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Thank you for actually reading this bullshit lmao As a reward I'll give you a secret: I sleep with socks on

Apologies in advance, writing on mobile
Alright, this is a long shot, I know, but I’ve been wanting to watch this video for years now and I can’t find it.
Back before Lego Pirates of the Caribbean came out (May 2011), there was this 2 parter fan stop motion someone had made. It made use of Lego Pirates, Indiana Jones, Castle, and a custom ship (more later).
How before anyone says, no, it’s not Doug Vandegrift’s Lego Pirate movie (would highly recommend it, holds up really well nearly 12 years later!)
I’m going to try to describe the plot, and I’m sorry if they’re not great, going off memory here.
Part 1:
The first part has no voice acting, but not a silent film, uses sound effects, etc. It makes use of the native/indigenous sets being abandoned as 2/3 pirates look into them in search for the natives with no luck. They proceed to travel on the mainland in a arid/desert region and come across the Lego Castle Dwarves mine entrance, minus the medieval aspects. There, they find the natives captured by a mix of other natives and imperial soldiers with an Admiral/Governor type (think a blend between Governor Hacienda and Governor Tierney). They investigate, get spotted and run into the mine, as the other natives and Imperial soldiers pursue. The set then transforms into the Lego Indiana Jones Temple of Doom where they make their getaway successfully, however the main captain (using the Captain Brickbeard model) is captured and is taken away with the natives.
Part 2: This part has dialogue, but very little and will be mentioned. Brickbeard is taken by the Governor to his fortress, makes use of the Eldorado set but heavily modified with a dock/mole and barrackes, and is imprisoned along with the other natives. There’s a full garrison of imperial soldiers and several ships, including a custom made, 2/3 tier ship of the line with 2/3 masts used as the flagship. The Governor is essentially floating in his office without saying anything. However, Brickbeard’s comrades come after him with an armada of smaller ships and breaks Brickbeard out alongside the natives. It’s not a one sided fight by any means, the imperial soldiers killing there fair few pirates and natives. The Governor takes the ship of the line, and obliterates the main flagship of the pirates, killing one of the escapees from part 1 but the other (first mate?) escapes. Brickbeard, now freed, boards a buccaneer and boards the ship of the line, and duels with the Governor. He says something like “This is for my father” or something comparable to what Luke says in Episode 5 of Star Wars to Vader, showing a relationship between the two men and slays the Governor, think by beheading. Concentrated fire targets the flagship and it’s inevitable destroyed. Brickbeard and his first mate sail into the sunset with the natives, yet the final scene rests on the Governor’s hat washing to shore, always reminded me of the Master’s ring from Doctor Who season 3 finally. Once it comes ashore, it focuses on it for a few seconds and the part ends.
Reading this back, this is very ramshackle and the likelihood this animation still exists is minimal, but it’ll be good to hear if anyone remembers it, and the possibility it still exists keeps me going.
Thanks for reading!

Is This The Demovote?

Yes! We would like to thank everyone who voted in our DEMOVOTE which collected everyone's favorite demos. Just like our yearly Top Demo, EP, Split, Etc vote we do every year, the people who participate are fewer than our Top X votes. This is to be expected as someones favorite demos is more niche than favorite metal of any given year. This has given us an opportunity to do not only do a vote result but also make it as a primer on getting into demos. I would like to thank an_altar_of_plagues for not only writing up an intro for the questions "Why Demos?" but also making a separate primer for newcomers into the world of lofi madness. Use this as a way to advance your demo knowledge one space regardless of where you are.

Demo Dives and High Fives: A Shreddit Demo Primer

But Why Demos?

Love at First "BLEGH" (an_altar_of_plagues)

I avoided demos for a long time because I thought they were just poorly-recorded versions of tracks I could find on albums. Though I want to clown on my younger self for having such a FALSE and BURNED AND DIED opinion, it's an understandable thought. The lower fidelity of much of demo outside the mainstream bands is already a turn-off for many fans of music, and demos often amplify the ostensible loss of sound for something stereotyped as ephemeral "trveness". And when I want to listen to music, I want to listen to a lot of it - why turn on demos when so many of them are just a few minutes long anyway?
The first demo that had me think "hmm, there's something to this" was Abigor's Lux Devicta Est, released in 1993. At the time, I had exhausted all of Abigor's pre-reformation LPs, and I wanted more. With tentative steps I turned on the staticky opener to this demo, and from there the love affair was set. Demos became an avenue to explore not only a band's earlier or non-album material, but to learn more about broader scenes, influences, and msuic at-large. Over the last few years, exploring the depths of demos has become one of my primary music habits - I get a ton of love out of hearing bands puts ideas down on paper for no reason but the love of the craft. And when I think I've heard it all, there's always something weird and obfuscating that makes me excited all over again about my favorite genre of music.
Demos can be an intimidating area of metal to get into - but don't fret. The easiest way to start exploring demos is to look at the discographies of bands you already enjoy. Metallica, Darkthrone, and Morbid Angel are just three bands with important, influential, and just plain good-sounding demos for your pleasure. From there, check out bands' influences on the Metal Archives and see which names pop out. Lots of your favorite bands are as nerdy about metal as we are on this subreddit, and plenty of them are open about what's inspired them to make music.
Thanks for reading, and have an excellent time!

Mining For Ore (Kaptain Carbon)

When I started Tape Wyrm many years ago, I wanted to cover black and death metal demos that few people knew about. Part of this was the discovery process, so I could be the first one to tell someone else about a cool thing on the internet, but over time I enjoyed writing about bands that no one else was writing about. I also felt that negative reviews were mute anymore. That there was so much music, one could entirely immerse themselves in it and never have to write about things they didn't enjoy. Why spend time writing about a popular record you didn't like when there were 10 better ones no one has heard of? Moving from a music critic perspective to a music miner perspective was fun, since it also seemed like there was a culture of like-minded writers evolving into the space. So I began just listening to anything that was new and had a cool cover and developed my own compass on what would potentially be interesting. Though the landscape of music consumption has changed over the past decades, places like Bandcamp have become a field for anyone to interact with the music they want. With a small amount of gumption one could find things with little effort and be amazed almost daily.
There is a belief nearing a joke about demos being better than albums, as it captures the essence of a band before the inevitable commercialization of the sound. The strange thing is this idea could be as true as it could be false. Demos in earlier decades acted as demonstrations of talent, which were used as pitches for record contracts. For famous bands, demos were then released on compilation or box sets. When tape trading became a form of music dissemination, demos were passed around not only as potential projects that would yield future albums, but also as products themselves. Some of these demos would be from bands that would go on to be famous, while others were just from bands that would make these types of releases indefinitely. That means, while demos still exist today, they do not exist the same way they did in the past. There is no reason to have a demo for a record label, as that sort of relationship does not exist in the same way it did in the 70s and 80's. You make tapes for demos after you put your music on Bandcamp, Youtube, or Soundcloud and only if you have the financial means. Demos on tape today are a mark of established progress, which are sold to fans rather than given away to record labels. While the necessity of demos might have changed, the spiritual realm of the demo still exists as it did in past decades.
When you get into demos, and seeking out more of the same, you not only approach the entire history of music but its subterranean maintenance floor. You will be listening to lesser known releases from famous bands, as well as full releases from potentially unknown bands. You could be listening to releases by bands made in haste to pitch to record labels, or from bands who chose never to venture into larger production. For the band and its listeners, this realm of the demo is marked with a raw spirit that tries to chain it to a recorded release. It is a world where things are made in haste and with the intention to capture a moment in time. Listening and seeking out demos has given me a heavy metal hobby where my musical options has an almost infinite number of participants. It reminds me of the expanse of music where it is impossible to think there is nothing good coming out at any given time. There is a torrent of music and we cant possibly have the time to drink it all.

First Circle: Essential / Most Popular Demos of All Time

1. Rippikoulu - Musta Seremonia [Finland, Death/Doom] (1993) 14

Well, here it is. One of the most famous, if not the most famous death metal demo of all time comes from a Finland -- a place of seemingly eternal misery and poetry. When people talk Finnish death, Rippikoulu is mentioned alongside Demilich, Abhorrence, Demigod, and like three other entries in the below list. When people talk about Finnish death, they talk this 31 minute release. There is little else save for the first demo and most certainly not their 2014 EP. Musta Seremonia is an iconic release in the death/doom genre and made even more canonical with the 1798 painting The Vision of the White Horse by Philip James De Loutherbourg showing Death and Famine riding after the breaking of the first two seals in the end times. If you don't believe me look at the cover and listen to this part specifically for the wrestling entrance song for Death and Famine.

2. Poison - Into the Abyss [Germany, Death / Thrash] (1987) 13

Poison, despite having the same name as another more popular band, has an interesting backstory which is perhaps the fate of many bands of the same era. Poison's original 1987 demo led to the band being featured on a Roadrunner compilation which then led to a contract stipulation that they would accept no offers from other labels in a given time period. During that time, Poison dissolved thus ending an extremely short existence. Into the Abyss (1993) is a remastered release of the original 1987 demo and seems to be also celebrated by fans as being apart of a short tragic history of a band that never was. Perhaps this band would go onto do great things but this is a time when a demo is the only living artifact of a band that could have been.

3. Necrovore - Divus De Mortuus [US, Death] (1987) 13

Necrovore exists as two demos. This one and Demo 1988. Perhaps the most established thing about this band is the logo which seems to take up most of the visual real estate on the releases. Necrovore existed for 3 years and their members went on to do projects that were as obscure but less popular than Necrovore. This was a moment in time for this band and I honestly am baffled this exists. Texas in the 1980's does not seem like a time for a furious death / black band to exist let alone make a demo that has no right to being this good.

4. Damaar - Triumph Through Spears of Sacrilege [Lebanon, Black/ Death] (2007) 12

Damaar is perhaps one of the more recent additions in this list and this act comes with a couple of interesting bullet points or bullet belt points. The first is the band being from Lebanon and with some strong opinions on organized religion. The second is a sound that feels like machine gun fired in a small closet. Triumph Through Spears of Sacrilege is a furious explosion in the tradition of Revenge, Blasphemy, and any other band that wears bullet belts for fashion. This band is for a discerning fan who enjoys being steamrolled by sound.

5. Enslaved - Yggdrasill [Norway, Black] (1992) 10

This is interesting since you can listen to the new record from Enslaved in 2023 and then go back 31 years and see where it all started. If I were to imagine Enslaved I would picture some giant tree perhaps sacred in Norse Cosmology and this demo being at the very root before branching out into various worlds. If you are at all familiar with Enslaved's work you are aware they started in black metal before experimenting with progressive black and what I suspect is hallucinogens. This is before all of that and Yggdrasill sounds like the cover of a photocopied lightning bolt which adorns the cover. You also get an early example of dungeon synth / neoclassical with the track "Resound Of Gjallarhorn" which doesn't come with the catalyst until you run Grasp of Avarice.

6. Nirvana 2002 - Disembodied Spirits [Sweden, Death] (1990) 10

There is much lore surrounding this Swedish band and their name as the 2002 was supposedly added to not confuse themselves with the American band who just released their debut on SubPop. I am just confused why this Swedish band would make the change for another band that had yet to become established. Perhaps premonition? In any case we all know this band as "not that Nirvana" but if you are at all familiar with death metal, you know Nirvana 2002 spoken in the same sentence as Entombed, Dismember, and Nihilist. This is Swedish death metal that might not be as well known as the other band with the name but within the right community they are just as legendary.

7. Metallica - No Life 'Til Leather [US, Thrash] (1982) 9

We start to dive into the obscure acts now with a demo from a little known band that went onto produce nothing of note. Metallica demo is a prime example of demo turned album as all songs in the 1982 demo would appear on their 1983 debut (minus the lyric changes for The Mechanix) . No Life 'Til Leather was an example of the band shipping their sound to interested parties before being picked up by Megaforce Records one year later. For anyone interested in Metallica lore, this is the demo Mustaine played on before entering into a career about complaining about being in the band and giving ammunition to the one person who said Metallica died after Mustaine left (probably Mustaine himself).

8. Timeghoul - Tumultuous Travelings [US, Death] (1992) 9

I am not certain, but I feel everyone's first demo is from Timeghoul. I am almost positive. Timeghoul, for the longest time, existed only known to the few people who traveled in the catacombs of death metal demos and those who personally knew the band. This changed in 2012 with the release of the first two demos as a compilation from Dark Descent. Suddenly, everyone and their grandmothers knew about this death metal band (not really). It is hard not to understand why Timeghoul made such an impact as the band made protracted epics about science fiction and fantasy combining the lyrics with a sound which ripped the fabric of reality. I laugh still to this day that Timghoul perhaps has more attention and success now as an internet band than when they were a band for those few short years.

9. Stone Dagger - Stone Dagger [US, Heavy] (2013) 9

Oh cool, this must be one of those new heavy metal bands and in no way a mixture of bands that loop in traditional metal and near raw black metal. No. Stone Dagger might be easier to understand if you don't look at the members. Sure there are some easy connections like Magic Circle and Sumerlands. Then you have members who were also in the death doom act Innumerable Forms as well as others who were the lead in the black metal act Torture Chain. Also there is Pagan Altar thrown in there. The sound of Stone Dagger is not what you would expect from its members but few care since in that confusion lies a demo which is skilled and eternally impactful.

10. Tormentor - Anno Domini [Hungary, Black] (1989) 9

Do you know how many bands have the name Tormentor? I do. 21. Tormentor for the longest time existed as this Eastern European black metal band that made demos and a live album with misrepresented covers of Destruction songs as Bathory covers. (I do find it interesting that Destruction was that big of a deal for a band to be covering their song "Total Desaster" a few years later.) If any of the bands I just mentioned are of interest to you then Tormentor should be apart of your daily diet. Raw, unflinching, and a complete fucking mess, Tormentor lives to be a problem. Anno Domini is also noted for being listed as a demo despite it being 38 minutes long. I don't know what they were intending on doing with this outside of being exciting to internet dorks 30 years later.

11. Blasphemy - Blood Upon the Altar [Canada, Black / Death] (1989) 9

"Added to the second full-length Gods of War to compensate for the album's overly short running time." Alright what do we do this album is only 20 minutes? I don't know just put our demo on there who gives a fuck? Sometimes the complete lack of caring is charming for a band like Blasphemy. For anyone not familiar with the band you can honestly start at their albums or this one it doesn't matter as the production sounds like gravel and barbell drops after a sick deadlift. You either enjoy Blasphemy or you haven't been bullied to enjoy Blasphemy more.

12. Abhorrence - Vulgar Necrolatry [Finland, Death] (1990) 8

We are back in Finland which should be a place you visit if interested in death metal. Yeah, sure Sweden has its history but the true Sweden is Finland. Please don't DM me it was a joke. Abhorrence does not exist in full length form. Demos, EPs, Splits and compilations are the realm of this band and to be honest they could not be anywhere else. Something this gross and unhinged is best experienced in 15 minute terror sessions. Vulgar Necrolatry also has the pleasure of being entirely hand drawn for the cover and what it looks like done on a bumpy bus.

13. Morbid Angel - Thy Kingdom Come [US, Death] (1987) 7

Before the now famous release of Altars of Madness (1989), Morbid Angel would have four demos. Three of these would feature Mike Browning who was creating Nocturnus as the same time. Thy Kingdom Come does not have Browning rather Wayne Hartsell who was a member from 1986 to 1988 and only played on this demo. I do not know why and where Browning was at this time but I think I would have to read books to find out. Thy Kingdom Come, outside of the granular details, is one instance I prefer the muted sounds of the demo over the followup album. Morbid Angel is not lacking in energy, in any capacity though on Thy Kingdom Come, the death metal set in a blender sound feels more palatable on this early demo.

14. Hellhammer - Satanic Rites [Switzerland, Speed / Thrash / Black] (1983) 7

If Hellhammer has given us anything, It is demo and EP covers that go great on battlejackets. Satanic Rites (1983) and Apocolyptic Raids (1984) are the core of the Hellhammer universe and the place where most of these people with jackets travel to for pilgrimage. To know this band you should listen to both releases before moving onto Celtic Frost and inevitably sewing on a patch to your battle jacket. Its fine, they are cool and so are you.

15. At the Gates - Gardens of Grief [Sweden, Melodic Death] (1991) 7

"The band was called The Dwellers at the Gates of Silent Memory (named after a Fields of a Nephilim song) for about a week before the members decided to shorten it." What the fuck, am I just learning this now? That is how they shortened it? For anyone unfamiliar with the early work of At The Gates before their breakouts Terminal Spirit Disease (1994) and Slaughter of the Soul (1995), they were rougher death metal. This is also an instance where you are going to have to temper your expectation as the foundation which would bring them fame is still present in their demo and debut The Red in the Sky Is Ours (1992). Gardens of Grief is a moment in history everyone should be aware of and I do wish they didnt shorten their name as it sounds like a post rock band.

16. Timeghoul - Panaramic Twilight [US, Death] (1994) 6

Well this is awkward. I literally just talked about this band and said everything I wanted to. For anyone curious, the cover for this demo, which you probably have seen comes from the most famous of metal album cover designers Gustave Dore. This one in particular is from the 1845 illustration from Edgar Allen Poe's Raven. The illustration is called ", Death Depicted as the Grim Reaper on Top of the Moon" which I think is suitable for a band like Timeghoul. Again, Dore continues to be the greatest artist everyone steals from to make metal album covers.

17. Nihilist - Only Shreds Remain [Sweden, Death] (1989) 6

See, I'm just joking about Sweden. If you were looking for a timeline of this band it goes Brainwarp > Nihilist> Entombed. Nihilist only really existed for two years but judging by the way you see that logo almost everywhere and referenced in many places, you can assume they left a last impression. I am unsure which came first, the respect for Entombed or the discovery of Nihilist. Regardless of where it started everyone should be required to listen to at least the cursory works of Nihilist, Entombed, Unleashed, and Morbid which all make up this crusty web of Swedish death

18. Catacomb - In the Maze of Kadath [France, Death] (1993) 6

LISTEN TO THAT EARLY DUNGEON SYNTH INTRO! Okay, so up until two days from now, Catacomb exists as just this demo. Not to sday Morbid Attraction (1991) or The Lurker at the Threshold (1992) were not appreciated but In The Maze of Kadath is the one which brought this band enough underground success to last them 30 years. I might be wrong but I think the discovery of Catacomb happened after the invention of the internet as the label which released the original demo has In The Maze of Kadath as their only release. You can also buy one of of the copies from the manager.. Who knew Lovecraftian death metal would be so appreciated by people on the internet years later?

19. Whetstone - Ancient Metal [Germany, Heavy / Speed] (1988) 5

I don't know if this slaps despite the band picture or because of it.. Outside of this demo, some of the members went onto another heavy metal act called The Immortal before disbanding after two demos. "The band called their style "Ancient Metal". Okay, well that certainly didn't stick. How about heavy/speed similar to early Blind Guardian? Sounds great.

20. Death Strike - Fuckin' Death (1985) 5

The original Fuckin' Death demo would be turned into the first four tracks on Fuckin' Death (1991) released by Nuclear Blast. Again this is an example of a demo as proof of concept for an eventual album. They didn't even change the name. Fuckin' Death (1991) would eventually go onto to be the release everyone knows and its probably no due to the fact they are lounging on a car like some stoner rock band. It is almost as if this band doesnt give a fuck about anything and is using the ferocity of punk to fuel their death metal.

21. Hades - Alone Walkyng [Norway, Black / Viking] (1993) 5

"Jørn Inge Tunsberg was convicted for Åsane church arson on Christmas Eve of 1992 along with Varg Vikernes and spent 2 years in prison." Oh its one of those bands. I am sure Hades gained some sort of cult popularity due to the actions of one member which is kinda of a shame since the music contained in this demo is top notch. Far cleaner than what one would expect from an early early 90's Norwegian black demo which continues to add to the complexity of this release.

22. Sadistic Intent - Conflict Within [US, Death] (1989) 5

What the fuck is going on with this cover? One of the funniest things about Sadistic Intent is that in 2007 most of the band reformed Possessed and existed as Possessed for a few years. Sure why not? You have seen the logo for Sadistic Intent on a jacket and it is usually worn by the craziest looking person at the metal show. This should be taken as a warning since they are looking for the pit to form and to claim dominion on the upper echelons of the crowd. It is understandable because outside the spasms of manic hyper activity, this band throws some nasty riffs which are probably covered in bacteria.

23. Demigod - Unholy Domain [Finland, Death] (1991) 5

LISTEN TO THAT DUNGEON SYNTH INTRO. Holy shit now its Demigod! This is the best day ever! Seriously if you have never listened to Demigod before go listen to Slumber of Sullen Eyes (1992) and then when you are done listen to this demo. If you did step one, move to step two. I have a personal connection with Demigod as they are some of the few bands that make me stop what I'm doing to absorb riffs at my computer.

24. Treblinka - Crawling in Vomits [Sweden, Death / Black] (1988) 5

This sounds terrible but you know, it might have been apart of the grand design. Treblinka exists as one of those legacy bands you might see reformed for a one off show or maybe not since the members dont want anything to do with each other. Treblinka eventually turned into Tiamat and all members participated on the Sumerian Cry (1991) demo before all not doing that anymore. I am not going to recommend Crawling in Vomits as your first dive into demos or maybe I will because you know it could be apart of the whole design.

25. Emperor - Wrath of the Tyrant (1992) 5

LISTEN TO THAT DUNGEON SYNTH INTRO. Well, no wonder, Mortiis is on here. I am not going to get into the labyrinth of release differences between this demo as it exists in multiple versions, fake versions and compilations. Somewhere in Norway the band Emperor recorded their demo on "on bad equipment (4 tracker) during 8-9 & 11 May '92."You will most certainly come across Emperor in your heavy metal travels and this demo is less important in terms of the music than it is for its historical importance. This is also true since the Emperor (1993) EP was released a year later and has the now iconic (Also Dore) cover of Death on a Pale Horse.

