window. I flicked my gaze across them, and then over to the window as well.
The parking lot was flickering. There weren't any lights on in the parking lot mind you, because it was still the middle of the say, but the light was flickering across it.
What?
I looked up towards the horizon.
The sun flickered like a candle wick. In and out of existence, leaving only a black paralyzing void in it's place.
The phone screeched from my pocket. "B-b-it coin."
I threw it against the wall and looked back up. The screen shattered. I could buy another one.
The sun had doubled in size, and the black void flickered in and out of cognization, casting massive world bending shadows.
There wasn't anyone in the parking lot to stare at the impossibility overtaking it all. A car blipped out of existence as the light touched it, and then didn't reappear when the sun flickered again.
I swallowed and shuttered the window, looking back at my desk. The computer screen was covered in ads for cryptocurrency. My monitoring software screeched and clicked and hissed warning signs, plastering my screen like the winning screen of solitaire.
I shut the lid on the laptop and caught my breath. Right. I'm hallucinating. Great. Just what I needed. All the pressure of trying to convince people I knew what I was doing instead of taking advantage of tips from a creepy phone call had sent me utterly barmy.
The intercom system turned on, though smoke poured out of the speaker across from me. "200k or no deal though."
Oh no.
"Can I- Ca-can I-"
No no no no no.
Every floor was carpeted to reduce noise. After all, this was a money making institution, they needed absolute concentration to catch onto micro market fluctuations according to the reductive algorithms. If someone mis bought, they could lose out.
Too many losses and well.
The company didn't keep losers for long.
But I could hear the foot steps crunching down the hallway. What the hell was it crunching on?
I reached under my desk, felt around for the duct tape, and pulled it free. The gun was odd and warm in my hands, it rested right on the opposite side of where the laptop's exhaust played, and it'd caught some of it. I checked it over. Made sure the safety was flicked off. My arms were shaking.
Calm Pat, come on, you have this. What the hell would Jeffff even do?
I peered down into the hallway. The carpet fibers had crystallized into fine glass, unable to bend or move from their place.
They crunched underfoot like ice. The lights flickered overhead, and then gave up on giving light off at all, instead providing only hazy darkness and snow like a television screen. It crackled, hissed, and burned my skin as I stepped out.
"200k or no deal tho," Jeffff hissed seductively down the hallway. "Porpoises."
We met, eye to eye. He had no face. Only a smear that drooled down his neck, an eye wetly hanging from his chin, running down into static. His mouth was open, a tongue lolling free, having fallen and pooled across the cavity of his collarbone. He moved jerkily, a step at a time, before the step would abruptly reverse in defiance of his knees, skittering across the frozen glass carpet. His head did similar movements, eyes twitching, head bobbing back and forth.
Each step made the environment flicker all the more. What would it do if it touched me?
"Stop man," I called out.
"D-deal- we made a d-deal-" He didn't stop moving. A motivation posted caught on fire and dripped down the side of the wall, congealing into a pile of rotting pencils and kittens on the ground. I thought I saw it moving.
Like fuck I was going to let that touch me.
I couldn't take the risk.
"Bitcoin," Jeffff murmured. "I wanna have some of that-"
I opened fire. Maybe it was stupid, knee jerk moment, maybe I had killed someone but-
The thing was, when the bullets sprayed out of the other side of his body, all that came out was endless chain, linked to buzzing black squares. Mouths and eyes formed out of the wounds, holding position before melting off the back of the black body entity.
"I want bit coin, Pat," Jeffff whispered. "No deal."
He stepped forward, and the world rotted away like the website components of complex blockchain authentication systems.
----------
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[WP] You're a financial advisor. In 1994, you get a weird phone call from a man asking you if he can get any Bitcoin below $200k, and the call cuts off before you can ask him what Bitcoin was. Years later you get a call again from the same man, claiming he's calling back seconds after disconnection. | I must confess, when the bitcoin hit $15k I was tempted to sell. I had bought a ton of them the moment they first appeared, guided by an odd call I had received decades ago. For people like me, who care little about those slow-earning stocks, and love the adrenaline a good bet on a highly volatile company provides, every little hint of information, no matter how ridicule, was enough for me to spend all my savings.
The green numbers were my drug, and the red ones my motivation to invest more. Diversification they said, and I laughed at them when $MU sky-rocketed, and I bathed in tendies.
But I'm straying away. You see, if I sold bitcoin when it reached $15k I would've been set for life, but one does not simply ignore a call from someone telling you that he wanted to get bitcoin below $200k. That's a sort of legal insider information, despite how unreliable it was.
Of course, as you may know, the bitcoin plummeted, and new cryptocurrencies rose. I won't lie, I panicked back then, and almost sold at $5k, but I forbid myself to do such a stupid thing. I knew it was going to rise, and it was going to rise like nothing the market had ever seen before.
And then it hit $1k, and the ramen noodles were starting to make me sick. Still I waited, tear after tear, thinking about the amount of money I had lost, and how the people in the online forums called me names, and paid their respects with the letter F.
But then it happened. It rose slowly but steadily. The moment I saw this, I bought at $2K, and kept it. When it reached $15k again, my mind screamed to sell and stop the stress. But the stress is what made me feel alive, and so I held onto my bitcoins.
Two years later, it hit $199k, and the phone rang again.
"Hey man, this phone disconnected or something. Can I buy below $200k?"
I frowned. This was the man from the call from all those decades ago. The call that started it all. "What do you mean the phone disconnected? It's been 30 years since we spoke."
The man laughed. "Yeah sure, that coffee you are *drinking* must be quite strong. Now, can we talk business, please?"
Confused, but interested, I played his game. Perhaps he would accidentally give me the key to make another fortune. "You can buy for sure below $200k. It's at $198k right now. But do you think it will keep rising?"
"Keep rising? Absolutely not. It will hit $205k and then plummet to cents. I just want to buy, hold, and sell when it reaches $204k."
"I see. Well, I can make the operation for you. I just need your data."
There was no answer. Once again, the phone had disconnected.
Without a doubt, when it hit $204k I sold, and secured a fortune that would last for centuries. I became the richest man in the world, and became an angel investor, losing fortunes in start-ups that went nowhere.
But as thing goes, a young man approached me one day and pitched his invention. It was a telephone he claimed could communicate with the past. Everyone rejected him, for he had no proof that it worked, and when you used it you lost connection after a handful of seconds.
I bought every patent and license the man had. He scampered happily away with his money, and I, as a good businessman, reserved the technology just for me.
I grabbed the phone, and dialed a very old number.
"Hello, can I buy bitcoin below $200k?"
----------------------
r/NoahElowyn | "Can- Can I get some of that that bitcoin? 200k under or no deal though."
I stared at my phone. "Sir, this is a private number, this isn't even listed anywhere, where did you get this?"
"Can I- Can I, hold on, I'll call right back."
That had been three offices ago, the paintings on the wall had all changed from neo-futurismic cubist bullshit that looked like the artist had pulled the pictures straight out of a homeless person's fevered schizophrenic dreams to tasteful art where the faces were blurred and the features dribbled off like running wet ink.
The wall paper had changed from ducky yellow to my current firm's brutalist pink, a call back to the formative days the big boss had spend in a russian prison, wishing for a single speck of colors on the walls.
It'd also been twenty years, and bitcoin was currently on the massive decline. I'd invested smartly into it while it was fledgling and easy, and made my fortune speculating off of it. I should've expected the reaper would come to call in eventually.
The rolex on my wrist ticked towards 3 pm, about time for the meeting.
Then I had a phone call.
But now, with caller id, all I got was
JEFFFF
on the other end of the line.
"There we go, yes yes, I am right back!" Jeffff said. "Can I get some of that bit coin? U-under 200k. I hear you you you have some some."
"What." I said. This... this could be great. He could say something else, and I could run off of that. I could solidify my position among the higher echelons with that knowledge. Get in on space programs. Have my names on highschools.
I listened with bated breath.
"Yes-yes Oh-oh!" Jeffff said. "This phone is is inn--inaccurate for these porpoises."
I sent a quick prayer to god, because his voice was skipping across the connection like a damn rock.
"Yes, I'm afraid you'll have to call back when you get a better phone," I said, crossing my fingers. "What did you want?"
"B-b-b-bit coin." Jeffff warbled. "Bit-bit-biiiiiiiiiii-"
The call kicked off. I breathed out, let out that breath I'd been holding, and leaned back in the chair. Okay. That was weird.
I guess I could look forward to that in twenty years if I wasn't dead.
I stared up at the clock on the wall and counted off the seconds. The lights flickered overhead.
Odd.
They flickered one after another, instead of in unison. From the door to the window. I flicked my gaze across them, and then over to the window as well.
The parking lot was flickering. There weren't any lights on in the parking lot mind you, because it was still the middle of the say, but the light was flickering across it.
What?
I looked up towards the horizon.
The sun flickered like a candle wick. In and out of existence, leaving only a black paralyzing void in it's place.
The phone screeched from my pocket. "B-b-it coin."
I threw it against the wall and looked back up. The screen shattered. I could buy another one.
The sun had doubled in size, and the black void flickered in and out of cognization, casting massive world bending shadows.
There wasn't anyone in the parking lot to stare at the impossibility overtaking it all. A car blipped out of existence as the light touched it, and then didn't reappear when the sun flickered again.
I swallowed and shuttered the window, looking back at my desk. The computer screen was covered in ads for cryptocurrency. My monitoring software screeched and clicked and hissed warning signs, plastering my screen like the winning screen of solitaire.
I shut the lid on the laptop and caught my breath. Right. I'm hallucinating. Great. Just what I needed. All the pressure of trying to convince people I knew what I was doing instead of taking advantage of tips from a creepy phone call had sent me utterly barmy.
The intercom system turned on, though smoke poured out of the speaker across from me. "200k or no deal though."
Oh no.
"Can I- Ca-can I-"
No no no no no.
Every floor was carpeted to reduce noise. After all, this was a money making institution, they needed absolute concentration to catch onto micro market fluctuations according to the reductive algorithms. If someone mis bought, they could lose out.
Too many losses and well.
The company didn't keep losers for long.
But I could hear the foot steps crunching down the hallway. What the hell was it crunching on?
I reached under my desk, felt around for the duct tape, and pulled it free. The gun was odd and warm in my hands, it rested right on the opposite side of where the laptop's exhaust played, and it'd caught some of it. I checked it over. Made sure the safety was flicked off. My arms were shaking.
Calm Pat, come on, you have this. What the hell would Jeffff even do?
I peered down into the hallway. The carpet fibers had crystallized into fine glass, unable to bend or move from their place.
They crunched underfoot like ice. The lights flickered overhead, and then gave up on giving light off at all, instead providing only hazy darkness and snow like a television screen. It crackled, hissed, and burned my skin as I stepped out.
"200k or no deal tho," Jeffff hissed seductively down the hallway. "Porpoises."
We met, eye to eye. He had no face. Only a smear that drooled down his neck, an eye wetly hanging from his chin, running down into static. His mouth was open, a tongue lolling free, having fallen and pooled across the cavity of his collarbone. He moved jerkily, a step at a time, before the step would abruptly reverse in defiance of his knees, skittering across the frozen glass carpet. His head did similar movements, eyes twitching, head bobbing back and forth.
Each step made the environment flicker all the more. What would it do if it touched me?
"Stop man," I called out.
"D-deal- we made a d-deal-" He didn't stop moving. A motivation posted caught on fire and dripped down the side of the wall, congealing into a pile of rotting pencils and kittens on the ground. I thought I saw it moving.
Like fuck I was going to let that touch me.
I couldn't take the risk.
"Bitcoin," Jeffff murmured. "I wanna have some of that-"
I opened fire. Maybe it was stupid, knee jerk moment, maybe I had killed someone but-
The thing was, when the bullets sprayed out of the other side of his body, all that came out was endless chain, linked to buzzing black squares. Mouths and eyes formed out of the wounds, holding position before melting off the back of the black body entity.
"I want bit coin, Pat," Jeffff whispered. "No deal."
He stepped forward, and the world rotted away like the website components of complex blockchain authentication systems.
----------
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[WP] You hate taking pictures. Not because you have insecurities or anything like that. You can see through your own eyes in the picture. You've seen some terrible things. | There's a reason I hate people taking photos of me. Of course, I try and pass it off as insecurities, or some phobia, but in reality, I can see through them. No matter if they're on a phone or in a picture frame or mounted somewhere else, I can see through them. I found this out, at the tender age of 7 when after our photo shoot, I could see more than just what was in front of me. Twenty-seven matching black insides of a tube. It took us receiving our photos before I really figured it out. Slowly, over the course of a couple days, those twenty-seven black frames turned into twenty-four insides of houses, and three images of what I can only assume was the insides of three different garbage cans. The day after, I saw one of my best friends' mother being beaten by her father. Two days later, she died in the hospital, from an "accidental fall down the stairs". No matter how many times I told people that he beat her to death, and that I could see through pictures, I was dismissed as a mildly crazy child, someone to be laughed at, not listen to. Four years later, I watched the man's life fall apart after I called the police on him while he was in the middle of beating his third wife to death.
​
By the time I hit high school, the amount of information pumped into my head from the photos, despite my avoidance of getting any taken, made it nearly impossible for me to focus or do anything, and slowly my grades fell. By senior year, I was a dropout, living in my parents basement with regular visits with a psychiatrist. They didn't believe me of course, and the medication they gave did nothing. This state of things lasted several years, until I swore to destroy every photo so that I could live again. It took me 5 years, as many of the photos were in houses of people that would never let me in, and if the police caught me, I would never see peace. Another five years later, my life was back on track, I was attending community college and working a part time job, to all the world, a success story of modern medicine. It occurred to me then, that I was looking at this power the wrong way, seeing it as only a negative. First, I learned how to read lips, and soon after I got a job working as a janitor at apple, and slowly worked my way up until I had access to the boardrooms that the board of directors met in. Three years later, right before the company crashed into oblivion, I shorted $40k of their stock. After that, it only took me a short three years to build a fortune beyond all others with the money I had gained. I was hailed as a success story, the pinnacle of the "American Dream". I planned on just retiring, and living a quiet life, with the money I had earned.
​
Two years later, however, I saw in one of the few photos remaining, something that forced me to act. Within the mansion of the young leader of Russia, on of the most popular people on the planet after he removed a massive amount of the deceased Putin's policies, I saw four children, being dragged in the front door. This wouldn't normally be that concerning, as children meet leaders of countries all the time, however, I saw only his guards, not a parent in sight. What truly concerned me at the time, however, was the delighted look on the man's face, the look of a predator looking at prey. A week and a half later, while I was still thinking about what had happened, and second guessing my first judgement, four more children were dragged in, and four rolls of carpet were taken out. The look on his face though, was the same. That day, I resolved to bring that man down, no matter what it took. Slowly, painstakingly I gathered the plans for his mansion, the route of his commute, bribing the architects and builders, looking for a hole in the security. It took me eight more months, and the lives of the corresponding 84 children, but I found it, my chance. In two weeks, he would be making a tour of several towns in Siberia, in order to look at the power plants and factories there. With a few deft bribes, and the colossal amount necessary to hire a professional sniper and smuggle both them and a high power rifle into the area that the "leader" would tour. His death was certain. The bullet had other plans, however, and lodged itself in the roof of the car. While he was injured by the broken glass of the window, he survived, and four more children met their ends when he returned to his mansion later that day, the rest of the trip called off.
​
I resolved that night, to kill him myself, as no one else could get close enough without guards. When I requested a meeting with him, he accepted without any hesitation, and within a week I found myself in his mansion with a gun and the desire to see this through. He died easily enough, the death in his sleep a far easier fate than he deserved, however, his guards found me, detained me, and set me up here. So I beg of you, the jury, to consider what the man I killed was, and who I am, before you sentence me to death.
​
\[Long time lurker, first time responding to one of these, sorry if it's not up to scratch. Constructive criticism welcome.\] | I hate pictures of me, I’m not insecure or anything in fact, I could be called the most confident person in the world without being considered arrogant. Well until I turned 12, when I turned 12 and I looked into my eyes in a birthday picture from 4 years back, I saw into my eyes.
I saw things you can’t even imagine, it haunts me every night. My parents took me to all the best children psychologists, none of them could figure anything out. The best they could do was diagnose me with Schizophrenia and stuff me with pills. It wasn’t true I didn’t need medicine, they asked me what I needed and I always responded the same; I need my eyes ripped out.
From there they would ask me if I was going to hurt myself and when I said no, they told my parents I may need to go to a Mental Institute. My parents bless them, they always said no. They should of said yes, maybe if they did, they would still be alive. | |
[WP] "Seriously dude, what's the worst that could happen?" said Bob before we strapped ourselves into the spaceship which was heading towards the Black Hole. |
\[I'm tired but I wanted to bust out something melodramatic so here u go. It's a lot less casual than my usual stuff but it was fun.\]
​
The ship approached the event horizon. The bright aura from the black hole throws dancing light towards the spacecraft which shakes as gravity sucks it towards the belt. Like an ominous eye it’s gaze drew us inwards towards the unknown.
​
“I have an idea.” I call toward’s Bob Sandford, probably the last man I will ever see.
​
He’s working the control panels and sweating over calculations “2 minutes till leap” Chel calls in its soothing mechanical voice. “An idea?” he shouts over the vibrating of the ship and the AI.
​
“Any idea of what could possibly go wrong. Remember what you said before we took the Astronaut exam?”
​
He laughed not taking his face away from the screen, a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead visibly. None of the training could have prepared us for this.
​
“We could die. We could be ripped into one thousand tiny pieces. We could be turned inside out.”
Bob looked over for just long enough to sneer. “Now’s not the time.”
I strap on my belt tightly “45 seconds till leap” Chel chimes.
“We could succeed.” I add, he grins back at me.
​
​
“We could.” He says floating over to his seat, he straps himself in too, the eye is closer than ever, it rocks the ship violently with its gravitational force. The last thing I remember seeing is his smile, his eyes lit with the hopes and dreams of humanity. An immense pressure weighs down on everything and everyone in the ship.
​
I’m dreaming. Or is it a memory?
​
I'm a child. The teacher tells me I can be anything. I don’t know what I want to be. A girl pipes up that she wants to be a famous singer. I walk home with my father and ask him what he wanted to be? He said he wanted to be an astronaut, but we can’t all get what we want. He told me I should prepare for disappointment, but I hoped anyway.
​
It’s the year of my high school graduation. I took all the right classes. Did I do well enough? I wonder if any of it was worth it for a nine to five job. I struggled, but I made it anyway.
​
Robert Sandford, astrophysics doctorate walks beside me. He graduated early. He’s a genius, by my standards. He tells me I should try becoming an astronaut. I have the mind for it. On that day the autumn leaves were falling, winter was almost upon us. I gave him a sarcastic smile, said I couldn't do it, but he believed in me anyway.
​
After graduation. The space program is hiring a team of young cadets to undertake the most dangerous mission of all. Earth is devastated by climate change, just like the movies said, never mind the scientists. Nasa says we can find life in another galaxy, but we just need to harness quantum mechanics. It's like a sci fi film, but we tried it anyway.
I open my eyes, there’s an eerie silence.
“Did we make it?” I say, I feel my forehead where a bruise is beginning to form, well something like that was bound to happen. I call out again.There’s no response. I stand shakily, through the window I see a thousand new star formations. The computer flashes wildly, it seems out of sorts as well.
​
Robert Sandford lies on the floor. Something went wrong. I check his pulse. Nothing. The stars pulse outside of the ship, the other side of the black hole blinks quietly in the distance. I walk over to the computer, I need to relay a message.
​
Something went wrong, but we made it anyway. | "You know what it is, we haven't checked it at all, don't play it down!" I said, Bob turned his head in my direction with an insane smile on his face. "I will! You won't stop me and we will do this together, where is the fun of knowing everything. Hahaha!!". I got goosebumps from this laugher. I couldn't do it! I started shivering and looked in his face while he was staring down the black hole. My hand moved slowly up to my shoulder. The pressure I felt on my arm, when Bob grabbed it shocked me. I looked at him whispering "I can't, I can't do it!". "Where is the fun if we do what you want?" He asked me with a childish smile. "I am not here for the fun." I said in a calm voice. I freed myself from his grip and touched the back of my seat. "Nooooooo why do you do this?" The dissapointment in his voice was strong. I didn't care I wanted to know. My hand finally reached the snack bar behind my seat and to my pleasure I found the chocolate bars there. He looked at me with dogeyes "you ruined it, are you happy now?". "Yes." I said "now we can go". "Well then, let's go" then he started the engines and we moved up to the black hole.
First time here, so please be gentle but feel free to say anything you think about it :D
And I am not a native English person, so please forgive my bad grammar etc.
Hope you still enjoyed it :P | |
You don’t need to include context unless you want to. | [WP] Write the death of a main character at the climax of a novel | "Looks like there's no escape, detective," the man scoffed as he leveled a gun at my chest.
I kept my eyes locked on the barrel as I inched backward toward the building's edge. A frigid wind swirled around the two of us, carrying the chaotic din of honking cars and distant sirens from twenty-five floors below.
"It's over, Houwzer," I spat back. "You and your goons are done. *Finished*." I took my hands from my jacket pockets and reached behind me, grasping the brick ledge that signaled the end of my retreat. Steadying myself, I stared him dead in the eyes and smiled. "She's finally agreed to testify."
For a split-second, his face flashed with a mix of doubt and betrayal. "You're lying, pig."
As if on cue, the rooftop door burst open and five jacked thugs poured out. *Perfect timing*, I thought to myself, as the men gathered behind their leader and reached for their guns. "Just ask *them*," I laughed, nodding toward the swell of muscle and testosterone that had just joined in the fun.
"Bruno," Houwzer called back calmly to one of his men, never once breaking eye-contact with me, "where's my wife and son?"
A palpable hesitation hung in the air. "Sorry, boss. But we lost them at the market. One moment she was buying shoes and the nex--"
A gunshot exploded out the back of Bruno's head, spraying a thick mass of blood and skull into the night air. In an instant, Houwzer's gun pointed back toward me, a tendril of pale smoke drifting from the barrel. Somewhere, in the far off distance, I could hear my son's voice worrying about the monster under his bed. *Don't be afraid, little one*, I had told him, *monsters aren't real*. Oh, how childish we are.
"*WHERE ARE THEY?*" he snarled at me.
I could feel the heat in his breath and smell the bile in his voice. But it was his eyes that filled me with true terror. Two swirling storms of madness and mania without even a flicker of pity or reason. The hungry eyes of an apex predator fixated on fucking up its prey.
And suddenly, this was the moment. The culmination of eight years of police work that hadn't led to a goddamn thing other than dead ends and dead witnesses. Eight long years wondering how you fight monsters in the dark. Well, it turns out that all you need is a little bait.
"Marital problems, big guy?" I laug--
Searing pain rocketed through my body as I crumpled to the ground, hands instinctively grasping for the mutilated tendons, flesh and bone that had once been my left kneecap. Blood poured through my fingers and pooled in my shoe as I tried to gather enough breath to simply scream.
Houwzer shifted his aim toward my forehead, his hand and body rigid with rage. "You shouldn't have messed with my family."
"*AND YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE KILLED MINE!*" I roared back through gritted teeth. The tears had started to well and roll down my cheeks. There was no stopping them, or him, or any of this now.
Houwzer's arm dropped a few inches, and I could see a look of confusion wash across his face.
"Eight years ago," I cried out, trying to muffle my screams and sobs, "you put out a hit on your former boss, Boris Kamarov."
"The National Museum..." Houwzer muttered quietly as I watched him slowly put together the scattered pieces from his past. "Fifteen people died in that blast: poor Boris, eight of his men, and..."
"... and six innocent bystanders," I managed to choke out through a growing mountain of pain. "Eight years ago, you took away my wife and my son, so now I am taking away yours."
In an instant, the savage monster returned. "I killed Kamarov because he was weak, just like you," he snarled. "And the strong have *nothing* to fear from the weak."
I planted my right leg and pushed myself up, bracing against the brick ledge that separated me from the street far below.
"My wife will *never* testify," he stated coldly, and I could tell that he meant every word of it.
I looked down at the busy street and then back to the beast in front of me. "You're right, she's too afraid to testify.
The best I could do was convince her to run away and to take her son," I conceded as my hand reached into my front jacket pocket.
"*You lied?*" he asked incredulously, and I could see the gears turning wildly in his head as he fought to understand.
"Yes. Although what you call a 'lie' I would simply call *bait*," I replied, making sure to emphasize the last word with a condescending sneer. "Turns out, the only one 'strong' enough to testify against you is... well... *you*."
Slowly I pulled my hand out of my front jacket pocket, revealing a small recording device. "I killed Kamarov because he was weak..." it rang out into the cold night air.
"Not exactly the way I planned, but this should do the trick." Then, before he could say a word, I wrapped both hands protectively around the recorder and pushed myself up and over the brick ledge. | “So it must be, though pretty is he. Hang him from the cherrywood tree!”
Six cacophonous voices pierce through the burlap sacks suffocating my men and I. I don’t know how much longer I can stomach the smell of fetid grain that has soiled the rough fabric. Had it not been for the buffoons with me and their petty exhaustion we would not be in this predicament in the first place.
“Pretty, eh? I suppose I can go to the Grove knowing a handful of crones thought me ‘pretty.’ Why don’t we stay my execution so I can show you lovely, voluptuous old hags just how ‘pretty’ I am without these dregs, hmm?”
Volas. Through the minute gaps in my hood I can see our strongest Tongue Slinger regard our captors with that same detached, alien demeanor he gave me before swearing fealty. The lack of food these past few days doesn’t seem to have affected him; Volas still holds his head high and proud, his lithe frame looking no worse for wear, save the gaping sockets where once his eyes pierced forth. Despite all we’ve been through with one another these past years I still can’t read his angelically carved face, but I know my own heart and it leaps towards him with every word.
“Near to death, and still you jest. Remove the-”
“Spare us the drivel, Witches. I would much rather hear you under the influence of my Tongue. Unbind me, won’t you?”
I can feel rather than see the flash in Volas’s eyes, having been a thrall to his Tongue myself before learning his ways. His power over Speech is enough to make my every pore sing his name, but the Witches before us have not been phased. They haven’t been since we made them six from thirteen, to which they responded by hooding us to avoid our gaze and our Tongues, ripping our eyes from our faces when the time for ritual execution has arrived.
“You have no eyes, too weak your cries. It is time to say goodbye!”
“Ugh, to be slain now would be a blessing. Please, foul mistresses, string me upon your cherry tree. Or at least remove my ears to match my eyes, to spare me the indignity with which you assail them.”
Without his eyes to deliver his Speech, Volas’s words elicit nothing but a high cackle from them. Still, he remains defiant to the end. Even through the sickening sounds of his eyes being ripped from his still living head, Volas has not stopped Speaking to the Witches. I wish the same could be said of the others.
With his bound wrists behind him and his chin pointed towards the sky, Volas steps towards the cherrywood tree in the center of the Witches’ Clearing. He meets their leader at the base of the beautiful, blossoming trunk and lowers his head to accommodate the noose. I scream through my bound lips, but it’s all for naught. The Head Witch slips the thorned noose around his neck and firmly pulls it tight before reaching down for the other end of the rope.
“Artor! My love! I will meet you in the Grove. Do not for-”
My throat tightens in synch with the Head Witch’s pulls of the rope as she hoists Volas into the air. He’s afforded no courtesy of a broken neck from the gallows, but the slow, torturous bite of asphyxia as the noose’s thorns cut into his beautiful ivory skin. I thrash forward against my bindings and scream through the leather cutting across my face, but there’s nothing I can do.
The love of my life, my greatest mentor, swings gently back and forth with the wind and the struggling grip of the Witch beneath. |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | In this solemn hour it is a consolation to recall and to dwell upon our repeated efforts for peace. All have been ill-starred, but all have been faithful and sincere. This is of the highest moral value–and not only moral value, but practical value–at the present time, because the wholehearted concurrence of scores of millions of men and women, whose co-operation is indispensable and whose comradeship and brotherhood are indispensable, is the only foundation upon which the trial and tribulation of modern war can be endured and surmounted. This moral conviction alone affords that ever-fresh resilience which renews the strength and energy of people in long, doubtful and dark days. Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of its gales, but in our own hearts this Sunday morning there is peace. Our hands may be active, but our consciences are at rest.
​
We must not underrate the gravity of the task which lies before us or the temerity of the ordeal, to which we shall not be found unequal. We must expect many disappointments, and many unpleasant surprises, but we may be sure that the task which we have freely accepted is one not beyond the compass and the strength of the Galactic Human Republic. The Prime Minister said it was a sad day, and that is indeed true, but at the present time there is another note which may be present, and that is a feeling of thankfulness that, if these great trials were to come upon our worlds, there is a generation here now ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and not unworthy of those great men, the fathers of our species, who laid the foundations of our laws and shaped the greatness of our Republic.
​
This is not a question of fighting for Mars or fighting for New Earth. We are fighting to save the whole Galaxy from the pestilence of tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any species out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish, on impregnable rocks, the rights of the individual, and it is a war to establish and revive the stature of man. Perhaps it might seem a paradox that a war undertaken in the name of liberty and right should require, as a necessary part of its processes, the surrender for the time being of so many of the dearly valued liberties and rights. In these last few days the House has been voting dozens of Bills which hand over to the executive our most dearly valued traditional liberties. We are sure that these liberties will be in hands which will not abuse them, which will use them for no class or party interests, which will cherish and guard them, and we look forward to the day, surely and confidently we look forward to the day, when our liberties and rights will be restored to us, and when we shall be able to share them with the peoples to whom such blessings are unknown.
​
​
Full disclosure, I didn't write this, it is a lightly edited [speech given by churchill on september 3rd 1939](https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1939-in-the-wings/war-speech/) (the first paragraph is verbatim and the rest has a few words removed or changed so it would apply to a galactic conflict as opposed to WWII) | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | Thank the Divine for the Terran’s. A hundred of their turns ago they made their first tentative reachings for the stars. We had welcomed they. They responded as any good race would, with trade, cultural exchange and shared knowledge. In that time they had found a niche that suited them well. Their massive mining ships cut metal bearing asteroids open to reveal the wealth contained therein. Their mining fleets grew and were in high demand. All Galactic Civilization prospered. They were well received in our Galactic family.
The Sky Marshals, a human term, governing these fleets were accomplished in diplomacy and tact. They always were polite guests and they men were well behaved. Their mining fleets worked with a singleness of mind and purpose. A precision that was to use an ancient term more military than anything else.
Then the others came.
From what far galaxy no one knows. We do know that they destroyed without compunction . They killed tens of billions in their first onslaught. A thousand years of peace destroyed in an instant. They were merciless.
Then a single Terran dreadnought mining platform, that blessed ship Terran registry 109 appeared in the Neddilon system intercepting the Others advance force. The battle was brief but there was no doubt as to the outcome. The 109 looses its cutter beams upon the enemy Others. Those mighty beams sliced through the Others ships as though they were but simple asteroids. The Terrans small one man tuggers swarmed the Others fleet raining destruction enough to make even The Divine cry.
The Terrans massed mining fleets fought for us with a ferocity unmatched and not remembered in many worlds. They massed miners were a juggernaut. Many a single manned tigger would purposely collide with a larger ship of the Others, trading a single pilot for a ship. Never had we seen the like.
The Others , no longer exist in our peaceful Galacy now. The Terrans resumed their rightful place, as miners , though now greatly honoured and much more highly recompensed. They have taken The others ships for something they call reverse engineering. I sense they seek to learn all they can about The Others, in case they return.
Blessed be the Terran miners and their fleets. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | (English is not my first language, sorry if some mistakes are hidding in the text)
\--
​
Humans...
​
They spread everywhere in less than one of their generation, their oldest ones were already born when they finally managed to get out of their solar system !
Sure thing, they are good at bargaining and negociating, and their trade flourished at a speed no other specie had ever imagined before. Following something they called the "Roman system", they secured roads to the main marketplaces and made sure to be present everytime there was something to buy or sell, and it wasn't long until they were the ones controlling the prices.
They are rich now, but they never fight. They buy their protection from our own money, that they stole from us !
This will change soon now, they crossed a line when they bought our planet.
We took our time to prepare, our weapons are ready, we will attack their next shipment, and use the gold to buy back our main planet. The Galactic Alliance received our claim and will not help us, as we were not attacked, but they at least accepted to close their eyes and stay neutral in the conflict to come.
​
\--
​
3 days later, in the galactic alliance.
"Sir, the human delegate is asking to meet you."
"Let him in, let him in ! He always have some good propositions for us, i really like their quotes 'win/win scenario' ! "
John Johnson entered, looking unexpectedly tired but his eyes moving everywhere, from the doors to the different people present in the room, as if assessing something.
"Welcome dear guest, did you have a new idea to bring the alliance prosperity ?"
"I am sorry, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, I only came today with a question, but I am obviously willing to pay for an answer if needed." answered the human gravely
"Don't worry about that, dear John, you provided us so much lately, we can answer at least a small question !"
"Good. Then let's get to the point. We were attacked by the lizard Ctul."
"Ah, yes, i heard about that unfortunate evenement. 2 of your kind were killed in the raid of one of your merchandise tube on 'new road 66', isn't it ? Truly unfortunate indeed ! but what is your question ?"
John locked his gaze on the vaguely humanoid creature in front of him : "Except from the Ctul, who knew about the attack ?"
"Everyone of the Galactif Alliance knew, as the Alliance was paid the standard amount for a minor agression claim on the official journal by the Ctul. This is the protocol !"
"Ah, too bad, i was beggining to like you".
"What ?"
"Good bye, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, i have a war to win"
"A war? b-but you haven't published anything on the official journal!"
a beam halo surrounded the human for less than a second, and he was gone. During this time, the Head of the Galactic Alliance heard two words, spoken with a robotic voice, that sent a chill down his spine.
​
"TARGET AQUIRED"
​
Then the sirens started shouting. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | It's been 50 years since we've come in contact with alien life forms. In that 50 years we've learned so much. We've piggybacked off of there space travel formula's and we've actually made a decent presence in the galactic scene. Nothing spectacular but at least they like our movies. It's actually very strange to me, they take the artist with the highest notoriety as the leader of the planet. So as the person with the highest view count on youtube, I guess that means I'm earth's ambassador. I'm not complaining. I usually just get to sit in big meetings with the most important people in the galaxy. I don't understand a lot of the things that are going on but today the meeting took a very interesting turn.
"What does earth really give us anyway? They're a bunch of babys sitting on tech we've provided them, and on more resources than they know what to do with. I move to Industrialize the planet for the Sirrians."
"Um... I don't know how well that would..."
"You know what, Dichotomas? I think you're right. We've let the earthlings into our inner circle, so I only feel that it's right to demand some recompense."
"hey guys, As an earthling I really think you should reconsider... i mean we go to war with each other over misconstrued facial features.... I don't think I could hold my planet back from fucking you guys up."
​
"Say that again? The interpreter didn't catch the word you said. It was right after reconsider... Oh look! Your planet is sending their fireworks into space to celebrate our contract!"
​
...sigh "I guess I'm collateral damage..." | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | A man came in, he was skinny, pitiful and shaking. Xyphoriz watched in bemusement as the human nervously came over to the negotiation tables, before getting to the table when the guy stopped. He pulled a pack of something Xyphoriz recognized as the earthling primitive device called a ‘cigarette’
“Hey man,” the human started as he lit his cigarette, before the alien ambassador could speak, the human inhaled the entire fag to the butt and dropped it to the ground, pulling another from his pack and lighting it. “Sorry nervous, this is the first time we’ve been at war with... “ he motioned towards Xyphoriz. “Another species, wait no there was that time with the Emu’s... the first time an aliens been stupid enough to commit to a full on attack on our people.”
“Well we are here to listen to your terms for complete surrender” Xyphoriz replied, almost amused by the weak humans bravery, calling his people idiots would not be an insult taken lightly, he would be enslaved soon. The human laughed no longer shaking.
“Yeah, not happening” he snorted sitting down uncomfortably close. “Here is your ultimatum, cease all hostilities or my people will be forced to show you why we have to be skilled negotiators instead of warriors, and believe me when I say you don’t want the latter.”
“What can a dirty bipedal monkey like yourself really do to us? Negotiate a trade embargo against us? We’ll just take everything from you.”
“The names Brent, ok and I am not just dirty, I’m a historian. Probably the only person who can educate you on why the genocide on Kessia V was the worst decision you’ve ever made.”
This Brent was starting to intrigue the alien ambassador. Why send a historian in the place of a diplomat or even a military leader? It was strange.
“Do you know human history, Xiphoriz? Cause I know your species history, I’ve already figured out eleven ways I could have killed you since I walked in, just using your natural allergies, two of which could be exploited to genocide your people like, say” Brent paused smiling at the alien “The powered cascade massacre?”
Xyphoriz heart sank, how could the human know about that, that was a deep cut to his species history, something taboo to talk about even amongst close colleagues
“How dare you” it yelled, standing and slamming its fist, although the human still twitched, it’s demeanor didn’t change whatsoever, Brent just smiled.
“You know we humans have fought before” Brent frowned looking out into the desert outside. “Five world wars, and three interstellar ones, all against ourselves. Brought ourselves to near extinction in four of those, world war three we lost an island called Britain, it was nuked to oblivion, its neighboring island? Made into a nuclear wonderland where the fog never ended and the genetic monstrosities were genocided every couple of years. Used to Call that one Ireland...” the sorrow in Brents eyes told a tapestry of stories to Xyphoriz.
“Then there was five, we had three continents go dark, every country collapsed, we made our oceans raise a bunch and when the survivors finally came out of the woodwork, we decided to leave our blue jewel we had sullied so many times behind, to recover from our terrible temper.”
“So what you almost destroyed yourselves, now you’ve decided to destroy yourselves by refusing to give us your species for enslavement.”
“See our first interstellar war was about that, we blew up a few planets and moons in our short sighted temper, we wanted to enslave the Europans surrounding Jupiter, we shot mass drivers, killing all of them because they wouldnt submit, we then moved the shards of the shattered moon to drop on Mars because we couldn’t stand their whining, we broke the planet, we had to start a restoration project that’s still going on these thousand years later.”
“You broke two worlds where your people lived because you were mad? That was your own species.” Xyphoriz was starting to feel uneasy, these humans were brutal before their peacekeeping days.
“Oh we’ve killed ourselves for less, we had a cult once that super nova’d a star because they thought it would awaken their god, killing seven worlds and starting the second interstellar war that nearly killed every human in the galaxy.”
“How many died?”
“We stopped counting after we started our last Great War, where we destroyed our old home-world and solar system, bringing us to this desert, a planet we named in memorandum, earth, to honor the centillions of humans we slaughtered for our petty ego, a wake up call we took very seriously.” Brent set his hand on the glass.
“I hope you have reconsidered by now fighting humans, because I haven’t even told you what’ll happen to your species if you don’t cease all hostilities.” Xyphoriz looked at Brent, curious.
“What would happen?” It said.
“Well it depends, if we were able to beat you quickly and get a timely surrender, you’d just have to deal with human terrorists mass drivering you every now and then and super novaing you, now if the conflict to a bit longer because you miraculously got better at fighting then the pitiful excuse you call fighting us now. Well...”
“Well what.”
“Your species would be subjugated to human history repeating onto them.” | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | For 300 years bipedal "Earthlings" refused any confrontations with the Galactic Alliance. In the first half a century when Earth joined Union, the members of the Alliance tested their unwavering pacifism. They gave up their entire Solar System except a Red planet & their Home world. The Union High Committee stepped in to stop the members taking advantage of its new member.
250 years later Earthlings vision had spread throughout the known Universe. Their dealings were honest and true, they were trusted implicitly and was the most stable economy due to the stability unlike seen before. Earthling Banks were highly sought after and there was a waiting line for new banks throughout the universe. Most races fought over who got a bank first but then Earthlings decided to draw lots for the que. Even the smugglers & pirates refused to pillage the defenceless Earthlings because nobody would trade with them for Earth goods that were gotten illegally. Most races were willing to forego wars for stability following Earths Example. Empires were defined by its economic might and its ability to purchase land/planets/solar systems. Earth was the richest and biggest economy the universe has seen before.
This led to jealousy amongst the rest of the Union members. The high committee broke the oaths of impartiality and joined forces to bring Earth to its rightful place.
Wars and battles were allowed with in the Alliance as long as it was properly declared at a committee meeting.
A race of warriors from the planet Shai-lu were the first to declare war on Earth. Convinced by the High Committee and the rest of the members, the Shai-lu Demanded that the Earthlings secede from 70% of their colonies. To the utmost surprise of the the members Earth Ambassador said "Yes" even before the demand was finished. The Ambassador asked for 6 months parley for the colonies to move. Which the Shai-lu agreed.
2 months before the deadline, Earthlings warned that they will be closing their Banks and other services due to lack of Financial support from its colonies. In 3 hours after the announcement, they were gone. Not a single Earthling was left behind. The ported all the credits to the relevant parties at the last moment and defaulted all their loans citing bankruptcy.
The chaos was unlike ever seen before, economies collapsed within moments. Without Earths emissaries no business deals could be done or made because nobody knew how to. Wars begun throughout the Universe and some even without declaration.
By the time of the deadline, The Shai-lu were decimated by warring factions and every quadrant of the universe was embroiled in war.
The high committee in an desperate attempt to sate the inevitable collapse of the union called its members to wage war against Earth who was solely responsible for the disaster.
For the first time in its history, A Race Leader walked in to a Alliance Union meeting. A bipedal humanoid forum against the rest of the known universe. Sitting on opposite ends, the high committee members declared war against Earth.
The human stood and collapsed on the floor with her hands covering her face. The female humanoid cried (according to our translators, humans do it show sorrow or happiness) and got to her knees and begged the high committee rescind the order.
The glee of the rest of the universe was deafning. They laughed at the human in their own way.
Finally she stood and exclaimed in a clear voice said " I am sorry for what I must do to you & your race. We will give you 24 human hours to surrender."
To this the entire committee laughed and jeered.
Now it's been 36 hours since she warned us. We were fools. I am writing this from the Alliance HQ, it's the only place that remains. The human drop ships are approaching... I dont have time The Banks, they were not banks: they were garrisons filled with human soldiers. First they released nano toxins that were carried by swarms of nano bots who targeted the ruling powers of each planet. Docking stations were hacked and remotely overloaded the gates and docks. Satellites on every planet emitted a net of Neutro Magnetic Array system that disabled all systems & ships. We didn't even know that they had complete control over the FTL portals. The Armadas couldn't jump to anywhere. The only time they turned on was when they sent "candy floss" bombs. They exploded in a mist of pink and anything that it touched got dragged in to the nearest portal. It was reported that in the Andromeda Cluster one Bomb took 3 million ships..
All throughout the HQ I heard members calling for help that would never come and at the 26th hour everything cut out and a weird song kept on repeating. According to my translator it's an Aria by Humans called "Nessum Dorma".
The humans were everywhere and we couldn't even fight them. We didn't even fire a single weapon, they killed us all and they are coming for me..
What fools we were. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | Peace. It was something that humanity was well known for. Since making contact with the galactic council and becoming it’s 7th member we had garnered a reputation as the best diplomats in the galaxy. It was often said that human could negotiate its way out of anything.
Not all the council members shared our peaceful ways however, especially the Insidi. They were a warrior race. Nothing meant more to them than honourable combat, and it was how they settled all their disputes. They looked at us and saw a weak, spineless race that talked so much because we couldn’t do anything else. They figured they could make any demand they wanted and we would accept.
We didn’t want to admit it, but deep down we all knew that war was inevitable. We all knew that our efforts were futile, and yet we did our best. We tried so hard to talk them down, but they were stubborn. They demanded our complete submission, and we knew that they wouldn’t back down.
The final council meeting was just a formality; we all knew that we were going to war. We didn’t send a diplomat, there was no point. The person present at this meeting wouldn’t be making any deals, they would be starting a war.
The person given this unenviable task was Grand Commander and Chief Rebecca Gregory Julianous, the woman in charge of the United Human Confederation’s military. She had been a soldier since the last of humanities wars, and she had lost most of her body in the process. As such her mechanical legs carried her through the galactic council’s headquarters. Many aliens had never seen a human soldier before, and Julianous received many curious looks as she entered the council chambers.
The Insidi delegate was surprised, he hadn’t expected a military officer. Had he been wiser, he might have realised something was amiss, but he was arrogant and proud. This was the moment of his victory after all. Once Julianous was seated, he spoke.
“So, human, I take it you have come to give in to our demands.” He said, a smug smile on what the Insidi had instead of lips.
“I’m afraid not.” Julianous replied.
A stunned silence filled the room.
“What?” The Insidi delegate said, his smile replied with a look of surprise.
“The Untied Human Confederation will not meet your demands. We will instead be making a counter offer.” Julianous said. Her face was cold and stoic, however, those more familiar with human emotion noticed an undercurrent of sadness.
“A counter offer? Is this some human joke?” The Insidi delegate scoffed.
“No. You will rescind all your demands, or you will leave us no choice but to go to war.” Julianous said, her tone grave.
The Insidi delegate laughed, he simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The spineless little humans where challenging them, the glorious Insidi.
“Well then human, we are at war. We shall engage you in glorious combat.” He said.
“Are you sure? Believe me, this is not something you want to do. We humans hate war for a reason. Please, don’t make us do this.” Julianous said. She knew better than anyone what happened when humans went to war, she’d been there for the last one.
“I am very sure. You pitiful little human. We, the Insidi Empire, herby formally declare war against you, the United Human Confederation.” The Insidi delegate said, savouring every word.
Julianous shook her head sadly, and stood up slowly.
“So be it.” She said, as she turned to leave.
Before she reached the door of the council chambers, she turned back for a moment, the sadness on her face much more pronounced now.
“I’m sorry.” She said, before exiting the chamber.
The Insidi believed in honourable combat. They fought their wars in a traditional manner, as did the rest of the galactic council. They fought soldier to soldier, warship to warship. They fought with honour, for glory and prestige.
The assumed their war with us would be the same, they assumed wrong. They sent their main battle fleet straight to our capital world. Six thousand ships approached our core worlds. We had less than a hundred facing them. They laughed as they saw our numbers.
They didn’t laugh for long. Our ships engaged immediately, each one firing a single torpedo. The Insidi detected these torpedoes, and simply activated their shields, scoffing at our seemingly puny attempts to fight back. Then the torpedoes activated warp speed.
When an object travelling at warp speed collides with another, it produces an unimaginable amount of energy. The Insidi’s shields were hopelessly, pathetically under-powered. When the torpedoes hit them their entire fleet was reduced to dust in less than nanosecond. Six thousand ships, hundreds of thousands of Insidi personal, all gone in less than the blink of an eye.
Shortly afterwards, human warships had appeared above every Insidi world simultaneously. Each one was carrying a full arsenal of what would come to be known as Silencer Torpedoes, the same weapons that had obliterated the Insidi fleet. These warships fired their torpedoes, and within moments, every Insidi arms factory, every shipyard, every barracks, every military academy, and anything else that contributed to the Insidi war machine was gone.
Billions of Insidi died, and their once great and proud empire was reduced to ruins. The Insidi had spent centuries building their empire, and it had taken the humans less than a day to tear it all down.
The next day, Julianous entered the council chambers again. The atmosphere was not one of curiosity. This time, there was an atmosphere of fear.
“You fight without honour! Without courage! You snivelling, spineless coward!” The Insidi delegate screamed as soon as she entered.
Julianous calmly looked over at the Insidi delegate. He would have been crying if he had tear glands. Then she raised her hand, and everything feel silent.
“You’re right. We don’t fight with honour. We have fought countless wars. Millennia of tiny, squabbling states, three world wars, and two colonial reunification wars.” Julianous began, her voice was calm, but the undercurrent of sadness was there as it had been before.
“That last war was so destructive that we can’t live on our home world anymore. Our capital is not our home, because our home is uninhabitable, cratered wasteland.” She continued, the tone of her voice more overtly sad now.
“All these wars taught us a lesson. One very important lesson. One lesson that we have never forgotten, and will never forget. Would you like to know what it was honourable members of the council? She asked the council, a large frown on her lips.
“What… what was it?” A member of the council timidly replied.
“That honour doesn’t win wars.” Julianous said. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | When the humans entered the galactic scene there were four other races who were ahead of them to the stars. The Elves - tall, long lived creatures of incredable culture and artistry. The Dwarves - short, stocky engineers who liked nothing more than the forge and the flame. The Kitsune - a fir covered bestial race with five tails and a propensity to speak in metaphor and generalities. The Anubis - humanoids with heads resembling canines who were known as the pre-eminent warriors of the galaxy.
For decades the humans had lived among the races in relative peace, finding an niche as diplomats and doctors due to their fresh perspective and propensity for adding creative solutions to age-old problems. We were respected, in a way, and soon migrated to every major planet in the settled regions of space. There were cultural differences, always, between the humans and other species, and those humans allowed to leave the boarders of the Terran Domain were the ones who could be trusted to hold Earth's secrets close.
For Tradition was ancient and unquestioned among the elder races, millions or even billions of years of history had locked their civilizations in a kind of ancient stalemate. And it was understood wordlessly among the human leaders that their secrets had to be held close - that no other species should learn about the AI-assistance that we had implanted in our grey matter, the genetic manipulations of our own people, and, above all else, the outright savagery and joy with which even the weakest of us could kill. For such would not just be shocking to our neighbors, but completely unthinkable.
And so it was that we pretended to nod solemnly as the races spoke of the 'horrors' of Anubian war. How they had murdered 'entire cities' during the course of the war, to spread horror and dissent. How they would sometimes kill soldiers who had surrendered in honorable combat, and had once even resorted to asking for classified information from a surrendered enemy - threatening to fire upon him rather than allow surrender unless he spoke freely.
Humans, thought to be weak because of our size, thought to be vulnerable due to the presence of our diplomats on planets belonging to every race, alone and surrounded by aliens, nevertheless managed to forge and keep peace for nearly a century among the arrogant and ancient civilizations. And for all appearances, we were giving it our all for that time, throwing away our military leverage in exchange for diplomatic authority, our strategic leverage in exchange for goodwill and peace.
Yet all races knew that it couldn't last, that sooner or later the eternity of war would break out anew, and they simply shook their honor bound heads in pity, understanding that this young race of peacekeepers would inevitably be the first casualty of such aggression. Some even gossiped, mostly among the proud elfin races, that it was their pity for our species, more even than our own diplomatic efforts, that kept the endless war in check and stayed the hands of ancient enemies.
It was in the year 4416, ninety eight years after the human's entrance to the galactic stage, that the Anubians finally struck. And they did not hold back from the brutalities of their ancient heritage. Embassies were crushed, ambassadors executed with fanfare, and the major cities of our boarder kingdoms fell in a matter of weeks. While our militaries were being gathered, while our diplomats were pursuing every diplomatic resolution imaginable, millions of humans were being executed or enslaved by the doglike invaders.
It was then, five weeks after the initial assault upon the Terrans, that a lone human ship flew out to meet the approaching Anubian armada. Black and sleek, the long sweeping hulls of the Belle Mortas cut through space to the pre-arranged battlefield that would determine the fate of the human species.
Millions of Anubian fleets stood proud in a long line amidst the void of space, awaiting the arrival of the Terran defense. They stood still, in ancient custom, waiting for their enemies to line up alongside them and begin the long trading of warheads that would determine the engagement. After a century of peace, their fleets had been rebuilt, their weapons upgraded and stocked, to such a level of might such had not been seen by the universe in perhaps millions of years previous.
As such, when a single human ship, large and well made but ultimately alone, exited warp in front of the armada, the aliens could not cover their shock. Could not resist hailing the vessel to see if it was a game - if it was real that the young race had met their ancient military might with such an impossibly minuscule force.
Anubian commander Rimtou, lord of the combined fleet, turned to his ensign, "Hail the humans. Put them on screen."
Above commander Rimtou the view changed from the endless darkness of space to the strange deck of Belle Mortas. Where Rimtou's ship had a collection of Anubians and their battle-slaves working at stations and in front of their monitors, across from him the screen showed a large chamber filled, not with stations and monitors, but with wires and cables snaking along the steel floors, connecting with and holding a single entity aloft in the center of the screen.
The creature on the monitor appeared to be one of the humans, the same pasty skin and short stature that made up the young species, however Rimtou found himself unsure, as other than their face and shoulders, the rest of their body branched out into a multiplicity of cabling and wires, electronics clearly ripping out of their skin along their chest, until down at their waste and legs naught could be seen but a terrible tentacled web of electronics seemingly made a part of the creature's body.
The creature didn't meet Rimtou's gaze, nor move their human mouth, as a single inhuman voice sounded across their speakers *"I am the Belle Mortas. Cyborg Class corvette ship of the Terran union. State your intention."
Rimtou panted his tongue through his long, canine teeth in confusion. His mind twisting and wrestling with the image in front of him, attempting to make sense of what the monitor did show. "I am commander Rimtou, of the combined Anubian fleet." He paused, mind spinning as he struggled to put together the pieces, "I assume you were sent by your people to discuss the terms of your surrender?"
Nothing else made any sense to his alien mind. The Millions of ships that stretched out beyond where his monitor could see, met by this single human vehicle, one which titled itself 'corvette', the weakest and smallest of fighters. And yet the robotic voice sounded through his speakers once again, "That is not why I was deployed to this sector."
Rimtou shook his head at the arrogance before him, "Your cities lie in ruins, your embassies crushed, your highest level officials on our planets hidden and held at ransom to your race's good behavior. If you surrender now your race may still be our servants. You can be our administrators and advisers. You yourself, I offer a place as my own personal bound secretary. A title of some distinction and," he glanced at his star-map once again in disbelief, "probably far more generous than your pathetic people deserves."
Fight or flight, these were the laws of the eternal war. Militaries either engaged or retreated, stood or fled. And so when the emotionless tones of the mutilated body in front of him sounded again, not in anger but with peace - when the face of the creature on the screen, with their foggy eyes that never moved, twisted not into a grimace but a smile, Rimtou became even more confused. Made more sure of his own victory, until the replying words and their meaning finally soaked into his brain.
"The time for negotiation has passed. I have accepted your hail not to barter with you for peace, nor even accept your surrender. I speak with you now only to document your final words before your people are extinguished forever."
Rimtou could only sneer back, letting out a warlike growl as he held up his fist, "you think to mock me, here, in the face of your own destruction? So be it. There will be no surrender this day!"
The creature's shouts echoing between ships, the Belle Mortas sole occupant simply nodded to empty air, the wires buried in their head bouncing as they moved, "You are correct. There will not."
As communications cut out, the commander of the Anubian fleet had time to briefly see a strange reading echoing across his commander's station. There was an energy building exponentially within the human corvette even as their conversation ended, a warp signature emitting from the *stationary* ship with greater and greater strength.
So it was as space twisted inward on the corvette, it was still without understanding or apprehension at his own fate that the commander was sucked into the emptiness formed where once stood the Belle Mortas. As he and his entire fleet were consumed into the newly born, artificial black hole, his last thought could only be, '...what?'
_________________________
Across Anubian occupied space, human dreadnought class ships who had not been committed to the engagement, who had not been deployed to defend Terran space nor protect the fallen colonies, finally, as one, exited warp.
Floating above the settled worlds of the Anubian empire, each commander and the handful of cyborgs bonded with their ships powered up missiles. No Anubian ships were there to greet them, no military force stood between them and their targets as they exited the cold emptiness of space where they had been hidden.
And in the hand of every captain of every dreadnought hovering over every undefended world there was but a simple scrap of paper - a single scrap with a single word, written by one of the linked minds of their cyborg astropaths:
"Exterminatus" | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | X'ralaxs picked himself up from the rubble, and surveyed the devastation all around. It wasn't supposed to be this way. They were supposed to be soft, pushovers. The dead and dying all around told a different tale. The power the humans could place inside their bombs was unheard of. Over a thousand kilometers from the detonation and the damage was nigh on unimaginable. His eyes widened as another flash of light lit up the sky, this one much closer, they weren't dropping just one.
The heads of the Hef'rexian confederacy slowly approached the human delegation, signed terms of surrender were placed on the table. The planet Gennis was gone, not only did the humans kill everyone, they rendered it uninhabitable. They were not the weaklings the other races thought them to be, this was an expensive lesson for the confederacy.
Chr'ellis placed the official surrender documents down, looked at the humans officials, "How did... What was... What were those things?"
General Graves sighed. "Nukes, we call them nukes." | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. |
**Caged, Now Loose.**
A deafening silence fills the chamber where the Galactic Assembly meets. The shock that permeates the varying species present here today is almost palpable. I suppose we should have expected this, seen it coming from the very first attack - what feels like aeons - but was only 3 Terran months ago. The Aberrians sit opposite us, cruel smiles plastered across their narrow faces. I can almost see it, the thrill, that bloodthirst that probably occupies every avenue of thought. That burning desire for war, the appetite for destruction; it seems only poetic that the colour of their eyes reflects this. The red of blood, of death and of war that colours their eyes is distinctive of their kind.
All eyes - or whatever means they use to see - are directed at us now. Some filled with pity and a sense of despair, of futility as if they too had seen this moment coming. As for the others, they were filled with curiosity, a detached interest in a situation unheard of in the three Terran centuries of the Galactic Assembly’s existence. Yet they were all probably wondering, can we salvage this. Can our quick and sweet tongues alongside the diplomacy that seems inherent in our genetic makeup prevent yet another disaster. Can we talk them out of such a decision and prevent war yet again. Can we negotiate, can our diplomatic prowess - the reputation that we have built of ourselves - save us now. Every known civilization can undoubtedly tell you something about the Terran civilization or as we call ourselves - humans. They will tell you tales of what they deem our most distinctive trait: Our natural and uncanny diplomatic ability. Our ability to negotiate and deescalate what seem unresolvable; our distinctive way with words. They will tell you of our feats. How we prevented full out war on Caelch IV and saved a billion lives, or how we were able to talk the Threnarians and Gostlems out of battle just a few Terran hours before they were to begin. These among others are what resulted in us being given the laudable position of the goto Galactic peacekeepers. A position that led to Terrans being placed on every planet and where the conflict that led us here began.