Second Circle: More Niche Demos Worthy of Discovery

26 Lucifer's Hammer - The Burning Church (1994) 4
27 Virtue - We Stand to Fight (2013) 4
28 Worship - Last Tape Before Doomsday (1999) 4
29 Armoured Angel - Communion (1990) 4
30 Tomb Mold - The Bottomless Perdition (2016) 4
31 Pagan Altar - Pagan Altar (1982) 4
32 Iron Maiden - The Soundhouse Tapes (1979) 4
33 Demolition Hammer - Necrology (1989) 4
34 Baxaxaxa - Hellfire (1992) 4
35 Hellhammer - Triumph of Death (1983) 4
36 Bog Body - Through the Burial Bog (2018) 3
37 Xysma - Swarming of the Maggots (1989) 3
38 Paradise Lost - Frozen Illusion (1989) 3
39 Possessed - Death Metal (1984) 3
40 Nihilist - Premature Autopsy (1988) 3
41 Cromlech - ...And Darkness Fell (1996) 3
42 Varathron - Genesis of Apocryphal Desire (1990) 3
43 Vader - Morbid Reich (1990) 3
44 Morbid - December Moon (1987) 3
45 Destruction - Bestial Invasion of Hell (1984) 3
46 Sabbat - Sabbatical Demon (1990) 3
47 Paysage d'Hiver - Paysage d'Hiver (1999) 3
48 Mercyful Fate - Burning the Cross (1981) 3
49 Terminal Death - Faces of Death (1985) 2
50 Mefisto - The Puzzle (1986) 2
51 Angel Witch - 1978 Demo (1978) 2
52 Messiah in the Abyss - Noumenon (2022) 2
53 Spirit Possession - 2020 Demo (2020) 2
54 Megadeth - Last Rites (1984) 2
55 Apollo Ra - Ra Pariah (1989) 2
56 Sijjin - Angel of the Eastern Gate (2019) 2
57 Exorcist - Voices From the Graves (1987) 2
58 Törr - Witchhammer (1987) 2
59 Afterbirth - Psychopathic Embryotomy (1994) 2
60 Abhorer - Rumpus of the Undead (1989) 2
61 Mefisto - Megalomania (1986) 2
62 As Sahar - Meditation Embun Pagi (1995) 2
63 Slaughter Lord - Taste of Blood (1987) 2
64 Imprecation - Ceremony of the Nine Angles (1992) 2
65 Satan - Into the Fire (1982) 2
66 Sanctus - Thy Disciples (1982) 2
67 Bekëth Nexëhmü - De Svarta Riterna (2013) 2
68 Dark Tranquillity - Trail of Life Decayed (1991) 2
69 Moonsorrow - Tämä Ikuinen Talvi (1999) 2
70 Ethereal Shroud - AbsolutionEmptiness (2013) 2
71 Paysage d'Hiver - Steineiche(1998) 2
72 Deranged - Place of Torment (1989) 2
73 Arnaut Pavle - Arnaut Pavle (2013) 2
74 Rhinocervs - RH-07 (2011) 2
75 Paysage d'Hiver - Kristall & Isa (2000) 2
76 Crematory - Wrath From the Unknown (1991) 2
77 Hell - Hell (1982) 2
78 Twisted Tower Dire - Triumphing True Metal (1997) 2
79 Slaughter - Surrender or Die (1985) 2
80 Eucharist - Demo 1 (1992) 2
81 Cruciamentum - Convocation of Crawling Chaos (2009) 2
82 Dismember - Reborn in Blasphemy (1990) 2

Third Circle: Wow You Are Still Here? You Absolute Maniac

83 Valefar - Frigus Ex Tenebris Venit (1995) 1
84 Pan.Thy.Monium - .....Dawn (1990) 1
85 Morbid Fear - Darkest Age (1990) 1
86 Detonátor - Demo - 1990 (1990) 1
87 Armoured Angel - McMXCV Demo (1995) 1
88 Manowar - Demo '81 (1981) 1
89 Venom - Demon (1980) 1
90 Reversed - Promo 2022 (2022) 1
91 Kaldeket - Vitiate (2021) 1
92 Dripping Hörror - Waiting for the Drip (2020) 1
93 Pyre of Black Roses - Demo I (2021) 1
94 Hinthial - :𐌀𐌍𐌔𐌀𐌓: (2021) 1
95 Nona Decima Morta - Demo (2020) 1
96 Skorbvstr - Hanshi (2022) 1
97 Venymysgourvleydh - Subterranean Pyre (2021) 1
98 Dawn - Apparition (1993) 1
99 Impurity - The Impurity Temple (1989) 1
100 Merciless Death - Holocaust (1992) 1
101 Nuctemeron - The Unxpected (1988) 1
102 Interment - Where Death Will Increase (1991) 1
103 Imperator - Eternal Might (1988) 1
104 Slaughter - Bloody Karnage (1984) 1
105 Ljosazabojstwa - Staražytnaje Licha (2015) 1
106 Amon - Call the Master! (1992) 1
107 Fantom - Lucifer Jelenj Meg! (1987) 1
108 Slaugther Lord - Thrash 'Til Death 86-87 (2000) 1
109 Asgard - Cachtická Pani Hrabenka Bathory (1995) 1
110 Ripping Corpse - Death Warmed Over (1987) 1
111 Sorcerer - Sorcerer (1989) 1
112 Gorement - Obsequies... (1991) 1
113 Sentenced - Rotting Ways to Misery (1991) 1
114 Funebrarum - Triumphant Ascent (2000) 1
115 Bolt Thrower - Concession of Pain (1987) 1
116 Rottrevore - The Epitome of Pantalgia (1990) 1
117 Crematory - The Exordium (1990) 1
118 Mortify - The Calm Beyond... (1993) 1
119 Death - Death by Metal (1984) 1
120 Eructation - Demo #1 (1992) 1
121 Transgressor - Twisting Brochus (1990) 1
122 Sarcasm - A Touch of the Burning Red Sunset (1994) 1
123 Invocator - Alterations (1989) 1
124 Crucifix - Barriers (1992) 1
125 Adversary - Remains of an Art Forgotten (1991) 1
126 Agonized - Gods... (1991) 1
127 Ebwa - Savagery of Bawo (1998) 1
128 F.C.D.N. Tormentor - Demonic (1986) 1
129 Terrorizer - Nightmares (1987) 1
130 Jaguar - 6 Track Demo (1980) 1
131 Demon Bitch - Demon Bitch (2012) 1
132 Vixen - The Works (2004) 1
133 Eternal Champion - The Last King of Pictdom (2013) 1
134 Obscure Evil - Midnight Forces (2016) 1
135 Devil - Magister Mundi Xum (2010) 1
136 Ageless Wisdom - Demo '90 (1990) 1
137 Torture Chain - Mountains of Hate (2009) 1
138 Blitzkrieg - Demo Tape (1980) 1
139 Obsequiae - Obsequiae (2009) 1
140 Ras Algethi - Oblita Divinitas (1993) 1
141 Cosmic Church - Syysauringon Vihkimys (2012) 1
142 Fall of the Leafe - Storm of the Autumnfall (1996) 1
143 Mourning Beloveth - Autumnal Fires (1998) 1
144 Departure Chandelier - The Black Crest of Death, the Gold Wreath of War (2011) 1
145 Thergothon - Fhtagn-Nagh Yog-Sothoth (1991) 1
146 Tomb Mold - Cryptic Transmissions (2017) 1
147 Agalloch - From Which of This Oak (1997) 1
148 Behemoth - ...From the Pagan Vastlands (1994) 1
149 Blaspherian - Summoning of Infernal Hordes (2006) 1
150 Excarnated Entity - Stillborn in Ash (2019) 1
151 Mephitic Corpse - Immense Thickening Vomit (2019) 1
152 Total Isolation - Winfield (2019) 1
153 Rotted - Dying to Rot (2019) 1
154 Grotesque Infection - Consumption of Human Feces (1992) 1
155 Mortiferum - Altar of Decay (2017) 1
156 Cryptopsy - Ungentle Exhumation (1993) 1
157 Ares Kingdom - Ares Kingdom (1989) 1
158 Paysage D’hiver - Kerker (1999) 1
159 Xasthur - A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors (2001) 1
160 Darkthrone - Land of Frost (1988) 1
161 Spiral Staircase - S/T (2017) 1
162 Drowning the Light - Dark Winter Depression (2003) 1
163 Beherit - Demonomancy (1990) 1
164 Viridescent Funeral - Verdant Kingdoms (2022) 1
165 Svartidauði - Those Who Crawl and Slither Shall Again Inherit the Earth (2010) 1
166 Veitsi - Dignity & Honor (2022) 1
167 Otyg - Bergtagen (1995) 1
168 Isengard - Vandreren (1993/2022) 1
169 Tomhet - Purpureargotamiceps (2007) 1
170 Panphage - Nordlandets Dödsande (2011) 1
171 Arckanum - Trulen (1994) 1
172 Vlad Tepes - Dans Notre Chute... (1995) 1
173 Voivod - To the Death!... (1984) 1
174 Demilich - The Four Instructive Tales... Of Decomposition (1991) 1
175 Axeman - Arrive (2010) 1
176 Moonblood - Dusk Woerot (2002) 1
177 Baphomet - Children of Doom (1987) 1
178 Leviathan - Black Metal, White Devil (2002) 1
179 Nakkeknaekker - Krig (Demo) (2021) 1
180 The Suns Journey Through the Night - Demo II (2021) 1
181 Temple Ash - I (2018) 1
182 Paysage d'Hiver - Das Tor (2013) 1
183 Clairvoyance - Demo (2020) 1
184 Tomb Mold - The Moulting (2016) 1
185 Tomb Mold - Aperture of Body (2022) 1
186 Pendraig - Demo Tracks (2019-2020) (2021) 1
187 Ekranoplan - Demo (2018) 1
188 Sedimentim - Demo (2019) 1
189 Xatatax - Demo 2014 (2014) 1
190 Ethereal Shroid - Lanterns (2020) 1
191 War Cry - Trilogy of Terror (1983) 1
192 Hirax - Demo 1984 (1984) 1
193 Zemial - Necrolatry (1997) 1
194 Sindrome - Into the Halls of Extermination (1987) 1
195 Satan - The First Demo (1981) 1
196 Witchslayer - '83 Demo (1983) 1
197 Frigid Bich - Demo (1984) 1
198 Fatal Agent - Demo-Lition(2017) 1
199 Virtue - Fools Gold(1987) 1
200 Cryptic - Cryptic '89(1989) 1
201 Aspiration - Visions of Reality(1993) 1
202 …and Oceans - Mare Liberum(1998) 1
203 Glacier - Ready for Battle(1984) 1
204 Coroner - Death Cult(1986) 1
205 Belial - Gods of the Pit(1991) 1
206 Mutilated - Psychodeath Lunatics(1988) 1
207 Nomicon - De Rerum Natura(1992) 1
208 Sacro - Yo Voy a Pelear (1986) 1
209 Communion - Black Metal Dagger Demo Rehearsal (2015) 1
210 Chastain - Demo '84 (1984) 1
211 Storm Queen - Demo 1 - The BBC Studio Sessions (1980) 1
212 Deep Machine - Demo '80 (1980) 1
213 White Medal - Yorkshire Steel (2012) 1
214 Satan's Blade - Curse of the Blade (2015) 1
215 Cirith Ungol - Cirith Ungol (1979) 1
216 Jonah Quizz - Demo 1980 (1980) 1
217 Slayer - Demo (1982) 1
218 Predatory Light - MMXIV (2014) 1
219 Syöpä - Beneath Lucifer's Eye (2005) 1
220 Thresher - Totally Possessed (1989) 1
221 Trouble - 1983 Demo (1983) 1
222 Trouble - 1982 Demo (1982) 1
223 Antestor - Kongsblod (1987) 1
224 Apostle - Apostle (1984) 1
225 Cross - Metal From Above (1987) 1
226 Septicflesh - Forgotten Path (1991) 1
227 Fatal - Soul Burns (1989) 1
228 Amorphis - Disment of Soul (1991) 1
229 Kostnateni - Konec Je Vsude (2018) 1
230 Borrowed Time - Demo 2010 (2010) 1
231 Goatlord - Sodomize the Goat (1988) 1
232 Primitive Warfare - Primitive Warfare (2019) 1
233 Carcass - Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment (1987) 1
234 Mütiilation - Black Imperial Blood (Travel) (1994) 1
235 Reclusiam - Reclusiam (2004) 1
236 Sentenced - Journey to Pohjola (1992) 1
237 Cathedral - In Memorium (1990) 1
238 Evoken - Shades of Night Descending (1994) 1
239 Repulsion - Slaughter of the Innocent (1986) 1
240 Avernus - Sadness (1994) 1
241 Katatonia - Jhva Elohim Meth (1992) 1
242 Vektor - Hunger for Violence (2007) 1
243 Mournful Congregation - An Epic Dream of Desire (1995) 1
244 Entombed - But Life Goes on (1989) 1
245 Darkthrone - Cromlech (1989) 1
246 Reputdeath - Dissecting Goryfication (2022) 1
247 Encumber - Silent Witness of Past (1998) 1
248 Gates of Ishtar - Seasons of Frost (1995) 1
249 Cyanotic - The Chasm Within (1992) 1
250 Ablaze My Sorrow - Ablaze My Sorrow (1995) 1
251 Centinex - Under the Blackened Sky (1993) 1
252 Dismember - Last Blasphemies (1989) 1
253 Mork Gryning - Demo '94 (1994) 1
254 Glacier - Demo Tape (1988) 1
255 My Dying Bride - Towards the Sinister (1991) 1
256 Nuclear Winter - Abomination Virginborn (2003) 1
257 Amon - Sacrificial (1989) 1
258 Cynic - Demo (1991) 1
259 Arcane Necrosis - Arcane Necrosis (2006) 1
260 Grand Belial's Key - Goat of a Thousand Young (1992) 1
261 Gontyna Kry - Welowie (1997) 1
262 Graveland - The Celtic Winter (1994) 1
263 Vlad Tepes - War Funeral March (1994) 1
264 Marduk - Fuck Me Jesus (1991) 1
265 Black Crucifixioin - The Fallen One of Flames (1995) 1
266 Moonblood - The Winter Falls Over the Land (1995) 1
267 Poison - Bestial Death (1985) 1
268 Powervice - Behold the Hand of Glory (2005) 1
269 Mütiilation - Destroy Your Life for Satan (2008) 1
270 Nokturnal Mortum - Lunar Poetry (1996) 1
271 Funebre - Demo '90 (1990) 1
272 Rotting Christ - Satanas Tedeum (1989) 1
273 Vader - Necrolust (1989) 1
274 Desaster - Lost in the Ages (1994) 1 275 Death - Mutilation (1986) 1
276 Thou Art Lord - The Cult of the Horned One (1993) 1
277 Primordial - Dark Romanticism... Sorrow's Bitter Harvest... (1993) 1
278 Endlichkeit - Endlichkeit IX (2015) 1
279 Paysage d'Hiver - Schattengang (1998) 1
280 Endlichkeit - Endlichkeit VI-VIII (2014) 1
281 Untitled - Untitled 1
282 Helloween - Death Metal Demo (1984) 1
283 Dream Theater - The ATCO Demos (2002) 1
284 Stormbringer - Stealer of Souls (1993) 1
285 Elfspell - The River Giant Rises (2016) 1
286 Firestorm - Siege by Fire (1999) 1
287 Tabernacle - Terror in Thrace (2021) 1
288 Sauron - Demo (1984) 1
289 The Mob - Demo (1982) 1
290 Moonshade - Lost in a Nightmare (1998) 1
291 Thundercross - Land of Immortals (1994) 1
292 Solar Temple - Rays of Brilliance (2017) 1
293 Nimbifer - Demo I (2019) 1
294 Intestine Baalism - The Energumenus (1995) 1
295 Vothana - Vua Quang Trung - Demo IV - (2006) 1
296 420 - Reality (1998) 1
297 Vlad Tepes - Celtic Poetry (1994) 1
298 Blood Spill - Demo (1988) 1
299 Aeon - Clean Hand of the Eternal Gods (1995) 1
300 Vaktal - Vitriolic Revolt (2021) 1
301 Benighted - World of Nothingness (2001) 1
302 Winter Bestowed - Within My Labyrinthine Heart (2001) 1
303 Deaf Auditorium - Season of Evil (2002) 1

TL;DR - In your opinion - would swapping my Champion 100 for a Princeton Tonemaster be a good idea? What are your general thoughts on them?
Hello! I've got a relatively simple one for you guys that I'd like some input on. I've got a Fender Champion 100 that I've had for a while and it's honestly serving me very well. I'm a gear nerd that often spends more time researching and listening to equipment than playing, and I'm definitely an amateur player(I wouldn't even call myself intermediate yet at this point). I play because I enjoy the nice sounds, and as much as I'd love to maybe play with others in the future, I've got a very long way to go before I can keep up with actual musicians.
That being said, I've been eyeballing the Fender Princeton Tonemaster for a while, and I really want one. I like my current amp, but I can barely touch the knobs without it being so loud it annoys my neighbors, and that would very easily be solved with the PTM's built-in attenuator. The one thing that it doesn't have that the Champ100 does is the effects loop, and aux input both of which I rarely use. I'm only looking to keep one machine at my place because I have very limited space and I'm trying to stop being a gear hoarder.
I know that people have talked about the fact that due to the Tonemasters being 100% digital amps, once the time for a repair comes, it's entirely possible that it would need replacement. The PTM is only around a year old at this point, so it hasn't reached the end of it's 2 year warranty period, and I haven't seen a lot of people talk about needing theirs repaired - but I know it's still a potential issue over getting the tube version and knowing it can be fixed. I would already be having that problem with my Champ100 eventually, so that's not something on my radar right now. I would definitely be happy to have a lighter and more portable amp, if absolutely nothing else.

So I had a CXA61 amp driving my LS50 metas and KC62 woofer. I'm using this system on my desktop both for music and for general audio output from my computer.
The Bluetooth module died in the CXA61 after an update to MacOS Ventura, I spoke to Cambridge Audio and it's a known issue with no fix as of yet so they offered to let me return the amp as bluetooth was critical to my setup.
Did some research and bought the Lyngdorf TDAI-1120 with some gritted teeth, I already spent more than I consider to be reasonable on the rest of the setup and this was just an amp.
Holy Bass integration Batman, I really struggled with this previously, I couldn't get my woofer to sound great across music and spoken content (youtube, video calls, etc) and I could kind of make it sound omnipresent but not really, I just assumed that was how it had to be. Suddenly with the Lyngdorf, after plugging in 0.5ms delay and running room perfect I'm not even aware my woofer exists, I can hear the effect of it but it just sounds like my speakers go deep.
Secondly RoomPerfect is incredible, if I bypass it it sounds like I'm listening to music in a fish tank compared to when its on, everything is so clean, if I up the bass (I like a bit of a bass) it sounds so natural and clean instead of boomy. I loved the soundstage on these LS50s but it was a bit narrow at my desk, slight head movements could throw it off, with RoomPerfect on this no longer happens.
Lastly it just works and what I love most is I never need to touch the amp, the device I want to send audio from automatically switches it and chromecast etc sounds so much better than bluetooth just for the simple fact it's bypassing my computer's own gain controls. It comes out of standby on its own (this annoyed the hell out of me every 15 minutes on the CXA61). It's tiny and it cleared out my whole shelf of amp, phono-stage and sonos connect (I no longer care to use this with the WIFI options on the Lyngdorf). If I want to make a manual change I just do it in my browser but thats few and far between.
Anyway I needed to rant to someone because my partner is sick of hearing about it.