It started three months ago. We received the communication from the Aberrians themselves. 300 human lives gone. In what they called unfortunate circumstances, 300 of our people were killed. They intended to convey the news with sorrow, but the sick gleam in their eyes, the smile that was teetering on their lips told us otherwise. Our people were murdered, and now there remained no peacekeepers on their planet. We were, of course, enraged at the loss of our people, but we had to maintain the peace, so we took ‘the unfortunate circumstances’ of their deaths and said we would send them more peacekeepers shortly. This continuing the image we built for ourselves over the many centuries. The image of the weak, pacifistic, confrontation-avoiding species that always betrayed their interests to avoid conflict. The species that would take the worse half of the deal if there was even the slightest use of force. And we fully intended to send more of our people to die, as much as we despised it. However, they started their attack before we could, for that at least we were grateful.
They began attacking ships that were simply on their designated trade routes. We tried to negotiate, saying we would use other trade routes if they wanted ours, playing of the attack as an accident. They agreed and we felt relief. Then they attacked us on the new trade routes and we knew they were just toying with us. It wasn’t about the trade routes, it was about killing, killing us. Yet there was nothing we could do. Then they decided to assault some of our outposts on Helbrip III and when we begged them to stop their attack. They proposed an ultimatum: ‘Surrender 75% of your Galactic colonies, resources and planets or face the wrath of the Aberrian Empire’. As these words left the very mouth of their Chancellor, the head of the Aberrian Empire, it was clear that this was no joke. That brings us to the stunning silence that occupies the room.
The rest of the occupants probably think this a historic day. The day humanity couldn’t succeed with diplomacy and hence the day that marks the end of their civilization. Today they think is the event that leads to the annihilation of one species, yet they would be surprised by which one. So I rise from my seat, “The Terran civilization acknowledges the Ultimatum put forth by the Aberrian Empire and upon further deliberation will provide a response no later than prima lux tomorrow. We will now take our leave”. The silence never retreats, not even as the Terran delegation walks out of the chamber.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Part 1 because it was too long too fit in one comment | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | **"Those forgetting history is bound to repeat it"**
These words are written above the entrance to the chamber of the great council. We thought we knew everything, but there were so much we forgot.
None of the councils members remembered why the image of a grinning human was chiselled into the chamber walls. The painting was neither good, nor well made. Beneath it was chiselled the words human females tell their children. "Use your words".
No one would deny that the humans where great talkers and mediators. But they were also a soft squishy species. The way they imprinted on their young to use their words where taken as a sign that they were weak and timid. They even punished their children when they were caught fighting.
All this we learned from the small colonies they had among the rest of us. We would learn more too soon.
The way of the council and the accord of the species was that one species could acquire another species place, rank, honour on the council by fighting the other species. This way the council was guaranteed to stay strong and fresh. That species gained planets and colonies, or lost them in these struggles was the norm. Occasionally a species was removed entirely from the council when their entire territory was annihilated.
No species entirely disappeared. After their defeat they were always offered a space in the Alliance. A small ragtag collection of planets and species surrounding the last suspected location of the human home world. Everyone thought of them as zookeepers. Guards of humanity. That they were there to protect the humans. No one gave them any tought as they were out of the way. "Out of sight. Out of Mind". Another humans wording. They have so many.
They were no longer out of mind after discovering huge deposits of rare elements where located in their territory. A short victorious war was planned to prepare for mining. With the added benefit of providing us with free workers.
The Alliance pleaded and begged us to reconsider. Sent us historical files, and copies of signed accords. We ignored them all. The humans tried their talks, but we ignored their calls. We probably should have listened when the Alliance said "We wash our hands of this. We tried warning you.". How we laughed.
We took the first planets easily. Setting up mining operations. Forcing the humans to be our slaves. We thought they were weaklings having trouble operating our equipment, since everything went much slower than we anticipated. Then the breakdown started. Machines breaking. Bridges falling down. Transports failing to launch. Small things. But they happened just too often.
We thought we had rounded up all the humans. When the explosions started we knew we hadn't. We never found where they hid. But they were severely hindering our operations. This happened on every planet we occupied. Even ones previously occupied. Wherever we set up operations, humans found a way to hide and make trouble.
We soon learned another human expression. "Guerrilla warfare".
They even brought this to interstellar space. Small groups, hiding out in spaces no ship should be able to hide, they hit us repeatedly where it hurt. Our shipping lanes, our outposts. Never the same twice in a row. Always gone before our military ships could show up.
Little did we know that this was done to make sure we overspent ourselves trying to protect against small irritants, while they prepared.
When they hit us. As a war faring race we can only admire the beauty in their attack. They were everywhere. Our capitals fell in the first bombardment. The council lay in tatters as we were decimated. And we could do no other action than concede when they entered the council chamber claiming their rightful place at the top. There where no one left that could stop them. The words they uttered when they opened the proceedings shocked us to our cores. Even though we could see the warning every time we entered.
​
"We founded this council. We can always reclaim our place. Remember history". | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | The terran reply to the xenos species that had parasitized one of their colonies after diplomatic options failed was, in the eyes of the rest of the galaxy, about as appalling as it gets.
We simply Jumped in with a mining vessel, an
asteroid disassembler... and a single Jump Tug.
The mining vessel dropped off an asteroid of primarily ferrous metal. The automated Jump Tug latched on. It wasn't capable of Jumping to FTL this close to a gravity well... but it was perfectly capable of achieving a near infinitely repeating ninety nine percent fraction thereof.
The Tug itself detached, though its fate was sealed. It disintegrated into a cloud of stellar dust and radiation, streaking across the galaxy like a shooting star.
The asteroid, however, impacted their planet. As fast as it was going, even space dust had started the process of turning into plasma, due to friction. When it hit their Kessler Belt, it got worse, starting to sublimate the matter into raw forms of radiation. And then it hit atmo.
Their entire world, from the frozen tundra to the savannas, erupted into flame as the very atmosphere flashed into superheated radiation and plasma. Of course, the exotic radiations bathing the planet for femtoseconds prior had already killed everything.
Not even three minutes after war was declared officially, the species was extinct. Its solar system was sterilized, down to the very bedrock of its outermost moon.
The galaxy was stunned. Speechless. For the past two months, humanity had tried every diplomatic lever to work with the burgeoning xenos species. They had chosen, repeatedly, to abuse the 'weak, insipid prey' that was humans. It had finally taken the terran leaders losing their colony to make the plea to the galactic version of Terra's old United Nations for the smallest amount of war preparation and engagement they allowed: One terran day.
Terra's ambassador had been replaced with an old, grizzled human, rather than the soft spoken, younger one. This one was almost more machine than man. He had served in nearly a hundred years of war before humanity finally united. He'd lived almost two hundred since. Everyone on the galactic scale had thought terrans, with their constant drive for diplomacy, were somewhat spineless, but incredibly gifted politicians and diplomats.
The old man arrived in place for the day of the attack. He left five minutes later, the war won in brutal, unimaginably one-sided victory. He ended his own life twenty minutes after, unable to bear the shame of having to be the first human since the Unification to go to war, true war. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | "Admiral Hansen" Croaked the vile creature projected up on the view-port. Hansen took a moment to reflect on how miraculous it was they had managed to maintain peaceful relations with these beings for this long.
​
"Yes, Prator Zal, I hear you."
​
The creature emitted a whimpering sniveling sound as it prepared itself to speak again, or perhaps it was already speaking and the translator had yet to catch up. "We have reviewed your appeasements, and have deemed them... inadequate."
​
Admiral Hansen sighed, and took a moment to compose himself. "I am sorry to hear that Zal, what more can we offer you to avoid this conflict?"
​
"Nothing!" Zal replied in a rasping screech. "Your kind has avoided conflict for too long! It is time you be tested in combat. We will know your true composition." Each new sentence washed over the Admiral as another wave of grief. He did not want to be known as the man responsible for humanity's first war since reaching the stars, but more importantly he did not want the weight of what he had to do next upon his conscience.
​
"Prator Zal, You know very well our weapons are inferior to yours."
​
"We do."
​
"And you know that when forced into a fight we will give everything we have to win it."
​
The creature on the screen smiled. "We wouldn't have it any other way."
​
"And there is nothing more I can do to talk you out of this reckless action?"
​
"No."
​
"Very well Prator. You may consider our two species at war."
​
"Excellent Admiral. We thank you for coming in person to deliver the news. Prepare your fleet for battle in th-"
​
"Terminate transmission." The admiral ordered. The bridge was plunged into an icy stillness.
​
"Sir, should we prep for battle?"
​
"No. Send the signal to execute Hard Rain protocol and jump for Celestia. If we ever want to see lasting peace we need our galactic neighbors to understand what war means to a Human."
​
"A... aye sir."
​
Before the last human ship made its jump out of the system, the transmission broadcasting the Human fleet's cowardly defeat went out across the galaxy. Caught up in their celebrations, the Varosians would not notice the the countless asteroids being redirected throughout their system until it would be too late to stop them all. The rocks would fall along the trajectories Hansen's infiltration force had planned for them. They would completely destroy the Varosian Industrial complex, and kick up ash and dust into the atmosphere, causing an environmental disaster that would last decades. The Varosian economy and ecology had been irreparably crippled in one strike. Millions of Varosians died in one day, and billions more would die in the coming years, but Admiral Hansen was just getting started. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | I meet with the former High Marshall Tarsonis in the museum of The War of the Stars. We stand in the what has been called "The Scar" by both humanity and the former Alliance species, the site of the final battle before the Alliance surrendered to humanity and agreed to the terms it dictated. The hall covers the site of the final bloody firefight, the centre stands the bunker that was the catalyst to the surrender. Tarsonis is covered in scars, the Emmane chitin starting to fade to a dull green with his age, his species distinctive wings misshapen from injury and retracted, it is clear to see how much apprehension he has about visiting this place
"You know I have never visited this place?"
"Why is that?"
"I couldn't tell you honestly, maybe I didn't want to see how real it was,"
"But you were there,"
"Yes and at the same time I wasn't,"
We walk past a broken shield projector, Tarsonis runs on of his hands over it, feeling the blacked metal with his fingers
"You know we first thought them nothing but talkers, completely incapable of matching our martial prowess,"
"Is that why the war started? Because it was believed they posed no threat?"
The former High Marshal laughed at my question as we continued to move through the eerie and pristine silent battlefield
"It may have seemed like that to the historians, the reality is far more telling of our arrogance. When humanity was discovered it was on the moon of Illi they had a small colony exploring and studying the resources available. The moon had already been marked to become a mining colony by the Alliance. We studied their technology and culture, the decision was made to make contact and ask the colony to respect our claim,"
"I thought the war started on planet of Illi not the moon?"
"It did, the humans agreed and forfeited their claim to the moon, however they had already established a colony on Illi, it was decided that the humans knew their place and would remove themselves from Illi as well,"
"But they didn't,"
"They delayed and stalled, they said a vote would need to be taken and their representatives would have to debate the issue, they stalled and pleaded for time, we mistook this for weakness and timidity,"
"It wasn't was it?"
"Yes and no,"
The former High Marshal notices my confusion and stops walking, he bends over and picks up a destroyed Alliance blaster, it has been violently snapped near in half Tarsonis inspects the weapon as he continues
"It was humanity terrified of both an alien force demanding it bend the knee and also terrified it might finally ascend to its true purpose, to be completely in a state of war, before this they had only each other to hone their blade, both brutal and tragic they couldn't fully commit to fighting themselves because it would be their undoing. But a non human enemy threatening their very existence, they could finally ascend to total war,"
"So what happened?"
"We bombed them into the dust and crusaded to their home system, they weren't ready for us and we intended to defeat them before they had a chance to fight back,"
"This lead to the blockade of earth?"
"Yes, I was in command of the blockade we would contain the humans and force them to submit through starvation of resources, it was worming to, the human gathered everyday we seemed to be making progress to their subjugation and who knows, if things had gone differently it might have worked,"
"Why did the fleet launch strikes on Earth if the blockade was working?"
"Some in the fleet command cadre assumed that the human were again playing for time, trying to talk in the face of might, that it was an insult to the Alliance they had no submitted yet,"
"So it was to make the humans surrender, you launched these missions against humanity to make them surrender faster?"
"No, the three strike missions were launched without my consent, I was out-voted by the other fleet High Marshals. I had my reasons why the blockade must be maintained,"
"So you didn't want to attack the human home world?"
"No."
"Why?"
The High Marshal placed the broken blaster down, and moved closer to the bunker, he stops at the final line of defences the ground is darker here, a mixture of Alliance species and human blood has stained the dirt here, Tarsonis doesn't take his eyes off the stained earth as he continues
"We never fought humanity, we assaulted them, never given them a second to actually bring their forces to bear, and with hindsight we see that the Alliance mainly butchered civilian installations, humanity had nearly completely disarmed itself as a means of survival against itself. I had suspected this. The few pockets of resistance we faced on our sprint to Earth had cost us greatly, small cells of human resistance caused horrific amounts of damage, I didn't want to risk over extending our position, better to bide our time and wait them out,"
"But the three strikes did happen,"
"Yes, three cities bombed for mass casualties and to break their moral, Shanghai, New York and Rome, all centres of the human world at one point, the casualties I am told were in their millions,"
"What was the Alliance planning to follow those terror strikes with?"
"The message was simple, submit or suffer something worse."
"How did they respond?"
"With silence, for the first time there was no talking, no pleading, no begging for understanding or time. The decided to respond with action."
"What happened next?"
"Humanity unleashed itself on us......... and we never stood a chance." | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | The humans had such quaint names for the few times they had fought any galactic power. Incident was one of their favorites. The few times they had come into conflict they tried to minimize damage and spent the entire time asking to talk and peace.
Talk. Buh. We had sat back and watched them in the council. They had never been the aggressor but always apologised for their failure to come to peaceful agreement. For defending themselves. Weak.
We finally decided it was time to teach them the way of the Tephon. We announced to the council we were claiming a full half of the human territory. We heard all the words spoken. We thought the council had been stronger then that. Though we were surprised by the quietness of both the humans and their longest ally on the council, the group who had introduced them to the galaxy at large, the Athargon. We thought the looks on the Athargon faces were sadness at what was about to happen to the humans.
The humans in council were quiet until the council had talked itself out. Everyone in the chamber was looking at the human by this point.
"We will concede one third of our territory if you allow us time to remove our people from the areas."
Weak. We attacked the first colony the next day. It took us three years to take a third of their territory. Most of it was empty when we arrived. They never fight back. We saw no need to hurry.
The Council meeting after that the human demeanour had changed.
"If you keep refusing to talk and resolve this incident, we will be forced to respond."
We laughed. The next system we attacked wasn't empty. A small human force. Six ships in total. One of their carriers, the gods they call them, and five smaller ships. They were waiting in ambush and destroyed the fleet we send. They had been watching were we dropped into a system. They weren't sending messages begging for peace and they aren't trying to minimize damage. Finally we though, they were learning.
We accelerated our attacks at this. Three months and many minor battles, but we had a a full half of their territory. That's when the ultimatum came during a council session.
"Return our all territory or face what is to come."
The gutless Athargon members of the council hadn't been at that session. We figured they didn't want to watch what was about to happen to the humans.
We finally learnt how the humans and Athargon had met. It had been in violence. Over a colony.
It took the humans merely a month to remove us from their colonies. It had taken us longer then that to capture one of theirs once they started to actually fight back.
We laughed during the next session and offered our peace terms.
"There is no peace. Only war."
We thought we had taught them the lesson too well. It was at this point we heard directly from the Athargon.
"Their people have asked for total war with you. Their leaders have agreed. We say goodbye to you."
They have taken a full half of our territory. The Council members are begging them talk to us. To negotiate with us.
"There is no negotiating in total war."
We are the weak ones. We were wrong. We received one last thing from the Athargon. The complete history of the humans. They had been on the brink so many times. This was the first time they had declared total war since time almost forgotten. Even what the phrase meant. The total dedication of the species to war. They had given up producing luxuries. They were damaging their own economy to fight us.
We had only a half dozen systems left. The humans had destroyed the rest. They weren't even trying to make use of the territory they won. Scorched Earth they called it. We begged the council to intercede on our behalf. To save us from our on mistake. But it was too late. The Council was rightful scared of the demons we had unleashed.
I write this as a warning. Engraved secretly into the council chamber's ceiling. The humans may appear to be angels. But they are anything but. Anger then at your own risk. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. |
Humans; the galaxy at large viewed them as an odd bunch. Stuck on the edge of the spiral, it took them generations to sort out the gravitational communication system. Longer still to sort out their own FTL capabilities. By the time humans finally had a place on the council, their backwater held no interest for the other civilizations. This was all well and fine, as the grand game proceeded apace without their input.
Humans seemed to have no stomach for it, though. The constantly shifting alliances, the pageantry of posturing armies, the noble conflicts that forged great leaders; humans seemed to want no part. They claimed it reminded them of a dark time in their history, but no one much cared to investigate further, and humans never offered any deeper explanation.
Thus, humans rose to their position as arbitrators. Since they wanted no place in the grand game, they were leaned upon as independent observers. Businesses hired human lawyers to review military contracts so that they were fair and balanced towards both sides of any conflict.Diplomatic envoys would bring a human observer to record the proceedings so that there was a record of slights, intentional or not, that could lead to war. Militaries would invite human reporters to the battlefield systems where the fleets and armies would clash in glorious combat.
The humans seemed unimpressed. But no one cared. The grand game continued, with territory and resources flowing back and forth between the council member states for solar decades under the new status quo.
Until the A'mani'qi made their mistake.
It began simply enough. A human observer recorded the A'mani'qi king's rude gesture toward the peace envoy of the Kzzriak after the conclusion of accords. Knowing that they had just lost their war against the Kzzriak, and would not be capable of fighting another for months, the A'mani'qi disputed the human's official record. She stood by that record, and the A'mani'qi accused her of dishonoring their peace talks and their king. The human government became involved, and presented proof of her recording in front of the entire council.
This could not stand.
The A'mani'qi demanded satisfaction. They accused the entire human race of conspiracy and slander. They sent the formal war declaration to the miserable backwater which humans called home, declaring standards and challenging the humans to a location.
The humans transmitted a single word in response.
"No."
The A'mani'qi laughed. They upbraided the human representative in front of the council. They demanded an explanation on why the entire human race would abandon their honor and deny the challenge.
The human was not laughing. The human leaked fluid from its ocular sockets as it pleaded, "We have moved beyond this. Do not make us show you all that we have learned."
At this, the council laughed. What had humans learned of the great game? How much did they know of combat, and glory, and honor? Here they would not even face the recently defeated A'main'qi in a matter of slander. The council voted unanimously to allow the A'mani'qi to take a human system of their choice. The human abstained from the vote, silent throughout the remainder of the proceedings.
Flush with their victory on the council, the A'mani'qi chose with hubris. Of the handful of human systems, they chose Sol; the system of the human homeworld. The council laughed again. The great game had never seen such a maneuver, and the A'mani'qi's glory would last for generations at this cunning maneuver.
The human left the council chamber. None would ever again enter as an equal.
On the appointed date of transfer, the A'mani'qi jumped their fleet into the Solar system. It was time for the grand parade, the transfer of power, the culmination of their cunning.
They never stood a chance.
The human home fleet barred their path. Comms were opened, and the humans began first.
"Star Kingdom of the A'mani'qi. This is your first and final warning. Turn back your fleet, leave Earth and this star system be, and revoke your claim in the council. Do these things, and we will maintain peace in the galaxy. Move your ships beyond the orbit of the 7th planet, however, and you will be treated as a hostile invading force. We beg of you, do not make us destroy you."
"People of Earth, this is your new king. Stand down your fleet and prepare to transfer power over this star system to our governance. This is our first command."
And it was the last command of the A'mani'qi king. The humans had never followed the protocols of the great game, they had no need. They had signed no war-treaties, had refused to allow their fleets be reviewed by the council, and prepared for this eventuality. The humans 2nd and 4th fleets jumped into crossfire positions and the combined armada obliterated the military might of the A'mani'qi. Not even the Kzzriak, who led the game at this time, had so many ships; it was against the rules.
Simultaneously, the 3rd fleet jumped into the home system of the A'mani'qi. They faced no opposition, for the A'mani'qi fleet was deployed for the victory parade above earth. They moved into embargo positions and transmitted demands for a complete and total surrender by the crown prince.
He chose the path of glory. He challenged the sky marshal of the 3rd fleet to honorable combat and marched his army, with royal guard at the head, to the field of honor.
In response, the sky marshal glassed the prince, his guard, his army, the field, and the surrounding 10 square kilometers with a single concentrated orbital salvo. The sky marshal then reissued his demands for complete and total surrender across the entire planet's communication system.
The A'mani'qi conceded to the human's demands.
The council was in uproar. Never before had an orbital bombardment occurred in council space! Never before had a sovereign been assassinated so dispassionately! Never before had the game's rules been disregarded so!
They debated throughout the week, forging the greatest alliance the galaxy had ever seen. All the great fleets would unify. They would face this upstart challenge and eliminate this new threat. The humans had gotten lucky! They had taken them by surprise! The council would stop them! And then the game could resume.
It was as they were signing the treaty unifying their forces against humanity that the council chambers rumbled. The 5th fleet, held in reserve until this moment, had jumped almost directly into orbit. This was, of course, a violation as blatant as the size of the vessels making up the fleet. Dreadnoughts twice the size of any battleship; bristling with armaments and full of angry humans with itchy trigger fingers. The 5th fleet did not establish an embargo. It moved with purpose to place the council chamber itself within reach of every vessel's main armament.
"Councilors. Know this. Any race that stands against us will face the fate of the A'mani'qi and worse. Surrender, and you will be spared. Fight, and your civilization will be destroyed. You have 24 hours to lay down your arms."
The great game was ended. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | As any biologist will tell you, the human body is a peculiar thing. Among many things, there is a specific cell in the immune system that is so deadly, when it fights infection, it kills healthy cells as well. It evolved to off itself in a short time to avoid killing too much of the body.
You could almost say the same for humans.
Much of the rest of the galaxy was older than us, but we were the first in our area. An entire half of the galaxy left unexplored by six other species because they were complacent with what they had, with all their tech and resource planets. They had all made contact with each other very early, been talking with each other since the very beginnings of their civilizations. They’d grown up, grown fat, and stopped. They’d stopped seeing the point of war a long time ago.
We had grown up with that point staring us in the face.
Then meeting us was sheer coincidence. One of their fleets bumped into a small explorer ship of ours, and they immediately began rushing in to where we were, looking for us. They probably though that as one species, we had two or three star systems under our control.
We had taken a full third of the galaxy.
They were a bit more than surprised.
Of course we discarded all signs of a big war species right away. Took up a position as negotiators, middlemen. That kept us going for a while. They questioned how we advanced so far in such a small time, and had set ourselves up to be the ancient godlike species for a huge chunk of the galaxy. We just shrugged and said it just happened.
Until the eight species arrived.
Conquerors from outside the galaxy, trying to take over everything. They saw us, both in their experience and the reports of the other six species, as weaklings, trying to avoid fighting at every opportunity. They even tried to wipe out a bunch of our systems, in a show of force. They thought they had perfected war.
What a bunch of god damn idiots.
The other six species pulled back, leaving them to sweep into the outskirts of the galaxy in a few days. By day 6, everybody was thinking they would win.
By day 7 we were standing over the corpses of their frontal fleet.
Our ancestors, the ones who turned war into an art, smiled upon us that day. We used tactics both old and new, striking with ferocity built up and hidden away for years and strength that nobody knew we had. We had less than them, our tech almost on their level, but we had been used to fighting ourselves at a disadvantage for millennia.
On the seventh day, the wrath of a people who were done hiding their true nature was seen. Our nature was not negotiating or talking peace.
It was war.
And the universe would fear and respect it. Lest they face us. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | The T'losh ambassador stroked his head-tails as he strode down the brightly lit, almost sterile hallway. He studied his datapad, reviewing his most recent diplomatic proposal, when a small icon flashed in the upper left corner. Irritated at the sudden interruption, he moved to dismiss it without bothering to view the contents, when a sudden flurry of footsteps sounded behind him. He drew himself up, turning with indignation, reprimands ready on his tongue, but there they remained.
​
The owner of the erratic footsteps was quickly approaching, a slender, four-legged Sheth, with an inscrutable expression on its face. "You are summoned to the council room" it murmured in the soft tones the Sheth were known for. The natural quietness of speech did not detract from the undercurrent of unease layered in its tone.
​
The ambassador merely nodded, following the now graceful motions of the Sheth's nimble gait. "Am I to be informed as to the reason? Do assure me that a Sheth is not wasting my time with trivial matters, I am quite busy today and..."
​
The Sheth, without breaking stride, cut off his inquiry with a wave of its own datapad. "You should have already been notified. I am simply your escort."
​
The T'losh, recalling the irritating flashing symbol, opted to open instead of dismiss. His eyes scanned the contents quickly, absorbing and analyzing the contents instantly as only his kind could. He closed an eye and put a finger between his eyes, attempting to hide an uncharacteristic confusion. He made to ask a question, but was kept silent by the door to the council room sliding soundlessly open. The spacious room was nearly at full capacity, only a few delegates missing. The Kaneth ambassador - no, military advisor - seemed to be the focal point of this meeting. A current of unease wafted through the room, made all too obvious by the quivering antennae on the ever sensitive Qu'fe delegate.
​
"Enough of us are here to begin, so let's get to it" the other tall figure in the middle, across from the Kaneth, stood to full height, commanding the attention in the mostly seated room. He was Human, that much was obvious, but his demeanor was completely off. The normally docile Human was... agitated? No, too composed. Nervous? Not likely, given his confident tone and posture, as was typical of Humans. This was something different, and unseen in the past 91 cycles that Humans had been a part of the Galactic Confederate. It tasted like fear. This alone unnerved the T'losh. Humans, ever since first contact, had been the prime example of diplomacy and courtesy. Never aggressive, always finding ways to negotiate and deal themselves out of any trouble they found themselves in, though they always seemed to come out ahead in every situation. In fact, so skilled were they at negotiation, they had never been directly involved in any martial conflict at all. That is, of course, until now. The notification on his datapad had informed him that two solar weeks prior, the Kaneth had declared hostile intentions toward the Human sector. This was not uncommon of the Kaneth. Always aggressive, ever expanding, the Kaneth were as imposing in a battle formation as they were physically. They towered over every other race, save the Sheth, and their sheer bulk made them a formidable foe in any situation.
​
"You do not speak, Human, you are not worthy! Your cowardly race flees before the might of the Kaneth. When we have conquered your outer colonies, we will press on and crush you all! Your manipulations and lies do not deceive us as they have the others! We will..."
​
"Your information is outdated and incorrect, and your words border on direct violation of the military code of conduct for the Confederate." The Human interrupted. He was relaxed, far too relaxed for a race with no military conflict to draw experience from.
​
"We have submitted multiple declarations, following all the necessary laws and codes." The grating voice of the Kaneth made clear his race's intentions. "We will eradicate your weak minded species and free the galaxy of your corruption! We will return the galaxy to..."
​
The Human waved his hand, interrupting the Kaneth yet again "There's no stopping your ranting, I suppose, so I'll cut right to the heart of the matter. The reason I called this meeting is simple." He stepped forward and placed his datapad on the table, projecting a three dimensional map into the room. "This is the Kaneth fleet, shortly after commencing their invasion. They, without warning, swept through an unarmed merchant fleet, ignoring all attempts at communication. A total of 5,000 civilian casualties were reported." He paused, fixing the T'losh with a pointed stare. "Avoidable casualties, as there was no military presence in the quadrant at all. This hostility borders on outright genocide, and we are prepared to respond as such." Sweeping his eyes across the room, he touched his datapad. "That was a week ago. This is that quad now." The image changed to reveal no ships whatsoever. A perfectly normal quadrant of space.
​
Suspiciously devoid of the destruction expected of the Kaneth.
​
The T'losh studied the Human. He had misjudged the emotion roiling off the man, thinking it fear. A sudden chill of realization swept up his body as he understood. It wasn't fear he had sensed. It was a deeper emotion, more primal. Something none of the Confederate had expected. Bloodlust.
​
"Long have we put up with your hatred." The Human voice dripped with sudden malice. "Long have we ignored your illegal raids and ambushes. The Kaneth have their reputation, and we have ours. No longer." The Human stepped back from the table as the map changed to a holovid of the Human quadrant that had come under attack. "Under the provisions of the Confederate law of Preservation, the Human race has declared total war on the Kaneth." The room fell into a stunned silence as the vid revealed the Kaneth fleet being utterly decimated by an unknown force. Ship after ship vaporized until nothing remained. As the victorious fleet swept in, the familiar markings of the Terran Alliance were brightly visible on each frigate, cruiser, and battleship.