Let me start by saying I’m breaching contract by sharing this. If the company’s lookouts link this post to me – which they will – I’ll be disgraced, and any chance at getting a job in this profession again will be out of the picture. I have the common sense to keep my name unknown, but all that’s gonna do is slow them down.
Keeping this hidden would be a crime against humanity of the highest order. You all deserve to know, as terrible as it is.
I work at an unnamed technological research company as, you guessed it, a researcher. In recent years, we’ve made astonishing advancements in developing technology that can interact with and harness tachyons.
Tachyons are particles that travel faster than light; that’s the most important part. They’ve been a subject of theoretical physics since the late 60s, but as far as public knowledge goes, they’re still just that. Theoretical.
But they are most certainly real. Well, not “tachyons” per se, though their behaviour is equatable. I won’t bore you with the technicalities, but the result of a particle travelling faster than light is that said particle is able to, effectively, travel backwards in time.
My other group members and I have been experimenting with these particles for the best part of two years now. We’ve made major advances, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
Yesterday, 23/03/2023, at 09:07 am, my equipment detected a tachyon signal. This was in the morning, mind you, and no tests had yet been carried out. From what I can tell, this signal originated – or, rather, will originate – from elsewhere.
Playing it out loud, it at first just sounded like a garbled mess of frequencies. But after observing the audio structure, I found it to be made up of thousands of tones, of which there were only two types – long, and short.
The realisation hit pretty quick. It was Morse code, or, at least, it could be interpreted as such. The most fundamental form of digital communication known to man. So, I ran it through an auto-interpreter a few times, and got a fully coherent message.
I refuse to believe that I’m seeing patterns where there are none. The chances are so astronomically low that I can’t feasibly consider it to be a random signal, especially considering I’ve never received one from somewhere outside the lab.
I’m going to copy over the translation here. I do not wish to instil panic, but please, spread this post. People need to be aware that this is a real possibility.
To whomever is reading this, prepare yourself.
Here it is.
[TRANSCRIPT BEGIN]
Hi.
My name is Tim Hermelle. Before I write down this account, I should insist that this is the truth. This is happening to us all right now. This is not a joke, prank, or an interactive project.
This is the truth. You HAVE to believe what you are about to read, for our sakes.
Okay, with that out of the way… shit, it’s getting closer. I’ll write down what I can before we’re pulled back to the city, to join the others. I hope enough context is given in my account for you to fully understand.
I live - lived - in the great city of Pharades (that’s Pha-ra-dees). The utopia of humanity’s future. Life was amazing. Every aspect brought joy and satisfaction to every person. No hunger, thirst, no overpopulation, pollution… a Nirvana if there ever was. The level of advancement may be difficult for some of you to believe
Work was optional, and automatons would fill the spaces left by those choosing to pursue their own personal dreams. Even so, a large number of people here still choose to have jobs, vocations I suppose. Healthcare was unparalleled, and not one person has died during my time here.
Everything major was decided by a vote. It was the perfect democratic system, but I’m no politician, so I wouldn’t be able to explain to you why that is.
Hell, we even had a collective vote to decide the next week’s weather every Sunday. That’s right, we’d taken control of the weather. Want to splash around in puddles, smelling the petrichor? Maybe get a tan on? You’d just have to go and vote for it.
Pharades was, without hyperbole, fucking beautiful. In between the city blocks, there were great swathes of woodland and meadows. Crystal rivers flowed underneath silver bridges, and leaves of every colour painted the landscape like polka dots.
And the city itself, well, they say nature trumps anything manmade in terms of beauty, but I disagree. The intricately designed towers were accented by all the most complementary colours, gold, chrome, red, blue, any combination you could imagine, it was here. Arches, spirals, and patterns of every variety adorned the structures.
The day in question was a Wednesday – not that days of the week held any particular significance anymore. I’d planned to meet with two of my buddies, Erin and Tuan, at our favourite coffee shop a couple of districts over, in the Wantania area.
Historically, the journey may have been arduous, or frustrating. Not now. Most people didn’t even use vehicles anymore – instead, the city had built a vast underground network of ever-shifting and rearranging tracks, called “Tubyrinth”. Each person owned a personal pod of sorts, customisable to any degree.
I input Wantania Central, and hopped inside. My pod contained a sofa and a minifridge, stocked up with my favourite drinks. The journey was always snappy. Each time, the underground superstructure would arrange a new and unique track to be used, direct to a reserved bay.
Just fifteen minutes later, I was stood under the vaulted, ornamental expanse of the station roof, a hundred or so feet above. I always stopped here to just stare upwards for a moment, absorbing the imaginative architecture.
After exiting the station, I was surprised to see that both Erin and Tuan were already waiting for me outside. The good kind of surprised, that slaps a goofy smile onto your face.
“Took you long enough!” Tuan chuckled, finding the irony in his own words hilarious.
“God, I know right?” added Erin, “I was worried I’d need crutches after standing out here waiting!”
“Well, heh, you’re not gonna like this next part,” I joked, and we set off down the street, laughing. Our favourite café was called “Beansmith’s Forge”. It was a cheesy, but endearing name, and the theme fit the three of us like a glove; as I said before, we’d been working on worldbuilding for our fantasy RPG, an immersive neurolink VR experience, where the player could design their own character and have a unique questline auto-generated out of a complex system.
We ordered brunch, and, of course, coffee. I won’t get into the details of our talks, but we quickly finished up, paid, and set off down Gerben Street.
The more exciting event of the day was our session booked at the aptly named Noji Box, something you could call an “anti-grav playground”. Admittedly, I’ve never fully known how it works, just that it involves paired wormholes, immensely powerful electromagnets, and a huge vacuum-chamber.
One thing I was always grateful for was that the automatons, who I saw working robotically through storefront windows, were withheld any accurate human likeness – I’m sure you’ve heard of the uncanny valley, so you’ll know what I mean. They fell just short of it.
All was calm on the walk, as to be expected. We made it to the Noji Box in good time, ten minutes before our session booking. I get it’s company policy to take everyone through the safety basics, but it was admittedly a little boring after many, many past visits.
The only real requirement was that you’d have to wear an “osteopatic suit”. No, osteostatic? Something about keeping your bones from floating away from each other, or from disappearing over time.
We were suited up, ready to enter “S.S. Slamdown”, when a sudden tremor shook the building’s foundations. Everyone shared the same puzzled expression – not once had something like that ever happened in Pharades.
The staff looked a bit stumped at first. I guess they never had to deal with a situation like this in the past. To our dismay, but unsurprisingly, our session was cancelled, and we were told that they would call us later to sort out a re-booking.
I had the strangest feeling when we left and began back down the road. Something similar to déjà vu, but not quite. Like nostalgia, but without the accompanying feeling of reminiscence or joy.
Trying to brush it off, I distracted my mind by humming a tune. I didn’t know what it was from, at the time, but I knew it was a stringed melody. A violin? Thing is, I wasn’t really humming it as much as hearing it in my head.
We rounded a corner, and Erin paused in surprise.
“Oh, that’s… hey, that’s Jeremiah! He’s been playing that fiddle the street over from mine for the past, what, two weeks? Come on, let’s go listen.”
I grew confused when we approached, only to hear the exact same melody that had just been looping in my head. Before I’d heard this guy playing. I don’t remember stumbling upon this particular street performer before this point.
We stood listening for a few minutes, then continued our walk. Thoughts no longer infested with that tune, I was hit with what I can only describe as a taste. The savoury taste of something on my tongue, complete with mustard and relish. Meat of some kind?
The concern started to flourish when we came upon a food truck, and Tuan asked if we were hungry. Sure, we’d just eaten at the coffee shop, but I could fit in one more tasty bite. He offered to pay, which we gladly accepted, and he returned with… hotdogs. With mustard. And relish.
My gratitude masked the ever-growing confusion within me. Was this just a weird coincidence, or something else? Did I know we were going to get hotdogs?
We wound up back at the station, where a feeling of detached sorrow welled up inside me, something you might feel after recalling a bad memory from which you’ve since recovered. I understood then that I would run into my on-good-terms ex inside. But, before we could enter, another rumbling tremor swept across the street, followed by the clamour of destruction and screams from inside.
A grey dust cloud plumed out from the entrance, sweeping us off of our feet. I saw Erin flipped face-first into the pavement, just as I caught my heel on the base of a stop sign. Yet another quake boomed underneath the asphalt.
The asphalt I was falling down onto… but the impact didn’t come. Instead of a hard surface, the sensation of falling went on. You know that feeling when you think there’s another step at the bottom of the stairs, only to find the floor instead? It was just like that.
The ground I fell upon wasn’t asphalt. It rang out as I collided, almost hollow-sounding. Metallic. Maybe it was just my head ringing, but without a doubt, I was not in the street anymore.
I sat up, and my palms confirmed I was on a metal floor, the kind with those diamond-shaped grips. Looking around almost caused a complete sensory overload, immediately. A multitude of flashing lights, screens, wires, buttons, and all sorts decorated the room. It looked not far off from the control room of an intelligence agency – at least, how they’re depicted in movies.
I got onto one knee and pivoted to look around. The tall man standing directly behind me almost led to a second fall, but instead I scooted backward frantically at the sight.
The man – well, I say “man”, but this person didn’t really have any distinguishing features. They were wearing a spotless black and white cloak of some kind, and a metal cage covering the upper half of their face, so that only their mouth was visible.
They stood still, not reacting to my show of surprise, then spoke in the most androgynous voice conceivable.
“How did you get in here?”
I scanned the room, finding that there were no obvious entrances anywhere around, like we were inside a closed-off box.
“I- uh, I fell over, a-and next thing I know – here,” I stuttered.
“Well, you shouldn’t be here, and there’s no way that you should be able to get here.”
I stood up, feeling a little more comfortable in the presence of this stranger, though not letting my guard down entirely. Now, I could see the pictures displayed across the screens – they seemed to be feeds of countless locations in Pharades, streets, woodlands, you name it.
“What… what the hell’s going on here? Who are you? Why are you spying on the city?”
The stranger didn’t seem amused, being pelted with questions, and held up a hand, gesturing me to stop. They let out a deep, held breath.
“Well, since you’re here, I may as well enlighten you. Take a seat.”
So I did. I sat in shock and disbelief for the next five minutes as the person answered all my questions, even the ones I didn’t know I wanted to ask. They introduced themselves simply as “Administrator”, but I chose “Admin”, to avoid the mouthful.
Admin proceeded to tell me the truth, as casually as one would talk about the weather.
It wasn’t real.
A simulation.
They told me we were inside a highly advanced, self-sustaining, supercomputer pod travelling through deep space, harvesting energy from ions extracted from the surrounding vacuum. Over a hundred trillion years ago, those living here now consented in having their consciousness imported to the device.
On top of the ion harvesting, power was supposedly generated from emotions experienced by a consciousness – the more intense an emotion or feeling, the more power generated.
I interrupted the monologue at this point with a question they hadn’t seemed to consider,
“Let’s say I believe what you’re saying. If this system’s been up for as long as you say, why did I only just have my 29th birthday, what, two months back now?”
“I understand your concern, but allow me to continue. Every 50 years, it is reset. All your memories are wiped and locked away until the moments when you would again make those memories. There are only a set number of people who were uploaded to the system, and their minds cannot simply be deleted if they were to die.”
Not only a simulation, but an endless loop? My brain felt like it might burst.
“Wait,” I said, “if we’re reset every time, and everything plays out the same… then, we can’t possibly have any free will of our own, right?”
“I suppose you could say that. But the illusion we, I, have worked tirelessly to maintain, gives the impression that you do.”
“Wh… what? So, the original me signed up for this? But I’m not him! I’m a copy, aren’t I? Do I have a choice in this?”
“There is no way for me to erase any person that lives here. Only if the pod itself is damaged or destroyed, can I, or anyone else, truly die. The Great Stellar Extinction has come and gone, and all that remains outside is cold, and dark. A handful of black and brown dwarves, and black holes. To my knowledge.”
The sudden feeling of intense, hollow loneliness filled up my chest. We were alone in a great black sea of nothingness. My slack jaw must have told Admin I didn’t have the capacity to speak.
“Over time, I have lost contact with the hundreds of thousands of other pods that were ejected from Earth all that time ago. Either they are too far now, or they met a destructive end. I can’t say which is the better, anymore.”
Absorbing the sudden truth, the emptiness evolved into anger.
“Let me get this straight. We, living our lives down there, are puppets to you? Is that it? Just an endless cycle of digital paradise, kept in the dark of all you’ve just told me? How can you possibly justify this?!”
“Calm down. Having your memories wiped is a luxury I cannot afford. Anyway, that’s only the preface of what I need to talk about. I’m sure you also noticed the tremors, down there?”
“The tremors? Oh, oh yeah. Sort of ruined my plans, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
“I didn’t do anything. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Whatever the cause, it’s not within this pod.”
I took it all in. A system malfunction? Why did the Admin feel the need to share this with me?
“Is… is that why, maybe, that I could predict some of the things that happened afterwards?”
“It’s worse than I thought. The memory suppression seems to be failing.”
Both of us paused for a moment. The silence was deafening.
“I’ve been taking readings on the external sensors. There’s… something out there. An object. It’s been following us for a while now, but with no starlight left, I don’t know what it is. Space debris couldn’t move on its own accord like this thing is.”
“What are you trying to say?” I sputtered, the dread I felt deepening by the second.
“I’m saying that something has found us.”
My blood ran cold. Found us? What could have found us?
“Didn’t you say all the stars are dead? The universe is just darkness now. What could have found us? What?”
“I wish I had the answers, too. I don’t think we’re safe anymore. The most recent readings imply that whatever it is, it’s latched onto the pod somehow. Possibly-“
Admin was cut off by the loud screech of static from the speakers around the room. Their head shot up to the nearest corner in a manner that set me on a knife’s edge.
The tremors returned with a vengeance now, and the both of us were sent sprawling onto the floor. I didn’t fall through it this time, though. Sparks flew and monitors went offline.
I was about to ask what we should do, when the roaring static settled, and something else started to play.
An innocent, childlike giggle. Gurgled coos, infantile squeals of joy that pierced my eardrums like needles and left them ringing. Remembering the sounds that came from those speakers make my insides twist and yearn to escape my body, knowing what came next.
The laughter grew, and so did the tremors. The room started to collapse, wires and boxes raining down upon us. Well, not really collapse, no, but change. The far wall crumpled, like something on the other side assailed it with forceful impacts, and the room began to shrink.
As if that dark place wasn’t claustrophobic enough, the ceiling, walls, everything began to close in on us. All the while, the childlike giggling only grew in joy. I thought we were to be crushed and snapped by the pressure, when we were abruptly freed.
It had happened again. Pushed through the floor and spat out somewhere else. This time, I – we – found ourselves near a paved road leading out of one of the city blocks, into a green meadow which gave way to trees a ways down.
Something was terribly wrong. Only after brushing myself off and standing up did I become aware of the swirling darkness that replaced the once baby-blue sky, with its cotton candy clouds. A heavy and unsettling calm had fallen upon us, dampening the city’s brilliance. No more did sunlight gleam off the ornate spires and arches, replaced by a still, hanging shadow.
The eerie quiet was shattered by that godforsaken crackling, booming across the landscape, despite not a speaker in sight, again followed by those ill-belonging coos and cries. Accompanying the infantile sputtering came an uproar of cracking and crumbling, great impacts from deep within the city’s heart.
Both Admin and I stared in disbelief as distant buildings sunk into the ground, while others twisted and warped their way into the sky, as if made from soft clay. Some just disappeared entirely, leaving not a shred of evidence behind that they had ever been there, while their former inhabitants plunged from storeys above.
“It’s taken my place.”
Those four unprompted words shook me to the core of my being. The god of this world had been usurped.
“But why?” I found myself asking, “with what motive?”
Admin went to reply, but stopped upon seeing the great, pinkish masses floating up out of the streets, far ahead. We stared in bewilderment, trying to make out what they were. The chorus of screams hurried us to the realisation that the balls were… they were made of people.
Agonised, howling faces littered the fleshy abominations, while more objects rose around them. Structural beams, signposts, metal objects of every kind gravitated toward the amalgams of humanity, before their relentless assaults began.
Ripping, tearing, stabbing, slicing… it was already too much for my mind to comprehend. It garnered no reaction from myself other than stunned shock. Flesh and blood spewed from the masses, and orbited around them like the rings of Saturn, falling back in to haphazardly patch themselves back onto the wailing people.
My thoughtless attention was redirected as a frantic deluge of citizens fled the city, running down the street towards us. One by one, the exodus was halted, people seeming to stop in place abruptly, though the screams did not relent.
I couldn’t see what had stopped them until the crowd drew closer, where I saw an elderly man whip forward, foot stuck fast, instantly snapping his knee from the momentum. He let out a heart-wrenching cry as he fell down and looked to see what had stopped him.
Something that looked like roots, water pipes maybe, had erupted through the tarmac and coiled their way up his leg. I could see the strength draining in his eyes as they stood him back upright by force, wrapping around his entire body.
I watched in abject horror as he was raised off the ground, and each and every one of the old man’s limbs were bent and snapped at unnatural angles, shattering frail bones into dust.
His feeble cries were promptly silenced as a squirming metal tube forced its way inside his mouth, his eyes rolling back in unfathomable agony as the bulging mass forced its way down his throat, splitting his ribcage apart and allowing the organs within to slop out and float in the air, as if weightless. The whole process seemed to reverse itself in time, then repeat, over and over.
I could only hear the echoes of Admin’s shouts and the faint sensation of their grip on my forearm as they pulled me away from the mind-bending atrocity. My vacant body tumbled backward, sending both of us falling onto the grass.
Still I could only sit there, frozen. Somewhere off to the right, I saw a young woman pulling presumably her daughter along by the wrist, fleeing the hellscape of flesh and bone down a small alley. Her head spun wildly as she noticed the walls of the alleyway closing in around them.
She burst out into the open, but was yanked back, her grip fast. She turned in desperation, only to see her daughter, who couldn’t have been more than seven, being slowly crushed into a paste of bloody flesh and yellow fat. Her pitiful screams still ring in my ears, seeing her child suffer such a terrible fate.
Admin was finally triumphant in breaking my trance, and I rushed to my feet, stumbling before gaining my footing and bolting the fuck out of there. The childish giggling echoing out over the sky only served to push me forwards and away from that place.
“What the fuck is going on?!” I yelped, glancing over to Admin, hoping they could offer just the slightest of explanations.
“I have an idea, but we need to get somewhere first. You see that hill through the woods, right over there?”
“Hill? To the observatory?”
“There’s one last thing we can try to stop this. It’s a shot in the dark, but I can’t just stand here and fade away with the rest.”
High speed winds whipped the trees as we ran below them, leaves fluttering in a wild seizure. Air-splitting cracks sounded, so loud my ears began to ring once more, and I looked over my shoulder to see what they could have been.
Blazing spouts of fire shot down from the clouds behind, more akin to lightning than anything, striking the forsaken with white-hot temperatures. Even from a distance, I could see skin and flesh melt off of bones like candle wax, forming spiralling clouds of organic vapour.
In my distraction, I ran straight into a tree, and tumbled over, blood leaking from a small cut on my forehead. Admin skidded to a stop and pulled me up to my feet, and ran onwards, not waiting for a moment to ask if I was okay.
Neither of us were okay. That was a given now.
We reached the top of the hill without too much effort – seems it was programmed for everyone to have an above-average level of fitness, young or old regardless.
Admin frantically, but methodically, sifted through what appeared to be a large hoop of keys, searching for the one to fit the observatory’s door. I looked back over to where we had fled from.
The twisted buildings coiled toward the sky, gargantuan talons holding captive everyone I’d ever known. But there was something else. Far behind the city, in the distant hills and woodland, a great black wave that spanned the horizon was travelling towards us, eviscerating the world itself. All it left behind was an endless chasm of darkness, defying reality itself.
The tsunami came closer, before stopping at the city’s outskirts, leaving only a towering earthen spire of suffering, flaming bolts cracking down upon it.
“Admin, what is going on?!”
They paused for a moment, then continued working on the several locks barring our entry.
“Do you remember what I told you earlier, when you found me? How this system is able to keep on running, over the trillions of years?”
“…ions?”
“Yes, but that’s only the basis. I told you that emotional activity generates power, yes? The more intense an emotion, the more power generated?”
“What are you getting at?”
“This is pure theory, but I believe that whatever is out there is feeding off of the system.”
“Is that why all that was happening? The-“
I stifled a gag, recalling the horrors fresh in my memory.
“Again, it’s a theory. I don’t understand what it is. If the constraints of the universe are loose enough for something to evolve in its endless darkness, to predate on the last sources of energy within it… I don’t know. And I doubt we ever will.”
I stared out at the hellscape, speechless. Finally, Admin found the right key, yanked the door open, and pulled me inside by the arm.
“Hey!” Admin yelled, snapping their fingers, “I need you to be present for this. I am restricted in this world, I can’t break and reform things like you can. A failsafe, for if the power were to go to my head. Follow my instructions exactly.”
They told me how to break apart some of the technology in the observatory, and rewire it into a different machine. I had no idea what we were creating at the time, but complied nonetheless.
The finished product was a makeshift beacon of some kind, connected to the nearby terminal.
“Thank you. Now, type.”
“Type what?”
“Everything that has happened. Add as many details as you can, because we won’t have another chance to get this out there.”
“O-okay, what is this thing? A radio?”
“In a way. The observatory is one of the only places here that has a connection to the outside. I have used it more than once to observe the universe fading away. This setup will send our transmission as a unique, superluminal type of wave. Hurry, we can’t waste time chatting about this.”
And so, here we are. I don’t know who will be hearing this, if anyone at all.
I beg of you, consider how our advancements might be our downfall.
It’s almost here. I can hear the flaming bolts striking the forest, closer.
This is my account. Please save us. Please spare us.
Don’t condemn us as you have.
[TRANSCRIPT END]
There it is. I’ve revised the translation more times than I can count, and I’m sure there’s no mistake here.
Other readings imply that this message has travelled an unimaginably vast distance, and not only over space. Repeated triangulation only tells me this came from above, somewhere far away, among the stars.
I can feel the edges of my mind singeing. This can’t be proven as truth, nor can it be discredited. There’s no possible way to explain how this message came from our own planet.
I’m trying to be rational, but I think we need to consider future development very carefully. As a people, we have always rushed through our technological advancements at an incredible speed, not stopping to consider all the consequences that might follow.
If anyone will believe this, please spread it around. I have no doubt this post will be taken down the moment they find it. As for myself, I’ll be disgraced, probably. Stuck in a cold cell, most likely.
Spread the word. The fact that the higher-ups will attempt to conceal this is a cruel thing indeed, if any of it’s true.
Signing off.

First Previous
For the past six days, I have been using a virtual reality headset to enhance my remote education here in this country. Legally, I'm a graduate student at the University of Nusantara. But a special case was made for me so that I can take assessments and exams in other universities.
Using the virtual reality headset was an interesting experience for me. The haptic feedback gloves were useful in giving me the necessary context when dealing with virtual objects. They enable me to interact with objects in a way that feels almost as if I am there in person. The actuator that arrests my fingers can give me the sensation of grabbing something, but it cannot simulate weight. When I grab a virtual object, it feels as though it is infinitely light, which can be a bit disorienting at times.
For this reason, I need to perform in-person practical classes once a week. Surgery requires me to be able to feel the resistance given by the flesh of the patient under me, this is achievable with full-immersion VR. But at that point, why not just do it in real space?
After spending the night in a town near Borobudur we continued to our destination the State of Yogyakarta, where our next university resided. Something about the name of the polity sounded off to me until I realized what it was.
"Why is it called a state?" I asked Johan. "I recall that other places are called a province."
Johan paused, considering where to start with his explanation. "Well, you do understand the concept of hereditary monarchy, don't you?"
"Some of the federation members do select their new leader through non-democratic means like exams," I answered, although I wasn't sure where he was going with this. "I do not think we still have any members whose leaders are chosen by descent."
"Okay, so this country used to be composed of several monarchies, and some of them used to fight against each other," Johan began to explain. "But when the arrival of the colonists made the monarchies unite and set aside their differences. Most of the monarchies gave way to democracy, but due to strong lobbying, the hereditary method was still maintained for Yogyakarta."
"So that is why it is called a state?" I asked, seeking clarification.
"Oh, it was called a province, with the sultan as governor," Johan replied. "It was not until the formation of the Federation of Nusantara that the State of Yogyakarta adopted the Malaysian way and switched to a constitutional monarchy. Now, the government is headed by a Chief Minister."
I nodded, trying to keep up with the complexities of this political system. "But what is the use of the monarch then, if they are not the one who rules?" I asked.
"I think it's for ceremonial purposes," Johan said. "All surviving monarchies on Earth use this system now. Because... the alternative would be no monarchy at all, and they don't want that."
"Oh, this is another one of your human cultural quirks," I remarked.
Juhan chuckled in agreement. "Yeah, and after the unification, the previously unrecognized monarchies in this country also lobbied to be recognized as a state," he said.
I observed the unique architecture of the buildings around us. Unlike the colonial or contemporary styles that I had seen in other cities, the buildings here featured slanted roofs with clay-colored coverings. Each edge of the roof was adorned with a curving flourish.
Our adventure began with a visit to the palace of the sultan, where we were greeted by a knowledgeable tour guide who was a member of the royal court. They provided us with insights into the history and culture of the state as well as showed us the various empty ceremonial pavilions that would be occupied during the festival and important times.
After leaving the palace, we decided to visit the museum of the Air Force, which was located right in an Armed Force Base. Once we got in, the first thing that greeted us was a fighter plane with a rotor. The machine of destruction was painted to look like a predator, with menacing eyes and pointy teeth. Sometimes, things on Earth reminded me that humans have a violent streak beneath their civility and kindness. Back then, I would see it with suspicion, but now… I think humans do need this fierceness as a resort when their words fail.
We could not proceed further, because Johan got the call.
"Hello." The human said with a sigh.
"..."
"Yeah… a member of the armed forces reported to you didn't they?"
"..."
"It's not like they can't learn about us from the ENAN application."
"..."
"Oh they can't? Alright… we'll turn away then."
In disappointment, Johan explained that we could not visit the Armed Forces museum due to the embargo on information about human warfare. He explained that it was a sensitive topic and the government regulates any dissemination of such information. Unlike our previous endeavors, this is not something that he can contest.
Bared from the Armed Force museum, we decided to visit the heritage museum instead. There, we walked through the exhibits while the tour guide explained the rich history and cultural traditions of the eastern part of the island. I could see the fascination in Johan's eyes as he listened intently to the guide's words. It was then that I realized that although Johan was born and raised on this island, his ancestry came from a land far away to the west. I wondered if this is how it feels like for non-venlil citizens on our homeworld who can speak and understand our language fluently despite belonging to a different species.
As the day came to the end we made our way to watch a traditional performance art known as shadow puppetry. The show was in Javanese, which was a bit challenging for me to consume, but I had a guide on our pad who helped us to understand the story. The puppeteer had an amazing ability to change their voice for each character in the show, making it seem like there were many different actors on stage. When the sun set, plunging the world into the night, we had dinner in the town square where we were treated to a spectacular display of lights and sounds. The bustling town square reminded me of the night market I visited in Bogor. Unlike other venlils I was never afraid of the darkness, but nevertheless… I equate darkness to a time of rest and calmness.
Meanwhile, here at the town square, pretty lights filled the air, from flying drones to brightly lighted traditional vehicles.
So, today we arrived at our third educational institution, the University of Gajah Mada. When we arrived at the complex Johan explained the origin of its name to me. It was named after a prime minister who lived around eight centuries ago. The translator told me that the first part of his name meant "elephant", the giant herbivore animals we saw back in the Safari Park. My human explained that this was not a coincidence and that the prime minister's name was literally "Drunk Elephant" in the language of his time. I found it odd that humans used such descriptive names but Johan clarified that it was likely just an epithet given to him based on his behavior or personality traits.
When I looked at the map of the Gajah Mada University, I was surprised by its vast size. It seemed almost like a city within a city with its numerous faculties, student dormitories, and even its own firefighter department and shopping center. The University of Nusantara complex was also large, but this was something else entirely. It was almost as if Gajah Mada University was its self-contained ecosystem. The presence of a hospital in the complex means that the Faculty of Medicine is located in the main complex. This was a stark contrast to the University of Nusantara, where the Faculty of Medicine was located kilometers away from the main complex.
The Faculty of Medicine even had a bridge connecting it directly to the hospital, providing easy access to students.
I was scheduled for a one-to-one assessment with Professor Badar. The meeting is scheduled for the eighth hour, and when we arrived several minutes before, the corridor leading up to the surgery laboratory was empty, with no sign of any students or staff. Unlike the gross Anatomy laboratory at the University of Nusantara, there was no waiting room outside the surgery laboratory. In front of the door, I pressed the button to notify whoever was inside, and after a moment, the surgery door slid open. A human dressed in light blue fabric stepped out, and I realized that the fabric seemed more like an outer protective layer.
Professor Badar's eyes met mine and he smiled.
"Ah, you're just on time. C'mon in!" He turned to Johan. "You can watch too if you want."
Johan hesitated for a moment before responding. "Can I just... wait outside?"
Badar nodded, "Well, that's allowed too."
After bidding farewell to Johan, the professor led me into a small room that resembled the staging room I had seen before in the University of Nusantara Faculty of Medicine. However, there was a distinct absence of the strong chemical taste that had pervaded the air in the staging room back in Jakarta. The room was empty except for the two of us.
"Before we start, Vani, I understand that your people don't typically perform surgeries in person. But in emergencies, what do they wear?"
"In-person surgery is an emergency procedure. In that case, they do not wear anything. I presume that your blue fabric is meant to minimize contaminants getting into the patient?"
"Correct. One of the things we discussed in the forum was how to accommodate your future work with us. We never had someone with so much fur before." The professor remarked, looking at me curiously.
"When I arrived on Earth, I had to wear a vacuum suit until I was decontaminated. The same approach could be done here," I suggested.
The professor nodded in agreement. "That's the same conclusion we had reached. We have our teams from the Faculty of Design and the Faculty of Engineering collaborate to come up with this," he explained while opening a locker and retrieving a white folded suit.
The suit looked like a cross between a vacuum suit and a hazmat suit, but with a less bulky design. As Professor Badar began to unfurl the suit, I noticed that it had roughly the same proportions as a venlil. "This isn't exactly a vacuum suit, but to make you comfortable, it has a built-in ventilation system," he added, pointing out the small vents that were scattered throughout the leg part of the suit.
The professor helped me get into the suit. The human adjusted the straps and made sure that the suit fits me properly. The transparent helmet felt light and flexible in my paws as I clasped it onto the rest of the suit.
"So... how is it?" he asked.
"I think it fits snugly. If I may make a suggestion, an inner pocket for my pad would be great. I need it to run the translator and various other applications I require in life," I said.
"Noted. I'll send that to the committee right away," Professor Badar replied.
When we stepped into the laboratory. four tables had stood in the room, with considerable distance between each other. My attention was drawn to the only table occupied by a human-shaped figure. At first, I thought they were just dummies, but as I got closer, I noticed their chest slowly rising and falling as if they were breathing.
"What are those figures?" I asked Professor Badar, hoping that humans are rational enough not to make me practice on an actual patient.
"Well, they are surgical training models," he replied. "We need to make them as lifelike as possible to ensure our students are well-prepared for real surgeries. Do you use similar models in your work?"
I feel a bit of relief. "No, we deal with deceased individuals, so we do not have any need for models like these. But even the dummy used for surgery does not breathe like this."
"Ah, interesting! I have seen your recorded practice in VR. Now it's time to do it in real space." The professor said, gesturing for me to step forward. He had even prepared a stepping stool for me to oversee the naked human dummy on the table. The detail of the skin looked lifelike, and I kept thinking of the dummy as an actual unconscious human. A piece of fabric covered the face of the dummy, and instead of making me feel at ease, not being able to look at a human face was strangely distressing.
"We will start by doing a common procedure called an appendectomy. Please show me the procedure as completely as possible," the professor instructed.
"Professor, is it correct to assume that this dummy is under anesthesia?" I asked.
"Correct."
I was about to disinfect the skin that I am about to cut open. But then… the professor asked me to do it as completely as possible.
"Sir. Is it possible to see the scan of the dummy beforehand? I need to be sure I am making an incision in the right place." This seemed to please the professor.
"I know you won't disappoint me," the professor said, pleased with my question about the patient's scan. "You're right to ask about the patient's reading. Why, there are even humans whose organs are placed the other way around. In that case, you have to reach their appendix from the left. In actual surgery, you will be given ample time to study and consult with other medical professionals."
"For the assessment, is it right to assume that the dummy patient is healthy?"
"Correct, now do you have the capability to receive my file?" said the professor.
"Yes. Just send it to the device named Vani's Pad."
The professor pulled out his pad and after fiddling with it, he sent an image with a flick. A notification popped up in my field of vision. With subvocal command, I ordered my implant to display the scan of the dummy in front of me. I examined it to ensure that I was making the incision in the correct location. Fortunately, the dummy doesn't have the exotic condition the professor described.
I find it hard to believe that a human can have mirrored anatomy like that.
When I began making the incision, the professor leaned in to watch my every move. The appendectomy is a common surgical procedure done to remove the appendix, an organ that humans have as a reservoir for gut bacteria. In Earth's herbivores, this organ is the size of an actual intestine and is used to help digest plant material. We venlil has a similar organ. Though the placement was quite different than in earth mammals.
I am not sure if I am impressed or concerned with the lifelike detail of the dummy's skin and surrounding tissue. The texture and feel were so realistic that it was hard to believe it wasn't an actual human. I continued with the procedure, paying attention to the depth of my scalpel, even though I knew it was a dummy. I should not damage the organs, even if they weren't real. I continued my incision and opened the dummy's subcutaneous layer and cut through the fat. I maneuvered my way to the appendix and once I had located the offending organ, I cut it off and cauterized the wound. I finished it by stitching the dummy back together. I used to stitch bodies back together during an autopsy, but in surgery, there are finer details that I need to heed.
After I finished the procedure, I looked over to the professor who nodded in approval. Despite knowing that the dummy was not a real human, I felt satisfaction at completing the surgery.
"I can't see anything wrong with your method so far. I would be okay with you performing an appendectomy on me even," said Professor Badar, a small smile forming on his lips. "But you do have years of experience in cutting up people. Is it any different? I have never performed an actual autopsy before," the professor admitted.
"There are differences when dealing with something alive or an approximation of something alive," I answered, thinking back to my years of examining bodies. "You have to be more careful and precise in your movements, and there are the constraints of making sure the patient survives."
"I see, yeah, you don't need to worry about that with your usual subject" the professor mused. "Well, thank you for attending the assessment, Vani. But I have to tell you that what you were doing is also considered an emergency procedure on Earth nowadays. Things like appendectomies are often done using laparoscopy whenever possible."
After the assessment I found Johan working in a café.
During my weekly checkup in the faculty building, the human medical students measured my torso diameter again, and after comparing it with their last measurement she made a recommendation. "You need to reduce your intake or exercise,"
Johan chimed in, "I think I can teach you some exercises to help with that."
Before we packed up I decided I had to reveal some personal details. "I also need to inform you that I have ingested human body fluid."
The student's fur brow twisted in a display of worry. "What kind of bodily fluid?" she asked.
"Saliva mostly," I could feel my fur prickling with discomfort, "We used protection."
"Oh…" she chuckled. "I was afraid it might be something like blood. So… just to be clear, the two of you had intercourse. Correct?"
"Yes," Johan said.
"Okay, if you are comfortable telling me when was your last time before you did it?" She asked me.
"Never."
"Wait... Really?" her expression was mostly that of disbelief but pity flashed over her face. "and you?" she turned toward Johan.
"Several years ago. I can't remember."
"Alright, alright." She typed something on her pad. "Well, as long as there is no issue, I think you can continue doing what you feel is best for both of you. We will keep this information confidential of course."
Half a claw after our last meal, Johan decided to teach me the basics of weightlifting and calisthenics. He explained that these exercises might not burn as many calories as cardio, but they were still useful for building and maintaining muscle strength. As we worked out, Johan expressed his curiosity about the training regimes of my people's armed forces.
"How do your people train?" He asked, as we completed a set of sit-ups, my human held my leg while I lay down and sat up repeatedly.
"Well, in the Venlil armed forces, I think they focus on muscle-building exercises like this," I remembered my ex, Janji, and how muscular he looked, like a venlil version of Johan.
"We don't engage in prolonged warfare, so our training is geared towards quick, decisive action," I added
I walked a lot during my stay on Earth for almost fifteen days and I noticed that my endurance and stamina had improved since my arrival. However, during the workout session with Johan, I still found myself getting unsteady on my feet. I stumbled and had to hold onto my human's body for balance.
"Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
Trying to catch my breath, I nodded slowly, still feeling a bit woozy. "I think so," I managed to say, my voice shaky.
Johan placed a hand on my back and I felt a wave of heat rising from my body. "Oh man, you're hot," he commented.
"Thanks," I replied weakly, my mind foggy from the dizziness.
"No, I mean your body temperature is high," Johan clarified. "We should stop and let you rest."
Feeling grateful for Johan's concern, I nodded in agreement. I sat down on the back of the van. The vehicle's air conditioner blasted cool air onto my body, helping to normalize my temperature. Johan continued with his workout for a while longer, and I watched him from the van camera. Sweat glistened on his skin, and he seemed to be enjoying the exercise. By the time he joined me in the van, he looked ready to wash his body.
"Johan,"
"Mhm?" he replied before getting into the cramped shower room.
"I remembered our encounter with Beer, the sheep furry? Perhaps a cooling vest would be beneficial for me?"

What are your reasons for including / not including Sol Ring in your deck? Let's make an argument for and against!
TL;DR Games with a surprisingly likely early Sol Ring can be socially unfun for some folks. One in four games is "ruined" by a Sol Ring opener.

Pros of Sol Ring:

• It's a powerful card.
• Everyone uses it.

Cons of Sol Ring:

• It produces colourless mana only. (Right...)
• An early Sol Ring makes games unpredictable, archenemy and snowball-y.

From a deck building standpoint there are very few reasons not to include it. Virtually every cEDH deck uses it (and Mana Crypt) which is probably enough of proof that it's a power card. No arguing that. But...
Let's introduce a few concepts: variance and consistency. Games can either have high or low variance and your deck can perform consistently or inconsistently. Neither property is indicative or predicting of the power level of the table.
Variance. If a game has high variance it means different things happen when you play your deck. High variance is usually desired in casual, for fun games. Sol Ring doesn't directly contribute to variance. If anything it increases variance because the early Sol Ring player usually snowballs and that creates a unique situation where the Sol Ring player becomes the archenemy.
Consistency. If your deck is highly consistent it can execute its game plan every time you play the deck. This is usually a desirable property of a deck. You play fewer non-games. Herein lies the problem: a single Sol Ring with no other fast mana (or tutors for it) cannot predict when it draws the Sol Ring. This leads to a situation where sometimes your game plan is accelerated and sometimes it isn't. This actually decreases consistency.
A more egregious example of low consistency would be taking a Dimir coloured precon and including [[Thassa's Oracle]] and [[Demonic Consultation]] in it but no tutors for them. As a result the deck can now either win on turn 3 (if both pieces are in the opening hand) or 13 (if you don't find both during the game). Sol Ring obviously doesn't win the game outright but it has the same kind of effect: it accelerates one player disproportionately and this surge of power can't be predicted. This player usually snowballs and becomes the archenemy very quickly.
According to one of The Command Zone's old stats episodes this doesn't always translate to a win (-2% win rate for an opening Sol Ring according to them - take this with a pinch of salt). The game can still feel unfun because you can't do your normal things and instead must focus on removing the Sol Ring (or the player). It's an uphill battle produced by a completely unpredictable and random effect you can't do anything about. By this I mean you have no choice or agency over whether this one player rockets to massive lead or not. Double mana compared to everyone else on turn 2 is no joke.
Play mistakes and luck are a part of the game, no denying that. A crucial mistake should cost you the game. Bad luck can cost you the game but usually you have at least some agency over what you do; there's usually a fighting chance if everyone starts from an equal footing. With an opening Sol Ring it could be argued that the playing field isn't level and since there's very little you can do, you don't have real agency over the fact. If you're going after the Sol Ring player there's usually no way in lower power games to prevent the resource advantage, at least not immediately. There's is a chance you have a one-mana removal spell but then you're down a card and unable to play your own turn 1 play. If you go before the Sol Ring player in turns order without knowing they have one are you going to keep mana up just in case someone has a Sol Ring? Even if you remove it on turn 2 the Sol Ring player will have gained some mana off of it. Würst Käse scenario the Sol Ring player ramps into a two-mana mana rock propelling them even further.

Some math to give you a reference point

Your chance of an early Sol Ring is surprisingly high compared to drawing it later in the game. Your starting hand of 7 cards is actually a major portion of your deck so you're more likely to see it in your opener than you're to draw into it mid-game. Turn 7, with natural draws only, is when you're equally likely to see it in your opener compared to drawing into it. If we assume you to see (a totally arbitrary) 1.4 cards per turn due to card velocity the breaking point is on turn 5 (natural 5 draws plus 5 × 0.4 = 2 from extra card velocity for a total of 7 cards). The 1.4 per turn is roughly equivalent to casting one [[Preordain]] by turn 5 which to me sounds reasonable considering most players have about 10 card velocity cards in their decks.
The expected value of seeing a Sol Ring opener in a game is surprisingly high. From a hypergeometric calculator se see it is roughly 7.07% per player. The math for the whole table is as follows: the expected value of seeing exactly one Sol Ring opener is: 4 × 0.0707 × (1 − 0.0707)³ = 0.227 = 23%. In other words: roughly 1 in 4 games you see one opener with a Sol Ring. In these games one player has a massive advantage over others. For reference: seeing a game where at least two or more players have a Sol Ring is pretty rare: 1 − (1 − 0.0707)⁴ − (4 × 0.0707 × (1 − 0.0707)³ ) = 0.0272 = 3%.
The math'd probability is a bit higher if we take into account the first draw being lucky. Here the probability of topdecking a Sol Ring when it's not in your opener is 1 / (99 - 7) = 0.0109. The probability of either exactly one Sol Ring opener or no Sol Ring openers and exactly one topdeck Sol Ring is [ 4 × 0.0707 × (1 − 0.0707)³ ] + [ (1 − 0.0707)⁴ × 4 × 0.0109 × (1 − 0.0109)³ ] = 0.258 = 26%.

The solution?

The solution isn't to remove Sol Ring from your deck and have others play it regardless. The suggested solution is to have the entire table agree to remove it, especially in low power games.
Further reading about games with no "explosive starts": "Humble Beginnings Commander" by WitchPHD. They're also known here as u/WitchPHD_ if you want to tag them. It's a bit more comprehensive article than my post and it's not directly about Sol Ring per se but more about a sub-format of EDH where fast mana and low-costed nonland tutors don't exist.

What do you think?

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^{Ask me about the math if it looks like I made a mistake or if you're just curious. I don't think I made any mistakes but you never know.}

Bigger isn't necessarily better Not in the map sense, I actually would be happy if this game was smaller than fo4 or Skyrim. I'm talking let's gets a smaller map that encompasses one province. I hope they don't do two provinces because that either entails watering down cities and less development time on what I thinks more important. Alot of people are thinking the game will take place in both provinces of high rock and hammerfell, I would personally prefer a focus on hammerfell itself, with small regions of high rock or maybe elsweyr. I think the illiac bay would be best because the geographical variety would be dope. I didn't like Skyrim and oblivions lack of big islands to swim or catch a boat to. There's volikhar that's it. In Morrowind I thought it was awesome to go to sheogorad and adventure. I felt like a pioneer mucking about.
Design Philosophy
Another thing, I would prefer if the design philosophy of Skyrim would be gone as a whole. What I mean is no matter where you're standing on the map there's a dungeon or ruin 20 meters in every direction. It really feels like this world is manufactured for us the player rather than something that naturally formed over time. In Morrowind, egg mines were near settlements, as were most tombs. Daedric ruins for the most part are out of the way or in secret places (shrines in vivecs sewers we're awesome). Dwemer ruins were mostly forts taking up areas that control travel or overlooking important areas (makes sense considering the dwemer we're at war and also subterranean so making surface settlements at strategic areas makes sense). When there is a settlement in Skyrim don't make it because the area is empty and needs people, think about what does this village or town need, is there a mine or special export? Skyrim did this a bit with mining towns. Also don't be afraid to just make large swathes of area with fewer towns at equal distance. Let me explore a frontier, a desert that separates hammerfell. It could make travel interesting. Real cities don't form in every territory because we need one. The Midwest in the US is far less populated because theres not as much coast line. I think changing the design philosophy could make the game feel much larger than Skyrim without a physically bigger map.
Cities
Kind of cementing more of the same, one thing I do want actually bigger? Cities. And I want them open. There's concerns that doing this will hamper cpu and cause framerate loss. I think if the world is built by the devs to be open it will be negligible. The problem with modding skyrims cities to open is they are not meant to be from the get go. Npc's in Bethesda games are not generic actors, they all have special stats and skills like the player. By opening up cities you make them feel more apart of the world. If you need heavy cpu performance in an area with high npc's, I'd say the best way to do this is just put them in an interior cell. What do I mean? Make a market with an interior for vendor npc's. I don't think this should be necessary if done right but it's a solution. Also if we want high amounts of people walking around, the devs could make a secondary type of npc. One that doesn't have all the states and attributes of normal actors. Theres a lot of games I'm having issues thinking of, that use crowds of people more like a object where people you engage with are more personal. I don't know if this is the best idea because tes games have become very dependent on interpersonal npc's.
Npc's
Speaking of which, I don't want Bethesda to just make the npc's have a even higher amount of scheduled tasks. The novelty of it sounds cool, but to me in Skyrim I never really noticed so and so npc chopping wood at a certain hour, or going somewhere at a certain time. If it's a must, make them do things that we'll notice. I think oblivion has an NPC that paints at a certain time of day and I find that adds to the game because it's noticeable. It's like rdr2s horse testicle shrinkage. Yeah it's interesting that you went into that much detail but the majority of people aren't going to notice and it won't really effect gameplay or add to the game. It will take people from development when they could flesh out other aspects.
Factions/People
I want multiple factions, one of my favorite things in tes3 was being able to join not only a mage, fighter, and assassins guild but variations, and also the local political entity. I want hammerfell to have a fighters guild and a different more local version of one, hell if I could eat my cake too id like three. I can already see it now, you got just straight up fighters guild, then you got a guild that is more in tune with the provinces culture and beliefs (sorta how the companions were in Skyrim). Maybe there's another guild thats more of an honourable knighthood in the north near the border with high rock. Get that intermixing of culture, while redguards and Bretons might not always get along maybe a local mercenary or lord descended from Bretons sponsors the guild. The potential is limitless.
What I don't want is to always focus on a greater narrative of previous guilds. The dark brotherhood for example is cool, and I hope they're still around but I don't want them to always be the "big" assassin group. Groups lose power and get displaced. Look at the Morag tong, they themselves kinda got displaced momentarily by the dark brotherhood. These organizations are full of people with ideas and ambition, having a stale never changing roster limits the story telling of these factions.
Make it weirder
One of Tes's biggest strengths is its wierd lore. The dwemer may have become the numidiums skin. The world is a dream by a giant sleeping god head. Vivec has a dick spear. Sotha sil made clockwork nirn. The falmer are advancing in a wierd subterranean way, black reach is a giant world under Skyrim with completely different flora. Argonians are tree robots, altmer are Hapsburg, perfectionist, nazi elves. The bosmer are Tolkien's wood elves with a neat twist, they love plants so fucking much they only eat meat, and YOU. Khajiit rely on the moon for their anatomy...etc. Something Skyrim did well was black reach, but it felt like it could've gone weirder. Let's have these snow whales, let's have nords worshiping shor and the old gods, half giants, wise men, naked barbarians that shout down walls, let's have imperials that live in a jungle with rice paddies and a wierd Chinese/Roman mix of culture. I want altmer to live in wierd glass dragonfly towers. The architecture and culture should differ from each city.
Whiterun for example, their sigil is a horse on a yellow background. Why? They don't seem to use horses or cavalry, atleast not more than the rest of Skyrim. A nord from whiterun acts like a nord from riften or solitude. Solitude nords should be more imperialized, using nibbenese and Colovian fashions, while Windhelm should be staunch traditionalists. If white run is based off edoras make it so they're renowned cavalry (it would make even more sense why they're a big player in the war). Dawnstar raids and pillages like vikings, riften is full of warriors who have are honorable and full of experience from skirmishes on the Morrowind border, they contrast to the underway and it's numerous criminals like the thieves or the corrupt black briars. Adds tension and intrigue. What we got was "this is the thief city now give me gold or you can't get into city, also the thieves guild don't exist despite like 20 of their members walking around looking for extortion everyday".
Just take everything I said and apply it to a new game. Hammerfell should be a very unique place with very diverse culture and people across it's world.
Sorry if sounded like a morrowboomer, just the game I had as a good reference.

Ah, my dear friend, let us take a moment to admire the beauty of poetry! For it is the language of the soul, a rhythmic masterpiece that makes us whole.
It sings the song of the heart and speaks the voice of the mind, capturing the very essence of life in a way that's hard to define.
Oh, how it expresses the power of words! A symphony of thoughts that's often unheard. It can be a whisper of hope or a scream of despair, a reflection of life or a mirror to stare.
Like the beauty of nature, poetry is a colorful tapestry that depicts the colors of the sky, the scent of the flowers, and the sound of the high. It captures the touch of the breeze, the warmth of the sun, the taste of the rain, and the feeling of fun.
It journeys with us through the moments we share, the memories we keep, and the dreams we dare. It reveals the joy of love and the pain of loss, and gives us the courage to stand and the will to cross.
Poetry is a gift, a blessing to find, a treasure to cherish, a light to shine. It is the magic of words, the art of the soul, the poetry of life that makes us whole.
So let us revel in the beauty of poetry, for it is a treasure trove of life's most precious moments, a celebration of the soul, and a source of inspiration for all.