​
"I-I-Impossible! This is a lie!" The Kaneth howled. He glared at the Human, barely suppressed rage leaking into his speech. "The Humans have no such fleet! No military force in this universe could eliminate my fleets so thoroughly!"
​
"And yet the evidence lies before you, clear as any star in the galaxy. Not enough for you?" The map changed to Kaneth space. The room went from silence to uneasy murmuring as those present quickly grasped the situation. The Kaneth were being wiped out. Every skirmish, every encounter ended in complete and utter annihilation of Kaneth forces. The Human fleets, though outnumbered, were hardly being challenged. For once, the Kaneth representative was completely speechless.
​
The T'losh turned to the Human, "Completely ignoring the fact that the mightiest military force in the galaxy is currently being treated like a disobedient child, what is your intent here? Are we to watch the complete eradication of the Kaneth race? Despite your correct usage of Preservation, I assure you the Confederate will not stand for genocide."
​
The Human didn't move, eyes glued to the map. No expression crossed his face, but the T'losh detected a small amount of satisfaction leak through his response. "No, but we will make sure, in no uncertain terms, that direct military action against Human civilians will never be tolerated. Allow me to bring you all up to speed." The map shifted, and the room went from uneasy murmur to outright chaos. All Human ships were gone from Kaneth space. As were all Kaneth ships. The only signs of life that remained were the Kaneth homeworld, and pockets of civilain colonies scattered across nearby planets. The Human fleet had cut through them with laserlike, ruthless precision. And it had only taken one solar week. The T'losh looked around, but the Kaneth advisor had already fled, the stink of his terror still lingering. The crowd now eyed the Human warily, giving plenty of room. The T'losh nodded, his usual impassive nature coming back to bear.
​
"That was... efficient."
​
"Well, if three World Wars taught us one lesson, it's this." He faced the T'losh "The longer we allow war to ravage us, the longer we spend regretting the losses. We aren't peaceful because we want to be. We're peaceful because we have to be. We almost destroyed ourselves before, and while we were able to rebuild and unite, there's no guarantee of that success a second time." He retrieved his datapad from the table and turned to leave, the crowd parting before him. "I only hope the rest of you can take our failures to heart, and avoid the mistakes that almost cost us everything." | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | By the time we made it to the stars, humanity had been through 4 world wars. It took 500 years to climb from the radioactive ruins of the third and the less said about the nanoplagues left from number 4... literally, some are keyword activated and the decon protocols aren't perfect.
When we arrived on the galactic scene it seemed obvious that the sheer power needed by interstellar drives made them effectively superweapons in their own right.
We just.... kind of assumed that everyone kept a stock of impactors or more exotic superweapons out in the cold spaces between the stars and just didn't talk about them directly at diplomatic events as some kind of taboo.
Given our recent past we played it very very safe. We didn't want to get into a cold war with some galactic power where we lacked a red telephone to talk things out carefully and avoid any unfortunate novas.
It took decades of study of the histories of other planets for the xenologists to be certain and by then our SOP and reputation on the galactic scene had become that of peaceful diplomats who shy away from all military conflict.
We had gained a reputation for being soft, weak and overly forgiving.
On the galactic scale superweapons were almost unknown. Almost.
The Orion empire decided they wanted to send a message to some of our allies. They virus bombed the colonies of alpha centauri in a surprise attack. A billion people were wiped out overnight and protocols dating back to just after the last war went into effect.
Deadman switches tripped.
The Orion sued for peace after the first of their colony world's was shattered by near lightspeed impactors.
The galactic community pleaded on their behalf after the 5th.
They had no concept of mutually assured destruction. They had no stockpile of superweapons. The one they had used was all they had.
we explained that there was no mechanism to call back the counterstrike. We explained that all 76 world's of the Orion empire would soon be dust and fire.
the silence in the galactic council chamber was total.
Humans don't have a reputation for being overly forgiving anymore. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | He watched her approaching the congressional chamber. She walked down the halls towards their meeting, pushing her communicator into her sleeve pouch. In the same movement, she brought out some morsel of food and offered it to the odd creature perched on her shoulder. The flaps covering its epidermis expanded, flashing brilliant green as it cooled over the morsel. He reflected on how....unsettling these humans were. They always preferred to bond with those around them.
Unlike every other species, they would bond emotionally with everything. Animals, humans, other sentients. And they would always solve problems with *talk*. Wretched, wretched talk. They were the best at *talk*. They talked the Karinzin down from war with the Kayelt, which his people had spent a century executing for their growth.
No, now they had to take this grievance to the Galactic Congress and *talk* about how they were right for starting a war with these barbarians. He had demanded their immediate and unconditional surrender at the close of yesterday’s session. It shouldn’t take long even if they resist.
And, one these vermin were under the yoke of the Raythin empire, they would no longer be allowed to destroy what they spend so long crafting. He smiled as she approached the table. Today would be a great day, he mused to himself.
She seated herself across the grand table, the rest of the body seating in the voting theater circling the central stage. “Honorable members of this body, I have come to deliver our response,” she stated as the assembly slowly hushed for the proceedings. “The Human Planetary Union demands that the Raythin Empire cease all aggressions and retreat to their home territory. Our offer is that we will not declare war on your people.”
***
Karina stared at the lizard creature before her. The entire assembly was hushed, many showed obvious signs of confusion. No one expected a power play from the young race that always talked.
Of course, none of them wanted what the humans had. Mineral rich worlds that were otherwise planets used to scare children into behaving. The handful of planets that other races might like inside Human space just weren’t worth it. Those races that chose to live near humans tended to become extremely friendly with them and even protective. Everyone thought the humans had some sort of chemical secretion that would overwhelm the other races’ minds if they spent too much time near them.
But, they weren’t aggressive. They seemed too agreeable. So agreeable that everyone pretty much ignored them and left them to their business.
The crowd began to murmur as the Raythinite fluttered its throat. “We reject your.....interesting proposal,” Delegate Othrr stated calmly.
Karina nodded. “Please...” her voice faltered and the crowd went silent once more as she regained her composure, “Please. I beg of you, with tears in my eyes, do not do this. If you reject this offer again, we will kill you all.” A tear rolled down her cheek.
Othrr squared his posture. “You pathetic beast. You aren’t even sentient enough to know when to surrender.” He swiped at her from across the table, she quickly bobbed back from the gesture.
“Very well, Delegate.” She sighed and coldly pulled out her communicator, “General. The offer has been rejected. Proceed with Operation Bedtime.”
A collective eye-brow-equivalent raised in the audience. “The Human Planetary Union officially declares war on the Raythin Empire. Anyone who allies themselves will forfeit all Human trade and diplomatic relationships until such time as the war is ended. Good day, delegates,” Karina said, almost clinically.
As she turned to walk out of the theater, Othrr bellowed and swiped at her again. He missed her as she deftly maneuvered out of his way - but managed to hit the small animal perched on her shoulder.
The assembly that had turned to discuss the strange Human declaration turned back when they heard a blood curdling, full bodied scream of vengeance. The fairly small mammal had shed her blue delegate cloak and was furiously hacking at the Raythinite delegate with a knife about the length of her forearm. In her rage, she chopped at everything that moved on the Delegates body, finally hacking so aggressively that a full third of his torso was reduced to bloody splatter in mere moments.
Just as suddenly as she started, she stopped. The entire congregated assembly had what seemed one pair of eyes as they followed her over to her animal, watched her gingerly pick him up, then gather her wardrobe and stomp out of the hall.
***
The battles were swift and brutal for the Raythinites. Every battle had them surrounded by large flights of craft too small for them to accurately destroy. Their forces were hacked apart much like their delegate had been. World after world was methodically eliminated until they had only their home solar system left.
As the Human fleet approached their system, they unexpectedly halted in their advance.
In the citadel on the home world, the Raythinite Regent was summoned to read a communication. “We would like to discuss a ceasefire.”
The Regent stared at his console in disbelief, alternating between the message displayed and the scanning equipment that couldn’t even accurately count the number of ships at the edge of the system’s cloud.
“I....would also like to discuss a ceasefire....” he finally replied. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | "I don't have much time, the humans are closing in on this location. For the Dosh Empire, our end marches inevitably closer. And the worst part about it is that we were the architects of our own downfall.
We thought the humans would be a simple conquest. It was the way of the galaxy, the strong controlled, or killed the weak. We started with attempts to enslave the humans. Instead of accepting their roles as our servants, they fought back. Every one of them. We ended up slaughtering every human we tried to enslave, it was easier that way.
We should have known then to stop. But we were blinded by our bloody history of success. If it weren't for the enlightened Yslimmi, we would have been rulers of the galaxy! Every other sentient species bowed to us for fear of becoming our slaves! Not the humans, they refused to submit.
Instead, they sent negotiators and ambassadors, thinking our abduction and eventual slaughter of several colonies was an 'accident'. They were willing to forgive and forget, and tried to placate us with promises of resources, trade, and wealth. The Dosh way has always been to take what we want, when we want it. We rebuffed them, thinking we would stroll right into their star system and conquer it.
Their final ambassador met us at one of their colonies, alone. Little did we know, they evacuated the colony ahead of our forces. The last human in the system was this sad, pathetic ambassador.
'Honorable Dosh, we greet you with open arms. Though we loved this star system, we gave it up for your esteemed personages to enjoy. Please enjoy this system as we have, and we look forward to continuing peace between our races.' Her words are burned into my memory. How cowardly! I thought. We were about to destroy the pathetic being when she continued to speak.
'While we hope for peace, any further incursion into human space will be met by force. We beg of you, do not force our hands. We left war long ago for the benefit of our species, not because we're afraid of it, but because we love war. So I beg of you, with tears in my eyes, please don't push us any further. Please don't make us destroy you.'
We laughed. What did these sniveling beings know about war? What did they know about conquest? If you're hearing this, then you already know what the outcome was. "
The narrator paused for a few seconds as an audible rumble could be heard in the background, items in the background could be heard rattling and falling to the ground.
"The shield was just destroyed. I must wrap this up soon, my end is close.
We destroyed the ambassadors vessel, then proceeded onto the next occupied star system. We were on the hunt, conquering was what we thrived on.
That star system put up a fight, and did surprisingly well considering what cowards humans were. Our victory was short lived when ships of an unknown origin exited hyperspace directly behind us and nearly destroyed our fleet. Out of over 50 ships, only 17 escaped.
We quickly regrouped, joining another fleet. We tried taking another human star system, only to meet with similar results. We knew we were outclassed and quickly fled before we suffered many losses. We fled! The Dosh! Only the Yslimmi have ever caused us to flee!
It wasn't their technology that helped them defeat us, it was their sheer ferocity and cleverness that allowed them to defeat us so easily. Our homeworld was sent a message after the second defeat, "Surrender, or Die." We never responded, not believing that the humans had it in them to destroy the mighty Dosh Empire!
They waited for a response for 30 of their planets days. Then it happened, out of nowhere the humans attacked nearly half of our empire!
You see, the humans inherently knew that only the strongest survive. Though they played for peace, and pursued it almost in a religious fashion, they were always ready for war. They had massive fleets built, and armies always training. Yet, they were ready for peace to fail. They knew that they would encounter a species like us Dosh, and they weren't going to let us destroy them.
The humans were ruthless in their slaughter of my people. Once unleashed, there was no stopping them, it was obvious that they relished the chance for all out war, and that's what they did. Total war, their entire species practically shifted overnight from peace seekers to war makers.
The Dosh Empire fell. The ferocity in which the humans attacked astonished every sentient in the galaxy, and here I sit, listening to the humans systematically demolish the Dosh's final base.
During our failed attempt at conquering the humans, I learned a new human word, and to best understand how serious the humans wage war, I leave you with my final words,
Don't fuck with humanity."
--
If there are typos, on mobile.. Will fix later. | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | Humans are a species of civilized monsters.
There was silence in the vaulted halls of the home of the Council, as the human delegation passed. For each member species, the station housing the center of the Milky Way's government had its own name. Officially, human governments called it Canis Prime. Most of us, however, had lovingly dubbed it Grand Central Station; a meeting place, a crossroads, a symbol of unity.
That's what it was supposed to have been. What it was no longer.
The hallways, no longer teeming with chatter, stank of fear.
We humans had always been aware of our reputation among the rest of the galaxy. The diplomats never said it our faces, of course - decorum had always been observed in the halls of political power among the members of the Galactic Council. But we heard the rumors. Things like that were impossible to hide. Given enough time, a word spoken ill behind one's back will always make it to one's ears.
We smiled and accepted it. It was better this way. Better that they didn't know. Better that they think us overly kind to the point of weakness, rather than reveal ourselves for what we actually are; creatures little better than a wild predator, killing for power, for territory, for pleasure, held in place by binding rules that we enforce upon ourselves because, if we hadn't, we simply wouldn't be here anymore. Weak or not, we were loved, back then. Welcomed on every planet as peacekeepers, we served in the enviable position of mediator between conflicting races. It was a position that granted considerable political clout and the pleasure of being liked, if not precisely respected, by nearly all we encountered. Not that we were spineless, either; just less inclined to hot anger than the rest of the species of the galaxy. It served us well.
Or it did, until the Praerept Confederacy disputed our claim to a colony planet.
This wasn't abnormal - it wasn't the first time humans had entered into a colony dispute with another race. It often resulted in humanity conceding more land than we might have liked, but it maintained out reputation as it was, and there was a growing tendency to look down upon any race that 'took advantage' of our apparently diplomatic nature. It served our purposes to allow this, and we thought that the same might happen here; claims would be reviewed, we would conceded probably a little more than was strictly fair, and all would go back to normal.
That's not what happened, this time. The Confederacy initially laid claim to the land under one colony city as the site of an earlier confederate landing zone. We tabled an offer to pay them for the land, much more than a barren landing zone would normally have been worth. They rejected, and laid additional claim to the land under another city. We offered rights to natural resources in the areas around both cities. They rejected again, and laid claim to an entire continent. We, growing wary, offered the land back to them, pending a large-scale relocation project for our colonists.
They called the offer insulting, and invaded the capital of the planet overnight.
Thousands died. The Confederacy expected to walk in and lay claim to the city without a fight, knowing that humanity kept no standing armies on its colony planets. They expected a controlled military response, which they would win, because humans are weak and small, and lack spine. Instead, our civilians took to the streets and were slaughtered. Thousands in the first night, and then tens of thousands as the confederacy took their invasion to new cities. Hundreds of thousands as the civilians refused to accept their invaders as their new leaders.
The Confederacy, bolstered by the petty response from the human military, refused to consider any cease-fire without the immediate surrender of a dozen human planets. They thought that the civilian rebellion was the extent of our *military* response. Why would it be anything else? Only soldiers fired upon other soldiers. This wasn't a grassroots rebellion, in their eyes - it was a rag-tag, terribly organized military response, which they crushed easily and without remorse. And, in recompense for the extended fighting, they wanted more from humanity - to the tune of half of our galactic colonies.
Perhaps it was our fault. We hid our histories from them, ashamed of what they might think. They entered the negotiations for a cessation of hostilities without complete information about their enemies.
It was an unpopular demand with the Council, but the Confederate soldiers were the strongest and best-trained in the galaxy, often capable of winning direct combat with armies four or five times its size. Nobody could stop them from taking whatever they wanted - especially not the humans with their tiny military, with hardly 5% of the standing forces held by their opponents.
It never once occurred to them that we didn't need more than that.
The first indication that something was different, this time, was the fact that we sent our military leaders to the negotiating table, rather than the diplomats. Most of the present diplomats didn't even know humans *had* proper military leadership. The generals laid out their demands - an immediate withdrawal of all forces from human colonies, or face the full brunt of our mustered force.
The diplomats laughed. The generals left to prepare.
Perhaps the historians will blame us for not being clear with our threats of retribution. The galactic races fought their wars with ground troops. Certainly, well-armed ground troops, with advanced weaponry and tactics, but ground troops nonetheless, armed with guns filled with bullets that are intended to kill enemies one at a time. The concept of a weapon of mass destruction was utterly known to them.
It is unknown no longer. This morning, warheads detonated across the surface of the Praerept home planet. Within the hour, the surface of the planet had turned to glass. Nothing was left but the radioactive storm and dust.
We'd warned them. Was it our fault they weren't capable of comprehending what wolves we could be, dressed as we were in sheep's clothing?
The doors of the Galactic Council opened to silence. The human delegation entered, looking grim.
The chairwoman spoke, finally. "What... have you done?"
The leader of the human group, an older man, let his eyes slide shut. He looked tired. So tired. "Genocide," he said. "It's called genocide." | To all member planets on the galactic council The united nations of earth and all her colonies gives you 1 earth lunar cycle to leave the milky way or face complete annihilation these are our terms non negotiable. As the secretary general of the galactic council read these words scores of laughter could be heard among the rows of alien ambassadors seated on the council, one voice barked loudly if those spineless philosopher's want a war they can have one. It had been 2 centuries since humanity revealed itself to the galaxy noticing how inferior alien battle strategies and planning were humanity as a collective whole decided never again to repeat the mistakes of the past and a declaration was signed by every nation and colony of earth to never again colonise, invade, start coups or undermine the security of a group of indigenous people, country, planet or solar system ever again dubbed the constitution of the united human race, man kind was ushered into a golden era of philosophy, peace and enlightenment never seen before in the history of the human race. Humanity has been trying to impart this ethos onto the members of the galactic council still young and inexperienced in the art of warfare, Prompting the name peacemakers of the universe. Blissfully unaware mankind's bloody history mistaking kindness for weakness the galactic council decides to annex mars a long since established off world colony of earth.23 planets 500 star-ship tankers with 230 thousand intergalactic cruise missiles containing 12 million alien personnel armed to the teeth, a breathe taking show of military might meant to intimidate and inspire fear, any other race and immediate surrender would be the answer in the face of such overwhelming force. However there is 1 quintessential difference between humans and the rest of the galaxy when it comes to warfare they still believe there are rules. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | Thank the Divine for the Terran’s. A hundred of their turns ago they made their first tentative reachings for the stars. We had welcomed they. They responded as any good race would, with trade, cultural exchange and shared knowledge. In that time they had found a niche that suited them well. Their massive mining ships cut metal bearing asteroids open to reveal the wealth contained therein. Their mining fleets grew and were in high demand. All Galactic Civilization prospered. They were well received in our Galactic family.
The Sky Marshals, a human term, governing these fleets were accomplished in diplomacy and tact. They always were polite guests and they men were well behaved. Their mining fleets worked with a singleness of mind and purpose. A precision that was to use an ancient term more military than anything else.
Then the others came.
From what far galaxy no one knows. We do know that they destroyed without compunction . They killed tens of billions in their first onslaught. A thousand years of peace destroyed in an instant. They were merciless.
Then a single Terran dreadnought mining platform, that blessed ship Terran registry 109 appeared in the Neddilon system intercepting the Others advance force. The battle was brief but there was no doubt as to the outcome. The 109 looses its cutter beams upon the enemy Others. Those mighty beams sliced through the Others ships as though they were but simple asteroids. The Terrans small one man tuggers swarmed the Others fleet raining destruction enough to make even The Divine cry.
The Terrans massed mining fleets fought for us with a ferocity unmatched and not remembered in many worlds. They massed miners were a juggernaut. Many a single manned tigger would purposely collide with a larger ship of the Others, trading a single pilot for a ship. Never had we seen the like.
The Others , no longer exist in our peaceful Galacy now. The Terrans resumed their rightful place, as miners , though now greatly honoured and much more highly recompensed. They have taken The others ships for something they call reverse engineering. I sense they seek to learn all they can about The Others, in case they return.
Blessed be the Terran miners and their fleets. | In this solemn hour it is a consolation to recall and to dwell upon our repeated efforts for peace. All have been ill-starred, but all have been faithful and sincere. This is of the highest moral value–and not only moral value, but practical value–at the present time, because the wholehearted concurrence of scores of millions of men and women, whose co-operation is indispensable and whose comradeship and brotherhood are indispensable, is the only foundation upon which the trial and tribulation of modern war can be endured and surmounted. This moral conviction alone affords that ever-fresh resilience which renews the strength and energy of people in long, doubtful and dark days. Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of its gales, but in our own hearts this Sunday morning there is peace. Our hands may be active, but our consciences are at rest.
​
We must not underrate the gravity of the task which lies before us or the temerity of the ordeal, to which we shall not be found unequal. We must expect many disappointments, and many unpleasant surprises, but we may be sure that the task which we have freely accepted is one not beyond the compass and the strength of the Galactic Human Republic. The Prime Minister said it was a sad day, and that is indeed true, but at the present time there is another note which may be present, and that is a feeling of thankfulness that, if these great trials were to come upon our worlds, there is a generation here now ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and not unworthy of those great men, the fathers of our species, who laid the foundations of our laws and shaped the greatness of our Republic.
​
This is not a question of fighting for Mars or fighting for New Earth. We are fighting to save the whole Galaxy from the pestilence of tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any species out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish, on impregnable rocks, the rights of the individual, and it is a war to establish and revive the stature of man. Perhaps it might seem a paradox that a war undertaken in the name of liberty and right should require, as a necessary part of its processes, the surrender for the time being of so many of the dearly valued liberties and rights. In these last few days the House has been voting dozens of Bills which hand over to the executive our most dearly valued traditional liberties. We are sure that these liberties will be in hands which will not abuse them, which will use them for no class or party interests, which will cherish and guard them, and we look forward to the day, surely and confidently we look forward to the day, when our liberties and rights will be restored to us, and when we shall be able to share them with the peoples to whom such blessings are unknown.
​
​
Full disclosure, I didn't write this, it is a lightly edited [speech given by churchill on september 3rd 1939](https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1939-in-the-wings/war-speech/) (the first paragraph is verbatim and the rest has a few words removed or changed so it would apply to a galactic conflict as opposed to WWII) | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | A man came in, he was skinny, pitiful and shaking. Xyphoriz watched in bemusement as the human nervously came over to the negotiation tables, before getting to the table when the guy stopped. He pulled a pack of something Xyphoriz recognized as the earthling primitive device called a ‘cigarette’
“Hey man,” the human started as he lit his cigarette, before the alien ambassador could speak, the human inhaled the entire fag to the butt and dropped it to the ground, pulling another from his pack and lighting it. “Sorry nervous, this is the first time we’ve been at war with... “ he motioned towards Xyphoriz. “Another species, wait no there was that time with the Emu’s... the first time an aliens been stupid enough to commit to a full on attack on our people.”
“Well we are here to listen to your terms for complete surrender” Xyphoriz replied, almost amused by the weak humans bravery, calling his people idiots would not be an insult taken lightly, he would be enslaved soon. The human laughed no longer shaking.
“Yeah, not happening” he snorted sitting down uncomfortably close. “Here is your ultimatum, cease all hostilities or my people will be forced to show you why we have to be skilled negotiators instead of warriors, and believe me when I say you don’t want the latter.”
“What can a dirty bipedal monkey like yourself really do to us? Negotiate a trade embargo against us? We’ll just take everything from you.”
“The names Brent, ok and I am not just dirty, I’m a historian. Probably the only person who can educate you on why the genocide on Kessia V was the worst decision you’ve ever made.”
This Brent was starting to intrigue the alien ambassador. Why send a historian in the place of a diplomat or even a military leader? It was strange.
“Do you know human history, Xiphoriz? Cause I know your species history, I’ve already figured out eleven ways I could have killed you since I walked in, just using your natural allergies, two of which could be exploited to genocide your people like, say” Brent paused smiling at the alien “The powered cascade massacre?”
Xyphoriz heart sank, how could the human know about that, that was a deep cut to his species history, something taboo to talk about even amongst close colleagues
“How dare you” it yelled, standing and slamming its fist, although the human still twitched, it’s demeanor didn’t change whatsoever, Brent just smiled.
“You know we humans have fought before” Brent frowned looking out into the desert outside. “Five world wars, and three interstellar ones, all against ourselves. Brought ourselves to near extinction in four of those, world war three we lost an island called Britain, it was nuked to oblivion, its neighboring island? Made into a nuclear wonderland where the fog never ended and the genetic monstrosities were genocided every couple of years. Used to Call that one Ireland...” the sorrow in Brents eyes told a tapestry of stories to Xyphoriz.
“Then there was five, we had three continents go dark, every country collapsed, we made our oceans raise a bunch and when the survivors finally came out of the woodwork, we decided to leave our blue jewel we had sullied so many times behind, to recover from our terrible temper.”
“So what you almost destroyed yourselves, now you’ve decided to destroy yourselves by refusing to give us your species for enslavement.”
“See our first interstellar war was about that, we blew up a few planets and moons in our short sighted temper, we wanted to enslave the Europans surrounding Jupiter, we shot mass drivers, killing all of them because they wouldnt submit, we then moved the shards of the shattered moon to drop on Mars because we couldn’t stand their whining, we broke the planet, we had to start a restoration project that’s still going on these thousand years later.”
“You broke two worlds where your people lived because you were mad? That was your own species.” Xyphoriz was starting to feel uneasy, these humans were brutal before their peacekeeping days.
“Oh we’ve killed ourselves for less, we had a cult once that super nova’d a star because they thought it would awaken their god, killing seven worlds and starting the second interstellar war that nearly killed every human in the galaxy.”
“How many died?”
“We stopped counting after we started our last Great War, where we destroyed our old home-world and solar system, bringing us to this desert, a planet we named in memorandum, earth, to honor the centillions of humans we slaughtered for our petty ego, a wake up call we took very seriously.” Brent set his hand on the glass.
“I hope you have reconsidered by now fighting humans, because I haven’t even told you what’ll happen to your species if you don’t cease all hostilities.” Xyphoriz looked at Brent, curious.
“What would happen?” It said.
“Well it depends, if we were able to beat you quickly and get a timely surrender, you’d just have to deal with human terrorists mass drivering you every now and then and super novaing you, now if the conflict to a bit longer because you miraculously got better at fighting then the pitiful excuse you call fighting us now. Well...”
“Well what.”
“Your species would be subjugated to human history repeating onto them.” | In this solemn hour it is a consolation to recall and to dwell upon our repeated efforts for peace. All have been ill-starred, but all have been faithful and sincere. This is of the highest moral value–and not only moral value, but practical value–at the present time, because the wholehearted concurrence of scores of millions of men and women, whose co-operation is indispensable and whose comradeship and brotherhood are indispensable, is the only foundation upon which the trial and tribulation of modern war can be endured and surmounted. This moral conviction alone affords that ever-fresh resilience which renews the strength and energy of people in long, doubtful and dark days. Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of its gales, but in our own hearts this Sunday morning there is peace. Our hands may be active, but our consciences are at rest.
​
We must not underrate the gravity of the task which lies before us or the temerity of the ordeal, to which we shall not be found unequal. We must expect many disappointments, and many unpleasant surprises, but we may be sure that the task which we have freely accepted is one not beyond the compass and the strength of the Galactic Human Republic. The Prime Minister said it was a sad day, and that is indeed true, but at the present time there is another note which may be present, and that is a feeling of thankfulness that, if these great trials were to come upon our worlds, there is a generation here now ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and not unworthy of those great men, the fathers of our species, who laid the foundations of our laws and shaped the greatness of our Republic.
​
This is not a question of fighting for Mars or fighting for New Earth. We are fighting to save the whole Galaxy from the pestilence of tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any species out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish, on impregnable rocks, the rights of the individual, and it is a war to establish and revive the stature of man. Perhaps it might seem a paradox that a war undertaken in the name of liberty and right should require, as a necessary part of its processes, the surrender for the time being of so many of the dearly valued liberties and rights. In these last few days the House has been voting dozens of Bills which hand over to the executive our most dearly valued traditional liberties. We are sure that these liberties will be in hands which will not abuse them, which will use them for no class or party interests, which will cherish and guard them, and we look forward to the day, surely and confidently we look forward to the day, when our liberties and rights will be restored to us, and when we shall be able to share them with the peoples to whom such blessings are unknown.
​
​
Full disclosure, I didn't write this, it is a lightly edited [speech given by churchill on september 3rd 1939](https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1939-in-the-wings/war-speech/) (the first paragraph is verbatim and the rest has a few words removed or changed so it would apply to a galactic conflict as opposed to WWII) | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | For 300 years bipedal "Earthlings" refused any confrontations with the Galactic Alliance. In the first half a century when Earth joined Union, the members of the Alliance tested their unwavering pacifism. They gave up their entire Solar System except a Red planet & their Home world. The Union High Committee stepped in to stop the members taking advantage of its new member.
250 years later Earthlings vision had spread throughout the known Universe. Their dealings were honest and true, they were trusted implicitly and was the most stable economy due to the stability unlike seen before. Earthling Banks were highly sought after and there was a waiting line for new banks throughout the universe. Most races fought over who got a bank first but then Earthlings decided to draw lots for the que. Even the smugglers & pirates refused to pillage the defenceless Earthlings because nobody would trade with them for Earth goods that were gotten illegally. Most races were willing to forego wars for stability following Earths Example. Empires were defined by its economic might and its ability to purchase land/planets/solar systems. Earth was the richest and biggest economy the universe has seen before.