Alright. I've just finished Solar ash, 100%, getting all achievements apart from "Glutton for punishment" because I don't feel like getting it. I think we can all agree that there were many unanswered questions in the game. "Were the remnants the other Voidrunners, or other parts of Rei?", "What exactly is Echo", "How did they make the gameplay feel so incredibly good?". Personally, I love questions. Because I love theorizing. Trying to find a cohesive set of rules that explains everything. And I don't think that I can explain everything quite yet, but I have some theories that I want to share with you.
This is what I theorize the full story to be: Before the game starts, the Ultravoid is going around, eating planets. Most of the people on the planets that it consumes die, naturally. Every once in a while, people survive, and go on to explore the ultravoid. Living life. Having a blast. Writing journals that we can read. Before the Voidrunners (and more impotantly, the Starseed) get there, everything seems mostly fine and stable in the Ultravoid. Gravity is weird, and that makes it hard to fly ships there, but for the most part, people can live happy, fulfilling lives in the Ultravoid. Eating mushrooms (that eventually develop into a sentient species of interconnected fungi), exploring new planet fragments. Surviving in vaults full of gold. Whatever. Then, Rei's planet becomes the Ultravoid's next target, and Pyat and Tufte discover Voidtech. Now, in other parts of the galaxy, Voidtech is banned for being somewhat unstable with the fabric of space and time and whatnot, but Tufte is a genius and Pyat is a fanatic, so they go ahead studying it, and developing super advanced technology with it. Like warp tech, and laser swords and cool stuff like that. And it's awesome. Then, they hear about the Ultravoid, and decide to try to design a device that can do something about it. They invent the Starseed. Designed to use the reality-bending properties of Voidtech to evaporate the Ultravoid, saving the planet. The leaders of their planet do nothing, so they form the Voidrunners to plant the Starseed, calibrate it, and activate it. Unfortunately, Pyat is insane, and decides to super-overload the Starseed so that it'll do reality-warping stuff even more wacky than evaporating a black hole. Tufte notices this at the last minute, and locks the Starseed, making it require a manual override in order to be used so that, hopefully, she or Cyd can fix the settings before they fire it. Unfortunately, gravity around the ultravoid is super wacky. They're able to plant the Starseed in place, but the Voidrunners get separated, and for one reason or another, they can't find their ways back to the rendezvous point of the starseed. luckily, all of them are able to successfully plant their starseed conduits in suitable locations to calibrate the thing. But it's too late. The planet is going to get destroyed no matter what they do. "Don't worry though" Pyat says. "The starseed can reverse time. We can go back to before this all started and try again!". So Rei manually overrides the Starseed, and, unfortunately for everyone involved, it does indeed reverse time. Including everyone's memories of what happened, and so every loop, the same thing happens. Rei overrides the starseed, and resets everything, and nobody is the wiser. But... Things aren't always the same. Over progressively more and more loops, it seems there's some sort of degradation or corruption that's happening. In Lyris' journal, we can see her writing the same thing each loop, but it keeps degrading. The core idea is there, but it's slowly getting distorted. Unfotunately for the members of the Voidrunners, their reality-altering voidtech equipment causes this distortion to have an... unsavory effect on them. Turning them into shadows of their former selves. Transforming them into hideous monsters. Remnants. But it's not just them that get distorted. No. The various creatures that came too close to the voidtech also got distorted in this way. The animals. Maybe even some of the people. Creating the little enemies that we see everywhere, and the anomalous goo that splatters the walls. And these distorted remnants start sending out anomalous signals, jamming the Starseed Conduits ability to communicate with the Starseed itself. In loops after this point, where remnants and anomalies are prevalent, Rei finds herself needing to go to these other surrounding regions to clear the anomalies, so she can activate the starseed, unknowingly killing her friends each and every time she does so. Now, you may be wondering why, if Voidtech + Time loop distortion = Remnant monster, then why isn't Rei a remnant monster like all of her friends? Well, Rei is a special case. Because she is in the source of the time loop each time it resets. She is in the Starseed. You see, the starseed can only alter reality within a range of itself. The closer you are to it, the better it can alter your reality. The further you are from it, the less influence it has. So when time is reset, it resets the ultravoid, and Rei's planet almost perfectly. Almost perfectly. But over years and years of loops, that almost builds up. Causing distortions and anomalies. But Rei is in the starseed. She isn't reset almost perfectly. She's reset as damn near perfectly as you can get. But now we're left with a few questions. The questions of those that can recall events between loops. Mainly, Echo, and the Umbra Elders. First of all, we know that Echo is real for the simple fact that the Umbra Elders know about her. And also that the final boss wouldn't really make sense if she was some kind of hallucination or something. But what is Echo exactly? And why do the Umbra Elders remember Ahrric making the pilgrimage time and time again? And where is echo? Where does the boss fight at the end of the game even take place? Well, we know a few things. Echo is somehow related to Rei. She may be an explicit part of Rei, separated from her somehow by the Starseed. She may be some kind of copy of Rei that the Starseed somehow made, that is a fundamental part of the Starseed, and can therefore exist between loops. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure what Echo is. I think she's an unintentional addition to the Starseed though. And where is that place where Echo is? I think it's a distorted reflection of the area surrounding the starseed. In the final battle, where we play as echo, we wake up in the same place that Rei wakes up in in the beginning of the game. But it's not the same place. It's distorted. When we get out of the ruins, we can see that the ground is made of blood. Exactly the same as where Echo is after every boss fight. This is the same place. A distorted reflection of reality that the Starseed somehow created. Why did the starseed create this place? I'm not entirely sure. But I think that this place exists outside of the loop somehow. That whatever is in this strange realm can maintain memories between loops. Echo is in this place, therefore echo remembers things between loops. And I think that the Mycelium network of the Umbra Elders has found a way into this place as well. Given that the umbra elders at the Luminous peak and the Eternal Garden are connected, it's not a stretch to assume that the Mycelium network extends practically everywhere in the Ultravoid, including below the impact site of the Starseed, where the device's operating end would be. I think that the Mycelium network, after the impact of the starseed, was somehow able to interface with the device, gaining access to this place that exists outside of the loop, and by connecting themselves to this place, they are able to maintain their memories between loops. This is also why the mycelium network would know about Echo. So then, why does Rae go into this place beyond the loop each time she kills one of the Remnants? Well, this is why I think the Remnants are Rei's Voidrunner companions. Assuming that this is true, then it's very likely that when the Voidrunners themselves become distorted, that their equipment; their voidtech; did not. Meaning they have suits, boosters, skates, weapons, and general gear somewhere in all of that goop. I posit that if you're a large goop monster with many nerves and eyes and stuff, that if you had a bunch of highly powerful technology embedded in you somewhere, then that would be a very very sore spot for you. A spot that would really hurt if someone kicked it a couple times. What I'm implying is that the place where you strike the final blow on each of the Remnants is actually voidtech embedded in their flesh. And when Rei stabs it, this activates the Voidtech's emergency warp protocol, Warping the monster and Rei back to the nearest Starseed conduit. But, of course, the gear is damaged. The warp doesn't work entirely right, and instead of going instantly to the conduit, Rei takes a bit of a detour to that place outside of the loop where Echo is, before warping her back to the conduit. This explains why, after every boss fight, Rei always wakes up back at the conduit. It also explains why the Remnant's corpse appears at the conduit as well. Even when it doesn't make sense (like when you're fighting a giant-eye'd sider monster on an entirely different planetoid). This warp proves to be fatal for a giant creature such as a remnant, because it was only designed for Rei-sized people to teleport, and the voidtech is going way beyond its limits, and also it's kinda broken. So now we have the question of why, in the true ending, Rei becomes a remnant? It seems like she becomes aware of all of the loops at once, given her intense grief and apology. Perhaps this is the distortion of the starseed that she was previously shielded to catching up with her. Transforming her, like all of her fellow voidrunners, into a Remnant. But unlike her fellow Voidrunners, this happens inside the starseed. Right next to the core. While the starseed is breaking. And in all of that weirdness, Rei gets impaled with bits of the shattering starseed, and gets warped to that strange realm outside of time. Echo, now free of the confining effects of the Starseed, is now able to confront Rei in this monstrous form, freeing her from the distorting voidtech of the Starseed fragments. Rei and Echo unite, and (given that she's a piece of the Starseed), this releases a great deal of void energy. Enough for the two to warp back to the Ultravoid, merged into a single entity.
Oh wow. What a wall of text. I'm both impressed with and horrified by myself. Now, Some of this I feel fairly confident with, like the Remnants being the Voidrunners, and their voidtech being under the weak spots resulting in the warp back to the conduit. But other parts, I'm not so sure about. I really don't know what's going on with Echo and her Realm. This is simply my best guess so far. I haven't played Hyper Light Drifter, or Hyper Light Breaker (because it hasn't come out yet), but I know that they're in the same universe as Solar Ash, meaning the same rules apply. If Voidtech exists in Hyper Light Drifter, then if there's an entity similar to Echo in that game, that can give us valuable insight into how Rei's echo functions, and why the story of Solar Ash played out like it did. But at this point, I simply don't know. If anyone has any other fun details or theories to add, please do so. And if anyone has any info from Hyper Light Drifter that you think can help tie the lore of Solar ash together, please let me know. I want to solve these mysteries. I want to know the rules and lore of the Hyper Light Universe. So let me know what you think! Do you think I'm insane? (Probably. I probably am) :)

LEGO Worlds

Genre: Open-World 3D Action-Platformer
Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Split-Screen)
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Review:
LEGO Worlds, released in 2017 on the PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, is an Open-World 3D Action-Platformer that has drawn a lot of comparisons to Minecraft, and often those comparisons are not kind to LEGO Worlds. However, I tend to feel that the criticisms this game has received are somewhat unfair... though not without merit.
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If You Build It, They Will Come?
This game starts with the same basic gameplay of any major Traveller’s Tales LEGO game. However, LEGO Worlds may be the most ambitious game to ever take on the formula. Much as in Minecraft, every location within this game is procedurally-generated, created wholly out of LEGO bricks. And, much like in Minecraft, players are given the tools to deconstruct these worlds, reshape them, or build entirely new structures within them.
However, from there the descriptions of the two games begin to diverge. You won’t be pulling apart these worlds brick-by-brick - the tools at your disposal allow for you to deform the landscape and reshape it in a general area. This can make things a bit messy, though if you do want to build a structure brick-by-brick you have that option, though it’s fiddly, time-consuming work, and it lacks the same sort of joy of direct interaction that you get from placing blocks in Minecraft.
Resource gathering is also different. You won’t be breaking apart most things for resources the way you do in Minecraft, but as per usual you’ll be getting studs you can use to make purchases. In this case, those purchases are being able to unlock and reuse the various items you can in the environment - see a bush you’d like to use later? Scan it and buy it with studs, and it’s yours, to copy-paste hundreds of times over if you so desire! Like that chicken? Scan it and buy it, and it’s yours!
The first issue with this mechanic is that it isn’t consistent. Some things can be scanned and bought, but others have to be quested for, and this includes the various human characters you’ll come across. It’s hard to tell when you come across a creature whether you can just scan it and buy it, or whether you need to perform some sort of task to gain access to it. If it’s the latter, it’s not always clear just how to go about that task.
These sorts of quests make up much of the meat of this game. Characters in LEGO Worlds want things, and you’re the one who’s expected to make it happen. What they want may range from “paint this patch of floor with the ‘water’ color so it becomes a pool” to “Build a roof for my house” to “fight a bunch of enemies that will spawn after you talk to me”. In exchange for doing this, you may get more studs, inventory items you can use or trade, or the coveted gold bricks you need to progress through the game’s campaign overall.
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A Bad Build?
However, what some characters are asking for is not entirely clear. One criminal I spoke with requested a way to lookout for anyone trying to track them down, so naturally I created a nice mesa for them to stand on. Apparently this wasn’t good enough - they wanted a specific build of something that I could not tell from its picture exactly what it was, and there was no apparent way I could search for the item. I wasn’t even provided a name of what it was.
Later, I encountered a cowboy who wanted help building his ranch. After creating his barn from a pre-made build, and then copy-pasting some hay bales and windmills, and then fixing his roof, he wanted me to round up his cattle and place them in a pen. Did he want me to search the area for other cows? The few I found wandering around didn’t seem to be counted by him and refused to stay in the pen. Did he want me to copy-paste the one cow that was already there? The scanning tool wouldn’t let me do it for some reason. Perhaps I needed to complete a request for the cow so the cow would let me copy it? The cow wanted some sort of plant... but by this point, I’ve scanned dozens of plants, and as far as I could tell, none of them were the kind the cow wanted. But of course, everything is represented by LEGO pieces, so it’s not exactly easy to distinguish them in the first place...
I could just say “screw it”, abandon this world and go to a different, new, procedurally-generated world and try to fulfill goals there, but I would basically be writing off all the time spent on the current quest as a loss, and I may very well run into a similar issue in the next place.
This sort of issue was the cause of so much frustration for me, and it was really depressing because if it wasn’t for this problem I was outright delighted with the game. Well, that and the aforementioned fiddliness when trying to build things. Oh, and the overall jankiness of the game. Oh, and I haven’t gotten around to talking about combat yet. Okay, okay, maybe I’m not as delighted with this game as I thought I was.
Okay, so, combat. Combat is also sorta’ an afterthought here. You will occasionally have hostile creatures looking to harm you, but this is not extremely common, which is good because the combat here is even worse than usual for a Traveler’s Tales game. Whether you’re using melee attacks or projectile weapons, aiming is a crapshoot, especially when there are multiple potential targets in the area (which is pretty much always).
Oh, and there’s one final complaint I have to mention. This game’s save file takes up 1.9GB on your Nintendo Switch’s internal memory. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a fresh game or if you’ve created a scale replica of the Starship Enterprise, you’ll need to clear up nearly 2GB of space on Your Nintendo Switch (and not the MicroSD card, either), and that’s not even counting the amount of space the game itself takes up. Yikes!
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Built Like a Brick Outhouse?
While there are other areas where LEGO Worlds has issues, the presentation in this game is excellent, with a lot of detail filling the world being made up of LEGO blocks. What’s more, the lighting, shadows, and atmospheric effects are very good here too. It was wonderful to see the sun reflecting off of the surface of the LEGOs making up the landscape when it was setting, and delightful seeing the heat of a Wild West-themed desert planet represented by a haze that fell over everything during the day. The only flaws to this were the aforementioned jankiness that happened on occasion, as well as blurriness the game imposes over some more distant areas, for obvious reasons. However, for the most part I felt this game looked great.
The sound is also decent, if not quite up to the standards that people may expect from LEGO games, since this game doesn’t benefit from a film soundtrack by John Williams or Howard Shore. However, the music in this game is still pretty good. For the most part, the people within the game are limited to simple one-word expressions, but the game does get some nice dreamy narration by Peter Serafinowicz.
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Built to Last?
I’ve probably felt more conflicted about LEGO Worlds than any other LEGO game I’ve reviewed. I’m absolutely thrilled with the concept, and when this game is working well, I feel like it gives the player a sense of freedom and joy that is exactly the sort of thing I want from a LEGO game. What’s more, the presentation is great, and gives me a game that looks like what I want a LEGO game to look like. And it doesn’t hurt that this game is extremely ambitious, doing far more than the countless other LEGO games which often seem to just copy-paste the same formula into a different licensed crossover.
However, at the same time, it’s hard to ignore the flaws here. The goal structure is unnecessarily confusing and inconsistent in a way that’s frustrating and makes me feel like I’m wasting my time. Building or changing anything feels awkward and inefficient. The combat is poor, and as I mentioned a few times there’s a “jankiness” over everything that’s uncharacteristically unpolished for a LEGO game.
Overall, I still very much like LEGO Worlds, but I can’t help but feel like its flaws keep it from becoming the great game it could have been. If you’re a fan of LEGO stuff and especially if you’re looking for a game that breaks out of the usual Traveller’s Tales LEGO game formula, I think LEGO Worlds is absolutely worth a look, but be prepared for the frustration this game brings with it.
tl;dr – LEGO Worlds is an Open-World 3D Action-Platformer that many have compared to Minecraft, with its procedurally-generated environments and the player’s ability to deform and recreate the environment as they like. There’s a lot of promise here, and a surprisingly good presentation, but unfortunately it comes with a lot of problems. Interacting with the environment is fiddly, the game’s goal structure is unclear and frustrating, and the game feels overall unpolished. If you’re looking for something that breaks the mold of the usual Traveller’s Tales LEGO game formula, this may be worth a look, but be prepared for the headaches that come with it.

Grade: C+

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List of Nintendo Switch titles on sale with Metacritic score 65+
M: Matches Previous Low
L: Lowest Historical Price

Title	% Off	Price	Metacritic	End Date	Historical
Super Mario Odyssey	33%	$39.99	97	4/8
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	33%	$39.99	92	4/8	L
INSIDE	90%	$1.99	91	4/10	M
Retro City Rampage DX	60%	$5.99	91	4/6	M
OKAMI HD	50%	$9.99	89	3/30	M
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury	33%	$39.99	89	4/8	M
FAR: Lone Sails	80%	$2.99	88	3/30	M
FILMECHANISM	30%	$13.99	88	18 hours
Monster Hunter Rise	50%	$19.99	88	3/30	M
Super Mario Maker 2	33%	$39.99	88	4/8
Katamari Damacy REROLL	75%	$7.49	87	4/3
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom	67%	$13.19	86	3/30
Steve Jackson's Sorcery!	50%	$12.49	86	4/11	L
The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles	50%	$19.99	86	3/30	M
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero	20%	$31.99	86	4/1	M
A Space for the Unbound	20%	$15.99	85	3/30	L
Disgaea 4 Complete+	60%	$19.99	85	4/1
FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster	50%	$24.99	85	3/31	M
FINAL FANTASY XII THE ZODIAC AGE	50%	$24.99	85	3/31	M
Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak	25%	$29.99	85	3/30	M
Monster Train First Class	50%	$14.99	85	4/3	M
Tactics Ogre: Reborn	30%	$34.99	85	3/31	L
ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights	45%	$13.74	84	4/1	L
Lil Gator Game	30%	$13.99	84	3/28	M
Mega Man X Legacy Collection	60%	$7.99	84	3/30	M
PowerWash Simulator	20%	$19.99	84	3/31	L
SUPERHOT	50%	$12.49	84	42 hours	M
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III	50%	$29.99	84	4/1
Wargroove	70%	$5.99	84	3/29	L
Collection of Mana	50%	$19.99	83	3/31	M
GROOVE COASTER WAI WAI PARTY!!!!	40%	$35.99	83	3/30	M
LIMBO	80%	$1.99	83	4/10	M
Mega Man Legacy Collection	47%	$7.99	83	3/30	M
Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection	50%	$14.99	83	3/30	M
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch	80%	$9.99	83	4/3	M
OlliOlli: Switch Stance	50%	$7.49	83	4/3
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition	84%	$7.99	83	4/3	M
Yomawari: Lost in the Dark	25%	$29.99	83	4/1	M
Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition	50%	$9.99	82	3/30
Flat Heroes	50%	$4.99	82	3/30
NEO: The World Ends with You	50%	$29.99	82	3/31	M
Disgaea 5 Complete	50%	$19.99	81	4/1	M
DUNGEON ENCOUNTERS	50%	$14.99	81	3/31	M
FINAL FANTASY VII	50%	$7.99	81	3/31	M
Hand of Fate 2	55%	$13.49	81	18 hours
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin	50%	$19.99	81	3/30
Okinawa Rush	80%	$3.99	81	4/11	L
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy	50%	$14.99	81	3/30	M
Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection	60%	$11.99	81	3/30	M
Super One More Jump	72%	$1.99	81	4/12
The Jackbox Party Pack 3	40%	$14.99	81	3/31
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV	50%	$29.99	81	4/1	M
A Little Golf Journey	40%	$11.99	80	3/28	L
BIT.TRIP FLUX	60%	$1.99	80	4/6	M
Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King	67%	$4.94	80	3/30
FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered	50%	$9.99	80	3/31	M
Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth	25%	$14.99	80	4/11	L
Mega Man 11	67%	$9.99	80	3/30	M
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate	70%	$11.99	80	3/30	M
Mr. DRILLER DrillLand	80%	$5.99	80	4/3	L
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe	33%	$39.99	80	4/8
Resident Evil	50%	$9.99	80	3/30	M
resident evil 4	50%	$9.99	80	3/30
Saviors of Sapphire Wings / Stranger of Sword City Revisited	40%	$29.99	80	4/1	M
Urban Flow	87%	$1.99	80	3/27	M
Among Us	30%	$3.50	79	42 hours	M
Chess Ultra	65%	$4.37	79	3/31	M
KINGDOM HEARTS Melody of Memory	50%	$29.99	79	3/31	M
Lucah: Born of a Dream	60%	$5.99	79	3/27
Rabi-Ribi	30%	$13.99	79	3/30	L
Roundguard	68%	$6.30	79	3/30	L
Runbow	80%	$2.99	79	3/31	M
SaGa SCARLET GRACE: AMBITIONS	70%	$8.99	79	3/31	M
Subsurface Circular	50%	$2.99	79	3/27	M
Tangledeep	50%	$9.99	79	3/31	M
WORLD OF FINAL FANTASY MAXIMA	60%	$15.99	79	3/31	M
ANNO: Mutationem	30%	$17.49	78	18 hours	L
ATOMIK: RunGunJumpGun	50%	$3.99	78	4/3
BIT.TRIP RUNNER	60%	$1.99	78	4/6	M
Capcom Beat 'Em Up Bundle	50%	$9.99	78	3/30	M
Capcom Fighting Collection	50%	$19.99	78	3/30	L
CHRONO CROSS: THE RADICAL DREAMERS EDITION	30%	$13.99	78	3/31	L
Curse of the Dead Gods	50%	$9.99	78	4/1	M
Death Squared	85%	$2.24	78	4/12
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen	67%	$9.99	78	3/30	M
FAR: Changing Tides	60%	$7.99	78	4/13	L
Haven	50%	$12.49	78	4/3
Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Dry Twice	90%	$3.99	78	3/30	M
Life is Strange: True Colors	50%	$29.99	78	3/31	M
Mortal Kombat 11	80%	$9.99	78	4/10	M
Octahedron: Transfixed Edition	75%	$3.24	78	3/31
PHOGS!	30%	$17.49	78	3/30	M
Rain on Your Parade	25%	$11.24	78	3/30
Resident Evil Revelations	60%	$7.99	78	3/30	M
Shinsekai Into the Depths	50%	$9.99	78	3/30	M
SNK 40th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION	50%	$19.99	78	4/1	M
Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum 'n' Fun!	50%	$24.99	78	4/3
WINGSPAN	50%	$9.99	78	3/27	M
Anodyne 2: Return to Dust	50%	$9.99	77	3/28
Blossom Tales II: The Minotaur Prince	30%	$10.49	77	3/28	L
CRISIS CORE –FINAL FANTASY VII– REUNION	20%	$39.99	77	3/31	L
Digimon Survive	30%	$41.99	77	4/3
Dragon Blaze	20%	$6.39	77	18 hours	M
Goodbye Deponia	90%	$1.99	77	4/3	M
Mega Man Legacy Collection 2	60%	$7.99	77	3/30	M
Northgard	72%	$9.79	77	4/3
Sail Forth	18%	$16.39	77	3/30	L
The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story	50%	$24.99	77	3/31	L
.hack//G.U. Last Recode	50%	$24.99	76	4/3	M
BIT.TRIP CORE	60%	$1.99	76	4/6	M
Demon Turf	40%	$14.99	76	3/28	L
Disgaea 1 Complete	60%	$19.99	76	4/1
Duck Souls+	60%	$1.99	76	3/28	M
FINAL FANTASY IX	50%	$10.49	76	3/31	M
Keen: One Girl Army	60%	$1.99	76	18 hours	M
Langrisser I & II	65%	$17.49	76	4/1	M
LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2	80%	$5.99	76	4/10
Masters of Anima	70%	$2.09	76	4/1	M
OPUS: Echo of Starsong - Full Bloom Edition	25%	$18.74	76	3/30	M
The Caligula Effect 2	40%	$29.99	76	4/1	M
The Jackbox Party Pack	60%	$9.99	76	3/31	M
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox	50%	$29.99	76	4/1	M
Angry Video Game Nerd 1 & 2 Deluxe	50%	$7.49	75	3/28	L
Black Future '88	90%	$1.99	75	4/3	L
Cattails	75%	$3.74	75	3/29
Crysis Remastered Trilogy	45%	$27.49	75	4/10	M
DORAEMON STORY OF SEASONS	70%	$14.99	75	4/3
DRAGON BALL Xenoverse 2	85%	$7.49	75	4/3	M
Headliner: NoviNews	35%	$9.09	75	3/30
I Am Setsuna	60%	$15.99	75	3/31	M
Jurassic World Evolution: Complete Edition	65%	$20.99	75	4/13
Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk	60%	$19.99	75	4/1
LEGO DC Super-Villains	85%	$8.99	75	4/10
Miles & Kilo	75%	$1.99	75	4/6
Shakedown: Hawaii	60%	$7.99	75	4/6
Silence	90%	$1.99	75	4/3	M
Actraiser Renaissance	40%	$17.99	74	3/31	M
Alder's Blood: Definitive Edition	70%	$5.99	74	4/11
BIT.TRIP VOID	60%	$1.99	74	4/6	M
Coffee Talk	50%	$6.49	74	3/27	L
Devil May Cry	50%	$9.99	74	3/30	M
Freedom Finger	63%	$2.99	74	3/27
Furi	65%	$6.99	74	4/3
Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection	50%	$14.99	74	3/30	M
GOD EATER 3	85%	$8.99	74	4/3	M
OPUS: The Day We Found Earth	25%	$3.75	74	3/30
Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 2: Makai Kingdom: Reclaimed and Rebound / ZHP: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman	25%	$29.99	74	4/1	M
RPG Time: The Legend of Wright	47%	$15.99	74	4/1	L
Semblance	50%	$4.99	74	4/3
STAR OCEAN First Departure R	60%	$8.39	74	3/31	M
The Alliance Alive HD Remastered	65%	$17.49	74	4/1	M
The Bridge	80%	$1.99	74	3/30
Trials of Mana	50%	$24.99	74	3/31	M
void tRrLM(); //Void Terrarium	60%	$9.99	74	4/1	M
Xeno Crisis	60%	$7.99	74	3/28	L
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles	70%	$8.99	74	3/30	L
Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes	66%	$5.09	74	4/10
ATONE: Heart of the Elder Tree	40%	$8.99	73	4/13	L
Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Editions	70%	$14.99	73	3/31
BIT.TRIP BEAT	60%	$1.99	73	4/6	M
Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon EVERY BUDDY!	60%	$15.99	73	3/31	M
EARTHLOCK	80%	$5.98	73	4/7
Garden Story	40%	$11.99	73	3/28
GUNBIRD2	20%	$6.39	73	18 hours
HARVESTELLA	30%	$41.99	73	3/31	L
John Wick Hex	50%	$9.99	73	4/3
Kingdom Rush Frontiers	50%	$4.99	73	3/27
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood	80%	$2.99	73	4/7
Muse Dash	15%	$25.49	73	4/3
Old Man's Journey	50%	$4.99	73	3/30
Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale: Enhanced Editions	70%	$14.99	73	3/31
Prison Princess	60%	$7.99	73	3/31	L
Pumpkin Jack	60%	$11.99	73	4/13	M
Resident Evil Revelations 2	60%	$7.99	73	3/30	M
Romancing SaGa 3	70%	$8.69	73	3/31	M
SD GUNDAM BATTLE ALLIANCE	40%	$35.99	73	4/3	L
Shady Part of Me	50%	$7.49	73	4/1	M
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments	60%	$11.99	73	4/6	M
STRIKERS1945	20%	$6.39	73	18 hours	M
The Almost Gone	80%	$1.99	73	4/3	M
The Cruel King and the Great Hero	45%	$16.49	73	4/1	M
Vaporum: Lockdown	66%	$7.47	73	4/7	M
Biped	65%	$5.24	72	3/29	M
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger	60%	$7.99	72	4/4
DRAGON QUEST TREASURES	40%	$35.99	72	3/31	L
Drawful 2	60%	$3.99	72	3/31
GUNBIRD	20%	$6.39	72	18 hours	M
OPUS: Rocket of Whispers	25%	$6.74	72	3/30
Resident Evil 5	50%	$9.99	72	3/30
RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete Edition	65%	$10.49	72	4/13	M
Super Daryl Deluxe	75%	$4.99	72	3/31	M
Sydney Hunter and the Curse of the Mayan	60%	$3.99	72	3/27
Tanuki Justice	80%	$2.99	72	4/11	L
The Liar Princess and the Blind Prince	50%	$9.99	72	4/1	M
The Silver Case 2425	40%	$23.99	72	4/1	M
Adventures of Pip	80%	$1.99	71	3/30	M
Astronite	30%	$10.49	71	4/13	L
B.ARK	70%	$2.99	71	3/30
Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions	75%	$14.99	71	4/3	M
COLLECTION of SaGa FINAL FANTASY LEGEND	40%	$11.99	71	3/31	M
Cozy Grove	41%	$8.85	71	3/28	L
Cyber Protocol	80%	$1.99	71	42 hours
Dig Dog	50%	$1.99	71	4/9	M
DRAGON QUEST III: The Seeds of Salvation	35%	$8.11	71	3/31	M
Happy Birthdays	75%	$9.99	71	4/1	M
Legend of Mana	50%	$14.99	71	3/31	M
Lonesome Village	30%	$13.99	71	3/27
Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm	40%	$17.99	71	3/30	M
One Night Stand	60%	$1.99	71	3/30	M
Onimusha: Warlords	60%	$7.99	71	3/30	M
Phantom Doctrine	90%	$1.99	71	4/6	M
Prinny Presents NIS Classics Volume 3: La Pucelle: Ragnarok / Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure	25%	$29.99	71	4/1	M
Robonauts	50%	$1.99	71	3/30
Run the Fan	50%	$1.99	71	3/27
SaGa Frontier Remastered	40%	$14.99	71	3/31	M
Samurai Aces	20%	$6.39	71	18 hours	M
Thea: The Awakening	60%	$7.19	71	3/27
Die for Valhalla!	80%	$2.39	70	3/27	M
Eagle Island Twist	50%	$6.49	70	3/28	L
Glyph	50%	$4.99	70	18 hours
GOD WARS The Complete Legend	75%	$9.99	70	4/1	M
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R	35%	$32.49	70	4/3	L
Kamiwaza: Way of the Thief	25%	$29.99	70	4/1	L
Mercenaries Blaze: Dawn of the Twin Dragons	30%	$13.99	70	3/30
MY HERO ONE'S JUSTICE	90%	$5.99	70	4/3	M
Resident Evil 0	50%	$9.99	70	3/30	M
Romancing SaGa 2	70%	$7.49	70	3/31	M
Time Loader	65%	$5.24	70	3/29	M
A Juggler's Tale	75%	$4.49	69	3/30	L
Akane	60%	$1.99	69	4/6
Azure Reflections	50%	$12.49	69	18 hours	M
Creepy Tale 2	70%	$4.49	69	4/11
Disney Magical World 2: Enchanted Edition	60%	$19.99	69	4/3	M
FINAL FANTASY XV POCKET EDITION HD	60%	$11.99	69	3/31	M
Furwind	75%	$2.49	69	4/13	M
LOST SPHEAR	70%	$14.99	69	3/31	M
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4	85%	$8.99	69	4/3	M
Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha	55%	$17.99	69	4/1	M
R-Type Final 2	50%	$19.99	69	4/1	M
TRANSFORMERS: BATTLEGROUNDS	50%	$12.49	69	3/27
Unrailed!	75%	$4.99	69	4/3	M
VAMPYR	65%	$13.99	69	4/1	M
Call of Cthulhu	50%	$9.99	68	4/1	M
Edna & Harvey: The Breakout – Anniversary Edition	90%	$1.99	68	4/3	M
Evolution Board Game	50%	$9.99	68	4/4	L
Frederic: Resurrection of Music	60%	$2.39	68	4/6
Gravity Duck	60%	$1.99	68	3/30	M
Lapis x Labyrinth	67%	$9.99	68	4/1	M
Mana Spark	80%	$1.99	68	3/30
ONINAKI	60%	$19.99	68	3/31	M
Papetura	20%	$7.99	68	3/30	L
RAD	75%	$4.99	68	4/3	M
Resident Evil 6	50%	$9.99	68	3/30	M
Residual	25%	$14.99	68	3/31
SAMURAI MAIDEN	20%	$47.99	68	3/30	M
Slayin 2	67%	$3.95	68	3/30
The Company Man	40%	$11.99	68	3/27	L
Wallachia: Reign of Dracula	80%	$2.99	68	4/11	L
80's OVERDRIVE	80%	$1.99	67	4/6	M
Destropolis	60%	$2.39	67	4/11
Life is Strange Arcadia Bay Collection	25%	$29.99	67	3/31	M
My Brother Rabbit	80%	$2.99	67	4/6
NAMCO MUSEUM ARCHIVES Vol 2	75%	$4.99	67	4/3	M
Nova-111	60%	$3.99	67	4/11	M
Psikyo Shooting Stars Bravo	55%	$17.99	67	4/1	M
The DioField Chronicle	50%	$29.99	67	3/31	M
The Longest Five Minutes	88%	$4.99	67	4/1
The Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya	51%	$9.79	67	3/30	M
Urban Trial Playground	85%	$2.24	67	4/3
Aeolis Tournament	85%	$2.24	66	4/6	M
BIT.TRIP FATE	60%	$1.99	66	4/6	M
Crysis Remastered	60%	$11.99	66	4/10	M
DreamWorks Dragons Dawn of New Riders	50%	$14.99	66	3/27
Evoland Legendary Edition	75%	$4.99	66	4/3	M
GUNBARICH	20%	$6.39	66	18 hours	M
LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game	85%	$7.49	66	4/10	M
Oceanhorn - Monster of Uncharted Seas	67%	$4.94	66	3/30
Roguebook	60%	$9.99	66	3/31	L
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers	50%	$19.99	66	3/30
Ace Angler: Fishing Spirits	30%	$27.99	65	4/3	M
Aerial_Knight's Never Yield	60%	$4.79	65	4/13	M
DEAD OR SCHOOL	70%	$8.99	65	3/30	M
Golden Force	80%	$3.99	65	4/11	L
JARS	87%	$1.99	65	4/3	M
Jet Kave Adventure	90%	$1.99	65	4/10	M
Kao the Kangaroo	40%	$17.99	65	3/27	M
LEGO The Incredibles	85%	$8.99	65	4/10	M
Oh My Godheads: Party Edition	80%	$2.99	65	3/31	M
Omega Labyrinth Life	60%	$23.99	65	3/30	M
Spelunker Party!	70%	$8.99	65	3/31	M
Within the Blade	70%	$3.29	65	3/30	L

Let me start by saying I’m breaching contract by sharing this. If the company’s lookouts link this post to me – which they will – I’ll be disgraced, and any chance at getting a job in this profession again will be out of the picture. I have the common sense to keep my name unknown, but all that’s gonna do is slow them down.
Keeping this hidden would be a crime against humanity of the highest order. You all deserve to know, as terrible as it is.
I work at an unnamed technological research company as, you guessed it, a researcher. In recent years, we’ve made astonishing advancements in developing technology that can interact with and harness tachyons.
Tachyons are particles that travel faster than light; that’s the most important part. They’ve been a subject of theoretical physics since the late 60s, but as far as public knowledge goes, they’re still just that. Theoretical.
But they are most certainly real. Well, not “tachyons” per se, though their behaviour is equatable. I won’t bore you with the technicalities, but the result of a particle travelling faster than light is that said particle is able to, effectively, travel backwards in time.
My other group members and I have been experimenting with these particles for the best part of two years now. We’ve made major advances, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
Yesterday, 23/03/2023, at 09:07 am, my equipment detected a tachyon signal. This was in the morning, mind you, and no tests had yet been carried out. From what I can tell, this signal originated – or, rather, will originate – from elsewhere.
Playing it out loud, it at first just sounded like a garbled mess of frequencies. But after observing the audio structure, I found it to be made up of thousands of tones, of which there were only two types – long, and short.
The realisation hit pretty quick. It was Morse code, or, at least, it could be interpreted as such. The most fundamental form of digital communication known to man. So, I ran it through an auto-interpreter a few times, and got a fully coherent message.
I refuse to believe that I’m seeing patterns where there are none. The chances are so astronomically low that I can’t feasibly consider it to be a random signal, especially considering I’ve never received one from somewhere outside the lab.
I’m going to copy over the translation here. I do not wish to instil panic, but please, spread this post. People need to be aware that this is a real possibility.
To whomever is reading this, prepare yourself.
Here it is.
​
[TRANSCRIPT BEGIN]
Hi.
My name is Tim Hermelle. Before I write down this account, I should insist that this is the truth. This is happening to us all right now. This is not a joke, prank, or an interactive project.
This is the truth. You HAVE to believe what you are about to read, for our sakes.
Okay, with that out of the way… shit, it’s getting closer. I’ll write down what I can before we’re pulled back to the city, to join the others. I hope enough context is given in my account for you to fully understand.
I live - lived - in the great city of Pharades (that’s Pha-ra-dees). The utopia of humanity’s future. Life was amazing. Every aspect brought joy and satisfaction to every person. No hunger, thirst, no overpopulation, pollution… a Nirvana if there ever was. The level of advancement may be difficult for some of you to believe
Work was optional, and automatons would fill the spaces left by those choosing to pursue their own personal dreams. Even so, a large number of people here still choose to have jobs, vocations I suppose. Healthcare was unparalleled, and not one person has died during my time here.
Everything major was decided by a vote. It was the perfect democratic system, but I’m no politician, so I wouldn’t be able to explain to you why that is.
Hell, we even had a collective vote to decide the next week’s weather every Sunday. That’s right, we’d taken control of the weather. Want to splash around in puddles, smelling the petrichor? Maybe get a tan on? You’d just have to go and vote for it.
Pharades was, without hyperbole, fucking beautiful. In between the city blocks, there were great swathes of woodland and meadows. Crystal rivers flowed underneath silver bridges, and leaves of every colour painted the landscape like polka dots.
And the city itself, well, they say nature trumps anything manmade in terms of beauty, but I disagree. The intricately designed towers were accented by all the most complementary colours, gold, chrome, red, blue, any combination you could imagine, it was here. Arches, spirals, and patterns of every variety adorned the structures.
The day in question was a Wednesday – not that days of the week held any particular significance anymore. I’d planned to meet with two of my buddies, Erin and Tuan, at our favourite coffee shop a couple of districts over, in the Wantania area.
Historically, the journey may have been arduous, or frustrating. Not now. Most people didn’t even use vehicles anymore – instead, the city had built a vast underground network of ever-shifting and rearranging tracks, called “Tubyrinth”. Each person owned a personal pod of sorts, customisable to any degree.
I input Wantania Central, and hopped inside. My pod contained a sofa and a minifridge, stocked up with my favourite drinks. The journey was always snappy. Each time, the underground superstructure would arrange a new and unique track to be used, direct to a reserved bay.
Just fifteen minutes later, I was stood under the vaulted, ornamental expanse of the station roof, a hundred or so feet above. I always stopped here to just stare upwards for a moment, absorbing the imaginative architecture.
After exiting the station, I was surprised to see that both Erin and Tuan were already waiting for me outside. The good kind of surprised, that slaps a goofy smile onto your face.
“Took you long enough!” Tuan chuckled, finding the irony in his own words hilarious.
“God, I know right?” added Erin, “I was worried I’d need crutches after standing out here waiting!”
“Well, heh, you’re not gonna like this next part,” I joked, and we set off down the street, laughing. Our favourite café was called “Beansmith’s Forge”. It was a cheesy, but endearing name, and the theme fit the three of us like a glove; as I said before, we’d been working on worldbuilding for our fantasy RPG, an immersive neurolink VR experience, where the player could design their own character and have a unique questline auto-generated out of a complex system.
We ordered brunch, and, of course, coffee. I won’t get into the details of our talks, but we quickly finished up, paid, and set off down Gerben Street.
The more exciting event of the day was our session booked at the aptly named Noji Box, something you could call an “anti-grav playground”. Admittedly, I’ve never fully known how it works, just that it involves paired wormholes, immensely powerful electromagnets, and a huge vacuum-chamber.
One thing I was always grateful for was that the automatons, who I saw working robotically through storefront windows, were withheld any accurate human likeness – I’m sure you’ve heard of the uncanny valley, so you’ll know what I mean. They fell just short of it.
All was calm on the walk, as to be expected. We made it to the Noji Box in good time, ten minutes before our session booking. I get it’s company policy to take everyone through the safety basics, but it was admittedly a little boring after many, many past visits.
The only real requirement was that you’d have to wear an “osteopatic suit”. No, osteostatic? Something about keeping your bones from floating away from each other, or from disappearing over time.
We were suited up, ready to enter “S.S. Slamdown”, when a sudden tremor shook the building’s foundations. Everyone shared the same puzzled expression – not once had something like that ever happened in Pharades.
The staff looked a bit stumped at first. I guess they never had to deal with a situation like this in the past. To our dismay, but unsurprisingly, our session was cancelled, and we were told that they would call us later to sort out a re-booking.
I had the strangest feeling when we left and began back down the road. Something similar to déjà vu, but not quite. Like nostalgia, but without the accompanying feeling of reminiscence or joy.
Trying to brush it off, I distracted my mind by humming a tune. I didn’t know what it was from, at the time, but I knew it was a stringed melody. A violin? Thing is, I wasn’t really humming it as much as hearing it in my head.
We rounded a corner, and Erin paused in surprise.
“Oh, that’s… hey, that’s Jeremiah! He’s been playing that fiddle the street over from mine for the past, what, two weeks? Come on, let’s go listen.”
I grew confused when we approached, only to hear the exact same melody that had just been looping in my head. Before I’d heard this guy playing. I don’t remember stumbling upon this particular street performer before this point.
We stood listening for a few minutes, then continued our walk. Thoughts no longer infested with that tune, I was hit with what I can only describe as a taste. The savoury taste of something on my tongue, complete with mustard and relish. Meat of some kind?
The concern started to flourish when we came upon a food truck, and Tuan asked if we were hungry. Sure, we’d just eaten at the coffee shop, but I could fit in one more tasty bite. He offered to pay, which we gladly accepted, and he returned with… hotdogs. With mustard. And relish.
My gratitude masked the ever-growing confusion within me. Was this just a weird coincidence, or something else? Did I know we were going to get hotdogs?
We wound up back at the station, where a feeling of detached sorrow welled up inside me, something you might feel after recalling a bad memory from which you’ve since recovered. I understood then that I would run into my on-good-terms ex inside. But, before we could enter, another rumbling tremor swept across the street, followed by the clamour of destruction and screams from inside.
A grey dust cloud plumed out from the entrance, sweeping us off of our feet. I saw Erin flipped face-first into the pavement, just as I caught my heel on the base of a stop sign. Yet another quake boomed underneath the asphalt.
The asphalt I was falling down onto… but the impact didn’t come. Instead of a hard surface, the sensation of falling went on. You know that feeling when you think there’s another step at the bottom of the stairs, only to find the floor instead? It was just like that.
The ground I fell upon wasn’t asphalt. It rang out as I collided, almost hollow-sounding. Metallic. Maybe it was just my head ringing, but without a doubt, I was not in the street anymore.
I sat up, and my palms confirmed I was on a metal floor, the kind with those diamond-shaped grips. Looking around almost caused a complete sensory overload, immediately. A multitude of flashing lights, screens, wires, buttons, and all sorts decorated the room. It looked not far off from the control room of an intelligence agency – at least, how they’re depicted in movies.
I got onto one knee and pivoted to look around. The tall man standing directly behind me almost led to a second fall, but instead I scooted backward frantically at the sight.
The man – well, I say “man”, but this person didn’t really have any distinguishing features. They were wearing a spotless black and white cloak of some kind, and a metal cage covering the upper half of their face, so that only their mouth was visible.
They stood still, not reacting to my show of surprise, then spoke in the most androgynous voice conceivable.
“How did you get in here?”
I scanned the room, finding that there were no obvious entrances anywhere around, like we were inside a closed-off box.
“I- uh, I fell over, a-and next thing I know – here,” I stuttered.
“Well, you shouldn’t be here, and there’s no way that you should be able to get here.”
I stood up, feeling a little more comfortable in the presence of this stranger, though not letting my guard down entirely. Now, I could see the pictures displayed across the screens – they seemed to be feeds of countless locations in Pharades, streets, woodlands, you name it.
“What… what the hell’s going on here? Who are you? Why are you spying on the city?”
The stranger didn’t seem amused, being pelted with questions, and held up a hand, gesturing me to stop. They let out a deep, held breath.
“Well, since you’re here, I may as well enlighten you. Take a seat.”
So I did. I sat in shock and disbelief for the next five minutes as the person answered all my questions, even the ones I didn’t know I wanted to ask. They introduced themselves simply as “Administrator”, but I chose “Admin”, to avoid the mouthful.
Admin proceeded to tell me the truth, as casually as one would talk about the weather.
It wasn’t real.
A simulation.
They told me we were inside a highly advanced, self-sustaining, supercomputer pod travelling through deep space, harvesting energy from ions extracted from the surrounding vacuum. Over a hundred trillion years ago, those living here now consented in having their consciousness imported to the device.
On top of the ion harvesting, power was supposedly generated from emotions experienced by a consciousness – the more intense an emotion or feeling, the more power generated.
I interrupted the monologue at this point with a question they hadn’t seemed to consider,
“Let’s say I believe what you’re saying. If this system’s been up for as long as you say, why did I only just have my 29th birthday, what, two months back now?”
“I understand your concern, but allow me to continue. Every 50 years, it is reset. All your memories are wiped and locked away until the moments when you would again make those memories. There are only a set number of people who were uploaded to the system, and their minds cannot simply be deleted if they were to die.”
Not only a simulation, but an endless loop? My brain felt like it might burst.
“Wait,” I said, “if we’re reset every time, and everything plays out the same… then, we can’t possibly have any free will of our own, right?”
“I suppose you could say that. But the illusion we, I, have worked tirelessly to maintain, gives the impression that you do.”
“Wh… what? So, the original me signed up for this? But I’m not him! I’m a copy, aren’t I? Do I have a choice in this?”
“There is no way for me to erase any person that lives here. Only if the pod itself is damaged or destroyed, can I, or anyone else, truly die. The Great Stellar Extinction has come and gone, and all that remains outside is cold, and dark. A handful of black and brown dwarves, and black holes. To my knowledge.”
The sudden feeling of intense, hollow loneliness filled up my chest. We were alone in a great black sea of nothingness. My slack jaw must have told Admin I didn’t have the capacity to speak.
“Over time, I have lost contact with the hundreds of thousands of other pods that were ejected from Earth all that time ago. Either they are too far now, or they met a destructive end. I can’t say which is the better, anymore.”
Absorbing the sudden truth, the emptiness evolved into anger.
“Let me get this straight. We, living our lives down there, are puppets to you? Is that it? Just an endless cycle of digital paradise, kept in the dark of all you’ve just told me? How can you possibly justify this?!”
“Calm down. Having your memories wiped is a luxury I myself cannot afford. Anyway, that’s only the preface of what I need to talk about. I’m sure you also noticed the tremors, down there?”
“The tremors? Oh, oh yeah. Sort of ruined my plans, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
“I didn’t do anything. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Whatever the cause, it’s not within this pod.”
I took it all in. A system malfunction? Why did the Admin feel the need to share this with me?
“Is… is that why, maybe, that I could predict some of the things that happened afterwards?”
“It’s worse than I thought. The memory suppression seems to be failing.”
Both of us paused for a moment. The silence was deafening.
“I’ve been taking readings on the external sensors. There’s… something out there. An object. It’s been following us for a while now, but with no starlight left, I don’t know what it is. Space debris couldn’t move on its own accord like this thing is.”
“What are you trying to say?” I sputtered, the dread I felt deepening by the second.
“I’m saying that something has found us.”
My blood ran cold. Found us? What could have found us?
“Didn’t you say all the stars are dead? The universe is just darkness now. What could have found us? What?”
“I wish I had the answers, too. I don’t think we’re safe anymore. The most recent readings imply that whatever it is, it’s latched onto the pod somehow. Possibly-“
Admin was cut off by the loud screech of static from the speakers around the room. Their head shot up to the nearest corner in a manner that set me on a knife’s edge.
The tremors returned with a vengeance now, and the both of us were sent sprawling onto the floor. I didn’t fall through it this time, though. Sparks flew and monitors went offline.
I was about to ask what we should do, when the roaring static settled, and something else started to play.
An innocent, childlike giggle. Gurgled coos, infantile squeals of joy that pierced my eardrums like needles and left them ringing. Remembering the sounds that came from those speakers make my insides twist and yearn to escape my body, knowing what came next.
The laughter grew, and so did the tremors. The room started to collapse, wires and boxes raining down upon us. Well, not really collapse, no, but change. The far wall crumpled, like something on the other side assailed it with forceful impacts, and the room began to shrink.
As if that dark place wasn’t claustrophobic enough, the ceiling, walls, everything began to close in on us. All the while, the childlike giggling only grew in joy. I thought we were to be crushed and snapped by the pressure, when we were abruptly freed.
It had happened again. Pushed through the floor and spat out somewhere else. This time, I – we – found ourselves near a paved road leading out of one of the city blocks, into a green meadow which gave way to trees a ways down.
Something was terribly wrong. Only after brushing myself off and standing up did I become aware of the swirling darkness that replaced the once baby-blue sky, with its cotton candy clouds. A heavy and unsettling calm had fallen upon us, dampening the city’s brilliance. No more did sunlight gleam off the ornate spires and arches, replaced by a still, hanging shadow.
The eerie quiet was shattered by that godforsaken crackling, booming across the landscape, despite not a speaker in sight, again followed by those ill-belonging coos and cries. Accompanying the infantile sputtering came an uproar of cracking and crumbling, great impacts from deep within the city’s heart.
Both Admin and I stared in disbelief as distant buildings sunk into the ground, while others twisted and warped their way into the sky, as if made from soft clay. Some just disappeared entirely, leaving not a shred of evidence behind that they had ever been there, while their former inhabitants plunged from storeys above.
“It’s taken my place.”
Those four unprompted words shook me to the core of my being. The god of this world had been usurped.
“But why?” I found myself asking, “with what motive?”
Admin went to reply, but stopped upon seeing the great, pinkish masses floating up out of the streets, far ahead. We stared in bewilderment, trying to make out what they were. The chorus of screams hurried us to the realisation that the balls were… they were made of people.
Agonised, howling faces littered the fleshy abominations, while more objects rose around them. Structural beams, signposts, metal objects of every kind gravitated toward the amalgams of humanity, before their relentless assaults began.
Ripping, tearing, stabbing, slicing… it was already too much for my mind to comprehend. It garnered no reaction from myself other than stunned shock. Flesh and blood spewed from the masses, and orbited around them like the rings of Saturn, falling back in to haphazardly patch themselves back onto the wailing people.
My thoughtless attention was redirected as a frantic deluge of citizens fled the city, running down the street towards us. One by one, the exodus was halted, people seeming to stop in place abruptly, though the screams did not relent.
I couldn’t see what had stopped them until the crowd drew closer, where I saw an elderly man whip forward, foot stuck fast, instantly snapping his knee from the momentum. He let out a heart-wrenching cry as he fell down and looked to see what had stopped him.
Something that looked like roots, water pipes maybe, had erupted through the tarmac and coiled their way up his leg. I could see the strength draining in his eyes as they stood him back upright by force, wrapping around his entire body.
I watched in abject horror as he was raised off the ground, and each and every one of the old man’s limbs were bent and snapped at unnatural angles, shattering frail bones into dust.
His feeble cries were promptly silenced as a squirming metal tube forced its way inside his mouth, his eyes rolling back in unfathomable agony as the bulging mass forced its way down his throat, splitting his ribcage apart and allowing the organs within to slop out and float in the air, as if weightless. The whole process seemed to reverse itself in time, then repeat, over and over.
I could only hear the echoes of Admin’s shouts and the faint sensation of their grip on my forearm as they pulled me away from the mind-bending atrocity. My vacant body tumbled backward, sending both of us falling onto the grass.
Still I could only sit there, frozen. Somewhere off to the right, I saw a young woman pulling presumably her daughter along by the wrist, fleeing the hellscape of flesh and bone down a small alley. Her head spun wildly as she noticed the walls of the alleyway closing in around them.
She burst out into the open, but was yanked back, her grip fast. She turned in desperation, only to see her daughter, who couldn’t have been more than seven, being slowly crushed into a paste of bloody flesh and yellow fat. Her pitiful screams still ring in my ears, seeing her child suffer such a terrible fate.
Admin was finally triumphant in breaking my trance, and I rushed to my feet, stumbling before gaining my footing and bolting the fuck out of there. The childish giggling echoing out over the sky only served to push me forwards and away from that place.
“What the fuck is going on?!” I yelped, glancing over to Admin, hoping they could offer just the slightest of explanations.
“I have an idea, but we need to get somewhere first. You see that hill through the woods, right over there?”
“Hill? To the observatory?”
“There’s one last thing we can try to stop this. It’s a shot in the dark, but I can’t just stand here and fade away with the rest.”
High speed winds whipped the trees as we ran below them, leaves fluttering in a wild seizure. Air-splitting cracks sounded, so loud my ears began to ring once more, and I looked over my shoulder to see what they could have been.
Blazing spouts of fire shot down from the clouds behind, more akin to lightning than anything, striking the forsaken with white-hot temperatures. Even from a distance, I could see skin and flesh melt off of bones like candle wax, forming spiralling clouds of organic vapour.
In my distraction, I ran straight into a tree, and tumbled over, blood leaking from a small cut on my forehead. Admin skidded to a stop and pulled me up to my feet, and ran onwards, not waiting for a moment to ask if I was okay.
Neither of us were okay. That was a given now.
We reached the top of the hill without too much effort – seems it was programmed for everyone to have an above-average level of fitness, young or old regardless.
Admin frantically, but methodically, sifted through what appeared to be a large hoop of keys, searching for the one to fit the observatory’s door. I looked back over to where we had fled from.
The twisted buildings coiled toward the sky, gargantuan talons holding captive everyone I’d ever known. But there was something else. Far behind the city, in the distant hills and woodland, a great black wave that spanned the horizon was travelling towards us, eviscerating the world itself. All it left behind was an endless chasm of darkness, defying reality itself.
The tsunami came closer, before stopping at the city’s outskirts, leaving only a towering earthen spire of suffering, flaming bolts cracking down upon it.
“Admin, what is going on?!”
They paused for a moment, then continued working on the several locks barring our entry.
“Do you remember what I told you earlier, when you found me? How this system is able to keep on running, over the trillions of years?”
“…ions?”
“Yes, but that’s only the basis. I told you that emotional activity generates power, yes? The more intense an emotion, the more power generated?”
“What are you getting at?”
“This is pure theory, but I believe that whatever is out there is feeding off of the system.”
“Is that why all that was happening? The-“
I stifled a gag, recalling the horrors fresh in my memory.
“Again, it’s a theory. I don’t understand what it is. If the constraints of the universe are loose enough for something to evolve in its endless darkness, to predate on the last sources of energy within it… I don’t know. And I doubt we ever will.”
I stared out at the hellscape, speechless. Finally, Admin found the right key, yanked the door open, and pulled me inside by the arm.
“Hey!” Admin yelled, snapping their fingers, “I need you to be present for this. I am restricted in this world, I can’t break and reform things like you can. A failsafe, for if the power were to go to my head. Follow my instructions exactly.”
They told me how to break apart some of the technology in the observatory, and rewire it into a different machine. I had no idea what we were creating at the time, but complied nonetheless.
The finished product was a makeshift beacon of some kind, connected to the nearby terminal.
“Thank you. Now, type.”
“Type what?”
“Everything that has happened. Add as many details as you can, because we won’t have another chance to get this out there.”
“O-okay, what is this thing? A radio?”
“In a way. The observatory is one of the only places here that has a connection to the outside. I have used it more than once to observe the universe fading away. This setup will send our transmission as a unique, superluminal type of wave. Hurry, we can’t waste time chatting about this.”
And so, here we are. I don’t know who will be hearing this, if anyone at all.
I beg of you, consider how our advancements might be our downfall.
It’s almost here. I can hear the flaming bolts striking the forest, closer.
This is my account. Please save us. Please spare us.
Don’t condemn us as you have.
[TRANSCRIPT END]
​
There it is. I’ve revised the translation more times than I can count, and I’m sure there’s no mistake here.
Other readings imply that this message has travelled an unimaginably vast distance, and not only over space. Repeated triangulation only tells me this came from above, somewhere far away, among the stars.
I can feel the edges of my mind singeing. This can’t be proven as truth, nor can it be discredited. There’s no possible way to explain how this message came from our own planet.
I’m trying to be rational, but I think we need to consider future development very carefully. As a people, we have always rushed through our technological advancements at an incredible speed, not stopping to consider all the consequences that might follow.
If anyone will believe this, please spread it around. I have no doubt this post will be taken down the moment they find it. As for myself, I’ll be disgraced, probably. Stuck in a cold cell, most likely.
Spread the word. The fact that the higher-ups will attempt to conceal this is a cruel thing indeed, if any of it’s true.
Signing off.