This led to jealousy amongst the rest of the Union members. The high committee broke the oaths of impartiality and joined forces to bring Earth to its rightful place.
Wars and battles were allowed with in the Alliance as long as it was properly declared at a committee meeting.
A race of warriors from the planet Shai-lu were the first to declare war on Earth. Convinced by the High Committee and the rest of the members, the Shai-lu Demanded that the Earthlings secede from 70% of their colonies. To the utmost surprise of the the members Earth Ambassador said "Yes" even before the demand was finished. The Ambassador asked for 6 months parley for the colonies to move. Which the Shai-lu agreed.
2 months before the deadline, Earthlings warned that they will be closing their Banks and other services due to lack of Financial support from its colonies. In 3 hours after the announcement, they were gone. Not a single Earthling was left behind. The ported all the credits to the relevant parties at the last moment and defaulted all their loans citing bankruptcy.
The chaos was unlike ever seen before, economies collapsed within moments. Without Earths emissaries no business deals could be done or made because nobody knew how to. Wars begun throughout the Universe and some even without declaration.
By the time of the deadline, The Shai-lu were decimated by warring factions and every quadrant of the universe was embroiled in war.
The high committee in an desperate attempt to sate the inevitable collapse of the union called its members to wage war against Earth who was solely responsible for the disaster.
For the first time in its history, A Race Leader walked in to a Alliance Union meeting. A bipedal humanoid forum against the rest of the known universe. Sitting on opposite ends, the high committee members declared war against Earth.
The human stood and collapsed on the floor with her hands covering her face. The female humanoid cried (according to our translators, humans do it show sorrow or happiness) and got to her knees and begged the high committee rescind the order.
The glee of the rest of the universe was deafning. They laughed at the human in their own way.
Finally she stood and exclaimed in a clear voice said " I am sorry for what I must do to you & your race. We will give you 24 human hours to surrender."
To this the entire committee laughed and jeered.
Now it's been 36 hours since she warned us. We were fools. I am writing this from the Alliance HQ, it's the only place that remains. The human drop ships are approaching... I dont have time The Banks, they were not banks: they were garrisons filled with human soldiers. First they released nano toxins that were carried by swarms of nano bots who targeted the ruling powers of each planet. Docking stations were hacked and remotely overloaded the gates and docks. Satellites on every planet emitted a net of Neutro Magnetic Array system that disabled all systems & ships. We didn't even know that they had complete control over the FTL portals. The Armadas couldn't jump to anywhere. The only time they turned on was when they sent "candy floss" bombs. They exploded in a mist of pink and anything that it touched got dragged in to the nearest portal. It was reported that in the Andromeda Cluster one Bomb took 3 million ships..
All throughout the HQ I heard members calling for help that would never come and at the 26th hour everything cut out and a weird song kept on repeating. According to my translator it's an Aria by Humans called "Nessum Dorma".
The humans were everywhere and we couldn't even fight them. We didn't even fire a single weapon, they killed us all and they are coming for me..
What fools we were. | In this solemn hour it is a consolation to recall and to dwell upon our repeated efforts for peace. All have been ill-starred, but all have been faithful and sincere. This is of the highest moral value–and not only moral value, but practical value–at the present time, because the wholehearted concurrence of scores of millions of men and women, whose co-operation is indispensable and whose comradeship and brotherhood are indispensable, is the only foundation upon which the trial and tribulation of modern war can be endured and surmounted. This moral conviction alone affords that ever-fresh resilience which renews the strength and energy of people in long, doubtful and dark days. Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of its gales, but in our own hearts this Sunday morning there is peace. Our hands may be active, but our consciences are at rest.
​
We must not underrate the gravity of the task which lies before us or the temerity of the ordeal, to which we shall not be found unequal. We must expect many disappointments, and many unpleasant surprises, but we may be sure that the task which we have freely accepted is one not beyond the compass and the strength of the Galactic Human Republic. The Prime Minister said it was a sad day, and that is indeed true, but at the present time there is another note which may be present, and that is a feeling of thankfulness that, if these great trials were to come upon our worlds, there is a generation here now ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and not unworthy of those great men, the fathers of our species, who laid the foundations of our laws and shaped the greatness of our Republic.
​
This is not a question of fighting for Mars or fighting for New Earth. We are fighting to save the whole Galaxy from the pestilence of tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any species out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish, on impregnable rocks, the rights of the individual, and it is a war to establish and revive the stature of man. Perhaps it might seem a paradox that a war undertaken in the name of liberty and right should require, as a necessary part of its processes, the surrender for the time being of so many of the dearly valued liberties and rights. In these last few days the House has been voting dozens of Bills which hand over to the executive our most dearly valued traditional liberties. We are sure that these liberties will be in hands which will not abuse them, which will use them for no class or party interests, which will cherish and guard them, and we look forward to the day, surely and confidently we look forward to the day, when our liberties and rights will be restored to us, and when we shall be able to share them with the peoples to whom such blessings are unknown.
​
​
Full disclosure, I didn't write this, it is a lightly edited [speech given by churchill on september 3rd 1939](https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1939-in-the-wings/war-speech/) (the first paragraph is verbatim and the rest has a few words removed or changed so it would apply to a galactic conflict as opposed to WWII) | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | Peace. It was something that humanity was well known for. Since making contact with the galactic council and becoming it’s 7th member we had garnered a reputation as the best diplomats in the galaxy. It was often said that human could negotiate its way out of anything.
Not all the council members shared our peaceful ways however, especially the Insidi. They were a warrior race. Nothing meant more to them than honourable combat, and it was how they settled all their disputes. They looked at us and saw a weak, spineless race that talked so much because we couldn’t do anything else. They figured they could make any demand they wanted and we would accept.
We didn’t want to admit it, but deep down we all knew that war was inevitable. We all knew that our efforts were futile, and yet we did our best. We tried so hard to talk them down, but they were stubborn. They demanded our complete submission, and we knew that they wouldn’t back down.
The final council meeting was just a formality; we all knew that we were going to war. We didn’t send a diplomat, there was no point. The person present at this meeting wouldn’t be making any deals, they would be starting a war.
The person given this unenviable task was Grand Commander and Chief Rebecca Gregory Julianous, the woman in charge of the United Human Confederation’s military. She had been a soldier since the last of humanities wars, and she had lost most of her body in the process. As such her mechanical legs carried her through the galactic council’s headquarters. Many aliens had never seen a human soldier before, and Julianous received many curious looks as she entered the council chambers.
The Insidi delegate was surprised, he hadn’t expected a military officer. Had he been wiser, he might have realised something was amiss, but he was arrogant and proud. This was the moment of his victory after all. Once Julianous was seated, he spoke.
“So, human, I take it you have come to give in to our demands.” He said, a smug smile on what the Insidi had instead of lips.
“I’m afraid not.” Julianous replied.
A stunned silence filled the room.
“What?” The Insidi delegate said, his smile replied with a look of surprise.
“The Untied Human Confederation will not meet your demands. We will instead be making a counter offer.” Julianous said. Her face was cold and stoic, however, those more familiar with human emotion noticed an undercurrent of sadness.
“A counter offer? Is this some human joke?” The Insidi delegate scoffed.
“No. You will rescind all your demands, or you will leave us no choice but to go to war.” Julianous said, her tone grave.
The Insidi delegate laughed, he simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The spineless little humans where challenging them, the glorious Insidi.
“Well then human, we are at war. We shall engage you in glorious combat.” He said.
“Are you sure? Believe me, this is not something you want to do. We humans hate war for a reason. Please, don’t make us do this.” Julianous said. She knew better than anyone what happened when humans went to war, she’d been there for the last one.
“I am very sure. You pitiful little human. We, the Insidi Empire, herby formally declare war against you, the United Human Confederation.” The Insidi delegate said, savouring every word.
Julianous shook her head sadly, and stood up slowly.
“So be it.” She said, as she turned to leave.
Before she reached the door of the council chambers, she turned back for a moment, the sadness on her face much more pronounced now.
“I’m sorry.” She said, before exiting the chamber.
The Insidi believed in honourable combat. They fought their wars in a traditional manner, as did the rest of the galactic council. They fought soldier to soldier, warship to warship. They fought with honour, for glory and prestige.
The assumed their war with us would be the same, they assumed wrong. They sent their main battle fleet straight to our capital world. Six thousand ships approached our core worlds. We had less than a hundred facing them. They laughed as they saw our numbers.
They didn’t laugh for long. Our ships engaged immediately, each one firing a single torpedo. The Insidi detected these torpedoes, and simply activated their shields, scoffing at our seemingly puny attempts to fight back. Then the torpedoes activated warp speed.
When an object travelling at warp speed collides with another, it produces an unimaginable amount of energy. The Insidi’s shields were hopelessly, pathetically under-powered. When the torpedoes hit them their entire fleet was reduced to dust in less than nanosecond. Six thousand ships, hundreds of thousands of Insidi personal, all gone in less than the blink of an eye.
Shortly afterwards, human warships had appeared above every Insidi world simultaneously. Each one was carrying a full arsenal of what would come to be known as Silencer Torpedoes, the same weapons that had obliterated the Insidi fleet. These warships fired their torpedoes, and within moments, every Insidi arms factory, every shipyard, every barracks, every military academy, and anything else that contributed to the Insidi war machine was gone.
Billions of Insidi died, and their once great and proud empire was reduced to ruins. The Insidi had spent centuries building their empire, and it had taken the humans less than a day to tear it all down.
The next day, Julianous entered the council chambers again. The atmosphere was not one of curiosity. This time, there was an atmosphere of fear.
“You fight without honour! Without courage! You snivelling, spineless coward!” The Insidi delegate screamed as soon as she entered.
Julianous calmly looked over at the Insidi delegate. He would have been crying if he had tear glands. Then she raised her hand, and everything feel silent.
“You’re right. We don’t fight with honour. We have fought countless wars. Millennia of tiny, squabbling states, three world wars, and two colonial reunification wars.” Julianous began, her voice was calm, but the undercurrent of sadness was there as it had been before.
“That last war was so destructive that we can’t live on our home world anymore. Our capital is not our home, because our home is uninhabitable, cratered wasteland.” She continued, the tone of her voice more overtly sad now.
“All these wars taught us a lesson. One very important lesson. One lesson that we have never forgotten, and will never forget. Would you like to know what it was honourable members of the council? She asked the council, a large frown on her lips.
“What… what was it?” A member of the council timidly replied.
“That honour doesn’t win wars.” Julianous said. | In this solemn hour it is a consolation to recall and to dwell upon our repeated efforts for peace. All have been ill-starred, but all have been faithful and sincere. This is of the highest moral value–and not only moral value, but practical value–at the present time, because the wholehearted concurrence of scores of millions of men and women, whose co-operation is indispensable and whose comradeship and brotherhood are indispensable, is the only foundation upon which the trial and tribulation of modern war can be endured and surmounted. This moral conviction alone affords that ever-fresh resilience which renews the strength and energy of people in long, doubtful and dark days. Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of its gales, but in our own hearts this Sunday morning there is peace. Our hands may be active, but our consciences are at rest.
​
We must not underrate the gravity of the task which lies before us or the temerity of the ordeal, to which we shall not be found unequal. We must expect many disappointments, and many unpleasant surprises, but we may be sure that the task which we have freely accepted is one not beyond the compass and the strength of the Galactic Human Republic. The Prime Minister said it was a sad day, and that is indeed true, but at the present time there is another note which may be present, and that is a feeling of thankfulness that, if these great trials were to come upon our worlds, there is a generation here now ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and not unworthy of those great men, the fathers of our species, who laid the foundations of our laws and shaped the greatness of our Republic.
​
This is not a question of fighting for Mars or fighting for New Earth. We are fighting to save the whole Galaxy from the pestilence of tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any species out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish, on impregnable rocks, the rights of the individual, and it is a war to establish and revive the stature of man. Perhaps it might seem a paradox that a war undertaken in the name of liberty and right should require, as a necessary part of its processes, the surrender for the time being of so many of the dearly valued liberties and rights. In these last few days the House has been voting dozens of Bills which hand over to the executive our most dearly valued traditional liberties. We are sure that these liberties will be in hands which will not abuse them, which will use them for no class or party interests, which will cherish and guard them, and we look forward to the day, surely and confidently we look forward to the day, when our liberties and rights will be restored to us, and when we shall be able to share them with the peoples to whom such blessings are unknown.
​
​
Full disclosure, I didn't write this, it is a lightly edited [speech given by churchill on september 3rd 1939](https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1939-in-the-wings/war-speech/) (the first paragraph is verbatim and the rest has a few words removed or changed so it would apply to a galactic conflict as opposed to WWII) | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | When the humans entered the galactic scene there were four other races who were ahead of them to the stars. The Elves - tall, long lived creatures of incredable culture and artistry. The Dwarves - short, stocky engineers who liked nothing more than the forge and the flame. The Kitsune - a fir covered bestial race with five tails and a propensity to speak in metaphor and generalities. The Anubis - humanoids with heads resembling canines who were known as the pre-eminent warriors of the galaxy.
For decades the humans had lived among the races in relative peace, finding an niche as diplomats and doctors due to their fresh perspective and propensity for adding creative solutions to age-old problems. We were respected, in a way, and soon migrated to every major planet in the settled regions of space. There were cultural differences, always, between the humans and other species, and those humans allowed to leave the boarders of the Terran Domain were the ones who could be trusted to hold Earth's secrets close.
For Tradition was ancient and unquestioned among the elder races, millions or even billions of years of history had locked their civilizations in a kind of ancient stalemate. And it was understood wordlessly among the human leaders that their secrets had to be held close - that no other species should learn about the AI-assistance that we had implanted in our grey matter, the genetic manipulations of our own people, and, above all else, the outright savagery and joy with which even the weakest of us could kill. For such would not just be shocking to our neighbors, but completely unthinkable.
And so it was that we pretended to nod solemnly as the races spoke of the 'horrors' of Anubian war. How they had murdered 'entire cities' during the course of the war, to spread horror and dissent. How they would sometimes kill soldiers who had surrendered in honorable combat, and had once even resorted to asking for classified information from a surrendered enemy - threatening to fire upon him rather than allow surrender unless he spoke freely.
Humans, thought to be weak because of our size, thought to be vulnerable due to the presence of our diplomats on planets belonging to every race, alone and surrounded by aliens, nevertheless managed to forge and keep peace for nearly a century among the arrogant and ancient civilizations. And for all appearances, we were giving it our all for that time, throwing away our military leverage in exchange for diplomatic authority, our strategic leverage in exchange for goodwill and peace.
Yet all races knew that it couldn't last, that sooner or later the eternity of war would break out anew, and they simply shook their honor bound heads in pity, understanding that this young race of peacekeepers would inevitably be the first casualty of such aggression. Some even gossiped, mostly among the proud elfin races, that it was their pity for our species, more even than our own diplomatic efforts, that kept the endless war in check and stayed the hands of ancient enemies.
It was in the year 4416, ninety eight years after the human's entrance to the galactic stage, that the Anubians finally struck. And they did not hold back from the brutalities of their ancient heritage. Embassies were crushed, ambassadors executed with fanfare, and the major cities of our boarder kingdoms fell in a matter of weeks. While our militaries were being gathered, while our diplomats were pursuing every diplomatic resolution imaginable, millions of humans were being executed or enslaved by the doglike invaders.
It was then, five weeks after the initial assault upon the Terrans, that a lone human ship flew out to meet the approaching Anubian armada. Black and sleek, the long sweeping hulls of the Belle Mortas cut through space to the pre-arranged battlefield that would determine the fate of the human species.
Millions of Anubian fleets stood proud in a long line amidst the void of space, awaiting the arrival of the Terran defense. They stood still, in ancient custom, waiting for their enemies to line up alongside them and begin the long trading of warheads that would determine the engagement. After a century of peace, their fleets had been rebuilt, their weapons upgraded and stocked, to such a level of might such had not been seen by the universe in perhaps millions of years previous.
As such, when a single human ship, large and well made but ultimately alone, exited warp in front of the armada, the aliens could not cover their shock. Could not resist hailing the vessel to see if it was a game - if it was real that the young race had met their ancient military might with such an impossibly minuscule force.
Anubian commander Rimtou, lord of the combined fleet, turned to his ensign, "Hail the humans. Put them on screen."
Above commander Rimtou the view changed from the endless darkness of space to the strange deck of Belle Mortas. Where Rimtou's ship had a collection of Anubians and their battle-slaves working at stations and in front of their monitors, across from him the screen showed a large chamber filled, not with stations and monitors, but with wires and cables snaking along the steel floors, connecting with and holding a single entity aloft in the center of the screen.
The creature on the monitor appeared to be one of the humans, the same pasty skin and short stature that made up the young species, however Rimtou found himself unsure, as other than their face and shoulders, the rest of their body branched out into a multiplicity of cabling and wires, electronics clearly ripping out of their skin along their chest, until down at their waste and legs naught could be seen but a terrible tentacled web of electronics seemingly made a part of the creature's body.
The creature didn't meet Rimtou's gaze, nor move their human mouth, as a single inhuman voice sounded across their speakers *"I am the Belle Mortas. Cyborg Class corvette ship of the Terran union. State your intention."
Rimtou panted his tongue through his long, canine teeth in confusion. His mind twisting and wrestling with the image in front of him, attempting to make sense of what the monitor did show. "I am commander Rimtou, of the combined Anubian fleet." He paused, mind spinning as he struggled to put together the pieces, "I assume you were sent by your people to discuss the terms of your surrender?"
Nothing else made any sense to his alien mind. The Millions of ships that stretched out beyond where his monitor could see, met by this single human vehicle, one which titled itself 'corvette', the weakest and smallest of fighters. And yet the robotic voice sounded through his speakers once again, "That is not why I was deployed to this sector."
Rimtou shook his head at the arrogance before him, "Your cities lie in ruins, your embassies crushed, your highest level officials on our planets hidden and held at ransom to your race's good behavior. If you surrender now your race may still be our servants. You can be our administrators and advisers. You yourself, I offer a place as my own personal bound secretary. A title of some distinction and," he glanced at his star-map once again in disbelief, "probably far more generous than your pathetic people deserves."
Fight or flight, these were the laws of the eternal war. Militaries either engaged or retreated, stood or fled. And so when the emotionless tones of the mutilated body in front of him sounded again, not in anger but with peace - when the face of the creature on the screen, with their foggy eyes that never moved, twisted not into a grimace but a smile, Rimtou became even more confused. Made more sure of his own victory, until the replying words and their meaning finally soaked into his brain.
"The time for negotiation has passed. I have accepted your hail not to barter with you for peace, nor even accept your surrender. I speak with you now only to document your final words before your people are extinguished forever."
Rimtou could only sneer back, letting out a warlike growl as he held up his fist, "you think to mock me, here, in the face of your own destruction? So be it. There will be no surrender this day!"
The creature's shouts echoing between ships, the Belle Mortas sole occupant simply nodded to empty air, the wires buried in their head bouncing as they moved, "You are correct. There will not."
As communications cut out, the commander of the Anubian fleet had time to briefly see a strange reading echoing across his commander's station. There was an energy building exponentially within the human corvette even as their conversation ended, a warp signature emitting from the *stationary* ship with greater and greater strength.
So it was as space twisted inward on the corvette, it was still without understanding or apprehension at his own fate that the commander was sucked into the emptiness formed where once stood the Belle Mortas. As he and his entire fleet were consumed into the newly born, artificial black hole, his last thought could only be, '...what?'
_________________________
Across Anubian occupied space, human dreadnought class ships who had not been committed to the engagement, who had not been deployed to defend Terran space nor protect the fallen colonies, finally, as one, exited warp.
Floating above the settled worlds of the Anubian empire, each commander and the handful of cyborgs bonded with their ships powered up missiles. No Anubian ships were there to greet them, no military force stood between them and their targets as they exited the cold emptiness of space where they had been hidden.
And in the hand of every captain of every dreadnought hovering over every undefended world there was but a simple scrap of paper - a single scrap with a single word, written by one of the linked minds of their cyborg astropaths:
"Exterminatus" | In this solemn hour it is a consolation to recall and to dwell upon our repeated efforts for peace. All have been ill-starred, but all have been faithful and sincere. This is of the highest moral value–and not only moral value, but practical value–at the present time, because the wholehearted concurrence of scores of millions of men and women, whose co-operation is indispensable and whose comradeship and brotherhood are indispensable, is the only foundation upon which the trial and tribulation of modern war can be endured and surmounted. This moral conviction alone affords that ever-fresh resilience which renews the strength and energy of people in long, doubtful and dark days. Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of its gales, but in our own hearts this Sunday morning there is peace. Our hands may be active, but our consciences are at rest.
​
We must not underrate the gravity of the task which lies before us or the temerity of the ordeal, to which we shall not be found unequal. We must expect many disappointments, and many unpleasant surprises, but we may be sure that the task which we have freely accepted is one not beyond the compass and the strength of the Galactic Human Republic. The Prime Minister said it was a sad day, and that is indeed true, but at the present time there is another note which may be present, and that is a feeling of thankfulness that, if these great trials were to come upon our worlds, there is a generation here now ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and not unworthy of those great men, the fathers of our species, who laid the foundations of our laws and shaped the greatness of our Republic.
​
This is not a question of fighting for Mars or fighting for New Earth. We are fighting to save the whole Galaxy from the pestilence of tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any species out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish, on impregnable rocks, the rights of the individual, and it is a war to establish and revive the stature of man. Perhaps it might seem a paradox that a war undertaken in the name of liberty and right should require, as a necessary part of its processes, the surrender for the time being of so many of the dearly valued liberties and rights. In these last few days the House has been voting dozens of Bills which hand over to the executive our most dearly valued traditional liberties. We are sure that these liberties will be in hands which will not abuse them, which will use them for no class or party interests, which will cherish and guard them, and we look forward to the day, surely and confidently we look forward to the day, when our liberties and rights will be restored to us, and when we shall be able to share them with the peoples to whom such blessings are unknown.
​
​
Full disclosure, I didn't write this, it is a lightly edited [speech given by churchill on september 3rd 1939](https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1939-in-the-wings/war-speech/) (the first paragraph is verbatim and the rest has a few words removed or changed so it would apply to a galactic conflict as opposed to WWII) | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. |
**Caged, Now Loose.**
A deafening silence fills the chamber where the Galactic Assembly meets. The shock that permeates the varying species present here today is almost palpable. I suppose we should have expected this, seen it coming from the very first attack - what feels like aeons - but was only 3 Terran months ago. The Aberrians sit opposite us, cruel smiles plastered across their narrow faces. I can almost see it, the thrill, that bloodthirst that probably occupies every avenue of thought. That burning desire for war, the appetite for destruction; it seems only poetic that the colour of their eyes reflects this. The red of blood, of death and of war that colours their eyes is distinctive of their kind.
All eyes - or whatever means they use to see - are directed at us now. Some filled with pity and a sense of despair, of futility as if they too had seen this moment coming. As for the others, they were filled with curiosity, a detached interest in a situation unheard of in the three Terran centuries of the Galactic Assembly’s existence. Yet they were all probably wondering, can we salvage this. Can our quick and sweet tongues alongside the diplomacy that seems inherent in our genetic makeup prevent yet another disaster. Can we talk them out of such a decision and prevent war yet again. Can we negotiate, can our diplomatic prowess - the reputation that we have built of ourselves - save us now. Every known civilization can undoubtedly tell you something about the Terran civilization or as we call ourselves - humans. They will tell you tales of what they deem our most distinctive trait: Our natural and uncanny diplomatic ability. Our ability to negotiate and deescalate what seem unresolvable; our distinctive way with words. They will tell you of our feats. How we prevented full out war on Caelch IV and saved a billion lives, or how we were able to talk the Threnarians and Gostlems out of battle just a few Terran hours before they were to begin. These among others are what resulted in us being given the laudable position of the goto Galactic peacekeepers. A position that led to Terrans being placed on every planet and where the conflict that led us here began.
It started three months ago. We received the communication from the Aberrians themselves. 300 human lives gone. In what they called unfortunate circumstances, 300 of our people were killed. They intended to convey the news with sorrow, but the sick gleam in their eyes, the smile that was teetering on their lips told us otherwise. Our people were murdered, and now there remained no peacekeepers on their planet. We were, of course, enraged at the loss of our people, but we had to maintain the peace, so we took ‘the unfortunate circumstances’ of their deaths and said we would send them more peacekeepers shortly. This continuing the image we built for ourselves over the many centuries. The image of the weak, pacifistic, confrontation-avoiding species that always betrayed their interests to avoid conflict. The species that would take the worse half of the deal if there was even the slightest use of force. And we fully intended to send more of our people to die, as much as we despised it. However, they started their attack before we could, for that at least we were grateful.
They began attacking ships that were simply on their designated trade routes. We tried to negotiate, saying we would use other trade routes if they wanted ours, playing of the attack as an accident. They agreed and we felt relief. Then they attacked us on the new trade routes and we knew they were just toying with us. It wasn’t about the trade routes, it was about killing, killing us. Yet there was nothing we could do. Then they decided to assault some of our outposts on Helbrip III and when we begged them to stop their attack. They proposed an ultimatum: ‘Surrender 75% of your Galactic colonies, resources and planets or face the wrath of the Aberrian Empire’. As these words left the very mouth of their Chancellor, the head of the Aberrian Empire, it was clear that this was no joke. That brings us to the stunning silence that occupies the room.
The rest of the occupants probably think this a historic day. The day humanity couldn’t succeed with diplomacy and hence the day that marks the end of their civilization. Today they think is the event that leads to the annihilation of one species, yet they would be surprised by which one. So I rise from my seat, “The Terran civilization acknowledges the Ultimatum put forth by the Aberrian Empire and upon further deliberation will provide a response no later than prima lux tomorrow. We will now take our leave”. The silence never retreats, not even as the Terran delegation walks out of the chamber.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Part 1 because it was too long too fit in one comment | In this solemn hour it is a consolation to recall and to dwell upon our repeated efforts for peace. All have been ill-starred, but all have been faithful and sincere. This is of the highest moral value–and not only moral value, but practical value–at the present time, because the wholehearted concurrence of scores of millions of men and women, whose co-operation is indispensable and whose comradeship and brotherhood are indispensable, is the only foundation upon which the trial and tribulation of modern war can be endured and surmounted. This moral conviction alone affords that ever-fresh resilience which renews the strength and energy of people in long, doubtful and dark days. Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of its gales, but in our own hearts this Sunday morning there is peace. Our hands may be active, but our consciences are at rest.
​
We must not underrate the gravity of the task which lies before us or the temerity of the ordeal, to which we shall not be found unequal. We must expect many disappointments, and many unpleasant surprises, but we may be sure that the task which we have freely accepted is one not beyond the compass and the strength of the Galactic Human Republic. The Prime Minister said it was a sad day, and that is indeed true, but at the present time there is another note which may be present, and that is a feeling of thankfulness that, if these great trials were to come upon our worlds, there is a generation here now ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and not unworthy of those great men, the fathers of our species, who laid the foundations of our laws and shaped the greatness of our Republic.
​
This is not a question of fighting for Mars or fighting for New Earth. We are fighting to save the whole Galaxy from the pestilence of tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any species out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish, on impregnable rocks, the rights of the individual, and it is a war to establish and revive the stature of man. Perhaps it might seem a paradox that a war undertaken in the name of liberty and right should require, as a necessary part of its processes, the surrender for the time being of so many of the dearly valued liberties and rights. In these last few days the House has been voting dozens of Bills which hand over to the executive our most dearly valued traditional liberties. We are sure that these liberties will be in hands which will not abuse them, which will use them for no class or party interests, which will cherish and guard them, and we look forward to the day, surely and confidently we look forward to the day, when our liberties and rights will be restored to us, and when we shall be able to share them with the peoples to whom such blessings are unknown.
​
​
Full disclosure, I didn't write this, it is a lightly edited [speech given by churchill on september 3rd 1939](https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1939-in-the-wings/war-speech/) (the first paragraph is verbatim and the rest has a few words removed or changed so it would apply to a galactic conflict as opposed to WWII) | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | **"Those forgetting history is bound to repeat it"**
These words are written above the entrance to the chamber of the great council. We thought we knew everything, but there were so much we forgot.
None of the councils members remembered why the image of a grinning human was chiselled into the chamber walls. The painting was neither good, nor well made. Beneath it was chiselled the words human females tell their children. "Use your words".
No one would deny that the humans where great talkers and mediators. But they were also a soft squishy species. The way they imprinted on their young to use their words where taken as a sign that they were weak and timid. They even punished their children when they were caught fighting.
All this we learned from the small colonies they had among the rest of us. We would learn more too soon.
The way of the council and the accord of the species was that one species could acquire another species place, rank, honour on the council by fighting the other species. This way the council was guaranteed to stay strong and fresh. That species gained planets and colonies, or lost them in these struggles was the norm. Occasionally a species was removed entirely from the council when their entire territory was annihilated.
No species entirely disappeared. After their defeat they were always offered a space in the Alliance. A small ragtag collection of planets and species surrounding the last suspected location of the human home world. Everyone thought of them as zookeepers. Guards of humanity. That they were there to protect the humans. No one gave them any tought as they were out of the way. "Out of sight. Out of Mind". Another humans wording. They have so many.
They were no longer out of mind after discovering huge deposits of rare elements where located in their territory. A short victorious war was planned to prepare for mining. With the added benefit of providing us with free workers.
The Alliance pleaded and begged us to reconsider. Sent us historical files, and copies of signed accords. We ignored them all. The humans tried their talks, but we ignored their calls. We probably should have listened when the Alliance said "We wash our hands of this. We tried warning you.". How we laughed.
We took the first planets easily. Setting up mining operations. Forcing the humans to be our slaves. We thought they were weaklings having trouble operating our equipment, since everything went much slower than we anticipated. Then the breakdown started. Machines breaking. Bridges falling down. Transports failing to launch. Small things. But they happened just too often.
We thought we had rounded up all the humans. When the explosions started we knew we hadn't. We never found where they hid. But they were severely hindering our operations. This happened on every planet we occupied. Even ones previously occupied. Wherever we set up operations, humans found a way to hide and make trouble.
We soon learned another human expression. "Guerrilla warfare".
They even brought this to interstellar space. Small groups, hiding out in spaces no ship should be able to hide, they hit us repeatedly where it hurt. Our shipping lanes, our outposts. Never the same twice in a row. Always gone before our military ships could show up.
Little did we know that this was done to make sure we overspent ourselves trying to protect against small irritants, while they prepared.
When they hit us. As a war faring race we can only admire the beauty in their attack. They were everywhere. Our capitals fell in the first bombardment. The council lay in tatters as we were decimated. And we could do no other action than concede when they entered the council chamber claiming their rightful place at the top. There where no one left that could stop them. The words they uttered when they opened the proceedings shocked us to our cores. Even though we could see the warning every time we entered.
​
"We founded this council. We can always reclaim our place. Remember history". | In this solemn hour it is a consolation to recall and to dwell upon our repeated efforts for peace. All have been ill-starred, but all have been faithful and sincere. This is of the highest moral value–and not only moral value, but practical value–at the present time, because the wholehearted concurrence of scores of millions of men and women, whose co-operation is indispensable and whose comradeship and brotherhood are indispensable, is the only foundation upon which the trial and tribulation of modern war can be endured and surmounted. This moral conviction alone affords that ever-fresh resilience which renews the strength and energy of people in long, doubtful and dark days. Outside, the storms of war may blow and the lands may be lashed with the fury of its gales, but in our own hearts this Sunday morning there is peace. Our hands may be active, but our consciences are at rest.
​
We must not underrate the gravity of the task which lies before us or the temerity of the ordeal, to which we shall not be found unequal. We must expect many disappointments, and many unpleasant surprises, but we may be sure that the task which we have freely accepted is one not beyond the compass and the strength of the Galactic Human Republic. The Prime Minister said it was a sad day, and that is indeed true, but at the present time there is another note which may be present, and that is a feeling of thankfulness that, if these great trials were to come upon our worlds, there is a generation here now ready to prove itself not unworthy of the days of yore and not unworthy of those great men, the fathers of our species, who laid the foundations of our laws and shaped the greatness of our Republic.
​
This is not a question of fighting for Mars or fighting for New Earth. We are fighting to save the whole Galaxy from the pestilence of tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man. This is no war of domination or imperial aggrandizement or material gain; no war to shut any species out of its sunlight and means of progress. It is a war, viewed in its inherent quality, to establish, on impregnable rocks, the rights of the individual, and it is a war to establish and revive the stature of man. Perhaps it might seem a paradox that a war undertaken in the name of liberty and right should require, as a necessary part of its processes, the surrender for the time being of so many of the dearly valued liberties and rights. In these last few days the House has been voting dozens of Bills which hand over to the executive our most dearly valued traditional liberties. We are sure that these liberties will be in hands which will not abuse them, which will use them for no class or party interests, which will cherish and guard them, and we look forward to the day, surely and confidently we look forward to the day, when our liberties and rights will be restored to us, and when we shall be able to share them with the peoples to whom such blessings are unknown.
​
​
Full disclosure, I didn't write this, it is a lightly edited [speech given by churchill on september 3rd 1939](https://winstonchurchill.org/resources/speeches/1939-in-the-wings/war-speech/) (the first paragraph is verbatim and the rest has a few words removed or changed so it would apply to a galactic conflict as opposed to WWII) | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | Peace. It was something that humanity was well known for. Since making contact with the galactic council and becoming it’s 7th member we had garnered a reputation as the best diplomats in the galaxy. It was often said that human could negotiate its way out of anything.
Not all the council members shared our peaceful ways however, especially the Insidi. They were a warrior race. Nothing meant more to them than honourable combat, and it was how they settled all their disputes. They looked at us and saw a weak, spineless race that talked so much because we couldn’t do anything else. They figured they could make any demand they wanted and we would accept.
We didn’t want to admit it, but deep down we all knew that war was inevitable. We all knew that our efforts were futile, and yet we did our best. We tried so hard to talk them down, but they were stubborn. They demanded our complete submission, and we knew that they wouldn’t back down.
The final council meeting was just a formality; we all knew that we were going to war. We didn’t send a diplomat, there was no point. The person present at this meeting wouldn’t be making any deals, they would be starting a war.
The person given this unenviable task was Grand Commander and Chief Rebecca Gregory Julianous, the woman in charge of the United Human Confederation’s military. She had been a soldier since the last of humanities wars, and she had lost most of her body in the process. As such her mechanical legs carried her through the galactic council’s headquarters. Many aliens had never seen a human soldier before, and Julianous received many curious looks as she entered the council chambers.
The Insidi delegate was surprised, he hadn’t expected a military officer. Had he been wiser, he might have realised something was amiss, but he was arrogant and proud. This was the moment of his victory after all. Once Julianous was seated, he spoke.
“So, human, I take it you have come to give in to our demands.” He said, a smug smile on what the Insidi had instead of lips.
“I’m afraid not.” Julianous replied.
A stunned silence filled the room.
“What?” The Insidi delegate said, his smile replied with a look of surprise.
“The Untied Human Confederation will not meet your demands. We will instead be making a counter offer.” Julianous said. Her face was cold and stoic, however, those more familiar with human emotion noticed an undercurrent of sadness.
“A counter offer? Is this some human joke?” The Insidi delegate scoffed.
“No. You will rescind all your demands, or you will leave us no choice but to go to war.” Julianous said, her tone grave.
The Insidi delegate laughed, he simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The spineless little humans where challenging them, the glorious Insidi.
“Well then human, we are at war. We shall engage you in glorious combat.” He said.
“Are you sure? Believe me, this is not something you want to do. We humans hate war for a reason. Please, don’t make us do this.” Julianous said. She knew better than anyone what happened when humans went to war, she’d been there for the last one.
“I am very sure. You pitiful little human. We, the Insidi Empire, herby formally declare war against you, the United Human Confederation.” The Insidi delegate said, savouring every word.
Julianous shook her head sadly, and stood up slowly.
“So be it.” She said, as she turned to leave.
Before she reached the door of the council chambers, she turned back for a moment, the sadness on her face much more pronounced now.
“I’m sorry.” She said, before exiting the chamber.
The Insidi believed in honourable combat. They fought their wars in a traditional manner, as did the rest of the galactic council. They fought soldier to soldier, warship to warship. They fought with honour, for glory and prestige.
The assumed their war with us would be the same, they assumed wrong. They sent their main battle fleet straight to our capital world. Six thousand ships approached our core worlds. We had less than a hundred facing them. They laughed as they saw our numbers.
They didn’t laugh for long. Our ships engaged immediately, each one firing a single torpedo. The Insidi detected these torpedoes, and simply activated their shields, scoffing at our seemingly puny attempts to fight back. Then the torpedoes activated warp speed.
When an object travelling at warp speed collides with another, it produces an unimaginable amount of energy. The Insidi’s shields were hopelessly, pathetically under-powered. When the torpedoes hit them their entire fleet was reduced to dust in less than nanosecond. Six thousand ships, hundreds of thousands of Insidi personal, all gone in less than the blink of an eye.
Shortly afterwards, human warships had appeared above every Insidi world simultaneously. Each one was carrying a full arsenal of what would come to be known as Silencer Torpedoes, the same weapons that had obliterated the Insidi fleet. These warships fired their torpedoes, and within moments, every Insidi arms factory, every shipyard, every barracks, every military academy, and anything else that contributed to the Insidi war machine was gone.
Billions of Insidi died, and their once great and proud empire was reduced to ruins. The Insidi had spent centuries building their empire, and it had taken the humans less than a day to tear it all down.
The next day, Julianous entered the council chambers again. The atmosphere was not one of curiosity. This time, there was an atmosphere of fear.
“You fight without honour! Without courage! You snivelling, spineless coward!” The Insidi delegate screamed as soon as she entered.
Julianous calmly looked over at the Insidi delegate. He would have been crying if he had tear glands. Then she raised her hand, and everything feel silent.
“You’re right. We don’t fight with honour. We have fought countless wars. Millennia of tiny, squabbling states, three world wars, and two colonial reunification wars.” Julianous began, her voice was calm, but the undercurrent of sadness was there as it had been before.
“That last war was so destructive that we can’t live on our home world anymore. Our capital is not our home, because our home is uninhabitable, cratered wasteland.” She continued, the tone of her voice more overtly sad now.
“All these wars taught us a lesson. One very important lesson. One lesson that we have never forgotten, and will never forget. Would you like to know what it was honourable members of the council? She asked the council, a large frown on her lips.
“What… what was it?” A member of the council timidly replied.
“That honour doesn’t win wars.” Julianous said. | Thank the Divine for the Terran’s. A hundred of their turns ago they made their first tentative reachings for the stars. We had welcomed they. They responded as any good race would, with trade, cultural exchange and shared knowledge. In that time they had found a niche that suited them well. Their massive mining ships cut metal bearing asteroids open to reveal the wealth contained therein. Their mining fleets grew and were in high demand. All Galactic Civilization prospered. They were well received in our Galactic family.
The Sky Marshals, a human term, governing these fleets were accomplished in diplomacy and tact. They always were polite guests and they men were well behaved. Their mining fleets worked with a singleness of mind and purpose. A precision that was to use an ancient term more military than anything else.
Then the others came.
From what far galaxy no one knows. We do know that they destroyed without compunction . They killed tens of billions in their first onslaught. A thousand years of peace destroyed in an instant. They were merciless.
Then a single Terran dreadnought mining platform, that blessed ship Terran registry 109 appeared in the Neddilon system intercepting the Others advance force. The battle was brief but there was no doubt as to the outcome. The 109 looses its cutter beams upon the enemy Others. Those mighty beams sliced through the Others ships as though they were but simple asteroids. The Terrans small one man tuggers swarmed the Others fleet raining destruction enough to make even The Divine cry.
The Terrans massed mining fleets fought for us with a ferocity unmatched and not remembered in many worlds. They massed miners were a juggernaut. Many a single manned tigger would purposely collide with a larger ship of the Others, trading a single pilot for a ship. Never had we seen the like.
The Others , no longer exist in our peaceful Galacy now. The Terrans resumed their rightful place, as miners , though now greatly honoured and much more highly recompensed. They have taken The others ships for something they call reverse engineering. I sense they seek to learn all they can about The Others, in case they return.
Blessed be the Terran miners and their fleets. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | A man came in, he was skinny, pitiful and shaking. Xyphoriz watched in bemusement as the human nervously came over to the negotiation tables, before getting to the table when the guy stopped. He pulled a pack of something Xyphoriz recognized as the earthling primitive device called a ‘cigarette’
“Hey man,” the human started as he lit his cigarette, before the alien ambassador could speak, the human inhaled the entire fag to the butt and dropped it to the ground, pulling another from his pack and lighting it. “Sorry nervous, this is the first time we’ve been at war with... “ he motioned towards Xyphoriz. “Another species, wait no there was that time with the Emu’s... the first time an aliens been stupid enough to commit to a full on attack on our people.”
“Well we are here to listen to your terms for complete surrender” Xyphoriz replied, almost amused by the weak humans bravery, calling his people idiots would not be an insult taken lightly, he would be enslaved soon. The human laughed no longer shaking.
“Yeah, not happening” he snorted sitting down uncomfortably close. “Here is your ultimatum, cease all hostilities or my people will be forced to show you why we have to be skilled negotiators instead of warriors, and believe me when I say you don’t want the latter.”
“What can a dirty bipedal monkey like yourself really do to us? Negotiate a trade embargo against us? We’ll just take everything from you.”
“The names Brent, ok and I am not just dirty, I’m a historian. Probably the only person who can educate you on why the genocide on Kessia V was the worst decision you’ve ever made.”
This Brent was starting to intrigue the alien ambassador. Why send a historian in the place of a diplomat or even a military leader? It was strange.
“Do you know human history, Xiphoriz? Cause I know your species history, I’ve already figured out eleven ways I could have killed you since I walked in, just using your natural allergies, two of which could be exploited to genocide your people like, say” Brent paused smiling at the alien “The powered cascade massacre?”
Xyphoriz heart sank, how could the human know about that, that was a deep cut to his species history, something taboo to talk about even amongst close colleagues
“How dare you” it yelled, standing and slamming its fist, although the human still twitched, it’s demeanor didn’t change whatsoever, Brent just smiled.
“You know we humans have fought before” Brent frowned looking out into the desert outside. “Five world wars, and three interstellar ones, all against ourselves. Brought ourselves to near extinction in four of those, world war three we lost an island called Britain, it was nuked to oblivion, its neighboring island? Made into a nuclear wonderland where the fog never ended and the genetic monstrosities were genocided every couple of years. Used to Call that one Ireland...” the sorrow in Brents eyes told a tapestry of stories to Xyphoriz.
“Then there was five, we had three continents go dark, every country collapsed, we made our oceans raise a bunch and when the survivors finally came out of the woodwork, we decided to leave our blue jewel we had sullied so many times behind, to recover from our terrible temper.”
“So what you almost destroyed yourselves, now you’ve decided to destroy yourselves by refusing to give us your species for enslavement.”
“See our first interstellar war was about that, we blew up a few planets and moons in our short sighted temper, we wanted to enslave the Europans surrounding Jupiter, we shot mass drivers, killing all of them because they wouldnt submit, we then moved the shards of the shattered moon to drop on Mars because we couldn’t stand their whining, we broke the planet, we had to start a restoration project that’s still going on these thousand years later.”
“You broke two worlds where your people lived because you were mad? That was your own species.” Xyphoriz was starting to feel uneasy, these humans were brutal before their peacekeeping days.
“Oh we’ve killed ourselves for less, we had a cult once that super nova’d a star because they thought it would awaken their god, killing seven worlds and starting the second interstellar war that nearly killed every human in the galaxy.”
“How many died?”
“We stopped counting after we started our last Great War, where we destroyed our old home-world and solar system, bringing us to this desert, a planet we named in memorandum, earth, to honor the centillions of humans we slaughtered for our petty ego, a wake up call we took very seriously.” Brent set his hand on the glass.
“I hope you have reconsidered by now fighting humans, because I haven’t even told you what’ll happen to your species if you don’t cease all hostilities.” Xyphoriz looked at Brent, curious.
“What would happen?” It said.
“Well it depends, if we were able to beat you quickly and get a timely surrender, you’d just have to deal with human terrorists mass drivering you every now and then and super novaing you, now if the conflict to a bit longer because you miraculously got better at fighting then the pitiful excuse you call fighting us now. Well...”
“Well what.”
“Your species would be subjugated to human history repeating onto them.” | (English is not my first language, sorry if some mistakes are hidding in the text)
\--
​
Humans...
​
They spread everywhere in less than one of their generation, their oldest ones were already born when they finally managed to get out of their solar system !
Sure thing, they are good at bargaining and negociating, and their trade flourished at a speed no other specie had ever imagined before. Following something they called the "Roman system", they secured roads to the main marketplaces and made sure to be present everytime there was something to buy or sell, and it wasn't long until they were the ones controlling the prices.
They are rich now, but they never fight. They buy their protection from our own money, that they stole from us !
This will change soon now, they crossed a line when they bought our planet.
We took our time to prepare, our weapons are ready, we will attack their next shipment, and use the gold to buy back our main planet. The Galactic Alliance received our claim and will not help us, as we were not attacked, but they at least accepted to close their eyes and stay neutral in the conflict to come.
​
\--
​
3 days later, in the galactic alliance.
"Sir, the human delegate is asking to meet you."
"Let him in, let him in ! He always have some good propositions for us, i really like their quotes 'win/win scenario' ! "
John Johnson entered, looking unexpectedly tired but his eyes moving everywhere, from the doors to the different people present in the room, as if assessing something.
"Welcome dear guest, did you have a new idea to bring the alliance prosperity ?"
"I am sorry, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, I only came today with a question, but I am obviously willing to pay for an answer if needed." answered the human gravely
"Don't worry about that, dear John, you provided us so much lately, we can answer at least a small question !"
"Good. Then let's get to the point. We were attacked by the lizard Ctul."
"Ah, yes, i heard about that unfortunate evenement. 2 of your kind were killed in the raid of one of your merchandise tube on 'new road 66', isn't it ? Truly unfortunate indeed ! but what is your question ?"
John locked his gaze on the vaguely humanoid creature in front of him : "Except from the Ctul, who knew about the attack ?"
"Everyone of the Galactif Alliance knew, as the Alliance was paid the standard amount for a minor agression claim on the official journal by the Ctul. This is the protocol !"
"Ah, too bad, i was beggining to like you".
"What ?"
"Good bye, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, i have a war to win"
"A war? b-but you haven't published anything on the official journal!"
a beam halo surrounded the human for less than a second, and he was gone. During this time, the Head of the Galactic Alliance heard two words, spoken with a robotic voice, that sent a chill down his spine.
​
"TARGET AQUIRED"
​
Then the sirens started shouting. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | For 300 years bipedal "Earthlings" refused any confrontations with the Galactic Alliance. In the first half a century when Earth joined Union, the members of the Alliance tested their unwavering pacifism. They gave up their entire Solar System except a Red planet & their Home world. The Union High Committee stepped in to stop the members taking advantage of its new member.
250 years later Earthlings vision had spread throughout the known Universe. Their dealings were honest and true, they were trusted implicitly and was the most stable economy due to the stability unlike seen before. Earthling Banks were highly sought after and there was a waiting line for new banks throughout the universe. Most races fought over who got a bank first but then Earthlings decided to draw lots for the que. Even the smugglers & pirates refused to pillage the defenceless Earthlings because nobody would trade with them for Earth goods that were gotten illegally. Most races were willing to forego wars for stability following Earths Example. Empires were defined by its economic might and its ability to purchase land/planets/solar systems. Earth was the richest and biggest economy the universe has seen before.
This led to jealousy amongst the rest of the Union members. The high committee broke the oaths of impartiality and joined forces to bring Earth to its rightful place.
Wars and battles were allowed with in the Alliance as long as it was properly declared at a committee meeting.
A race of warriors from the planet Shai-lu were the first to declare war on Earth. Convinced by the High Committee and the rest of the members, the Shai-lu Demanded that the Earthlings secede from 70% of their colonies. To the utmost surprise of the the members Earth Ambassador said "Yes" even before the demand was finished. The Ambassador asked for 6 months parley for the colonies to move. Which the Shai-lu agreed.
2 months before the deadline, Earthlings warned that they will be closing their Banks and other services due to lack of Financial support from its colonies. In 3 hours after the announcement, they were gone. Not a single Earthling was left behind. The ported all the credits to the relevant parties at the last moment and defaulted all their loans citing bankruptcy.
The chaos was unlike ever seen before, economies collapsed within moments. Without Earths emissaries no business deals could be done or made because nobody knew how to. Wars begun throughout the Universe and some even without declaration.
By the time of the deadline, The Shai-lu were decimated by warring factions and every quadrant of the universe was embroiled in war.
The high committee in an desperate attempt to sate the inevitable collapse of the union called its members to wage war against Earth who was solely responsible for the disaster.
For the first time in its history, A Race Leader walked in to a Alliance Union meeting. A bipedal humanoid forum against the rest of the known universe. Sitting on opposite ends, the high committee members declared war against Earth.
The human stood and collapsed on the floor with her hands covering her face. The female humanoid cried (according to our translators, humans do it show sorrow or happiness) and got to her knees and begged the high committee rescind the order.
The glee of the rest of the universe was deafning. They laughed at the human in their own way.
Finally she stood and exclaimed in a clear voice said " I am sorry for what I must do to you & your race. We will give you 24 human hours to surrender."
To this the entire committee laughed and jeered.
Now it's been 36 hours since she warned us. We were fools. I am writing this from the Alliance HQ, it's the only place that remains. The human drop ships are approaching... I dont have time The Banks, they were not banks: they were garrisons filled with human soldiers. First they released nano toxins that were carried by swarms of nano bots who targeted the ruling powers of each planet. Docking stations were hacked and remotely overloaded the gates and docks. Satellites on every planet emitted a net of Neutro Magnetic Array system that disabled all systems & ships. We didn't even know that they had complete control over the FTL portals. The Armadas couldn't jump to anywhere. The only time they turned on was when they sent "candy floss" bombs. They exploded in a mist of pink and anything that it touched got dragged in to the nearest portal. It was reported that in the Andromeda Cluster one Bomb took 3 million ships..
All throughout the HQ I heard members calling for help that would never come and at the 26th hour everything cut out and a weird song kept on repeating. According to my translator it's an Aria by Humans called "Nessum Dorma".
The humans were everywhere and we couldn't even fight them. We didn't even fire a single weapon, they killed us all and they are coming for me..
What fools we were. | (English is not my first language, sorry if some mistakes are hidding in the text)
\--
​
Humans...
​
They spread everywhere in less than one of their generation, their oldest ones were already born when they finally managed to get out of their solar system !
Sure thing, they are good at bargaining and negociating, and their trade flourished at a speed no other specie had ever imagined before. Following something they called the "Roman system", they secured roads to the main marketplaces and made sure to be present everytime there was something to buy or sell, and it wasn't long until they were the ones controlling the prices.
They are rich now, but they never fight. They buy their protection from our own money, that they stole from us !
This will change soon now, they crossed a line when they bought our planet.
We took our time to prepare, our weapons are ready, we will attack their next shipment, and use the gold to buy back our main planet. The Galactic Alliance received our claim and will not help us, as we were not attacked, but they at least accepted to close their eyes and stay neutral in the conflict to come.
​
\--
​
3 days later, in the galactic alliance.
"Sir, the human delegate is asking to meet you."
"Let him in, let him in ! He always have some good propositions for us, i really like their quotes 'win/win scenario' ! "
John Johnson entered, looking unexpectedly tired but his eyes moving everywhere, from the doors to the different people present in the room, as if assessing something.
"Welcome dear guest, did you have a new idea to bring the alliance prosperity ?"
"I am sorry, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, I only came today with a question, but I am obviously willing to pay for an answer if needed." answered the human gravely
"Don't worry about that, dear John, you provided us so much lately, we can answer at least a small question !"
"Good. Then let's get to the point. We were attacked by the lizard Ctul."
"Ah, yes, i heard about that unfortunate evenement. 2 of your kind were killed in the raid of one of your merchandise tube on 'new road 66', isn't it ? Truly unfortunate indeed ! but what is your question ?"
John locked his gaze on the vaguely humanoid creature in front of him : "Except from the Ctul, who knew about the attack ?"
"Everyone of the Galactif Alliance knew, as the Alliance was paid the standard amount for a minor agression claim on the official journal by the Ctul. This is the protocol !"
"Ah, too bad, i was beggining to like you".
"What ?"
"Good bye, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, i have a war to win"
"A war? b-but you haven't published anything on the official journal!"
a beam halo surrounded the human for less than a second, and he was gone. During this time, the Head of the Galactic Alliance heard two words, spoken with a robotic voice, that sent a chill down his spine.
​
"TARGET AQUIRED"
​
Then the sirens started shouting. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | Peace. It was something that humanity was well known for. Since making contact with the galactic council and becoming it’s 7th member we had garnered a reputation as the best diplomats in the galaxy. It was often said that human could negotiate its way out of anything.
Not all the council members shared our peaceful ways however, especially the Insidi. They were a warrior race. Nothing meant more to them than honourable combat, and it was how they settled all their disputes. They looked at us and saw a weak, spineless race that talked so much because we couldn’t do anything else. They figured they could make any demand they wanted and we would accept.
We didn’t want to admit it, but deep down we all knew that war was inevitable. We all knew that our efforts were futile, and yet we did our best. We tried so hard to talk them down, but they were stubborn. They demanded our complete submission, and we knew that they wouldn’t back down.
The final council meeting was just a formality; we all knew that we were going to war. We didn’t send a diplomat, there was no point. The person present at this meeting wouldn’t be making any deals, they would be starting a war.
The person given this unenviable task was Grand Commander and Chief Rebecca Gregory Julianous, the woman in charge of the United Human Confederation’s military. She had been a soldier since the last of humanities wars, and she had lost most of her body in the process. As such her mechanical legs carried her through the galactic council’s headquarters. Many aliens had never seen a human soldier before, and Julianous received many curious looks as she entered the council chambers.
The Insidi delegate was surprised, he hadn’t expected a military officer. Had he been wiser, he might have realised something was amiss, but he was arrogant and proud. This was the moment of his victory after all. Once Julianous was seated, he spoke.
“So, human, I take it you have come to give in to our demands.” He said, a smug smile on what the Insidi had instead of lips.
“I’m afraid not.” Julianous replied.
A stunned silence filled the room.
“What?” The Insidi delegate said, his smile replied with a look of surprise.
“The Untied Human Confederation will not meet your demands. We will instead be making a counter offer.” Julianous said. Her face was cold and stoic, however, those more familiar with human emotion noticed an undercurrent of sadness.
“A counter offer? Is this some human joke?” The Insidi delegate scoffed.
“No. You will rescind all your demands, or you will leave us no choice but to go to war.” Julianous said, her tone grave.
The Insidi delegate laughed, he simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The spineless little humans where challenging them, the glorious Insidi.
“Well then human, we are at war. We shall engage you in glorious combat.” He said.
“Are you sure? Believe me, this is not something you want to do. We humans hate war for a reason. Please, don’t make us do this.” Julianous said. She knew better than anyone what happened when humans went to war, she’d been there for the last one.
“I am very sure. You pitiful little human. We, the Insidi Empire, herby formally declare war against you, the United Human Confederation.” The Insidi delegate said, savouring every word.
Julianous shook her head sadly, and stood up slowly.
“So be it.” She said, as she turned to leave.
Before she reached the door of the council chambers, she turned back for a moment, the sadness on her face much more pronounced now.
“I’m sorry.” She said, before exiting the chamber.
The Insidi believed in honourable combat. They fought their wars in a traditional manner, as did the rest of the galactic council. They fought soldier to soldier, warship to warship. They fought with honour, for glory and prestige.
The assumed their war with us would be the same, they assumed wrong. They sent their main battle fleet straight to our capital world. Six thousand ships approached our core worlds. We had less than a hundred facing them. They laughed as they saw our numbers.
They didn’t laugh for long. Our ships engaged immediately, each one firing a single torpedo. The Insidi detected these torpedoes, and simply activated their shields, scoffing at our seemingly puny attempts to fight back. Then the torpedoes activated warp speed.
When an object travelling at warp speed collides with another, it produces an unimaginable amount of energy. The Insidi’s shields were hopelessly, pathetically under-powered. When the torpedoes hit them their entire fleet was reduced to dust in less than nanosecond. Six thousand ships, hundreds of thousands of Insidi personal, all gone in less than the blink of an eye.
Shortly afterwards, human warships had appeared above every Insidi world simultaneously. Each one was carrying a full arsenal of what would come to be known as Silencer Torpedoes, the same weapons that had obliterated the Insidi fleet. These warships fired their torpedoes, and within moments, every Insidi arms factory, every shipyard, every barracks, every military academy, and anything else that contributed to the Insidi war machine was gone.
Billions of Insidi died, and their once great and proud empire was reduced to ruins. The Insidi had spent centuries building their empire, and it had taken the humans less than a day to tear it all down.
The next day, Julianous entered the council chambers again. The atmosphere was not one of curiosity. This time, there was an atmosphere of fear.
“You fight without honour! Without courage! You snivelling, spineless coward!” The Insidi delegate screamed as soon as she entered.
Julianous calmly looked over at the Insidi delegate. He would have been crying if he had tear glands. Then she raised her hand, and everything feel silent.
“You’re right. We don’t fight with honour. We have fought countless wars. Millennia of tiny, squabbling states, three world wars, and two colonial reunification wars.” Julianous began, her voice was calm, but the undercurrent of sadness was there as it had been before.
“That last war was so destructive that we can’t live on our home world anymore. Our capital is not our home, because our home is uninhabitable, cratered wasteland.” She continued, the tone of her voice more overtly sad now.
“All these wars taught us a lesson. One very important lesson. One lesson that we have never forgotten, and will never forget. Would you like to know what it was honourable members of the council? She asked the council, a large frown on her lips.
“What… what was it?” A member of the council timidly replied.