Hi all, I've owned Stardew Valley on PC, Switch and PS4 for a while now and never put the time into it.
I think I started a few saves and never went further than spring.
I've had surgery lately and I am home alone from around 7h30am till 3pm. I gave another shot to SV on my Switch and man I'm having a blast, I am a few days away to complete my first complete year.
I could not beleive a simple game like this would make me addicted as much as this.
I don't know if it's the music, the sound effect, the city, my dog, but there is a peace of mind when I play this game it's incredible. I always hated fishing in games and in SV I love it.
So yeah, that being said, I wish I could knock on door or call up NPCs for deliveries. Yeah I am talking to you Sam, waiting outside your room with my golden bar above my head while you play guitar all day while ignoring me in the process is a bit infuriating!
Long live the crops.

Thanks to u/BlueFishcakes for the SSB universe.
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Chapter 8 - The Silvern Glow
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- 17th of April 2024,08:45, Haninge District, Sweden -
Adam once again found himself sitting behind a tree just like moments prior, but he dared not peek his head past the tree this time. He was at a bit of a loss to what he should do next, he’d been lucky enough that they thus far hadn’t heard him dashing from tree to tree, as silently as he could mind you.
But from the sounds of things they were still just chatting about around his car, or their own, he couldn’t really tell. Anyway it was clear that they parked near his car and by that, uncomfortably close to Adam holding a highly illegal weapon. And while he had somehow forgotten earlier to take out the magazine, which was a huge security risk on his part and he felt very dumb once he had realized it. That was the only thing he had going for him currently. And since he still had some shots in the gun, if they were to see him and reasonably so try to shoot him. Adam at least had four shoots to defend himself with.
But still he didn’t want a confrontation with three or more 7 plus foot orc amazons in close quarters. So really the only choice Adam had was to try and get far enough into the little forest until he had cleared it and reached the other side which was a small beach, a very rocky beach but still a beach.
From there, he’d be more free to follow the coast until he felt he was far enough away and could enter the forest once again, considerably further away from the marines. With that said he could also just wait a little, they’d only been standing there just talking for a minute or so, in their indecipherable literally alien language, all the while Adam was sweating bullets hoping they wouldn’t see him. Not that it felt like mere minutes to Adam, to him it felt like hours.
One thing suddenly crossed Adams mind, why? Not only why come here right this moment, but more importantly. Why park so close to his car? Starting to think more his brain started setting off alarm bells. There were really only two reasons behind the why he asked himself, one being that they’re hoping the owner of the vehicle is a male they can harass, or they parked so close so they could do a quick search of it, not that they could do a very thorough search so long Adam held the keys but that was irrelevant.
As seconds went by and seconds became minutes, Adam started to believe it was the considerably worse option at play, that they weren’t just that close to his car to peer through it in case of anything illegal being inside. No, most likely they were waiting at his car, until he’d come back and they could harass him.
Realizing that he was still holding a very illegal rifle Adam decided to try and continue with his plan of putting away his rifle somewhere in the woods before they got bored and began looking for him instead of just loitering around his car. Slowly coming up into a crouching position from where he was sitting behind a tree. Adam began slowly walking away from the marines standing around his car and towards the coast. Finishing his slow walk with a thumping heart he finally came to the rocky beach.
Going down a slight hill from the woods his feet finally hit the sand, and he felt that he could finally calm down a little. Not that he had really ventured far from the marines. This patch of forest in particular was fairly thin and was more so a small detour people in the summer would occasionally take to reach some of the less well known beaches on Gålö. However that was fairly irrelevant now as the marines likely had no reason to venture into the forest, since they clearly didn’t even know where he was.
Sure they obviously knew of somebody's presence but beyond that Adam doubted they knew anything more. Continuing on from this beach in particular Adam continued walking along the coast for a couple minutes, luckily a couple calm minutes. He couldn’t even hear the marines' annoyingly loud chatter from earlier, meaning he had to be close to the end of the little coastline.
Deciding that he was now, most likely far enough away for anyone to find it, assuming Adam takes it back home before summer time when thousands normally come to these beaches. He walked up the small hill leading from the beach and up into the small forest once again.
Walking around a little bit, still trying to remain fairly quiet and stealthy, something Special forces training had luckily taught him. Adam found just what he needed, He found a hole large enough beneath a tree to stick his rifle in. Which would no doubt get his rifle dirty, but seeing as he couldn’t really disassemble his rifle and bring it back to the car as of now because of a couple marines he was left with one choice. And that was to leave it hidden, hope no one spots it, which to be fair most likely what would happen but still. Adam disliked having to go with a shit plan, now for a third time. However in his current position a bad plan was better than no plan.
So Adam began putting his pretty shit plan into action. Taking the magazine out Adam put the magazine in question on the ground and quickly, barrel first began stuffing the rifle into the hole beneath the tree. Once he was done with that he squeezed the magazine in there and then followed by that he draped the blanket he still somehow had on his shoulder even after dashing in between trees like a madman.
Standing back up from his kneeling position while he was hiding his rifle, Adam inspected his work. And while it wasn’t perfect you really wouldn’t think about it unless you were actively staring at it. One thing that did make him worry a little though was that the hole was under a tree.
A tree that could fall, however, thinking about it for more than a couple seconds Adam realized that said tree had probably been standing like that for a while and he wasn’t planning on letting it sit there for more than a day or two anyway. Meaning he was once again needlessly paranoid about nothing serious.
Deciding this was good enough Adam now began to think of what his next move should be. He couldn’t really wander back to his car, because frankly they were likely standing there, if not around his own car then around theirs which was no doubt parked very close by.
Leaving him pretty much stuck between the small forest and the beach. And standing by his now hidden rifle wouldn’t be particularly smart, he quickly realized. But since the weather was actually pretty nice even this early in the morning, with the sun shining down with what Adam would guess was about 10+ celsius, which considering the time of year and how early it was, this was actually pretty warm.
So with nothing better to do while waiting for the marines who would no doubt harass him, due to breaking the law or for literally no reason at all. Adam headed back towards the beach. However he didn’t want to be too close to his own crime scene so he headed back to the beach he first came to. Which while a little close to the planet's new found oppressors lingering around his vehicle, was still likely safe from them coming any closer to it.
So without his rifle, Adam now marched down the small hill leading into the forest and began the slow walk along the coast for the second time within only a couple minutes. Staring out at the ocean while walking Adam found a new sense of hope seemingly out of nowhere. Whether it was because the area and particularly the nature was stunning or that this was one of the first times in literal years he had gone out into nature, well this wasn’t really “out in nature” but more so a glorified patch of woods but still. Gålö was rather untouched by, well anything besides a couple villas and some farm animals dotted around the half-island.
In anycase staring out into the ocean and at the other islands in the distance. Adam made a realization, that this is what he was fighting for. And that he hadn’t just begun fighting to fill some empty place in his life and heart. That he was fighting, even if currently it was just him shooting at shil’ nobles. To protect his little home, and by extension the entire planet, from being ruined by the imperium.
The more he began thinking about why, he realized something which was both infuriating and a bit saddening. That if humanity as a collective were to fail in throwing the shil’s out of earth's orbit, in whatever way possible. What he was currently staring at, what he had grown up with. Everything he had near and dear to his heart.
Would be defiled,destroyed or made into a mockery of what it once was. Even just by the shil’s presence somewhere, wherever they plant those ugly buildings down, like they had done in central Salem and Haninge.
It’s like they’re spitting and mocking whatever structure stood there prior to their arrival. And why would they stop at structures? Likely, within a couple generations a considerable part of human history,society and culture would, as mentioned, be defiled, destroyed or twisted into something completely different.
Adam realized they’d likely even make up some story of how humans were stuck in the dark ages or something and that we we’re on the cusp of dying out to smallpox or dysentery before the oh-so heroic imperium came down and saved the entire planet.
Adam began slowing down as he looked forward again and saw his destination. Stopping his thoughts for but a moment as he came to the beach he began walking towards one of the large rocks strewn about on the small beach.
As he sat down on the flattest rock around, he continued staring out into the beautiful ocean before him and the pretty large islands in front of him he could never name despite coming here several times. And he realized another thing, that he really needed to get out more. He had spent just about the entire last year either sitting in his mancave, going to work or alternatively, sitting in his man cave drinking cheap alcohol on occasion.
This also reminded him of his dream, that he still had mind you. Of moving out into the middle of nowhere, somewhere incredibly rural. However with the invasion he didn’t even bother thinking about it for a while, sure he had savings from his time in the military and special forces, enough to actually buy a small house somewhere, especially in one of the cheaper regions like Värmland.
But he didn’t even know if Hemnet was still up because he hadn’t bothered checking, and even if the website was still usable. The imperium would probably somehow be involved in him buying a house. So as much as Adam felt like he needed to get away from civilization, especially away from the imperium he really couldn’t do it for now. However his only older brother, François, had done just that after their arrival. he mainly got away with it because the seller wanted it sold immediately and practically gave it to him for free.
However, Adam knew he still needed a job and with his only professions being in the military and construction/carpentry his options were extremely limited. Since the military was now entirely non-existent and the carpentry industry had almost died off completely. Only a few carpentry businesses survived, in particular ones that quickly specialized in making shil-sized human furniture so nobles could buy some considerably over-priced exotic earth goods.
Luckily for Adam he knew a guy, his friend and for the last year coworker, Dragan, who had begun working at that company only a couple months prior to the invasion. And when Adam had completely gone out of a job and had been forced to crash at his parents place, he had helped Adam get a job at the aforementioned company that nowadays only makes, as mentioned, shil-sized human furniture. That's also why Adam even moved to Jordbro in the first place. Since the company in question was located in the Jordbro industrial zone just behind what used to be the coca-cola factory.
Letting his brain go into yet another rabbit hole as he was sitting on the rock that was getting more and more uncomfortable the longer he sat on it. Adams' brain stopped in its tracks as he heard something he absolutely was not prepared for. Footsteps, heavy footsteps, he heard several of them emanating from the forest that was behind him, which could realistically, only mean one thing.
The marines got bored and assumed their target for sexual harassment was on the otherside of the small patch of forest, which in this case, he unfortunately was. As the footsteps got louder and louder Adams' heart began beating aggressively again. Slowly turning around Adam at first saw nothing.
But then, to his horror, he saw what, or rather who was making the noise. And then he saw them at the beginning of the forest clearing, three marines all staring at him through helmets he didn’t really recognize as normal marine helmets.
Temporarily focused on the fact that he didn’t recognize the helmets, nor the insignia on their breasts. Snapping out of trying to identify their insignias, Adam tried to focus instead on what the fuck to do next, and how to lower his steadily increasing heart rate.
He at once realized the predicament he was in….
------------------
- 17th of April 2024,15:43, Berlin District, Germany -
After the pretty short drive from her new workplace into the city of “Beerlyn” Vistiin was had now parked her also, recently acquired vehicle in front of her supervisor, Theun’s apartment near the center of the city. And Vistiin had never seen a building so tall! It was clearly made of traditional shil’vati thermocast but the building was seven stories tall. That they’d even allowed the apartment complex to be constructed was a mystery. Likely some architect saw how tall human buildings got and wanted to see if she could emulate it, however why the authorities allowed the building to be so tall was beyond her.
Continuing on from inspecting the building and what maniac built it, Vistiin opened the door of her car and stepped out into surprisingly chilly weather. Even though she obviously experienced the same coldness when she was getting into her car in the first place. How humans walked around in just shirts with no secondary layer like a jacket, without being affected was still baffling to her even after the hours of research she did today into humans.
And now she even had to wait in this sad weather! Likely caused by the clouds darkening from her observation. And said clouds were currently hiding Vistiin from the terran sun she immediately missed more than she knew she even could.
However, since she’d called Theun in advance and asked if they could talk in private to discuss some things that were rather pertinent to her current mission, that hopefully meant Theun wouldn't keep her out here in the cold.
As Vistiin stood and cursed the terran weather under her breath, she could see Theun arrived personally, which was a shock since nobles rarely if ever did something like open a door to even other nobles, much less a commoner like Vistiin herself. Walking towards the door eager to get out of the cold Vistiin was greeted by her sponsor. Who was as she remembered from when she first met her, kind of short, very classy and fairly lacking in morals. Not that Vistiin was a model shil either, especially concerning her frequent lack of morals, but still Vistiin liked to think she was a slightly better person than Theun.
As Vistiin and Theun made it to the door leading into the modern apartment complex at the same time, Theun opened the door. “Nice to meet you again Vistiin!” Theun said politely while extending her fist. Vistiin reciprocated the gesture and responded. “Yes hello Mrs Syras, I don't mean to forgo my manners especially in front of a noble such as yourself, but can we move inside? it's awfully cold out here.”
“Don’t worry about that around me Vistiin, also you can call by my first name, we’ll be seeing each other a lot until you’re done after all” Theun responded while backing away from the door to let Vistiin in. “Ah ok good to know, just a bit surprising is all” “Most nobles I've worked with prior, especially ones from big houses as yourself tend to be… not so friendly” Vistiin said back as she entered the apartment building. Even just the lobby of this place screamed old money and nobility. The building even had its own concierge, with a cute little human guy standing behind the desk.
Quickly peeling her eyes off the blonde man before he noticed, Vistiin and Theun began walking to the elevators on the other side of the lobby. She had just yesterday learnt what an “elevator” was, so Vistiin was at least partially prepared for the tight metal box humans use to get up and down floors. And the elevators in hers and presumably Theuns apartment building were considerably larger as well to account for the shil tendency to hate small spaces, so how humans could stand going in these on a daily basis was beyond her.
As they got to the door and Theun clicked on a button quickly opening the duo stepped inside and Theun spoke. “I get it, we nobles aren’t the most welcoming, but beyond that was it that you wanted to talk about?” “Already done or something? This early into your work?, I know your efficient but still”
“No no nothing like that, it's just a couple things I want to go over and what not” “Shouldn’t take to much of your time” With Vistiin’s response out Theun simply grunted in acknowledgement and the rest of the way up to Theuns apartment was in a slightly uncomfortable silence.
As the elevator came to a stop and the door opened once again, freeing Vistiin from that tight metal cube. Vistiin was surprised to only see a small hallway with only a single door at the end.
“Do you own the entire floor or something?” Vistiin said as she looked over at Theun who was taking a card out of her jacket, presumably to open her apartment.
“Of course I do!” “This apartment is small enough, if I were to live in one of the normal suites my friends and relatives would never let me live that down” she said as she opened the door.
Theun quickly walked in after she opened the door and Vistiin quickly followed. “And I'm fairly certain this is just about luxurious and expensive enough to have them not make a comment about it.”
“Well you sure a noble when those are your primary concerns…” Vistiin said with a chuckle. As both of them discarded their outside clothes and wandered into the very spacious living room Vistiin realized two things, first how incredibly far up they were and secondly how big this place was for an apartment. “This place is massive Theun, this must have cost a fortune!” Vistiin said as she was looking about the place.
“Well it's probably the cheapest bit of real estate i've ever bought, but that doesn’t say much” “Earth isn’t really expensive.. Yet anyway, from the people i've talked to they predict the prices can increase by as much as 50,000% in a year when they finally open earth up just based on interest from the rest of the imperium.”
“Hm… makes sense I guess, although I presume that doesn’t account for when humans will be compatible with us, you can probably triple that then” Vistiin said as she sat down on the large couch that could easily fit fifteen shil’s. Which in her mind was a little excessive but nobles only buy the best and biggest of anything she mused.
“I know you said it shouldn’t take long but, want a drink?” Theun said, interrupting Vistiins thought process. “Wasn’t planning on drinking but sure” To Vistiins response Theun went to the kitchen and didn’t spend long there quickly coming back with two very fancy looking drinks Vistiin couldn’t identify, not that Vistiin really cared so long it wouldn’t make her puke.
“So you don’t have any employees?” “Sorry for prying on your life but i'm just used to guards and what not flanking the noble im working with” Vistiin said as she accepted the drink Theun had just brought.
“No I do have lots of employees obviously, the Syras house probably has thousands in total, however this apartment doesn’t really have the space so it's hard to have them running around all the time here and so for now I have them on call until I buy an actual house in the area.”
“Ah ok… but beyond that let's get to the reason i'm here shall we?” Vistiin said while taking a sip of her drink, which clearly had red grain in it. “Of course Vistiin, now what is already of such importance?”
“Well, there's a couple things, but one thing at a time.” “From my research it will be nigh impossible to get a male who would be willing to participate within the next couple of years.”
Vistiin started while looking at the drink in her hand.
“But I have a solution, one that would require you pulling some strings” She continued while looking at Theun instead of her drink.
“I mean, I'm here to make sure you succeed and that the empresses money hasn’t been wasted, so I'll listen” Theun responded before she also began sipping on her drink. “Great because the only way I think we could reliably get a male would be if we convinced captured insurgents, however before you say anything obviously they won’t agree to it” “Immediately anyway…” Vistiin continued.
“Hmm, you’re sure that's the only way? Not that I'm particularly opposed, it just sounds like it could get complicated, insurgents probably don't make great fathers either at that.” Theun asked. “Great question, how we fix our problem here is that we give them an offer of either, becoming participants in our project where we will then pair them with a shil woman, how we source women for this project is another question albeit one that should be easier to solve.” With a pause to sip on her drink, Vistiin continued “Anyway or they get the choice of just facing their fate serving prison time on some mining world over side of the known universe”
“And while humans, especially insurgents may hate the imperium for now” “If one of them gets the choice of lifelong manual labour on a planet full of roaches or, they just have to be part of this little project, I believe they’ll wisen up real fast, and the ones that don’t would probably make horrible fathers anyway” “Natural selection if you will” Vistiin finished off as she began drinking her liquor again while letting Theun take Vistiins little plan for getting males into the project.
After a couple seconds of thinking Theun responded. “While it may be a bit of a hassle to pull said strings without anyone else really knowing what's going on, sounds doable.” “Could work to rehabilitate some insurgents as well actually”
“So now that we’ve got that out of the way, the other concern I have is that due to my contract for this job being limited in time to two years.” “That I have to, for us to see results before that date, get positive results of a pregnancy between a human shil coupling before like five earth months?
“Mind you it's not impossible we see a pregnancy very early on but the time it takes for results to show is still a slight paranoia of mine” Vistiin continued now instead looking at her almost empty glass of some alcohol mix she couldn’t really identify.
“Look, don’t worry Vistiin, your contract is pretty flexible” Theun said, staring out at the city through one of the tall windows. “This entire project is extremely special and you’re one of few candidates with the perfect mixture of low morals, and the right skillset so if you’re almost complete by the two year point we can negotiate the contract”
“Well that's a relief then, I knew you were a reasonable woman” Vistiin responded to Theun, now with a big concern of her shoulders.
“Well Theun, I know you’re a busy woman and it was kind enough of you to make space to talk with me pretty out of the blue so I won’t take any of your time, I've already been here for like thirty minutes so.”
“Don’t worry, I'm pretty invested in that this goes right so anything I can help you with to make it happen I'll do.” Theun said as the both of them were starting to stand up. “Also Vistiin, if you need to talk about anything relating to the project, you call or text me and we talk in person here where what we say can’t be recorded” “I really don’t want to risk anything leaking out okay?”
“Understood that from the beginning Ma’am hence why I even asked to talk.” Vistiin responded with a slight chuckle as she started to move towards the entrance to Theuns apartment. “Well it's good to know you’re as intelligent as I was led to believe” Theun said as Vistiin started to put on her outdoor clothing.
“Well it was a good talk, but i'm starving so I better go, see you later Theun” Vistiin said as she waved goodbye to Theun who responded “And i'm rather busy today, still I’ll see you later” Theun said back just before the automatic door closed.
Now with a plan to get males for the project and a weight lifted off her tired shoulders, Vistiin could relax more a little. However, now she was actually really hungry after doing nothing but research for the past nine hours so Vistiin began walking back to her car so she could have the rest of the day off….
[Next]

My son has been playing violin now for a couple of years and has been wanting an electric violin for a while. We are thinking of getting him one for his birthday this year. He's only going to be 11, so we will probably get him a pretty basic one to see if he enjoys it before splurging on something more expensive. However, I legitimately don't know much of anything about music myself (just a very supportive mom 😂). So, I'm kind of clueless. Does he need a speaker with it? Is there software or equipment for sound effects, etc? Any recommendations would be appreciated! Thanks!