“That honour doesn’t win wars.” Julianous said. | (English is not my first language, sorry if some mistakes are hidding in the text)
\--
​
Humans...
​
They spread everywhere in less than one of their generation, their oldest ones were already born when they finally managed to get out of their solar system !
Sure thing, they are good at bargaining and negociating, and their trade flourished at a speed no other specie had ever imagined before. Following something they called the "Roman system", they secured roads to the main marketplaces and made sure to be present everytime there was something to buy or sell, and it wasn't long until they were the ones controlling the prices.
They are rich now, but they never fight. They buy their protection from our own money, that they stole from us !
This will change soon now, they crossed a line when they bought our planet.
We took our time to prepare, our weapons are ready, we will attack their next shipment, and use the gold to buy back our main planet. The Galactic Alliance received our claim and will not help us, as we were not attacked, but they at least accepted to close their eyes and stay neutral in the conflict to come.
​
\--
​
3 days later, in the galactic alliance.
"Sir, the human delegate is asking to meet you."
"Let him in, let him in ! He always have some good propositions for us, i really like their quotes 'win/win scenario' ! "
John Johnson entered, looking unexpectedly tired but his eyes moving everywhere, from the doors to the different people present in the room, as if assessing something.
"Welcome dear guest, did you have a new idea to bring the alliance prosperity ?"
"I am sorry, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, I only came today with a question, but I am obviously willing to pay for an answer if needed." answered the human gravely
"Don't worry about that, dear John, you provided us so much lately, we can answer at least a small question !"
"Good. Then let's get to the point. We were attacked by the lizard Ctul."
"Ah, yes, i heard about that unfortunate evenement. 2 of your kind were killed in the raid of one of your merchandise tube on 'new road 66', isn't it ? Truly unfortunate indeed ! but what is your question ?"
John locked his gaze on the vaguely humanoid creature in front of him : "Except from the Ctul, who knew about the attack ?"
"Everyone of the Galactif Alliance knew, as the Alliance was paid the standard amount for a minor agression claim on the official journal by the Ctul. This is the protocol !"
"Ah, too bad, i was beggining to like you".
"What ?"
"Good bye, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, i have a war to win"
"A war? b-but you haven't published anything on the official journal!"
a beam halo surrounded the human for less than a second, and he was gone. During this time, the Head of the Galactic Alliance heard two words, spoken with a robotic voice, that sent a chill down his spine.
​
"TARGET AQUIRED"
​
Then the sirens started shouting. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | When the humans entered the galactic scene there were four other races who were ahead of them to the stars. The Elves - tall, long lived creatures of incredable culture and artistry. The Dwarves - short, stocky engineers who liked nothing more than the forge and the flame. The Kitsune - a fir covered bestial race with five tails and a propensity to speak in metaphor and generalities. The Anubis - humanoids with heads resembling canines who were known as the pre-eminent warriors of the galaxy.
For decades the humans had lived among the races in relative peace, finding an niche as diplomats and doctors due to their fresh perspective and propensity for adding creative solutions to age-old problems. We were respected, in a way, and soon migrated to every major planet in the settled regions of space. There were cultural differences, always, between the humans and other species, and those humans allowed to leave the boarders of the Terran Domain were the ones who could be trusted to hold Earth's secrets close.
For Tradition was ancient and unquestioned among the elder races, millions or even billions of years of history had locked their civilizations in a kind of ancient stalemate. And it was understood wordlessly among the human leaders that their secrets had to be held close - that no other species should learn about the AI-assistance that we had implanted in our grey matter, the genetic manipulations of our own people, and, above all else, the outright savagery and joy with which even the weakest of us could kill. For such would not just be shocking to our neighbors, but completely unthinkable.
And so it was that we pretended to nod solemnly as the races spoke of the 'horrors' of Anubian war. How they had murdered 'entire cities' during the course of the war, to spread horror and dissent. How they would sometimes kill soldiers who had surrendered in honorable combat, and had once even resorted to asking for classified information from a surrendered enemy - threatening to fire upon him rather than allow surrender unless he spoke freely.
Humans, thought to be weak because of our size, thought to be vulnerable due to the presence of our diplomats on planets belonging to every race, alone and surrounded by aliens, nevertheless managed to forge and keep peace for nearly a century among the arrogant and ancient civilizations. And for all appearances, we were giving it our all for that time, throwing away our military leverage in exchange for diplomatic authority, our strategic leverage in exchange for goodwill and peace.
Yet all races knew that it couldn't last, that sooner or later the eternity of war would break out anew, and they simply shook their honor bound heads in pity, understanding that this young race of peacekeepers would inevitably be the first casualty of such aggression. Some even gossiped, mostly among the proud elfin races, that it was their pity for our species, more even than our own diplomatic efforts, that kept the endless war in check and stayed the hands of ancient enemies.
It was in the year 4416, ninety eight years after the human's entrance to the galactic stage, that the Anubians finally struck. And they did not hold back from the brutalities of their ancient heritage. Embassies were crushed, ambassadors executed with fanfare, and the major cities of our boarder kingdoms fell in a matter of weeks. While our militaries were being gathered, while our diplomats were pursuing every diplomatic resolution imaginable, millions of humans were being executed or enslaved by the doglike invaders.
It was then, five weeks after the initial assault upon the Terrans, that a lone human ship flew out to meet the approaching Anubian armada. Black and sleek, the long sweeping hulls of the Belle Mortas cut through space to the pre-arranged battlefield that would determine the fate of the human species.
Millions of Anubian fleets stood proud in a long line amidst the void of space, awaiting the arrival of the Terran defense. They stood still, in ancient custom, waiting for their enemies to line up alongside them and begin the long trading of warheads that would determine the engagement. After a century of peace, their fleets had been rebuilt, their weapons upgraded and stocked, to such a level of might such had not been seen by the universe in perhaps millions of years previous.
As such, when a single human ship, large and well made but ultimately alone, exited warp in front of the armada, the aliens could not cover their shock. Could not resist hailing the vessel to see if it was a game - if it was real that the young race had met their ancient military might with such an impossibly minuscule force.
Anubian commander Rimtou, lord of the combined fleet, turned to his ensign, "Hail the humans. Put them on screen."
Above commander Rimtou the view changed from the endless darkness of space to the strange deck of Belle Mortas. Where Rimtou's ship had a collection of Anubians and their battle-slaves working at stations and in front of their monitors, across from him the screen showed a large chamber filled, not with stations and monitors, but with wires and cables snaking along the steel floors, connecting with and holding a single entity aloft in the center of the screen.
The creature on the monitor appeared to be one of the humans, the same pasty skin and short stature that made up the young species, however Rimtou found himself unsure, as other than their face and shoulders, the rest of their body branched out into a multiplicity of cabling and wires, electronics clearly ripping out of their skin along their chest, until down at their waste and legs naught could be seen but a terrible tentacled web of electronics seemingly made a part of the creature's body.
The creature didn't meet Rimtou's gaze, nor move their human mouth, as a single inhuman voice sounded across their speakers *"I am the Belle Mortas. Cyborg Class corvette ship of the Terran union. State your intention."
Rimtou panted his tongue through his long, canine teeth in confusion. His mind twisting and wrestling with the image in front of him, attempting to make sense of what the monitor did show. "I am commander Rimtou, of the combined Anubian fleet." He paused, mind spinning as he struggled to put together the pieces, "I assume you were sent by your people to discuss the terms of your surrender?"
Nothing else made any sense to his alien mind. The Millions of ships that stretched out beyond where his monitor could see, met by this single human vehicle, one which titled itself 'corvette', the weakest and smallest of fighters. And yet the robotic voice sounded through his speakers once again, "That is not why I was deployed to this sector."
Rimtou shook his head at the arrogance before him, "Your cities lie in ruins, your embassies crushed, your highest level officials on our planets hidden and held at ransom to your race's good behavior. If you surrender now your race may still be our servants. You can be our administrators and advisers. You yourself, I offer a place as my own personal bound secretary. A title of some distinction and," he glanced at his star-map once again in disbelief, "probably far more generous than your pathetic people deserves."
Fight or flight, these were the laws of the eternal war. Militaries either engaged or retreated, stood or fled. And so when the emotionless tones of the mutilated body in front of him sounded again, not in anger but with peace - when the face of the creature on the screen, with their foggy eyes that never moved, twisted not into a grimace but a smile, Rimtou became even more confused. Made more sure of his own victory, until the replying words and their meaning finally soaked into his brain.
"The time for negotiation has passed. I have accepted your hail not to barter with you for peace, nor even accept your surrender. I speak with you now only to document your final words before your people are extinguished forever."
Rimtou could only sneer back, letting out a warlike growl as he held up his fist, "you think to mock me, here, in the face of your own destruction? So be it. There will be no surrender this day!"
The creature's shouts echoing between ships, the Belle Mortas sole occupant simply nodded to empty air, the wires buried in their head bouncing as they moved, "You are correct. There will not."
As communications cut out, the commander of the Anubian fleet had time to briefly see a strange reading echoing across his commander's station. There was an energy building exponentially within the human corvette even as their conversation ended, a warp signature emitting from the *stationary* ship with greater and greater strength.
So it was as space twisted inward on the corvette, it was still without understanding or apprehension at his own fate that the commander was sucked into the emptiness formed where once stood the Belle Mortas. As he and his entire fleet were consumed into the newly born, artificial black hole, his last thought could only be, '...what?'
_________________________
Across Anubian occupied space, human dreadnought class ships who had not been committed to the engagement, who had not been deployed to defend Terran space nor protect the fallen colonies, finally, as one, exited warp.
Floating above the settled worlds of the Anubian empire, each commander and the handful of cyborgs bonded with their ships powered up missiles. No Anubian ships were there to greet them, no military force stood between them and their targets as they exited the cold emptiness of space where they had been hidden.
And in the hand of every captain of every dreadnought hovering over every undefended world there was but a simple scrap of paper - a single scrap with a single word, written by one of the linked minds of their cyborg astropaths:
"Exterminatus" | (English is not my first language, sorry if some mistakes are hidding in the text)
\--
​
Humans...
​
They spread everywhere in less than one of their generation, their oldest ones were already born when they finally managed to get out of their solar system !
Sure thing, they are good at bargaining and negociating, and their trade flourished at a speed no other specie had ever imagined before. Following something they called the "Roman system", they secured roads to the main marketplaces and made sure to be present everytime there was something to buy or sell, and it wasn't long until they were the ones controlling the prices.
They are rich now, but they never fight. They buy their protection from our own money, that they stole from us !
This will change soon now, they crossed a line when they bought our planet.
We took our time to prepare, our weapons are ready, we will attack their next shipment, and use the gold to buy back our main planet. The Galactic Alliance received our claim and will not help us, as we were not attacked, but they at least accepted to close their eyes and stay neutral in the conflict to come.
​
\--
​
3 days later, in the galactic alliance.
"Sir, the human delegate is asking to meet you."
"Let him in, let him in ! He always have some good propositions for us, i really like their quotes 'win/win scenario' ! "
John Johnson entered, looking unexpectedly tired but his eyes moving everywhere, from the doors to the different people present in the room, as if assessing something.
"Welcome dear guest, did you have a new idea to bring the alliance prosperity ?"
"I am sorry, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, I only came today with a question, but I am obviously willing to pay for an answer if needed." answered the human gravely
"Don't worry about that, dear John, you provided us so much lately, we can answer at least a small question !"
"Good. Then let's get to the point. We were attacked by the lizard Ctul."
"Ah, yes, i heard about that unfortunate evenement. 2 of your kind were killed in the raid of one of your merchandise tube on 'new road 66', isn't it ? Truly unfortunate indeed ! but what is your question ?"
John locked his gaze on the vaguely humanoid creature in front of him : "Except from the Ctul, who knew about the attack ?"
"Everyone of the Galactif Alliance knew, as the Alliance was paid the standard amount for a minor agression claim on the official journal by the Ctul. This is the protocol !"
"Ah, too bad, i was beggining to like you".
"What ?"
"Good bye, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, i have a war to win"
"A war? b-but you haven't published anything on the official journal!"
a beam halo surrounded the human for less than a second, and he was gone. During this time, the Head of the Galactic Alliance heard two words, spoken with a robotic voice, that sent a chill down his spine.
​
"TARGET AQUIRED"
​
Then the sirens started shouting. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. |
**Caged, Now Loose.**
A deafening silence fills the chamber where the Galactic Assembly meets. The shock that permeates the varying species present here today is almost palpable. I suppose we should have expected this, seen it coming from the very first attack - what feels like aeons - but was only 3 Terran months ago. The Aberrians sit opposite us, cruel smiles plastered across their narrow faces. I can almost see it, the thrill, that bloodthirst that probably occupies every avenue of thought. That burning desire for war, the appetite for destruction; it seems only poetic that the colour of their eyes reflects this. The red of blood, of death and of war that colours their eyes is distinctive of their kind.
All eyes - or whatever means they use to see - are directed at us now. Some filled with pity and a sense of despair, of futility as if they too had seen this moment coming. As for the others, they were filled with curiosity, a detached interest in a situation unheard of in the three Terran centuries of the Galactic Assembly’s existence. Yet they were all probably wondering, can we salvage this. Can our quick and sweet tongues alongside the diplomacy that seems inherent in our genetic makeup prevent yet another disaster. Can we talk them out of such a decision and prevent war yet again. Can we negotiate, can our diplomatic prowess - the reputation that we have built of ourselves - save us now. Every known civilization can undoubtedly tell you something about the Terran civilization or as we call ourselves - humans. They will tell you tales of what they deem our most distinctive trait: Our natural and uncanny diplomatic ability. Our ability to negotiate and deescalate what seem unresolvable; our distinctive way with words. They will tell you of our feats. How we prevented full out war on Caelch IV and saved a billion lives, or how we were able to talk the Threnarians and Gostlems out of battle just a few Terran hours before they were to begin. These among others are what resulted in us being given the laudable position of the goto Galactic peacekeepers. A position that led to Terrans being placed on every planet and where the conflict that led us here began.
It started three months ago. We received the communication from the Aberrians themselves. 300 human lives gone. In what they called unfortunate circumstances, 300 of our people were killed. They intended to convey the news with sorrow, but the sick gleam in their eyes, the smile that was teetering on their lips told us otherwise. Our people were murdered, and now there remained no peacekeepers on their planet. We were, of course, enraged at the loss of our people, but we had to maintain the peace, so we took ‘the unfortunate circumstances’ of their deaths and said we would send them more peacekeepers shortly. This continuing the image we built for ourselves over the many centuries. The image of the weak, pacifistic, confrontation-avoiding species that always betrayed their interests to avoid conflict. The species that would take the worse half of the deal if there was even the slightest use of force. And we fully intended to send more of our people to die, as much as we despised it. However, they started their attack before we could, for that at least we were grateful.
They began attacking ships that were simply on their designated trade routes. We tried to negotiate, saying we would use other trade routes if they wanted ours, playing of the attack as an accident. They agreed and we felt relief. Then they attacked us on the new trade routes and we knew they were just toying with us. It wasn’t about the trade routes, it was about killing, killing us. Yet there was nothing we could do. Then they decided to assault some of our outposts on Helbrip III and when we begged them to stop their attack. They proposed an ultimatum: ‘Surrender 75% of your Galactic colonies, resources and planets or face the wrath of the Aberrian Empire’. As these words left the very mouth of their Chancellor, the head of the Aberrian Empire, it was clear that this was no joke. That brings us to the stunning silence that occupies the room.
The rest of the occupants probably think this a historic day. The day humanity couldn’t succeed with diplomacy and hence the day that marks the end of their civilization. Today they think is the event that leads to the annihilation of one species, yet they would be surprised by which one. So I rise from my seat, “The Terran civilization acknowledges the Ultimatum put forth by the Aberrian Empire and upon further deliberation will provide a response no later than prima lux tomorrow. We will now take our leave”. The silence never retreats, not even as the Terran delegation walks out of the chamber.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Part 1 because it was too long too fit in one comment | (English is not my first language, sorry if some mistakes are hidding in the text)
\--
​
Humans...
​
They spread everywhere in less than one of their generation, their oldest ones were already born when they finally managed to get out of their solar system !
Sure thing, they are good at bargaining and negociating, and their trade flourished at a speed no other specie had ever imagined before. Following something they called the "Roman system", they secured roads to the main marketplaces and made sure to be present everytime there was something to buy or sell, and it wasn't long until they were the ones controlling the prices.
They are rich now, but they never fight. They buy their protection from our own money, that they stole from us !
This will change soon now, they crossed a line when they bought our planet.
We took our time to prepare, our weapons are ready, we will attack their next shipment, and use the gold to buy back our main planet. The Galactic Alliance received our claim and will not help us, as we were not attacked, but they at least accepted to close their eyes and stay neutral in the conflict to come.
​
\--
​
3 days later, in the galactic alliance.
"Sir, the human delegate is asking to meet you."
"Let him in, let him in ! He always have some good propositions for us, i really like their quotes 'win/win scenario' ! "
John Johnson entered, looking unexpectedly tired but his eyes moving everywhere, from the doors to the different people present in the room, as if assessing something.
"Welcome dear guest, did you have a new idea to bring the alliance prosperity ?"
"I am sorry, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, I only came today with a question, but I am obviously willing to pay for an answer if needed." answered the human gravely
"Don't worry about that, dear John, you provided us so much lately, we can answer at least a small question !"
"Good. Then let's get to the point. We were attacked by the lizard Ctul."
"Ah, yes, i heard about that unfortunate evenement. 2 of your kind were killed in the raid of one of your merchandise tube on 'new road 66', isn't it ? Truly unfortunate indeed ! but what is your question ?"
John locked his gaze on the vaguely humanoid creature in front of him : "Except from the Ctul, who knew about the attack ?"
"Everyone of the Galactif Alliance knew, as the Alliance was paid the standard amount for a minor agression claim on the official journal by the Ctul. This is the protocol !"
"Ah, too bad, i was beggining to like you".
"What ?"
"Good bye, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, i have a war to win"
"A war? b-but you haven't published anything on the official journal!"
a beam halo surrounded the human for less than a second, and he was gone. During this time, the Head of the Galactic Alliance heard two words, spoken with a robotic voice, that sent a chill down his spine.
​
"TARGET AQUIRED"
​
Then the sirens started shouting. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | **"Those forgetting history is bound to repeat it"**
These words are written above the entrance to the chamber of the great council. We thought we knew everything, but there were so much we forgot.
None of the councils members remembered why the image of a grinning human was chiselled into the chamber walls. The painting was neither good, nor well made. Beneath it was chiselled the words human females tell their children. "Use your words".
No one would deny that the humans where great talkers and mediators. But they were also a soft squishy species. The way they imprinted on their young to use their words where taken as a sign that they were weak and timid. They even punished their children when they were caught fighting.
All this we learned from the small colonies they had among the rest of us. We would learn more too soon.
The way of the council and the accord of the species was that one species could acquire another species place, rank, honour on the council by fighting the other species. This way the council was guaranteed to stay strong and fresh. That species gained planets and colonies, or lost them in these struggles was the norm. Occasionally a species was removed entirely from the council when their entire territory was annihilated.
No species entirely disappeared. After their defeat they were always offered a space in the Alliance. A small ragtag collection of planets and species surrounding the last suspected location of the human home world. Everyone thought of them as zookeepers. Guards of humanity. That they were there to protect the humans. No one gave them any tought as they were out of the way. "Out of sight. Out of Mind". Another humans wording. They have so many.
They were no longer out of mind after discovering huge deposits of rare elements where located in their territory. A short victorious war was planned to prepare for mining. With the added benefit of providing us with free workers.
The Alliance pleaded and begged us to reconsider. Sent us historical files, and copies of signed accords. We ignored them all. The humans tried their talks, but we ignored their calls. We probably should have listened when the Alliance said "We wash our hands of this. We tried warning you.". How we laughed.
We took the first planets easily. Setting up mining operations. Forcing the humans to be our slaves. We thought they were weaklings having trouble operating our equipment, since everything went much slower than we anticipated. Then the breakdown started. Machines breaking. Bridges falling down. Transports failing to launch. Small things. But they happened just too often.
We thought we had rounded up all the humans. When the explosions started we knew we hadn't. We never found where they hid. But they were severely hindering our operations. This happened on every planet we occupied. Even ones previously occupied. Wherever we set up operations, humans found a way to hide and make trouble.
We soon learned another human expression. "Guerrilla warfare".
They even brought this to interstellar space. Small groups, hiding out in spaces no ship should be able to hide, they hit us repeatedly where it hurt. Our shipping lanes, our outposts. Never the same twice in a row. Always gone before our military ships could show up.
Little did we know that this was done to make sure we overspent ourselves trying to protect against small irritants, while they prepared.
When they hit us. As a war faring race we can only admire the beauty in their attack. They were everywhere. Our capitals fell in the first bombardment. The council lay in tatters as we were decimated. And we could do no other action than concede when they entered the council chamber claiming their rightful place at the top. There where no one left that could stop them. The words they uttered when they opened the proceedings shocked us to our cores. Even though we could see the warning every time we entered.
​
"We founded this council. We can always reclaim our place. Remember history". | (English is not my first language, sorry if some mistakes are hidding in the text)
\--
​
Humans...
​
They spread everywhere in less than one of their generation, their oldest ones were already born when they finally managed to get out of their solar system !
Sure thing, they are good at bargaining and negociating, and their trade flourished at a speed no other specie had ever imagined before. Following something they called the "Roman system", they secured roads to the main marketplaces and made sure to be present everytime there was something to buy or sell, and it wasn't long until they were the ones controlling the prices.
They are rich now, but they never fight. They buy their protection from our own money, that they stole from us !
This will change soon now, they crossed a line when they bought our planet.
We took our time to prepare, our weapons are ready, we will attack their next shipment, and use the gold to buy back our main planet. The Galactic Alliance received our claim and will not help us, as we were not attacked, but they at least accepted to close their eyes and stay neutral in the conflict to come.
​
\--
​
3 days later, in the galactic alliance.
"Sir, the human delegate is asking to meet you."
"Let him in, let him in ! He always have some good propositions for us, i really like their quotes 'win/win scenario' ! "
John Johnson entered, looking unexpectedly tired but his eyes moving everywhere, from the doors to the different people present in the room, as if assessing something.
"Welcome dear guest, did you have a new idea to bring the alliance prosperity ?"
"I am sorry, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, I only came today with a question, but I am obviously willing to pay for an answer if needed." answered the human gravely
"Don't worry about that, dear John, you provided us so much lately, we can answer at least a small question !"
"Good. Then let's get to the point. We were attacked by the lizard Ctul."
"Ah, yes, i heard about that unfortunate evenement. 2 of your kind were killed in the raid of one of your merchandise tube on 'new road 66', isn't it ? Truly unfortunate indeed ! but what is your question ?"
John locked his gaze on the vaguely humanoid creature in front of him : "Except from the Ctul, who knew about the attack ?"
"Everyone of the Galactif Alliance knew, as the Alliance was paid the standard amount for a minor agression claim on the official journal by the Ctul. This is the protocol !"
"Ah, too bad, i was beggining to like you".
"What ?"
"Good bye, dear Head of the Galactic Alliance, i have a war to win"
"A war? b-but you haven't published anything on the official journal!"
a beam halo surrounded the human for less than a second, and he was gone. During this time, the Head of the Galactic Alliance heard two words, spoken with a robotic voice, that sent a chill down his spine.
​
"TARGET AQUIRED"
​
Then the sirens started shouting. | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | A man came in, he was skinny, pitiful and shaking. Xyphoriz watched in bemusement as the human nervously came over to the negotiation tables, before getting to the table when the guy stopped. He pulled a pack of something Xyphoriz recognized as the earthling primitive device called a ‘cigarette’
“Hey man,” the human started as he lit his cigarette, before the alien ambassador could speak, the human inhaled the entire fag to the butt and dropped it to the ground, pulling another from his pack and lighting it. “Sorry nervous, this is the first time we’ve been at war with... “ he motioned towards Xyphoriz. “Another species, wait no there was that time with the Emu’s... the first time an aliens been stupid enough to commit to a full on attack on our people.”
“Well we are here to listen to your terms for complete surrender” Xyphoriz replied, almost amused by the weak humans bravery, calling his people idiots would not be an insult taken lightly, he would be enslaved soon. The human laughed no longer shaking.
“Yeah, not happening” he snorted sitting down uncomfortably close. “Here is your ultimatum, cease all hostilities or my people will be forced to show you why we have to be skilled negotiators instead of warriors, and believe me when I say you don’t want the latter.”
“What can a dirty bipedal monkey like yourself really do to us? Negotiate a trade embargo against us? We’ll just take everything from you.”
“The names Brent, ok and I am not just dirty, I’m a historian. Probably the only person who can educate you on why the genocide on Kessia V was the worst decision you’ve ever made.”
This Brent was starting to intrigue the alien ambassador. Why send a historian in the place of a diplomat or even a military leader? It was strange.
“Do you know human history, Xiphoriz? Cause I know your species history, I’ve already figured out eleven ways I could have killed you since I walked in, just using your natural allergies, two of which could be exploited to genocide your people like, say” Brent paused smiling at the alien “The powered cascade massacre?”
Xyphoriz heart sank, how could the human know about that, that was a deep cut to his species history, something taboo to talk about even amongst close colleagues
“How dare you” it yelled, standing and slamming its fist, although the human still twitched, it’s demeanor didn’t change whatsoever, Brent just smiled.
“You know we humans have fought before” Brent frowned looking out into the desert outside. “Five world wars, and three interstellar ones, all against ourselves. Brought ourselves to near extinction in four of those, world war three we lost an island called Britain, it was nuked to oblivion, its neighboring island? Made into a nuclear wonderland where the fog never ended and the genetic monstrosities were genocided every couple of years. Used to Call that one Ireland...” the sorrow in Brents eyes told a tapestry of stories to Xyphoriz.
“Then there was five, we had three continents go dark, every country collapsed, we made our oceans raise a bunch and when the survivors finally came out of the woodwork, we decided to leave our blue jewel we had sullied so many times behind, to recover from our terrible temper.”
“So what you almost destroyed yourselves, now you’ve decided to destroy yourselves by refusing to give us your species for enslavement.”
“See our first interstellar war was about that, we blew up a few planets and moons in our short sighted temper, we wanted to enslave the Europans surrounding Jupiter, we shot mass drivers, killing all of them because they wouldnt submit, we then moved the shards of the shattered moon to drop on Mars because we couldn’t stand their whining, we broke the planet, we had to start a restoration project that’s still going on these thousand years later.”
“You broke two worlds where your people lived because you were mad? That was your own species.” Xyphoriz was starting to feel uneasy, these humans were brutal before their peacekeeping days.
“Oh we’ve killed ourselves for less, we had a cult once that super nova’d a star because they thought it would awaken their god, killing seven worlds and starting the second interstellar war that nearly killed every human in the galaxy.”
“How many died?”
“We stopped counting after we started our last Great War, where we destroyed our old home-world and solar system, bringing us to this desert, a planet we named in memorandum, earth, to honor the centillions of humans we slaughtered for our petty ego, a wake up call we took very seriously.” Brent set his hand on the glass.
“I hope you have reconsidered by now fighting humans, because I haven’t even told you what’ll happen to your species if you don’t cease all hostilities.” Xyphoriz looked at Brent, curious.
“What would happen?” It said.
“Well it depends, if we were able to beat you quickly and get a timely surrender, you’d just have to deal with human terrorists mass drivering you every now and then and super novaing you, now if the conflict to a bit longer because you miraculously got better at fighting then the pitiful excuse you call fighting us now. Well...”
“Well what.”
“Your species would be subjugated to human history repeating onto them.” | It's been 50 years since we've come in contact with alien life forms. In that 50 years we've learned so much. We've piggybacked off of there space travel formula's and we've actually made a decent presence in the galactic scene. Nothing spectacular but at least they like our movies. It's actually very strange to me, they take the artist with the highest notoriety as the leader of the planet. So as the person with the highest view count on youtube, I guess that means I'm earth's ambassador. I'm not complaining. I usually just get to sit in big meetings with the most important people in the galaxy. I don't understand a lot of the things that are going on but today the meeting took a very interesting turn.
"What does earth really give us anyway? They're a bunch of babys sitting on tech we've provided them, and on more resources than they know what to do with. I move to Industrialize the planet for the Sirrians."
"Um... I don't know how well that would..."
"You know what, Dichotomas? I think you're right. We've let the earthlings into our inner circle, so I only feel that it's right to demand some recompense."
"hey guys, As an earthling I really think you should reconsider... i mean we go to war with each other over misconstrued facial features.... I don't think I could hold my planet back from fucking you guys up."
​
"Say that again? The interpreter didn't catch the word you said. It was right after reconsider... Oh look! Your planet is sending their fireworks into space to celebrate our contract!"
​
...sigh "I guess I'm collateral damage..." | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | For 300 years bipedal "Earthlings" refused any confrontations with the Galactic Alliance. In the first half a century when Earth joined Union, the members of the Alliance tested their unwavering pacifism. They gave up their entire Solar System except a Red planet & their Home world. The Union High Committee stepped in to stop the members taking advantage of its new member.