Let me start by saying I’m breaching contract by sharing this. If the company’s lookouts link this post to me – which they will – I’ll be disgraced, and any chance at getting a job in this profession again will be out of the picture. I have the common sense to keep my name unknown, but all that’s gonna do is slow them down.
Keeping this hidden would be a crime against humanity of the highest order. You all deserve to know, as terrible as it is.
I work at an unnamed technological research company as, you guessed it, a researcher. In recent years, we’ve made astonishing advancements in developing technology that can interact with and harness tachyons.
Tachyons are particles that travel faster than light; that’s the most important part. They’ve been a subject of theoretical physics since the late 60s, but as far as public knowledge goes, they’re still just that. Theoretical.
But they are most certainly real. Well, not “tachyons” per se, though their behaviour is equatable. I won’t bore you with the technicalities, but the result of a particle travelling faster than light is that said particle is able to, effectively, travel backwards in time.
My other group members and I have been experimenting with these particles for the best part of two years now. We’ve made major advances, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.
Yesterday, 23/03/2023, at 09:07 am, my equipment detected a tachyon signal. This was in the morning, mind you, and no tests had yet been carried out. From what I can tell, this signal originated – or, rather, will originate – from elsewhere.
Playing it out loud, it at first just sounded like a garbled mess of frequencies. But after observing the audio structure, I found it to be made up of thousands of tones, of which there were only two types – long, and short.
The realisation hit pretty quick. It was Morse code, or, at least, it could be interpreted as such. The most fundamental form of digital communication known to man. So, I ran it through an auto-interpreter a few times, and got a fully coherent message.
I refuse to believe that I’m seeing patterns where there are none. The chances are so astronomically low that I can’t feasibly consider it to be a random signal, especially considering I’ve never received one from somewhere outside the lab.
I’m going to copy over the translation here. I do not wish to instil panic, but please, spread this post. People need to be aware that this is a real possibility.
To whomever is reading this, prepare yourself.
Here it is.
[TRANSCRIPT BEGIN]
Hi.
My name is Tim Hermelle. Before I write down this account, I should insist that this is the truth. This is happening to us all right now. This is not a joke, prank, or an interactive project.
This is the truth. You HAVE to believe what you are about to read, for our sakes.
Okay, with that out of the way… shit, it’s getting closer. I’ll write down what I can before we’re pulled back to the city, to join the others. I hope enough context is given in my account for you to fully understand.
I live - lived - in the great city of Pharades (that’s Pha-ra-dees). The utopia of humanity’s future. Life was amazing. Every aspect brought joy and satisfaction to every person. No hunger, thirst, no overpopulation, pollution… a Nirvana if there ever was. The level of advancement may be difficult for some of you to believe
Work was optional, and automatons would fill the spaces left by those choosing to pursue their own personal dreams. Even so, a large number of people here still choose to have jobs, vocations I suppose. Healthcare was unparalleled, and not one person has died during my time here.
Everything major was decided by a vote. It was the perfect democratic system, but I’m no politician, so I wouldn’t be able to explain to you why that is.
Hell, we even had a collective vote to decide the next week’s weather every Sunday. That’s right, we’d taken control of the weather. Want to splash around in puddles, smelling the petrichor? Maybe get a tan on? You’d just have to go and vote for it.
Pharades was, without hyperbole, fucking beautiful. In between the city blocks, there were great swathes of woodland and meadows. Crystal rivers flowed underneath silver bridges, and leaves of every colour painted the landscape like polka dots.
And the city itself, well, they say nature trumps anything manmade in terms of beauty, but I disagree. The intricately designed towers were accented by all the most complementary colours, gold, chrome, red, blue, any combination you could imagine, it was here. Arches, spirals, and patterns of every variety adorned the structures.
The day in question was a Wednesday – not that days of the week held any particular significance anymore. I’d planned to meet with two of my buddies, Erin and Tuan, at our favourite coffee shop a couple of districts over, in the Wantania area.
Historically, the journey may have been arduous, or frustrating. Not now. Most people didn’t even use vehicles anymore – instead, the city had built a vast underground network of ever-shifting and rearranging tracks, called “Tubyrinth”. Each person owned a personal pod of sorts, customisable to any degree.
I input Wantania Central, and hopped inside. My pod contained a sofa and a minifridge, stocked up with my favourite drinks. The journey was always snappy. Each time, the underground superstructure would arrange a new and unique track to be used, direct to a reserved bay.
Just fifteen minutes later, I was stood under the vaulted, ornamental expanse of the station roof, a hundred or so feet above. I always stopped here to just stare upwards for a moment, absorbing the imaginative architecture.
After exiting the station, I was surprised to see that both Erin and Tuan were already waiting for me outside. The good kind of surprised, that slaps a goofy smile onto your face.
“Took you long enough!” Tuan chuckled, finding the irony in his own words hilarious.
“God, I know right?” added Erin, “I was worried I’d need crutches after standing out here waiting!”
“Well, heh, you’re not gonna like this next part,” I joked, and we set off down the street, laughing. Our favourite café was called “Beansmith’s Forge”. It was a cheesy, but endearing name, and the theme fit the three of us like a glove; as I said before, we’d been working on worldbuilding for our fantasy RPG, an immersive neurolink VR experience, where the player could design their own character and have a unique questline auto-generated out of a complex system.
We ordered brunch, and, of course, coffee. I won’t get into the details of our talks, but we quickly finished up, paid, and set off down Gerben Street.
The more exciting event of the day was our session booked at the aptly named Noji Box, something you could call an “anti-grav playground”. Admittedly, I’ve never fully known how it works, just that it involves paired wormholes, immensely powerful electromagnets, and a huge vacuum-chamber.
One thing I was always grateful for was that the automatons, who I saw working robotically through storefront windows, were withheld any accurate human likeness – I’m sure you’ve heard of the uncanny valley, so you’ll know what I mean. They fell just short of it.
All was calm on the walk, as to be expected. We made it to the Noji Box in good time, ten minutes before our session booking. I get it’s company policy to take everyone through the safety basics, but it was admittedly a little boring after many, many past visits.
The only real requirement was that you’d have to wear an “osteopatic suit”. No, osteostatic? Something about keeping your bones from floating away from each other, or from disappearing over time.
We were suited up, ready to enter “S.S. Slamdown”, when a sudden tremor shook the building’s foundations. Everyone shared the same puzzled expression – not once had something like that ever happened in Pharades.
The staff looked a bit stumped at first. I guess they never had to deal with a situation like this in the past. To our dismay, but unsurprisingly, our session was cancelled, and we were told that they would call us later to sort out a re-booking.
I had the strangest feeling when we left and began back down the road. Something similar to déjà vu, but not quite. Like nostalgia, but without the accompanying feeling of reminiscence or joy.
Trying to brush it off, I distracted my mind by humming a tune. I didn’t know what it was from, at the time, but I knew it was a stringed melody. A violin? Thing is, I wasn’t really humming it as much as hearing it in my head.
We rounded a corner, and Erin paused in surprise.
“Oh, that’s… hey, that’s Jeremiah! He’s been playing that fiddle the street over from mine for the past, what, two weeks? Come on, let’s go listen.”
I grew confused when we approached, only to hear the exact same melody that had just been looping in my head. Before I’d heard this guy playing. I don’t remember stumbling upon this particular street performer before this point.
We stood listening for a few minutes, then continued our walk. Thoughts no longer infested with that tune, I was hit with what I can only describe as a taste. The savoury taste of something on my tongue, complete with mustard and relish. Meat of some kind?
The concern started to flourish when we came upon a food truck, and Tuan asked if we were hungry. Sure, we’d just eaten at the coffee shop, but I could fit in one more tasty bite. He offered to pay, which we gladly accepted, and he returned with… hotdogs. With mustard. And relish.
My gratitude masked the ever-growing confusion within me. Was this just a weird coincidence, or something else? Did I know we were going to get hotdogs?
We wound up back at the station, where a feeling of detached sorrow welled up inside me, something you might feel after recalling a bad memory from which you’ve since recovered. I understood then that I would run into my on-good-terms ex inside. But, before we could enter, another rumbling tremor swept across the street, followed by the clamour of destruction and screams from inside.
A grey dust cloud plumed out from the entrance, sweeping us off of our feet. I saw Erin flipped face-first into the pavement, just as I caught my heel on the base of a stop sign. Yet another quake boomed underneath the asphalt.
The asphalt I was falling down onto… but the impact didn’t come. Instead of a hard surface, the sensation of falling went on. You know that feeling when you think there’s another step at the bottom of the stairs, only to find the floor instead? It was just like that.
The ground I fell upon wasn’t asphalt. It rang out as I collided, almost hollow-sounding. Metallic. Maybe it was just my head ringing, but without a doubt, I was not in the street anymore.
I sat up, and my palms confirmed I was on a metal floor, the kind with those diamond-shaped grips. Looking around almost caused a complete sensory overload, immediately. A multitude of flashing lights, screens, wires, buttons, and all sorts decorated the room. It looked not far off from the control room of an intelligence agency – at least, how they’re depicted in movies.
I got onto one knee and pivoted to look around. The tall man standing directly behind me almost led to a second fall, but instead I scooted backward frantically at the sight.
The man – well, I say “man”, but this person didn’t really have any distinguishing features. They were wearing a spotless black and white cloak of some kind, and a metal cage covering the upper half of their face, so that only their mouth was visible.
They stood still, not reacting to my show of surprise, then spoke in the most androgynous voice conceivable.
“How did you get in here?”
I scanned the room, finding that there were no obvious entrances anywhere around, like we were inside a closed-off box.
“I- uh, I fell over, a-and next thing I know – here,” I stuttered.
“Well, you shouldn’t be here, and there’s no way that you should be able to get here.”
I stood up, feeling a little more comfortable in the presence of this stranger, though not letting my guard down entirely. Now, I could see the pictures displayed across the screens – they seemed to be feeds of countless locations in Pharades, streets, woodlands, you name it.
“What… what the hell’s going on here? Who are you? Why are you spying on the city?”
The stranger didn’t seem amused, being pelted with questions, and held up a hand, gesturing me to stop. They let out a deep, held breath.
“Well, since you’re here, I may as well enlighten you. Take a seat.”
So I did. I sat in shock and disbelief for the next five minutes as the person answered all my questions, even the ones I didn’t know I wanted to ask. They introduced themselves simply as “Administrator”, but I chose “Admin”, to avoid the mouthful.
Admin proceeded to tell me the truth, as casually as one would talk about the weather.
It wasn’t real.
A simulation.
They told me we were inside a highly advanced, self-sustaining, supercomputer pod travelling through deep space, harvesting energy from ions extracted from the surrounding vacuum. Over a hundred trillion years ago, those living here now consented in having their consciousness imported to the device.
On top of the ion harvesting, power was supposedly generated from emotions experienced by a consciousness – the more intense an emotion or feeling, the more power generated.
I interrupted the monologue at this point with a question they hadn’t seemed to consider,
“Let’s say I believe what you’re saying. If this system’s been up for as long as you say, why did I only just have my 29th birthday, what, two months back now?”
“I understand your concern, but allow me to continue. Every 50 years, it is reset. All your memories are wiped and locked away until the moments when you would again make those memories. There are only a set number of people who were uploaded to the system, and their minds cannot simply be deleted if they were to die.”
Not only a simulation, but an endless loop? My brain felt like it might burst.
“Wait,” I said, “if we’re reset every time, and everything plays out the same… then, we can’t possibly have any free will of our own, right?”
“I suppose you could say that. But the illusion we, I, have worked tirelessly to maintain, gives the impression that you do.”
“Wh… what? So, the original me signed up for this? But I’m not him! I’m a copy, aren’t I? Do I have a choice in this?”
“There is no way for me to erase any person that lives here. Only if the pod itself is damaged or destroyed, can I, or anyone else, truly die. The Great Stellar Extinction has come and gone, and all that remains outside is cold, and dark. A handful of black and brown dwarves, and black holes. To my knowledge.”
The sudden feeling of intense, hollow loneliness filled up my chest. We were alone in a great black sea of nothingness. My slack jaw must have told Admin I didn’t have the capacity to speak.
“Over time, I have lost contact with the hundreds of thousands of other pods that were ejected from Earth all that time ago. Either they are too far now, or they met a destructive end. I can’t say which is the better, anymore.”
Absorbing the sudden truth, the emptiness evolved into anger.
“Let me get this straight. We, living our lives down there, are puppets to you? Is that it? Just an endless cycle of digital paradise, kept in the dark of all you’ve just told me? How can you possibly justify this?!”
“Calm down. Having your memories wiped is a luxury I cannot afford. Anyway, that’s only the preface of what I need to talk about. I’m sure you also noticed the tremors, down there?”
“The tremors? Oh, oh yeah. Sort of ruined my plans, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
“I didn’t do anything. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Whatever the cause, it’s not within this pod.”
I took it all in. A system malfunction? Why did the Admin feel the need to share this with me?
“Is… is that why, maybe, that I could predict some of the things that happened afterwards?”
“It’s worse than I thought. The memory suppression seems to be failing.”
Both of us paused for a moment. The silence was deafening.
“I’ve been taking readings on the external sensors. There’s… something out there. An object. It’s been following us for a while now, but with no starlight left, I don’t know what it is. Space debris couldn’t move on its own accord like this thing is.”
“What are you trying to say?” I sputtered, the dread I felt deepening by the second.
“I’m saying that something has found us.”
My blood ran cold. Found us? What could have found us?
“Didn’t you say all the stars are dead? The universe is just darkness now. What could have found us? What?”
“I wish I had the answers, too. I don’t think we’re safe anymore. The most recent readings imply that whatever it is, it’s latched onto the pod somehow. Possibly-“
Admin was cut off by the loud screech of static from the speakers around the room. Their head shot up to the nearest corner in a manner that set me on a knife’s edge.
The tremors returned with a vengeance now, and the both of us were sent sprawling onto the floor. I didn’t fall through it this time, though. Sparks flew and monitors went offline.
I was about to ask what we should do, when the roaring static settled, and something else started to play.
An innocent, childlike giggle. Gurgled coos, infantile squeals of joy that pierced my eardrums like needles and left them ringing. Remembering the sounds that came from those speakers make my insides twist and yearn to escape my body, knowing what came next.
The laughter grew, and so did the tremors. The room started to collapse, wires and boxes raining down upon us. Well, not really collapse, no, but change. The far wall crumpled, like something on the other side assailed it with forceful impacts, and the room began to shrink.
As if that dark place wasn’t claustrophobic enough, the ceiling, walls, everything began to close in on us. All the while, the childlike giggling only grew in joy. I thought we were to be crushed and snapped by the pressure, when we were abruptly freed.
It had happened again. Pushed through the floor and spat out somewhere else. This time, I – we – found ourselves near a paved road leading out of one of the city blocks, into a green meadow which gave way to trees a ways down.
Something was terribly wrong. Only after brushing myself off and standing up did I become aware of the swirling darkness that replaced the once baby-blue sky, with its cotton candy clouds. A heavy and unsettling calm had fallen upon us, dampening the city’s brilliance. No more did sunlight gleam off the ornate spires and arches, replaced by a still, hanging shadow.
The eerie quiet was shattered by that godforsaken crackling, booming across the landscape, despite not a speaker in sight, again followed by those ill-belonging coos and cries. Accompanying the infantile sputtering came an uproar of cracking and crumbling, great impacts from deep within the city’s heart.
Both Admin and I stared in disbelief as distant buildings sunk into the ground, while others twisted and warped their way into the sky, as if made from soft clay. Some just disappeared entirely, leaving not a shred of evidence behind that they had ever been there, while their former inhabitants plunged from storeys above.
“It’s taken my place.”
Those four unprompted words shook me to the core of my being. The god of this world had been usurped.
“But why?” I found myself asking, “with what motive?”
Admin went to reply, but stopped upon seeing the great, pinkish masses floating up out of the streets, far ahead. We stared in bewilderment, trying to make out what they were. The chorus of screams hurried us to the realisation that the balls were… they were made of people.
Agonised, howling faces littered the fleshy abominations, while more objects rose around them. Structural beams, signposts, metal objects of every kind gravitated toward the amalgams of humanity, before their relentless assaults began.
Ripping, tearing, stabbing, slicing… it was already too much for my mind to comprehend. It garnered no reaction from myself other than stunned shock. Flesh and blood spewed from the masses, and orbited around them like the rings of Saturn, falling back in to haphazardly patch themselves back onto the wailing people.
My thoughtless attention was redirected as a frantic deluge of citizens fled the city, running down the street towards us. One by one, the exodus was halted, people seeming to stop in place abruptly, though the screams did not relent.
I couldn’t see what had stopped them until the crowd drew closer, where I saw an elderly man whip forward, foot stuck fast, instantly snapping his knee from the momentum. He let out a heart-wrenching cry as he fell down and looked to see what had stopped him.
Something that looked like roots, water pipes maybe, had erupted through the tarmac and coiled their way up his leg. I could see the strength draining in his eyes as they stood him back upright by force, wrapping around his entire body.
I watched in abject horror as he was raised off the ground, and each and every one of the old man’s limbs were bent and snapped at unnatural angles, shattering frail bones into dust.
His feeble cries were promptly silenced as a squirming metal tube forced its way inside his mouth, his eyes rolling back in unfathomable agony as the bulging mass forced its way down his throat, splitting his ribcage apart and allowing the organs within to slop out and float in the air, as if weightless. The whole process seemed to reverse itself in time, then repeat, over and over.
I could only hear the echoes of Admin’s shouts and the faint sensation of their grip on my forearm as they pulled me away from the mind-bending atrocity. My vacant body tumbled backward, sending both of us falling onto the grass.
Still I could only sit there, frozen. Somewhere off to the right, I saw a young woman pulling presumably her daughter along by the wrist, fleeing the hellscape of flesh and bone down a small alley. Her head spun wildly as she noticed the walls of the alleyway closing in around them.
She burst out into the open, but was yanked back, her grip fast. She turned in desperation, only to see her daughter, who couldn’t have been more than seven, being slowly crushed into a paste of bloody flesh and yellow fat. Her pitiful screams still ring in my ears, seeing her child suffer such a terrible fate.
Admin was finally triumphant in breaking my trance, and I rushed to my feet, stumbling before gaining my footing and bolting the fuck out of there. The childish giggling echoing out over the sky only served to push me forwards and away from that place.
“What the fuck is going on?!” I yelped, glancing over to Admin, hoping they could offer just the slightest of explanations.
“I have an idea, but we need to get somewhere first. You see that hill through the woods, right over there?”
“Hill? To the observatory?”
“There’s one last thing we can try to stop this. It’s a shot in the dark, but I can’t just stand here and fade away with the rest.”
High speed winds whipped the trees as we ran below them, leaves fluttering in a wild seizure. Air-splitting cracks sounded, so loud my ears began to ring once more, and I looked over my shoulder to see what they could have been.
Blazing spouts of fire shot down from the clouds behind, more akin to lightning than anything, striking the forsaken with white-hot temperatures. Even from a distance, I could see skin and flesh melt off of bones like candle wax, forming spiralling clouds of organic vapour.
In my distraction, I ran straight into a tree, and tumbled over, blood leaking from a small cut on my forehead. Admin skidded to a stop and pulled me up to my feet, and ran onwards, not waiting for a moment to ask if I was okay.
Neither of us were okay. That was a given now.
We reached the top of the hill without too much effort – seems it was programmed for everyone to have an above-average level of fitness, young or old regardless.
Admin frantically, but methodically, sifted through what appeared to be a large hoop of keys, searching for the one to fit the observatory’s door. I looked back over to where we had fled from.
The twisted buildings coiled toward the sky, gargantuan talons holding captive everyone I’d ever known. But there was something else. Far behind the city, in the distant hills and woodland, a great black wave that spanned the horizon was travelling towards us, eviscerating the world itself. All it left behind was an endless chasm of darkness, defying reality itself.
The tsunami came closer, before stopping at the city’s outskirts, leaving only a towering earthen spire of suffering, flaming bolts cracking down upon it.
“Admin, what is going on?!”
They paused for a moment, then continued working on the several locks barring our entry.
“Do you remember what I told you earlier, when you found me? How this system is able to keep on running, over the trillions of years?”
“…ions?”
“Yes, but that’s only the basis. I told you that emotional activity generates power, yes? The more intense an emotion, the more power generated?”
“What are you getting at?”
“This is pure theory, but I believe that whatever is out there is feeding off of the system.”
“Is that why all that was happening? The-“
I stifled a gag, recalling the horrors fresh in my memory.
“Again, it’s a theory. I don’t understand what it is. If the constraints of the universe are loose enough for something to evolve in its endless darkness, to predate on the last sources of energy within it… I don’t know. And I doubt we ever will.”
I stared out at the hellscape, speechless. Finally, Admin found the right key, yanked the door open, and pulled me inside by the arm.
“Hey!” Admin yelled, snapping their fingers, “I need you to be present for this. I am restricted in this world, I can’t break and reform things like you can. A failsafe, for if the power were to go to my head. Follow my instructions exactly.”
They told me how to break apart some of the technology in the observatory, and rewire it into a different machine. I had no idea what we were creating at the time, but complied nonetheless.
The finished product was a makeshift beacon of some kind, connected to the nearby terminal.
“Thank you. Now, type.”
“Type what?”
“Everything that has happened. Add as many details as you can, because we won’t have another chance to get this out there.”
“O-okay, what is this thing? A radio?”
“In a way. The observatory is one of the only places here that has a connection to the outside. I have used it more than once to observe the universe fading away. This setup will send our transmission as a unique, superluminal type of wave. Hurry, we can’t waste time chatting about this.”
And so, here we are. I don’t know who will be hearing this, if anyone at all.
I beg of you, consider how our advancements might be our downfall.
It’s almost here. I can hear the flaming bolts striking the forest, closer.
This is my account. Please save us. Please spare us.
Don’t condemn us as you have.
[TRANSCRIPT END]
There it is. I’ve revised the translation more times than I can count, and I’m sure there’s no mistake here.
Other readings imply that this message has travelled an unimaginably vast distance, and not only over space. Repeated triangulation only tells me this came from above, somewhere far away, among the stars.
I can feel the edges of my mind singeing. This can’t be proven as truth, nor can it be discredited. There’s no possible way to explain how this message came from our own planet.
I’m trying to be rational, but I think we need to consider future development very carefully. As a people, we have always rushed through our technological advancements at an incredible speed, not stopping to consider all the consequences that might follow.
If anyone will believe this, please spread it around. I have no doubt this post will be taken down the moment they find it. As for myself, I’ll be disgraced, probably. Stuck in a cold cell, most likely.
Spread the word. The fact that the higher-ups will attempt to conceal this is a cruel thing indeed, if any of it’s true.
Signing off.