250 years later Earthlings vision had spread throughout the known Universe. Their dealings were honest and true, they were trusted implicitly and was the most stable economy due to the stability unlike seen before. Earthling Banks were highly sought after and there was a waiting line for new banks throughout the universe. Most races fought over who got a bank first but then Earthlings decided to draw lots for the que. Even the smugglers & pirates refused to pillage the defenceless Earthlings because nobody would trade with them for Earth goods that were gotten illegally. Most races were willing to forego wars for stability following Earths Example. Empires were defined by its economic might and its ability to purchase land/planets/solar systems. Earth was the richest and biggest economy the universe has seen before.
This led to jealousy amongst the rest of the Union members. The high committee broke the oaths of impartiality and joined forces to bring Earth to its rightful place.
Wars and battles were allowed with in the Alliance as long as it was properly declared at a committee meeting.
A race of warriors from the planet Shai-lu were the first to declare war on Earth. Convinced by the High Committee and the rest of the members, the Shai-lu Demanded that the Earthlings secede from 70% of their colonies. To the utmost surprise of the the members Earth Ambassador said "Yes" even before the demand was finished. The Ambassador asked for 6 months parley for the colonies to move. Which the Shai-lu agreed.
2 months before the deadline, Earthlings warned that they will be closing their Banks and other services due to lack of Financial support from its colonies. In 3 hours after the announcement, they were gone. Not a single Earthling was left behind. The ported all the credits to the relevant parties at the last moment and defaulted all their loans citing bankruptcy.
The chaos was unlike ever seen before, economies collapsed within moments. Without Earths emissaries no business deals could be done or made because nobody knew how to. Wars begun throughout the Universe and some even without declaration.
By the time of the deadline, The Shai-lu were decimated by warring factions and every quadrant of the universe was embroiled in war.
The high committee in an desperate attempt to sate the inevitable collapse of the union called its members to wage war against Earth who was solely responsible for the disaster.
For the first time in its history, A Race Leader walked in to a Alliance Union meeting. A bipedal humanoid forum against the rest of the known universe. Sitting on opposite ends, the high committee members declared war against Earth.
The human stood and collapsed on the floor with her hands covering her face. The female humanoid cried (according to our translators, humans do it show sorrow or happiness) and got to her knees and begged the high committee rescind the order.
The glee of the rest of the universe was deafning. They laughed at the human in their own way.
Finally she stood and exclaimed in a clear voice said " I am sorry for what I must do to you & your race. We will give you 24 human hours to surrender."
To this the entire committee laughed and jeered.
Now it's been 36 hours since she warned us. We were fools. I am writing this from the Alliance HQ, it's the only place that remains. The human drop ships are approaching... I dont have time The Banks, they were not banks: they were garrisons filled with human soldiers. First they released nano toxins that were carried by swarms of nano bots who targeted the ruling powers of each planet. Docking stations were hacked and remotely overloaded the gates and docks. Satellites on every planet emitted a net of Neutro Magnetic Array system that disabled all systems & ships. We didn't even know that they had complete control over the FTL portals. The Armadas couldn't jump to anywhere. The only time they turned on was when they sent "candy floss" bombs. They exploded in a mist of pink and anything that it touched got dragged in to the nearest portal. It was reported that in the Andromeda Cluster one Bomb took 3 million ships..
All throughout the HQ I heard members calling for help that would never come and at the 26th hour everything cut out and a weird song kept on repeating. According to my translator it's an Aria by Humans called "Nessum Dorma".
The humans were everywhere and we couldn't even fight them. We didn't even fire a single weapon, they killed us all and they are coming for me..
What fools we were. | It's been 50 years since we've come in contact with alien life forms. In that 50 years we've learned so much. We've piggybacked off of there space travel formula's and we've actually made a decent presence in the galactic scene. Nothing spectacular but at least they like our movies. It's actually very strange to me, they take the artist with the highest notoriety as the leader of the planet. So as the person with the highest view count on youtube, I guess that means I'm earth's ambassador. I'm not complaining. I usually just get to sit in big meetings with the most important people in the galaxy. I don't understand a lot of the things that are going on but today the meeting took a very interesting turn.
"What does earth really give us anyway? They're a bunch of babys sitting on tech we've provided them, and on more resources than they know what to do with. I move to Industrialize the planet for the Sirrians."
"Um... I don't know how well that would..."
"You know what, Dichotomas? I think you're right. We've let the earthlings into our inner circle, so I only feel that it's right to demand some recompense."
"hey guys, As an earthling I really think you should reconsider... i mean we go to war with each other over misconstrued facial features.... I don't think I could hold my planet back from fucking you guys up."
​
"Say that again? The interpreter didn't catch the word you said. It was right after reconsider... Oh look! Your planet is sending their fireworks into space to celebrate our contract!"
​
...sigh "I guess I'm collateral damage..." | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | Peace. It was something that humanity was well known for. Since making contact with the galactic council and becoming it’s 7th member we had garnered a reputation as the best diplomats in the galaxy. It was often said that human could negotiate its way out of anything.
Not all the council members shared our peaceful ways however, especially the Insidi. They were a warrior race. Nothing meant more to them than honourable combat, and it was how they settled all their disputes. They looked at us and saw a weak, spineless race that talked so much because we couldn’t do anything else. They figured they could make any demand they wanted and we would accept.
We didn’t want to admit it, but deep down we all knew that war was inevitable. We all knew that our efforts were futile, and yet we did our best. We tried so hard to talk them down, but they were stubborn. They demanded our complete submission, and we knew that they wouldn’t back down.
The final council meeting was just a formality; we all knew that we were going to war. We didn’t send a diplomat, there was no point. The person present at this meeting wouldn’t be making any deals, they would be starting a war.
The person given this unenviable task was Grand Commander and Chief Rebecca Gregory Julianous, the woman in charge of the United Human Confederation’s military. She had been a soldier since the last of humanities wars, and she had lost most of her body in the process. As such her mechanical legs carried her through the galactic council’s headquarters. Many aliens had never seen a human soldier before, and Julianous received many curious looks as she entered the council chambers.
The Insidi delegate was surprised, he hadn’t expected a military officer. Had he been wiser, he might have realised something was amiss, but he was arrogant and proud. This was the moment of his victory after all. Once Julianous was seated, he spoke.
“So, human, I take it you have come to give in to our demands.” He said, a smug smile on what the Insidi had instead of lips.
“I’m afraid not.” Julianous replied.
A stunned silence filled the room.
“What?” The Insidi delegate said, his smile replied with a look of surprise.
“The Untied Human Confederation will not meet your demands. We will instead be making a counter offer.” Julianous said. Her face was cold and stoic, however, those more familiar with human emotion noticed an undercurrent of sadness.
“A counter offer? Is this some human joke?” The Insidi delegate scoffed.
“No. You will rescind all your demands, or you will leave us no choice but to go to war.” Julianous said, her tone grave.
The Insidi delegate laughed, he simply couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The spineless little humans where challenging them, the glorious Insidi.
“Well then human, we are at war. We shall engage you in glorious combat.” He said.
“Are you sure? Believe me, this is not something you want to do. We humans hate war for a reason. Please, don’t make us do this.” Julianous said. She knew better than anyone what happened when humans went to war, she’d been there for the last one.
“I am very sure. You pitiful little human. We, the Insidi Empire, herby formally declare war against you, the United Human Confederation.” The Insidi delegate said, savouring every word.
Julianous shook her head sadly, and stood up slowly.
“So be it.” She said, as she turned to leave.
Before she reached the door of the council chambers, she turned back for a moment, the sadness on her face much more pronounced now.
“I’m sorry.” She said, before exiting the chamber.
The Insidi believed in honourable combat. They fought their wars in a traditional manner, as did the rest of the galactic council. They fought soldier to soldier, warship to warship. They fought with honour, for glory and prestige.
The assumed their war with us would be the same, they assumed wrong. They sent their main battle fleet straight to our capital world. Six thousand ships approached our core worlds. We had less than a hundred facing them. They laughed as they saw our numbers.
They didn’t laugh for long. Our ships engaged immediately, each one firing a single torpedo. The Insidi detected these torpedoes, and simply activated their shields, scoffing at our seemingly puny attempts to fight back. Then the torpedoes activated warp speed.
When an object travelling at warp speed collides with another, it produces an unimaginable amount of energy. The Insidi’s shields were hopelessly, pathetically under-powered. When the torpedoes hit them their entire fleet was reduced to dust in less than nanosecond. Six thousand ships, hundreds of thousands of Insidi personal, all gone in less than the blink of an eye.
Shortly afterwards, human warships had appeared above every Insidi world simultaneously. Each one was carrying a full arsenal of what would come to be known as Silencer Torpedoes, the same weapons that had obliterated the Insidi fleet. These warships fired their torpedoes, and within moments, every Insidi arms factory, every shipyard, every barracks, every military academy, and anything else that contributed to the Insidi war machine was gone.
Billions of Insidi died, and their once great and proud empire was reduced to ruins. The Insidi had spent centuries building their empire, and it had taken the humans less than a day to tear it all down.
The next day, Julianous entered the council chambers again. The atmosphere was not one of curiosity. This time, there was an atmosphere of fear.
“You fight without honour! Without courage! You snivelling, spineless coward!” The Insidi delegate screamed as soon as she entered.
Julianous calmly looked over at the Insidi delegate. He would have been crying if he had tear glands. Then she raised her hand, and everything feel silent.
“You’re right. We don’t fight with honour. We have fought countless wars. Millennia of tiny, squabbling states, three world wars, and two colonial reunification wars.” Julianous began, her voice was calm, but the undercurrent of sadness was there as it had been before.
“That last war was so destructive that we can’t live on our home world anymore. Our capital is not our home, because our home is uninhabitable, cratered wasteland.” She continued, the tone of her voice more overtly sad now.
“All these wars taught us a lesson. One very important lesson. One lesson that we have never forgotten, and will never forget. Would you like to know what it was honourable members of the council? She asked the council, a large frown on her lips.
“What… what was it?” A member of the council timidly replied.
“That honour doesn’t win wars.” Julianous said. | It's been 50 years since we've come in contact with alien life forms. In that 50 years we've learned so much. We've piggybacked off of there space travel formula's and we've actually made a decent presence in the galactic scene. Nothing spectacular but at least they like our movies. It's actually very strange to me, they take the artist with the highest notoriety as the leader of the planet. So as the person with the highest view count on youtube, I guess that means I'm earth's ambassador. I'm not complaining. I usually just get to sit in big meetings with the most important people in the galaxy. I don't understand a lot of the things that are going on but today the meeting took a very interesting turn.
"What does earth really give us anyway? They're a bunch of babys sitting on tech we've provided them, and on more resources than they know what to do with. I move to Industrialize the planet for the Sirrians."
"Um... I don't know how well that would..."
"You know what, Dichotomas? I think you're right. We've let the earthlings into our inner circle, so I only feel that it's right to demand some recompense."
"hey guys, As an earthling I really think you should reconsider... i mean we go to war with each other over misconstrued facial features.... I don't think I could hold my planet back from fucking you guys up."
​
"Say that again? The interpreter didn't catch the word you said. It was right after reconsider... Oh look! Your planet is sending their fireworks into space to celebrate our contract!"
​
...sigh "I guess I'm collateral damage..." | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | When the humans entered the galactic scene there were four other races who were ahead of them to the stars. The Elves - tall, long lived creatures of incredable culture and artistry. The Dwarves - short, stocky engineers who liked nothing more than the forge and the flame. The Kitsune - a fir covered bestial race with five tails and a propensity to speak in metaphor and generalities. The Anubis - humanoids with heads resembling canines who were known as the pre-eminent warriors of the galaxy.
For decades the humans had lived among the races in relative peace, finding an niche as diplomats and doctors due to their fresh perspective and propensity for adding creative solutions to age-old problems. We were respected, in a way, and soon migrated to every major planet in the settled regions of space. There were cultural differences, always, between the humans and other species, and those humans allowed to leave the boarders of the Terran Domain were the ones who could be trusted to hold Earth's secrets close.
For Tradition was ancient and unquestioned among the elder races, millions or even billions of years of history had locked their civilizations in a kind of ancient stalemate. And it was understood wordlessly among the human leaders that their secrets had to be held close - that no other species should learn about the AI-assistance that we had implanted in our grey matter, the genetic manipulations of our own people, and, above all else, the outright savagery and joy with which even the weakest of us could kill. For such would not just be shocking to our neighbors, but completely unthinkable.
And so it was that we pretended to nod solemnly as the races spoke of the 'horrors' of Anubian war. How they had murdered 'entire cities' during the course of the war, to spread horror and dissent. How they would sometimes kill soldiers who had surrendered in honorable combat, and had once even resorted to asking for classified information from a surrendered enemy - threatening to fire upon him rather than allow surrender unless he spoke freely.
Humans, thought to be weak because of our size, thought to be vulnerable due to the presence of our diplomats on planets belonging to every race, alone and surrounded by aliens, nevertheless managed to forge and keep peace for nearly a century among the arrogant and ancient civilizations. And for all appearances, we were giving it our all for that time, throwing away our military leverage in exchange for diplomatic authority, our strategic leverage in exchange for goodwill and peace.
Yet all races knew that it couldn't last, that sooner or later the eternity of war would break out anew, and they simply shook their honor bound heads in pity, understanding that this young race of peacekeepers would inevitably be the first casualty of such aggression. Some even gossiped, mostly among the proud elfin races, that it was their pity for our species, more even than our own diplomatic efforts, that kept the endless war in check and stayed the hands of ancient enemies.
It was in the year 4416, ninety eight years after the human's entrance to the galactic stage, that the Anubians finally struck. And they did not hold back from the brutalities of their ancient heritage. Embassies were crushed, ambassadors executed with fanfare, and the major cities of our boarder kingdoms fell in a matter of weeks. While our militaries were being gathered, while our diplomats were pursuing every diplomatic resolution imaginable, millions of humans were being executed or enslaved by the doglike invaders.
It was then, five weeks after the initial assault upon the Terrans, that a lone human ship flew out to meet the approaching Anubian armada. Black and sleek, the long sweeping hulls of the Belle Mortas cut through space to the pre-arranged battlefield that would determine the fate of the human species.
Millions of Anubian fleets stood proud in a long line amidst the void of space, awaiting the arrival of the Terran defense. They stood still, in ancient custom, waiting for their enemies to line up alongside them and begin the long trading of warheads that would determine the engagement. After a century of peace, their fleets had been rebuilt, their weapons upgraded and stocked, to such a level of might such had not been seen by the universe in perhaps millions of years previous.
As such, when a single human ship, large and well made but ultimately alone, exited warp in front of the armada, the aliens could not cover their shock. Could not resist hailing the vessel to see if it was a game - if it was real that the young race had met their ancient military might with such an impossibly minuscule force.
Anubian commander Rimtou, lord of the combined fleet, turned to his ensign, "Hail the humans. Put them on screen."
Above commander Rimtou the view changed from the endless darkness of space to the strange deck of Belle Mortas. Where Rimtou's ship had a collection of Anubians and their battle-slaves working at stations and in front of their monitors, across from him the screen showed a large chamber filled, not with stations and monitors, but with wires and cables snaking along the steel floors, connecting with and holding a single entity aloft in the center of the screen.
The creature on the monitor appeared to be one of the humans, the same pasty skin and short stature that made up the young species, however Rimtou found himself unsure, as other than their face and shoulders, the rest of their body branched out into a multiplicity of cabling and wires, electronics clearly ripping out of their skin along their chest, until down at their waste and legs naught could be seen but a terrible tentacled web of electronics seemingly made a part of the creature's body.
The creature didn't meet Rimtou's gaze, nor move their human mouth, as a single inhuman voice sounded across their speakers *"I am the Belle Mortas. Cyborg Class corvette ship of the Terran union. State your intention."
Rimtou panted his tongue through his long, canine teeth in confusion. His mind twisting and wrestling with the image in front of him, attempting to make sense of what the monitor did show. "I am commander Rimtou, of the combined Anubian fleet." He paused, mind spinning as he struggled to put together the pieces, "I assume you were sent by your people to discuss the terms of your surrender?"
Nothing else made any sense to his alien mind. The Millions of ships that stretched out beyond where his monitor could see, met by this single human vehicle, one which titled itself 'corvette', the weakest and smallest of fighters. And yet the robotic voice sounded through his speakers once again, "That is not why I was deployed to this sector."
Rimtou shook his head at the arrogance before him, "Your cities lie in ruins, your embassies crushed, your highest level officials on our planets hidden and held at ransom to your race's good behavior. If you surrender now your race may still be our servants. You can be our administrators and advisers. You yourself, I offer a place as my own personal bound secretary. A title of some distinction and," he glanced at his star-map once again in disbelief, "probably far more generous than your pathetic people deserves."
Fight or flight, these were the laws of the eternal war. Militaries either engaged or retreated, stood or fled. And so when the emotionless tones of the mutilated body in front of him sounded again, not in anger but with peace - when the face of the creature on the screen, with their foggy eyes that never moved, twisted not into a grimace but a smile, Rimtou became even more confused. Made more sure of his own victory, until the replying words and their meaning finally soaked into his brain.
"The time for negotiation has passed. I have accepted your hail not to barter with you for peace, nor even accept your surrender. I speak with you now only to document your final words before your people are extinguished forever."
Rimtou could only sneer back, letting out a warlike growl as he held up his fist, "you think to mock me, here, in the face of your own destruction? So be it. There will be no surrender this day!"
The creature's shouts echoing between ships, the Belle Mortas sole occupant simply nodded to empty air, the wires buried in their head bouncing as they moved, "You are correct. There will not."
As communications cut out, the commander of the Anubian fleet had time to briefly see a strange reading echoing across his commander's station. There was an energy building exponentially within the human corvette even as their conversation ended, a warp signature emitting from the *stationary* ship with greater and greater strength.
So it was as space twisted inward on the corvette, it was still without understanding or apprehension at his own fate that the commander was sucked into the emptiness formed where once stood the Belle Mortas. As he and his entire fleet were consumed into the newly born, artificial black hole, his last thought could only be, '...what?'
_________________________
Across Anubian occupied space, human dreadnought class ships who had not been committed to the engagement, who had not been deployed to defend Terran space nor protect the fallen colonies, finally, as one, exited warp.
Floating above the settled worlds of the Anubian empire, each commander and the handful of cyborgs bonded with their ships powered up missiles. No Anubian ships were there to greet them, no military force stood between them and their targets as they exited the cold emptiness of space where they had been hidden.
And in the hand of every captain of every dreadnought hovering over every undefended world there was but a simple scrap of paper - a single scrap with a single word, written by one of the linked minds of their cyborg astropaths:
"Exterminatus" | It's been 50 years since we've come in contact with alien life forms. In that 50 years we've learned so much. We've piggybacked off of there space travel formula's and we've actually made a decent presence in the galactic scene. Nothing spectacular but at least they like our movies. It's actually very strange to me, they take the artist with the highest notoriety as the leader of the planet. So as the person with the highest view count on youtube, I guess that means I'm earth's ambassador. I'm not complaining. I usually just get to sit in big meetings with the most important people in the galaxy. I don't understand a lot of the things that are going on but today the meeting took a very interesting turn.
"What does earth really give us anyway? They're a bunch of babys sitting on tech we've provided them, and on more resources than they know what to do with. I move to Industrialize the planet for the Sirrians."
"Um... I don't know how well that would..."
"You know what, Dichotomas? I think you're right. We've let the earthlings into our inner circle, so I only feel that it's right to demand some recompense."
"hey guys, As an earthling I really think you should reconsider... i mean we go to war with each other over misconstrued facial features.... I don't think I could hold my planet back from fucking you guys up."
​
"Say that again? The interpreter didn't catch the word you said. It was right after reconsider... Oh look! Your planet is sending their fireworks into space to celebrate our contract!"
​
...sigh "I guess I'm collateral damage..." | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. |
**Caged, Now Loose.**
A deafening silence fills the chamber where the Galactic Assembly meets. The shock that permeates the varying species present here today is almost palpable. I suppose we should have expected this, seen it coming from the very first attack - what feels like aeons - but was only 3 Terran months ago. The Aberrians sit opposite us, cruel smiles plastered across their narrow faces. I can almost see it, the thrill, that bloodthirst that probably occupies every avenue of thought. That burning desire for war, the appetite for destruction; it seems only poetic that the colour of their eyes reflects this. The red of blood, of death and of war that colours their eyes is distinctive of their kind.
All eyes - or whatever means they use to see - are directed at us now. Some filled with pity and a sense of despair, of futility as if they too had seen this moment coming. As for the others, they were filled with curiosity, a detached interest in a situation unheard of in the three Terran centuries of the Galactic Assembly’s existence. Yet they were all probably wondering, can we salvage this. Can our quick and sweet tongues alongside the diplomacy that seems inherent in our genetic makeup prevent yet another disaster. Can we talk them out of such a decision and prevent war yet again. Can we negotiate, can our diplomatic prowess - the reputation that we have built of ourselves - save us now. Every known civilization can undoubtedly tell you something about the Terran civilization or as we call ourselves - humans. They will tell you tales of what they deem our most distinctive trait: Our natural and uncanny diplomatic ability. Our ability to negotiate and deescalate what seem unresolvable; our distinctive way with words. They will tell you of our feats. How we prevented full out war on Caelch IV and saved a billion lives, or how we were able to talk the Threnarians and Gostlems out of battle just a few Terran hours before they were to begin. These among others are what resulted in us being given the laudable position of the goto Galactic peacekeepers. A position that led to Terrans being placed on every planet and where the conflict that led us here began.
It started three months ago. We received the communication from the Aberrians themselves. 300 human lives gone. In what they called unfortunate circumstances, 300 of our people were killed. They intended to convey the news with sorrow, but the sick gleam in their eyes, the smile that was teetering on their lips told us otherwise. Our people were murdered, and now there remained no peacekeepers on their planet. We were, of course, enraged at the loss of our people, but we had to maintain the peace, so we took ‘the unfortunate circumstances’ of their deaths and said we would send them more peacekeepers shortly. This continuing the image we built for ourselves over the many centuries. The image of the weak, pacifistic, confrontation-avoiding species that always betrayed their interests to avoid conflict. The species that would take the worse half of the deal if there was even the slightest use of force. And we fully intended to send more of our people to die, as much as we despised it. However, they started their attack before we could, for that at least we were grateful.
They began attacking ships that were simply on their designated trade routes. We tried to negotiate, saying we would use other trade routes if they wanted ours, playing of the attack as an accident. They agreed and we felt relief. Then they attacked us on the new trade routes and we knew they were just toying with us. It wasn’t about the trade routes, it was about killing, killing us. Yet there was nothing we could do. Then they decided to assault some of our outposts on Helbrip III and when we begged them to stop their attack. They proposed an ultimatum: ‘Surrender 75% of your Galactic colonies, resources and planets or face the wrath of the Aberrian Empire’. As these words left the very mouth of their Chancellor, the head of the Aberrian Empire, it was clear that this was no joke. That brings us to the stunning silence that occupies the room.
The rest of the occupants probably think this a historic day. The day humanity couldn’t succeed with diplomacy and hence the day that marks the end of their civilization. Today they think is the event that leads to the annihilation of one species, yet they would be surprised by which one. So I rise from my seat, “The Terran civilization acknowledges the Ultimatum put forth by the Aberrian Empire and upon further deliberation will provide a response no later than prima lux tomorrow. We will now take our leave”. The silence never retreats, not even as the Terran delegation walks out of the chamber.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Part 1 because it was too long too fit in one comment | It's been 50 years since we've come in contact with alien life forms. In that 50 years we've learned so much. We've piggybacked off of there space travel formula's and we've actually made a decent presence in the galactic scene. Nothing spectacular but at least they like our movies. It's actually very strange to me, they take the artist with the highest notoriety as the leader of the planet. So as the person with the highest view count on youtube, I guess that means I'm earth's ambassador. I'm not complaining. I usually just get to sit in big meetings with the most important people in the galaxy. I don't understand a lot of the things that are going on but today the meeting took a very interesting turn.
"What does earth really give us anyway? They're a bunch of babys sitting on tech we've provided them, and on more resources than they know what to do with. I move to Industrialize the planet for the Sirrians."
"Um... I don't know how well that would..."
"You know what, Dichotomas? I think you're right. We've let the earthlings into our inner circle, so I only feel that it's right to demand some recompense."
"hey guys, As an earthling I really think you should reconsider... i mean we go to war with each other over misconstrued facial features.... I don't think I could hold my planet back from fucking you guys up."
​
"Say that again? The interpreter didn't catch the word you said. It was right after reconsider... Oh look! Your planet is sending their fireworks into space to celebrate our contract!"
​
...sigh "I guess I'm collateral damage..." | |
[WP] With total war as a concept alien to the rest of our galaxy, All saw humans as negotiators and peacemakers, soft and weak. Today is the day when the galaxy discovers why being so good at finding ways to avoid war was a survival mechanism. | **"Those forgetting history is bound to repeat it"**
These words are written above the entrance to the chamber of the great council. We thought we knew everything, but there were so much we forgot.
None of the councils members remembered why the image of a grinning human was chiselled into the chamber walls. The painting was neither good, nor well made. Beneath it was chiselled the words human females tell their children. "Use your words".
No one would deny that the humans where great talkers and mediators. But they were also a soft squishy species. The way they imprinted on their young to use their words where taken as a sign that they were weak and timid. They even punished their children when they were caught fighting.
All this we learned from the small colonies they had among the rest of us. We would learn more too soon.
The way of the council and the accord of the species was that one species could acquire another species place, rank, honour on the council by fighting the other species. This way the council was guaranteed to stay strong and fresh. That species gained planets and colonies, or lost them in these struggles was the norm. Occasionally a species was removed entirely from the council when their entire territory was annihilated.
No species entirely disappeared. After their defeat they were always offered a space in the Alliance. A small ragtag collection of planets and species surrounding the last suspected location of the human home world. Everyone thought of them as zookeepers. Guards of humanity. That they were there to protect the humans. No one gave them any tought as they were out of the way. "Out of sight. Out of Mind". Another humans wording. They have so many.
They were no longer out of mind after discovering huge deposits of rare elements where located in their territory. A short victorious war was planned to prepare for mining. With the added benefit of providing us with free workers.
The Alliance pleaded and begged us to reconsider. Sent us historical files, and copies of signed accords. We ignored them all. The humans tried their talks, but we ignored their calls. We probably should have listened when the Alliance said "We wash our hands of this. We tried warning you.". How we laughed.
We took the first planets easily. Setting up mining operations. Forcing the humans to be our slaves. We thought they were weaklings having trouble operating our equipment, since everything went much slower than we anticipated. Then the breakdown started. Machines breaking. Bridges falling down. Transports failing to launch. Small things. But they happened just too often.
We thought we had rounded up all the humans. When the explosions started we knew we hadn't. We never found where they hid. But they were severely hindering our operations. This happened on every planet we occupied. Even ones previously occupied. Wherever we set up operations, humans found a way to hide and make trouble.
We soon learned another human expression. "Guerrilla warfare".
They even brought this to interstellar space. Small groups, hiding out in spaces no ship should be able to hide, they hit us repeatedly where it hurt. Our shipping lanes, our outposts. Never the same twice in a row. Always gone before our military ships could show up.
Little did we know that this was done to make sure we overspent ourselves trying to protect against small irritants, while they prepared.
When they hit us. As a war faring race we can only admire the beauty in their attack. They were everywhere. Our capitals fell in the first bombardment. The council lay in tatters as we were decimated. And we could do no other action than concede when they entered the council chamber claiming their rightful place at the top. There where no one left that could stop them. The words they uttered when they opened the proceedings shocked us to our cores. Even though we could see the warning every time we entered.
​
"We founded this council. We can always reclaim our place. Remember history". | It's been 50 years since we've come in contact with alien life forms. In that 50 years we've learned so much. We've piggybacked off of there space travel formula's and we've actually made a decent presence in the galactic scene. Nothing spectacular but at least they like our movies. It's actually very strange to me, they take the artist with the highest notoriety as the leader of the planet. So as the person with the highest view count on youtube, I guess that means I'm earth's ambassador. I'm not complaining. I usually just get to sit in big meetings with the most important people in the galaxy. I don't understand a lot of the things that are going on but today the meeting took a very interesting turn.
"What does earth really give us anyway? They're a bunch of babys sitting on tech we've provided them, and on more resources than they know what to do with. I move to Industrialize the planet for the Sirrians."
"Um... I don't know how well that would..."
"You know what, Dichotomas? I think you're right. We've let the earthlings into our inner circle, so I only feel that it's right to demand some recompense."
"hey guys, As an earthling I really think you should reconsider... i mean we go to war with each other over misconstrued facial features.... I don't think I could hold my planet back from fucking you guys up."
​
"Say that again? The interpreter didn't catch the word you said. It was right after reconsider... Oh look! Your planet is sending their fireworks into space to celebrate our contract!"
​
...sigh "I guess I'm collateral damage..." |
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